The days are shorter, the nights are cooler and the kids are back to school. With everyone’s activities, I am trying to organize my household. Thanks to Hiller’s Markets, I can juggle work, brown-bag lunches, after-school activities and the dinnertime rush. Come on September, give me your best shot – I can handle it.

As I enter the sliding doors at Hiller’s, I begin my journey.  List in hand, I know where to find all of my favorite items.   I linger at the entrance, eager to greet my family’s favorite items – cereal or snack bars, canned goods or juice boxes, these staples are on sale and at the front of the store, so I start loading my cart with great bargains.

I buy bread for sandwiches and stop at the bakery for a pastry.  When my children were younger and came with me, they eagerly anticipated green dinosaur sugar cookies; it kept them happy while I shopped.  I glance down the glass counter….yep…they’re still there.  When I put together ‘care packages’ for my college kids, I sometimes send these cookies….. as a reminder of a time when all it took to make things right was a green sugar dinosaur cookie.

My daughter, the youngest of my family, is in high school.  She has outgrown peanut butter and jelly and has become a picky eater.  I am one step ahead as I put in my deli order.  Not every market carries Boars Head turkey pastrami, oven-roasted turkey and kosher low-sodium salami.  I buy pre-made tuna and chicken salads and know that variety is the spice of life as she prepares her own brown bag lunches.  For the days she does not want a sandwich, I buy Trisket crackers and Laughing Cow cheese wedges.

Hiller’s carries the best variety of Yoplait yogurt, so I stock up.  Lunches consist of a sandwich, yogurt or cheese and crackers, a piece of fruit and some sort of snack.  I must confess, I am a snob when it comes to shopping for fruit.  Hiller’s, by far, has the freshest produce department.  There is always a variety of apples displayed like a cornucopia of art.  I load up on fall fruit – apples, pears and grapes.

Then, I head to the snack aisle and appreciate the 100-calorie prepackaged treats.  I cannot help it, but when my teenage daughter comes home from school and tells me that her friends think she has the best lunches, well, my mom mode kicks in and I revel in the compliment.  Thank you, Hiller’s, for making my job just a little easier!

And these days, Hiller’s makes my wallet happier, too.  I take advantage of weekly specials and appreciate the 10 items for $10.  I plan my dinner menu a week ahead.  Salmon, whitefish or another fresh fish, chicken, pasta and flat iron steaks find their way into my shopping cart.  For busy evenings, I purchase pre-made chicken kabobs and lamb chops to throw on the grill.  And while I am waiting at the counter for my order, I gather recipe tips and ideas.  Hmmm….sounds good.

I am content, knowing I provide my family with a variety of healthy, nutritious meals.  I am even more pleased knowing that many of the items are grown, produced and packaged in Michigan.

There are many registers open, so I can go through the checkout quickly and easily.  I look at my receipt and am pleased with my savings.  Loading my groceries into the car, I take out a green dinosaur sugar cookie, bite into it and know that all is well with the world.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 18th, 2009 at 11:02 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.