shopping list

I have grocery shopping down to a science. With a kitchen, I can eat for 30 euros per week

Non sweetened Greek yogurt 500 g

700 g various cheeses for breakfasts

Small rolls

Milk for coffee

Coffee , made in a Moka pot.

700 g mixed lunch meats

Baguette for lunch sandwiches

Relish (not sweet, in olive oil)

Tomatoes 

Selection of fruit 

500 g on-sale meat (3 meals. Usually pork is cheapest)

Veg on sale

Pasta

Butter

Parmesan for 2 pasta meals

Jarred artichokes in oil for other 2 pasta meals 

100 g salami for extra protein on artichoke pasta nights

It's about 100 g of protein per day. 80 g carbs. Olive oil tastes entirely different here, and drizzling it on the lunch baguette instead of mayo is yummy. The olive oil in the relish jar is plenty for doing that. 

I'm not worried about carbs because of my exercise level, and because I'm dropping weight from, I think, the lack of food additives. American food really is poison. There's also no sugar snuck into ham or jarred tomato sauce or bread. People eat sugar, but they are choosing it on their own, and they eat thin little slices of tortes, or pastries that are 2 inches square. Only 1 in 200 Italians are overweight, and none are obese. Low rates of diabetes. Women don't pretend to hate food. A man admires a woman with "a good fork". There's no dieting talk. No dieting or diet drug ads on TV. (Now that's a vacation.)

There really aren't crackers and chips here. Cookies are bland and unappealing to me. I go out for a gelato once a week ($4) and i had a 50% chocolate bar once that was wonderful, a nice baly of sweet and bitter. (American milk chocolate is 12%) Had one local beer that was nice, but  probably won't have more than 1 more. The plain, fresh food is treat enough, you don't go Jonesing for treats after you're full. Also, i eat like an Italian, picking at the meal for an hour or more. 

Moka, pasta pot, fry pan. All you need in the kitchen.