Wednesday, December 23, 2020

December Grocery Shopping

Decorative Pot Holder

Decorative Pot Holder

These decorative pot holders were crocheted by my mother; they are double sided, but the decorative Santas are only on one side.   The fabric Santas were purchased (probably at the same time as the snowmen for the wreath) for under $1 each.

On Monday, my daughter woke up early and hearing her move around woke me up, too!  It was barely 6:00 a.m.!  A couple of hours later, we had breakfast - I ate half a bagel and my daughter ate rice, chicken curry, and green beans because she liked the chicken curry, so much!  Later, I picked two oranges from the new crop of oranges, and we had that as a mid-morning snack.  Then, around 11:00 a.m., my daughter helped me to place an order of groceries, online, for curbside pick up between 5:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m.

Around 4:30 p.m., the grocery store sent a text stating that, due to the high volume of orders, they were running late with getting the pick up orders ready and said the order will be ready between 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.  Shortly after that, someone from the store called and asked us to come between 6:45 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.  My daughter had an online acrobatics/conditioning class from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., so we went to the grocery store around 7:00 p.m.  (she drove to get some practice driving, again). 

Usually, when I go to pick up groceries, I go in the mid afternoon - I drive into one of the 4 spaces reserved for curbside pick up orders, call the store, and someone is out with my groceries within 5 minutes, or so.  I am usually in and out in about 10 minutes.  On Monday, however, there was a line of cars waiting for a parking spot for curbside pick up and they were parked up and down two aisles in the parking lot, not just the 4 reserved spots! 

We had to wait for at least 30 minutes before we got a parking spot!  Then, when I called the store pickup number, I was told that they had my order, but, because of the volume of customers waiting to pick up (it being just before the holidays), they were running late and it would be another 30-45 minute wait!  They gave us the option of waiting and returning at any time the next day.  Well, we decided to wait, because, we figured that, there might be even more people, on the following day, since it would be one day closer to the holiday (plus all the people who had scheduled to pick up on that day!).  We waited until it was past 9:00 p.m.!  Finally, our order was brought to the car!

The wait wouldn't have been too bad - we had the radio playing Christmas carols and we were singing along - but, eventually, I needed to go to the bathroom and then, the waiting became less pleasant!

Once we got home, daughter brought in all the groceries and helped me to disinfect and put things away.  That was nice - having her help!  She is quick and efficient; the disinfecting and putting away took a lot less time than usual!  

The store didn't have a few of the items we wanted, even though they substituted with different items where they could (another brand of oil than the one that was on sale for $2.50 per bottle, a crunchy cheese snack instead of the puffy one that was requested,  etc.), but, they charge the lower price for substitutions and we now have plenty of fresh vegetables, milk, the half and half she uses for her coffee, and more chicken to cook.

We had ordered a tray of regular (with skin and bone-in) chicken thighs, on sale for $1.29/lb.  They had substituted boneless, skinless chicken thighs ($1.99/lb), instead, which was fine with us.  It was only when we got home and I reviewed the substitution list and receipt that I noticed that they had not charged me for the chicken, which amounted to $4.24!  That made up for the long time we had to wait to receive the groceries, I guess!  That chicken is now marinating with spices to be made into a chicken curry which will be taken to my daughter's friend P's parents home, along with other curries and rice, as a surprise dinner for them, along with their Christmas gift of an assortment of my homemade jams.

My groceries included a bag of egg noodles to make turkey tetrazzini, 6 cans of cream of celery soup (@ $1; a stock up item), two bottles of oil (another stock up item), two bags of hot cheesy snacks for my daughter, half a gallon of milk, two half gallons of half and half, a container of mixed salad greens, a bag of frozen corn, some frozen burritos for my daughter, a loaf of bread, a container of 18 mini croissants, a container of refrigerated flaky biscuit dough, a bottle of hot sauce, a can of pineapple chunks, a 3 lb. bag of onions, a jar of dry roasted peanuts, 8 oz package of mild cheddar cheese, sugar snap peas, a container of sliced mushrooms, 1 cucumber, 1 zucchini, 1 head of lettuce, 2 lb. green beans, broccoli, and bananas.  My bill came to a total of $64.36, which is well under my budget for December.  I don't plan on grocery shopping again until sometime in January.  

Have you gone grocery shopping lately?  Were the stores crowded?


16 comments:

  1. I'm relying on deliveries for all of my groceries but I did go into one of the big supermarkets a couple of weeks ago to collect a few things. I chose my time carefully, after lunch break for office staff and before school finish for the day, and the store was virtually empty. I'll be sticking with deliveries and getting myself more organised now the infection rate is once again out of control over here.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm glad you can get your groceries delivered and avoid shopping in person, Eileen; the infection rate is out of control over here, too (at least in my city and county!)

