I got my Fresca.

And for $0.74! Worth the wait.

Western Beef has 2 liter Coke products on sale for $0.74 (limit 5) with an additional $10 purchase. That's not hard to do. I was almost out of pecorino romano anyway ($5.99/lb) and I live on the tuna bean salad I've been promising you a recipe for (4 cans for $3). Pre-toast is $1.79 a loaf now. Used to be $1.69, but I've been reading about the price of wheat and it costs me at least $2.50 anywhere else.

Know what I didn't buy?

Sardines! They used to be $1.15. I guess I'll just starve or buy the $1.29 sardines at C-Town and Key Food. You could argue that making a separate trip over $0.04 is stupid, but if you don't care about $0.04 I'll let you send me all the $0.04s you don't want via Paypal.

I buy a lot of Dairy

I went to Key Food today to buy Fresca, which is advertised at 5 2 liter bottles for $5, and San Giorgio pasta, which is supposed to be 5/$4. They have no Fresca. Sometimes they carry it, but not when it's on sale I guess. And there were no signs up for the pasta, and I don't trust them so I didn't fix either of my problems.

I got milk, cheese, butter, yogurt, and Gatorade. I'm only missing buttermilk.

I only really want to eat toast anyway, so who needs pasta and Fresca?

Why I Keep Shopping at Western Beef

As my unemployment benefits ran out today, my mind turned to converting my illiquid assets to liquid ones. And as far as I can tell, cheap beer is more liquid than a dollar bill, and that's why I go to Western Beef, even in the rain.

Here's what I hauled in today.

The first item is 1% milk. I just started noticing the price of milk, which means I can survive a gotcha question when I run for president. At Key Food, a half gallon of milk is $2.50. The second item there is Vintage tonic water. At Key Food, I can get the store brand for $1. $0.67 is a $0.33 subsidy to my gin consumption.

I got some white beans for $0.67 too. I turn that into a tuna salad that I'll show you sometime. It's pretty good. I served it to my family for Christmas Eve and they liked it.

Next is a jar of anchovies for $3.49. I pay between $4.99 and $5.49 for a similar sized jar at Key Food and C-Town.

And finally, my traditional 3 bottles of Baltika. At $1.88/bottle, my assets could hardly be more liquid.

My Typical Western Beef Trip

Since the weather got nice enough for me to bike everywhere, I've been going to Western Beef a lot. And since I discovered Baltika, I've been going even more. Here's my typical haul: 3 Baltikas, a half gallon of milk, and a bunch of fish products. Baltika is Europe's second largest brewery, according to Wikipedia. These bottles are imported from Russia. They're $1.88 for 51 oz, which is 1.5L. They're 8% alcohol. They only look foamy there because they just survived a ride on my bike. They're either so cheap because the ruble is so weak, their best by date is in 2 weeks, or because they're not that good. I, however, have acquired the taste. It's rather sweet. I'd serve it at a brunch with oatmeal, but not with huevos rancheros.

The sardines and tuna are pretty good prices too. I can find sardines on sale for $1/less sometimes, but $1.15 is the most consistent low price and I eat them a lot. I never find tuna for less than 4/$3.

You're looking at Delallo's Fan of the Week

Every week Delallo names a fan of the week based on submissions of memories of the store/brand. So last week I decided to win myself a free t-shirt and this week I won it. I wrote about how excited I was to see their products in Key Food for the first time.

Yesterday I took Greg to Western Beef. Western Beef should name me fan of the year for how many people I've made go there.

I'm on to you, groceries!

I knew 59 ounces was a weird size for my orange juice. The New York Times says this is how we get inflation in food. It's because we're very price sensitive but not very quantity sensitive.

Ms. Stauber, 33, said she began inspecting her other purchases, aisle by aisle. Many canned vegetables dropped to 13 or 14 ounces from 16; boxes of baby wipes went to 72 from 80; and sugar was stacked in 4-pound, not 5-pound, bags, she said.

Five or so years ago, Ms. Stauber bought 16-ounce cans of corn. Then they were 15.5 ounces, then 14.5 ounces, and the size is still dropping. “The first time I’ve ever seen an 11-ounce can of corn at the store was about three weeks ago, and I was just floored,” she said. “It’s sneaky, because they figure people won’t know.

Now I have a new thing to keep my eyes peeled for.

Eggs on Special at Associated. Beans, no.

I went to Associated today to buy some jalapeno peppers because my jar was running low and I devised a way to mass produce huevos rancheros which is going to make me famous. They were $1.59/lb, which isn't bad. At Key Food they're $4.99/lb. They were on the old side, so I almost left, but I saw medium eggs for $1.25. You can't beat that with a stick! You always want small eggs when you're making huevos rancheros, especially with my new way.

I was also in the market for some celery salt, but they didn't have it. I wanted chick peas, but they wanted $1/can for them and I was having none of that. $0.80 is appropriate. I needed milk too, but I don't think they have enough turnover of milk for it to be good so I still have to go shopping later. I didn't think their price on Mexican crema was that good either.

Here's what I do with my peppers. I chop them up and stick them in my jar of vinegar and salt. Later, they're good.















And here's the secret to mass producing huevos rancheros. Use a muffin pan. It's all in there. The best part is either that the tortilla is not soggy or greasy or that you don't need a fork or a knife to eat these. You can pick them up and they're perfect.

