There are the just two of us and we have different needs
By suspenseful
@suspenseful (40192)
Canada
November 6, 2009 10:29am CST
Last Monday because we now have the van, my husband decided to go shopping with me. Now our friends drove us to the store, and I figured my husband and his friend would go out to the Mall or to Walmart and since they were guys, possibly to the Home Hardware that was not that far away, but they decided to go to the grocery store with me. Now my friend is a nurse and her husband has to be on a special diet - trying to lose weight and threatened diabetes (or the diabetes that you do not need to take pills) so even though she has to pay more, that is all right with him.
Well my husband has a power wheelchair and even though I rushed off to try to get the healthier stuff, I only managed to get the spices before he found me (should have gone to the produce section right away) and then there was the look at the stuff in the aisles.
Now my husband on the other hand can eat white bread, loves chicken drumsticks, head lettuce, while I have to eat more healthy food like spinach, Romaine lettuce, etc. but when buying one head of head lettuce and one of Romaine, plus the spinach, gets the short shift when he wants me to buy a large packge of drumsticks and the things he loves. I still have some chicken breasts left over from the last time I shopped without him, but a large packge of drumsticks, no way. I can get a smaller packager and besides I would rather get him chicken thighs. Then I do not have to pay for that bone. So I was wondering when there are two people, and one needs a special diet and one without, do you get the salad packages or do you just get the lettuce, tomatoes, spinach, greens, whatever and do them yourself or do you sort of combine the two. I do not like to throw things away.
I am looking for suggestions to save money and yet keep my health or improve it.
5 people like this
8 responses
@mtdewgurl74 (18151)
• United States
6 Nov 09
My husband doesn't shop with me, so that is a plus..but he does has his list of stuff he wants for the month. I am able to get what I need and his things also. I don't buy the bagged salads already made because I feel that I can get more out of it if I make the salads myself and I can get it with what I want in there. My husbands always ends up eating my healthy stuff except for the yogurt since he likes the fruits and most veggies.
1 person likes this
@mtdewgurl74 (18151)
• United States
7 Nov 09
I know how it is with bills..but your health is nothing to mess with, so hope he doesn't revert back to old ways..
1 person likes this
@suspenseful (40192)
• Canada
7 Nov 09
I had a hard time trying to get my husband to let me get yogurt. He cannot stand the stuff, but now he does. It is just that now we have some bills to pay =- the motel bill for instance, and now with the new furnace, and I do not want him to go back to the cheaper is better then healthy bit.
@suspenseful (40192)
• Canada
8 Nov 09
So do I. We had to go grocery shopping today because we are having the van safety checked this week and of course, he followed me around. But I was smart. I went to the produce section first, and got one unhealthy lettuce for him, and spinach for me and then I got some dates for him, some nuts and flaxseed for me, so I sort of alterated things and last week, I did get the tomato pastes and canned tomatoes. Also since we started to watch Rachel Ray, he sort of does not mind me getting more healthy stuff. And I told him that I spent less. So I am a more careful shopper.
On and he did not get his drumsticks. He is going to eat chicken thighs and I will have the chicken br*sts.
@suzzy3 (8341)
•
6 Nov 09
Your husband still needs to eat healthy as well so buy all your stuff first then buy him a few treats .You must point out he is not the only one to buy for,and he will be in real trouble if he carries on eating all thoses carbs if he cannot work them off,being in a wheel chair he will soon get over weight and end up with with even more problems.
1 person likes this
@suspenseful (40192)
• Canada
7 Nov 09
I am trying to get him to eat healthy, but he does not like whole grain stuff. The only way I can get him to eat brown rice, for example, is to make curried rice and with that you need butter or margarine and that is not good for me. I tried to get him to eat whole wheat pasta, but he did not like it. What I have been doing is making spaghetti squash and putting spaghetti sauce over it for me and giving him his plain white pasta with the spaghetti sauce and adding a salad or in the case of lasagna, making an eggplant lasagna for myself and a regular one for him.
@suspenseful (40192)
• Canada
11 Nov 09
I cannot eat potatoes, but I can eat cauliflower made to look like potatoes. I am waiting until we get our new microwave so I can try that. I have not tried them yet. I sort of love brocoli but not cooked, so that disguised cauliflower that is also in the cabbage family, has to be very good for me to like it.
@suzzy3 (8341)
•
8 Nov 09
What about potato boiled for you then mash the rest with butter for him maybe put grated cheese in it.salad for you,supermarket bags have what you need then leave for next day.What I do is cook seperate things in bulk put some in the freezer for another time.My husband is fussy as well it drives me mad sometimes.You could try buying him some of those fortiefied breakfast cerials like rice crispies that way you know he is getting extra vitamins but don't tell him.It is important that you eat properly as with out you there will be no one to look after him.Good luck.
