Grocery shopping and cooking for my family in Rome/Florence

I don't have experience with cooking for 5, but just for my wife and myself, the last couple trips we've done exactly what you're proposing--breakfasts and lunch/snacks at the apartment, dinner out. It cuts down on costs and is a blast besides.

In Florence, we stayed on Piazza Santa Maria Novella, and utilized the nearby Conad grocery stores--they're small but jam-packed with all kinds of goodies. But definitely shop at the Mercato Centrale for a European breakfast---rolls, meats, cheeses, fruit, honey. We took a walk over there every day.

Make sure your apartment has a good working fridge, and for us Americans, it's great to have a coffeemaker to make a pot of coffee in the morning, even though I love nipping into a cafe for an espresso. Whenever they're hungry, the boys can make their own sandwiches--with the best breads, meats & cheese imaginable. Pretty cheaply, too.

Next March, we will be at an apartment for 6 nights in Rome near Piazza Navona, actually on Campo de' Fiori, where they do have a daily market, of which we will take advantage.

Many supermarkets also have prepared take-away food to augment a home-cooked meal, or to serve as the main courses. No reason to spend time cooking every day, it's your vacation, too!

For an American-style breakfast, bacon or breakfast sausage may be hard to find, but you can use prosciutto cotto or pancetta instead.

We cook all the time when we travel due to my food allergies. It works out like this for us, generally: I buy lots of eggs, bread, cheese, and fruit. From this, I make big breakfasts each day. Then we head out for a long day of sightseeing.

We never ever come back to the apartment for lunch - it's never made sense for me to break up the day like that. We almost always just grab pizza and a soda for lunch and then have a gelato in the afternoon. We are usually wiped out by dinner time and we head back to the apartment and I make something simple since I'm wiped out. Don't make fun of us here - but I've usually purchased the ingredients to make the following dinners: Pasta, sauce and a vegetable for one meal. Lettuce, blue cheese, walnuts and strawberries to make a big salad for one meal. Grilled cheese sandwiches and lots of fruit for one meal. Big huge baked stuffed potatoes for one meal along with another salad.

I'm sure your boys might want other things, but the key for me is simplicity. Italy and Spain are my favorite eating countries so you'll enjoy your one meal out a day:)

Rome -Despar- is a small grocery store just off the piazza in front of the Panheon. To find it, stand in front of the Pantheon - with your back to the Pantheon. Walk North to the back of the Piazza with Pantheon behind you. Go to the side street on your left (Piazza Navona side). You will see a colorful small gelato sign that looks like an ice cream cone. Bingo! Despar is under this sign. It's the second street on your left as you stand in front of Pantheon.

I don't cook when I'm in Europe, but I do forage for casual meals to be eaten in my hotel room. Who could eat two full European restaurant meals in one day?

One thing to keep in mind is that Italians are really serious about their produce. I don't know what will be in season in April (maybe berries?), but whatever it is, the quality of the Italian products you find in the markets will be high. Vegetables sauteed in olive oil and fruit over ice cream could be two-thirds of a meal. And I agree with Zoe about the prepared foods--useful to minimize the amount of time you need to pull meals together. I remember seeing whole roasted chickens for sale in Italy, and of course many types of filled pastas are readily available; just boil and splash with purchased sauce.

We never cook on vacation either although we do eat a simple breakfast (no eggs and bacon) in if we're renting an apartment. I'll go along with the suggestion not to go back to the apartment for lunch, though. You could waste a lot of valuable sightseeing time during the hours when attractions are open...which is why you're going on this trip to begin with, right? Better to grab something quick in the middle of the day and have supper at your lodgings at a time of the day when just about everything is closed.

Both cities are fun to walk in the evenings, though, so you could take some after-dinner spins around to see them lit up after dark.

This may be silly...but do you all bring your own shopping bags? Do they have them available?

Since I will be on-foot, I will make one of the boys helps me haul it, but I would prefer not to bring bags.

I always aim to bring my own bags but I never fit them in my luggage. You can buy bags when you shop. At the checkout stand they will see you need bags and will charge you a few cents for each one. Oftentimes, apartments you rent will have bags for your use.

There is a CONAD supermarket in via de' Bardi, a few steps from Ponte Vecchio on the Oltrarno side. As a general rule, prices would be a little cheaper and selection larger at Coop and, even better, Esselunga supermarkets, but they are found only outside the "viali" circle so are not convenient to your place.

As others have pointed, there are plenty of ready dishes in supermarkets. Salads, cheese, ham and fruit. Lasagne (het them in the oven or the microvawe).