By my reckoning, I will be able to feed 12 people 2 eggs each for about $12, which is how much my huevos rancheros cost the last time I ordered them in a restaurant. And these are better, so I won't name the restaurant.

Key Food's Good Deals and a Recipe for Eggs

It's been a while since I felt like I got a good deal at Key Food. Today I did. Their egg prices are reasonable again. I got a dozen medium for $1.69. I got a 32 oz Powerade for $1, which is good since I imagine I might be drinking my way through this weekend at times. I got some Tree Ripe orange juice for $1.99. And I got Mezzetta hot peppers for $1.50. They're usually $2 there, and I will still happily pay that. Oh, and butter for $2.99.

Here is my recipe for how I eat my eggs every day. It's nothing fancy, but it gives me an excuse to eat toast and it's the best thing I know how to do to eggs this side of huevos rancheros. It involves the Mezzetta peppers. You can use Golden Greek too. As long as it's spicy.

In a frying pan, put a generous dose of olive oil. You're going to eat this oil, so don't overwhelm the pan, but don't skimp either. Heat it. Start making your toast. Put some peppers in the oil and pour some of the brine in it too. You're going to fry the egg in the oil at the same time as you're sorta poaching it in the brine. When this gets nice and hot, crack your eggs into the pan. Grind some black pepper on it. When the yolk starts to set, you're done. You can speed this up by spooning some hot liquid over the yolk, but I don't feel like dirtying a spoon so I just wait. Put everything in the pan on a plate--the oil/spicy brine mixture is good to eat with toast. Eggs are good for toast. Toast is inherently great.

How to Turn Last Week's C-Town Specials into One of the Best Foods I've Made

 Yesterday I invited Dylan over for dinner before I knew what to make, so I went to C-Town. The manager let me know the Heinz pickles I requested are in now. I wandered the aisles with only vague ideas of what to make. Luckily, I had bought all types of pasta earlier in the week because Ronzoni was 4/$3. And all I can ever improvise is pasta.

I decided something like baked ziti, but made only on a stove top, would be good. I got hot sausage, which was $1 off. I don't know why it seems to be on my receipt twice, two different ways. I got a can of Colavita crushed tomatoes, which they now carry for me at $1.50. I bought some frozen spinach because Laura told me I need to have Vitamin E if I want to quit being ugly in one specific way. Mozzarella was on sale. I already had the pasta. I also had some frozen onions that they sell and I like to keep on hand because, like I told Dylan, I'm never going to chop an onion for fewer than 6 people. I tasted one out of the bag and it tasted like an onion. You'd expect that from something whose only ingredient is "onions." I also threw in some garlic powder, a ton of pecorino romano, and some dried parsley. I got those at Key Food, but you can get them at C-Town too.

C-Town Pasta and what other people think of it.

C-Town has Ronzoni on sale. Only the 5 basics (spaghetti, ziti rigate, ziti, elbows, and thin spaghetti I think) for 4/$3. That's almost a 2006 price there.

I just saw this on Tumblr:

Is it sad that I couldnt voice my true opinion that my local grocery store’s clerks are consistently shitty about packing the groceries (really all the cans and the diet dr pepper in one bag?)? Why couldnt I say anything? Because theyre following me on tumblr and twitter.
So now Im being passive aggressive. You know who you are grocery store, have a seminar on proper bag packing with your ladies.

Now, I actually would like all my cans together, or at least not have qualms. And every week when I'm volunteering at the food pantry at Agnes's church (which should get another post), I pack up all the cans together. I guess in that situation it is offensive to say that beggars can't be choosers. Baggers, however, are the choosers. Ha! 

I always end up packing my own bag because I bring my own anyway.

I looked up C-Town on Yelp and I was appalled at the reviews, so I wrote one. They say they have bad customer service because the cashiers don't talk to you too much. What the heck! The ideal grocery store has cashiers who don't talk to you too much and a twitter account that carries whatever you want at the price you want (usually).

Groceries of Belgium: Canned Hot Dogs, Fruit, Orange Juice, Etc.

A correspondent recently traveled to Belgium and sent along these snaps.

Key Food didn't do a very good job. Associated picked up its slack.

I haven't been to Key Food that often lately, though I'm still currently the mayor on Foursquare. I wanted to go today to recycle my grocery bags, buy milk, and buy Fresca. I was also willing to consider buying jalapeno peppers there, but didn't expect much.

I was right to not expect much! They were $4.99/lb! That's highway robbery. In the pop aisle, I saw they brought Diet Rite back, but at the absurd price of $1.99. When I had a Diet Rite habit, I was paying $1.29. They also carry some of the other Dr. Pepper/7Up brands like RC Cola and one I'd never seen before: Sun Drop. What they don't carry, however, is Fresca.  I ended up walking out of the store with only a half gallon of milk (I still like their milk the best) and a jar of store brand mayo.

At Associated, I was much happier. I got beautiful jalapeno peppers for $1.39/lb and they are currently pickling in my refrigerator. I got some orange juice, some Heinz hamburger pickle chips, and Fresca. The Fresca was $1.99, which isn't the correct price, but at least they had it. I was feeling defeated.