Grocery shopping continues to boom
People are still grocery shopping without cease as the pandemic continues. I’m not surprised: many folks who would’ve bought lunch away from home or picked up takeout for dinner a few times a week are presumably doing a lot more food prep in their own kitchens. CP is evidently also amused at the booming sales in condoms.
Ephraim 15:02 on 2020-05-11 Permalink
Most of the Loblaw’s brands now have the PC Express up to date. For those who are really in need because of their underlying health, not all the stores are doing contact free pick-up. In particular, the Provigo on Parc and the Maxi on Masson are not contact free, both require you to walk into the store. The Provigo on Rachel didn’t honour it’s time slots (by a few days) but most of the others are up to date and honouring their dates. Maxi stores do NOT do substitutions, but the number of missing items is surprisingly low (Romaine and Greek Yogurt were the only things missing from a large order). Provigo does, but they can be hit or miss… like regular soda instead of diet soda… not a good substitution for a diabetic! So use the comments to specify substitutions are remove the options. Oh and watch quantities… I thought I was order a package of 6 corn… got 1 corn instead 🙂
Some of these grocery clerks are pure saints. I don’t know how many times I have wanted to slap someone… like the man who touched every single package of meat in the case.
Blork 18:21 on 2020-05-11 Permalink
Well, people gotta eat. I was going once a week, and to only one store, for the first while. Tried pre-ordering and pickup at IGA but that was such a shit show (and ended up giving me the most close contact with people I’ve had since all this began) that I abandonned that as a tactic.
Last time I went was 13 days ago, and I was determined to get enough for two weeks. Looks like I pulled it off, as we’re just now running out of milk and there’s even still some viable lettuce in the fridge (I am seeing iceberg lettuce in a different light now).
I’ll be going again tomorrow, and hopefully will be able to get a two week supply again. The only real problem is if something is out of stock; I might not want to wait two weeks for OJ or eggs or whatever. Also, I’m pretty spoiled and I cry like an eight-year-old if I don’t have a constant supply of fresh basil, cilantro, and parsley.
Kate 19:22 on 2020-05-11 Permalink
Blork, you could get basil, cilantro, and parsley plants this week and grow your own all summer.
Blork 09:04 on 2020-05-12 Permalink
Oh, I plan too, at least for basil and parsley, but they won’t be ready to start harvesting until some time in June. I haven’t had much luck with cilantro. It tends to take it’s time, then it all comes into bloom and goes to seed really quickly.
Ephraim 10:29 on 2020-05-12 Permalink
Get yourself an Aerogarden. (You may want to build a 3 sided carton box to cover it, if you dislike the light, since it’s on about 17 hours a day.) There are other brands… like click&grow, but kits often appear in AZ’s warehouse for under $100 for the 6 pod unit. And get the herb garden. You get weeks and weeks of herbs all year long, except when you decide it’s time to clear it all out and start again. We did basil all winter and just kept on trimming. We actually have two, one growing herbs and another growing tomatoes and jalapenos. As they get larger, though, you have to top up the water about once every 2 or 3 days.
Blork 14:57 on 2020-05-12 Permalink
Nice tip, Ephraim, I’ll look into. I’ve seen a few such things in the past and they’ve always been either too small, too large, or too complicated. This one looks pretty good. (I do good year-round with basil, as I get those living pots from the grocery store for $5 and they last a month or so in the pantry window. The cilantro ones never work out so well though…)
Kevin 15:45 on 2020-05-12 Permalink
Blork
That’s because cilantro is nasty and trying to kill you so you shouldn’t eat it anyway.
Blork 21:04 on 2020-05-12 Permalink
No cilantro allergy here. To the contrary, I break out into hives if I don’t get cilantro in my meal at least every second day.