food talk

There was a time last spring or early summer when I thought my tomato plants were all going to succumb to blight, and I bought some store-bought canned tomatoes at Aldi's and Walmart.  I'm fairly certain I paid around seventy-five cents a can for those.  As it happened, my blighted tomato vines continued to produce flawed-but-tasty tomatoes up until the first frost; there were plenty for me to can, as it turned out.  I still have twenty quarts and two pints of tomatoes left; I'm not sure if that will last until the 2011 crop starts bearing, but it should come close.  I have a lot of recipes that use tomatoes.  
When we were last at Walmart, I looked at the canned tomatoes and almost keeled over from shock:  They are now ninety-nine cents per can.  How are people going to be able to afford to eat, with prices rising so fast?  I certainly hope our tomato crop does well this year.  I realize gasoline prices are the cause of this exorbitant inflation, but whatever the cause, it's scary.  
While I'm talking about food, I'm very happy to announce that the two bushels of number-two-grade Fuji apples bought in October have lasted nicely, without withering or rotting.  If you're looking for an apple that's a good winter keeper, Fuji is your best bet.  If you haven't tried them, I suggest you do so:  they're sweet and juicy, bursting with flavor.  They've become our favorite for eating out of hand.  Each year we buy a half-bushel or so of Galas early on in the season, since they're the first ones ready; when those are gone, we return to the orchard and purchase some early Fujis.  While we're there, I ask the orchard owners when they think they'll be closing for the year, and we return just before they close to buy a couple of bushels of the late Fujis, which seem to keep much better than the early variety.   There are six apples left, out of what we bought in October.  From here on out, we'll be paying over a dollar a pound for our apples.  That will hurt.  In fact, I'll only buy enough for Cliff to take one each day in his lunch to work; I only eat cheap apples.  The one flaw with Fuji apples is that they're huge, so you'd better be pretty hungry when you eat one, or else get your husband to share one with you.
The one fruit I buy year around on a fairly regular basis is bananas, because they do such a good job of dressing up our cereal or oatmeal.  The only time I don't buy them is when we have home-grown strawberries or peaches to take their place.      
I saw ground turkey at Price Chopper this week for ninety-nine cents a pound, but I couldn't justify buying it when we have so much ground beef in the freezer from Bonnie's calf last year.  Her present son is growing nicely, and will probably fill up the freezer this summer just like his half-brother did last year.  
One way or another, we will continue our struggles to keep the wolf from the door.  Thank God I have a lot of bean-and-rice recipes to use as a last resort.

Our grocery budget

Julia wondered how Cliff and I get by on $70 a week for groceries.  
Of course, this time of year we're eating a lot of stuff from the garden.  That helps immensely.  In winter we eat a lot of soups, stews and casseroles, using either the beef from the freezer or chicken.  I buy those ten-pound bags of chicken leg quarters and try not to think about how those chickens were treated before they were killed.  Don't even GO there.  I also have lots of bean-and-rice dishes that are good for the body and also filling and tasty.  
If only I hadn't just carried out my trash, I would list everything I bought today.  I did go sixty cents over my $70 budget today, but last week I got by for $50.  So I'm not feeling too bad about sixty cents.  
I do make a list and stick to it fairly well.  Things I remember that were on my list... and I think this pretty well covers it:  
2 pounds Eight O'clock Coffee (with a dollar-off coupon)
coffee creamer
big bag of Mini-spooners (cheap version of spoon-size shredded wheat)
Cheerios
1 dozen eggs
1 quart milk (my cow is dry)
1 quart buttermilk
3 pounds American cheese (I refuse to buy "cheese product")
4 bananas
5 apples (for Cliff, for the lunch he takes to work)
1 Secret deodorant 
1 loaf of bread
1 gallon of the cheap vanilla ice cream
a package of 3 balls for Iris ($2.50) 
cheap brand of Ranch dressing for me
Thousand Island dressing for Cliff
a zipper plastic case to keep my Damn-Ramsey envelopes in
1 bag animal crackers (I hate them, but Cliff likes them for a snack)
1 package of iced sugar cookies Walmart marked down to $1.60
1 64 oz container of antibacterial liquid soap, Equate brand
Walmart's version of Crystal Lite.
3 cans tuna:  1 Chicken-of-the-sea, 1 Bumble Bee, and one of Walmart's brand; the latter was 49 cents as opposed to 75 cents for the highest brand.  I'm going to see if we can tell a difference.


You don't see any vegetables there because we have tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, potatoes, onions, sweet corn, cabbage and okra from the (not-that-big) garden right now.  We're eating peaches from our tree, and strawberries from the freezer.  


