Pandemic hoarding

[K_in_the_kitchen]

...Sprouts and other natural food stores do sell milk in glass bottles, which are returnable and reusable and do have a $2 deposit. ...

We have Sprouts in Texas but I've never seen a single returnable container of any sort in them, so that must be a regional thing.

I think it is regional. In my area, Whole Foods and some of the fancier independent markets sell milk in returnable glass bottles from a local dairy, which also has its own dairy store in a nearby suburb.

The two dairy brands we have in glass bottles are Strauss and Top O' the Morn, both of which are based here in California.  We can buy milk, half and half, and whipping cream in glass bottles.  The deposit is $2, regardless of size.

That said, I don't buy dairy products in glass bottles anymore.  I buy half and half from Costco in the 2 quart size, and I use it in cooking any where I would use milk, which isn't everyday.  Today I used it in cornmeal mush.  I use it in soups and quiche, as well.  Kid stays away from it since it isn't "milk".  And since it's ultra pasteurized it lasts far longer than the dairy in glass does.

[eyesonthehorizon]

The two dairy brands we have in glass bottles are Strauss and Top O' the Morn, both of which are based here in California.  We can buy milk, half and half, and whipping cream in glass bottles.  The deposit is $2, regardless of size.

That said, I don't buy dairy products in glass bottles anymore.  I buy half and half from Costco in the 2 quart size, and I use it in cooking any where I would use milk, which isn't everyday.  Today I used it in cornmeal mush.  I use it in soups and quiche, as well.  Kid stays away from it since it isn't "milk".  And since it's ultra pasteurized it lasts far longer than the dairy in glass does.

That's really clever - not only the ultrapasteurization, but the fat would act as a preservative too. I have taken to freezing some milk whenever we buy it, though, which spreads out the need to buy/ lets us sort of DCA purchases, plus helps keep the freezer efficient, since it displaces airflow when it's opened.

[pressure9pa]

I don't think the registers most places even have a tare function to reduce the weight by the weight of the vessel even if they did allow you to bring your own. I was shocked to notice a tare weight on a silicone ziptop bag the other day - what a notion.

In a regular grocery, I never use the twist tie when bagging produce.  I always tie the bag in a knot to avoid being charged for the weight of the tie as if it was food.  I've been doing this for 25 years, and I'll bet I've saved $.15 !!

(But on this forum, I'm sure the action and the rationale are perfectly normal.)

[Roadrunner53]

Mr. Roadrunner and I don't use much milk, so we buy the small milks (8 oz) UHT in cardboard boxes. When they get to the tail end of their shelf life, I freeze them. I buy the 18 count cases thru Costco. Works out great for us. We used to waste so much milk in the past. I recently found some grapefruit juice in cartons on sale and froze the containers. That works out really good too. We mostly use the milk in recipes and mashed potatoes. Not drinking it. I am sure it is fine to drink but we just don't drink milk.

[FIRE Artist]

Mr. Roadrunner and I don't use much milk, so we buy the small milks (8 oz) UHT in cardboard boxes. When they get to the tail end of their shelf life, I freeze them. I buy the 18 count cases thru Costco. Works out great for us. We used to waste so much milk in the past. I recently found some grapefruit juice in cartons on sale and froze the containers. That works out really good too. We mostly use the milk in recipes and mashed potatoes. Not drinking it. I am sure it is fine to drink but we just don't drink milk.

i don’t drink milk so I keep milk powder on hand for cooking.  It works fine.

[Cranky]

We have two kinds of milk available in glass bottles (Oberweis and Lamers) and pretty much all the regular grocery stores carry them though they are sometimes out of stock. Since the little boy has been getting free milk at school this year, he doesn't drink too much at home. I can tell a big difference!

Strangely, frozen peas have been out of stock many places the last few weeks. I haven't driven around looking for them, but I do check each time I'm in the store.

But bacon was on sale for $2.99!

[LaineyAZ]

I would like to buy milk in glass bottles but unfortunately they've become a favorite of shoplifters because of the $2 deposit.  So anyone wanting to buy it must first hunt down an employee for them to retrieve it from a cooler in the back.  I'm sure that hassle has put a big dent in their sales.

The other reason is I don't want to have glass milk bottles while I'm watching pre-schoolers in the house - they like to be "helpful" and I can easily see one slipping from their little hands and shattering all over the tile.  Don't want to take that chance.

[RetiredAt63]

We have two kinds of milk available in glass bottles (Oberweis and Lamers) and pretty much all the regular grocery stores carry them though they are sometimes out of stock. Since the little boy has been getting free milk at school this year, he doesn't drink too much at home. I can tell a big difference!

