Today, I got my cleaning done in the early afternoon - I cleaned the bathrooms, scrubbed the stove top and under the burners, tidied one kitchen cabinet and took inventory of household supplies stored there (kitchen trash bags, foil, sandwich bags, sponges, etc.; now I know how much of what I have and what I need to add to the next shopping list).
Then, at 5:00 p.m., I went to the grocery store to pick up the groceries I had ordered last night. This time, I had authorized substitutions to make it easier (otherwise, they text me a list of possible substitutions and I either authorize it, one by one, or not). The store clerk loaded everything into the trunk of the car, handed me the receipt, and everything took less than 10 minutes. I then called friend R, before I left the parking lot, to let her know that I was on my way to drop off a couple of items she had wanted. She, too, had gone grocery shopping at a store close to her apartment and had bought me a couple of items I had forgotten to order - some ginger and a cabbage. She also gave me a bag of frozen yuca (also known as cassava and manioc).
I had left a note to M to trim the hedge of lantana and plumbago growing along the side wall behind the garden shed. He was trimming it when I got home from picking up the groceries.
I brought the groceries in and spent the next hour or so, disinfecting the items and getting all the perishables put away. I didn't take any photos of what I bought, however. I wanted to get everything cleaned and put away before I got too tired.
Several of the items I had ordered were unavailable - I didn't get any of the beef I ordered, or yeast, or relish, or lettuce, or canned coconut milk. They didn't have the big bottle of oil I wanted and had substituted a smaller bottle. They didn't have the 3 lb. chubs of ground beef I ordered, but substituted 2 lb. trays of ground beef, instead. They didn't have the big bag of chicken pot stickers I wanted and substituted a smaller bag. They didn't have the 1 lb. bag of carrots I wanted and substituted a 2 lb. bag for the price of the 1 lb. bag! When they substitute a smaller unit, they charge me the price of the smaller unit and when they substituted the bigger bag of carrots, they charged me the price of the smaller quantity that I had ordered. I don't have any complaints there!
The only problem with allowing substitutions was, instead of the regular sweetened condensed milk I requested (which, apparently, they didn't have), they substituted cans of "dulce de leche", which is caramelized condensed milk! Oops! I guess I should have specified no substitutions for that one item! Oh, well, I guess I'll just have to figure out what to do with six cans of dulce de leche! LOL.
The last time I did a grocery pick up was at the end of May. In June, I picked up a few items at the Sri Lankan store, got a few canned items and sugar delivered, and had a few other items like bananas, bread, and eggs picked up for me by family and friends. Today's grocery pick up was another pantry and freezer stock up, with chicken drumsticks and thighs, ground beef, hot dogs, cold cuts, and a dozen eggs. Butter was on sale for $1.99/lb. and I bought 3 lbs. I stocked up on cereal, unsalted top saltine crackers, cheese crackers, pancake mix and syrup, apple juice, more sugar (there will be another batch of jam in the future), a big bag of potatoes (shared some of it with R), onions, fresh fruits (grapes, bananas, strawberries), vegetables (carrots, green beans, a cucumber, a zucchini, and two broccoli crowns) as well as the cabbage R picked up for me. I also got a half gallon of milk, a container of potato salad, another loaf of bread, a package of hot dog buns, and, as a treat, a pint of vanilla ice cream, because I've been craving ice cream!
I spent almost $200 on groceries, today, which is more than double my normal monthly grocery budget , but, that is OK. I am just grateful that I am able to stock up. I froze the ground beef, but, kept the chicken in the fridge for tonight. Tomorrow, I will repackage the meat into smaller packages and freeze them. I don't anticipate buying more meat for at least another couple of months! I might need more fresh produce and perhaps milk before the end of the month, but, otherwise, I should be fine.