And now, I have a confession to make:  Because Cliff carries a generous portion of his weekly earnings in his pocket, and because I have a weakness for certain things, we splurged after we were done shopping.  When he's retired, we won't be doing this often; but right now, I say "Eat, drink, and be merry!"  
So we spent $13 at Pizza Hut followed by $5 at McDonald's for two Mocha Frappes.  
If you haven't checked out the links on my sidebar, be sure and check out Five Dollar Dinners and Hillbilly Housewife.  Harvesters is a program for anyone, no matter what their income.  Once Cliff retires, we may be taking advantage of that program; for now, we donate to them every once in a while.  

Something I've noticed at the grocery store

No, not these two pictures; I'm just putting in a couple of pictures I found when I was scanning old photos last weekend; they were taken sometime between 1977 and 1980. The "something I've noticed" is below them.

This is Cliff's paternal grandmother. I don't know whose baby she's holding, and I don't know who the guy in the background is. Granny was living with her daughter, Cliff's Aunt Margaret, at this time; the picture below was taken the same day.

I absolutely LOVE this shot of Aunt Margaret, cooking a meal (notice the cast iron skillet). When Cliff and I were first married, she and her husband lived in Kansas City; we'd go by and see them once in a while to show off our babies. Cliff still talks about Aunt Margaret's cooking, canning and preserving. I often make mention of Cliff's cousin, Edna; Aunt Margaret is Edna's mother. Edna and I weren't really acquainted that well until the Internet brought us together. She emails me some great jokes and stories, many of which I share with my readers... for instance, the video of Tennessee Ernie Ford.

And now, a rant about groceries.

I don't think it's my imagination that grocery stores are stocking less variety these days; I assume they're doing it to cut costs.

Case in point: I've always purchased R.B. Rice Italian sausage for my spaghetti sauce; I discovered it when Cliff worked for R.B. Rice, back before they moved to Tennessee. It's very low-fat, and the flavor is the best.

I do most of my grocery shopping at Walmart, but I've seen this happening in some other stores too: If I want Italian sausage these days, Jimmy Dean is all they're stocking. There's plenty of Rice breakfast sausage in the cases, but no Italian, in many stores.

That's just one example. Evidently the stores are keeping their inventory lower than they once did. I used to buy no-salt canned tomatoes at Walmart; it's a good thing I had a garden last summer and canned my own, because that's something else that seems to have disappeared off the shelves.

While we're on the subject of groceries, I've noticed you really have to watch the store brand items, and this applies to Aldi's too, although I seldom go there: tuna might seem like a good buy at first glance, but check the ounces; often the can is one ounce lighter than the name brands.

Sugar is confusing; sometimes it's sold in four-pound bags, sometimes five. For those of us who do comparison shopping, it will keep us on our toes.

Coffee used to come on one-pound amounts. That shrunk to thirteen ounces, years ago, even though you'll still hear people call it a pound.

I staged my own boycott on bananas for a month or two when the price rose to sixty-nine cents a pound. The very week when I decided to pay the price and start buying them again no matter how much they cost, that price fell to thirty-nine cents a pound, and that's where it's stayed for quite a while now. You can be sure it had nothing to do with my one-woman boycott.

Store brand rolled oats were ninety-nine cents, three years ago. Now they're $2.39.

Oh well; I suppose we'll be fine if we make it through December.

Grocery expenses. Bah, humbug!

I haven't really had a grocery budget for several years. If I want something, I get it. No problem.

We all know what's happened to grocery prices in the past year or so, and I'm getting tired of walking out of the store over $100 poorer than I was when I walked in. Every single week. Just for me and Cliff.

OK, so I've figured out problem number one: Walmart. I go in with my "grocery" list, diligently shop for the store brand, check out the almost-expired meats for bargains, and wonder why it's costing me so much. But honestly, I do know the problem.

It's the non-grocery items. Oil for several tractors and two vehicles; bird feeders; big plastic containers for storing out-of-season clothes and quilts and mementos; even clothing, at times. Of course the oil and containers must be purchased. But I think it will be better if they are kept seperate from the groceries.

I'm going to work at shopping in regular grocery stores. The prices are higher, but they have good weekly sales, and I tend to walk out with exactly what I went in for; no extras. A blogger told me long ago I should patronize my local businesses, and I've half-heartedly done it... sometimes. I was jolted, last week, to see that a local grocery store in nearby Oak Grove that's been there since the '60's is shutting down because they just can't take the competition from Walmart. I'm going to make a real effort to buy my groceries anywhere but Walmart. No, folks. I don't hate Walmart (except the Blue Springs one... ha!). I just want to stick to a budget, and perhaps keep one of our local stores from closing. The following is a snippet of news I read in our local newspaper:

Norby and Phamie Corn honored at Thursday night football game

Norby and Phamie Corn, longtime owners of Corn's Apple Market, were honored prior to the Oak Grove-Holden football game Thursday night.