Strangely, frozen peas have been out of stock many places the last few weeks. I haven't driven around looking for them, but I do check each time I'm in the store.

But bacon was on sale for $2.99!

I just bought frozen peas.  There was plenty of stock (one name brand, one small bag store brand, one huge bag store brand).  I'm sure it is regional.

The bacon on sale was about 90% fat 10% meat so a pass.

[K_in_the_kitchen]

I just bought frozen peas.  There was plenty of stock (one name brand, one small bag store brand, one huge bag store brand).  I'm sure it is regional.

The bacon on sale was about 90% fat 10% meat so a pass.

I wouldn't mind this at all, as long as it is good tasting bacon.  I prefer bacon grease for cooking eggs and actually like it when a package of bacon yields a lot of grease.

I use ghee when we're out of bacon grease, but found out this week that DH used lard because that's what he could find.

[RetiredAt63]

I just bought frozen peas.  There was plenty of stock (one name brand, one small bag store brand, one huge bag store brand).  I'm sure it is regional.

The bacon on sale was about 90% fat 10% meat so a pass.

I wouldn't mind this at all, as long as it is good tasting bacon.  I prefer bacon grease for cooking eggs and actually like it when a package of bacon yields a lot of grease.

I use ghee when we're out of bacon grease, but found out this week that DH used lard because that's what he could find.

I agree about the bacon grease for eggs - I cook my bacon and pour off most of the grease (I have a grease can for it in the fridge so it doesn't spoil, doesn't everyone?) and then while the bacon is draining I cook my eggs in the bacon pan.

I really like lard for sauteing, it is my main cooking fat.  Usually I just buy it (Tenderflake is fine) but occasionally I get energetic and melt the bacon grease in a pot with lots of water.  Most of the solids separate out into the water and when it cools I have lovely bacon fat (i.e lard) with a bit of flavour.

Do you make your own ghee?  I priced it out and wow is it expensive.  I'm fine with the milk solids in butter so ghee isn't really advantageous for when I don't want lard (or avocado/olive oil).

[Catbert]

I finally found distilled water after casually looking for months.  I'm supposed to use distilled water in my CPAP (to avoid both microbes and minerals) although purified water works in a pinch.  I'm not sure why the supply chain for distilled water is interrupted but I bought two gallon bottles.

[Cranky]

We have two kinds of milk available in glass bottles (Oberweis and Lamers) and pretty much all the regular grocery stores carry them though they are sometimes out of stock. Since the little boy has been getting free milk at school this year, he doesn't drink too much at home. I can tell a big difference!

Strangely, frozen peas have been out of stock many places the last few weeks. I haven't driven around looking for them, but I do check each time I'm in the store.

But bacon was on sale for $2.99!

Target had frozen peas! I bought 2 big bags and won't worry about it for a while now. We do use those in cooking quite a bit.

I just bought frozen peas.  There was plenty of stock (one name brand, one small bag store brand, one huge bag store brand).  I'm sure it is regional.

The bacon on sale was about 90% fat 10% meat so a pass.

[K_in_the_kitchen]

Do you make your own ghee?  I priced it out and wow is it expensive.  I'm fine with the milk solids in butter so ghee isn't really advantageous for when I don't want lard (or avocado/olive oil).

Sometimes I make ghee, but lately I've been using the Ancient Organics grass-fed ghee from Costco.  I think it's $24 for 32 ounces, which is a good price considering it's 100% grass-fed, pastured, and it's organic.  If I want those parameters, I just don't really save enough money making it myself for it to be worth it. Using unsalted Kerrygold would come close if I bought it at Costco, but it wouldn't be organic and Kerrygold isn't 100% grass-fed.  Using standard unsalted butter from Costco it's definitely a cost savings to make it myself.



I prefer ghee to straight butter in cast iron, since milk solids sometimes stick or burn.

[Roadrunner53]

Never used ghee, can you educate me on using it?

[Roadrunner53]

I wanted to share this with all of you. I like egg salad but I usually have trouble peeling the eggs. I found this new to me technique that is fantastic! 

This is what I did. I took a cake pan and buttered the inside of it. Cracked 8 eggs into the pan leaving the yolks intact. Put two cups of water in my 7 quart crockpot. Put foil over the cake pan and lowered it into the crockpot. Set crockpot to high and cooked for two hours. Removed cake pan, removed foil and let eggs cool. I chopped up the eggs and made a perfect egg salad! To me, no taste difference whatsoever! Next time I may line bottom of the cake pan with parchment paper. The eggs still stuck a little bit to the bottom of the pan but not terribly.

The only trick to the whole thing is finding a cake pan or oven safe bowl to fit into the crockpot.

Good way to use up a bunch of eggs!

