In years past I had a litany that I recited each week as I made out my shopping list. It went something like this: bread, butter, cereal, beverages, meat, potatoes, fruit, vegetables, canned goods, condiments, baking, laundry, cleaning, paper goods, hygiene, other. As I thought ‘beverages’ for instances, I’d buy coffee, Kool-Aid™, orange juice or whatever beverages were needed that week. ‘Potatoes’ could mean bakers, frozen French fries, sweet potatoes or a bag of chips.

Each category was enough to trigger my memory of just what items I needed to buy. All I needed was to give my memory a nudge. “Butter” got me to the dairy section where, if not butter, I might buy cheese, eggs, ice cream or chocolate milk. I knew what laundry supplies were running low and if the necessary paper goods were paper towels or toilet paper. Since I was the one who did the shopping, my list didn’t have to make sense to anyone but me. In Iowa City, we lived a mere block from both a supermarket where I did most of the weekly shopping, and a neighborhood grocery where I could dispatch a child for a loaf of bread or can of soup to be put on the charge account.

Moving to the country required a dramatic change in old habits. The kids could no longer walk or ride bikes to spend time with friends, engage in extracurricular school activities, run errands, etc. The nearest grocery store was only six or seven miles away, but a round trip in my station wagon used about a gallon of gas. I soon learned to buy staples in larger quantities. Water-softener salt to treat our well water became a regular item on the list. After we started seriously gardening during our second summer on the farm, we bought a larger freezer. We soon acquired a flock of chickens and began processing some of our own meat. With the kids eating lunch at school during the week, my cooking habits began to change. I began baking most of our bread, canned or froze huge quantities of fruits and vegetables, learned to cook more wild game as our boys learned to hunt and fish in our timber, fields and pond. When I began writing a food column for the Solon paper, I added many new foods to my list and it became, not only longer, but more specific.

At the age of ninety I no longer do my own grocery shopping, but I do still write my own shopping list. I’m no longer cooking for anyone but myself and I find that I am quite satisfied to eat simpler meals than during those more adventuresome days. That one-time categorical list no longer serves, as someone else does the shopping, so I work my way through three imaginary meals a day.

Breakfast; one egg with toast and maybe one little sausage patty. Or cold cereal (oatmeal on cold mornings) with toasted raisin bread or English muffin half. I find that fat-free half-and-half keeps much longer than whole milk and works for most purposes. Sometimes I scramble the egg with a little half-and-half and some shredded cheddar cheese. Lunch; cottage cheese and applesauce with cinnamon; tuna salad on crackers and a banana, or a cup of mushroom or tomato soup and a Twinkie™ or chocolate chip cookie. Fish, beef, pork or chicken with veggies and a dessert for supper.

Snack time; if you regularly eat blueberries for all their remarkable benefits, try mixing frozen berries with room temperature applesauce for a change. The berries quickly thaw and chill the applesauce for a cool treat. Canned mandarin oranges, peach slices, seedless grapes, guacamole, go nicely with that handful of potato chips you are craving. Spiced tea, sugar-free gelatin, diet soft drinks can quell cravings without adding calories. Fruit-flavored hard candies and mints are a good substitute for desserts. If you must have chocolate, stick to the best dark chocolate available, it has its own special qualities as one of nature’s tranquilizers and has been shown to be beneficial to diabetics.

Peanut butter is a good source of protein for those who have trouble chewing meat, it’s inexpensive, needn’t be kept refrigerated and has a long shelf life. A spoonful on a cracker or two help protect my stomach from all those pills and painkillers.