I had to take out a bag of ice cubes and a loaf of banana bread from the freezer to make room for today's groceries. The water from the ice cubes will be used to water some plants. The banana bread (which has been in the freezer for some time) will be sliced and tasted to see how it is and, if good, then, will be distributed to friends and neighbors, as I am not particularly fond of banana bread! I had made it for my daughter to take it back with her, but, she didn't have room for it the last time she was here and she is not coming down this month as planned. In fact, she would have already been here as of Wednesday, if she was coming down, but, now, we are looking at maybe Thanksgiving or even, Christmas. Or, maybe not. Who knows? I'll see her when I see her.
For some reason, bringing in the groceries, disinfecting and putting it all away tired me out!
Brunch had been a scrambled egg and a fried potato. I ate a banana after I got back from grocery shopping and snacked on a few grapes while I put things away. For dinner, I went off my meal plan and cooked myself two hot dogs! Is it still junk food if I cook it at home? LOL. I had a refreshing glass of peach lemonade to go with it.
All in all, it had been a productive day. It started out relatively cool (for me; not quite 70F inside the house), but, in the afternoon, it went up to 90F outside (just 80F inside the house). Now that's more my kind of weather! LOL.
Today, I am grateful for:
- Being able to do a grocery pick up
- Being able to stock up
- Being able to exchange grocery items with friend R
- M helping with the garden
- Chatting with my daughter, both on the phone and online
Today's joyful activity was picking up groceries!
Friday's To Do List:
Then, at 5:00 p.m., I went to the grocery store to pick up the groceries I had ordered last night. This time, I had authorized substitutions to make it easier (otherwise, they text me a list of possible substitutions and I either authorize it, one by one, or not). The store clerk loaded everything into the trunk of the car, handed me the receipt, and everything took less than 10 minutes. I then called friend R, before I left the parking lot, to let her know that I was on my way to drop off a couple of items she had wanted. She, too, had gone grocery shopping at a store close to her apartment and had bought me a couple of items I had forgotten to order - some ginger and a cabbage. She also gave me a bag of frozen yuca (also known as cassava and manioc).
I had left a note to M to trim the hedge of lantana and plumbago growing along the side wall behind the garden shed. He was trimming it when I got home from picking up the groceries.
I brought the groceries in and spent the next hour or so, disinfecting the items and getting all the perishables put away. I didn't take any photos of what I bought, however. I wanted to get everything cleaned and put away before I got too tired.
Several of the items I had ordered were unavailable - I didn't get any of the beef I ordered, or yeast, or relish, or lettuce, or canned coconut milk. They didn't have the big bottle of oil I wanted and had substituted a smaller bottle. They didn't have the 3 lb. chubs of ground beef I ordered, but substituted 2 lb. trays of ground beef, instead. They didn't have the big bag of chicken pot stickers I wanted and substituted a smaller bag. They didn't have the 1 lb. bag of carrots I wanted and substituted a 2 lb. bag for the price of the 1 lb. bag! When they substitute a smaller unit, they charge me the price of the smaller unit and when they substituted the bigger bag of carrots, they charged me the price of the smaller quantity that I had ordered. I don't have any complaints there!
The only problem with allowing substitutions was, instead of the regular sweetened condensed milk I requested (which, apparently, they didn't have), they substituted cans of "dulce de leche", which is caramelized condensed milk! Oops! I guess I should have specified no substitutions for that one item! Oh, well, I guess I'll just have to figure out what to do with six cans of dulce de leche! LOL.
The last time I did a grocery pick up was at the end of May. In June, I picked up a few items at the Sri Lankan store, got a few canned items and sugar delivered, and had a few other items like bananas, bread, and eggs picked up for me by family and friends. Today's grocery pick up was another pantry and freezer stock up, with chicken drumsticks and thighs, ground beef, hot dogs, cold cuts, and a dozen eggs. Butter was on sale for $1.99/lb. and I bought 3 lbs. I stocked up on cereal, unsalted top saltine crackers, cheese crackers, pancake mix and syrup, apple juice, more sugar (there will be another batch of jam in the future), a big bag of potatoes (shared some of it with R), onions, fresh fruits (grapes, bananas, strawberries), vegetables (carrots, green beans, a cucumber, a zucchini, and two broccoli crowns) as well as the cabbage R picked up for me. I also got a half gallon of milk, a container of potato salad, another loaf of bread, a package of hot dog buns, and, as a treat, a pint of vanilla ice cream, because I've been craving ice cream!