[GuitarStv]

Never used ghee, can you educate me on using it?

I've always used it as a shelf stable butter.  Not quiet the same flavour as butter . . . but close enough if you're frying something in it (much higher smoke point than butter so you can use higher temps too).

[Dicey]

We had a tenant move out. She's gone across the country to be closer to her children, as she has congestive heart failure. I told her to pack her bags, take whatever was important to her and leave everything else behind. We expected to rent the house out as of June 1, but we got someone who wanted to move in today (5/20), so we rushed down to do a frantic clean out/clean up.

I was able to pull together a solid starter kitchen for Bonus Kid's new place, including a nice assortment of spices. I was also very pleased to discover a lot of good pantry staples, none of which are expired! (That would certainly not be true in my own pantry.) I've used up some of it this week and the rest is packed up to come home with us. Yippee for free groceries and zero food waste!

Oh, and lots and lots of cleaning supplies.

[GreenSheep]

Oh, and lots and lots of cleaning supplies.

Sounds like a good tenant! :-)

And yay for free groceries!

[TomTX]

Instant pot makes easy-peel boiled eggs super easy to make.

[kina]

Instant pot makes easy-peel boiled eggs super easy to make.

I second that!

[K_in_the_kitchen]

I wanted to share this with all of you. I like egg salad but I usually have trouble peeling the eggs. I found this new to me technique that is fantastic! 

This is what I did. I took a cake pan and buttered the inside of it. Cracked 8 eggs into the pan leaving the yolks intact. Put two cups of water in my 7 quart crockpot. Put foil over the cake pan and lowered it into the crockpot. Set crockpot to high and cooked for two hours. Removed cake pan, removed foil and let eggs cool. I chopped up the eggs and made a perfect egg salad! To me, no taste difference whatsoever! Next time I may line bottom of the cake pan with parchment paper. The eggs still stuck a little bit to the bottom of the pan but not terribly.

The only trick to the whole thing is finding a cake pan or oven safe bowl to fit into the crockpot.

Good way to use up a bunch of eggs!

I've done this with an 8" round cake pan and the instant pot.  Super easy!

[K_in_the_kitchen]

Instant pot makes easy-peel boiled eggs super easy to make.

I second that!

Seriously the best way ever for hard cooked eggs!  I do the 5-5-5 method, although I sometimes leave them in the ice water longer if I'm busy.

[TomTX]

Instant pot makes easy-peel boiled eggs super easy to make.

I second that!

Seriously the best way ever for hard cooked eggs!  I do the 5-5-5 method, although I sometimes leave them in the ice water longer if I'm busy.

I don't even use the icewater. Never had problems peeling

[kina]

Instant pot makes easy-peel boiled eggs super easy to make.

I second that!

Seriously the best way ever for hard cooked eggs!  I do the 5-5-5 method, although I sometimes leave them in the ice water longer if I'm busy.

I don't even use the icewater. Never had problems peeling

I think the ice water is more to keep the eggs from overcooking.

[K_in_the_kitchen]

Well, I finally tried a ButcherBox filet, and it was incredible.  I did a quick thaw in hot water, then cooked it for a total of 4 minutes in a hot cast iron skillet.  Expensive, but so good.  And I didn't make it for the whole family, just for myself.

In addition, the rest of our NY steaks have been fine.  So -- I'm getting another box of meat this month (first time since March).  Cutting back on eating meat resulted in me being covered in bruises again.  I don't tolerate taking iron supplements, non-heme iron sources don't do much for me, and clearly not eating much red meat isn't good for my health.

I noticed the spiral ham and boneless leg of lamb are both on good sale now that Easter has passed.  The lamb is cheaper than Costco.  I'll cook one and grind the other.  The ham is Niman Ranch and is a great price for that brand, coming in at $4 per pound.

I ordered more whole grain this month, 25# of heirloom white wheat and 25# of einkorn.  While the price of whole grains has gone up, I don't think it quite enters the realm of the increase of grocery store products made with whole grains, or even whole wheat flour.

If someone is looking for good quality frozen vegetables, we recently tried the Pura Vida Fajita vegetables from Costco, and they're really good.  I keep frozen vegetables as part of my "pandemic hoard" in case we need to stretch out shopping trips during a surge in cases.

[Roadrunner53]

K_in_the_K

I am still sticking with Butcher Box and last month I bought the big box for the first time. I loaded up on steaks. Rib eye, filet mignon and flat iron steaks. I also bought chuck roasts. I LOVE the filet mignon and that is my go to steak. Mr. Roadrunner thinks they are small so would rather have a rib eye but if I have a bite or two left of my filet mignon, he gobbles it up and tells me how fantastic it is! This month, I went back to the smaller box but have added a bacon blast to it and a corned beef, a pulled pork blast and some precooked ribs. I am due to get my next box next week. I will have to think what size box for next month. I think I might do the small box again and then hope for a ground beef blast to add to it. I am trying to stock up on things when they have a 'blast' offer.

