HUGE GROCERY HAUL

Hello, friends.  I am so sorry I have not been around to visit you lately.  I am so busy.  Every minute of the day is filled.  I am cleaning and creating, among other things.  It is cold here this morning.  Down in the 50*s (teens in Celcius).  What happened to our warm weather?  I am shivering!

Yesterday I picked up Donna and we went to Shoprite.  It was much emptier of people than last time and had more things on the shelves.  There were still some things I could not find, but then I found things that were not on my list.  Donna and I are shopping once a month now because of the difficulty in getting to a store.  So this is a huge haul I am going to show you.  I had trouble finding space for everything I bought.  Some things are living on the counter for right now.  But by the end of the month, things will have changed a lot.

So let me show you what I bought.

I found my low salt bacon.  It wasn't too expensive either.  I also got a ham steak.  They are good to have for a fast dinner.  The lamb chops are for Joe's birthday in a couple of weeks.  Joe loves lamb.  There was no lamb in the counter.  I asked the butcher if they had any and he cut some just for me.  They are a little smaller and much more expensive than I expected, but it's his birthday.

The frozen vegetables weren't on sale, but they weren't a bad price either.  I picked up six packages but when I got to the checkout, found I could buy only four.  The cashier was so nice and put two aside which I paid for separately so that I could get all six bags.  Here I got corn, broccoli, Asian stir fry and peas.

I got 1 1/2 pounds of North Atlantic salmon.  I asked for a pound, but when I saw the piece, I took the entire thing.  I asked the fishmonger to cut it in half so I will get two meals out of it.  I also got blueberries and strawberries.  Joe loves hot dogs, so I got a pound of them.  And I brought home sushi and dumplings for lunch.  They were good.  I got a small container of sour cream too.  I keep seeing recipes calling for a tablespoon of sour cream.  It is good to have in the house.

Here is some meat I got.  There were limits on what you could buy.  I got some boneless pork chops, a pound of ground beef, and a package of eight chicken thighs.  I broke them down into serving sizes and put them in freezer bags before putting them away.  It makes things so much easier when you pull out a package for dinner.

I didn't have tortellini on my shopping list, but got it when I saw it.  It is always good to have pasta in the house.  I got some lactose free milk.  We have regular milk in the house, but I can't drink that.  I got some matzah because Joe asked for it.  This big box was only 49 cents.  I also got some frozen French fries, two bags of Pierogies, margarine (we were almost out), breaded flounder fillets and two boxes of sausage.

I was looking for bread flour, but couldn't find it, so I got regular flour.  I've been doing a lot more cooking and know I can use it.  I also got some crackers for me.  We were almost out of instant mashed potatoes, so that went in my cart.  And a box of yellow cake mix.  I had chocolate, strawberry, angel food, lemon, but no yellow.  And that was the one I needed for an apple dump cake I am going to make.

I also got some white icing to go with the strawberry cake, a can of dry mustard, a can of bread crumbs because I was down to the last few tablespoons, a jar of relish (Joe had used up the last of the previous jar), eggs, and a bag of sourdough pretzels.  Joe and I love sourdough pretzels.

I got Purex Crystals for the laundry and dryer sheets.  I also got another can of air freshener for the bathroom.  I try to have one ahead so when it runs out, there's another refill to put into the machine.

I am making banana zucchini bread this week.  So some bananas and zucchini to eat and some to bake with.

I never make tacos.  We are not much on Tex-Mex food.  But I saw this package to make 12 tacos for only $2.99 and thought it would be a cheap meal.  I also got a bag of chocolate mini doughnuts, we needed mayonnaise, peanut butter, and lunch meat.  I got turkey and ham.  When I was going down one of the aisles I saw these cans of tomato sauce for 77 cents and grabbed them.  It never hurts to have some tomato sauce in the house.

I got some mushrooms to put with the zucchini when I cook it.  Joe likes pecan swirls for breakfast.  And here are the other two bags of frozen veggies the cashier was so nice to give me.  I got California blend and mixed vegetables.

We haven't had bagels in a long time, so I got a package of that.  We have cream cheese in the house.  I also got a loaf of bread.  Joe loves his sandwiches for lunch so we go through bread quickly.

I needed potatoes.  I was down to my last one.  When we came into the store, I saw an employee husking corn on the cob and putting it on the counter for sale.  They were six ears for $3.00.  I asked her if I could take some before she took the husk off and she said yes.  I do not like my corn husked.  I think it allows germs to get to the corn.  So I took six ears out of the cart she had next to her.  I think she was saying to herself, "Six less that I have to deal with."  It is the first corn of the season.  We had some last night.  They are the white and yellow hybrid and so sweet!  Delicious.

I also got a package of 12 rolls of toilet paper.  It was on one of the end caps.  We didn't really need it since we had 8 rolls, but I thought I would get it while I saw it.  Although I think things are getting better in that department.  I also got a case of water since we were entirely out of that.

Whew!  I told you it was a lot.  But I expect to not have to go back for at least three weeks.  Hopefully four.  Except for things like water, milk, margarine, bread, etc.  I spent just about my entire monthly budget but I think I did really well.

How are things at your supermarket?  Are you finding what you need?  I could not find lactose free cheese which is usually really easy to find.  There were a few other things too that were out.  But things are definitely getting better.

And now on to today.  Joe has to pick up his medicine at Target's CVS Pharmacy today so I might do a little shopping at the Bullseye Spot.  We'll see.

Talk to you later this week.

Kathy