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Post by breezygardener on Oct 29, 2022 15:19:14 GMT -5
Their chocolate is superior and less expensive, as are many of their other products, If you like Japanese-restaurant-style Ginger Dressing, Aldi's own "Little Salad Bar" brand is excellent & a couple of dollars cheaper than my usual favorite brand "Makoto". It's located in the refrigerated produce section.
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Post by emmsmommy on Oct 29, 2022 17:41:28 GMT -5
Actually suet cakes have been in short supply lately. We usually buy my mother-in-law a case for her birthday and Christmas and other than the overpriced designer cakes at $5 and up, none are to be found. When I do find some, I intend to buy her Christmas case and a few for us as well.
It's cost-prohibitive to drive to the nearest Aldi's or Save-a-Lot, so we're stuck with Walmart and Kroger. For the most part store brands are pretty good. I used to buy Mt. Olive green olives but the last few jars were so salty I couldn't eat them and tried the Great Value ones from Walmart and love them. Hubby prefers Kroger brand peanut butter to Jif and I have to agree. Once in a while we don't care for the store brand and go back to buying brand names, for instance Bounty paper towels. I've yet to find a store brand that comes close to comparing. I've tried to limit my usage but for some things they're a necessity. Kroger toilet paper was good prior to COVID but has declined in quality since, so I either buy the Walmart brand or try and catch the name brands on sale.
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Post by madamezil on Oct 29, 2022 17:54:37 GMT -5
Wow, you guys are so lucky to have such a wide variety of shopping choices. We basically have three large grocery chains- Sobeys, Loblaws, and Jim Pattison. We also have Wal-Mart and Costco.
There are a few independent grocers but most are specialty such as organic or whole foods. There are a lot of empty shelves especially at Wal-Mart and Superstore(Loblaws) as those seem to be the cheapest prices. Our Farmers Markets are also deadly expensive. I have only been once, but since we are still eating out of the garden- Swiss chard, turnip greens, beets, lettuce, cabbage, and I have frozen a great deal, we don't shop much anymore.
Whoever said it was expensive to live in Vancouver wasn't just whistling Dixie!
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Post by pepperhead212 on Oct 29, 2022 18:17:40 GMT -5
The reason I have so many stores around, and frequent sales for so many things, is because NJ has the highest population density of any state! Of course, there are drawbacks, as well. I have seen prices of some things drop, but not not to previous lows, and I continue to see prices go up. As always, I look for sales, and many things simply won't buy until the prices drop.
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Post by SpringRain🕊️ on Oct 30, 2022 12:28:04 GMT -5
breezygardener , thanks for the tip, but over the years I've narrowed down the range of what I food I eat to simplify life, and it really has helped. I need less supply space, less shopping time, less cans or bottles to recycle. There are a few Japanese restaurants in my area, though, so someday I might just try one. But I anticipate it might be beyond my current food budget! emmsmommy , are you aware that Kroger, at least in my area, is now participating in the massive Medicare campaigns? I received one of those repetitive and boring solicitations for a Medicare plan. The outfit is Priority Health in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The so-called temptation of Kroger is "$300 annual OTC allowance to spend in store" plus "no-cost grocery delivery and more". The presorted notation in lieu of postage reflected that postage was paid in Twin Cities, MN, so I think this joint participation isn't limited to my area. I suppose other aggressive retailers might jump on the bandwagon as well. madamezil , I think it would be an interesting study to determine which and why specific stores aggregate in specific areas, and how and why over time some of the independents are forced out by the chains. In SE Michigan, especially my area, Meijer is the dominant store. Quality of products has decreased over the years; there are full aisles with nothing but junk food. There's a Hollywood Market, a longtime small chain, with higher prices when I last visited years ago, and a few independents in the produce category. One is outstanding; it has more fruit varieties than any of the chain stores, in addition to samples. At one point, there was a machine grinding nuts and making peanut butter, which was offered as samples to shoppers. That's my kind of store. pepperhead212 , population density certainly is a factor. I vaguely recall an example from my Stat I class addressing these kinds of issues, i.e., population density and commercial development, as well as how regional and strip malls contributed to the evaluation of the best place to build a new store, grocery or otherwise. What I think is also interesting, and unfortunate though, is the decline in this area of the regional malls. The Alfred Taubman Group was often involved in these developments. One which used to be a very dynamic shopping center has deteriorated, with the anchor stores having either closed or gone out of business. OTOH, a similar mall across the county in a more wealthy area was still thriving a few years ago. Demographics is everything.
