it's been a month since I stepped foot in a grocery store

Here's what I've learned. And here's why I'm not going back to regularly-scheduled programming quite yet. Plus a grab bag of thoughts and a recipe for knock-off Perfect Bars.

Lately: I’ve been staring at Ixta Belfrage’s cookbook, “Mezcla: Recipes to Excite,” in my Bookshop.org cart ever since I added it on Saturday night. I’m going to place my order soon. I spotted “Mezcla” on Saturday morning at Backwater Books in Ellicott City, Md. My best friend was in town, and we decided to check out Old Ellicott City, which was a 10/10 if you’re looking for a charming place to wander. … Backwater Books has a little upstairs bar, tucked against a wall and surrounded by shelves of books. There are small tables and comfortable chairs scattered throughout the store, presumably so people can sip and read. If I open a bookstore bar someday, will you come? … While in Ellicott City, we also stopped by Manor Hill Brewing. I’ve had Manor Hill’s peach wheat beer before and loved it. The brewery itself was underwhelming. And the road leading up to it was scattered with signs from angry neighbors, who seem very upset that about the added traffic the brewery has brought. … Less upsetting: Maybe consider following my professional Instagram account? Until now, it has kind of mirrored this newsletter, but I’ve decided to broaden its scope a bit and share more about my other writing, especially the fiction I’m working on.

the site of most of my grocery shopping in June

A month ago, I told you all about my plans to quit the supermarket. That experiment was supposed to end today, and I was supposed to have some profound thoughts about better, smarter ways to shop for food.

Profundity is hard. I promise, I do have a few takeaways so far, but June went by in a blink. There were visitors and travels and my husband’s 30th birthday and a (non-scary) medical procedure that sapped my appetite and energy. I cooked dinner fewer than 10 times. I barely baked. So it was simple to avoid the grocery store. Too simple.

quitting Whole Foods

That’s all to say: I’m going to stay on my no-grocery store kick until Aug. 1. And I’m going to put a real emphasis on cooking and baking and gathering interesting ingredients from new sources. I’m going to keep reading “The Secret Life of Groceries” as I go on this adventure. And in 31 days, I’ll share what I’ve learned. Until then, a few more preliminary takeaways:

• Basics are really expensive. I’m talking things like peanut butter and ketchup. I’ve been getting them at my corner store, which is family-owned, so I don’t feel as bad about buying JIF that costs as much as a whole chicken … but I still feel a little silly.

• Everything else seems much, much cheaper. I haven’t done a full spending tally, but the credit card bill looks lower. The other day, I stopped at a farm stand near the Baltimore airport and bought peaches, six ears of corn and several onions for something like $6.50.

• Speaking of cheaper: I may never go back to buying my favorite packaged snack, the bite-sized chocolate-peanut butter Perfect Bar. A pack of six costs $9.99, and I’ve mastered a recipe (below) for a homemade version that costs about a third as much per serving.

• I’m not being as creative when I cook. But maybe that’s not a bad thing. Everything I’ve been making is really meat- and vegetable-forward, probably because of the quality of protein and produce I’m buying. But I’d like to try to make some more interesting dishes in July — and to get over my fear that I won’t be able to track down a particular ingredient.

pretty close to perfect bars

active time: 15 minutes

total time: about 2 hours, 15 minutes

When I decided to try the supermarket-free life, the thing I was most worried about was how I’d get my Perfect Bar fix. For the past year or more, I’d been eating at least one snack-sized chocolate-peanut butter Perfect Bar per day. Usually more than one. They fed my sweet tooth and were reasonably healthy, I figured.