Grocery shopping tips during Coronavirus quarantine

[crhedBngr]

As I mentioned in an earlier post, DH could not get brown sugar.

I checked Amazon. They are charging over $24 for two bags (2 lbs. each).

Absurd.

JMVHO.

 

[crhedBngr]

I went grocery shopping today. It's been about 2 weeks since I left the house (other than to work in my yard/garden). I decided to drive farther away to a bigger grocery store this time. I have been avoiding doing this due to there being more diagnosed cases in the area where I needed to go. But it was a really successful trip. I found grassfed beef and organic ground chicken! No organic chicken breasts or thighs but I bought some natural ones. The meat cases were pretty well stocked except for the pork. A few packages of Smithfield pork were left on the shelf but the areas all around the Smithfield pork were bare. I was quite surprised. Southerners love their pork, especially Smithfield. I assume the bare areas were spaces where other brands of pork were originally located and people are avoiding Smithfield right now because of the news about them having many employees diagnosed with Covid19. Despite the bare spots in the pork section I was able to get some uncured/nitrate free bacon. We haven't had any pork in over a month. I was so happy that there was plenty of meat, I nearly cried in front of the meat case.

The store I went to today had no limits on meat but limited some other items, mostly canned goods and shelf stable items. The main items I noticed that were out or had huge gaps on their shelves: Canned soups, jarred spaghetti sauce, cereal, flour, sugar, dried beans and paper products. With the exception of toilet paper, all of these things were available in some form but certain brands were totally gone. I wasn't trying to buy any of those items except TP but I took note of what was out anyway. Many items that had been sold out in my local stores in the first 4 weeks of the shutdown were fully stocked. The canned tuna shelves were full. The dairy area was totally stocked. Egg prices have skyrocketed for some reason and were double my normal price. However, I only buy brown Free Range/Organic Eggs and I didn't check the price of the regular white ones. Organic bananas were only .69 cents a lb which is a rock bottom price for my area. Everything else I bought seemed to be normal prices. My grated Parmesan without cellulose is still not in stock so I treated myself to a small block of it from the fancy cheese case. Doubled my Parm cost this week but I figured I could afford it because of the banana savings. And I didn't buy any eggs. There was lots of produce and vegan meat replacement options were fully stocked there.

The majority of people in the store had on masks this time. Employees stocking shelves had on masks too. However, very few other people had gloves. Perhaps they have not been able to get them? We always keep gloves on hand and happened to buy a box in Feb only because we were out. The only other person I saw in the store wearing gloves was obviously a medical person. She was in her full scrubs and wearing her hospital ID. She looked weary, like she had just finished a shift. I wanted to hug her but I stayed away and silently prayed for her instead. It's so hard when wearing a mask and people can't see your facial expressions.

All in all, it was a great shopping trip. I got everything on my list except for toilet paper and eggs. I will have to go on a hunt for TP later. We have 1 dozen eggs so we are OK for now on those. And my neighbors have hens so I might be able to barter with them for some eggs.

I'm so glad to hear this!

We love our pork products, too. DH brought home bacon this week as well.

With all of the suffering going on, this constant price-gouging should not be occurring.

JMVHO

 

[Gardener1850]

As I mentioned in an earlier post, DH could not get brown sugar.

I checked Amazon. They are charging over $24 for two bags (2 lbs. each).

Absurd.

JMVHO.

That's ridiculous. If you can find white sugar and molasses you can make your own brown sugar very easily with a mixer or food processor: Light or Dark Brown Sugar Recipe

 

[mickey2942]

As I mentioned in an earlier post, DH could not get brown sugar.

I checked Amazon. They are charging over $24 for two bags (2 lbs. each).

Absurd.

JMVHO.

The last few months, I picked up extra bags of flour, sugar, lots of various ingredients. Our house is stocked and overstuffed with food. Is that "hoarding"? I don't think so. I wasn't sure how long we would be home, or how bad this situation would be...so many unknowns. Even now.

 

[Gardenista]

As I mentioned in an earlier post, DH could not get brown sugar.

I checked Amazon. They are charging over $24 for two bags (2 lbs. each).

