Some of the things I bought today

 I haven't updated in a while. I guess I've been eating a lot of eggplants. Usually tomatoes get cheap in the summer, but I haven't seen many on sale and when they are, they are pink so I'm not going to buy them. I keep finding eggplants though. They are good on focaccia. Today at Mr. Plum, I got 3 for $1. I also got a seedless cucumber for $0.50 and 4 plums for $0.50.

Since I had already started making dough using my sourdough starter, I went to Ozzie's. I got a pound of Genoa salami for $6 and a fresh mozzarella log for $4. And I got 5 lbs of pasta for $4. The best part was that this counted as a small business for American Express's current small business promotion and I got $5 off.

I'd never pay $6/lb for regular meat, but then I do on salami. I guess my standards go out the window.

Yesterday I went to Western Beef and got a dozen medium eggs for $0.89, some pop for $1.25/bottle, 3 lemons for $1, and 3 green peppers for $0.99/lb. Then when I was walking home, the bus pulled up beside me, so I got on it. It was my first time on public transportation since the pandemic. It was free.

Shopping

I went to Key Food. Eggplant, zucchini, and plum tomatoes were on sale for $0.99/lb so I got them. Tonic was $0.67. That was in the circular, but labeled on the shelf. So I wonder if I should trust circular prices. They label the produce sales, but nothing else. I don't know why. Iceberg lettuce is also $0.99 so I might go back later this week.

I went to Ozzie's too and got white pepper and cranberry juice. They were both $2.99. I don't know what to do with white pepper.

What is on sale? What will I eat?

I haven't done this for a while because I cooked a turkey and ate leftovers for a week, then went to Pittsburgh where I cooked 1 meal and ate leftovers for a week, and then came back and had parties. But I am in real life now. I have 1 eggplant and about 8 oz of mushrooms that I bought last week. And some tofu. And 2.5 lbs of frozen chicken wings I bought for $4. What will I find to eat?

Key Food:  Avocados are $0.69.  Nothing else. And Ozzie's doesn't have a website anymore, so I'm going to assume they have the same sales as Key Food and nothing is good.

C-Town: nothing

Bravo: nothing

Green Corner: not updated

Food Bazaar: 44 fish sticks for $6.

Looks like I'm just going to eat what I have in my cupboards. I'll look at one more store in case I go to Prospect Lefferts Gardens.

Associated: Quartered chicken legs are $0.49, eggs are $0.79, eggplants are $0.79/lb.

The sales this week

I should have done this when I was hungry instead of eating two peanut butter and pickle sandwiches.

Bravo: A big can of pineapple juice is $2. Those are good to have around. 7-up and Canada Dry type pops are 3/$4. Krasdale's version of tater tots are $2.50 for a bag. A 5 pound bag of potatoes is $1.50. That's the only thing so far that might get me in this store. Celery is $1.50.

C-Town: Boneless whole chicken breasts are $1.59. Since these go on sale so often, maybe I'll skip this time even though I love chicken piccata and chicken marsala. Tide Simply detergent is $1.99. Tuttorosso crushed tomatoes (and all other kinds) are $1/can. Celery is $1.50 here too.

Key Food: What a selection of things for $0.88! Zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant, green pepper, plum tomatoes. That sounds like I should make ratatouille. Broccoli rabe is $1.48/lb. Celery is $1.48. So many 8s. Coke products are $1.25. You can get 5 lb bags of apples for $0.88/lb. I might do that. Red cabbage is still 49¢/lb.

Green Corner: They haven't updated their site. Neither has Ozzie's.

Food Bazaar: Bags of black or small red beans are 99¢. Frozen ravioli are $1.25 for 12 oz. 15 oz of sardines in tomato sauce are also $1.25.

Western Beef: I haven't gone here in a long while and I haven't included it in a long while. But Citibike is creeping closer to it so I am going to check its sales.

Chicken breast cutlets are 99¢/lb. Five pounds of onions for $2. Same sardine sale as Food Bazaar. Pears are 99¢/lb. A 44 fish stick bag is $6.

