Local {non chain} General Store $12.
Last week we went for a nice long walk on the beach and grabbed some ice cream from one of our favorite general stores. The HH and I usually pop by for breakfast every other week or so after we walk on the beach. But since the store’s eating area is now closed, and it’s only open for groceries or take out food orders, we bought some {locally made} ice cream to go instead.
Even though we aren’t going on road trips or out exploring any new bakeries or towns these days, it’s important to us to continue to spend what we normally would at the exact same establishments we usually frequent to help our local economy. It’s not a lot, but it makes me feel like I am helping to keep their doors open.
Hannaford $40.98 {plus a gallon of milk that the HH put in the fridge before I noticed}. I had him pickup graham crackers thinking I might make a cheesecake for Easter. We’ll see.
Costco $81.90
Someone we know was going to Costco and asked if we needed anything and high on my list was bread making supplies and fresh produce. Asparagus $3.97, green beans $5.49, raspberries $3.99, blackberries $2.97 and the chopped salad kit {that tasted like rabbit food {{it had kale in it!}} was $3.97. Apparently peeps haven’t been stocking up on produce as much as they normally do and so all the produce prices were slashed. Interesting!
Our Neighbor Knows a Guy… $13.50 for 1.5 pounds of fresh haddock {I didn’t ask questions}.
This whole neighbor sourcing food thing… it’s kind of cool. If one person is buying bulk, or going to the store they ask around to see if anyone needs or wants anything. I love it.
*****
Monday
- Breakfast: PB & Carrot Cake Jam Toast
- Lunch: PB & Carrot Cake Jam Toast
- Afternoon Cuppa & Dove Chocolates
- Dinner: Pulled Pork and Sprouts
Tuesday
- Breakfast: Croissant From the Local Bakery
- Lunch: Big Salad
- Afternoon Cuppa & lemon Tea Cake {from my neighbor}
- Dinner: Pizza Pizza
Wednesday
- Breakfast: 2 Hard Boiled Eggs
- Lunch: Big Salad
- Afternoon Cuppa & Italian Pineapple Rice Pie with Coconut and Lemon
- Dinner: Kung Pao Chicken
Thursday
- Breakfast: Rice
- Lunch: Pickety Bits
- Afternoon Cuppa & Chocolate
- Linner: Pork and Beans and a Scone
Friday
- Breakfast: Scone with Egg
- Lunch: Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese
- Afternoon Cuppa & Rice Pie
- Dinner: Pork and Beans and a Scone
Saturday
- Breakfast: Random Bits
- Lunch: Jelly Beans! Eaten by Individual Flavor of Course
- Afternoon Cuppa & a Scone
- Dinner: Haddock and Asparagus
Sunday
- Breakfast: Pork and Beans and a Fried Egg
- Lunch: Pickety Bits
- Afternoon Tea and Cookies
- Dinner: Rabbit Food Salad
How about YOU? What are you eating these days … and when was the last time you bought something from the grocery store? Are you feeling the need to keep your fridge/freezer/pantry stocked more than you normally would? Curious minds want to know.
Keep Calm and Carry on,
~Mavis
Total Spent This Past Week on Groceries, Bakery Treats We Brought Home & Gift Cards $151.63
- Total Spent in March on Groceries and Bakery Treats $446.03 {includes a $50 gift card}
- Total Spent in February on Groceries and Bakery Treats $416.98 {the fridge and freezer are packed!}
- Total Spent in January on Groceries and Bakery Treats $346.47
- Total Spent on Groceries and Bakery Treats in 2020 $1209.48
You can go HERE to read more Shopping Trip Stories
MEM says
Yes, definitely feeling the need to have a fully-stocked fridge, freezer and pantry. My husband and I are over 60 so we can shop during Market Basket’s “senior hours” from 5:30-7:00 a.m. We’ve done it once and there were plenty of people there some of whom did not keep their distance! Tomorrow we plan to try Costco’s senior hour from 8:00-9:00. With Donald Trump’s latest extension of social distancing until the end of April and threats of strikes by instant cart and amazon employees, there may be more people venturing out to shop for groceries.
Mel says
Yes, I dread shopping again because NO ONE kept their distance last time I went. Some people were not even shopping—just wandering around or hanging out.
