Grocery Shopping

[blue_dolphin]

Just came home from a bit of impromptu shopping.  On my way to the Roan Mills bakery, I stopped by the international market for some labneh and picked up a few other items:

The deli-wrapped packages are mortadella with pistachios and Bulgarian feta.  I like the canned cherry tomatoes and the grocery stores near me seem to have stopped carrying them.

In the case with the phyllo, they also had pre-cut squares of puff pastry that I will have to check out sometime.  Made with margarine and butter rather than all butter but if it's tolerable, it would be handy to just pull out a square or two to turn leftovers into a little tart or turnover.

 

[heidih]

3 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

In the case with the phyllo, they also had pre-cut squares of puff pastry that I will have to check out sometime.  Made with margarine and butter rather than all butter but if it's tolerable, it would be handy to just pull out a square or two to turn leftovers into a little tart or turnover.

 

 I grew up with margarine in all our Austrian pastries. ChefCrash uses it in his baklava. I'd give it a whirl.  (opening post of baklava topic  

 

[Shelby]

10 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

Just came home from a bit of impromptu shopping.  On my way to the Roan Mills bakery, I stopped by the international market for some labneh and picked up a few other items:

The deli-wrapped packages are mortadella with pistachios and Bulgarian feta.  I like the canned cherry tomatoes and the grocery stores near me seem to have stopped carrying them.

In the case with the phyllo, they also had pre-cut squares of puff pastry that I will have to check out sometime.  Made with margarine and butter rather than all butter but if it's tolerable, it would be handy to just pull out a square or two to turn leftovers into a little tart or turnover.

 

😯  I've never seen canned cherry tomatoes before!  Are they peeled?

[blue_dolphin]

29 minutes ago, Shelby said:

😯  I've never seen canned cherry tomatoes before!  Are they peeled?

 

The brand I used to get (Mutti) was peeled, although sometimes there was still a tiny bit of skin near the stem end of the tomatoes.

I haven't tried this brand yet and it doesn't say on the label so maybe not. 

Edited November 21, 2018 by blue_dolphin
to add brand (log)

[TicTac]

Great call on the Bulgarian Feta - great texture, far more enjoyable than Greek!

 

 

[blue_dolphin]

21 minutes ago, TicTac said:

Great call on the Bulgarian Feta - great texture, far more enjoyable than Greek!

 

 

I'm looking forward to trying it.  They had 4 kinds of feta in their deli section, Greek, Bulgarian, French and Mediterranean (whatever that is) and a lot of pre-packaged stuff. 

[TicTac]

It is far creamier than Greek and to my tastes, preferable. 

 

Curious to hear your thoughts.

[suzilightning]

3 hours ago, Shelby said:

😯  I've never seen canned cherry tomatoes before!  Are they peeled?

Really?  Our local Shoprite carries their own brand ….not peeled.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

5 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

Here's the WSJ article in case any can access it: Checking Out New York’s Online Grocery Stores and All Their Trimmings

 

The three services discussed are FoodKick (operated by FreshDirect), Amazon Prime Now and Jet (owned by Walmart).

Foodkick is the service that @JoNorvelleWalker refers to as having a limited selection and simple to use interface that made it very easy to use.  Here's what else the author had to say about it:

 

 

Had I seen this first it would have saved me writing down the information...

 

[heidih]

I just had an instacart delivery. Friend had an oven failure so Thanksgiving postponed to my place tomorrow. Second time I've seen this guys name (Munkhbat) and it puzzled me. He is tall and looks Asian and has a strong accent. This time I gently asked. He emigrated from Mongolia (!) 3 years ago. Another bonus of delivery (like Uber) - you meet the most interesting people 

Edited November 22, 2018 by heidih (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I spent the better part of half an hour not buying cheese.  No one was at the cheese counter this afternoon so I went to the customer service desk of the supermarket to ask for help.  There followed a page for "customer assistance in the cheese department".  I waited patiently.  No one came.

