What are you doing?

[Addie]

I should be sleeping. I have to go to Winthrop today. They want to see me about my little excursion to the hospital. They just want to check me out to make sure I am all right.

 

[Addie]

It never sounds like you eat enough to use up your food stamps, Addie, but I guess with your boys being there so much you need that extra food. My brother-in-law is eligible for food stamps but won't apply. He's eligible for a lot of things he won't apply for. I don't know why. He worked all his life and paid taxes. In fact, he still works a little part time job and is still paying taxes. He would rather live so frugally instead of taking what he calls hand-outs.

True Carol. When I am alone, I always have food stamps left over after I do my big shopping. Spike has my EBT card, so when I would need something, like milk, he would use it until it was spent. But I have laid down the law with The Pirate. If he continues to eat here, I want to see him come through the door with groceries in his arms. Otherwise he can cook for himself at his home. Not mine. I keep telling myself that I really shouldn't complain with all he does for me. But, I can't afford to feed him. And if I had to, I can do my own household chores. It just takes me a lot longer than when he does them.

 

[Aunt Bea]

I put out my Christmas decorations this morning, a job that should take all of 10 minutes. The result from that one little task was a mountain of dust and two shopping bags full of books and bric a brac for Sally Ann!

Where does dust come from and why does it climb two flights of stairs to hang out in my apartment!

 

[Zhizara]

I've been prepping the groceries yesterday, so far the celery, broccoli, hamburger, ground sausage, and chicken fingers are done. Nothing left for prep except to repackage some bay scallops, then slice up the yellow squash and onion.

Later, I'll make taco meat and cook up the squash/onion mix.

 

[tinlizzie]

I'm recalling yesterday's visit to the meat aisle at Publix. The prices were insane; these days all I can do is stroll by and look - with maybe a nod of greeting to the beef cuts. Cube steak - $4.99/lb. Oy. I saw a leg of lamb priced at $38.00.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

tinlizzy, I was shocked at the food prices in FL. No wonder most locals are so skinny! Thanks to Market Basket, most prices here are lower than back home, but my old haunts in OH are still a bargain compared to most of what I saw when we were on vacation.

 

[Cheryl J]

I've spent all morning getting out Christmas decorations, too. I have to find a new place for my many houseplants, so that's been a challenge. It's fun though, and I'm getting into the spirit. Much of the Christmas décor was my late mom's, and many of those are over 60 years old and charming as can be. I love them, and it helps me feel closer to her during the holiday season.

Meat prices....oy. I'm with y'all there. I bought a tray of chicken wings when I had family visiting recently, and it was something like $13 for not even 3 pounds. They used to be the cheapest cut around, not any more.

Addie, I'm surprised you can share your EBT card with your son. I don't know much about them, but I think in CA you have to show ID and only the person they are issued to can use them.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

My decorating is like a Christmas Creep. Today I got the layers of linens on the kitchen table - plaid full-size, topped by a square one with a Santa motif printed around the perimeter (my Mom used to use it on our table!) I set it so the points go down towards the chairs. Then our two spots have place mats. Gotta protect the antique!

I also finished decorating the sun room tree. I'll post a picture when it gets dark and the lights are on.

 

[Aunt Bea]

I'm recalling yesterday's visit to the meat aisle at Publix. The prices were insane; these days all I can do is stroll by and look - with maybe a nod of greeting to the beef cuts. Cube steak - $4.99/lb. Oy. I saw a leg of lamb priced at $38.00.

I feel the same way, I simply won't pay those high prices, not enough bang for the buck!

Pass the chicken please!

 

[creative]

Don't some prices get reduced in US supermarkets at a certain time of day? They do here in UK.

 

[Aunt Bea]

Don't some prices get reduced in US supermarkets at a certain time of day? They do here in UK.

It depends on the grocer. Some of the ones that I use put a sticker on the package marking it down from $1.00 - $3.00 another store reweighs the package at a lower price per pound and puts a new sticker on it and one never marks anything down, they just pull the expired meat from the case.

 

[bakechef]

Just baked some gingerbread in cute ceramic pans to give to friends. They fell in the middle, but taste great. I'll just fill the divot with something decorative before giving it to them. I also made some really decadent chocolate chunk cookie dough, I'll be baking that to give out to friends as well tomorrow. I usually go all out, make candy, decorate cookies etc.. It takes me a lot of time. This year, just a couple of really tasty things that I know that they'll enjoy a lot.