The Sales 9/6/19

Last week I didn't buy any groceries until the last minute. I went to Key Food for the Cool Whip and ketchup, and also bought mushrooms, jarred hot pepper rings (which they overcharge me for), jarred red peppers (which were $1.69 and I guess evens out with the pepper rings). Then I went to Bravo and got salad dressing, pizza rolls, plums, mozzarella, cheddar, onion rings, Diet Coke, 7-up, Fresca, and sweetened condensed milk. So now I have too much stuff and I don't know how much this list of sales will help me. But I will look anyway.

I'll start with the stores I went to yesterday.

Bravo: Pork shoulder is $0.89/lb. Bananas are 49¢/lb. Green peppers are 99¢/lb. I could make ratatouille. Luigi Vitelli pasta is 79¢, but I have a lot. On the other hand, that's what I want to eat every day. Table salt is 69¢. I don't know if that's a good price. Some things I bought yesterday are more expensive now, like pizza rolls and Polly-O cheese. Cilantro is 79¢.

Key Food: London broil is $2.99/lb. A big chunk of pecorino romano is $4.99/lb. People really should be buying that. Both iceberg and romaine are 99¢. You can buy a gallon of corn/canola/vegetable oil for $4.99. Tide Simply is $1.99. Pepsi products are $1.25. You can buy 2 pounds of Velveeta for $10, which makes it the same price as imported pecorino romano. I'm not saying Velveeta is bad. Just expensive.

Green Corner: Mussels are $3 for 2 lbs. Cilantro is 3/$2. Eggplant is 99¢/lb. Nothing else is very good.

C-Town: Bananas are 49¢/lb here. An 8=12 pack of Bounty paper towels is $9. Shredded cheese is $1.50.

Food Bazaar: Cantaloupe is $1.50. Medium shrimp $6/lb. The Canada Dry/7-Up family of pops is $1 for 2 liters. A ceramic/copper frying pan is $5. Table salt is 80¢ here so I guess it's a better deal at Bravo. Kielbasa is $3. A pack of hot dogs is $1. Maybe leftover from Labor Day inventory. Beef tripe is $4/lb. Why is it more expensive than the good parts of a cow?!

I bought Heinz BBQ Sauce and it wasn't on sale

I was walking around after riding a bike a little bit and ended up cutting through the Food Bazaar parking lot. I wondered if they had the Heinz Carolina vinegar style bbq sauce, which is my favorite and the hardest to find. I went in, and they had it but it was $2.89 because it wasn't on sale. I bought it anyway. I also bought a Heinz yellow mustard for $2.50. I want brown but I can't find that either. Maybe it's at Western Beef.

Then I went to Kings Mart and got 2 big eggplants and 1 seedless cucumber for $1.50. The guy behind me got a pack of gum for $1 so I got the better deal.

My groceries just pile up because I don't have anyone to cook for.

The sales this week

I really ought to go buy olives and maybe tahini at Parrot Coffee. But this is limited to my local stores. I also bought 2 eggplants and 1 seedless cucumber for $1.50 at King Mart yesterday, and I made baba ghanoush so I should get something to eat that with.

Green Corner: Limes are still a dime. I bought 5 last night. Peaches and jalapeños are both $0.99/lb so maybe I should make peach-o de gallo. I got 2 serrano peppers last night though and made salsa verde. I don't know how many salsas I should have. A bag of yellow onions is $1.25

Ozzie's: Hellman's mayo is $3. A watermelon is $3. The last time I bought one it took too long for me to eat, but I might get another anyway. A dozen large eggs is $0.89. I should make another dozen hard boiled ones. I steam them in a metal colander now.  Oooh extra large eggs are $1. Heavy cream is $1.50. I could make ice box cakes if I find fresh fruit, which shouldn't be hard. Vintage tonic water is $0.60 for a liter bottle. A can of tomato juice is $1.69. I should have brunch. Lots of good stuff at Ozzie's.

C-Town: Salad dressing is $0.79. I need ranch for all my pizza rolls. Cranberry juice is $2.5, but I fell for this a couple weeks ago and they didn't actually have it. Romaine is $0.99/lb. I think that is good, but I don't know how much a head of romaine weighs. If it's 1 lb, that is good.

