Add one item to my grocery list

Wanted to try something a little different.

I want to expand my horizons and try new food. I'm American so anything that's from America you can suggest (products found in most stores not store specific foods) or you can always suggest a fruit or vegetable. Gonna buy up to 25 things so everyone can name one or two and I'll write it down. Will buy the first 25 different items that I find in the stores I go to. May update here in this thread after I've tried a few of them. :)

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Comments ( 54 )

libertybell

2 years ago

Pepperidge Farm Red Hot flavored goldfish.

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- Anonymous Post Author
  
  2 years ago
  
  Didn't even know that existed, I'll add that to my list thanks
  
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- [Old Memory]
  
  2 years ago
  
  I got rainbow goldfish in my cupboard 😸
  OP needs to try milanos too!
  
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Boojum

2 years ago

A small chunk of genuine Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

Unless you eat in very good Italian restaurants, it's likely you've always had shitty American-made Parmesan cheese.

If you're really unfortunate, the closest you will have come to it is the vomit-scented ready-grated Kraft crap that's not actually cheese in any sense recognised outside the borders of the USA.

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- Meowypowers
  
  2 years ago
  
  Don't be so anti American, the states make some incredible cheeses, check out cow girl creamery if you can.
  
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- [Old Memory]
  
  2 years ago
  
  I've actually quoted you in real life, telling people about how Kraft uses wood pulp or cellulose or something as a substitute in their product
  
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  - Boojum
    
    2 years ago
    
    Well, to be fair, my understanding is that Kraft does use some cellulose in its powdered Parmesan as an anti-clumping agent, but it's not much. My recollection is that this is permissible under FDA food regs.
    
    I also recall reading somewhere that other, less reputable, food manufacturers have been found to be using much higher quantities of what is essentially powdered paper to bulk out their product and increase profits.
    
    I still maintain that mass-produced American Parmesan cheese is a pathetic imitation of the genuine article.
    
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- donteatstuffoffthesidewalk
  
  2 years ago
  
  parmesan is too weak flavored
  
  romano is way better
  
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- Grunewald
  
  2 years ago
  
  Nice to know we share a taste in cheese :-)
  
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- Somenormie
  
  2 years ago
  
  What about Montgomery cheddar?
  
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  - Boojum
    
    2 years ago
    
    I'm not familiar with that, and Googling leads me to believe it's an artisanal cheddar produced by one farm in Somerset.
    
    I suppose it's possible that it might be available in the USA, but I doubt if the OP will find it in the supermarkets they use.
    
    My memory of American cheddars isn't very positive. I grew up on the west coast and my parents always bought blocks of Tillamook Cheddar from Oregon. As American cheeses of the time went, it was much better than average. But having eaten a lot of quality English and Scottish cheddars over the last few decades, I suspect I'd now find it pretty insipid and uninteresting. Still, I'm sure there now are artisanal cheese producers in the States who are interested in producing honest, quality cheese, so it's not like Kraft processed cheddar slices are the best you can get.
    
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    - donteatstuffoffthesidewalk
      
      2 years ago
      
      yeah man even in my hillbilly town theres a huge spread of fancy gourmet cheeses in the grocery store
      
      beer too for that matter
      
      but for some reason everyone focuses on kraft singles and coors lite
      
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sweetone89

2 years ago

Pesto sauce!

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Pilum

2 years ago

Awesome idea. I have no suggestions though.

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1WeirdGuy

2 years ago

A peach. Make sure its mildly squishy that means its ripe.

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- Grunewald
  
  2 years ago
  
  I loooove ripe peaches. Only problem is, they're so juicy that you end up with sticky fingers!
  
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Grunewald

2 years ago

Quinoa! Yet another low-calorie alternative to pasta, and much more nutritious!

Because it's expensive and so nutritious that you only need a small amount to get the benefit, mix it with a cheaper grain, like couscous or bulgur or wheat pearls or something else that isn't pasta or white rice.

Boil it for as long as the instructions say. I like to boil it in a minimal amount of water until the water completely boils off and I add more just before it burns. I add half a stock cube to the water for extra flavour.

Strain it (unless you have boiled all the water off) and transfer it to a microwaveable bowl.

