Shopping at the German Grocery Store

I stopped by Globus and ended up buying groceries. I thought I'd share what the trip to a German grocery store looks like for me.

 Globus is a chain mega grocery/everything else store. It's similar to a Super Walmart but somehow less creepy (maybe because it's German and there's a 19th [?] century likeness of the founder on the wall?). One can buy pillows, automotive supplies, health and beauty items, groceries, and a ton more.

I have been a thrifty person but one way that I am totally un-thrifty is that I never have set plans for what I'll buy for groceries and I don't plan meals. I wander around and pick out what looks good. I do have certain staples that I keep on hand so I can make things from scratch but for the rest of the groceries are chosen on the fly.

Below is about 20 euros' worth of groceries. It's somewhat representative of what I buy on a normal basis, even though I usually just pick what looks good at the time.

 

• 6 pack of sparkling water (usually I only buy 2 at a time but felt like being crazy)
• Head of lettuce
• 6 Granny Smith apples
• 3 red bell peppers (btw, these are almost always cheaper to buy on the economy vs. getting at the commissary!)
• Large package of pasta
• Pasta sauce (a staple I like to keep on hand, both for pasta and to use as pizza sauce)
• 2 containers of soy yogurt
• 1 package of snack cheese with dipping sauce (this was dinner)
• 1 package of cheese
• Vegetarian faux chicken schnitzel (this was an impulse buy and not something I'd get regularly)

This is the vegetarian faux schnitzel that I bought. I've never had real schnitzel before because I tend to avoid meat. The vegetarian version by Garden Gourmet was about 2,29 euros for 180 grams. I microwaved it. I thought it was decent enough for fake chicken schnitzel (not that I have eaten the real thing to make a comparison), but wouldn't go out of my way to buy it again. The patty doesn't have the juiciness that even other vegetarian meat substitutes have.

I've bought this tasty little snack a few times, a cheese container with a mustard-based dipping sauce (with grape flavoring - tasty and not Kool-Aid like), made by Grünländer. There's even a toothpick so one can eat from the package on the go!

And, to counter the real dairy products, I bought a soy substitute, Alpro soy yogurt. This particular container is strawberry with rhubarb. I have also had the blueberry and cherry versions from this company. They are all delicious!

So, there is a shopping trip that is somewhat representative for me at the German grocery store.