# What are your grocery store splurges? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 27, 2002, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-grocery-store-splurges/105940 "2002-04-27T11:50:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Tansu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@Tansu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tansu)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2002, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-grocery-store-splurges/105940/41 "2002-04-30T14:33:29Z")
Hey, **elwoodcuse** , in response to your question - I get my shopping from Tesco, which delivers from stores all over the UK. ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2002, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-grocery-store-splurges/105940/42 "2002-04-30T15:13:17Z")
> [@](#): > > So now I have one pound of the little buttons of joy that are **reeses pieces** tucked neatly beneath my rice cakes. I call them “candy-coated crack”. I purposefully don’t go down the candy ailse just to avoid those things. ---
**Author:** ![Belrix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed655f/32.png) [@Belrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belrix)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2002, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-grocery-store-splurges/105940/43 "2002-04-30T18:42:20Z")
Can’t resist Ice Cream. Store brand on sale for $.99/half-gal. Stock up and save! Just the other day, though, in the completely bad for you and expensive category. 1. Velveeta 2. Rotel Tomatoes with Chili’s 3. Hormel Chili w/ no beans. Half a block of Velveeta, add the Rotel & Chili, microwave til melty. Great on chips! -B ---
**Author:** ![sidle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee59a6/32.png) [@sidle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sidle)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2002, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-grocery-store-splurges/105940/44 "2002-04-30T19:12:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Osiris \* > \*\*Two particular instances spring to mind. > > Walking down the aisle. I see that toilet paper is on sale. I proceed to fill my cart with 72 rolls of toilet paper. That’s 6x12. I came back the next day and bought 72 more. I’m set for summer. And Autumn. > \*\* Osiris, I’m not stalking you, I swear…I’ve just been behind some funny posts of yours the past few days! Anyway, I was just going to say that I’d hate to be a neighbor on your bad side, what with you having 144 rolls of TP and all. You could relive your high school days and do some serious damage! I splurge on the mags at the checkout. I am a floor planner’s wet dream: “Hmmm…I’m here, I’m waiting, I’m bored…it certainly seems reasonable to spend $17 on magazines with recipes I will never try, decorating ideas I will never afford, and tips on how to bag a man, even though I’ve already got one…” :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2002, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-grocery-store-splurges/105940/45 "2002-04-30T20:54:28Z")
Whenever I actually get to the healthy/fancy food grocery, I pick up a few chunks of gourmet chocolate. It’s only three or four bucks a pound for some really good dark chocolate. They also have olives in bulk, so I pick up some garlic stuffed green olives for the kids (ok, for me and tha’ missus.) ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2002, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-grocery-store-splurges/105940/46 "2002-04-30T21:36:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by auntie em \* > \*\*I have a freezer full of salmon filets. > > Or, rather, _partial_ salmon filets… Around here it’s **Sam’s Club** instead of Costco, but same principle. And they sell these giant salmon filets the size of my leg, which I buy for Summer Grillin’. And the most perfect thing about it is that it’s already skinned, unlike the salmon at the regular groceries around here. I get skeeved skinning anything. > > Of course, even with a friend or two over I generally don’t use the whole thing, so I cram most of it into the freezer… > > …then the next time I end up grilling (usually a spur-of-the-moment decision), I’m like, “Damn… all the salmon’s frozen… and I’m hungry _now_… guess I’ll go buy another filet…” > > It’s a vicious cycle. \*\* Salmon will thaw very quickly!!! As quickly as running to the store and buying more. Nuke it on half power for a minute or so, then put it in a Zip-Loc baggie and place in warm water in the sink for about 15 minutes. You could put the marinade in before thawing, if you’re so inclined. (I also thaw chicken breasts like this, but for a few more minutes.) ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2002, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-grocery-store-splurges/105940/47 "2002-04-30T22:18:51Z")
POTATO CHIPS! I see them, I want them. Then afterwarsd, I’m like, WHY did I buy them. I could’ve gotten something healthy! I prefer Grandma Shearers, and Dan Dee;s. ---