Bravo: "slicing tomatoes" are $0.99/lb which I would like, but Bravo never has good tomatoes. Sweetened condensed milk is $1.5, so I can finally make kool-aid pie.

Key Food: Iceberg lettuce is $1. They advertise a 12-pack of Miller or Coors after rebate but this store doesn't know how to do rebates. The egg sale from Ozzie's is also here. So is the tonic water. Heinz bbq sauce. I am still looking for vinegar carolina style.

What's on Sale - Lent Edition

I'm going to have a Lenten diet again this year because I like constraints. And fish. And cheese. And haluski. So let's see what is on sale this week.

Food Bazaar- I start here because they have the best fish section. Jumbo shrimp (16-20 count) are on sale for $10/lb. Too expensive for me, but people can make them for me if they want. A whole cauliflower is $1.48 which is a good price. Avocados are $0.88 and scallions are $0.29.

Associated- nothing really. can't somewhere have fish sticks on sale?

Bravo- a 2 lb bag of onions is $0.89. I could make vegetarian french onion soup. Jacques Pepin told me to use water instead of stock. Cauliflower is $3 here. Too expensive.

C-Town- Eggplant is $0.99. I could make eggplant parm. Or ratatouille.

Key Food- They had their lent sale last week. I dont' know what a mag melon is, but it looks like a cantaloupe in the picture and is $1.25. Oh, it's a Del Monte trademark. Panko is still on sale for Chinese New Year ($1.50/box). I made good meatballs with the last of mine.

I wonder what's on sale this week.

Nothing much good was on sale last week, but I only eat peanut butter and bac'n bits anymore anyway. I was interviewed for my expertise in grocery stores on Wednesday, so I will look again. I hope no good sales last week lead to good ones now.

In order of how my tabs are open:

Green Corner: Pork shoulder is $0.98/lb which is 1 cent cheaper than I've ever seen it. That would save me a dime on a typical shoulder, and I would only have to bike 0.75 miles (each way) for that. Oktoberfest is coming up, so we'll see. Limes are a dime. Celery is $0.79 (other stores want $3 sometimes!). Onions are $1 for a 2 lb bag. Zucchini is $0.79/lb. I could enjoy eating all those things.

Key Food: A carton of orange juice is $2. Maybe I should quaff some screwdrivers. Apple Jacks are on sale for $2. Apple Jacks introduced a generation to the concept of de gustibus non est disputandum.

Back to Key Food. Flour tortillas are on sale so you can have a burrito party if you have friends. Avocados are expensive everywhere, so they better be really good friends.

C-Town: Vine tomatoes $0.99/lb. Heckers flour $2. Some cereals are on sale, but I don't even eat or buy cereal so I don't know why I wrote about it before. I'm done. Eggplant is $0.99. Maybe I will make parm.

Bravo: Nothing. Yesterday I spent $26.

Associated: Cantaloupe is $1.50. Generic flour is $1.69 for 5 lbs. Maybe it's time to restart my sourdough habit. Mushrooms are $1.50.

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.

Circular Roundup - May 12

I don't even know what I'm looking for. I bought Maruchan ramen yesterday so I can make chicken soup salad. Gala Foods said it was 6/$1 but it rang up 2 of them at $0.25. Oh well. I have a lot of basil in my window so maybe I can find foods that go with basil.

Associated: An 8oz block of Muenster for $1.67. I like grilled cheese with muenster and tapenade. Sour cream is $1 for 16 oz. I can find a reason to eat sour cream. Starkist tuna is $0.89, but I am trying to eat less because it's not very sustainable. It's sardines for me. I made fish tacos with sardines (and hard taco shells) and they were weird.

Gala Foods doesn't update its website in a timely manner. No review, other than they ripped me off on ramen to the tune of 8 cents.

Key Food: eggplants and zucchini are on sale for $1/lb. I will make ratatouille and use my basil in that. Eggs are $0.80 to celebrate Key Food's anniversary again this week. I went yesterday but they were out. A 12 pack of Natural Ice is $7. That is the lowest price I've ever seen and maybe I will drink disgusting beer just to enjoy that price.

