A Little Bit Bazaar

It's no secret to those who know me that I love to go to the local bazaars to do my shopping. At least my grocery shopping...buying clothes and other random goods from an outdoor street bazaar is not usually my idea of a good time. Probably because I also usually have at least one, if not two kids in tow with me, and "fun" shopping is never fun with children in tow.

When we moved into our apartment last July I was so excited. We have not only one, but two outdoor bazaars within walking distance; one on Sundays (the same bazaar that I went to when we lived in our first apartment here), and another on Thursdays. My excitement was compounded by the fact that those days are at the beginning of the week and the middle of the week, more or less. Produce here never lasts a whole week (well, carrots and potatoes and onions might), so you're guaranteed to have to go buy produce at least twice a week. We still end up making grocery-store-runs as well, but I usually try to plan our menu for the week around going to the bazaar on Sundays and Thursdays and using what I buy wisely so that I don't waste food.

My haul from the bazaar today, plus a bunch of bananas I forgot to include in the photo.

There are certain vendors that I always frequent for the same things: the bread/cheese/egg trailer, the dried fruits and nuts vendor, and one man who sells seasonal fruits. I usually buy vegetables from wherever they look the nicest, but it's nice to have a few select people that don't rip me off remember me for the things I buy weekly.

Today I strapped Noel into the ERGO, Lane into the stroller, and we headed to the bazaar and to the pharmacy (a new paci and iron drops for Noel). My list wasn't long this week since we'll be eating out tomorrow evening and during the day on Saturday, but we were completely out of fruit and I needed veggies for dinner tonight. Plus, I'm about to embark on baby-food making adventures and needed some food to work with!

My haul for the day:

6 bananas (1 kilo): 5 lira ($2.77, or $1.26/pound)

1/2 kilo cherries: 2.50 lira ($1.39, or $1.26/pound)

1/2 kilo apricots: 1.50 lira ($.83, or $.75/pound)

250 grams raisins: 2 lira ($1.11, or $.50/pound)

250 grams dried apricots: 3 lira ($1.66, or $.75/pound)

10 fresh eggs: 3 lira ($1.66, or $1.99/dozen)

1 kilo peaches: 3 lira ($1.66, or $.75/pound)

1 kilo zucchini: 2 lira ($1.11, or $.50/pound)

1 kilo green beans: 3 lira ($1.66, or $.75/pound)

I spent 25 lira, or about $14. I got 11 pounds of produce, 10 eggs, and 1.1 pounds dried fruit. How'd I do? I love the variety of affordable fruits and vegetables in the summer (although I do miss broccoli!). How do prices compare where you live?