I recently ordered from Wild Fork and they have some interesting stuff there. First order gets free shipping. They have an offer where you pay a fee and get unlimited shipping for a year. I think it might be $29. I have not done it yet. I think it is a decent deal because shipping is expensive!

[K_in_the_kitchen]

@Roadrunner53

I weighed my BB filets when they arrived and most were not the stated 6 oz., but they did toss in an extra.  5-6 oz. is a tiny snack for my young adult children, so I won't cook filet for them.  Heck, they find the 10 oz. steaks "small", but they do enjoy them.

I'm getting a big box this time around, with my selections being filet, NY, and the sirloin cap, which we all enjoy immensely (I cook it sous vide in the Instant Pot before searing).  I saw the bacon blast yesterday, didn't jump on it, and it was gone today.  I added on 4 spiral hams, 2 boneless legs of lamb, 2 5.5# pork butts (with free bacon), and 2 pork tenderloins (with free bacon).  I'm also going to try the sweet and smoky salmon bites (for a fancy van date with DH), and the gluten free chicken nuggets (for my youngest).

I went to Aldi today (masked up).  I needed a lot of fruits and vegetables and the Instacart shoppers aren't great at selecting produce.  I did a mini stock up on some pantry items, as well.  I also like their frozen pie crusts for a quick quiche, and surprisingly those hadn't gone up in price.  They were out of facial tissue, and still don't have canned pineapple back in stock.

[Roadrunner53]

K_in_the_K

You are such a good shopper and analyze things! That spiral ham deal is good. I am tempted to add that on, but I have to back off. I have a lot of stuff coming and Mr. Roadrunner will blow a head gasket trying to find room in our freezers!

I also never gave too much thought to buying something when they offer a 'free' bacon with it. I will have to keep an eye on that.

Glad to hear you are still masking up too! I also mask up! Was watching a little of the Jubilee in UK and no one appeared to be wearing a mask and there were thousands and thousands of people cheek to cheek. My first thought was how soon before their covid numbers go up!

By any chance do you know of any good website that sells various rolls like grinder/hoagie rolls, hard rolls? Most places won't ship perishables. I have not even had good luck thru the grocery stores. It is so hit and miss on grinder rolls especially. I have visited a few websites that sell loaves of bread but they don't have the grinder rolls either! Once in a while I do an Instacart from Costco and they have grinder rolls but not really the type I like. I make do but would like to find a reliable source. I would buy them in bulk and then freeze.

So, this was cringeworthy. We heat our house with oil. Last year the price per gallon was $2.75 a gallon. We lock in every year and go on a budget plan so our payments are the same each month. My year is up end of this month and they posted the new price to lock in at and it is $4.99 a gallon! You can lock in or not but I locked in...UGH! There is a chance the oil prices could go down but I will be stuck at this lock in price for a year. On the other hand, the price could go up and I am protected from rising prices. People are screaming about gasoline prices but I am not hearing anyone screaming about home heating costs. I wonder if people are not using heat now and just not thinking about it. My house is a modest size home. I cannot imagine some of the giant homes that have been built in my area the last few years! YIKES! We use in the vicinity of 800+/- gallons a year to heat the house and heat our water. I am not super frugal on that. I like my house around 72 degrees.

Everything is going up, up, up!

[K_in_the_kitchen]

K_in_the_K

You are such a good shopper and analyze things! That spiral ham deal is good. I am tempted to add that on, but I have to back off. I have a lot of stuff coming and Mr. Roadrunner will blow a head gasket trying to find room in our freezers!

I also never gave too much thought to buying something when they offer a 'free' bacon with it. I will have to keep an eye on that.

Glad to hear you are still masking up too! I also mask up! Was watching a little of the Jubilee in UK and no one appeared to be wearing a mask and there were thousands and thousands of people cheek to cheek. My first thought was how soon before their covid numbers go up!

By any chance do you know of any good website that sells various rolls like grinder/hoagie rolls, hard rolls? Most places won't ship perishables. I have not even had good luck thru the grocery stores. It is so hit and miss on grinder rolls especially. I have visited a few websites that sell loaves of bread but they don't have the grinder rolls either! Once in a while I do an Instacart from Costco and they have grinder rolls but not really the type I like. I make do but would like to find a reliable source. I would buy them in bulk and then freeze.