 

Eventually I returned to the front desk.  Another page.  No joy forthcoming.  I went back to the front desk a third time.  The clerk suggested I ask for help in the delicatessen section (at the back of the store).  After taking a number and waiting in line for my appointment, an associate accompanied me to the cheese department (at the front of the store, next to the flowers).

 

There, in the case marked "Specialty Cheeses Cut to Order", I pointed to the wheel of Pierre Robert.  After a brief negotiation the associate cut a wedge to my full satisfaction, packaged it neatly, and handed it to me.

 

There was a problem.  The wedge was heavier than it looked or the price was wrong.  I brought this to the attention of the fellow who had just cut it and he agreed.  But nothing he could do would induce the label machine to print a label for less than the full amount of a wheel.

 

No weal for me.

 

 

[liuzhou]

I picked up a can of Guinness this morning, intending to make beef and Guinness pie later. I was amused to see flag on the price ticket sign.

 

 

It's enough to restart a war. Ireland hasn't been a part of the UK since 1922 and gained full independence as the Republic of Ireland in 1949, the same year Mao formed the People's Republic of China.

Maybe the Guinness is well aged?

Edited November 24, 2018 by liuzhou (log)

[chromedome]

7 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

I spent the better part of half an hour not buying cheese. 

 

Shades of Monty Python...

[lindag]

1 hour ago, chromedome said:

 

Shades of Monty Python...

Just brilliant!  You're really on your game this morning!!!

Edited November 24, 2018 by lindag (log)

[Anna N]

On 11/19/2018 at 7:28 AM, Anna N said:

I find one of the biggest frustrations with online grocery shopping  is the amount of stuff that is out of stock. 

Like this which popped up even before I had completed my order! 

 

 

GRRRRRRRR 

Edited November 25, 2018 by Anna N (log)

[BeeZee]

Visited a local Aldi today and they had a sign that they were now offering delivery via Instacart.

[suzilightning]

this week:

cheap bird seed

discounted black oil sunflower seed

nyjer

lactose free milk

almond eggnog

salad greens

tomatoes

turkey bacon

 

 

[Anna N]

This morning had a wonderful opportunity to shop in a newly discovered Korean grocery store only 18 minutes from my house.

 

 

This caught my eye  almost as soon as I stepped into the store. The photograph just doesn’t do it justice. It is the most beautiful looking lettuce.

 

 

 

 

[Shelby]

Oh Anna, how fun! You got some good stuff!

[Thanks for the Crepes]

On 11/25/2018 at 4:37 PM, BeeZee said:

Visited a local Aldi today and they had a sign that they were now offering delivery via Instacart.

 

Yes,

 

I have an e-mail from Instacart offering delivery from Aldi here in Cary too! I'm probablly going to venture it soon. I just wish they would start offering Trader Joe's. Now that would be absolutely perfect, but I will settle for exploring what I can get from Aldi for now. I have never set foot in a brick and mortar Aldi's, so this will be interesting at the very least.

[ChocoMom]

They just re-modeled the Aldi's near a couple of hubby's work locations, so I texted him a shopping list. He arrived home with a massive salmon fillet- that was nothing short of amazing.   Along with that, a huge bottle of wine- which we tested out Sat. evening----it was wonderful.   Along with that, he picked up the usual butter, cheeses, chips, yukon golds, turkey bacon, and some frozen chicken breasts.  

 

I am excited to have the opportunity to do a pop-store at a mall about 3 hours away from where I live. There also happens to be an Aldi store right nearby...so I am looking forward to perusing Aldi should my pop-up store's open/close times work with theirs. 

[kayb]

10 hours ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

 

Yes,

 

I have an e-mail from Instacart offering delivery from Aldi here in Cary too! I'm probablly going to venture it soon. I just wish they would start offering Trader Joe's. Now that would be absolutely perfect, but I will settle for exploring what I can get from Aldi for now. I have never set foot in a brick and mortar Aldi's, so this will be interesting at the very least.