Hank Melhorn, announcer for the Panthers, read a tribute and thanks to the Corns for their support.

"Everyone in Oak Grove is aware that Corn's Apple Market, a landmark establishment, has closed this week after serving the community for almost 50 years.

"Phamie and Norby Corn are with us tonight, and Oak Grove R-6 and the community want to say thanks and wish them well as they enter a new chapter in their, and the community's, life. Phamie and Norby are representing the Corn family. Norby's parents, Mona Lee and Carl, assumed full ownership of the store in 1964. Norby and Phamie are graduates of OGHS classes of '70 and '72. Norby became the manager, with Phamie's help in 1980. Carl and Mona Lee, for better or worse, were also looking over Norby's shoulder." Read complete story in Focus on Oak Grove.

I'm switching back to plain old Folgers coffee, unless we're at Sam's Club where I can buy those tasty coffee beans in quantity; and we only go there about every six weeks. My grind-your-own habit isn't cheap (thanks a lot, A.J.). When Edna was here Tuesday, she told me about the coffee she buys at Save-a-Lot, so I may check that out. We drive by there on our way to the other local grocery store.

I'm going to pray for a good garden year in 2009. If I only can tomatoes, it'll save us a fortune. It's amazing how many tomato-based foods I make: chili, stews, jambalaya, gumbo, casseroles. And canning my own means I can leave the salt out. Did you ever check a lable to see how much sodium is in your store-bought canned tomatoes and sauce? It's horrible!

So, let's see how well I stick to my plan. I'd better not have any more grocery bills over $100! After all, it's just me and Cliff, and I buy very little meat beyond chicken leg quarters and ground beef.

I'm always willing to admit I could be wrong (and other short subjects)

I've journaled on AOL for going on three years now. I have lots of regular readers there. The reason I came to Blogger is that I'm not sure AOL will always be around, and I wanted to stake my claim here before they go the way of the dinosaur.
I've taken part in a few memes, using the random-blog button, and following links on people's sidebars, and I've found lots of new connections. I thought it would be difficult to feel a sense of community here in this so-much-bigger Blogger-world, but it isn't so hard.

I pay attention to what people write about. Sometimes I'll read something in a blog or journal that will make me take a new look at things, or see things in a different way. Never any big changes, mind you. I'm living pretty much in a rut.

Here's a change I've made as a result of somebody's posting: I read this post the other day, and it sparked a discussion between my husband and me. The guy suggests we should all consider shopping at our home-town grocery stores rather than the big chains (Walmart, in my case).

Cliff feels there is something to gain from this, simply because if we don't support them, some day they won't be there. And then we'll have to drive farther when we need something in a pinch.

Our small grocery stores don't have some of the things we need. No-salt-added ketchup, no-salt canned tomatoes and other vegetables, for instance. Or lower-sodium Ritz crackers.

However, I've decided to take a small step toward supporting our local grocer by shopping there every other week, even if it's a bit inconvenient. On the other week, I'll go to the nearest Super Walmart and stock up on the items I can't get at Dave's Country Mart.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Finally! We made it to Wal mart for groceries!

I know, I shouldn't get so excited about a trip to the grocery store. But we were out of so many things, I was getting desperate.

Oh, there was plenty here in the house to keep us from starving for at least two weeks, I'm sure. The son-in-law brought milk last night, in case the granddaughters needed cereal for breakfast. But I hate to be without fresh fruits and veggies. Both girls have already had grapes and a banana, just since we got home. See those bananas? Eight pounds of them, and I'll guarantee you they'll be gone within five days. No, it won't be only the girls eating them! Cliff and I eat lots of fruit.

School is out yet again. The girls slept in at home, since their big brother was there to watch them. We couldn't take them shopping because we had to take the pickup (four-wheel drive), so obviously there wasn't room for them. We unloaded groceries and then Cliff went to pick them up.

The ice is falling off trees and power lines; hopefully our yard will be thawed before this weekend's projected snow storm arrives.

I read a thread on an equine message board this morning where someone's horse had fallen on ice and broken its leg. That's scary stuff, and I could hardly wait to get out and check on our horses, just to make sure they're OK, after reading that. They've done plenty of slipping and sliding, even though they're staying in a relatively small area.