      Delete
    2. Merry Christmas Bless, I hope you have a fantastic time with your daughter xx

      Delete
    3. Thank you, Eileen; wish you a wonderful Christmas, too.

      Delete
  2. I love the pot holders, they are so cute! Sure sounds like your grocery pick up was bit of a nightmare. I was sure to go and stock up last week knowing the stores would be too crowded this week. I will be using up the last of my fresh veggies for my Sunday soup so I'll have to run back for some more veggies early Monday before the store gets too crowded with New Years Eve shoppers, otherwise I'm set until after the new year. Enjoy Christmas Eve and Christmas with your daughter. Big holiday hugs!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Martha. I think that even the store was caught off guard by the number of pick ups! Or, maybe some of the store workers called in sick at the last minute and they were understaffed. I couldn't order earlier because I didn't know if my daughter would be able to come home or not. I didn't want to order half and half if she wasn't coming home, for example. Sounds like you are nicely organized with your groceries. Wish you and yours a wonderful Christmas, Martha. :)

      Delete
  3. I would have been tempted to don my mask and go into the store to the bathroom. I don't like to go to the bathroom while I'm out, especially these days, but I've gotten pretty good at not touching anything at all in a bathroom--except soap and water. But you survived and sounds like you and your daughter had fun while waiting--at least in the beginning.

    Fresh oranges sound delicious. I still marvel that you can go into your yard and pick them. I've never lived in a climate that could grow citrus.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My daughter offered to drive home instead of waiting, but, I decided that I could wait. She would have had a heart attack if I had suggested going into the store to use the facilities! Neither of us has been inside a store since March!

      Yes, I'm blessed to live in a place with a mild climate, aren't I? It was 80F and 81F over the weekend and Monday. Today, it was cloudy, but, the high was 72F. :)

      Delete
  4. What charming pot holders! Obviously for decoration, not for getting curry sauce on!
    How fortunate that you had your daughter with you when you had such a long wait for your grocery pickup. Shopping has become so hard for many people in this pandemic and of course the Christmas season is always busy at the best of times.
    Yesterday morning I was able to pick up the last few items I wanted and now I hope to stay away from the town for a nice long time and rest after Christmas. I would like to think up a dessert for Christmas day, although we will have mince pies when I get around to rolling the pastry I made and put in the fridge. I was just too tired to make them today but some cleaning and laundry got done!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Bushlady. Yes, the pot holders are for decorative purposes, only! They are not very heat resistant!

      I think the store was unprepared to handle the volume of people driving up to pick up. But, it worked out well enough.

      I am glad you were able to pick up the last bits and pieces you needed and don't have to go out again until after Christmas. I hope you are able to come up with a suitable dessert, although mince pies sound delicious!

      Delete
  5. Lovely pot holders! Your mother was obviously a talented woman. I must admit that I've just been going into the shops for my food shopping. In and out as quickly as I can. I can understand why you wouldn't want to go in though. Is there an option for delivery or does that cost extra? I don't think there were many people at all waiting in the store pick-up area though when I went it was still quite early.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Sharon. Yes, my mother could sew beautifully, knit, and crochet.

      There is an option for delivery, but, that does cost more. There used to be a charge for pick up, too, but, they have waived that during the pandemic. Usually, there aren't many people waiting to pick up, but, on Monday, it was a bit crazy!

      Delete
  6. We r isolating totally
    Not easy at holidays but necessary
    Love your blog

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Isolating totally can be so difficult; even more so during the holidays. Thank you, Brenda; I'm glad you like the blog. :)

      Delete
  7. The Christmas potholders your mother made are so cute. It's nice to have those kinds of personal things displayed at Christmas.

    I love handmade items and still remember the crocheted blanked my mother's friend made for my doll when I was probably 4 or so. I'm sure it's why I started crocheting because I loved that blanket so much.

    Your grocery pick up was a bit trying. That's a long time to wait - your daughter being with you sure helped.
    Sounds like things were getting a tad uncomfortable. I'm sure you were glad to get home.

    You got a nice amount of food for the amount you spent.
    You are back to staying within your budget. Good for you.
    I am still over - not much but still over -
    I will need to review things and try a bit harder in the new year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Debra; displaying the items my mother made feels comforting to me.

      Ha, ha, yes, I was glad to get home from the store, the other night!

      I did stay within my budget, didn't I? I will need to redo the budget a little bit, for next year (at least for the first 3 months, since my daughter will be home). Hope you will be able to get your budget to where you'd like it to be, too. :)

      Delete

Thank you for visiting my blog and commenting. Your comments are much appreciated. Please comment in English. Thank you.