With a gallon of milk costing almost the same as a gallon of gas, going to the grocery store is becoming just as painful as going to the gas station.

"A few items used to cost you under 20 dollars," says shopper Billi Matthias. "Now a few items are over 40 dollars. You go up there and think you didn't get much, they ring it up, you think holy man!"

Even if you want to cook a small meal for your family, it's going to run quite the tab. If you start with about three pounds of ground chuck, that's at least $7. If you want to make a salad, red peppers are $3.99 a pound at , green peppers are $2.19 a pound, tomatoes $2.49 a pound-- a head of lettuce is $1.19. And if you want to add a starch, instant rice is $2.59.

Add it all up, and that basic meal will cost you almost $18.

Food economist Jim Hilker guesses the same meal could have been $15 a couple of years ago.

"We've seen eggs prices go up, milk prices went up. Beef prices went up, but not that much," he says.

He says the reasons for the recent rise in food prices are complex, including a high demand for food, rising energy prices and problems with food production, including bad wheat crops-- all things he doesn't see changing anytime soon.

That's bad news for Billi Mathias, who's had to give up certain "luxuries."

"My asparagus, my fresh vegetables that I just love," she says. "The price has gone up, and it just gets harder to do."

She's wondering what next will be crossed off her shopping list for good.