Absurd.

JMVHO.

Not sure if you shop Costco, but I just checked and they have 7 lb bags available for $4.99.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

As I mentioned in an earlier post, DH could not get brown sugar.

I checked Amazon. They are charging over $24 for two bags (2 lbs. each).

Absurd.

JMVHO.

Price-gouging If you have white sugar and molasses, you can make your own "brown" sugar.

ETA: I see that Gardener1850 mentioned this, too. I always have white sugar and molasses and would make my own brown sugar in a pinch.

 

[crhedBngr]

Thanks, All. I'm looking at the molasses and white sugar solution.

@mickey2942 : you are absolutely correct. You are not hoarding.

We've doubled up on our sugar, flour, and other goods, trying to keep 1 - 2 weeks ahead, in case of shortages. The brown sugar got overlooked. Oh, well.

I think we'll live

 

[TristanP]

The last few months, I picked up extra bags of flour, sugar, lots of various ingredients. Our house is stocked and overstuffed with food. Is that "hoarding"? I don't think so. I wasn't sure how long we would be home, or how bad this situation would be...so many unknowns. Even now.

I think having a supply of items that can easily last 4-6 weeks is reasonable and not hoarding. More than that starts to creep into hoarding territory.

We had a chest freezer that died a few months ago, and I wish I’d had that available to fill up with about 10 lbs of ground beef and some pork chops and chicken breasts. But we’re managing! Just yesterday I found a local store with both ground beef and pork chops in stock AND a pickup time available! I had to put it off until tomorrow but after I do pickup we’ll have a couple pounds of ground beef and 2 packages of pork chops. The kids will be happy!

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

I think having a supply of items that can easily last 4-6 weeks is reasonable and not hoarding. More than that starts to creep into hoarding territory...

When DH came back from a quick trip to Meijer on Wednesday, I noticed that he had gotten two 48oz jars of Randall Great Northern Beans. He asked if this was hoarding. I said if the two jars were the last on the shelf that, yes, I would consider it hoarding. DH assured me that there were plenty of beans. I always have a good supply of canned beans or Randall beans (in jars). I haven't done much baking since the stay-at-home order began, but I have flour and sugar if I decide to bake something sweet. We're making limited trips for food and have been able to find most of what we need at Meijer or Salvaggio's.

We've never had a chest freezer, and our current refrigerator has French doors on top with a freezer drawer below. We always have ground round, ground turkey, pork chops, chicken breasts, cooked and uncooked shrimp, maybe a couple of steaks on hand, but the freezer isn't large enough for an endless supply of meats. When swordfish and/or salmon are on special at Nino's, we'll sometimes get enough for two meals and freeze the fish, but we prefer fresh when possible. On his trip to Costco last month, DH bought two beautiful sockeye salmon fillets that were 1.5# each. We had one last week, and I made salmon cakes with the leftover fish. We'll probably have the other salmon fillet this weekend.

I removed as much meat as possible from the spiral-sliced ham that DH got at Meijer and put the bone in water with onion, carrots, celery, fresh rosemary and simmered for a couple of hours. Strained it and poured into two large bowls. Later today, I will skim the fat off the broth, chop onion, carrots, celery for navy bean and ham soup. It's chilly today, and we're supposed to get 1-3" of snow, so soup will be perfect for dinner

 

[oviedo]

The last few months, I picked up extra bags of flour, sugar, lots of various ingredients. Our house is stocked and overstuffed with food. Is that "hoarding"? I don't think so. I wasn't sure how long we would be home, or how bad this situation would be...so many unknowns. Even now.

I routinely do this as well - it's not hoarding IMO - I always prepare early for hurricane season with canned goods and rice that may be cooked on the grill when the power goes out. I just buy a little bit each time I venture out to round out what we've eaten. I did get one each of several meats when I heard of the "meat" shortage on the Today show. I have first responder friends and I want to be able to loan them anything they need from TP to meat to canned goods
JMO

 

[Midwestmom2019]

I routinely do this as well - it's not hoarding IMO - I always prepare early for hurricane season with canned goods and rice that may be cooked on the grill when the power goes out. I just buy a little bit each time I venture out to round out what we've eaten. I did get one each of several meats when I heard of the "meat" shortage on the Today show. I have first responder friends and I want to be able to loan them anything they need from TP to meat to canned goods
JMO

Ah, hurricane season. It’s almost June. Evacuating to public arenas for lack of an alternative safe destination will be a pandemic within a pandemic. I wonder if any official is thinking ahead?

