Don't take your shopping list to Costco

So ... we had a free pass to Costco Saturday night, and we went on our first ever shopping spree to that crazy place. I dutifully wrote out a shopping list, and we headed off to see what we could find. I'll tell you up front we spent $100, and didn't buy one single thing on our list. In our defense, except maybe for one or two items, everything we bought was something we actually use, but not in such an abnormal quantity. For example, my husband really, really wanted a 10-pound bag of organic brown basmati rice, even though I prefer short grain rice, but I finally gave in. It was a great price, and the bag itself was very cool, but we don't have storage space for so much rice, and we don't go through it as fast as we used to when we had three hungry boys to feed.



Then there was the case of 18 Larabars for a measly $15. Who could resist? OK, so I normally maybe buy five Larabars in a year, but that's because they're so expensive, right? And they are delicious, but did I really need 18? Thank goodness the five pound bag of chocolate chips had butter and cream in the ingredients list. And I sensibly passed up the three quarts of organic carrot juice, after reminding myself we can barely get through one quart before it turns gray.

I came out of the produce room clutching a three and a half pound bag of broccoli for $3.99 and the same amount of crimini mushrooms for about the same cost. We now have a rule at our house that broccoli must be consumed at every meal. Three pounds is a LOT of broccoli. And there will be a surfeit of mushrooms in the Thanksgiving dinner. I also wanted a 10 pound bag of giant onions but my husband talked me down. He, on the other hand, got a one pound tub of organic salad mix for $3.99. We also purchased a five pound bag of frozen blueberries, but we usually keep a lot of frozen fruit in the house for smoothies, so that seemed normal. And a giant jar of almond butter.


What was I thinking? I'm not even a big fan of sweets.

The one thing I bought (besides the Larabars) that makes no sense is a 28-ounce jar of capers. It seemed like a bargain, and I have until April, 2013 to use them up — should be plenty of time. By the way, what's your favorite way to use capers? Maybe I also bought something else that calls my judgment into question — a 10-pound bag of organic evaporated cane juice. Now that's just plain nuts, but it helps to explain why we decided a Costco membership is not in our future.

I don't remember what else we got but I just want to describe the party scene at Costco before signing off. There were people holding large trays of food samples everywhere we looked, and shoppers were walking around gnawing on whole chicken legs, among other delicacies. There wasn't a single thing we wished to sample, but everyone else seemed to be enjoying the food. Is this the way it always is at Costco or is this a holiday occurrence?

I don't mean to imply that shopping at Costco is a bad idea, but it would require a completely different mindset from what we've been operating on, and eating broccoli for most of our meals. I'm intrigued but cautious.