@Lakota12 (42600)
• United States
7 Nov 09
We have 5 poeple to satisfy! one dont like any spices on food but meat tenderizer and ya read on the lable and it has just what spices we put on our food. But if she know what we put on food she says to spicy and teh meat tenderizer to me is way to salty!
If we get things for a salad sometimes we get the package and sometimes the makings really depends on how we feel and what we are really looking for.
Now if I just get the lettuce pack I also like to get some tomatoes and mushrooms and those hard bread things for crunch.
and really should have some kind of nut to put on it I know
I love pinenuts but they are sooo hard to find.
1 person likes this
@suspenseful (40192)
• Canada
7 Nov 09
Just having two people with different needs of what to eat is hard enough and we cannot take advantage of getting large packages. I do not want to eat chicken all one week, beef all one week, pork all one week, because usually here there is a big sale of beef one week, pork another week, etc. And they do not keep the produce fresh at Superstore, not like at Safeway. And the salad package at Superstore are the large kind while I want one that will just last a week.
@ladym33 (10978)
• United States
7 Nov 09
The fresh lettuce is usually cheaper than the bagged lettuce occasionally the bagged lettuce goes on sale sometimes and is cheaper but most of the time the fresh head lettuce is better. You could also get other greens which are very healthy and have lots of nutrients, and sometimes they are cheaper than head lettuce. When my husband is on a diet I just go on it with him, and if I want to have something off of the diet I will, but mostly I will just do what he does to make it easier and save money. For instance if your husband can't eat a lot of carbs you can fix him the veggies and the meat, but not give him the carbs, but maybe you could have some noodles or rice. You can make some up and save the rest and eat it 2 or three times, while still fixing him a different protein and vegetable or vegetables every night, and you could eat the meat and veggies to but still have a little bit of pasta too.
1 person likes this
@Theresaaiza (10487)
• Australia
7 Nov 09
Hi suspense, grocery or shopping trends here in our country is a bit different from yours so I really can't give very helpful tips here. I guess it would save you further arguments or difficulties in choosing if you set aside time to list and agree on a list of what to buy before hitting the shops. At least, prior to shopping you and your husband can come into terms as to how you can make both ends meet, or at least meet halfway. That way you can prevent overstuffing your cupboards or ref with things that will eventually just go to waste because one person cant consume it all.
1 person likes this
@suspenseful (40192)
• Canada
7 Nov 09
I do make a list, but he goes and wants me to show him the flier and then tells me what to get. Unfortunately as we are on a budget, I cannot get what he wants. The last time was when we bought candies for the Halloween kids, and that made a mess of things. We went $30 over budget and that meant going without what I considered necessary. So I really do not want him to 'suggest' things, unless it is in small packages. So if he wants drumsticks, I will get a small package, but not the family sized.
@Picquarian (724)
• United States
7 Nov 09
Maybe he could start eating healthier. Maybe buy a few of his favorite things, but, for the most part, buy the food you need for your diet. When I was living with my parents, my dad was diagnosed with diabetes, so he had to start eating healthier. My family and I began eating the foods he could eat, instead of buying food for separate diets.
1 person likes this
@suspenseful (40192)
• Canada
8 Nov 09
The trouble is that he does not like whole grain products and the only way I can get him to eat brown rice is to make curried rice and add a lot of spices to disguise the taste. He does not like beans, etc. so it is going to be hard.
@suspenseful (40192)
• Canada
6 Nov 09
We do have hearts of romaine at Superstore, but they package three at a time when one or two would be enough, and they pack them so tight that the bags split and that is no good. I wish we had individual salads, but the only individual kinds are macaroni and potato and coleslaw and for someone who has to not eat as much fatty stuff, that is not a good idea and with all the preservatives, I hate to get preserved myself. I used to make a good potato salad, but not anymore since it is too tempting and do not want that to happen.
@blackbriar (9075)
• United States
7 Nov 09
Since I recently found out about my own diabetes, I'm buying healthier and my hubby and daughter eat what I can eat. I'm not going to buy fifty different foods and cook all kinds of different meals when we can all eat the same.
1 person likes this
@suspenseful (40192)
• Canada
7 Nov 09
I would love to do that, but he has the old fashioned ideas about diabetes, the ones where you could not eat vegetables and you do not need whole grain products. So what I do is sneak them in. I can disguise brown rice, but unfortunately he can catch whole grain pasta. I did buy some whole wheat buns when we were in the motel while the house was getting fixed though. He sort of liked that.
