One of the frustrating things about food shopping is that I need to make a lot of stops.

I go to the St. Lawrence Market for pasta from Domino’s, lamb and seafood from various vendors and organic goodies from both up and downstairs.

Then I head over to Kensington to get some empanadas for my fella, tea and dry goods from the health food store and tofu noodles from Little Tokyo.

And that’s just on a Saturday morning.

You should see my grocery shop in my area. 3 stores for main goods, vegetable stand for produce… it is a whole lot of walking and carrying.

I have been shopping like this since I was 17 and first started cooking everyday, and I have been through my share of carts, bags and systems and while some of worked, they all eventually break or wear out and they have ALL taken up a whack of room, which for an apartment dweller such as myself, is always a problem!

But then I found the Hook and Go and all of my shopping problems simply went away!

It is a shopping cart that takes up little room, hangs all of your bags easily without smushing things on top of everything like traditional carts. It makes stopping and shopping a breeze!

First of all, it folds into a slim 31” long piece that you can actually put in your front closet with all of your bulging coats and tall boots and it will fit! That means you can store it will ease no matter how small your space and you won’t have to donate all of your clothing in order to make it fit.

It carries up to 70 pounds of weight. Now I’m not sure if that sounds like a lot to you, but I really had not idea how much that was. But I can tell you that my first time using it was to go and get party supplies, drinks and food for my fella’s birthday party a couple of night’s ago and boy did I put it to the test!

I had 4 liters of pop, 2 club packages of chicken, jars upon jars and bottles of sauces, condiments and cans of various accouterments, not to mention a huge plant, vegetable tray, fruit tray and the cake. I had about 14 bags – very heavy bags – going and it handled everything beautifully. I even had a carton of eggs, which remained break-free thanks to the side-by-side hanging design of the Hook and Go!

It is fantastic– you just unfold it and slide the bag over the hooks and continue on! You don’t have to shift bags around or constantly rearrange the heavy stuff around your more delicate purchases. You don’t have to do what I’ve been doing these last months and try to carry everything in totes over your shoulder - I’d get home with these huge welts on my shoulder. I’d be in pain for days.

The Hook and Go has solved all of my shopping-without-a- car problems. I am absolutely thrilled and completely welt free!

Woo hoo!

I’m off to get a few ingredients for tonight’s dinner - I’m making my fella lamb shanks and orzo for a belated birthday dinner, so I’m going to pick up some fresh parsley, roma tomatoes and lovely green asparagus.

Mmm. I can’t wait!

Maybe now that I have my cart, I’ll pick up some of the heavy stuff too – we’re low on laundry detergent, cat litter, potatoes. ..

It's so nice to be able to shop with ease now. I can't believe what a difference my Hook and Go makes!

Ahhh... this is the life!