 

[Addie]

I've spent all morning getting out Christmas decorations, too. I have to find a new place for my many houseplants, so that's been a challenge. It's fun though, and I'm getting into the spirit. Much of the Christmas décor was my late mom's, and many of those are over 60 years old and charming as can be. I love them, and it helps me feel closer to her during the holiday season.

Meat prices....oy. I'm with y'all there. I bought a tray of chicken wings when I had family visiting recently, and it was something like $13 for not even 3 pounds. They used to be the cheapest cut around, not any more.

Addie, I'm surprised you can share your EBT card with your son. I don't know much about them, but I think in CA you have to show ID and only the person they are issued to can use them.

I don't share it with him. He holds it for me. I have a habit of constantly misplacing it. He does have the pin for it. When he is out shopping for himself, if he sees something he knows I will need or use he picks it up for me. He has his own Ebt card. There are a lot of elderly folks who cannot do their own shopping. They have an aide or homecare worker do their shopping with their Ebt card. Or they shop through PeaPod. A service of online shopping.

 

[CarolPa]

I rarely see any meat items reduced. There's one particular store where I usually buy all my meat because they have a really good turnover and it's always fresh looking. Also, a little higher priced, but worth it in the long run. I feel I can "trust" that meat. Occasionally I will buy meat somewhere else if I am already in the store. I buy chicken pieces at WalMart because they always have the best price and it's always good. I buy whole chickens for soup at Aldi's...same reason. But for beef and pork it's always Giant Eagle and always the White Oak store. Right now I'm out of chicken, but I won't buy any because I need the room in the freezer for Christmas cookies. For the rest of the month I will only buy small packages of meat as I need it. There are some cookies I bake ahead and freeze and other that are baked last minute. The chocolate chip cookies went into the freezer yesterday. This weekend it will be the apricot horns. I am so organized with my cookie baking and so disorganized with every thing else.

 

[Zhizara]

Addie, I was really surprised that this year, I actually got a raise on my food stamp card of $6!!! I only get $26 here in Louisiana with my raise.

I guess the rules are different in Mass. Maybe I'm missing something. Please PM me if you have any advice. XOXOX

 

[GotGarlic]

Addie, I was really surprised that this year, I actually got a raise on my food stamp card of $6!!! I only get $26 here in Louisiana with my raise.

I guess the rules are different in Mass. Maybe I'm missing something. Please PM me if you have any advice. XOXOX

It's a federal program, not state. The amounts people get depend on income, location and family size. Mass. has a much higher cost of living than Louisiana. For more info: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) - Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) Information

 

[Addie]

Addie, I was really surprised that this year, I actually got a raise on my food stamp card of $6!!! I only get $26 here in Louisiana with my raise.

I guess the rules are different in Mass. Maybe I'm missing something. Please PM me if you have any advice. XOXOX

Z, your produce in mostly shipped in from Texas. So it costs less for you than it does for us.

Market Basket Weekly Circular Sales Flyer

Take a look at what we are paying up here.

I get $161 in food stamps. All my living expenses except food are contained in my rent of $237. My SS check is slightly less than $900. Mississippi is the worst state for assistance ,even for the elderly. We up here in the North get a heat allowance even though heat is included in our rent. Our rent would be higher without it. The south has a farm belt in Texas and has a longer growing season than we have up north. We usually get our first frost around the end of September or middle of October. And we don't start planting our vegetable gardens until after Memorial Day. If we are lucky. So we are unable to provide a lot of our food for a longer time than the south. We have a much shorter growing time. So you may not realize it, but you are better off than if you lived in Mississippi. I hate to say it but when you look at the figures that provide the most welfare programs they are Democratic states. And you unfortunately live in a strong Republican state. Whereas I live in a very strong Democratic state.

http://www.ibtimes.com/which-us-states-have-most-welfare-benefit-programs-interactive-map-1394989/

Take a look and you will see where LA sits with welfare payments including food stamps.

I also have my Medicare Premium paid for by the State through Medicaid. In spite of all the cuts Congress has made over the past several years, our Legislature here in Mass. has voted to provide the funds that Congress took away. I am also on Plan C for my health care through Medicare. So I have no medical costs at all.

So Massachusetts hasn't felt the effect of the cuts over the years as much as some other states in the south. We may have lost a dollar or two in welfare checks, or even in food stamps. But I do know some folks have had a rather large increase in the co-pay for their prescriptions. But there are some like Spike have had a decrease. He only pays $.50 for each prescription. And meds for his heart have none. Whereas before they were $.50. He also receives a SSI check.