So, this was cringeworthy. We heat our house with oil. Last year the price per gallon was $2.75 a gallon. We lock in every year and go on a budget plan so our payments are the same each month. My year is up end of this month and they posted the new price to lock in at and it is $4.99 a gallon! You can lock in or not but I locked in...UGH! There is a chance the oil prices could go down but I will be stuck at this lock in price for a year. On the other hand, the price could go up and I am protected from rising prices. People are screaming about gasoline prices but I am not hearing anyone screaming about home heating costs. I wonder if people are not using heat now and just not thinking about it. My house is a modest size home. I cannot imagine some of the giant homes that have been built in my area the last few years! YIKES! We use in the vicinity of 800+/- gallons a year to heat the house and heat our water. I am not super frugal on that. I like my house around 72 degrees.

Everything is going up, up, up!

Most of the time I ignore the item + free bacon sales, unless they are really good.  The 14 ounce pork tenderloin for $14 is more than I would pay for the pork tenderloin alone, but with the bacon added I find the price agreeable.  The BB pork butt isn't my favorite, but my favorite pasture raised pork butt is over $20 per pound now, and I also don't want to be feeding my family mega-corp CAFO pork.  So BB is a good compromise and the free bacon helps add value.

I may very well blow a head gasket trying to fit everything into the freezer!  Although now that my oldest is home from university for the summer -and- I feel like I need to eat more meat meals, we are going through the meat faster.

I've never ordered rolls online, but maybe someone else will have a good idea?

That's crazy for your heating oil!  Granted, I live where's it's warm, so the bulk of my energy use for home comfort is for air conditioning, not heating, but still!  Even with more price increases and keeping the house much cooler in the summer than we used to, we're at about $2700 per year for both our electricity and our natural gas (we use gas for the furnace, our hot water, and our dryer).  And we have really high electricity rates -- between generation and delivery we pay 28¢ per kWh in our first tier baseline and 36¢ per kWh in our second tier (which we always go into if we have to run the A/C).  We have more than 100 days per year where the temperature is over 90°F and have enough days over 100°F that our average high for July and August is 95°F.  Of course it's only getting hotter, and over the past decade or more, it's getting more humid as well.  But your oil prices seem unaffordable!  My dad had told me oil was higher this year than last year, but he doesn't have a long history with it.

I'm vaccinated and double boosted, but I still wear a mask.  I had stopped for a little while when cases in our county were super low, but they started climbing and I realized it just isn't worth it for me.  I also caught a cold (all of us were negative for Covid) and realized I much preferred when I didn't pick up random bugs at the grocery store.  So for me, masking is the new normal.  I just hate the small acne bumps I get when I wear one, which happened far less with cloth masks, but these days cloth masks just don't do enough.  My new strategy is to completely wash my face when I get home after wearing a mask, but that's a hassle.  I'm not prone to acne at all, except when I wear a mask.

[Roadrunner53]

K_in_the_k

When you get a chance, check out Wild Fork. What I am doing is filling in the cracks for things I can't get or don't want to buy from BB. Like I said, only placed one order so far. Mr. Roadrunner developed gout in the last year or so and can't eat shellfish which is something we both love. I have it now and then, but it is no fun to eat it in front of him. I bought some swordfish that we both love from WF and something he can enjoy if I should have shellfish. They also have some exotic meats that I will probably not buy but some people love it. I also love cube steak which is made from round steak. I don't think BB has ever offered it. WF has round steak so all I have to do it pound it out. They have a lot to offer.

Our neighbor went to CA a couple of months ago to see his daughter. He is fully vaccinated, got covid and had to stay an extra two weeks to get over it. Sometimes I think I am being over cautious when I see no one wearing a mask. Then it makes me wonder why people think they won't get covid when they don't wear a mask. My eye doctor insists his patients wear a mask in his office, they take your temp and you must wear disposable gloves.

Yes, everyone is feeling the pinch on everything with costs going up and up. Regular gas in CT is approaching $5 a gallon but I heard CA has much higher prices. We have no choice on heating our house. We have hot water baseboard heat. During frigid weather you can't turn off the heat or you take a chance your pipes will freeze. My old boss went to FL one year in February. He shut off his heat and his pipes froze. Which means the pipes busted and water was everywhere. He had thousands and thousands of dollars in damage.

My highest electric bill is in August. We run the ac like mad here. August is typically in the 90's, hot and humid. We have at least 3 super high electric bills in the summer months. LOL, off the charts!

[K_in_the_kitchen]

And ... ButcherBox failed to deliver 80% of my order based on dollar amounts -- in terms of number of items + my free items, I'm missing more than that.  Of course it's the shipping company's fault, but this is the same shipping company that delivered my second order open and missing items, so you would think BB would get it fixed.

