Today I went to the Dutch Market with my Reisenthel carrybag. Here in Maryland, there is a bag tax to discourage people from using the throwaway plastic shopping bags, so many people have gotten into the habit of carrying cloth shopping bags with them. You can get them most anywhere these days - even Giant carries them, they are about a dollar each - and I have a few in the back of my car.
My cheery little market basket beats them all, cold. Not because I can't carry things in the other - but because it forces me to prioritize. It's too easy for me to bring a wad of cloth bags into the store and fill a grocery cart to the brim. I'm not stocking up for a hurricane, and with rare exception most weeks I just don't *need* to be buying groceries in bulk. The temptation is there though - I can always freeze it! It won't go bad, I'll put it in the cupboard until I need it!
And before you know it, my cupboard is cluttered and hard to navigate, and my fridge is full to bursting and I upend a carton of berries trying to get to the milk.
My market basket is big enough to hold just about all of the fresh groceries that my family of four needs. Today, the Mr. carried the half gallon of milk out, but here is what fit in the single market basket:
A half gallon of OJ
A half gallon of cider
Three packages of healthy kid snacks (dried kiwi fruit, green bean chips - highly recommended, and wasabi peanuts)
Medium tapioca for cooking
Good sized package of unsweetened shredded coconut
A 32 oz carton of peach yogurt
A medium wedge of horseradish cheese with bacon in it, for the Mr.
A smallish wedge of caramelized onion cheddar
A pound of ground beef
A pound of hickory smoked bacon
Three pork loin ends (mediumish, about a pound all told)
A large kielbasa coil
A dozen quail eggs
We could have fit fruit and/or veggies in as well, there was still room for the lighter, crushable stuff on top, but we'd already done the produce marketing yesterday. I foresee this basket coming with me to untold farmers' markets too.
Reisenthal market basket, you are made of win and you don't let my eyes get bigger than my family's stomachs - or my wallet. I think I'll keep you.
(PS -- in case the above wasn't good enough? This little workhorse folds essentially flat for storage. It's napping on the coat closet shelf, folded down and taking no usable space to speak of, even as I type this. If this basket were a man, and I were not already married, I would marry it.)
