Key Food is the only store that still publishes a circular

So I'm going to read it! I haven't been in a grocery store since March 21 :-(  But I think I will go sometime this week.

I wish I could go to Whole Foods and buy potted herbs to plant in my window too. Basil, parsley, rosemary, and thyme.

Anyway, Key Food: Ham is $1.29/lb because Easter is soon. I want one. 16 oz white mushrooms are $3.49, which isn't bad. 30 oz Hellman's mayo is $3.49. A pound of PollyO mozzarella is $2 and 2 lbs of ricotta are $3. I want both! Cracker barrel cheese is $2. Canned tomatoes are 4/$5 and you must buy 4. Usually that is too many for me, but in these Covid times, I can take 4. This says flour is on sale, but I doubt it's in stock. Pepsi and Schweppes 2 liters are also 4/$5 MB4 but I don't think I can carry 8 liters of pop in addition to everything else and I'd rather not make multiple trips. Tonic water is $0.60 per liter. Jarred fried peppers are $2.50. A pack of hot dogs is $1 and I'm tempted.

Pre-Thanksgiving Sales

This week of grocery sales is the last full week before Thanksgiving, so they will be gearing up. (The next batch will end on Thanksgiving.) I'm going to start with the Associated in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens because I am going to go live there for the weekend.

Associated: Five pounds of potatoes for $1.50. Cabbage is 39¢/lb. 2-liter Coke products are $1.25. This speaks for itself.

A one pound bag of black or kidney beans is 79¢.

Green Corner: nothing good

Ozzie's didn't update again.

Bravo: $2.50 for mozzarella or ricotta. Cracker barrel cheeses too. I need asiago.

Key Food: Their circulars are in pdfs these days, which I prefer.

A turkey is 29¢/lb if you spend $50. I want one even though I do not have Midnight Thanksgiving anymore. A ham is 99¢/lb. Broccoli rabe is $1.99/lb. Avocados are 3/$2 which is the lowest price I think I've ever seen. Pecorino romano is $5/lb. Frozen vegetables are $1.50. Eighteen packs of certain beers would be $9 but Key Food is always a scam about that.

C-Town: Broccoli rabe is also $1.99/lb here. Canned clams are $1.69. I'm not interested in anything else because I'm still thinking about that turkey.

Grocery Round Up

Food Bazaar - last week they ran out of mussels when I tried to buy them the second time so I bought clams. They were $5/doz. This week they're on sale for $4. I don't go to Food Bazaar for anything but sea creatures because their line situation is a fiasco.

Western Beef - Don't bother

C-Town - bananas are $0.59/lb. Bumble Bee tuna is $0.88. Anything under $1 is good for tuna. Diet Mug Root Beer is $1.25. So are other Pepsi products. A 1 lb bag of sweet potato fries is $1.69. That's not much more than a sweet potato and you don't have to do the work.

Key Food: Gatorade is a dollar. That will be useful if I drink as much this weekend as I did last weekend. 32 oz of yogurt for $2 isn't bad. A sponge mop if $6. I need a mop.

Associated: Diet Mug root beer is on sale here too. Deli ham is $4/lb. I like that.

Grocery Circular Round Up

I never got mussels last week :(

C-Town: London Broil is $3/lb. Nothing else worth getting.

Key Food: 8 oz of mushrooms for $1. Cottage cheese is $2.

Associated: London Broil is $3/lb here too. C-Town's meat might look a bit better. But Associated is closer and has other things I want more. Like some table salt for $0.33! When was the last time you got anything for $0.33?

Western Beef: Skippy peanut butter is $2. Hormel ham is $3/lb! I love Hormel ham!

Coffee and Inflation Measures

I bought my instant coffee today. I haven't had any since the end of December. I like Café Bustelo and I like paying $4.99 or $5.49, but places only had it for $6.39, so I quit drinking coffee. I had some at my parents' house over Christmas, but I never had any around here. I drank tea or pop instead.

About a month ago, there was a lot of talk about whether social security benefits (and tax brackets) should be changed. They're both tied to inflation, but the question was whether to change to a different way of measuring inflation. The current way is that if the price of my instant coffee goes up, inflation goes up. This is the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The other way to measure it is to take into account that when the price of coffee went up, I started drinking less of it and drank more tea. Since my expenditures didn't go up as much, this measure would show less inflation. It's called the Chained Consumer Price Index (C-CPI). Detractors of it like to exaggerate and say this method lets you substitute cat food for beef. (Changing to C-CPI is just a way to cut social security benefits and the longer you live, the more they're cut. And social security is basically the most solvent government program we have, so tell anyone who wants to cut benefits either directly or sneakily to go pound salt).

Anyway, back to groceries. I got some ham for the first time this year. Gideon gave me a ham for my birthday, so I couldn't buy more ham. I got some eggs so I can make quiches and omelettes to use up all my dumpling filling leftovers. I was surprised by how hard it was to find chick peas. I want to make hummus, but I need to buy olive oil first. And I got some red pepper flakes.

Limes, etc.

Western Beef's lime prices have been plummeting. Before I went to Pittsburgh for Memorial Day, they were 15/$2. I know all about Pittsburgh lime prices ($0.50 each at best, $0.69 or $0.79 more frequently) so I brought my own. When I got back, Western Beef dropped its price to 8/$1. And this week, they are 1/$10! (And spelled wrong). I have been drinking many many Moscow Mules with them and the Good-O ginger beer which is $1.25 for 2 liters. It's nice and spicy too. But with limes at these prices, I might make ceviche.

I haven't been shopping much otherwise. I have only used the stove once in the past week. I eat tomato sandwiches because tomatoes are $0.79 or $0.99/lb and I eat ham sandwiches because I love the Hormel Ham from Associated that is $3.99/lb. (I don't like ham with crust on it. I like cheap good ham. Boiled ham. Cooked ham. Not baked ham.) I eat hard boiled eggs because eggs are way cheaper these days than I've ever seen them in New York.

Healthy Ham Salad Recipe

My brother posted this on Facebook.

People in New York don't seem to have ham salad. They're missing out. I love it, even the mayo kind. I love mayo though.