Peek-At-You!

Okay, so I peek into the shopping cart of the people ahead and behind me at the supermarket. Here’s what I saw yesterday in the cart of a tired-looking mamma with two toddlers:

Soda (dark and bubbly)
Bread (white and squishy)
Chopped meat (wet and red)
Cooked chicken
Disposable diapers
Apple sauce
Frozen yoghurt
Crackers (yellow and round)
Frozen peas
Eggs
Pancake mix
Instant coffee
Band-Aids (two toddlers!)
Tangerines
Chocolate kisses
Laundry detergent
Cheerios
Paper towels
Toilet paper
Wipes

Then I called my own mama, who is a grandmother several times over, to ask her what her mother bought on a typical trip to the grocery store. Of course, living on a farm in Germany, they ate off the land and didn’t go into town often to buy food. Here's what my Mutti (German for mom) had to say about what her mother bought:

"1/4 lb of coffee
salt
vinegar
sugar
raisins
cacao powder
rice
pepper
3 herrings (salted)
soap and soap powder

"We did not buy meat, fruit, vegetables, milk, sour cream, butter or cheese on a regular basis, only occasionally when for some reason, we did not produce them on a farm. Because we also had a bakery, we did not buy any baked goods in stores. Once in a while - and these were great treats, we might buy a few bananas and/or oranges."