looking for advice

[Gabelma]

I am hoping to move to Kansas from the UK next year would like to know more about how to plan my grocery shopping and recipes.

At present about £40 a week for 2 adults and 2 kids, but need to know how much it would be for similar in the US (I appreciate it changes from State to State) just looking for an approximate

I buy:
Fruit and Veg:

Bag of Bananas
3 Peppers
Celery
1 kg of carrots
12 apples
8 pears
6oranges
grapes (bag)
box of strawberries
bag of frozen veg

Tins:
4 tins of beans
2 tins of tomatoes
1 tin tuna steaks in brine

Fridge:
Houmous
Soft Cheese
Tofu
500g Hamburger (or a joint of some meat if its reduced)
12 yoghurts
1kg of mild cheddar cheese
4 pts cows milk
2pts goats milk


cupboard:
crackers for cheese
2 loaves of bread
breadsticks
100g of Rice
250g Pasta
Pesto Sauce
Peanut Butter
Jam
Nesquick milkshake powder

Charley

[boefixepa]

I can't tell you everything but I will give you an idea of what you can expect.

Bag of bananas - Bananas are sold by the poud here. A decent price in my area is .33 cents a lb.

Peppers (a personal favorite of mine) are expensive this year for some reason, but they are usually 3/$1.00 and that's a pretty good price. Last year I could find 4/$1.00, but not this year.

Celery is about .40-.60 cents for a bunch

Carrots...well they come different ways, but the cheepest 'bag' is generally under a $1.00.

Apples vary greatly depends on what varieity, granny smith, red delicious, gana, ect, you want to get. If you get the small, less expensive kinds, and they are 'in season' you can get a 5 lbs bag for around $2.00

um...I haven't bought pears in a while, sorry

Orange prices also tend to be seasonal...I think a good price for regular navel oranges around here is 6/$1.00

Grapes are REALLY expensive this year...$1.29/lb or more is normal right now. $.99/lb was 'sale' price a few weeks back.

Strawberries are VERY seasonal. If you catch them when they are right on you can get 'flats' of them (a flat box of 1lb containers, generally 8 to a flat) for under $1.00/lb. In the store individual containers range anywhere from $1.00 on sale to $2.50 in the 'off' season. I buy a flat or two when they are their cheepest then freeze them for winter use.

Bags of frozen veggies vary greatly....from under a dollar to over $4....just depends on what you want.

Not sure what kinds of beans you want, but just plain old beans, nothing fancy, you should be able to get a away with under $1.00 a can. (oh, they are cans, not tins, in the US....I so love the little differences in the same language.)

Same with tomatoes

I've never seen a can of tuna steaks in brine in the US.... Here we have tunafish, it's all mashed up, and you can get it in spring water, or oil...they vary and you can get good sales on them sometimes. They are not large...about the size of your hand and half a pinky finger tall...sorry wasn't sure if you would now what an inch is (and I don't know centimeters). They sell for say and average of .40 cents each.

Houmus, I think I've had this a few times, but I really don't know how much it costs...sorry.

Soft cheese....well, welcome to the US...you dn't have many choices here. We don't have 'fresh' cheese like I have seen in Europe. You might be able to hunt it up in a speciality store. What we have in this general category is Cottage cheese, small container, 1/2 lb, will run about 1.25, Ricotta cheese, about $2 for a 1/2 lb, and cream cheese, 1.25 for 1 lb. There are some other 'soft' cheese in the same area, but I never buy them, so I can't help you there.

I don't by tofu, but I know the stores sell it...

Hamburger meat, on the cheep end, you can get for .89-99 cents a lb.

Yougurts, be prepared for MUCH less selection then you are use to, generally runs from about .33-.50 cents a container, the single serving ones. Depends on the brand...

A lb of chedder cheese you can find for under $2.00...varies by brand

Milk here is sold cheepest by the gallon...about $3.00. It's only about $2.50 for a 1/2 gallon (2 quarts) so your better off by the gallon.

No regular store is going to have goats milk. You'd have to go to a specialty store...I know one that has it, but I don't know how much it costs.

Cheep crackers will cost under a $1.00, but you can spend as much as $4.00

A loaf for the cheep bread will cost under a dollar, or you can spend $2-3 for the nicer quality breads

Bread sticks....1-3 depending on the kind you buy

Rice, the regular simmer for 15 minute kind, bought in bulk is maybe $.50 a lb.

Pasta...depends on the brand, but well under $1 a lb.

Pesto Sauce....not sure what you mean by this....I'm thinking speghetti sause..... .99-$3.00 for a large bottle.

Peanut Butter, for an avergae jar is about $2.00

Jam, varied greatly by size and flavor - $2.00 - $4.00

Nesquick??? -- I don't buy it.

Good luck!!!

[Gabelma]

wow that is fantastic thank you, need to go and add it up lol, the soft cheese would closest to philadelphia. Need to find out about making strawberry milkshake of some sort lol as my daughter won't go to bed without her 'bedtime drink'

And will have to fork out for goats milk I guess as my daughter get migraines with too much cows milk, might need to get a goat lol My favourite language difference is the vest, pants and suspenders - to us it sounds like a woman in her favourite underwear

Charley

[boefixepa]

I looked at the specialty store when i was there yesterday and the goats milk was $5 for a 1/2 gallon.

You might look into fresh, non pasterized, organic cows milk too....though it may not be cheeper, it may very well be the chemical and hormones in the cows milk.

Also I know when I was in Europe they had boxed milk that sat on the shelves...we don't really have that here, unless you go to some soy milks, our everyday milk is sold refrigerated, and keep refridgerated, so that might make a difference too, though I am not sure what you use.

[My English Castle]

Having lived a while in the UK and with a British husband, I find food extremely cheap here, especially if you live somewhere where there are a couple of competing food stores. But I think you can find Nesquik or Ovaltine or something to make the "hot drink" with for less than $3.

You might look to see if there's an on-line grocery shopping site near where you're planning on moving. that would give you great price comparisons.


If you need "translation" help, let me know.

My husband still has problems finding cucumbers and eggplant/aubergine
zucchini/courgette make him crazy. He HATES American beans, but we can find (awk) Heinz British beans around here in some speciality stores

[My English Castle]

Another thing that might help: Americans use MANY more coupons than Brits. Our coupons seem to be worth more and more available--not the 10p off that you usually see in the UK.

About.com lists some things about Kansas food shopping that might prove helpful for price comparisons:
Grocery Store Weekly Ads - Kansas

Have fun!

[Gabelma]

Thanks the site is great - we have fresh milk too which is what I use I just freeze it if I am buying long term. Goats Milk is very expensive looks like will need to look into getting the goat lol

Charley