Grocery games: Always a clean up in aisle 6

You just filled up the fridge — and before you can even blink — it’s empty again.

What happened to all that food? Whether it’s going to your growing kids or to your growing butt, you need to make another grocery run.

There are more steps to grocery shopping than renewing your license plates.

You’ve got to check the pantry, read recipe ingredients and calculate how many gallons of milk your teenage sons will go through. Today.

There’s sorting out months of clipped coupons, then throwing out months of clipped coupons after discovering they’ve all expired.

We’re exhausted when we leave home, only to face super-sized superstores that require a GPS system just to find the ketchup.

But before you run to the store, run through these QuirkOut grocery tips to make the trip a little more pleasant.

Grocery Games

Stephanie S. Cordle, scordle@post-dispatch.com

Robin and her husband, Robbie, (imagine the fun monograms) are like a drill team when they grocery shop together. They split up the list, and each covers half of the store. As they walk from aisle to aisle, they use their cell phones as walkie talkies to communicate.

“Oreos or Chips Ahoy?” he asks foolishly. “Both,” she says. “Copy that,” he responds.

They get through the store like stealth warriors.

Their QuirkOut maneuver cuts shopping time in half, and cuts shopping arguments completely. When they went solo, Robbie would come home to hear, “I said peach jelly not pork belly.” Or they’d get into a beef about why she forgot the ribs.

Now, when they’ve covered their appointed territory, they meet in the middle to check out — without arguments.

If they could only figure out how to split time with their families this easily, they could win the Nobel Peace Prize.

Check This Out

Britt Michaelian, CEO of Work Smart Lifestyle  and co-founder of Social Media Girlfriends, teaches women how to set and meet life goals.

So she stays focused everywhere, even at the grocery store.

Our focus is simple: “Please God, get us through the candy aisle without having a meltdown. My 3-year-old or me.”

But Britt’s QuirkOut strategy is to unload the cart according to how things get put away at home. Refrigerated items go on the checkout belt together. Next are cans and boxes for the pantry. And of course she never separates Ben from Jerry.

It makes unpacking fast and easy. And it also solves the pesky problem of searching through endless plastic bags, asking “Where is the Nestle Tollhouse Cookie batter?”

Until you remember, “Oh, I ate that in the car.” Well, at least that’s one less thing you have to put away.

Wouldn’t Trade For Anything

Maybe it’s the staff wearing silly Hawaiian shirts. Or the bells they clang at checkout. Or the mini-shopping carts for mini-shoppers.

Whatever the reason, we love Trader Joe’s. It’s a little bit summer camp and a little bit gourmet heaven.

The problem is remembering which exotic items you liked.

Was it Mojito Salmon or Penne Arabiatta that wowed the guests?

So Kendall keeps a list on her cell phone. Filed under Trader GOs or Trader NOs, she has written down everything she’s bought there since day one. No pondering purchases, wondering if she already tried something.

If she could just solve the other Trader Joe’s challenge: How to stop eating all those yummy samples, well, at least stop stockpiling them in her purse.