ST. PATRICK'S DAY AND A GROCERY HAUL

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  I hope you are having a good day.  At times it feels difficult to have a good day anymore.  But I am doing my best to keep a good spirit about the world today.  After all, it's the "wearing of the green" day.  And I have just the shirt to wear.  A few years ago when Joe and I traveled to Tennessee we spent a lot of time in the Walmart there.  The prices were about half of what they are up here in Pennsylvania.  We both got St. Patrick's Day t-shirts.  I will try to get a picture of us to show you later.

On Sunday morning there were doughnuts for Fellowship Time.  I chose a St. Patrick's Day doughnut and had to take a picture to show you.  It was yummy.  I love the little shamrock sprinkles on the green icing.

Yesterday morning I went to Shoprite to do my grocery shopping.  I would usually wait until Tuesday afternoon and get my Senior Discount, but I was afraid there would be nothing left.  The Nursing Home has cancelled our Bible Study until further notice so I had time.  I was worried about finding a parking space, but although it was crowded, I had no problem.

I didn't know what to expect when I went in, but it really wasn't all that crowded.  Just the usual amount of people you would expect to see.  Maybe even a little less.  And everyone was pleasant and helpful from the employees to the customers.  You would hear "Excuse me, please" and "Thank you so much for your help" all over the store.  I thought, "This isn't going to be so bad."

The first aisle I went into was the produce aisle.  It was full to overflowing.  There was no shortage of fresh fruit and vegetables.  Even the bagged salad mixes was full.  That was the same aisle with the deli counter and there was plenty of lunchmeat and cheeses.

So let me show you what I got and I will explain as I go along.  They are in no particular order, just as I emptied each bag.

I had a coupon for olive oil and since I was almost out, I knew I wanted it.  But when I got there, the shelf was empty.  So I got another brand.  It is small, but I couldn't afford the large bottles.  I wanted elbow macaroni to make macaroni and cheese, but there wasn't one box in the store.  So I got the next to the last box penne pasta instead.  It will still be good.  I went for the instant potatoes and it was almost empty.  Just a few pouches of garlic and chives flavor, but no boxes.  Finally I found a couple of huge boxes of a brand I had never heard of on the bottom shelf.  But in back of them... one box of my brand in my size.  I grabbed it, and hugged it to my chest as I ran over to my cart saying excuse me to everyone I had to go around.  A gift from God for sure.  And finally in this picture is a package of napkins.  There were three packages on the shelf.  So I left two for someone else.

Joe asked me to get milk.  The milk refrigerator was empty.  Totally empty.  Not one carton or bottle.  I went over to the second refrigerator around the corner and found three cartons of lactose free fat free milk.  That was the only milk in the store.  There were several cartons of oat milk and a couple of soy milk but we don't drink that.  When I went to get the frozen veggies, there was almost nothing there.  But there were piles of bags of pierogies.  In lots of different flavors too.  I guess people aren't looking for Polish food.  But we love pierogies so I got two bags for 99 cents each.  A whole meal for 99 cents!

I had a coupon for a pork loin but they were out of that too.  I did get another brand and it was actually cheaper so good for me!  The chicken counter was completely empty on the bottom.  People were going along saying, "Where's all the chicken?"  But I stood on tiptoe and saw some packages on the top shelf.  I pulled one off and it was boneless, skinless chicken breast.  I don't like white meat, so I put it back.  I thought, "Oh well.  No chicken today."  And then I saw one package all by itself.  It wasn't the chicken thighs I wanted, but it was drumsticks.  The last one in the store.  I took it.  There was plenty of ground beef so I got a package.  There are so many things you can do with ground beef.  And I got a package of boiled ham lunchmeat at the deli counter.  The sausage was on sale so I got it.  I really like the brown sugar basted sausage and all they had was the original, but that's OK.

There wasn't a lot of frozen vegetables either.  The ones that were on sale were either empty or almost gone.  I was able to get the Asian Stir-fry vegetables and the green and yellow beans with carrots for 99 cents each.  The others were almost $2.00.  But I can use the Italian green beans and Brussels sprouts for several meals so it is still a good deal.  By this time I was so frustrated and starting to get really stressed and depressed.  The frozen food is almost the last aisle and I was so tired of trying to find my normal everyday shopping.  So when I saw the Pictsweet Farms vegetables, I took them.  Even when the one bag was the last one.  For a treat we will have the Harvest Vegetables with red potatoes and garlic herb sauce and the California Vegetables with cracked pepper seasoning.

I had a coupon on the eggs too.  But they were all out.  I did find a whole section of the store brand eggs which turned out to be cheaper than the coupon ones.  So I got a carton.  I also got salmon.  There was only three pieces of salmon left and the lady behind the counter said that was all they had in the store.  The lady in front of me asked for two pounds of it.  Fortunately there was enough for me too.  I asked for a pound but the piece was almost 1 1/2 pounds.  I took the whole thing even though it was expensive.  I figured I would get two meals out of it.

There were paper towels in large packages but they were so expensive.  I was able to get a two roll package and even left four packages on the shelf.  Cat food was another problem.  I buy the least expensive food I can for the outside cats.  Usually that means Meow Mix for around $4.50.  There were three bags of Meow Mix left and only the indoor cat formula.  I got one anyway.  It's food for them and that's what matters.  And I guess I was lucky I buy for cats because there wasn't any dog food at all.

One of the first things I saw when I entered the store was a huge pile of bags of Yukon Gold potatoes.  There was no price on them but we like Yukon Gold and we were getting low on potatoes, so I got them.  When it was rung up, they were only $1.99.

More fresh produce.  I got two broccoli crowns, a bunch of asparagus, sliced mushrooms and a bunch of bananas.  My stomach has been upset lately, so I got myself some candied ginger root to settle it.  The fact that I love it and could eat three times the size of this bag in one sitting has nothing to do with the reason I got it.  Why would you think such a thing?

Jack is a picky eater.  He doesn't like any cat food unless it is pate.  He will reluctantly eat something else if he is hungry enough, but usually he will turn up his nose at it.  So I looked and looked for cans of pate cat food.  Shreds, tenders, chunks, but no pate.  I was just about to give up when I saw one can on a lower shelf.  I took it and then found more.  So I grabbed 10 cans.  He eats half of a can a day so there are 20 days for him.

The last thing I went to get was bottled water.  I had heard there was a rush on water and it was hard to get, but I didn't expect what I saw.  This is the only picture I took in the store because this aisle had no people in it.  Empty shelves.

But see those large bottles of Poland Spring water on the top shelf?  I took two of them.  Better than nothing.  We use small bottles because with Joe's hand tremor it makes it easier for him to drink without spilling it all over himself.  But he will just have to use his covered cups for awhile.  Joe had put the bottles in the refrigerator before I got a picture of them, but here they are.  You can see they are a pretty good size.

That's the end of the shopping.  I counted up and I have about 15 meals in my head that we can have.  We will be OK for a couple of weeks and maybe by then the madness will be over.  There is just no reason to stockpile food and toilet tissue.

Last night I made Irish Stew for dinner.  It turned out good.  I am going to have the leftovers tonight.  And I will share the recipe later this week.  I got it from the newspaper when I was a teenager.  I have never made a better stew than this one.  As he was eating it, Joe told me it's one of his favorite meals.

And now I am going to end and get my day started.  I don't think there were be much celebrating today, but I am going to enjoy myself anyway.  Hope you will too.

Until later,
Kathy