I walk 20 minutes to shop at Costco for my family of 4. Here are 13 things I usually have in my cart.
Ted Berg
- I walk 20 minutes to shop at Costco for my family of four in NYC.
- My apartment has limited storage space, so I like to avoid buying anything in huge quantities.
Once a month, I walk 20 minutes to Costco to shop for my family of four.
Although it sounds counterintuitive because Costco is known for selling items in bulk, I like to avoid buying items in large quantities because of limited storage space in our apartment.
Here's what I buy at Costco to save money without overloading the fridge:
We always keep Dino Buddies in the freezer for our kids.
My wife and I like variety in our food, but our kids do not. That's why many of the things I buy in Costco-sized quantities are for them. Dino Buddies take less than 10 minutes to heat up in the air fryer, and my kids will always accept them for dinner.
And in a pinch, some Dino Buddies on toast with melted cheese is a surprisingly tasty sandwich for adults.
I also love that the sturdy resealable bag makes for low-hassle storage.
The sweet-kale chopped salad is delicious and comes in a manageable size.
I need to be especially picky about buying produce at Costco, as many of the vegetables come in sizes that are sure to go bad before we can eat them. But each bag of the sweet-kale chopped salad is the right amount for my family.
The delicious salad is made up of broccoli, kale, cranberries, and pumpkin seeds, and comes with a sweet, tangy dressing.
Two-packs of Stroehmann Dutch Country whole-wheat bread make the school year much easier.
I've found that the bread at Costco typically has a much longer shelf life than the loaves available at my local supermarket.
Since parenting, for me, includes making between one and four sandwiches a day, it's always worth picking up a two-pack of Stroehmann Dutch Country whole-wheat bread.
The bread is the perfect size and heft for the peanut-butter or cream-cheese sandwiches my kids want for lunch. I only wish Costco gave refunds on all the crust I have to cut off.
Skippy peanut butter is a pantry staple in our house.
My pantry closet may look like I'm stocking enough peanut butter to survive a zombie apocalypse, but, in fact, that's about three weeks' worth of peanut butter for my family.
Skippy happens to be the family's favorite brand, so I'm lucky it's often available at Costco at unbeatable prices.
The $10 two-packs of 48-ounce jars are an absolute no-brainer when in stock. I usually get one pack of the creamy variety and one of the super-chunk.
Fratelli Beretta antipasto samplers make for great appetizers, snacks, and sandwiches.
I'm particular about cold cuts and rarely buy the pre-sliced packs. I love the Fratelli Beretta antipasto samplers because they're high quality for the price. I also appreciate that the meats are divided into two separate packages.
With capicola, prosciutto, and two types of salami, these samplers come in handy for snacks, cheese boards, and sandwiches. Although the tender, fatty capicola is my favorite, my kids prefer the traditional salami.
Grillo's pickles are an absolute must-buy.
Grillo's pickles are not just great pickles for the price — they're straight-up great pickles. For $7, I get so many of the perfectly crunchy dill-flavored pickles.
They're great alongside burgers or right on top of hot dogs.
Costco has excellent deals on vitamins.
Due to my own particular medical needs, my doctor says I need certain vitamins in very high doses.
The prices at Costco are so good compared to my local chain pharmacy that my savings on vitamins alone make my $60 annual membership fee worth it.
A bottle of 300 Vitamin B12 pills is $15 roughly the cost of a bottle of 40 elsewhere.
These tail-off shrimp make eating dinner less work.
Like Dino Buddies, these shrimp don't take up too much room in the freezer and make for a quick weeknight meal. But unlike Dino Buddies, serving them to adults isn't embarrassing.
They're not the world's plumpest or fanciest shrimp, but they're great for pasta dishes and allow me to eat my dinner without pausing every few seconds to remove the tails for my kids.
Kirkland Signature chicken party wings make a reasonably fast, delicious dinner.
If my wife's working late and the kids are happily eating their Dino Buddies, I'll defrost a pack of Kirkland Signature chicken wings and throw them in the air fryer. I then toss them with whatever sauce I concoct while they're cooking.
One package is about right for a dad-sized serving of chicken wings.
BelGioso fresh mozzarella snacking cheese is one of my daughter's favorite snacks.
I'm proud to say I have a 3-year-old who has excellent taste and loves these on-the-go packs of bite-sized mozzarella balls. And so do I.
One tip: If you're going to allow your 3-year-old to open one on her own, make sure you're outside first, or else your floors will be streaked with mozzarella brine.
Hiiros tomatoes are so tasty that I buy them in bulk.
I wouldn't normally buy this many tomatoes, but when my local Costco has Hiiros, I can trust we'll use them. They're sweet, juicy, bright red, and still on the vine — which is novel enough to appeal to my kids.
You can even pair them with the snacking cheese to make an adorable little caprese salad.
The Our Authentic Kitchen chicken flautas are a go-to option for a quick lunch.
When I throw open the fridge looking for something tasty to eat in the narrow window of time before naptime ends, it's good to have Our Authentic Kitchen chicken flautas on hand.
They're easy to heat up and great when dipped in sour cream and hot sauce.
Annie's organic cinnamon rolls are the perfect post-shopping treat.
After a 20-minute walk to Costco and roughly 40 minutes spent filling my cart while dodging aggressive sample snatchers, I deserve something fun as a reward.
That's why when my local Costco stocks three packs of Annie's organic cinnamon rolls, I can never pass them up.
If you're in need of a fresh-baked dessert, these are ready in just 20 minutes. And for some reason, society has even decided that cinnamon rolls are an acceptable breakfast.
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