Pour on tomato passata (that is, tomatoes that have been put in a very powerful blender until they resemble a smooth, red soup, with no other ingredient except maybe a miniscule amount of salt). Season wih pepper, dried garlic flakes and the hottest chilli powder you can find and put in some very strong cheese (of the kind that melts well) OR cooked bacon bits.

Mix it up, then microwave it for 2 minutes or until the cheese melts...

Spread the melted cheese/bacon bits evenly into the quinoa.

Taste it. If despite your having added stock and cheese or bacon it still tastes bland, add a small amount of salt and/or half a teaspoon of olive oil.

Serve.

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- megadriver
  
  2 years ago
  
  Too bad quinoa tastes like dirt. I've never eaten a dish with quinoa that I enjoyed.
  
  My girlfriend tried making dishes with it, but I never liked it. It's supposed to be this wonderful, magical, healthy, superfood, but refuse to eat the stuff, because it tastes garbage.
  
  Maybe if you overpower the quinoa taste with lots of spices and hotness it won't taste too bad... But if I have to dump half a kilo of chilis, garlic, strong cheeses and a dozen other ingredients just to make the damn thing taste decent, I wouldn't bother...
  
  I'd just make regular pasta, or whatever and put a moderate amount of spices to enhance the flavor of the raw ingredients, NOT mask them.
  
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  - Grunewald
    
    2 years ago
    
    Nah, I like the subtle, earthy taste. Like mushrooms and oats have an earthy taste.
    
    It would be a funny world if we all agreed!
    
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[Old Memory]

2 years ago

Beef stock/broth and tomato sauce/paste. If you let these two simmer together for a few hours and mix in some meat and veggies, you can combine that with rice or potatoes or something and it's really good

Just do a little research on them though, if you use the wrong one it may come out weird. But that's basically the bulk of a curry recipe for example, as well as beef bourguignon

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- Grunewald
  
  2 years ago
  
  Hehe this is a staple for me :-)
  
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  - [Old Memory]
    
    2 years ago
    
    I love making a big batch of whatever and eating it for a few days. Crock pots are sweeeet
    
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LloydAsher

2 years ago

Mackinac island fudge. Best fudge in america.

I'm normally not much of a fudge fan but I make the exception for mackinac fudge.

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- Grunewald
  
  2 years ago
  
  I NEED to try that.
  
  In my university town (with its population of 42,500 students) there was an artisan fudge shop right in the middle of town that made its business by having a guy stand outside the shop and offer free fudge samples to anyone who passed by. He never, ever pressured them to go into the shop. Because how many busy, cash-strapped students can resist free homemade sweets when there are no strings attached?
  
  If it hadn't been for him, I might never have gone in and bought anything because a shop dedicated to nothing but fudge seemed so 'niche' and it looked quite expensive. But MY GOODNESS was their homemade fudge a delicious treat and a handy source of presents for people!
  
  They had different fudges on different days, and the sellers were friendly and human. The shop was beautiful and clean and smelled delicious, and you could actually see the equipment they used to make the fudge in the back of the shop, from the counter. If you were buying the fudge as a gift, they offered to put it in a box and wrap it up for you then and there, in thick paper and a pretty ribbon. It was the way people describe customer service from the olden days... personal, tailored and meticulous, and the employees' pride in their product really showed.
  
  Thanks to that shop and their free fudge samples, homemade, artisan fudge has a special place in my heart even ten years later 💖.
  
  Short of Zooming us into a shop, issuing us a Bluetooth sample-dispensing device and finding a way of dematerialising and re-materialising objects beam-transporter style, Amazon and e-commerce websites will never be able to replicate that kind of shopping experience.
  
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  - Boojum
    
    2 years ago
    
    This tale triggered an odd little memory.
    
    Back in the mid-eighties, I was trying to figure out what the hell I'd do when I left the US military. Somewhere, I came across an ad for a company selling guides on how to start and run various small businesses. One of the businesses that intrigued me was a fudge shop, so I sent off for the booklet. For some reason, the suggestion in the pamphlet of giving out free samples of fudge on the street has stuck in my mind after all this time.
    
    I wonder if that guy read the same booklet?
    
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    - Grunewald
      
      2 years ago
      
      Wow, what a coincidence! Could the pamphlet have been using that very shop as an example? Fudge is such an obscure specialty product.
      