Michelle says
We live in rural SW Washington and the nearest Costco, Walmart, and Freddy’s is an hour and a half away. Last weekend, we made a huge haul and stocked up for a month. Normally, we shop for two weeks worth of groceries at a time. With our daughter being home from school all day now, I wanted to make sure we have plenty of foods in the house that she can eat while we’re at work. In our small town, there are only three businesses open – the grocery store and two gas stations…oh, and the liquor store. I haven’t figured out how that one is an essential business yet.
Mrs. M says
I think it’s because if liquor stores close, hospitals have to admit with those dealing with alcohol withdrawal symptoms, and we need all our hospital space for virus victims.
Mrs. M says
And…. if we can’t find disinfectant, we can make some from cheap alcohol. 😉
Michelle says
Mrs.M – I read somewhere that sales have spiked and all the liquor and pot stores here in Washington are taxed through the state, so I guess if it’s a profit for the state, then it’s ‘essential’. Funny how that works.
Deborah says
I went last Friday, after a 2-week stay at home. I wore nitrate gloves and a home made mask. Our pantry is pretty stocked. They were out of some things that we wanted, but I did get what we needed. I bought a big package of toilet tissue before the hoarding of it started. I feel that it was a God thing. My new motto is, Hope for the best, Prepare for the worst. I’ve been doing this for several years now. Just goes to show, you never know.
Mel says
We haven’t been to the grocery store in 11 days, and I’m hoping to wait another 8 or so before we need to go again and continue to shop for 2-3 weeks of stuff at a time. We get vegetables delivered weekly for our CSA, and we have eggs from our chickens. When we last shopped, we had almost nothing in the house, and the store was out of chicken, and very low on beef and pork. We ordered dried beans online, and we bought sausage, shrimp, bacon, a small amount of ground pork and beef, produce, cheese, milk, pasta, oatmeal, tuna, and rice at the store. I don’t think we bought much different than normal, but we bought more to space out trips.
So far, I’ve made: homemade hamburger helper (with beans instead of hamburger), Thai Chicken Peanut Noodles (with chickpeas instead of chicken), potato fennel gratin (served with steak), cabbage and kielbasa, crockpot Lima beans and bacon, chickpea curry, red beans and rice, scrambled eggs and toast, Beyond burgers, shrimp pasta salad, and pizza. For veggies, we’ve done roasted broccoli, balsamic glazed root veggies, salad, etc.
I normally don’t freeze meals this time of year, but I’ve been freezing more in order to help space out our shopping trips and prepare in case we have to quarantine/isolate for two weeks. So, I’ve frozen 5 loaves of homemade bread, pizza dough, leftovers (the limas, curry, and red beans), veggie chili, meat chili, quesadilla filling, hamburger soup, creamy tomato soup, twice baked potato casseroles, and vegetable barley soup. We already had a few fall freezer meals left, some homemade pasta sauce, and a few lbs of meat.
Tonight, we’re having cheddar biscuits with homemade sausage (ground turkey with sausage seasonings added) and green beans. All in all, we’re eating very well, but I’m currently worried about not having enough flour and having far too many eggs. I normally give my boss 3 dozen eggs a week, but I can’t do that working from home. It’s also hard to use them up in baking if I can’t get more flour.
Kari says
Our stores have been out of eggs, so if that’s the case in your area, there may be people in need of your extras. You could offer them up using porch pick-up so you maintain distancing. Just an idea…
I’m very impressed with your meals. Thanks for some ideas!
Mel says
I’d love to give them away, but I don’t know how to advertise without attracting far more people than we could reasonably supply. Our immediate neighbors have chickens, so they’re set. I have a feeling I’m going to have to drive the extras to my boss’s house.
I’m glad the meal ideas helped!
Kari says
If you are willing to donate them rather than sell, you may look on FB and see if your area has a “Buy Nothing Project” page. In this way you could donate them to someone in need without advertising them, per se. Just a thought….
Mel says
Totally willing to donate (our area requires a license to sell them), but our state just issued a stay-at-home order, so I think even that is out. If anyone needs me, I’m off to make a giant batch of deviled eggs!
Yma P. says
I have been craving a nice quiche ever since I have realized we don’t have many eggs. A frittata also would be awesome comfort food right now. Enjoy your eggs!
Brianna says
Our stores have all been out of eggs for weeks. I have been forced to buy liquid eggs. They do not scramble like normal eggs. They bake and work in recipes decent enough though. I know which neighbors of mine who have chickens and if I do not find eggs within a few weeks I am planning on calling and asking to buy some from them. You could always make mini quiche in muffin tins with them for the freezer without the pie crust since you are low on flour….or is that a frittata?
