Thursday, November 15, 2012

When the generic just won't do

It's pay day here at the Hairdryer house.  Today you will find me paying bills, balancing our budget, and making a grocery list.

**And just so you know...no one asked me to write this post, or paid me money to write this post, or offered goods in return for writing this post.  I honestly opened my pantry this morning and this is what popped into my head.**

We are probably like every other family in America in that we like to buy generic brand whenever possible.  It just makes sense, especially when trying to feed a family of 5.  What is my favorite generic item?

Ironic isn't it, that my favorite generic comes from a store that I hate?  I've been known to make a special trip just for these.  Even the jolly green giant doesn't taste the same.  And they have to be whole, the cut ones are gross.

However, there are some brand names that, honestly, we all think we can't live without.  If we ever have to tighten our grocery belt, these will be the last to go...

I like them.  They are a good mid-morning snack (or breakfast on the go) for me and occasionally Bubba.  Honey will only eat them when he is out of his generic brand. 

We have never been a huge juice family.  Even when the kids were little and it was OK to water down apple juice between feedings, my kids just never liked it.  We are all pretty solid water and milk drinkers.  But occasionally the kids like some grape juice of a morning.  I like this brand because it is low carb (12g per cup) so we can let Brooke drink it with breakfast without spiking her blood sugar.

 We used to be a Folgers family.  Then mamma discovered Dunkin'.  I'm not sure how far up on the priority list this one is, but I would totally give up the yogurt before my Dunkin.

We are a pretty loyal Cheerios family.  We also love Chex Brand.  They both have lots of flavors that my kids love.  They feel like they are eating one of those extra sugary cereals, but with a carb count low enough to avoid too much of a spike for Brooke.

Mamma loves some Truvia in her coffee.  Truvia is only for adults in our house.  I think I might give up the Dunkin' before the Truvia.

These are used to feed the men in my house.  Honey eats them for lunch, Bubba eats them for his second breakfast after athletics.  We buy them at Sam's and I have recently put a 1 per week day per person limit on them...because if you turn around twice they will be gone.

 Do not even try to tell me that the generic tastes the same.  It doesn't.  Period.  (It isn't low carb either, but we pick our battles.)

For not being a huge juice family, we sure do buy a lot of juice.  We buy lots of these, and they are only for Brooke.  Sometimes when we have little kids visiting, I offer them one, but for the most part, they are exclusively Brooke's.  She uses them as her primary low blood sugar treatment. (Although, lately, she's been on a glucose tab kick.)  Yes, 4 oz. of any old fruit juice will do, in a bind.  But these are premeasured, no need to refrigerate, throw them in your purse and they will last until you need to use them.  They also have a straw.  And they get the job done almost every time.  So we stay stocked.

OK, time to pay the bills...what are some of your favorite name brands?  Generic?

5 comments:

Sunny said...

Ok, I should be doing so many other things right now, but I'm not! So, I'm in total agreement with Dunkin' but can't get it in my tiny town so in a pinch and can't run to the "relatively" bigger town I will use Millstone's Foglifter. Also ditto on Kraft mac and cheese. Then there's Miracle Whip. French's mustard. Hidden Valley Ranch. Campbell's cream of whatever and their chicken noodle. Quaker Oatmeal. Jimmy Dean breakfast sausage. And Old El Paso taco seasoning...can't make any other kind of tacos. (I like their shells, too, but will tolerate others.) Oh and does this count...New Mexico green chilies? Not a brand, but I know you understand! ;) ~SJ

valerie in TX said...

There's almost nothing I won't buy generic of, except, ironically, green beans! :) Haha. I only like Del Monte. Oh, and lunch meat. eww. I could probably do everything else generic, but The Mister refuses to eat any other ranch but Hidden Valley. He's kind of a name brand snob. :)

Misty said...

AMEN RE: mac n cheese. We don't eat it very often. Maybe 1-2 times a year (non-homemade) but when we do, it's a comfort food need and only Kraft will do...
Re: yogurt. it was yoplait here too, until we got hooked on greek. Then it was yoplait greek UP UNTIL WE TRIED THE DANNON... Oh my heaven-in-my-mouth... It would be the last thing I'd cut.

Su said...

Tetley tea. British blend. I'll buy generic tea when we are low on cash, but Tetley is a nice step between the cheapness of the generics and the goodness of the higher-priced imports (Twinnings, PG Tips).

Other than that, we buy whatever is the lowest priced. So if a name brand is on an amazing sale, we buy it.

Mandy said...

I deifnitely agree on the Mac & Cheese! If it can't be homemade, then Kraft is definitely the next best thing! Funny, I just bought my first Cliff bar this weekend. Haven't tried them yet, though.