Have a grocery store adventure

Shake things up in a pretty cheap and easy way

Many of us buy the same stuff every time we go to the grocery store. In general, it’s wise to spend your money on food you know your family will eat. That way less food gets wasted!

But if life is feeling a little too routine right now, it might be fun to try small novelties. The grocery store is a great venue for this because you go there anyway. You go there a lot! And the stakes are small. For a few dollars and maybe a little bit of time you can make life a little more interesting on an average Monday.

Buy something adventurous

So, next time you go shopping, look beyond the items you always grab. See what else your store is selling, and what might be appealing. Produce is a good option — there are often little bins of things that aren’t the normal apples, bananas, or grapes. Maybe you try a starfruit or kumquat. Let your kids pick out any fruit or vegetable they want! I'm not saying they’ll try it, but at least you might.

If you’re firing up the grill this time of year (and good for you if you are), then maybe think beyond hamburgers, hotdogs, and steaks. If Costco has a special on a cut of meat you’ve never heard of or one you’ve never tried yourself, give it a whirl.

You could venture down the international aisle and see what your grocery store stocks. Maybe it’s a food you’ve heard of like Vegemite, but have never pondered trying. Maybe it’s a new-to-you cuisine that’s not so well-represented in your local take-out selections. And then there are the treat foods. Snacks and desserts are a good bet because they’re created to be appealing, and humans aren’t really that different from each other. If enough people like a snack food that a grocery store stocks it, there’s probably a good reason for that.

Figure out the preparations

Once the adventurous items have made it from the shelf to your cart to your kitchen, spend a little time researching each of them. Figure out possible preparations. Will these foods taste like some other familiar foods? Come up with a plan. And then execute. The goal is not necessarily to find something you’re going to love as much as grilled cheese. The goal is more to do something out of the ordinary on a Monday night.

When we get busy with work and family responsibilities, it gets harder to have little adventures in our lives. Becoming a grocery store daredevil is a very cheap, easy way to have a little fun. So why not grab something that catches your eye?