Grocery shopping tips during Coronavirus quarantine #2

Milk is free for me and last week, I couldn’t connect with anyone to take the second gallon of whole milk. So I had to pour it out after it expired. I felt awful like I was keeping a child from having a full tummy.

This week I fixed a box of extra produce in trade for giving the foster furbaby a midday potty break while I was having treatment. The family was so appreciative. They would have helped regardless but I wanted to let them know how much it meant to me.

My daughters boyfriend is helping her move to her new place today. I loaded up a box of groceries and a gallon of milk to thank him.

We need to all take care of each other. Nobody should be going hungry right now but so many are. This wide spread hunger right now reminds me of my childhood when our mother would leave us for days with no food.

 

I had to toss 5 Persian cucumbers yesterday that had become slimy and stinky They were in the back of the vegetable bin, and I had forgotten about them. I planned to make a cucumber, grape tomato, and Feta salad to accompany grilled shrimp last night. We ended up with eggplant, zucchini, and yellow crookneck squash grilled on skewers instead.

Note to self: Resist the overwhelming temptation to buy too much fresh produce even though it looks wonderful, is plentiful, and not too pricey.

We have a couple of shrink-wrapped broccoli crowns from Meijer, and DH got a large Michigan green pepper yesterday for kabobs next week. He also got a large eggplant, grape tomatoes, and fresh basil for a pasta dish that I'm making today, and a large tomato for BLTs tomorrow. We have an avocado that we'll slice for the sandwiches, as well, and will finish "live" butterhead lettuce. I will make a serious effort to plan meals a week in advance and not get more fresh produce than we will use promptly.

 

Costco was a madhouse but we found everything on our list and we are ready for the hurricane - gassed up the cars too.

 

Your posts make me hungry! It kills me to have to throw out food, but it happens. I had a bag of lima beans from the farmers market that I meant to blanch and freeze, but forgot about it. When I found it, I had to toss it, sadly.

We have a second refrigerator/freezer in the garage and sometimes I forget what's in it. I'm going to start an inventory list of what's where to avoid waste. We'll see how that goes.

 

I filled my tank up in February, and I'm still over 3/4 full of the same gas. I've heard that is not a good thing

 

Take care and please keep us posted

 

You beat even me - I think I've partially refilled twice since then, probably no more than 3/4 tank total.

 

Sorry for my wonky post above....I am sure it is operator error

 

I've started stocking up again. I heard on the news we were going to be in for another shortage of staples come fall. I believe the information to be factual rather than political. Yesterday, I went out and bought another 50 cans of Fancy Feast for the cats. I bought as many boxes of Barilla pasta I could since there was no limit but I only took 3 of each. So 3 boxes of spaghetti, fettuccine, linguine, and the last box of farfalle. Got 2 cans of each crushed tomatoes and diced tomatoes. I've probably got about 20 of them now. Stocked up on Tide HE, I now have 6 containers of the stuff. I would like to buy more cauliflower because it's getting pretty cheap but I won't have enough room in the freezer for it. Bought ten ears of peaches and cream corn on the cob for 1.88 at Food Basics. Right now, tea is a good price but only really like Salada or Tetley. I've given up on finding Chlorox or Lysol wipes, I bought a few cans of Microban.

 

I won't be hoarding. That ruins it and makes shopping difficult for everyone else. But I will continue to keep a well stocked pantry and not let us run out of anything.

 

Google using expired milk - surprising what all you can use it for. I made 2 batches of pancakes to freeze with some of mine last time.

 

We all have food allergies. Anything expired is a huge risk due to our mold allergy. Plus, I’m the only one that can drink milk. My youngest kid is allergic to all dairy and most nuts. My oldest lives an hour away. My freezer is too full to put a gallon of milk in.

The food distribution had an aged white cheese in it. I gave it away. Too risky.

My youngest kid is moving out today so I will be able to organize my fridge and my freezer!! She will be 20 minutes away so I’ll still be sharing my food and produce pickups with her.

 

This is me as well although I may have done a bit of hoarding of cannellini beans because they were limited to 2 cans each Visit and I need 7 for the Escarole soup I make - and now keto has taken over the household so I have 20 cans - no one is eating pasta so I have plenty of that - hoping the hurricane doesn’t cause a power outage because I have a lot of meat in the freezer and fridge

 

And this is now happening here in New Jersey and why I go to the Grocery store at 7:00am when there is hardly anyone there. Please stay safe and be careful. People were always a little bit crazy but I think Covid has definitely brought out the worst in some.

A 54-year-old New Jersey woman was hospitalized after a violent confrontation in Staples over a face mask

 

From your link:
"The victim ... who walks with a cane and recently had liver surgery, was using the fax machine when another woman started to use the machine next to her ... [The victim] asked the woman to put her mask on after she saw it was below her mouth, NBC reported.

The suspect became angry and yelled at the victim who picked up her walking cane and pointed it directly at the suspect, coming within inches of the suspect's chest," said Hackensack Police Department's Capt. Darrin DeWitt...."

I have to say that this action (bolded by me above), if accurately reported, was a bad idea and the victim probably bears some blame for the suspect's violent reaction. The victim ended up with a broken leg.

 

I'm not going to judge her actions. I don't know how aggressive the woman was and she may have felt the need to defend herself with the cane. Either way, we need to be kinder to each other and respect one another.

 

Do you have a freezer? Not just a little one in the fridge. Put up some veggies while they are plentiful. Or can them. Tomatoes, green beans, corn, broccoli, carrots, so many veggies lend themselves to easy long term storage.

 

Try adding fuel stabilizer. Could be helpful. Used a lot in water craft for winterizing. I try to run all of the gas out. Period. Let it idle until it dies, whether lawn equipment or water toys, like years ago when I had a lake place.
But from what I know, run the car at least once a week. Start it, let oil warm up and circulate. then drive it for a few minutes. Tires need it. Engine needs it. Driver will love it.

 

Now what hurricane? I don’t want any more water right now....tell me it’s old news.