Grocery shopping tips during Coronavirus quarantine #3

[killarney rose]

I just got an email of substitutions they had to make. In each case they had to substitute a name brand item or higher count item, but they charged me the lower price. Im good with that. It was all paper products.

 

[dixiegirl1035]

DH will make his once-monthly trek to Costco today. He would ordinarily go on the weekend, but now that he's retired, he thinks a weekday will be less crowded. I rarely go to Costco because it is just too big for a pleasant shopping experience. I would never be able to manage the large packaging by myself, and I don't even enjoy being in the cavernous store when I'm with DH. I don't particularly care for Meijer, either, and have not been since last March.

We don't get much food at Costco - mostly canned tomatoes, olives, artichokes, pasta sauce, etc. that I use frequently. When they have their delicious sockeye salmon, DH usually gets a couple of packages for the freezer. Costco is also good for personal care items, cleaning and paper products, OTC meds, Perrier/bottled water, etc.

? for those who are doing grocery delivery: Are you likely to continue online ordering/delivery when the pandemic ends?

I definitely will continue my trunk pick up at Kroger. It has been so convenient and I can go on the application whenever I am low on something and put it in my cart for later. They've got it nailed as to how their website works for ordering. I have the loyalty card so it brings up all my popular stuff I buy and lets me know which ones are on sale so I can stock up.

It also has an area of frequently purchased items. It's a fabulous site and I will continue to give Kroger my business. I have not used Walmart or any others for trunk delivery for groceries. It was free for months, but I think in August they started charging a minimum of $35 for the free pick and put in your trunk , but I can easily meet that minimum each time. Their substitution policy is great, I always get the cheapest in my cart so if they are out of it, I get the more expensive brands for the same cheap price. ( upfront you say if you will allow substitutions, and they will contact you through text while they are picking for you to approve it)

The one thing I do miss is picking out my own meats. Or getting things on sale because they are short dated which I used to always do at Kroger.

 

[ButForFortune]

ButForFortune, I tried to get Walmart delivery/pickup in the spring but the time slots were impossible to book.

Is there a 'trick' to booking one?? I would sit online at the top of the hour as the slots opened but they were gone in a flash. Once the lineups get long, more and more people will revert to paying for delivery from Walmart.

Gave up and used a boutique grocer nearby who will deliver if you spend $50 and at their prices, its easy to spend $50 but without the selection.

Many used App deliveries but I dont use apps.

I also found the time slots a little hard to get in the very beginning, but they quickly improved. I don't think they release the time slots hourly anymore, just daily. I am in the high-risk category that can pickup at 7 a.m., I suspect that helped. So we try to choose that time slot, my husband can do the pickup before starting work and we feel that the selection might be better and customers haven't been in the store at that time touching product, etc. Sometimes we have been the only customers in the parking lot doing pickup at that time.

You are able to change your delivery time once prior to your order being shopped. Something that worked for me a few times was to just grab a slot, make my minimum $35.00 order to get in the "queue" and then take my time finishing my order and changing the time if I can get something that works better for us. You can do all of this online and without an app.

 

[ButForFortune]

ButForFortune, I tried to get Walmart delivery/pickup in the spring but the time slots were impossible to book.

Is there a 'trick' to booking one?? I would sit online at the top of the hour as the slots opened but they were gone in a flash. Once the lineups get long, more and more people will revert to paying for delivery from Walmart.

Gave up and used a boutique grocer nearby who will deliver if you spend $50 and at their prices, its easy to spend $50 but without the selection.

Many used App deliveries but I dont use apps.

Sorry - double post.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

DH and I had originally planned a joint trek to Nino's today for our weekend grocery needs. It's a miserable day in these parts - overnight snow, rain, ice, cold - so when DH offered to go after his swim, I said that I was fine with not going out. I had a thorough list and knew that he would get exactly what I wanted

It seems that everyone around here has learned about the "good luck" that comes with eating black-eyed peas on New Year's Day because Nino's had only one 15 oz. can left and not enough time to reorder before Friday. Meijer was also out of them when DH checked yesterday. Grocery Manager suggested dry black-eyed peas, and DH knew exactly where to find them. I realized that I no longer had Cajun seasoning, so DH got the Louisiana brand - we like their Remoulade. I used to have a small canister of Tony Chachere's seasoning but tossed it a while ago when I realized that I'd had it for years. Other ingredients for my New Year's Day concoction include Andouille sausage, shrimp, celery, onion, pepper, and spinach. We'll have bagels with lox and cream cheese for NYD breakfast.

