Back from Mexico and I need to shop

 As soon as I got back, I applied for a new credit card for groceries. Now I need to go out and use it to replenish my refrigerator and freezer. I wonder what is on sale. I need kosher salt. Now that I am going to be around, I can attempt live herbs again.

Bravo: Krasdale frozen vegetables are $1.25 for 14 oz. I got some broccoli cuts last night. Colavita pasta is 3/$5. I'm not sure what shapes they have or what I need. A 24 oz container of kosher salt is $2.29 but I want a 3 lb box. Camaronazo is $3.29. That's like Clamato but based on shrimp instead of clams.

Brooklyn Harvest Market: Clamato is $3.50 here.

C-Town: Romaine is $1/lb. Frozen vegetables are 5/$4 for 8 oz bags. Mixed vegetable bags (like California Blend) are 3/$5 for 14 oz.

Food Bazaar: Nothing

Green Corner: Cilantro for $0.59! Limes 8/$2! Nopales $1/lb! I can try my hand at Mexican things.

Quite a price difference on these chicken feet:

Ozzie's: I'm afraid to go here because I hate their announcements, which I think should be an OSHA violation. But they have cans of coconut milk for $1.50. Tomatillos are $1.49/lb.

What might be on sale at Key Food this week? Corona uncertainty

Key Food is the only store that still publishes a circular. Once I'm in the store, some of the sales show up on price tags. Usually produce is good. But I still read the circular and think about all the things I can buy. I'm going to go there shortly after I write this.

Red onions are $1.67 for a bag of 2 lbs. (So are yellow onions, but I have those.) An avocado is $1. That's the cinco de mayo sale. Tuna is $0.89/can. Canned salmon is $3 and I might get that. I made a good salmon dip not long ago. Cranberry juice is $2. Pepsi 2 liters are 4/$5 (must buy 4). I never do that because it's heavy, but I might make an exception today. A carton of orange juice is $2. Probably the diluted kind. Frozen raviolis are 50% off. (I am pretty good at speaking Italian, but I am still going to pluralize ravioli like that when I speak English.) A 3 liter can of Colavita pure olive oil is $16 and more than anything else, I hope this is actually a sale! Scalfani canned tomatoes are 4/$5. Various Old El Paso things are on sale for Cinco de Mayo.

That's a lot of food! I guess if some isn't on sale, I won't be too disappointed. If nothing is, or if the oil isn't, I will be very disappointed. I haven't been outside since Saturday.

By the way, I turned my bacon into carbonara last night and it was good.

Update: Nothing was on sale except the avocados. The onions said they were on sale but weren't on the shelf. I walked out with nothing. I would have gone to Ozzie's afterward but I didn't have my gloves with me.

The Weekly Sales

I didn't buy much last week, so I better find some stuff if I'm going to eat.

Green Corner: They didn't update their circular all last week. I went anyway but only got 2 cucumbers. But they already updated this week so I'm happier. Cabbage is $0.59/lb and radishes are $0.99/bunch which isn't good enough to make me go there.

C-Town: 3 liters of Colavita pure olive oil is $16. I think I have about 2.75 liters remaining in my last can though. Other people should buy that. Radishes are also here. And romaine, chicory, and escarole are all $0.99/lb. And zucchini.

Ozzie's: Cantaloupe is $1.50. I still have one I haven't cut when I bought it 2+ weeks ago. I should not get sucked in again.   Wait, this ad isn't updated. What a scam. How did they get worse than Green Corner?

Key Food: Things that are $0.99/lb: romaine, plum tomatoes, broccoli crowns, yellow peaches and nectarines, red and black plums, and bartlett pears. I'm going to buy some of those things. Corn is 3 ears for $1, and maybe I'll get that too. Tuna is $0.89/can and I realized last night I need that. Cabbage is $0.59/lb here so I definitely don't need to go to Green Corner.

Bravo: Cantaloupe is $1.50, so what I said early about Ozzie's, but timely this time. 38 oz of Heinz ketchup is $3. Maybe I will buy that because my apartment is almost out and my roommates might bring disgrace upon this apartment by buying some weird brand. Then people will come over and say "Why don't you buy Heinz?" and I am put in the awkward position of either throwing my roommates under the bus or pretending I invited that ketchup in. Or maybe they'll buy Heinz. They use it a lot more than I ever do.

Food Bazaar: I don't remember. I looked yesterday and nothing was as good as the week before and I was sad I didn't go there then.

What's on sale this week?

I'm hungry, so maybe I will see things that interest me in the grocery circulars.

Key Food

Orange juice is $2. I could get hopped up on screwdrivers. That sounds good. Nothing else appeals.

Associated

Frozen cauliflower is $1.69. I can eat that. 8 oz of mushrooms for $1.50 is good. Mushrooms feel luxurious when I add them to anything. Butternut squash is $0.79/lb! I can make soup! Sweet potatoes are the same price. Fall is here.

Bravo

I never buy pork chops, but for $1.69 maybe I'll consider it. Everything Cento is on sale, so I want anchovies, marinated artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, caponata (I've never even bought that), tomato paste (which I already have and seldom use). I guess my hunger has kicked in.

Green Corner

Limes are 22 for $1.98. I did the math, and that's 9 cents per lime, which is the cheapest I've ever seen. 16 oz of mozzarella is $2.50, which is also the cheapest I've ever seen. But I don't know of any foods you can make combining the two.

C-Town

Colavita pure olive oil! 3 liters for $20! I'll be there later today in that case. Frozen ravioli are $1.50, which would be good with the olive oil. I make them in a skillet like pierogies. Mushrooms are $1.79 here. More expensive than Key Food, but maybe I'll spend 29 cents to avoid the extra trip. Or buy them twice so I have an average cost that is still good. Limes are 25 cents here.