      The shop is right in the middle of Oxford, on a very wide road one block away from the High Street in the most touristy part of town. It's near the Bodleian library and the Ashmolean theatre and the Radcliffe Camera and Blackwell's bookstore and a lot of the older Colleges in Turl Street and beyond, with 'Harry Potter' and Tolkien links and the like, and an atmospheric, 19th century-style curio shop full of mesmerising oddities that eccentric 'Sebastian Flyte' types and wannabe dons like to buy to show off to their friends.
      
      The city is extremely transient and a short bus ride from London, and it gets lots of visitors from across the pond, for all kinds of reasons. I wouldn't be surprised if the author of your booklet had seen it, even if he only visited Oxford once in his life. It's one of the things you really notice, like the town criers in their period costumes and the wild street performance acts on Cornmarket Street, even if you're not visiting with an eye to investigating business practices, like the author of the booklet might have been.
      
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      - LloydAsher
        
        2 years ago
        
        Got to say mackinac island is a pretty cool tourist destination too. No cars are allowed on the island, so it's all horse drawn carriages but theres modern amenities. Hotels are expensive but you can get a cheaper hotel that's off the island and then a 10$ boat ride to the island, sometimes that's included with the room.
        
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- Anonymous Post Author
  
  2 years ago
  
  Never heard of that I'll have to see if I can find it somewhere
  
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radar

2 years ago

They're out of season now, but next spring if you haven't had one of those huge green pummelo things, try one. They're like a grapefruit but the best grapefruit you've ever had, like a special magical grapefruit from heaven.

If you want to overspend on something, there's tons of delicious fancy kombuchas out there in all flavors. Also kind of expensive but try the kimchi in the jar with the green lid.. be careful when you open it. Kimchi is a strange and fun thing though.

A general challenge: find the weirdest thing in the produce section that you don't know what it is, and buy one of those and google what to do with it later. This is never not fun :)

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raisinbran

2 years ago

rat droppings

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- Anonymous Post Author
  
  2 years ago
  
  Sounds delicious
  
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greekfish

2 years ago

If they have it get salami and watermelon

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- Grunewald
  
  2 years ago
  
  I love those foods too! They are my favourites :-)
  
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SkullsNRoses

2 years ago

Lotus spread and a pineapple.

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- Somenormie
  
  2 years ago
  
  Is lotus spread good?
  
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  - SkullsNRoses
    
    2 years ago
    
    To me it’s delicious.
    
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- Anonymous Post Author
  
  2 years ago
  
  Is that Lotus cookie butter? I'll add that to my list
  
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  - SkullsNRoses
    
    2 years ago
    
    It is indeed.
    
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donteatstuffoffthesidewalk

2 years ago

hebrew national hotdogs

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- [Old Memory]
  
  2 years ago
  
  Them kosher foods are pretty good
  
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  - donteatstuffoffthesidewalk
    
    2 years ago
    
    brioche buns & kimchi for the win
    
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megadriver

2 years ago

Octopus tentacles.
Absolutely amazing.

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Meowypowers

2 years ago

hearts of palm, i hope this becomes pizzas

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- Anonymous Post Author
  
  2 years ago
  
  Never heard of that thanks!
  
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darefu

2 years ago

If not already on your list avocados and pomegranates.

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jethro

2 years ago

"Atomic" brand horseradish. It goes with everything, Great on steak. Mix with ketchup for a great cocktail sauce. It enhances the flavor of most foods and it also has medical benefits by being a great anti-oxidant.

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BleedingPain

2 years ago

Get some matzo ball soup mix and make some DELICIOUS balls in broth 10/10 would eat any time of year

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Tinybird

2 years ago

tofu and vegan sushi

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- Meowypowers
  
  2 years ago
  
  isn't that redundant?
  
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Taka

2 years ago

kiwi

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Cuntsiclestick

2 years ago

Banana and chocolate chip flavored Nature Valley Soft-baked Oatmeal Squares. Those things are so good. XD

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LornaMae

2 years ago

How's your experimentation going? I just found this post and now I'm curious!

If you cook I'd say try Cornish game hens.

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RoseIsabella

2 years ago

Ground bison, or bison steak!

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360Degrees

2 years ago

Anything

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Are You Normal?

Add one item to my grocery list