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.

Grocery Inflation!

 Over the years, I have occasionally taken pictures of my receipts and they pop up in my Timehop and I see that most of my prices I used to pay are still similar. Which is surprising. But I have noticed that some things really are more expensive lately. Oil, eggs, and mayonnaise (which is made of oil and eggs) are way up. Meat is generally way up.

And I just saw this peanut butter sale in Bravo's ad next week!

Peanut butter used to be frequently on sale for $2 or $2.49 for a 15-16 oz jar. And now it's 12 oz for that price. The other way inflation gets you. Bags of frozen vegetables are 14 oz instead of 16 at C-Town and Bravo now too.

Here is next week's C-Town ad:

I bought a jar of peanut butter at Trader Joe's recently and remembered why I never liked or buy that. I started adding a spoon to instant ramen and that's really good, but you can't use it in its normal way.

READY TO GO! (4th of July/Green Corner)

 I'm in Green Corner's DMs!

I don't know what to buy yet, but I am hoping for peaches, limes, cilantro, onions, scallions, jalapeños, and frozen corn there. And if they can have cheap chicken quarters, that is ideal. I haven't reviewed any circulars for real yet. This is just based on their reputation.

If they come through with a tofu sale, I might serve jerk tofu on the 4th. But last time they advertised a tofu sale, it didn't ring up that way. But it was still cheaper than the other places.

Guide to Shopping at Whole Foods

Last month a dimwitted anti-housing activist popped up in my mentions on Twitter to imply that I'm rich and talked about Whole Foods.

So I decided to write about how to shop at Whole Foods to get the good deals, which it has. On about 4 things.

Olive Oil

You can buy a 3 liter can of the store brand olive oil for $19.99. That's less than $7 a liter, and it's a better quality than Filippo Berio or those other brands (except Colavita). Trader Joe's has a fine store brand too, but this is cheaper. It also lasts a long time, which is ideal since there's not a good reason to go to Whole Foods all that often.

Fresh Herbs

No, not fresh like other stores sell fresh, which are always too expensive. Buy a whole dang plant for $2. That's cheaper than the little plastic containers of fresh herbs. It's cheaper than a jar of dried herbs. Use what you want and try your luck planting the rest.

I bought this parsley last fall. I should use it more often. It is still alive.

The basil is from this week. I hope it starts to thrive. The rosemary is hanging on from last fall. Thyme has 2 green shoots but it otherwise not doing great.

Anyway, fresh herb plants.

Frozen Vegetables

Frozen peas are $1.79/lb and Brussels sprouts were about $1.50. That's cheaper than Krasdale/Urban Meadow frozen vegetables. And look how small they are.

Canned Tomatoes

You can get the store brand canned tomatoes for $1.39 for 28 oz. You can occasionally find canned tomatoes at other places for less than that, but they're quite often over $2 and Whole Foods has them consistently at this price. Also, they are good. Luigi Vitelli isn't good.

New Sales

Last week I got 2 zucchinis, a pint of kumato tomatoes, and a pound of organic strawberries or $3 at Mr. Piña. I wonder what's on sale this week. I'm hungry so maybe I'll find a lot.

C-Town: Coke products are 4/$5 for 2 liters.

Food Bazaar: Kielbasa is $2.50. Frozen vegetables and mussels are $3 for 2 lbs. I want peas. And mussels.

Green corner and Ozzie didn't update.

Bravo: Chicken quarters are 59¢. I could make chicken paprikash.

Key Food doesn't have anything I want to write about.

The Wall Street Journal has such good grocery news

I read about Smuckers having/trying to raise its prices (which would explain why I can't get Jif on sale or $2 for 15 oz anymore). About which parts of the grocery store aren't doing well (packaged/processed foods) but what is (fresh, and also frozen). What brands are doing to make appealing frozen foods.

I won't link because it's behind a paywall anyway. But it's interesting!

I got lots of good deals at Bravo.

Frozen broccoli for $1/lb. Pinto beans for $1.19. Cabbage for $0.33/lb. Muenster for, well, I forget but it was cheap. I went when I was hungry and bought everything. Then Eric went later and bought 40 pizza rolls for $3 and we ate them with ranch dressing and got fat. I'm going to go back for a dozen jumbo eggs for $2. I don't buy fancy eggs anymore because I'm out of money.

 

Trader Joe's Always Does This to Me

I went to Trader Joe's today because I had to go to Manhattan. I spent about $26. I bought olive oil, canola oil, a can of cannelini beans, frozen peas, frozen broccoli, frozen spinach, frozen asparagus, gorgonzola, buttermilk, and beer. Everything was a good price and so I spent more than usual (I rarely spend $20 on a single trip.)

Yet I still don't know what to eat for dinner. I might drink olive oil.

This afternoon before I went, I tried concocting a meal of rice, broccoli, sardines, soy sauce, and hot sauce. Unfortunately for him, Dylan dropped in while I was cooking it, so I fed him some.

Update: Toast!

Finally, Gorgonzola at a Reasonable Price

Today I went to Manhattan. I was at Chelsea Piers for the first time. Then I walked around for a while. I found a Western Beef I didn't know existed on West 16th St. It's much smaller than the one in Ridgewood, but the prices are the same, which means it's possible to live in Manhattan after all.

 How beautiful. I didn't buy anything though. I like my Western Beef better and I wanted to go to Trader Joe's.

I went to the one on 6th Avenue and 21st St. I had never been there either. What a pleasure. The store wasn't crowded at all. I guess I was hungry because I finally bought food. I got gorgonzola for $5.99/lb, which is a really good price. I got a 6 pack of some store brand of their beer that I had at Roxy's before for $3.99. I don't think it's bad. It's 6.2% alcohol, so it's strong regardless. I got frozen peas and frozen artichoke hearts for $1.29 and $2.99 respectively. I need the artichokes for pungent pasta (along with the gorgonzola) and C-Town quit having the ones I liked before.

I need the picture to remember what else I got. Frozen party (meaning small) meatballs are $3.99 now. They used to be cheaper. They're good for my spaghetti. Buttermilk is only $1.69 there. I had a glass after dinner. I got some peanut butter, which is cheaper than those national brands anyway. I guess that's my effort to stock up before the looming price increase. It was $1.79. I got a can of cannelini beans for $0.89. I ate them.

I considered getting some oregano for $1.99, but I got a brand at a dollar store for $1 yesterday. Maybe I should try using that up quick.

So now I need to make pungent pasta.

The best thing about C-Town anymore: frozen food

It seems like their prices are going up faster than other stores around here, but the one thing you can still find cheap there is frozen vegetables.

I got this 1 lb bag of broccoli for $0.99. So while I was there, I got some fish sticks and salsa. They brought back my favorite brand, La Costeña, which is both the cheapest and the spiciest. It's made in Mexico.