BB can't do anything about it today.  My undelivered box is sitting at a "delivery depot" in Fresno, which isn't my delivery depot.  Dry ice was calculated based on packing the shipment last night and delivering it today.  Today it was 95°F, tomorrow is forecast to be loser to 100°F.  Once the box arrives -- if it arrives -- it's my responsibility to check and see if everything is still frozen enough.  Doing so requires taking the internal temperature of every item that has partially defrosted, which ruins the vacuum sealed packaging.  For anything that is over 40°F internally, the solution is to reship, which would be okay but of course most of the deals I added to my order are now sold out.

In other pandemic/inflation hoarding news, I stocked up on maple syrup and some whole grains this month, and put in an Azure order.  I'm ordering popcorn, flour, honey, and butter, and I'm going to try more of their frozen diced vegetables, since the diced potatoes and diced sweet potatoes are really good.  This time around I'm also ordering diced beets, diced butternut squash, diced onion, diced celery, and diced carrots.  I'd never really thought about stocking up so much frozen veg, but I'm starting to think like some of the people who grow and preserve their veg.  Depending on how we like what we're trying out, I'll order in larger quantities and be prepared to go back to infrequent grocery shopping (or orders) should we have yet another bad Covid winter.  For fruit I need to stock up on more frozen Costco fruit, and continue to add to my canned pineapple stash.

I've also finally gotten the young adults off of breakfast cereal!  My youngest was persuaded to give up milk to see if doing so would clear up acne, and it has helped a lot.  My oldest is dairy allergic so for him it was oat and almond "milks", but he injured himself in a crash and I'm having to prepare his breakfast each day, so the cereal is out.  It's so nice not to need to constantly be stocking up on milk and milk alternative.  A half gallon of oat milk lasts a couple of weeks now, with him having it in tea and occasionally in a smoothie.

[Dicey]

Ouch! Hope your oldest makes a full recovery. Chiming in to mention that The Frugal Girl's Clumpalicious Granola has totally replaced cereal in our household.  I make a double batch, but don't double the sugars. I make up the difference with water. It doesn't clump quite as much, but it's still pretty delicious and very filling.

https://www.thefrugalgirl.com/no-stir-clumpalicious-granola/

[Roadrunner53]

K_in_the_kitchen

That stinks on your shipment. I had that happen with another company and the whole box was warm. They didn't use dry ice but used blue ice which was ridiculous! I suggested they use dry ice and they just said they don't use it, period. Okay...
They sent out a new shipment, but I am sure they were not happy! Not my fault!

My Butcher Box came yesterday. However, I do not like the shipping method they use. They use some company called Laser Ship and they deliver late in the evening when no one wants to deal with frozen food. Mr. Roadrunner winged the food in the freezer last night and will reorg it today. He keeps a tidy freezer but has to find spots for all of it to fit nicely. He was not in the mood to play musical chairs with the frozen food in the evening. He was pleased that all the meat was frozen solid. The last two times, there were some pieces of meat that were partially thawed. I contacted BB and they gave me a credit. We were able to eat the meat but it was an inconvenience because we had not planned on eating them so soon. I noticed that they did not add much extra dry ice because by the time the box arrived, it had all disappeared. Plus it was just one day shipping so they definitely cut it very close on the dry ice. They obviously do not allow for shipping delays.

I am taking advantage of the ham 'special' for my next box. I had considered getting a small box of only filet mignons but found out they do not allow more than a quantity of two packages (4 filet mignons) per small box. I didn't know they limited quantities. I checked the big box and they also limit it to four packages (8 filet mignons). I am more inclined to take advantage of the blasts they offer.

[K_in_the_kitchen]

 @Roadrunner53  That is inconvenient to get your box late in the evening; mine is usually here by noon.

My delayed box arrived and it fared better than expected.  I think it helped that there were two large pork butts and two large legs of lamb helping keep things frozen.  I had defrosting issues with the bacon, hamburger patties, gluten free chicken nuggets, one package of filet (it was up top -- the ones on the bottom did fine), and the skinny half of each pork tenderloin.  ButcherBox will be sending a box replacing each of these items.  I also got a credit for the next box because each sirloin cap was under weight -- they are supposed to be 1.5# each and they were 1.01#, 1.06#, and 1.08#.  Now I have to decide what to do about the defrosted and partially defrosted items.  I feel comfortable eating the filet, and my guess is the chicken nuggets won't cook up as well but probably aren't unsafe.  But pork and ground meat make me a little nervous.  What would you do?  Should I assume it was all around 40°F (refrigerator temp) and cook it up ASAP?