Mel says
I did freeze some like that, but since this will be a weekly issue, I don’t want to keep racking up frittata. We’ll see how it goes!
KATHY HORT says
Mel, you can freeze eggs if you have the space. Mix up as you would for scrambling eggs. The texture changes in scrambled eggs a bit but not too badly. For baking you won’t even notice a difference. I freeze 2 or 3 egg batches for baking and thaw as needed.
During this time at home, I have started experimenting with fermenting my chickens feed. They aren’t crazy about the texture yet but its only day 3 so we will see. I read that I will use less feed and it helps their digestion and gut biome. One of my older girls has started having trouble with vent gleet (a yeast infection) that I can’t get cleared up so hoping this will help.
Janet in Woodway, WA says
Mel, you have done such an awesome job sharing your meal planning , freezer meals and recipes. Your comments above reference vegetable barley soup and freezer pizza dough. I could not find those 2 recipes in your past posts, would you kindly share those two with Mavis and all of us!
You are an inspiration!! Thanks so much!!
Janet in Woodway, WA ( at home and not bored!!)
Mel says
Sure thing, Janet!
The pizza dough is slightly better fresh, but it’s still quite good frozen. I thaw in the fridge overnight and then assemble and bake. I use Mavis’s crockpot pizza sauce, which I freeze in small portions. Here’s the link for the dough:
https://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/pizza-ree-a/
And then I just found the vegetable barley soup this week. I had a bunch of nearly empty bags of frozen veggies I wanted to find a use for, and this worked great.
https://www.budgetbytes.com/vegetable-barley-soup/
Meg C says
My husband is our designated “go out” person. He is aiming to only go to the grocery every 8-10 days, if possible but that requires us to also get take-out/delivery from a local neighborhood restaurant for at least 1 meal. We’re not particularly worried about not being able to get things but he did note he’s happy we’re vegetarian several times a year (Lent is one of those times) because no one seems to be clearing the produce aisles the way they are meat & boxed foods.
With our 8 & 10yo kids at home, we’ve still been asking them what they want for lunches as if they are still packing lunches for school. The crazy thing I’ve noticed most is how much trash we seem to generate with all 4 of us at home for this prolonged time period! Usually, I am home by myself in the day M-F because I work part-time from home and we make 1 13gal bag of trash a week (we compost & recycle what we can) & since COVID19 restrictions we’re up to 2 13gal bags of trash! What gives?!?!
Truthfully, I think we’re doing great – kids seem to be fine with all their schoolwork & the random activities I keep finding for us to do at home, I don’t mind the cooking since it’s not too much more than normal for us, and it’s not too bad having my husband working from home because now we eat 2 of 3 meals a day together during the week & it’s nice that he gets to see more of their academics.
All in all, I’m feeling incredibly grateful and blessed that we are ok financially, have a house & clothing, can easily get food, and that we are healthy. My heart goes out to all those less fortunate than us in this strange and uncertain time.
Gigi says
The best part has been the family time. We hang out with our kids so much more and play games together and eat every meal together.
Meg C says
Yes, we are enjoying our forced downtime because it means more time together. We, too, have been playing lots of games, we go on walks & the kids excel isle with my husband, and we cuddle a lot. I love the cuddling because I’m reasonably sure that when they’re 19 & 17 they’re not going to be as willing to cuddle as they are now!
Karen says
I am not surprised that something happened, but I am surprised about the reason it happened…A pandemic. Since last fall I have been buying food on sale and using my food saver for chicken and other meats. I am alone and felt the need to have supplies in, in case I would get sick and the I was to have knee replacement on5/8 and wanted to have pre cooked food to make rehab alone easier. Now I try and share what I make with friends who do not really cook and have always depended on buying most of their meals out. When I heard my surgery was cancelled indefinitely, a few weeks ago, I did start to donate to out local food bank. Now that this is extended, I will hold off until I know what is going on. If I live off my stash then there is more on shelves for others. I would still like to get some hand sanitizer but soap and water is fine with me and some Lysol wipes. My parents and grandparents always said to have a rather deep pantry as that is like money in the bank. So glad I did. I still go out weekly for some salad and fruits and veggies.
Vanessa says
You can use knox gelatin as an egg replacer in most baked goods.
