Supermarket stroll

Having a half day work only today meant that this afternoon I was able to do the main weekly shop at a leisurely pace, browsing every aisle and taking time to really look at the products.  I also chose to go to a different supermarket, a large Morrisons, from my usual one - a small Sainsbury is the closest to me in the village/small town that I live in.

I would like to think that I am not a supermarket snob but I think I would be fibbing just a little! I'm a Waitrose girl at heart and I also like M&S when I need something almost ready to go without having to add to it too much on busy work evenings from time to time.  Unfortunately neither have stores very close to me now that I have moved out into the countryside.  Mind you my bank manager is probably relieved as previously I used to be able to pop to Waitrose in my lunch break from work and could do M&S "on the way home" (well only a minor detour was needed to make that statement true!)  However the Morrison store I went to today was actually quite a pleasant experience and the variety of fresh produce and the fish counter was really quite impressive.

I bought some beautiful king scallops which I intend to have tonight maybe seared and tossed with some chorizo, garlic, flat leaf parsley and a squeeze of lemon accompanied by a super healthy mixed baby leaf salad whilst my husband, who refuses point blank to eat seafood or even try it, will be having a 21 day matured beef fillet steak instead - got to push the boat out sometimes!

Whilst at the supermarket I picked up October issues of Good Food magazine and Delicious (I subscribe to Olive so have that one already).  I was starting to get a little bored with some of the food magazines a few months back and found that the recipes seemed to be being recycled from years ago and nothing much was grabbing my attention. However in the past few months I have found some interesting articles and recipes in them again so will keep cluttering up my home office with them until I get round to stripping out the recipes and articles I want and filing them.

The quality and variety of produce, meat, fish and ingredients generally has grown enormously in recent years which always makes me then question how come the ready meal market is expanding even more?!  The shelves are full of ready meals or elements of a meal (like freshly mashed potato - is it really that difficult to make it yourself or even make a large batch and then freeze portions for later use?) and whilst I fully accept and even use these things myself from time to time I wonder how people can afford to live off them.  Whilst unpacking the trolley onto the conveyor belt at the tills I watch so many people on all sides of me lay out box after packet after carton after tin of these heavily processed foods.  I smile quietly to myself and feel very virtuous when I look at my fresh ingredients and wonder if those folk with the ready meals look in disdain at my purchases or do they just not consider food worth the time and effort? 

Anyway, time to put my feet up with a cup of tea and a flick through the recipes in the magazines to inspire me for the weekend.