I spent almost $200 on groceries, today, which is more than double my normal monthly grocery budget , but, that is OK. I am just grateful that I am able to stock up. I froze the ground beef, but, kept the chicken in the fridge for tonight. Tomorrow, I will repackage the meat into smaller packages and freeze them. I don't anticipate buying more meat for at least another couple of months! I might need more fresh produce and perhaps milk before the end of the month, but, otherwise, I should be fine.
I had to take out a bag of ice cubes and a loaf of banana bread from the freezer to make room for today's groceries. The water from the ice cubes will be used to water some plants. The banana bread (which has been in the freezer for some time) will be sliced and tasted to see how it is and, if good, then, will be distributed to friends and neighbors, as I am not particularly fond of banana bread! I had made it for my daughter to take it back with her, but, she didn't have room for it the last time she was here and she is not coming down this month as planned. In fact, she would have already been here as of Wednesday, if she was coming down, but, now, we are looking at maybe Thanksgiving or even, Christmas. Or, maybe not. Who knows? I'll see her when I see her.
For some reason, bringing in the groceries, disinfecting and putting it all away tired me out!
Brunch had been a scrambled egg and a fried potato. I ate a banana after I got back from grocery shopping and snacked on a few grapes while I put things away. For dinner, I went off my meal plan and cooked myself two hot dogs! Is it still junk food if I cook it at home? LOL. I had a refreshing glass of peach lemonade to go with it.
All in all, it had been a productive day. It started out relatively cool (for me; not quite 70F inside the house), but, in the afternoon, it went up to 90F outside (just 80F inside the house). Now that's more my kind of weather! LOL.
Today, I am grateful for:
- Being able to do a grocery pick up
- Being able to stock up
- Being able to exchange grocery items with friend R
- M helping with the garden
- Chatting with my daughter, both on the phone and online
Today's joyful activity was picking up groceries!
Friday's To Do List:
- Clean the bathrooms - DONE
- Do one deep cleaning task - Scrub the stove top/under the burners - DONE
- Errands, if any - Grocery pick up - DONE
- Have M tend to the garden - DONE
Saturdays are my catch up days to do any cleaning that didn't get done during the week for whatever reason! But, I was good this week and got my cleaning done! The big item on tomorrow's agenda is to get the chicken thighs and drumsticks ready for the freezer and finishing up a quilt.
Saturday's To Do List:
- Package chicken for the freezer
- Prepare the green beans and broccoli for the freezer
- Sew on the quilt
- Practice the piano
How was your Friday? What are your plans for tomorrow? Are you doing anything special to celebrate Independence Day, tomorrow?
Saturday's To Do List:
- Package chicken for the freezer
- Prepare the green beans and broccoli for the freezer
- Sew on the quilt
- Practice the piano
How was your Friday? What are your plans for tomorrow? Are you doing anything special to celebrate Independence Day, tomorrow?
Still no yeast! You may find this interesting for your substitute cans of ddl https://www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/what-to-do-with-leftover-dulce-de-leche/. I have NO plans for today, fortunately. 4 year old Rosie had a sleepover here last night. She has never had a night away from her parents before. Sleep was the last thing on her mind! She is sound asleep now (8.40am) but I'm bleary eyed with a crashing headache!
ReplyDeleteNo yeast, still! I guess either too many people are baking or they don't want me to bake my own bread and not buy their bread! LOL. Thank you for the link - I checked it out and there was a fondant that sounded delicious. :) I'll have to wait for an occasion to make it, though. Oh, no! I hope your headache will go away soon, or, at least, before that bundle of energy wakes up! :D Take it easy and rest as much as you can. :)
DeleteI thought yuca was poisonous so I have learned something new today. I've just been reading about it and see that tapioca, which I have eaten, is from the same plant. What will you use it for?