Bravo: Bravo's website changed and the circular is easier to read. Tomatoes are $0.79/lb but I don't know if I trust tomatoes in May. I've had some good ones, but Bravo doesn't usually have good ones. Rolling Rock is $8, which might be worth it compared to Natural Ice. Rolling Rock is acceptable.

I'm still mad at C Town.

Eggplant emoji and more deals from Fine Fare/Gala Foods/Graham Market

(This is why I always call it "the store around the corner" or "the new store around the corner.")

I got regular eggplants and a Dominican one. The regular ones had no seeds, which was nice. I think I read that male eggplants have no seeds and females have a lot, so you should buy males. And I read about how to tell them apart, but I forget. Look it up. Maybe the Dominican one was female or maybe it has different rules.

Here are all my other good prices. I got a thyme plant for $3, which will save me more than $3 when I don't have to buy thyme for a long time. Butter was cheap. I was going to make a turkey pot pie but I chickened out. Most other things went into ratatouille.

I also made a beet salad to try to replicate what I ate at Indikitch because it was good. It has cumin, salt, lemon juice, and cilantro. Cilantro was only $0.50/bunch.

Grocery Circular Round Up

Mussels are back on sale at Food Bazaar! I'm going to get them this time. $2.49 for 2 lbs. Eggplant is $1/lb, so maybe I'll make eggplant parmesan too.

Western Beef: Eggplant is $1/lb here too. And I need a new shopping bag because my current one got a hole.

Associated: Salt is cheap. I need that. $0.59 for a container. Lasagna is $1.50. The other day I cut all the lasagna noodles in half lengthwise to see what it would be like to eat big pasta. I liked it. Jumbo shells are on sale too. I've never made them. Spikes Salsa is buy one get one free. I wonder how much it costs. I never heard of that brand, but I like salsa.

C-Town: They don't have anything to tempt me this week.

Key Food: Tomato juice is $1.50 a can. That's good to have around. Ricotta Salata is $7/lb. I've had that on my shopping list for 6 months at least.

Giant Eagle Sucks - Produce Edition

I'm in Pittsburgh for the weekend so I can go eye Giant Eagle. By the way, "Giant Eagle sucks" is usually one of the most frequent search terms that lead people to this blog. I think people look it up a lot.

I was horrified by the produce prices.

 Here you have limes that cost more than lemons. You have limes that cost more than gold. At Western Beef a lemon is 5/$2 and a lime is 14/$2. No wonder people in Pittsburgh don't make ceviche.

 I wouldn't pay more than $1.50 for an avocado in Brooklyn. $2.50? No wonder people in Pittsburgh don't make guacamole.

Eggplant was $1.99/lb ($0.99 in Brooklyn). Zucchini was $0.99/lb, which is the same. I said to my mother that the price wasn't bad. She said zucchini around here at this time of summer is usually $0.00/lb because people grow it and have too much and beg you to take it from them. You can't beat free.

 Here was Giant Eagle's strength. I'd be delighted to find buttermilk in Brooklyn for under $2.19 for a quart. $1.35 is amazing! Why does Giant Eagle subsidize its buttermilk with its produce?

And below the jump, the results of its blood pressure machine. That's my favorite part of Giant Eagle.

No Wonder People Don't Eat Groceries in Manhattan

Last week I ventured to that other borough to find googly eyes. I did find reasonably priced googly eyes, but on the way I stopped by Gourmet Garage and was appalled by what I saw.

• Limes for $0.49 EACH. Limes are on sale everywhere else these days. 8/$1 at C-Town, 10/$1 at Jesus, and 12/$1 at Western Beef. Do people even drink cocktails at home in Manhattan? Maybe they only go out to bars.
• Eggplants were $4.99 and $5.99/lb. At Associated and Western Beef, eggplant is $0.99/lb.
• Ginger was $3.99/lb. That's a Giant Eagle price, not a fair price. Later I was in Chinatown and saw it for $1.49/lb and $1.20/lb.
• Barilla pasta was $1.99. Tonight at Key Food I paid $1 for a box of Barilla.

The only reasonable price I saw in the store was ricotta salata, which was only $4.99/lb. If I felt like waiting in line and carrying cheese around with me to find googly eyes, I would have bought it.