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Post by gardendmpls on Oct 30, 2022 13:39:21 GMT -5
Actually suet cakes have been in short supply lately. Easy to make your own, if you eat meat. Just need a container to pour the fat into. I have one with a strainer and lid. Collect whenever you are cooking meat and then freeze. When you have enough to make a batch, melt the fat down (can add any raw fat you may have trimmed off your meat, if you do that sort of thing before cooking). After it is melted down, add nuts, seeds and dried berries or fruit (can be a bird feeder mix) or whatever else you want. Some people add in dried mealworms and the like. Pour into containers the size and shape you want and chill to harden. Containers might be small cans or juice boxes. Store in the freezer until ready to set out.
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Post by gardendmpls on Oct 30, 2022 13:42:17 GMT -5
"$300 annual OTC allowance to spend in store" plus "no-cost grocery delivery and more" Sure, you won't be able to get some medicines you need or see a decent doctor or have the doctor spend more than ten minutes with you, but Hey! Free Delivery!
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Post by breezygardener on Oct 30, 2022 14:01:05 GMT -5
Easy to make your own, if you eat meat. Just need a container to pour the fat into. I have one with a strainer and lid. Collect whenever you are cooking meat and then freeze. When you have enough to make a batch, melt the fat down (can add any raw fat you may have trimmed off your meat, if you do that sort of thing before cooking). After it is melted down, add nuts, seeds and dried berries or fruit (can be a bird feeder mix) or whatever else you want. Some people add in dried mealworms and the like. Pour into containers the size and shape you want and chill to harden. Containers might be small cans or juice boxes. Store in the freezer until ready to set out. While I do buy commercial suet cakes, since they're still fairly cheap around here, I have also made my own. I don't have enough meat fat to save since Mr. Breezy isn't a red-meat eater, but our local Martin's supermarket sometimes has really large pkgs. of beef suet for like $1 or so, so I buy them then & keep them in the freezer.
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Post by emmsmommy on Oct 30, 2022 15:31:02 GMT -5
gardendmpls, I used to make suet cakes when I worked at the slaughterhouse and had access to discarded suet. IMHO the kidney fat is superior but when I do see it in the grocery stores it's gone beyond a waste product in price and more into a specialty product. I may start trying to collect fat the next time I catch ground beef on sale but freezer space is an issue. SpringRain🕊️, I'm not sure if any of the stores in the area are participating in any Medicare campaigns. I'm still several years from qualifying though hubby (who's five weeks younger than I am) constantly gets Medicare literature in the mail. Free grocery delivery really isn't a thing here. I guess we just don't have the population for it and so many are rural. Even the pizza delivery places have a limit.
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Post by gardendmpls on Oct 30, 2022 15:38:57 GMT -5
hubby (who's five weeks younger than I am) constantly gets Medicare literature in the mail. My husband, who has been dead for five years, still gets all the Medicare Advantage plan mailings. He never even had Medicare. At least he doesn't have to look at them.
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Post by emmsmommy on Oct 30, 2022 15:49:17 GMT -5
gardendmpls, my first hubby passed in 2000 and it's only been in the last five years that the mailings for him have ceased. Of course I suspect that might have something to do with our mailing addresses being updated a few years ago.
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Post by Mumsey on Oct 30, 2022 17:03:27 GMT -5
I have also noticed shortage of suet. And Walmart brand tissue aka Kleenex, and the price of the Great Value olives I used to buy a lot of has doubled!!! And the shelf is usually empty. Also peanut butter at Walmart seems to be in short supply at times. Dry beans and rice are another shelf I see depleted. I have been buying 30 lb bags of dog food when I see it, sometimes what I feed Princess is not in stock. I don't keep more than 2 bags stockpiled though.
And yeah, those Medicare Advantage plans lure people in with free this, free that. But they NEVER advertise out of pocket expenses, which in case of a serious health event, can cost more than Supplement premiums for the year. It's a crap shoot IMO. Free is relative. You get what you pay for, also IMO.
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Post by SpringRain🕊️ on Oct 30, 2022 19:15:23 GMT -5
I still get mail for my father who died in 2018, as well as for my mother who died in 2002. Obviously someone doesn't know how to keep a list current.
Sometimes I play with the sender and write on the mail something to the effect that given that I'm deceased I have no need for your products, and it's too hard to communicate beyond the coffin and grave.
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Post by datgirl on Oct 30, 2022 19:16:11 GMT -5
I can't even put a suet cake out. The squirrels take off with them. I gave up on those a long time ago.
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Post by ahntjudy on Oct 30, 2022 21:02:18 GMT -5
I remember going to the butcher shop and getting suet for free.
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