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You are here: Home / Deals / Shopping with an Earth Mother and a Sugar Daddy

Shopping with an Earth Mother and a Sugar Daddy

February 9, 2011 by Alea Milham 6 Comments

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Grocery Shopping with an Earth Mother and a Sugar Daddy: Finding balance when one parent serves real food with healthy ingredients and the other parent likes to give the kids treats.
Here is a look at how my husband’s grocery shopping habits differ from my shopping habits:

I scored several great manager’s specials on organic spinach, lettuces, carrots, and lots of fruit at my favorite grocery store last Thursday. Even though I had not left the produce section, my cart was already quite full. A customer struck up a conversation with me and referred to me as an earth mother. I did not have time to find out if she meant that as a compliment or not because I had to chase after my toddler who was running towards a wine bottle display.

When we were putting away groceries my daughter related the story to my oldest son, “she called Mom an earth mother. So what does that make us? Dirt?” My son replied, “the politically correct term is sediment”. I tweeted my daughter’s question and @shirleygfe said it made my kids blessed, because she is nice like that.

On Friday night, my husband asked the same question he asks every weekend: “who needs ice-cream?” That is the cue for the kids to jump in the van and drive to the store where they will have shopping cart races and each pick out their favorite flavor of ice-cream or sorbet.

On Sunday when I announced that I needed to go to the store to pick up a few things, my husband joked that there wasn’t room for any more veggies in the fridge. My son suggested that my husband and I go shopping together so we would buy a balance of healthy food and junk food. My daughter said, “that would be like Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader going shopping together”. My son asked which one of us was Darth Vader and before I could answer my husband said, “No Luke, I am your earth mother”.

My family obviously enjoys teasing me. My daughter refers to some of my dinners as “death by vegetables” but she goes back for seconds and thirds. My husband harasses me about all the organic veggies and lack of junk food in the house, but he does read the labels before he buys the ice-cream and sorbet to make sure they are made with real ingredients. I would like to think that we have come to a compromise and he appreciates my food values, but it might just be that he is afraid of Darth Earth Mother.

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About Alea Milham

Alea Milham is the owner of Premeditated Leftovers and the author of Prep-Ahead Meals from Scatch. She shares her tips for saving money and time while reducing waste in her home. Her favorite hobby, gardening, is a frugal source of organic produce for her recipes. She believes it is possible to live fully and eat well while spending less.

Comments

  1. Laura says

    February 9, 2011 at 10:15 pm

    I really like this post!

    I'm hoping our Costco has the free-range eggs again this week. They haven't had them for awhile.

    Reply
  2. 21st Century Housewife© says

    February 9, 2011 at 9:12 pm

    I love this post! It really made me smile!! And that is an incredible tip about the laundry baskets – it makes total sense but I would NEVER have thought of it. Although we don't have asthma, I'm going to move our laundry baskets anyway as it has to be better for us!

    Reply
  3. Alea says

    February 9, 2011 at 3:43 pm

    That is perfect Elsa, I added it to the post.

    Reply
  4. Elsa says

    February 9, 2011 at 3:05 pm

    Hello! I linked up my Apricot Bread and Baking Powder! 🙂 Am I doing this right? Do I just add my link to a comment? Thanks!

    http://elsascookingdiary.blogspot.com/2011/02/apricot-bread-and-baking-powder.html

    Reply

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Welcome. I'm Alea!

On Premeditated Leftovers I share simple recipes made with whole foods, practical shopping tips, time saving techniques, and meal planning strategies. I also share tips for minimizing food waste, so more of the food that is purchased ends up on the table.

While volunteering as a budget counselor, I realized that food is the element of most people’s budgets where they have the greatest control. I set out to develop low-cost recipes from scratch to prove it’s possible to create delicious meals on a limited budget. Eating well while spending less is about more than just creating recipes using inexpensive ingredients; it’s about creatively combining ingredients so you don’t feel deprived and are inspired to stick to your budget.

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