 

[PayrollNerd]

The last few months, I picked up extra bags of flour, sugar, lots of various ingredients. Our house is stocked and overstuffed with food. Is that "hoarding"? I don't think so. I wasn't sure how long we would be home, or how bad this situation would be...so many unknowns. Even now.

I don't think keeping a month or two supply is hoarding. When your shopping cart is 10 pkgs of one thing like TP, that’s hoarding.

Our main food supply comes from the food bank but I also stock up when I am financially able. The food bank gives us the majority of our staples like rice, dried beans and canned goods. That allows us to buy gluten free products which are horribly expensive. When King Arthur GF flour went on sale for $7.99, we bought it. The Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer is pricey but we found it on sale when a local store was going out of business. Flax Milk is pricey so when it goes on BOGO, we buy two. We don’t consider this hoarding. If we had bought all the flour, then yeah. But those with food allergies, understand how difficult life is already. None of us want to “be that person” as my kids say.

 

[oviedo]

Even without sausage, I find Zatarain's and Vigo's bean/rice mixes to be too spicy. I usually end up with heartburn DH likes them for lunch. I like making dishes like red/black beans and rice from scratch so I can control the type and amount of spice. I like Gumbo but don't recall having made it, certainly not recently. Will give it some thought. Will you share your recipe?

I figured out what the Angel Soft smell is like: Linen Breeze Bounce dryer sheets. There is apparently lavender-scented Angel Soft TP, but that's not what DH got. I prefer non-fragranced dryer sheets, but my preferred Arm & Hammer brand wasn't available the last time I needed them.

@BetteDavisEyes I started making turkey gumbo about 15 years ago for the neighbors with my leftover turkey - we would have leftovers day - After I cook the turkey I make stock - usually in a stock pot with onion, celery carrot and garlic cloves and simmer for a few hours. This time, I threw the carcass in the crock pot with an onion chopped up and some garlic and let it cook all night until I got home from work. Broth tasted as good as when I added all those vegetables.
My base recipe is from Emeril (my hero) - Turkey Bone Gumbo

• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup flour
• 2 cups chopped onions
• 1/2 cup chopped bell peppers
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/2 pound smoked sausage, such as andouille or kielbasa, chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 3 quarts Turkey Broth
• Reserved turkey meat and vegetables from making turkey broth
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
• 2 tablespoons chopped green onions
• Cooked long grain white rice, for serving

• Combine the oil and flour in a large cast-iron pot or enameled cast-iron Dutch oven, over medium heat. Stirring slowly and constantly for 20 to 25 minutes, make a dark brown roux, the color of chocolate.
  
  
• Season the onions, bell peppers, celery and garlic with the salt and cayenne. Add this to the roux and stir until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the sausage, the dried thyme and oregano, and cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, for 45 minutes. Add the reserved turkey meat and the reserved onions and celery and cook for 15 minutes. Taste, adjust the seasoning if necessary, and add the parsley and green onions.
  
  
• Serve in soup bowls with hot rice. (Filé powder can be added at the table according to personal taste.)

The roux is the hardest part - I always chop everything in advance because once the roux is ready you have to put them in so they don't burn and you can't wait to chop, etc. I pretty much follow this except I don't measure - I use 1 green bell pepper, 3 stalks of celery, 3-4 garlic cloves - a package of the sausage like Hillshire farms or Eckrich. I pick off the turkey from the broth too and use the legs meat and whatever leftover turkey meat I have after we use the breast for panini's - we have a whole leftovers thing happening at Thanksgiving. This year I bought the turkey because it was super cheap and we thought it would make us several meals which it did. And I had a jar of Williams Sonomo turkey gravy left. BEST EVER IMO

 

[SeattleStew]

Not sure if this one has been mentioned, but thought I'd share my latest technique for disinfecting my groceries.