Diana says
We have not shopped at the store. We have a large supply of food in our big freezer. We live on 1 1/2 areas and have 100 trees, and a huge garden. We also have chickens that lay eggs. I have been ordering whatever groceries I need on Thrive and from Whole Foods using Amazon Fresh. We have always made most of our food from scratch so not much has changed. We don’t eat meat, just occasional fish so that makes things easier. I love to cook so I have always grown a variety of food. I have been mailing food to my kids to help them, so that has been fun too. Another thing we do is share photos of our meals each night with the family by text. That makes us feel a sense of community and encourages everyone to cook. We also play music during the meal that ties in to the type of food we are eating. Makes you feel like you are in a restaurant.
Rita says
Someone was awfully brave to go to Costco. The news shows super long lines with people wearing masks. I wonder if they’ve finally put out cart wipes which they never had before.
KATHY HORT says
I went to Costco at the very beginning of this and my Costco had a cart attendant wiping down carts coming and going. I thought it was nice.
Terri says
I had to go to the senior hours (7 a.m. – 8 a.m.) at the grocery store to get meat this morning. I spoke with someone who told me their employer is allowing them to order (in bulk, of course) through their supplier. She purchased 50 pounds of potatoes and divided them among family.
Marcia says
I am trying to shop only every 2 weeks. Milk is the thing we run out of. So, I keep a running list of things in my phone of “really need” and “would be nice to have”. Sent my husband last Tuesday, so we prob won’t shop again until next Tuesday 4/6. We only want to go to ONE store, so when we get to Sunday, we’ll figure out which one would be best.
Likely Costco, Trader Joes, or Smart and FInal. They are the stores who seem to be doing crowd control the best AND they are limiting people to 2 of each item. Meaning, you are unlikely to show up and realize they have everything EXCEPT eggs.
I get produce delivered 2x a week, so we are good there.
SANDYF says
Reporting from Southern California:
There is NO flour to be had in this area, but the wonderful local bakeries are selling it. So hurrah! I was able to get fresh yeast, bread and organic APF.
They are also selling 30 eggs for an average of $8.00. Another find.
Local restaurants formed a make shift food court in a warehouse that they are selling their goods, fresh baked bread, one of the Chopped Chef winners Sachi Mehra made her amazing Indian food to sell, a local deli made sandwiches & salads, and even a wonderful local coffee company. We all wear masks and gloves, and stand 6 ft apart. I am putting my money into local places only-the big box stores will make it through this-but the little guys won’t. They are fearful that the employees wont come back. This is so sad to watch, they are so hard working and passionate about bringing us great food. So-even if it is more costly-if you can afford it-shop local. Buy from local restaurants that are offering their food supplies. They depend on it.
My son works for Disney-and is off at least another month. He visits through the window.
I shopped at the local farm supply today and was able to plant my garden finally. We hired a painter to paint ( they will be outside so we are ok-we need to keep them employed.) We also hired a local handyman to do some outside work. SUPPORT LOCAL!!
Michelle Counter says
That make shift food court sounds amazing! It has been hard to find small businesses to support in our area. It seems most if not all have closed their doors. We usually try to support small business too esp restaurants and coffee shops.
Michelle Counter says
My husband is also the “brave shopper” for our family, but we still try to limit how often he goes to stores by placing online pick up orders from Walmart. He has been to Safeway a couple times during non peak hours for the few items the other stores were sold out of (milk, butter, eggs). Our only struggle has been meat for our big family of 7. All reasonably priced meats are sold out. I have become very creative with vegetarian dinner options. I have been sick and on bed rest for the last 6 weeks so up until this week we had to rely a lot on simple quick fix options like toast and eggs or pancakes.
Hubby works for a large chain hardware store and is with the public all day everyday. He is doing his very best to maintain appropriate distancing. His store actively cleans for 3 hours every night. He built plexiglass screens last week for all the cash registers and service desks. They are doing their very best to still serve the local community as an essential business. You wouldn’t believe how unhappy customers are and how aggressive they have become. Cashiers are lectured continuously for lack of “social distancing” even though the store has 6 foot markers on the floor to help customers space themselves. Many associates have been yelled at by customers for not running to the restroom (across the store) to wash their hands prior to assisting them. Staff just received hand sanitizer spray to carry but unless you are a cashier you are not stationed in one spot with continuous access to sanitizer and cleaners. The associates don’t have a supply of masks available and get lectured for that too. It’s very sad how unkind people have been to those still supporting the community by remaining open. Hubby handles the unkindness much better then I would that’s for sure. I hope the other essential businesses that remain available haven’t received the same amount of negativity from customers.