Grocery deals!

[In A Pickle]

Sorry I am very behind the times here but going deaf in your 30's?? That is terrible!!!

It was a bit of a shock that’s for sure.
Not an easy thing to accept when you grow up in an environment where any ailments are viewed as weakness, but you get over yourself eventually.

Most people want to know how, so - I got a cold at Christmas, it was at a time when swine flu was rampant, my FIL had it and I looked after him.
Because it was Christmas and that’s a very busy time here I carried on like you do. I did feel a bit rubbish but really not too bad considering.
Then on New Year’s Day I woke up and realised I hadn’t heard my son in my bedroom using my hairdryer.
I blocked one ear, then the other and discovered the hearing on my left side was gone.

To cut a long story short at the audiology appt I discovered I had lost a significant amount of hearing from both ears just more on one side than the other and that as they say was that!

 

[RavingLunatic]

The pay more get less trend is happening here as well - corporate greed.

But then look at what you get when you buy (if you do) a packet of chips ... a handful of chips and a bag full of air. All your really paying for is the over inflated packaging.

With that being said - we still get a dozen eggs in a carton or 18 in the larger cartons; however, a month or so ago we were paying $10 for a carton of 12 eggs - apparently all of the US chickens wanted a pay rise or they wouldn't lay

Wow, are they organic eggs? I just bought mine for 99c.

 

[Jusa]

Wow, are they organic eggs? I just bought mine for 99c.

I think that where @theghan lives they don't have a lot of stores nearby. They don't have to worry much about being competitive with pricing there. And we are just coming out of an egg shortage due to the avian flu bout that hit our area pretty hard (I live 2 states over from him).

Even where I live in NE Ohio in a small city of around 250,000 people with several nearby grocery stores, regular eggs are currently around $3 a dozen now, with the cage free brown eggs I like around $5 a dozen. Organic cost even more. During the bird flu epidemic they were a few dollars more per dozen, though not $10 a dozen.

 

[Gone Hiking]

Mrs. GH came home with a 50 lb bag of potatoes for $16.89 today, which will last for months, and six full grocery bags of various canned tomatoes and beans for $0.39 to $0.59 per can.

Another local store is selling fresh chicken thighs for $1/lb, extra lean ground beef for $5.49/lb, and whole beef short loins that they'll trim and cut into NY strip steaks at your direction for just $8.99/lb, so Mrs. GH will be loading up on chicken thighs and 1.5" thick steaks for the freezer tomorrow. They've been having many GREAT deals for the past year that we've been taking advantage of. Grocery prices across the board had been insane and it's so nice to see prices cooling.

 

[Kathleen]

Mrs. GH came home with a 50 lb bag of potatoes for $16.89 today, which will last for months, and six full grocery bags of various canned tomatoes and beans for $0.39 to $0.59 per can.

How are you storing the potatoes. Lately potatoes as well as onions have not been lasting. I keep them separated. But both seem to go bad quickly. It was not always so.

 

[Gone Hiking]

How are you storing the potatoes. Lately potatoes as well as onions have not been lasting. I keep them separated. But both seem to go bad quickly. It was not always so.

I keep potatoes and onions in separate wire baskets and/or ventilated cardboard vegetable boxes in the basement, where it's ~55° to 58° right now. (It doesn't get much warmer in the summer.) Our basement is unfinished with poured concrete walls and floor, no dampness, and unless I'm working at the reloading bench down there in the evenings, it's also dark. Potatoes will keep for months and months, and onions at least a couple. It works like an old school root cellar in temperature, just drier.

On the other hand, anything I try to keep for convenience on the kitchen counter at ~70°, which also receives a lot of light, is on the clock from day one.

 

[Kathleen]

The basement here is half finished. The half-finished part is like you describe except it is 65F all year around. I don't store foods on the kitchen counter. It's an itsy-bitsy kitchen.

The potatoes and onions are stored in separate baskets in the pantry. It's about 65F there too.

 

[dragnlaw]

How are you storing the potatoes. Lately potatoes as well as onions have not been lasting. I keep them separated. But both seem to go bad quickly. It was not always so.

I've been noticing that too. I don't think I've changed my storage style but perhaps that pantry has warmed somehow. hmmmm...

and nice grocery deals there. Gone Hiking.

 

[Gone Hiking]

Mrs. GH was busy today and didn't make it to the store, so we both went when I was done with work to hit the meat sale at the local grocer I mentioned yesterday. We came home with 15 lbs of NY strip steaks ($8.99/lb), 10 lbs of 85% lean ground beef ($5.49/lb), 15 lbs of chicken thighs, 5 lbs of chicken breasts, and 5 lbs of chicken wings (all for $1/lb). I just spent an hour at the kitchen counter vacuum sealing it all to freeze. That's a solid score to add to the freezer that should last a little while.