 

I use mine for all my dairy products -- about 75cents a pound cheaper on butter, a buck a quart cheaper on half-and-half, 50 cents a half gallon less on whole milk. I buy flour and sugar there, consistently cheaper than Kroger. Mass-Market bar cheese is about 60-70 cents an eight-ounce bar less, and they have a small variety of "specialty" cheeses. I've been very pleased with all their sausages and cured meats. Oh, and I buy my frozen OJ concentrate there; 50 or 60 cents a can cheaper. Canned veggies about the same, and smaller selection. Vegetable oil and shortening cheaper. I like their Millwood brand cereals; they do a good raisin bran and good Cheerios.

 

[MetsFan5]

On 12/1/2018 at 11:31 PM, Thanks for the Crepes said:

 

Yes,

 

I have an e-mail from Instacart offering delivery from Aldi here in Cary too! I'm probablly going to venture it soon. I just wish they would start offering Trader Joe's. Now that would be absolutely perfect, but I will settle for exploring what I can get from Aldi for now. I have never set foot in a brick and mortar Aldi's, so this will be interesting at the very least.

 

 

  Unfortunately, Trader Joes shut down Instacart from being accessible.  This happened a while ago. 

  Currently in Northern NJ, I can get Wegmans’s, Acme, Kings, CVS, Aldi’s (despite never having been to one— the new store is 8 miles away and inconvenient) and Costco. I almost exclusively use Wegmans as it’s a bitch to get to. Kings is very close to me. Wegmans also is the only establishment to consistently offer both pictures of the products and their ingredients and cooking instructions. 

  I paid the $139 ( I think that was the cost) for the “free” annual delivery. It doesn’t eliminate all the fees. That said, it’s available where we vacation for two weeks and that was definitely appreciated. 

   I find if you have a cellphone and keep on top of the app, you can get whatever you want in terms of substitutions and/ or last minute requests. Which I find super helpful. I probably wouldn’t use the service without a cell phone or at least an iPad but to be fair, I keep my iPhone within reaching distance 24/7.  

Edited December 7, 2018 by MetsFan5 (log)

[Thanks for the Crepes]

On 12/7/2018 at 1:22 AM, MetsFan5 said:

Unfortunately, Trader Joes shut down Instacart from being accessible.  This happened a while ago. 

 

MetsFan5,

 

Any idea what TJ's business plan is on this action? A link to an article? This is so disappointing. I was hoping for it to eventually happen, but now that hope is dim.  I love TJ's and haven't been able to get to it even before my husband went to the nursing home and after he destroyed my car. They just don't have everything you need, but they have so many value-priced things you want. But if you're depending on someone who drinks a sixpack of beer in the parking lot while you are shopping and resents the hell out of missing sitting in front of the TV, you need to go somewhere where you can get everything you need for the month and quickly.

 

I will look for Wegman's delivery through Instacart. We have one now in Cary, but not where I could walk to it even before I broke my hip. I've heard really good things about them, although one of the things I've heard is that they are quite pricey, so maybe not a good fit for me.

[MelissaH]

1 hour ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

I will look for Wegman's delivery through Instacart. We have one now in Cary, but not where I could walk to it even before I broke my hip. I've heard really good things about them, although one of the things I've heard is that they are quite pricey, so maybe not a good fit for me.

Depends what you buy at Wegmans.

 

If you get a lot of prepared foods, then yes, you can easily spend a bundle. But for regular stuff, I find them to be less expensive than the other big supermarket chain in my area. Download the app, or go to their website, choose the store closest to you, and put together a shopping list of the things you'd normally get. The app has access to a database with the prices of everything at each store, so you can see what it would cost. As a bonus, the list will be organized by section or aisle so if you want to get in and out quickly, it's easy to do so.