We will order takeout for NYE from our favorite Italian restaurant where we frequently go on New Year's Eve. Since we can't go out for dinner, we still want to support Picano's Italian Restaurant in Troy, MI | Picano’s Italian Grille. Hopefully, our Governor will allow restaurants to resume dine-in service within the next couple of weeks. There are a handful of wines that we enjoy when we go to Picano's, and DH found one of them at Nino's today. Waitstaff whimsically call it "stick wine" because of the easily-identified bottle with a little stick on the label. Tralcetto Montepulciano | Cantina Zaccagnini

 

[BUF]

We always eat 12 grapes at midnight New Years Eve... one grape for each month of the year for luck, health, and prosperity. It is a Spanish tradition that we were introduced to many years ago.

We would usually be at a New Year’s Eve party where we would assemble cups of 12 grapes for each guest (yes, a lot of effort but several folks volunteered). This year we will be eating our 12 grapes alone... hope we can stay up!

Pick some grapes up and try it this year... we can all use the extra luck going into this new year!!

 

[Suglo]

We always eat 12 grapes at midnight New Years Eve... one grape for each month of the year for luck, health, and prosperity. It is a Spanish tradition that we were introduced to many years ago.

We would usually be at a New Year’s Eve party where we would assemble cups of 12 grapes for each guest (yes, a lot of effort but several folks volunteered). This year we will be eating our 12 grapes alone... hope we can stay up!

Pick some grapes up and try it this year... we can all use the extra luck going into this new year!!

I used to cheat when I was a kid by peeling each grape beforehand. It was hard to down a grape to the sound of each gong when the clock strikes at midnight. I’ll be eating them whole tomorrow with my family. We could all use some better luck this coming year.

 

[anneg]

We will have a Zoom session tomorrow at 5 p.m. with some old friends and toast the new year early. We have a nice bottle of Prosecco ready.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

We always eat 12 grapes at midnight New Years Eve... one grape for each month of the year for luck, health, and prosperity. It is a Spanish tradition that we were introduced to many years ago.

We would usually be at a New Year’s Eve party where we would assemble cups of 12 grapes for each guest (yes, a lot of effort but several folks volunteered). This year we will be eating our 12 grapes alone... hope we can stay up!

Pick some grapes up and try it this year... we can all use the extra luck going into this new year!!

Thank you for sharing this. I hadn't heard of this NYE tradition. Alas! DH and I haven't been awake at midnight on New Year's Eve for many years Wine is made from grapes, and we will both have had 12 sips of wine before retiring tonight, so I hope that will count as our 12 grapes

12 Grapes At Midnight: Spain’s Great New Year’s Eve Tradition, And Superstition - Food Republic

 

[Skigh]

Thank you for sharing this. I hadn't heard of this NYE tradition. Alas! DH and I haven't been awake at midnight on New Year's Eve for many years Wine is made from grapes, and we will both have had 12 sips of wine before retiring tonight, so I hope that will count as our 12 grapes

12 Grapes At Midnight: Spain’s Great New Year’s Eve Tradition, And Superstition - Food Republic

Love the idea of 12 sips of wine. I will certainly be doing that.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

O/T: I know that many of you have pets, so this report might be of interest to you. I posted it on the "recalls" forum.

Pet food sold nationwide recalled after 28 dogs die from suspected poisoning (clickondetroit.com)

Dog, cat food recalled after deaths, illnesses

The FDA has recalled several lots of a popular pet food brand after at least 28 dogs have died from suspected aflatoxin poisoning.

Here’s the info from the FDA:

What is the Problem?
On December 30, 2020, Midwestern Pet Food, Inc. announced a recall of certain lots of Sportmix pet food products after FDA was alerted about reports of at least 28 dogs that have died and eight that have fallen ill after consuming the recalled Sportmix pet food. Multiple product samples were tested by the Missouri Department of Agriculture and found to contain very high levels of aflatoxin. Aflatoxin is a toxin produced by the mold Aspergillus flavus and at high levels it can cause illness and death in pets. The toxin can be present even if there is no visible mold...

 

[JDG]

Happy New Years everyone!

 

[PayrollNerd]

It is steroid day so I won’t sleep much tonight. Also, I will be up to ensure 2020 gets kicked to the curb. I have a gallon 2% milk from the food bank that I cannot drink in time. So my concoction this evening is Jello brand cooked chocolate pudding. Except 2% milk is too thin. I am using the left over flax milk. It is thick and creamy. I have 1 1/2 cups of flax milk and 2 1/2 cups 2% milk to get to 4 cups of milk. I love that there is a trace of nutrition and lots of protein!!!

 

[acutename]

It is steroid day so I won’t sleep much tonight. Also, I will be up to ensure 2020 gets kicked to the curb. I have a gallon 2% milk from the food bank that I cannot drink in time. So my concoction this evening is Jello brand cooked chocolate pudding. Except 2% milk is too thin. I am using the left over flax milk. It is thick and creamy. I have 1 1/2 cups of flax milk and 2 1/2 cups 2% milk to get to 4 cups of milk. I love that there is a trace of nutrition and lots of protein!!!

is that why you can sew 20 new perfect things in a day and your house looks spotless in the pictures too? if not, I guess I just really am a slug.