When checking out, I ask for everything to go back into the cart, without bags. Once I get to my vehicle, I got out a spray bottle of bleach/water mixture, and just sprayed everything in my cart with it. The little slats in the cart made it pretty simple to get everywhere.

I sort of let it air dry for a few minutes, then loaded my stuff up into my reusable bags set up in my cargo space. Off I go feeling fairly safe about that.

My weekly produce box stays on the porch. I bring out a big bucket with vinegar and water solution. Everything goes for a long dunk. Then I pull it out and put into a couple colander to dry.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

@BetteDavisEyes I started making turkey gumbo about 15 years ago for the neighbors with my leftover turkey - we would have leftovers day - After I cook the turkey I make stock - usually in a stock pot with onion, celery carrot and garlic cloves and simmer for a few hours. This time, I threw the carcass in the crock pot with an onion chopped up and some garlic and let it cook all night until I got home from work. Broth tasted as good as when I added all those vegetables. My base recipe is from Emeril (my hero) - Turkey Bone Gumbo...BEST EVER IMO

Thank you for sharing the Gumbo recipe I printed it and hope to make is eventually. It sounds amazing - BAM!

I hope it's alright to post on the Recipes thread .

 

[JrzyGirl70]

Just a quick note... after a former career working in law enforcement, I joined my family business 20 years ago which is in the food industry. So I want to offer a quick tip, instead of relying strictly on the grocery stores for your fresh meat/poultry, try and use your local butcher shops if you have one close by. While it may be a bit more costly on some items, you will be helping a small business stay open, and you are almost guaranteed to get what you are looking for in a quantity you can use with super fresh product. Most have organic/grass fed/natural options as well for those looking for that type of product.

 

[Dsasleuth]

Am I the only one bothered by clicking on links in this thread and feel like I just clicked on one of those Pinterest pins where the screen jumps around top to bottom then back to where you think you were supposed to be only to end up somewhere totally unrelated.
Excuse my rant but I am not going to click on any links in this thread again. Ill just go else where for recipes like Pinterest.

 

[PayrollNerd]

Just a quick note... after a former career working in law enforcement, I joined my family business 20 years ago which is in the food industry. So I want to offer a quick tip, instead of relying strictly on the grocery stores for your fresh meat/poultry, try and use your local butcher shops if you have one close by. While it may be a bit more costly on some items, you will be helping a small business stay open, and you are almost guaranteed to get what you are looking for in a quantity you can use with super fresh product. Most have organic/grass fed/natural options as well for those looking for that type of product.

Small and local is where it’s at. We have a dairy farm, veggie farm, sod farm that grows organic produce and a Mennonite community in SWFL. If you want excellent product at a decent price, go local.

Our dairy farmer brings his milk to the veg farmer stand to sell. You can order online and pay online. You pull up, they drop it in your vehicle. They even had a little “eat shack” for to go food.

Our sod farmer sells organic veg too. They pick a parking lot in each county for you to pick up a produce box. Pay online, drive thru for pick up. They will to deliver to shut ins at no cost.

Our Mennonite community is making to go orders and everything is from scratch. Amazing food. Their quilt shop will bring your purchase to your vehicle. You can pick up mask kits, make them and drop them off. They’ve coordinated with a bunch of medical offices to ensure all front line staff have them at no charge.

 

[LadyL]

Costco has plenty of toilet paper and towel paper, but they do not have disinfectant
wipes or alcohol--- not one store or supermarket has wipes and i got scammed trying to buy it online --

what happened?

My Great Grandmother had a little wire box, with a handle. She put all of the slivers of hand soap in there. And when it was time to do dishes, she put hot water in the sink, and swished around her "dish soap" dispenser until the water was frothy.

I might have to try that - I hate throwing out those slivers.

 

[mickey2942]

I might have to try that - I hate throwing out those slivers.

Ha ha, now you will how old I am, I found one, under "vintage, primitive metal mesh soap sliver saver". It is a collectible antique. LOL!