This Week's Grocery Ads and Souped Up Soup!

Thanksgiving Specials

This week's grocery ads were delivered today.  Lots of thanksgiving specials!  Turkey for $.57/lb. with the purchase of $25 worth of additional items (excludes certain items such as liquor and tobacco), at Store A.  Store B is selling turkey for $.77/lb. with $25 purchase (again, excludes certain items).  Store C is selling for $.79/lb. with $75 purchase.  Another store is selling them for $.99/lb. with no minimum purchase required.  Yet another, for $1.99/b. without any mention of a minimum purchase.  Others give a flat price of $7 for a 8-14.99 lb. turkey or $11 for a 15-18.99 lb. turkey, with $25 minimum purchase.  I think this last store gives the best price, provided one gets a 14 lb. turkey; works out to $.50/lb.

This is just an example of the fluctuation in prices in the stores within a 5 mile radius of my home.  I generally stick to about 3-4 stores and select which one to go to that particular week based on what's on sale.

Two of the stores are owned by the same parent company, but one is a bit more up-scale than the other.  Store A (up-scale, where they bag your groceries for you) is also having green beans, broccoli and cauliflower on sale for $.88/lb. which is a good price.  But they are selling grapes for $1.99/lb.  Their Brussels sprouts are $1.99/lb., parent company brand frozen vegetables are $.99/12 oz. and cranberries are $2.50/12 oz. package.   Store B (the discount store, where you have to bag your own groceries, but they have a full service butcher counter, which the up-scale store doesn't have), has the same parent company brand frozen vegetables for $.79/12 oz., but their green beans are $1.29/lb.  Their flyer has fewer pages, so they don't list a lot of their items.  In this case, I might go to Store A and get their green beans, broccoli, Brussels sprouts and a bag of frozen green peas.

But I might go to the store at the other end of the strip mall (same parking lot) for grapes ($1.29/lb) and cranberries ($1.99/12 oz).  Or, the dollar store midway between the two grocery stores has grapes, too ($.99/lb).

Today, I had a meal replacement/nutritional drink for breakfast - it's the one my primary care doctor told me to take as it has a lot of protein (16g/8 fl. oz).  Grapes for mid-morning snack.  One meat-filled bread roll for lunch (I took 2 with me, but wasn't hungry for both).  A banana for dessert. 5 saltine-type crackers with peanut butter for afternoon snack.  Came home and had a cup of tea.

I wanted soup for dinner - there was 1/3 can of condensed cream of chicken soup leftover from making the chicken pot pies and I decided to have that for dinner.  But, since I am trying to get in more veggies, I decided to add some to my soup!  I made up the condensed soup with some water and I added some sliced celery (from the freezer), the torn off leaves from one of the baby bok choys and a grated carrot, and "souped up" my soup!   

Souped-Up Soup!

Lots of freshly grated black pepper to spice it up a bit.  All the bok choy leaves floated on the top and the celery and carrots sort of sank to the bottom.  So, after I had some of the soup, I decided to take another picture to show that there were other vegetables in it:

Cream of Chicken and Vegetable Soup

It wasn't half bad, actually. 

Speaking of canned condensed soup, the ones I bought the last couple of times for $.49 each (with the purchase of 6 mix and match items) are now on sale for $.99 each.  But, this week, canned vegetables are on sale for $.49 each, if you buy 10 ($.69 @ if buying less than 10). I usually buy a few cans at that price, each year, to keep on hand for emergencies (if there is a big earthquake and we lose electricity, canned stuff will not spoil, unlike the contents of my freezer).  Then, if I haven't used them, I donate them each May, when the postal service have their "Stamp Out Hunger" food drive.  


Today, I spent $20 at the pharmacy for medication refills.

I am grateful for:

- The winds calmed down without causing any damage.
- It was warmer, today.
- I had a safe commute to work and back.
- Met a couple of long-time office friends
- Phone calls with family and friends

Are the stores in your areas having their Thanksgiving sales, already?  Do you buy extra turkeys when they go on sale now to freeze for later?  Have you added more vegetables, etc., to canned condensed soups to improve them?