**Author:** ![OxyMoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9a140/32.png) [@OxyMoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OxyMoron)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2002, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-grocery-store-splurges/105940/48 "2002-05-01T01:23:31Z")
My regular shopping doesn’t provoke this very often - I think I’ve mentioned elsewhere that as a Manhattanite, I usually have to go to four different stores to get my shopping done. That doesn’t leave much energy for “splurges.” Unless… I end up at Fairway, the Gift from the Gods at 74th and Broadway (i.e. 59 blocks uptown from me). (By Manhattan standard’s it’s enormous and monstrous cheap, with lots of terrific gourmet and organic foods.) Then I find myself with – oo! an interesting black bean dip and – ah! some French bilberry jam and oo-oo-oo! – a Cadbury flake bar direct from England and mm-hmm! lovely Orchid grapefruit and – what’s this? Four pounds of center-cut pork chops and OH NO! HOW THE HELL DO I GET ALL THIS SHIT HOME!!! Sorry. Even for this boy, 30-40 lb of groceries is a lot to carry into the subway, lurching for my wallet to get my Metrocard out, praying that I don’t kill someone as I sidle, crablike, down the eensy-weensy staircases at the 72nd IRT station. ---
**Author:** ![DarkWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee59a6/32.png) [@DarkWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarkWriter)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2002, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-grocery-store-splurges/105940/49 "2002-05-01T05:51:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ruffian \* > **Yeah, that’s right, I’m a chick and I love _Maxim!_ So there!** Another chick who loves _Maxim_ here! I also enjoy reading _Playboy_. They really do have great articles. 🙂 I don’t mind looking at the pictures, either. I like reading the fiction to see if I have a snowball’s chance in hell of placing a story there. So every once in a while I’ll tell my husband to pick up a _Playboy_ on his way home. As for splurges at the grocery store, I splurge on ice cream, B&J mostly. My regular splurge is expensive cuts of meat. Since I cook almost every night, I prefer to use the good stuff. I can make beef filets just as good as an expensive restaurant’s for a fraction of the price. I buy shrimp a lot, too. Still, a pack of good steaks is still cheaper than buying McDonald’s for all of us, and it tastes a hell of a lot better. Sheri ---
**Author:** ![Stinkum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Stinkum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stinkum)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2002, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-grocery-store-splurges/105940/50 "2002-05-01T07:20:15Z")
Munchos and Pringles – chips that aren’t chips. Different texture. I will second the Dreamery Coney Island Waffle ice cream, and also suggest the Chocolate Truffle Explosion. These are strictly PMS rampage shopping items. Really good butter. I bought some imported Irish butter last week. It is richer, you use less – at least that’s my justification for buying it. Yes, there is a difference in quality. ---
**Author:** ![clonestyle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ebca7d/32.png) [@clonestyle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clonestyle)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2002, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-grocery-store-splurges/105940/51 "2002-05-01T07:51:07Z")
I absolutely must have these stocked in my apartment… Pringles, bagles, cream cheese, block of cheddar or swiss cheese, avocados, mushrooms (portabella… yum), fruit (any kind, usually doesn’t matter), soda, those frozen fruit icecream bar thingies, and… a caesar chicken wrap… 🙂 I think I’ll go shopping now… ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2002, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-grocery-store-splurges/105940/52 "2002-05-01T16:49:05Z")
Biggest Grocery Store Splurge? Sending hubster and teen son to the grocery store “to pick up a few things.” Oh, my GAWWWWWWD! The ice creams, the chocolate candies, the olives, the frozen convenient foods! Good-bye grocery budget! Oh, but we feast like ROYALTY right after they get home!! LOLOLOLOLOLOL! ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![annieclaus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5a626/32.png) [@annieclaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/annieclaus)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2002, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-grocery-store-splurges/105940/53 "2002-05-01T17:29:40Z")
1. Fresh Fruit. I buy cantaloupe nearly every week. (It’s very nutritious and tastes good.) But in the summer when I can get my hands on Cranshaw melons, that goes into the cart instead of cantaloupe. I eat melon every morning to start my breakfast. I buy strawberries or blueberries or raspberries every week, too. Can’t eat my Honey Nut Cheerios without those perky berries on the top. (And they’re very nutritious as well.) I also must have fresh grapefruit juice every morning. I buy the grapefruits (pink or red only) year round and squeeze my own. I will buy Bing Cherries any time I see them (except this past week when they were $7.99 a pound at the specialty store). They’re especially good in the middle of winter when they come in from Chile. 1. Meats. I adore baby back ribs. Every mid-winter I have to have a picnic of ribs, potato salad and corn on the cob (my favorite menu)! Damn the cost! Gotta get through Winter, for Pete’s sake! I buy New York strip steaks at Sam’s Club. They’re very thick and very delicious. And. . . no bone, no waste! I also buy their big frozen shrimp. Great on the George Foreman grill! And their loin lamb chops are fine! 2. Salty, crunchy things. Mainly Krunchers. I shouldn’t eat them, but I am a slave to those peanut oil fried chips! Yum. Wish I had some right now. 3. Peanut Creme Patties. These are wonderful cookies that have this crispy surface with real peanut butter encased in rectangular pillows of crisp. And it all tastes like peanuts. Yum! They are divine. I allow myself four little pillow cookies with each lunch. They’re expensive but they’re such a treat! It’s hard to find packages that don’t have crushed cookies, however. Almost anything else I stock up on when they’re on sale. So it all averages out. ---