We do have one of the largest food banks in the country. Large enough that they supply all the little ones around the state if they don't receive enough donations in food or cash from the community. And these smaller food banks are very generous in what they hand out. The one I donate to will give milk along with other fridge foods. They recently installed a large fridge that the Main Food Bank paid for. So if I were to run out of food, I could get enough food for the rest of the month from there. But fortunately, I have never had the need.

So all in all I think we are really a lot better off than some of the southern states in receiving help when it is needed. And BTW, a lot of folks don't know that "if a hospital or medical facility receives even one cent from the Federal government for research purposes, they cannot refuse to give you free care if needed." If they do, they can lose all their research monies.

 

[GotGarlic]

Z, your produce in mostly shipped in from Texas. So it costs less for you than it does for us.

Market Basket Weekly Circular Sales Flyer

You're kidding, right? About half the produce grown in the United States is produced in California. Texas a farm belt? Maybe for wheat. Not for melons, mangos, avocadoes, broccoli, salad greens, lemons and other produce in your flyer. Do you really think those things are grown local to you during your four-month growing season? Take a look at where your produce comes from. It's on the package.

Gas is not the only, or even the most important, factor when it comes to pricing goods. Labor is a huge expense. Which is why so many farmers hire illegal immigrants who they don't have to pay well and who won't complain about living expenses.

And Massachusetts is a high-tax state so social programs are supplemented by the state, which is not true everywhere, particularly the deep south, including Louisiana.

 

[Addie]

You're kidding, right? About half the produce grown in the United States is produced in California. Texas a farm belt? Maybe for wheat. Not for melons, mangos, avocadoes, broccoli, salad greens, lemons and other produce in your flyer. Do you really think those things are grown local to you during your four-month growing season? Take a look at where your produce comes from. It's on the package.

Gas is not the only, or even the most important, factor when it comes to pricing goods. Labor is a huge expense. Which is why so many farmers hire illegal immigrants who they don't have to pay well and who won't complain about living expenses.

And Massachusetts is a high-tax state so social programs are supplemented by the state, which is not true everywhere, particularly the deep south, including Louisiana.

When I lived in Texas, I was only an hour away from their farm belt. And they grew all kinds of veggies. They always have two plantings a year. My next door neighbor and I would often make a trip of going there with all the kids. She used to get the Farm Newspaper telling which crops were being harvested at that time. If any were of interest to us. off we would go.

Their farm belt may not be as big as California, or produce all of the foods that CA. does, but a lot of their produce is shipped via truck to other southern states. Which helps keep down the cost to the consumer.

And yes, we do get a lot of our produce from the local farms here in New England. I buy potatoes grown right here just 30 minutes from where I live at Brooks Farm in Concord. When they are not available, I get Maine ones. All our corn is grown locally. Along with any other veggie you can find at Farmers' Markets throughout the area. And our supermarkets, specially Market Basket, prefer to buy locally in the short growing period we have. They know that it will sell really fast. A lot of Italian families wait for the local tomatoes so they can buy them by the case for canning. Green beans are placed in the wooden box the farmer brought them in, right up there on the produce shelf. The name of the farm is right there on the box. You would be surprised at just how much local foods we have available.

 

[GotGarlic]

When I lived in Texas, I was only an hour away from their farm belt. And they grew all kinds of veggies. They always have two plantings a year.

A lot has changed in 40 years, Addie. Fruit and vegetable production is way down on the list of stuff grown in Texas: https://www.texasagriculture.gov/About/TexasAgStats.aspx

Their farm belt may not be as big as California, or produce all of the foods that CA. does, but a lot of their produce is shipped via truck to other southern states. Which helps keep down the cost to the consumer.

Economies of scale from large operations is what keeps costs down. And a lot of cargo travels by train these days. It's much more efficient and less expensive.

And yes, we do get a lot of our produce from the local farms here in New England... You would be surprised at just how much local foods we have available.

I would be really shocked if you're getting "melons, mangos, avocadoes, broccoli, salad greens, lemons and other produce in your flyer" locally in December. It's coming from California and South America now, just like in most of the rest of the country.

Green beans are placed in the wooden box the farmer brought them in, right up there on the produce shelf. The name of the farm is right there on the box.

That's marketing, Addie. Those boxes never move.