Cooking pasta takes some time (ten minutes for boiling the water, the cooking time - 5 to 12 minutes - as written on the package) but there are ready made sauces (pesto, tomato, bolognese) and, cooked at your apartment, is very cheap. You can feed five persons out of a 500 gr. package (1 euro, plus 2 euros for the sauce - add some parmigiano, 1.50 euros already grated).

All supermarkets have plastic shopping bags, about 10 cents each, but being in recyclable plastic they are too easy too tear. Near the cash register area there should be sturdier bags, say 0.50 or 1 euro each, meant to be used over several times.

Those 0.50- or 1-euro reusable bags are cheap souvenirs, too.

When in Rome I cook almost every night. Granted, I'm there a lot, but I have turned the morning visit to Campo di Fiori a fun part of my visit. Have been buying fresh fruit and veggies from the same lady now for 13 years - and every year she, her husband, her daughter and son-in-law greet me by name and with a big hug. We visit, she picks the produce out herself ("for today or tomorrow?"), then I'm off to the supermarket (several to choose from in the Piazza Navona neighborhood) for dry goods and meat. All done in less than an hour I feel like a citizen, not a tourist. Have done the same in Florence but without the familiarity - I'm not there every year. With fresh produce dinner can be relatively quick and easy - add pasta with some fresh spices - and your apartment will have a wonderful smell. Funny, I never think of cooking in Italy as a chore. In fact I seem to be planning future meals as I'm buying fresh for today. Do I go out to eat? Yes, and I treat myself real good when I do - because I'm looking for ideas to bring home with me! Mangia bene!

The heaviest things you'll bring home from the market will be the very large bottles of mineral water, frizzante or not, and large bottles of sodas. You'll need sturdy bags for those, and you cannot possibly bring home food and drink for your large family on foot, especially assuming no elevators to your apartments. You already have 4 BOBs (Beasts of Burden) at your beck and call. Use 'em.

Re: grocery bags - I highly recommend Baggu bags....they weigh next to nothing (0.8 ounces), are made of ripstop nylon material and can hold up to 50 lbs (although they don't look like it). They fold into a small square just like the lightest, thinnest rain jacket. They don't have a square bottom - that's why they're so light. I use them all the time at home and for all sort of things when I travel (laundry, heavy purchases, etc). They're definitely not the cheapest but I bought mine on super sale and I love 'em.
https://www.amazon.com/BAGGU-Standard-Reusable-Shopping-Bag/dp/B0056GPQ6G

Robert, thank you.

This is what I want to teach my boys and why I have been saving for so long to make this happen. I want them to experience life (as much as possible) as a citizen, not a tourist. I want them to understand cultures that are different are not wrong or awkward, history is relative and in the end, we are all human beings despite what currency we use, language we speak or what our lives may look like.

Great response, pacingoamy. Those are excellent reasons for cooking in Italy!
Now, if I only liked to cook. I have a kitchen 'cause it came with the house. It gets dusted once a week.

It's great to be spontaneous in the market but I'd go with a few recipes in mind so you make sure you have the ingredients you need. Also prepare in advance (before you leave home) a list of essentials--things like eggs, coffee, olive oil (though it may be provided), milk, breakfast cereals, herbs, etc. That way you won't waste time a lot of time doing that once you're there.

Perhaps even have each boy research, plan a menu, and help shop for ingredients.

I strongly recommend going to Campo dei Fiori in the morning at least once for shopping. Splurge a little on an upscale jar of pasta sauce like cinghale or other. It's still cheaper than a restaurant. Make a plate of fresh veggies or soft white cheese and strawberries with balsamic vinegar. The melons (melone - mell-lone-ay) are sweeter and juicier than in the USA. It 's fun to visit a street market. Use your daypack for carrying bottles of wine and water. You may wish to bring a fold-up tote bag. Patagonia has a daypack/tote bag that folds up small. It's ideal for this. It's overpriced, so buy it on sale at ebags.com. Called light weight tote. You can just pack a couple of fabric grocery bags easily. Cheaper and sturdier for carrying to apt..

In Florence, there's the Self Service Leonardo Cafeteria at Via dei Pecori 11 that will serve a family,
Mercato Centrale at Via dell' Ariento will serve a family,
and my favorite supermercato anywhere is the Conad City at Via Pietrapiana 42, you gotta see this place, all prepared food is homemade quality, and there's plenty of it, their pizza is scrumptious! They will sell you whole cakes, you see a slice you like, you can buy the whole cake! Fresh seafood is abundant, produce is so colorful I took photos of the area.

