Less Pretentious than Nutella - peanut butter and chocolate icing

This is what my peanut butter and chocolate icing on toast meal looks like. It's very good. It's less pretentious than Nutella and probably just as healthy, if not more. I might not feed this to my children, but I would feed it to my grandchildren.

Peanut Butter. Oh no!

Via (Lewis via) Lifehacker:

The time to buy peanut butter is now, friends. The Wall Street Journal reports that prices for Jif, Peter Pan, and other peanut butter jars will be going up as much as 40% starting in a couple of weeks.

Just when I invented a new food that is good for toast. It's a lot like peanut butter and jelly, only better. It is peanut butter and chocolate icing from a can. It also works on saltines. I bought a jar of Reese's brand for $2.99, which was already a bit cheaper than Jif or Skippy.

Good thing I don't have a job. I used to eat PB&J every day for lunch. Or let me take that back. It would be good if I had a job so I could afford peanut butter.  (By the way, this blog kinda sorta got me a job but it was only for a few weeks and it's over and it made me tired of adjectives.)

Key Food has some good sales right now. So does Jesus.

I haven't been that interested in eating or cooking lately, but that might be because there weren't any good deals. I had a good time at Key Food today though, and later I'm going to figure out how to cook things.

Key Food had mozzarella for $1.99/lb. I got that. Earlier I got 2 lbs of ricotta for $2.99, which is the best price I've seen in months. So I have cheeses again. I bought Hunt's barbecue sauce for $1.29, which I think is a good price. I don't buy it very often. Fresh mushrooms were $0.99 for an 8 oz package. I got some iodized salt for $0.69. It's usually $0.79, so don't make a special trip. I got iodized because I don't want a goiter.

I went to Jesus on the way home. They have avocados for $1, but I didn't get any. I bought fennel for the first time. I don't think I've ever even tasted it, but from what I learned in my studies, it looks like dill and tastes like absinthe.

Grocery Texts I Get

On Friday, I got a text from a number I didn't know: Hey mike, it's Anthony, where is good to food shop in Bushwick? I'm off montrose L.

I said to go to Food Bazaar if he's close. It's on Broadway and Manhattan, which is possibly like the Montrose L. He used to live off the Hewes stop and I hope he was shopping there then. Maybe my advice wasn't helpful.

On Monday, Ravi said in a text "you would be very disappointed to know how much I'm spending to make meatballs at home." I can only imagine! I saw the meat I would use to make meatballs for $2.99/lb at Key Food. I think you should use cheap meat for meat balls. You're going to season it heavily anyway.

Bravo almost stole me away from C-Town

Bravo used to be Cat Pee, but it remodeled and fired the cat. Now it's well-lit and the food is nicer looking and it's still cheap. I had a pleasant time there today. I was about to announce that it won me over from C-Town until they wouldn't let me use a credit card because my purchase wasn't $10. I can't commit to spending $10 every time I go to a grocery store, so now I won't go there often.

Tons of Bad News about C-Town

Remember the last time I tried to say something nice about C-Town? I praised their price of frozen vegetables. I guess they marked that broccoli down to $0.99 because they were getting bags with a new design that they charge $3.49/lb or so for. There is now not a single thing for which I'd go to C-Town over any other local grocery store. I guess I know its hours and it's open late, and sometimes it has beer on the way to where I'm headed.

The other bad thing is that I was just ousted as the Foursquare mayor. Usually you get ousted when you haven't been to a place for a while, not 30 minutes after you get back from it. Based on my feelings about C-Town, I doubt I'll have that mayorship back anytime soon, but maybe I can get Key Food's again.

Good Sales for the week of 9/16 - 9/23

There aren't any. I'm not leaving the house.

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.

Seafood Deals at Food Bazaar

I've been reading a book about oysters and New York City that Dylan left here, so I went to Food Bazaar to peep their seafood. They have the best prices in this part of town and they don't say your selection is gross and wipe off their hands and cash register before finishing your transaction like Key Food does.

Oysters and clams are $4 for a dozen. They were $3 in February, but this isn't bad.
Mussels are $3 for a bag, which holds 2 lbs. That's a great deal.
Live crabs are $2.49/lb. I think that's a good deal, but I've never had a crab. If someone wants to buy a crab and prepare it for me and tell me how to eat it, I will tell you where to get them for a pretty good price.
Medium raw shrimp are $4.99/lb, which is also a pretty good deal.
I think the octopus was $3.99/lb, but I don't know how much octopus should be. The only time I tried cooking it I made a very very chewy food.

Lobster is $5.99/lb, which is a very low price as far as I can tell for lobster. Like crab, I've never had one. Everything I know about cooking lobsters and crabs I learned from the Little Mermaid.

Grocery Shopping as Civic Duty

President Obama just took to the airwaves to tell us denizens of the northeast to go grocery shopping.

Don't mind if I do, Mr. President.

R.I.Pee

Compare Foods on Grand St, better known as "cat pee" because of its most distinguishing feature, has shuttered and reopened as a Bravo. I haven't checked it out yet. I wonder if they fired the cat.

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.