Welcome to The Globe’s new series, What’s In My Cart?, where we’re asking Canadians how they stock their kitchens. To share your thoughts, fill out this form or e-mail reporter Daniel Reale-Chin at: realechin@gmail.com
Illustration by Kat Frick Miller
Welcome to The Globe’s new series, What’s In My Cart?, where we’re asking Canadians how they stock their kitchens.
While food prices have risen across British Columbia since last year, near Beth Jay’s home in Halfmoon Bay, they are especially high.
The single and recently retired librarian and teacher lives in B.C.’s Sunshine Coast region, where produce is brought over from Vancouver by ferry, and nutritious groceries are the second-most expensive in the province – with the average monthly bill for a family of four at $1,311, according to B.C.’s Centre for Disease Control data released last year.
“The lack of bulk and discount grocery stores can make it tough to buy things on sale,” says Jay, whose preferred grocery stores are Claytons Heritage Market and IGA Gibsons, both a 15-minute drive from her home.
Still, the 65-year-old who cooks often manages to keep a tight budget of about $50 on groceries a week, racking up a total of $157 last month. It helps that she only shops for herself, and that her diet can be no-frills.
For philosophical reasons, she has been following a lacto-ovo vegetarian diet (she eats animal products such as eggs and cheese, but not meat) since 1991.
After she retired about a month ago, she had more time to be creative with what she cooks and with her food choices. She’s been making her own sourdough bread for more than a decade, but now with more time, she says she plans on reading more cookbooks and experimenting. She also prides herself on having never tried products from Beyond Meat, a company that provides plant-based meat.
Here is how Jay shops for groceries.
How I save: When I find fruit on sale, I buy it in large quantities and freeze it. I use a local delivery service, Warehouse Shoppers Express, which goes to Costco in Vancouver a few times a week for my toilet paper. If I made the trip myself it would take a two-and-a-half-hour drive, plus a ferry.
How I splurge: Local craft beer. I really like Bowen Island Brewing.
The hardest shopping habit to keep up: It’s hard to make food interesting daily. I used to cook a lot of Indian or Asian-inspired food because the flavours are great with vegetarian ingredients like tofu. I’m exploring new cuisines now.
How I’ve changed my eating habits recently: I’m putting more effort into how I cook for myself, or for friends when they come over. I go to the library and look at vegetarian cookbooks to find interesting things to make. I recently made lasagna “roll-ups” for a friend, with spinach, ricotta and parmesan rolled into the pasta sheets, assembled standing up and cooked with the tomato sauce. It was delicious.
Five items always in my cart:
- Flour – Rogers Foods – $18.99 for 10 kg: I’ve been making my own bread for 30 years. It’s healthier, since you know what ingredients go into it, and it’s cheaper. I make about 40 loaves with this, which lasts around four months.
- Rice noodles – Erawan – $3.79: These are so versatile. I use them to make a Pad Thai. I used to make a homemade peanut sauce to go with it. Sometimes I eat the noodles with a homemade pesto.
- Pressed tofu – Sunrise – $4.99: This is probably one of the best tofu that I’ve found. I like the taste, and it’s firm so it tastes good fried.
- Canned tomatoes – Unico – $2.89: I use tomatoes a lot for cooking, whether it’s Italian food or Indian food that I make, like “butter tofu,” a vegetarian version of butter chicken. I cook the tofu with tomatoes, cream, onion, garlic, ginger and spices, and it comes out great.
- Genmai miso – Amano – $8.99: I make a miso gravy with equal parts miso and flour and some water. It’s an alternative to meat gravy and I throw it on some fried tofu, mashed potatoes and some steamed vegetables. It’s a good source of vitamin B12 and iron.
This interview has been edited and condensed.