Gala Foods

Gala Foods is still dead to me.

Colavita Extra Virgin Olive Oil's on Sale at Bravo

The 3 liter can (101 oz) is on sale for $23. That's a pretty good deal. Colavita has the best tasting olive oil. At C-Town, the 17 oz bottle is $7.50.

Whole Foods has the next best tasting olive oil, and it's usually about that price.

The sale's from September 8-15.

Salad avocados look to be on sale too, for $0.99 each. I guess I will get one or two to go with the rock hard peaches I got at Key Food today.

Grocery Circular Round Up

I'm back. I was overwhelmed by 4th of July shopping. I need to return to normal. I ate hot dogs every day for a week. Now I eat peanut butter on hot dog buns because I ran out of hot dogs.

I need to buy mozzarella for my sourdough pizza tonight. I hope somewhere has it.

Anyway...

Green Corner: Green Corner is at the corner of Humboldt and Flushing, which isn't even a right angle. But it bends, so it's still a corner. They have the cheapest produce around. This week you can buy 12 crabs for $11 if you know what to do with a crab. I never bought one, but it seems like a good price. If you went to a restaurant and got a crab, I bet it would be more than $1. Limes are still a dime. Cherries are $1.49/lb, which is way less than anywhere. Florida avocados are $1. (They are the ones bigger than Haas, but maybe less flavorful.) Cilantro is down to THREE for $1! Eggplant🍆 is $0.89/lb. Plums are $1.29/lb. Maybe I will go there. I put in a request with the New York City Department of Transportation to put some bike racks there for me.

C-Town: I shopped there last night for the first time since I announced my grudge. Lewis asked me to get beer and recycling bags. So I will write about them today, but I still probably won't shop there. Bananas are $0.49/lb and tomatoes on the vine are $0.99/lb. Those are good. C-Town usually has good tomatoes. Eggplant🍆 is $1.49/lb here. Don't you want to go to Green Corner?

Gala Foods still doesn't know how to update its online circular on time.

Bravo: They're emphasizing their $0.98/lb pig feet. I never saw a store do that. I don't know how to eat a foot and it sounds like it has bones, so no thanks. A Florida avocado is $2 here--don't you want to go to Green Corner? Sardines are $0.88, which is a good deal. They are $0.99 on the next page, so I don't know who to trust. I have too many canned fishes anyway. On the last page, a Florida avocado is $2.50. This circular is all messed up!

Key Food: Eggplants are $0.99. Peaches and nectarines are $1.49. I like when they are $0.99, but $1.49 is good and you should eat as many peach salads as you can these days.


Associated: First, you can now get a Grand Street Savings Card and save 5% at Associated. I should probably do that. Galbani mozzarella is $3.49. So I will go there this afternoon. There's nothing else I really want there though. Maybe Colavita balsamic vinegar for $3.49.

What's on Sale Next Week?!

I have to wake up early to attend a networking event, which I am trying to convince myself will be fun or good, but I just got an email from C-Town about next week's sales, so I am going to do something I like instead.

C-Town: Palmolive is on sale for $0.74! That's better than Dollar Tree. I like Palmolive, Ajax, or Joy for everyday use. Dawn Platinum for special occasions. But middle class people tell me to just use Dawn Platinum every day.

Colavita pure olive oil is $20. Hmmmm.... Key Food has Filipo Berio for $16, and I do need pure. And I only use pure for cooking, mostly. But Colavita is so much better. (If I won't use Dawn Platinum every day because that's too luxurious, maybe I will just buy the cheaper pure olive oil.)

Nothing else at C-Town looks like a good deal (their website's circular is terrible though), and I might be too embarrassed to go stock up on just Palmolive, so maybe I won't go there.

Associated: Asparagus is $2/lb, which is because it's spring and in season. I should get that.

A lot of Colgate products are on sale, but not Palmolive for $0.79 :(

Bravo: I don't trust their $0.79 tomatoes. March tomatoes taste like paper. $0.88/bag pasta is ok. I need some. They have $2/lb asparagus too. But like C-Town, I can't tell what Bravo puts on sale.

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Lucky trip to C-Town

I stopped in C-Town because I was buying duct tape and hair gel at the store on the block. They didn't seem to have anything I wanted so I walked to the exit, but it was blocked by a car and some people talking so I went to the entrance to leave. That's when I spotted some nice looking tomatoes for $0.69/lb. I wanted them, but I feel weird when I pay with a credit card and spend $3 or less, so I went walking to find something that was a good price that I needed anyway. That's when I spied a 3 liter can of Colavita olive oil on sale for $19.99! I thought I was running low on olive oil, but wasn't sure. It's too good a price to pass up and it lasts a long time in an unopened can. So that is what I bought.

I would have included pictures but Apple products are terrible and my phone Photos doesn't sync with my computer Photos anymore.

How to Select a Can of Crushed Tomatoes

I love crushed tomatoes. I eat them on toast with shaved pecorino romano. I eat them from the can. With a little doctoring they make a good pasta sauce and I never have to buy jarred sauce again.  (And believe you me, I have a long and public history with pasta sauce.)

There are two things to consider when buying a can of crushed tomatoes: price and number of ingredients. You want to pay the fewest cents and you want to eat the fewest different ingredients. Cook's Illustrated tested a lot of crushed tomatoes and decided they liked the can with the most chemicals and basil and every other thing. They also love the flavor of cottage cheese in lasagna, so Cook's Illustrated is no longer a publication I respect. Anyway.

The best crushed tomatoes I've found are Colavita. $1.50 at Key Food. I keep a can of this in the refrigerator so it's always cold and tasty.

For a survey of the junk they try to stick in the other brands, continue reading.