Of course, we did our regular grocery shopping, too, and also loaded up on spicy sausage and fresh oysters, but those weren't on sale.

 

[RavingLunatic]

Russet potatoes were on sale 15c/lb, I got a few for our steaks tomorrow.
Red onions were on sale for 39c/lb, I got a few
Bananas were 49c/lb, I got 2 bunches
No meat was on sale but they were not super expensive.
I did splurge and buy some shiitake and oyster mushrooms.

 

[dragnlaw]

I'm trying desperately to stay out of the grocers. I just don't have any more room in my freezers. Sale or no sale. Actually got a bit better eating from them this week.

 

[taxlady]

I'm trying desperately to stay out of the grocers. I just don't have any more room in my freezers. Sale or no sale. Actually got a bit better eating from them this week.

I'm trying hard too. Just last week I fought myself and won. The brand of chicken that I prefer, Ferme des Voltigeurs, had 1800 gram chickens for $7 off. I managed not to buy one. That was hard to pass up, but I decided that the agro of having it taking up space was not worth the $7 savings.

 

[dragnlaw]

I think I'm going to join FBA.
Two branches I might join are SONS and RCA.



FBA = Food Buyer Anonymous: specialize in helping addicts getting thru grocery stores without buying excess and useless items for a 'maybe I'll make it' wish list.
They also help you get over purchasing weird items seen in a recipe but you are not sure just exactly what that recipe was or even where it is but you know you saw it somewhere, so you need to have it on hand for when you remember.

SONS = Sales or No Sales: specialize in helping to Not buy excess food just because it is on sale or a 'good to have around, incase I need it.

RCA = Recipe Collector Anonymous: help to curb the wandering across the internet reading recipes and 'saving' them, even though you already have 15 of that pot pie.
This branch also helps in educating you to recognize which recipes you would like to make but know you never will.

 

[blissful]

@Gone Hiking you found some good deals!

Today was a shopping day and we found reduced priced stuff. We never know what they'll put in there but it is usually in the mornings after 8:30 sometimes going into the early afternoon.
5 lbs of mushrooms whole and sliced $.99/lb.
3 bags of bananas 99 cents/each bag
bag of apples
bag of extra large organic jalapeno (I would have paid full price but these were nice.)
bag of oranges
(total $11.00)

He talked with the cashier and she said they'd be going through the bell peppers tomorrow, that's always good for us, especially in winter when our gardens are covered in snow.

I still can't believe that they had peppers in the reduced area, jalapenos. I threw away one pepper but there were enough cleaned and cut in slices to fill 2 quart jars. I brined them and put them in the fridge. I'll use them to get a mild spiciness to no-cheeze sauce or in soups and stews for myself.

 

[KatyCooks]

@Gone Hiking you found some good deals!

Today was a shopping day and we found reduced priced stuff. We never know what they'll put in there but it is usually in the mornings after 8:30 sometimes going into the early afternoon.
5 lbs of mushrooms whole and sliced $.99/lb.
3 bags of bananas 99 cents/each bag
bag of apples
bag of extra large organic jalapeno (I would have paid full price but these were nice.)
bag of oranges
(total $11.00)

He talked with the cashier and she said they'd be going through the bell peppers tomorrow, that's always good for us, especially in winter when our gardens are covered in snow.

I still can't believe that they had peppers in the reduced area, jalapenos. I threw away one pepper but there were enough cleaned and cut in slices to fill 2 quart jars. I brined them and put them in the fridge. I'll use them to get a mild spiciness to no-cheeze sauce or in soups and stews for myself.

I am so envious! I would love to have the space to store things that had been jarred (or frozen). Just out of interest blissful, what do you do with the mushrooms?

 

[blissful]

@KatyCooks thanks, we love it while we can find it.
The whole mushrooms I put in the fridge to use tomorrow, battered, breaded, baked then served with a dipping sauce or sweet savory stir fry sauce. The sliced ones are just cooked with a few tablespoons of water, then packed in 1 lb pint containers, 2 are frozen for future use, one in the fridge to use with whatever soup or stew we make this week. (we also use mushrooms in tomato mushroom sauce for spaghetti, pizza, and for mushroom gravy)

 

[dragnlaw]

Mushrooms are another thing I often eat raw, especially when fresh and crunchy. They too supposedly have some toxins.

Next I'm going to read my breads and wine are toxic!

 

[RavingLunatic]

I like my mushrooms cooked, I don’t like them raw. Didn’t know about poison thing.

 

[dragnlaw]

It's only once in a while I munch on one when I get home from the grocers. When super fresh - nice and subtle taste. I prefer them fried up nice and toasty brown. Or stuffed.

 

[dragnlaw]

Today chicken legs $1.99 a pound. got'em.
Huge picnic pork $1.99 a pound. I had tears in my eyes but managed to walk on by...