[Roadrunner53]

K_in_the_K

If you didn't take the temp of the meat, I would be a little nervous using it too. Like the old saying goes: When in doubt, throw it out. Contact BB and get a credit. If they keep getting complaints, they will have to analyze the situation and correct it. They are in a tricky business with shipping frozen foods and can't cut corners. It is most important the customer get the meat frozen. This time of year, is the worst time too with heat waves all over the country.

If by chance you still had ice crystals in the meat, then I wouldn't be too concerned and would cook it up.

Mr. Roadrunner hates when we run into issues like this. I sometimes feel half thawed meat at 40 degrees is okay, but to ease his mind, I will agree to toss it out and get a credit. Plus, we are paying primo for this meat and it is supposed to come fully frozen.

[GuitarStv]

In general, I'd say that your senses are a pretty good indicator of acceptability for eating something.  I'd cook the things up if they smelled OK, looked OK, and (after cooking) tasted OK.

[Dicey]

In general, I'd say that your senses are a pretty good indicator of acceptability for eating something.  I'd cook the things up if they smelled OK, looked OK, and (after cooking) tasted OK.

I'm a vegetarian, but my family are carnivores. If I wasn't sure of something, I'd check with the cat. If she wouldn't touch it, out it went. I miss her for that and many other warm, fuzzy reasons.

[GuitarStv]

In general, I'd say that your senses are a pretty good indicator of acceptability for eating something.  I'd cook the things up if they smelled OK, looked OK, and (after cooking) tasted OK.

I'm a vegetarian, but my family are carnivores. If I wasn't sure of something, I'd check with the cat. If she wouldn't touch it, out it went. I miss her for that and many other warm, fuzzy reasons.

Don't try this with a dog.  My dog would happily eat her own poop and have no stomach upsets.  :P

[Dicey]

In general, I'd say that your senses are a pretty good indicator of acceptability for eating something.  I'd cook the things up if they smelled OK, looked OK, and (after cooking) tasted OK.

I'm a vegetarian, but my family are carnivores. If I wasn't sure of something, I'd check with the cat. If she wouldn't touch it, out it went. I miss her for that and many other warm, fuzzy reasons.

Don't try this with a dog.  My dog would happily eat her own poop and have no stomach upsets.  :P

Lol, notice I didn't mention anything about dogs, though we have(had) two of them. They are useless for detecting off food, but great at cleaning up spills.

[GuitarStv]

In general, I'd say that your senses are a pretty good indicator of acceptability for eating something.  I'd cook the things up if they smelled OK, looked OK, and (after cooking) tasted OK.

I'm a vegetarian, but my family are carnivores. If I wasn't sure of something, I'd check with the cat. If she wouldn't touch it, out it went. I miss her for that and many other warm, fuzzy reasons.

Don't try this with a dog.  My dog would happily eat her own poop and have no stomach upsets.  :P

Lol, notice I didn't mention anything about dogs, though we have(had) two of them. They are useless for detecting off food, but great at cleaning up spills.

I wholeheartedly recommend having a dog if you also have a toddler learning to eat.

[ATtiny85]

In general, I'd say that your senses are a pretty good indicator of acceptability for eating something.  I'd cook the things up if they smelled OK, looked OK, and (after cooking) tasted OK.

I'm a vegetarian, but my family are carnivores. If I wasn't sure of something, I'd check with the cat. If she wouldn't touch it, out it went. I miss her for that and many other warm, fuzzy reasons.

Don't try this with a dog.  My dog would happily eat her own poop and have no stomach upsets.  :P

Lol, notice I didn't mention anything about dogs, though we have(had) two of them. They are useless for detecting off food, but great at cleaning up spills.

I wholeheartedly recommend having a dog if you also have a toddler learning to eat.

I’d like to have some smart person develop a flooring that dog licks would polish. Would be quite useful.

[GuitarStv]

In general, I'd say that your senses are a pretty good indicator of acceptability for eating something.  I'd cook the things up if they smelled OK, looked OK, and (after cooking) tasted OK.

I'm a vegetarian, but my family are carnivores. If I wasn't sure of something, I'd check with the cat. If she wouldn't touch it, out it went. I miss her for that and many other warm, fuzzy reasons.

Don't try this with a dog.  My dog would happily eat her own poop and have no stomach upsets.  :P

Lol, notice I didn't mention anything about dogs, though we have(had) two of them. They are useless for detecting off food, but great at cleaning up spills.

I wholeheartedly recommend having a dog if you also have a toddler learning to eat.

I’d like to have some smart person develop a flooring that dog licks would polish. Would be quite useful.

That's what fuzzy onesies are for.



Dogs drool and lick, babies polish.

[Imma]

How's everyone doing?