 

[dixiegirl1035]

It is steroid day so I won’t sleep much tonight. Also, I will be up to ensure 2020 gets kicked to the curb. I have a gallon 2% milk from the food bank that I cannot drink in time. So my concoction this evening is Jello brand cooked chocolate pudding. Except 2% milk is too thin. I am using the left over flax milk. It is thick and creamy. I have 1 1/2 cups of flax milk and 2 1/2 cups 2% milk to get to 4 cups of milk. I love that there is a trace of nutrition and lots of protein!!!

I learned HERE at WS that you can freeze milk, and it does indeed taste the same! I save Powerade 28 oz bottles and fill them 2/3 full and put in freezer.. and pull out later as I live alone and works so well.

 

[PayrollNerd]

is that why you can sew 20 new perfect things in a day and your house looks spotless in the pictures too? if not, I guess I just really am a slug.

LOL! I am sure you are not a slug. I live alone in a small house so if it is messy, it's all on me. Right now, it is definitely messy. I have been trying to wrap up projects and do better with time management.

 

[PayrollNerd]

I learned HERE at WS that you can freeze milk, and it does indeed taste the same! I save Powerade 28 oz bottles and fill them 2/3 full and put in freezer.. and pull out later as I live alone and works so well.

I do have some small cartons in the freezer but I haven't even had a need for those yet. I live alone too and I'm the only milk drinker in the family.

 

[Yesiamapirate]

I have to tell you all about something cool my mom, oldest son, two daughters and my sister did for New Year’s Day.
Due to Covid, our family ( all 21 of us) NY party was cancelled. My Dad is Macedonian, born here but my mom continues my late grandmas tradition of baking a Spinach pie type thing we all call Peta. It is kind of spanakopita but made very thin, with homemade phyllo, spinach and cottage cheese. A quarter is placed in one corner ( the same quarter from the year my dad was born!) It is baked and eaten on New Years Day, with the person who gets the quarter in their piece said to get good luck all year. We were all crushed that this tradition that has taken place and grown with our family since my dad was born, will not take place. We recently are up to 3 peta’s to feed us all.
Well, yesterday my daughters, sister, mom, son and myself all made our own Peta! It is the first time anyone but her or my grandma ever made peta! My daughter got her recipe and shared it with us so we could surprise her. She even had these special dish towels made with the recipe in her handwriting for each of us. My mom was so touched when we all shared pictures. She thought she was just making it for my dad yesterday until the pictures all showed up in her email.
Take that Covid!! You won’t ruin our year!

Ps...I made mine with vegan butter, cheese and egg replacer. My grandmother probably rolled over in her grave.
ETA... I am sorry this was supposed to be in the food and recipes thread. Ugh.

 

[PayrollNerd]

I have to tell you all about something cool my mom, oldest son, two daughters and my sister did for New Year’s Day.
Due to Covid, our family ( all 21 of us) NY party was cancelled. My Dad is Macedonian, born here but my mom continues my late grandmas tradition of baking a Spinach pie type thing we all call Peta. It is kind of spanakopita but made very thin, with homemade phyllo, spinach and cottage cheese. A quarter is placed in one corner ( the same quarter from the year my dad was born!) It is baked and eaten on New Years Day, with the person who gets the quarter in their piece said to get good luck all year. We were all crushed that this tradition that has taken place and grown with our family since my dad was born, will not take place. We recently are up to 3 peta’s to feed us all.
Well, yesterday my daughters, sister, mom, son and myself all made our own Peta! It is the first time anyone but her or my grandma ever made peta! My daughter got her recipe and shared it with us so we could surprise her. She even had these special dish towels made with the recipe in her handwriting for each of us. My mom was so touched when we all shared pictures. She thought she was just making it for my dad yesterday until the pictures all showed up in her email.
Take that Covid!! You won’t ruin our year!

Ps...I made mine with vegan butter, cheese and egg replacer. My grandmother probably rolled over in her grave.
ETA... I am sorry this was supposed to be in the food and recipes thread. Ugh.

Did you have to use Gluten Free phyllo and if so, where did you find it? We have a Mennonite / Amish market here that carries many GF items but I can never seem to be there when the phyllo is in stock!

 

[Yesiamapirate]

Did you have to use Gluten Free phyllo and if so, where did you find it? We have a Mennonite / Amish market here that carries many GF items but I can never seem to be there when the phyllo is in stock!

It was not gluten free. But I am sure you could make it if you found some. Can you order on line?