Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Unless You Own a Restaurant, Please Don't Buy THAT Much Creamy Italian Salad Dressing.

Fat Tuesday Ruminations....

As a solitary, short(5ft-3), 113 pound woman who is on medication with a potential for weight gain, I cruise right past the Family Size & Bulk Club items in my food store. New to the area in the summer, my first visit to the store I encountered Food of the Gods size barrels of cheese puffs & "healthy" popcorn in the Family/Bulk section.  I laughed my way down the next aisle. 

Recently, I discovered that they sell my expensive, usually purchased at GNC, Quest protein bars at a bulk discount. Way too many of one flavor, & truly not much of a discount it turned out, but I explored to see what else they might have of interest to me. 

Nothing. The bulk toilet paper & paper towels were actually the same price except for the 1 ply. I've never seen a fridge with a 1 gallon bottle of 5% fruit juice- fruit punch; maybe preschools buy them. Some products were more money than I spend, but were name brands that are much more recognizable than the ones I use. In fact, most of the things were not very reasonable, & the calorie/carb contents on many were horrific.  

A 3/4 cup serving of cereal with 24 grams(6 teaspoons)of sugar should be labeled Sugar Cereal, not have a sports figure on it & be purchased in bulk.  The trail mix was the size of my torso with salted, high fat nuts, extra oils?, & lots of visible pieces of chocolate coated lumps - labeled nature something or other.  What food is naturally chocolate coated & whose family should be eating pounds of it at a time?

I will cop to occasionally eating Smuckers Reduced Fat Peanut Butter, which is still relatively high in fat, with a spoon(mostly I eat it stirred into oatmeal), but it has 0 cholesterol, & 2 grams of sugar a serving.  It is 3 bucks in the regular aisle.  I'll be sticking with that, & staying out of Bulk/Family size.  Maybe some families should be staying out of there, too.

Oh. You do not, DO NOT, want to know the fat/cholesterol/ carb/sodium values on the Family size nacho cheese dip, which of course should be paired with a 3 lb Family size bag(or 48 bulk single serve)of nachos.

Do you buy bulk or family size items?  Do you forgo certain products after reading their labels?

7 comments:

  1. We do not buy in bulk as a pattern. YES we do put somethings back that contain more fat calories than I like to read. I also put back the ones that I CANNOT READ because of fine print. LOL
    I was very surprised a few years ago when I read the actual fruit in some advertised Fruit Juices. Then when I checked one that said 100% fruit juice it was mostly apple juice even though advertised as Cranberry, I think.
    Anyway I enjoyed the read as always when you blog, all 36% of you! LOL

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  2. With just the two of us, I don't buy in bulk, although I do stock up on items like toilet paper, canned goods, and grains. We have a pantry in the basement where I can keep stuff like that. I definitely don't buy super-sized anything, though!

    I have really started watching sodium content, as well as trying to buy lower fat items. Cheese is probably my biggest weakness.

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    1. Ahhhhh....cheese. I recently tried fat free cream cheese. ACKKK. I really do like Cabot's 75% less fat cheeses & Friendship's or Shop Rite's fat free cottage cheese, but I miss fresh mozzarella which I've decided just isn't good for me..I think it is an Italian Girl trigger food.

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  3. We stock up on meat in bulk and break it down into two person servings, TP (to save on packaging) and stuff like laundry soap or dishwasher tabs- we also buy all our pet food in bulk because we have 6 pets. i've been getting some treats for my kids in bulk because it's the only way i can afford to feed 52 other people's kids at one time.

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    1. I have both heard & read that there are local stores as well as national companies that will provide you with products for students at a discount or even free. In some cases they get a tax advantage for doing so. I do believe Frito Lay used to do so, but it has been a while since I've had contact with a teacher affording herself of this.
      BTW, happy 10 years blogging.....

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  4. I don't usually buy anything in bulk. It would have to be a really good deal of something that I regularly buy anyway. I do compare price per ounce. Sometimes it looks like you're getting a deal by buying a "family size package" of something when it's cheaper to buy more than one of the smaller sizes. I do buy family size of meats that I know I'm going to be cooking, that I separate and put into smaller freezer packages. I had a craving for bacon a few days ago, so I decided if my favorite brand was on sale, I'd get some. We don't eat bacon often at our house, but once in a while a BLT craving hits! The 3 pound package of bacon wasn't on sale, so I decided I'd not indulge my craving that day. Then I noticed that the 1.5 pound packages WERE on sale. I could buy two of those for $5 less than the 3 pound package. So I indulged. :)

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    1. I know Eler Beth was doing extreme couponing for a while. Now are you sure she doesn't have a bacon coupon? ;o

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