Signs of spring! The daffodils were beginning to bloom along the side of the road on the way to the beach. The flats of flowers are on sale outside the grocery store already, and it’s only the first week of February. Hurray!
What I don’t like is the planning before going to the store! I try to write a meal plan each week, and then write my shopping list based on the meal plan. The problem is that planning 21 meals per week and keeping everyone happy is REALLY hard!
Anyway, the above picture is the local store here in Dingle, called Garvey’s Supervalu.
They have weekly specials and a rewards card just like stores in the US.
Right across the street from the back entrance of Supervalu is Spar. Inside it is about the size of a convenience store at home, like a 7-11. It’s amazing how much they can pack into this little store! They have a little bit of everything, and their prices are very good. Plus the cashier is very friendly and helpful! I couldn’t do a week’s worth of shopping here, but for just a few things like milk and bread it is the easiest place to stop.
Loaf of bread, 69 cents
Milk, 3 liters, 2 euro
Bagels (like Lender’s in the US), 5 for 69 cents
Bag of 10 clementines, 89 cents
Whole butternut squash, 49 cents
Don’t worry, though! Eggs are good at room temperature for 21 days. We learned this when we had chickens in NJ. There is a very clear use-by date on each carton of eggs (Never fear, we always use them long before the date!)
Just like in the US, they have organic, free range, and regular, as well as x-large, large and medium. They also sell them in 6, 8, 10, 12, 20 egg cartons. In the Supervalu, they let you pick your own eggs to fill your carton. The prices vary greatly. I have seen them from as cheap as 2.90 for 20 eggs up to 2.00 for 6 eggs. I haven’t figured out a pattern for the prices, it seems random to me.
There are a few other things that they call by a different name, such as bacon. It is hard to find and they call it “streaky rashers.”
On the other hand, nothing is wasted because we definitely eat it before it has a chance to go bad. The only thing I have gotten rid of is stale bread, which I throw outside to the birds.
Most people seem to only buy enough food for 2-3 days at a time. Even the carts in the store are tiny. And since they only buy one or two bags of food at a time, lots of people walk home with their bags instead of drive.
The stores charge for bags, so absolutely everyone brings their own bags from home. I’ve even seem some people walking home with an armload of groceries because they forgot their bags!
Variety of choices is also very different here. There are usually one one or two choices for a given item. One thing that stands out particularly is meat. Unless you want ham at the deli (they have lots of ham to choose from) your only choices are one kind of salami and one kind of turkey. Same for cheese; unless you want one of two dozen kinds of cheddar, you are out of luck.
Some things are very difficult to find, such as peanut butter, half and half, and coffee, I suppose because they just are not that popular here. I still have not found tortillas or taco seasoning mix, but there are many kinds of Indian and Asian foods that I have not seen at home.
- THINGS THAT ARE CHEAPER HERE THAN AT HOME:
- carrots
- cauliflower
- leeks
- scallions
- apples
- potatoes
- peppers
- squash
- oranges
- grapes
- fresh bakery items
- bread
- oats
- pasta
- baby wipes
- soup
- fish
- gluten free items
- butter
- cream
- THINGS THAT ARE MORE EXPENSIVE HERE THAN AT HOME:
- milk
- cream cheese
- most yogurt
- ice cream
- deli meat
- crushed tomatoes (passata)
- almost all meat, except lamb and steak
- toilet paper
- paper towels
- paper plates
- napkins
- all junk food
- bottled drinks of all kinds
- bananas
- flour
- coffee
- peanut butter
It is hard to compare overall costs because right now I am only feeding 7 people, as compared with 10 at home. We are averaging about 4.70 euro per person per day, which converts to $5.60, and is slightly less than what I spend at home (but without Bob and Mary and Sean, we are buying a lot less meat).
That’s it for grocery shopping! Now, who wants to write next week’s meal plan for me?
Brogans Across the Pond 
Hi Jen! Your blog is almost as good as being there – I love reading your insights into all the little details of every day life! I agree that planning a week’s worth of meals makes a ton of sense, but is a trick to pull off. I don’t know what we’re having tomorrow, so I won’t venture to plan for you, but eggs and pancakes is my “ace in the hole” when I’m out of ideas. Jealous about the availability of good soda bread!
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Thanks, Suzanne! We love breakfast for dinner, especially pancakes. I have been making them from scratch here, which I never did before, because they don’t sell mix in the store. It was a learning curve, but I’ve got the hang of it now 🙂
The soda bread and scones really are good, and they have several different kinds!
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This is so neat, I guess everything is bigger in the US!
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Yes! Really…everything! Except butter, they sell butter in blocks, like a giant rectangle of butter! And not just food, but houses, furniture, cars…it’s all smaller.
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Courtneys bakery is open all year for wholesale and retail
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Is there more than one location? The bread was so good, and we tried so many times to go to the store across from the church, but it was always closed. That was in January and February. We were back in Dingle last week (June) for the final week of our trip, and I thought for sure it would be open, but it wasn’t! Perhaps we were too late in the day? It was about 3 pm on Wednesday when we tried.
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