ReplyDeleteI don't have anything planned and doubt I will go out for a walk as it's drizzling and the forecast is for it to continue all day. Tonight I hope to watch Hamilton the musical if I can get Disney+ set up.
The yuka leaves and stems are poisonous and so is the outer rind of the root, but, the root, itself, once peeled is fine to eat. I peel, cut, and boil it, as one would potato. Sometimes, I add some turmeric to it in addition to salt. Simply boiled like that, I eat it for breakfast, with a spicy onion relish called "lunu sambol" or another type called "katta sambol", or, with grated coconut (or a combination of coconut and an onion sambol). Sometimes, it is made into a curry, as well, with the addition of coconut milk and a few other curry ingredients, such as onions, curry leaves, green chili, etc., and eaten as a side dish with rice and other curries. But, mostly, it is eaten boiled for breakfast.
DeleteOops! That should be 'yuca'! I can't type, tonight. I guess I should go to sleep - it's 2:30 a.m. :D
DeleteHope you have a restful day and enjoy the show.
Getting groceries is a lot more complicated in some ways these days than it used to be. I miss being able to just put them away when you got them home. I know they say that transmission of the virus through contact is very low, but I feel better wiping them and/or leaving out for a few days before we put them away.
ReplyDeleteYes, it is more complicated, isn't it? I washed with soap and water, all the perishables I put away in the fridge and freezer. The boxes and cans are sitting out on the newly cleared table in the family room to air for a couple of days before I put them away in the cabinets.
DeleteI have no idea what you intended to do with the condensed milk. I know you are a tea drinker and it probably would not be good in it. I am a coffee person and it would be delicious in coffee, well, if I drank coffee any way but black.
ReplyDeleteI have been going to the grocery store myself for about a month now, but the virus cases are skyrocketing here . (Not surprised since people here have been going everywhere. Meanwhile I stay at home except for my very occasional 15 minute shopping trips with masks and tons of hand sanitizers.) I guess I need to go back to delivery or store pickup. I wish people would believe this is as serious as it is.
Well, the regular condensed milk that I ordered is what I use in my tea. Tea with condensed milk is a Sri Lankan specialty (although we probably learned it from the British). One teaspoon of the condensed milk in a cup of tea is delicious. I don't like it in coffee, however, which is weird. Somehow, I don't think the dulce de leche will be as good in either tea or coffee, but, I've read that it is good in iced coffee. I might try that. There are also some dessert recipes online which feature DDL, so, it won't go to waste.
DeleteI used to enjoy grocery shopping in person, but, am grateful that store pick up and delivery are both available, right now.
I, too, wish people would take this virus situation seriously and not make it into a big political "them vs us" debate.
I always enjoy your posts - just being able to do the daily things is a blessing.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Debbie. Yes, it is a blessing, isn't it?
DeleteAnother productive day and a really nice grocery stock up for you.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you were able to get your groceries via your contactless pickup and even though they didn't have a few things, you did get much of what you wanted.
I'm sure you're happy to have things at a level that is comforting.
Now what to do with all of that dulce de leche. I will be curious to see what you come up with.
Enjoy your vanilla ice cream.
My favorite.
Thank you, Debra. Yes, a very nice grocery stock up! I feel better, more prepared for whatever might be coming, when the cabinets are full! LOL. And, I am very blessed to be able to afford to do that. I realize not everyone is able to do so. I always buy one or two items to give to others.
DeleteFor now, the dulce de leche will be stashed away! It is good till July 2021, according to the can. I think just about everyone on my holiday gift list will get some dulce de leche fudge as part of their gift! :D Also, if I buy some heavy cream, I can make dulce de leche ice cream! Must remember to add heavy cream to my next shopping list!
Vanilla ice cream and butter pecan are my favorites, with pistachio close behind. But, vanilla goes well with canned peaches or with pie, should I decide to make some! Or...with dulce de leche drizzled on top! :D
My Saturday looks similar to yours. I also have chicken and ground beef to portion for the freezer. The two heads of cauliflower I got this week (yay), need to be processed right away. They have spots on them already that I need to shave off. Again, there was no frozen cauliflower available. Apparently there were no more family sized trays of lean ground beef (at the end of the day), so I was very glad that she substituted two trays of medium ground beef rather than nothing at all.