**Author:** ![cagiva650](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cagiva650](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cagiva650)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2002, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-grocery-store-splurges/105940/54 "2002-05-01T22:22:44Z")
More splurges micro brewed beers and mangoes one dollah each? ---
**Author:** ![belladonna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9fc29f/32.png) [@belladonna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/belladonna)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2002, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-grocery-store-splurges/105940/55 "2002-05-01T23:11:21Z")
> [@](#): > > Sending hubster and teen son to the grocery store “to pick up a few things.” > > Oh, my GAWWWWWWD! > > The ice creams, the chocolate candies, the olives, the frozen convenient foods! Good-bye grocery budget! > > Oh, but we feast like ROYALTY right after they get home!! Ha–I’m very familiar with that phenomenon. My favorite part is how the ONE thing you specifically ask for is the one that “slipped their mind” :rolleyes: Welcome to the boards **VOW** –newbies in my threads make me smile. 🙂 \<—see? Everyone here has had such great lists, ::sigh:: It makes me want to go shopping all over again… bella ---
**Author:** ![MeanJoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanjoe/32/5693_2.png) [@MeanJoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanJoe)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2002, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-grocery-store-splurges/105940/56 "2002-05-02T05:19:37Z")
I don’t know if this is ‘splurge’ or not as it really sounds quite sad and well… let’s just say it’s not fine cuisine… I cannot avoid Nabisco Bacon flavored crackers and Kraft Easy Cheese Sharp Cheddar (cheese in a can…mmmm…). ---
**Author:** ![Krab\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Krab\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krab_King)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2002, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-grocery-store-splurges/105940/57 "2002-05-02T07:02:09Z")
The Foods of the Gods…potato chips and doughnuts! I feel naked if I leave a grocery store without one or the other…or both! ---
**Author:** ![donnat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@donnat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/donnat)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2002, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-grocery-store-splurges/105940/58 "2002-05-02T07:29:54Z")
Oh my God!!! This thread has made me so homesick…_sob_ The food here is just not the same, and there is NO variety. If you want breakfast cereal… well, there are maybe 5 brands to choose from…_sigh_ the produce is ok, but everything is smaller. There is no Miracle Whip, no Velveeta…no Hormel chili with or w/o beans _sobbing hysterically now_ the chips section SUCKS, and we just started finding a loaf of sliced “toasterable” bread here in the past month…there is no Krapt mac n cheez either. Beware the campbells soups look alikes, cause they are made in England and it is not the same flavour. Personally, if I could even make a run for the border I would never complain again… Thanks for all the orgasmic moments I had reading your choices and splurges. Better to live vicariously than not to have lived at all…ummmm, right? ---
**Author:** ![Flamsterette\_X](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/41988e/32.png) [@Flamsterette\_X](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flamsterette_X)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2002, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-grocery-store-splurges/105940/59 "2002-05-02T08:24:38Z")
Damn… just went grocery shopping yesterday! Now it looks as if I will have to go again, lol. 🙂 I just stocked myself up on ice cream… a big 4L tub of vanilla ice cream, in fact. But sometimes I will buy Haagen-Dazs, Breyers, or Nestle ice cream, just to try the cool flavors. I know chips aren’t exactly the most healthy thing for you (and neither is ice cream), but there are some times when I just have to have a couple bags in my cart, plus salsa and/or dip. Why I buy salsa in those jars that I can’t open without a LOT of effort, I’ll never know. :rolleyes: Those little pudding cups! They are so good… mmmm. I’m a big soup fan, so I’ll buy a lot of it… generally if it’s on sale, I buy more. But even when it’s not on sale, I like buying it! (generally because meat and such is expensive when you’re on a limited budget) Sometimes I have to try the new flavors of chips, soup, pudding, jello, etc. You know, just so I can say I tried it… it’s especially awesome if I happen to like it! 🆒 I’m sure there’s more, but that’s all I can think of now. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-grocery-store-splurges/105940.md?page=2)