One time some very handsome Italian male models came into the store and told me I couldn't take photos of them, I couldn't tell them I wanted photos of the veggies, not them!

You know those Italian cookies, twice baked biscotti, well these look like they were made in a stone quarry somewhere, they are rough hewn and would satisfy a family!

In Rome, outside markets and supermercato have been mentioned, take time to sightsee at these places, go to the bakery/pastry shop at Conad City, Rome especially has pastries from other regions of Italy, Conad City at the lower level of Termini train station carries the Sfogliatella of Napoli, i think the best pastry ever invented, hearty and filling! Eggs in Italy are better than ours, their bacon is better, their yogurt is better, they have huge varieties of prepared food, everything is better there, and cheaper too! This will be so much fun for your family! Remember the Frizzante!

I would limit your apartment cooking to breakfasts, and maybe some dinners.
American style breakfasts aren't common in Italy. Italian breakfast consists of a cappuccino and a pastry, so if you want an American style breakfast, you are better off preparing it at home.

Don't waste time having lunch cooked at the apartment. Too much time would be wasted and taken away from sightseeing. There are plenty of cheap places available, and you won't save much by cooking at the apartment, but you will lose time and time is money, especially when you travel.

Dinners may be ok at home. Some nights you may be too tired to get out after a whole day sightseeing. As mentioned above there are plenty of take outs options, which are great, cheap, and not require you to cook. Supermarkets have those opportunities, but you can also find take out goodies at a Rosticceria (Rotisserie take out). For sure I'd fill the apartment with wine and spirits.

The CONAD grocery near Ponte Vecchio is great but lines can be very LONG! I stayed near there for 2 months and shopped their frequently but sometimes the lines were too long and I came back another time. Lots of little shops to grab ingredients/food to cook also along with many that have great take away.

Kathy and Sandra, you are killing me!

If I plan to buy a lot of something, I take my empty Civita bag and it works for carrying heavy items. Light things go in the plastic bag I buy at the store.

A nice frittata meal at the end of your stay helps clear the leftovers.

I'm back! In Rome you can get a delish American breakfast at an outdoor cafe wrapped around a corner at Piazza Barberini where the Bernini Triton Fountain is located. It is made with Olive Oil and comes with their delicious homegrown eggs (sunny side up for me), sausage, bacon, toast, butter and jelly, orange juice, coffee, and more, I was there early to mid-morning! It was a sunny chilly morning in November, but i always have my Adriatic mountain coat with me and so loved the experience, a lovely place with a great wait staff that served a beautiful and tasty American breakfast! They did have tables inside but most of us were outside!

In Florence, there's a place on Via Pietrapiana a little ways east of that Conad City that serves American breakfast, but not until they open at 11:30 AM, so it has a lunch flair with a serving of lettuce! These were absolutely delicious scrambled eggs fresh from farm chickens, toast, butter, jelly, coffee, other fixins to order, a really good experience!

Conad seems to rule Florence and we found them quite adequate for grocery shopping. But, if you want to live and shop like an Italian, go to the Mercato Centrale (by the train station). Check you apartment for reusable shopping bags. If you're really lucky, they also have a small shopping trolley.

In Rome, the COOP just south of Piazza Navona is much larger than it looks on the outside because the back 2/3rds is two level. Or, you can visit Campo De Fiori in the morning before heading out site seeing.

Other wisdom - eggs aren't refrigerated in most grocery stores so look for them on a shelf close to the dairy section.

The meats and cheeses at the "deli" counter are MUCH higher quality than anything in the cooler! Normally sold in 100 gram units (called an etto or 200 grams is 2 etti, etc. ???)

For fresh fruits and vegis, the protocol is to 1) place disposable glove on hand used to select produce, 2) put produce into plastic bag, 3) weigh and label bag. Watch the locals the first time or two...

If you decide to have a meal at a nearby restaurant, do NOT choose La Fraschetta on Via Sant'Angese, just off Piazza Navona. Read the reviews on Tripadvisor and you will see why:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g187791-d3598432-Reviews-La_Fraschetta-Rome_Lazio.html

Everyone who reviews the place complains of being overcharged. In our case, the bill for lunch came to around €29, including the 10% service charge posted on the menu. The waiter demanded €35, without providing a written receipt as required by law. When asked what the extra €6 was for, he answered "tax.". When I pointed out there is no such thing as tax on a restaurant meal in Rome, he said it was his "salary.". We finally gave up arguing but should have gone looking for the finance police.

But our experience was mild compared to the people who were charged €388 for their meal and then a tip of €80 was added on top!

I see from the recent reviews that they are still overcharging customers. I cannot understand why they are still in business.