ReplyDeleteYou had both a productive day and a somewhat successful shop. I too am paying way more than my usual grocery budget, but it is worth it to not have to leave the house. And I am noticing as well, that some prices on things I am well aware of, have risen in price over the last few months. Perhaps that is the result of supply interruptions.
I'm glad you got your long awaited grocery delivery, finally! I'm glad you got the cauliflower, even if it was spotted, and the substitute for the ground beef. A few items I bought yesterday - salad dressing, apple juice, and a box of snack cheese crackers - were on sale ($1 off each item with the purchase of 5 mix and match items). But, the rest were bought at full price. On the plus side, the pick up was free (otherwise, $6.99 fee to pick up). I was supposed to get 3 free pick ups for joining and that was my 3rd pick up. There is something on their website that says pick up fees will be waived during the pandemic, but, I don't know if that only held true for when we were under total lockdown or, if it is still valid. So, I wanted to get as much as I could to make full use of this possibly last free pick up. I am not planning to go again for the rest of this month, other than for possibly milk and fresh produce, which I might ask my cousin's daughter or M to buy for me. It would be nice to have some lettuce to go with the cucumber and salad dressing! :D
DeleteYes, I guess the prices depend on supply, availability, and demand. I feel blessed that I can afford the higher prices. I am not going out to eat (or even doing take aways), or spending what I've budgeted each month for gas (still going on the last tank of gas I put in March; I am SO glad I decided to fill up when I did!), so I do have an extra bit in the budget to pay for the higher grocery bill. :)
Yuca for breakfast sounds more exciting than the cornflakes that I grew up with but no longer eat. I wish I could send you some yeast.
ReplyDeleteI was amused by the 6 cans of dulce de leche, but sympathetic as it is not the same as condensed milk. Whatever were they thinking of? We were in Argentina last year for a week and there were jars of DDL, candy with DDL, liquor with DDL and so on in every tourist store. We have it in jars in our local supermarket and I bought one to spread it on toast! It keeps well in the fridge so maybe you could open a can and transfer it to a jar. But I'm not sure you are a toast and DDL person, are you? I don't even eat toast every day, and sometimes prefer marmalade or jam on mine anyway. Good luck. You could always use the cans as door stops! 😃
LOL, Bushlady, I love cornflakes! There were cornflakes when I was a very small child, till I was about 5 or 6 years old. Then, the country put a ban on imported goods and cornflakes became a special treat, available only if someone went abroad and brought it back for you. Every so often, I treat myself to a box of cornflakes, even now. :)
Deletewell, I've found a bunch of recipes using DDL - ice cream (need to buy heavy cream for it), fudge, puddings, etc. I am thinking of DDL fudge to give as holiday gifts, this year. If nothing else, I can donate them to the food bank. :)
You've brought back a memory of 50 years ago when we briefly lived in northern Italy and we would drive to Switzerland to buy a box of cornflakes!
Delete:)
Delete6 cans of caramel. Oh but that sounds fun to bake with.
ReplyDeleteBanana bread from the freezer sounds yummy.
Our Friday was VERY NICE. Hubby is still on his 5-day staycation and we are happy to be HOME, HOME, HOME.
How about making a starter instead of using yeast?
Yes, 6 cans of caramel! But, I've a year before the best by date, so, have time to do something with them! The banana bread was a little dry, but, I spread some butter on it, and it was good. Sounds like you are enjoying your husband's staycation. Home is a very good place to be. :)
DeleteI've been thinking of making a starter. But, I might use my one expired packet of yeast to get it going. Only trouble is, one has to keep feeding the starter and I'm not sure if I have enough flour on hand to do so. Besides, I don't like to bake when it gets hot and with a starter on hand, one has to keep baking, doesn't one?