Strange Ingredients

[jms0310]

This may have been a question in the past but since I am new here and also am new to cooking I am dying to know how all of you buy your ingredients for recipes. I mean, do you plan your meals a week in advance and then buy all of the ingredients or just keep things on hand. I am always missing one ingredient! A lot of CL recipes also have some strange ingredients that I cannot always find at my local grocery store. Do you go to more than one store a week? Please help-I need help planning!
Jessica

[LaraW]

My husband and I are probably anal, but we make a menu for the week and a grocery list. We try to not go back to the store in the middle of the week (although yesterday I forgot bananas, and I don't know how I will live without them!). When we first started making CL recipes, it seemed like we had high grocery bills that came from buying ingredients, but I think that you will find a lot of recipes that use the same spices, etc., so you will then have them on hand. Also, if you have a recipe to try that has a lot of stuff you need to buy, you may want to limit to only 1 or 2 new recipes in a week. That will help control the expense.

[Beth]

Many of the unusual items that I see are oriental items, and I try to make a list and head to the oriental market every so often. I find more selection and cheaper prices. And the oriental regulars seem to get a chuckle at a tall blond shopping in their midst.

Some of the other things may be found in health food stores or a special aisle in the your regular grocery store. Don't be afraid to ask for them either. You may find them, or they may order them for you (usually means getting them in a week or so if they can get them). All the grocery stores in my area claim to welcome requests for items they don't stock. They may never keep up with peoples' changing tatstes and cooking habits are changing if they don't sell something and no one asks.

[SoCal]

Jessica, I think the number of different spices that a recipe has as well as the number of ingredients is often the reason that I don't try the recipe. All it takes is one look at a recipe and if there are too many ingredients that I would have to buy, I pass on it. I suppose it is a $$ issue but I can see LaraW's point in that CL uses the same spices/ingredients in many recipes. Still, it is hard for me to buy all the ingredients being on a budget but I am really trying to expand on my pantry especially spices!! Now if the price of pork and beef tenderloin would come down I could try all of the CL recipes that have gotten rave reviews on this BB and are also recipes I pass on!!

[luv2cook]

i built my stash slowly - and looked to find other recipes that had that spice I just bought. I have found since I started cooking regularly that I always have a bunch of the same stuff on hand. Like Lara, I do NOT go back to the store in the middle of the week. I just make due - stupid, since the store is exactly one mile from my house!

[Beth]

Luv2cook, is right, it's something you build on and work around. The folks on this BB have been very good about suggesting alternative ingredients for some of the hard to find or ethnic ingredients. Pastes and flavored oils can easily be made ahead if you would rather spend a little more time than money, so that's an option for some ingredients.

If the ingredients are ethnic, try an ethnic market and buy one or two at a time. I bought a 1.5 qt bottle of light soy sauce (we were on a peanutty noodles kick) for about what a 17 oz bottle cost me at the grocery store, and the produce is fresher and cheaper too. Snow peas are half or less of what they usually run in the grocery store. And even though I am a Penzey's fan, I tried some cinnamon, 5 spice and a curry powder there, from 79 cents to a little over a dollar a bag. The place is probably 20 miles away, so I don't do regular shopping there, but worth an occassionaly trip (and I'm told the restaurant in the strip center is very good and cheap, so I may have to treat myself to lunch next time).