Cooking oil is available again in my country but the price has gone up significantly. So have the prices for dairy, meat, certain vegetables (the ones that grow in greenhouses rather than outside) and for some reason also laundry detergent.

Personally I haven't had to buy laundry detergent for years but that was something supermarkets used to have great deals on and now they don't. I keep an eye out on those deals for speciality laundry detergent like wool laundry detergent. I always buy those large cardboard boxes of washing powder, you know, the ones that say "100 loads" but  in reality last us several years for our family of 2. Right before the pandemic I bought two of those as a buy one, get one free deal for €20 and I'm maybe 2/3 through the first box now.  A while back I bought sheets that were thrifted and they were slightly yellowish. I wanted to buy a box of whitening laundry detergent (I don't know what that stuff if called in English, the type of detergent that my grandmother used to wash her white lace curtains with) . That stuff has really gotten very expensive! And the box is much, much smaller now. Still, I bought it, washed the sheets with them, then let them dry outside in the sun and they're completely like new now.

[Michael in ABQ]

We get most of our groceries at the military commissary on base nearby. They used to be mandated to price everything at their wholesale cost +5%. That changed a few years ago and now they're supposed to be 23.7% below a market basket of goods from competing grocery stores. Either way, they tend to be quite a bit cheaper than any other local grocery stores.

The downside is that they also tend to be out of stock more often than a Walmart or competing grocer. Lately it seems like they never have chicken breasts. Yesterday I went inside, and they had lots of packages of wings, drumsticks, and a few thighs but no breasts. We normally get a couple of the 5-6 lb containers with 6-8 breasts for about $10 which lasts us for about two weeks.

[RetiredAt63]

I'm seeing low stock on cold remedies and pain killers (ibuprofen, acetaminophen, etc.) - all the children's stuff especially.  I think there is a lot of mild Covid going around that is not being reported, plus now that people are not isolating they are also catching more of everything else.

Meat and veg and fruits are available, but prices are definitely higher and I almost never see specials.

[Cranky]

The price of cooking oil has certainly gone up here, too! Yikes. And the price of butter has probably doubled. I see occasional deals and it is certainly worth stopping into the store to just pick those up since prices are overall so high.

We planted a big garden with an eye to what would store well. This morning I canned the first round of tomatoes and froze three quarts of green beans.

I hate that everything still feels very uncertain.

[Freedomin5]

Imported stuff like cheese has gotten more expensive. Veggies are also a bit more expensive, but not significantly noticeable. The government here controls prices to some extent. We've really reduced our meat consumption, and actually, we've reduced our overall food consumption, so our budget hasn't taken a huge hit.

[Dicey]

The price of cooking oil has certainly gone up here, too! Yikes. And the price of butter has probably doubled. I see occasional deals and it is certainly worth stopping into the store to just pick those up since prices are overall so high.

We planted a big garden with an eye to what would store well. This morning I canned the first round of tomatoes and froze three quarts of green beans.

I hate that everything still feels very uncertain.

I still have 20# of very cheaply sourced butter in the freezer. I have been working through my pantries very gradually during the pandemic. It makes me a bit nervous to do so, but it also insulates me against inflation. I no longer grocery shop weekly, but when I do, it's a shock. I cannot fathom how people of limited means are coping.

I spoke to my friend who runs community outreach for our region's food bank last week. He says they're getting slammed in two major ways: more people need help than ever, and fuel prices for their vehicles are through the roof. If anyone has a few bucks to spare, your local food bank can surely use an assist. Also, food banks are MOFO's when it comes to sourcing food. No matter how good a shopper you are, they can turn your hard-earned dollars into more food than anyone else can. I am a damn good shopper. I now personally support them with cold, hard cash. I still help run a city-wide drive, but mostly to raise awareness of the ongoing need.

[Cranky]

Absolutely the best donation for a food pantry is cash! I’m amazed at how far they can stretch it! There are a lot of neighborhood pantries here that rely more on donations of goods.

[Imma]

My friend knows someone at the local foodbank and they are stuck with certain foods that no one wants to take anymore. They have mountains of potatoes  but with the prices of natural gas right now, no one poor enough to go to the foodbank can afford to boil potatoes anymore. After taxes we pay more than €3 for a cubic meter of gas right now. More and more people are starting to cook on electricity, but especially for those on lower incomes that's not affordable. Induction cooktops itself aren't expensive at all but they need to be installed by an electrician, you usually need some new wiring for it, and you have to buy new pots and pans that work for induction. All in all it costs at least €1000. Same with insulation. Great if you're a homeowner with a few thousand in a savings account, not great if you're in a rental. If you're lucky enough that your landlord does any kind of insulation at all, he'll just raise the rent afterwards so you're still not better off. I'm very worried how many people I know will get through winter.