Re: Groceries
 

I can't really go that far. My missus, like most Quebeckers, isn't into curry.

Certainly not ringburners.

She only does it for me. Stuff out of a jar or nothing. Mostly mild. I once tried to persuade her to put the jar of Madras back on the supermarket shelf. I knew what the outcome would be.

I enjoyed it. She lasted a mouthful before conceding defeat.

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HID will eat it as spicy as I make it but pick the pieces of meat out of the gravy. When we go out she'll just have a chicken tikka sizzler and that comes reasonably hot, she obviously doesn't like sauce though. :blink:

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I happily take a normal or madras curry powder. It's what I use to make "my" curry. I've not seen Jamaican curry powder (or any kind) at Bulk Barn. I'm not sure there'd be anywhere else for it here.

I buy the jars for when I want something other than "my" curry and I buy them when they're $2, which is often. It doesn't go as far as a powder packet but it will make me 4 portions. @ 50c a portion (and with the sauce already at the desired consistency) there's not a great amount to be saved

:nod:

My stepson is the only one of the other 4 who could eat curry and then it's really only "my" curry or one of the mild ones like Thai Yellow. The Thai Red is too hot for him.

Curiously, my step daughter doesn't like any of those curries but likes Szechuan.

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That's amusing. Our "curry" last night ended up being flavoured with some sort of Taco sauce (the only thing we could find that could be aged without carbon dating). I thought it had a bit of a tang. My wife suffered.

I hate to think what she'd make of a chunk of lemon grass.

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Good God Man! Standards!! :ohmy:

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They’ll never know the unrestrained marvel of rolling into a curry house with a gang of mates after the pub closed and ordering various vindaloos, baltis and madras’ and every type of naan bread on the menu while washing it all down with pints of questionable lager. Happy days.

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It gets worse.

We ate it while watching Corrie on TV.

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And, all the while, having one of those bloody tent car ports on your front drive. :p

What's the word for horrendous in québécois?!

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And nibbling the poppadoms with dips and chutney while choosing/waiting.

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A lot of people who don't waste food, can't mitigate or off set the high prices by doing that, and just have to skip meals, eat less healthy foods, and more processed stuffs which for whatever reason are not increasing in price.


Time to go back to frozen 1.99 meals, whatever the reason they seem to be getting cheaper, but sometimes you just can't afford the healthy foods like veggies and fruit.

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Being apartment dwellers we can only provide a novelty amount of grown food, impossible to grow a seasons worth both due to lack of land and ability to grow and also limited storage none of which is good for long term (several month) storage.

Supposed in season foods are not much if any cheaper, carrots are not exactly cheap for example, and rarely does it say product of Canada, almost always says product of USA or Mexico.

In the summer when the BC grown stuff hits the stores, it's always higher priced then the imported stuff (maybe this year will be different) so no savings. Tried the farmers market a few times, but the premium for local food is so high, you can't find any savings there. Not paying 7/dozen for eggs anywhere.

Granted I have no idea how much parsnips are, but I don't like them, wife buys beets from time to time, but not any cheaper then other veggies.


I really don't think there is any in season stuff anymore for Canada, something like 70% of produce is now imported, and even the local grown stuff as said isn't exactly affordable.

Potatoes my wife likes, but we can't go through the 10 or 15 pound bags and so over pay for the small bags, and they still end up going bad before she can eat them all, so we stopped buying them.

I can't eat the things as they cause major digestive upset/discomfort for me, and not a food item I can eat.

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:goodpost:

I remember those.. happy days indeed.

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google is your friend

'Mr goudas' or 'Grace' brands curry powder, types include, Jamaican as well as Madras & Trin-ee-dad(note spelling) can be found in every supermarket, including Soebys, No Frills, Food basics, Freshco etc. generally in the international food section

At Walmart

http://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/jamaican.../6000153706292

.

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Ahh, maybe that's what we should tell the bylaw officer, when he tells us to shift the tyres in the spring!

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But not in every province, don't forget that, and sometimes not every store in a province.

I don't remember the brand but someone recommended the Rogan Josh for a Brand that was in Walmart but never the Rogan Josh.

People post on BE that such and such a product is in their store but others confirm it's not at a different store in the same province or not in another province.

I just updated another thread (Lobster) about High Liner fish that can be cooked in the bag. It's not available in the stores here even though plenty of high liner fish is.

I check out the international/Brit sections in Sobeys, Superstore and Walmart every time I'm there.

But thanks for the link to the Jamaican curry powder. I should at least be able to get that from an on line order. :thumbsup:

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So true. Stores stock to the local market, well some chains do anyhow and going into one locations then the next can be so different you almost think you may have gone to a different country...:lol:

There is one store in Vancouver that is part of a western chain, but if your looking for the usual products, your up the creek, but they do have a nice selection of Chinese food stuffs and meats and baked goods of that nature as well. But if your expecting what most of the chains stores offer, your will be saddened.

Go to a Save On in Surrey or Abbotsford and (last I was in one) and they have a lot of Indian food stuffs, go to the store here in Squamish and Indian food stuff is much smaller.

To to North Vancouver location and they have a huge organic produce section and huge sea food department, come to town, little organic section and nearly no sea food, but we have a better beef selection though.

Won't find milk (have not seen any anywhere anyhow) in bags out this way either......But not sure if the bags make to your coast, I've only been to Ontario, AB and BC and 2 of the 3 don't use bags.

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Ah bless, what a sheltered life you lead. No not in every supermarket, not even in Ontario the hub of the universe. Fortunately I can get to the city where such exotic items are sold, though I don't recognise those brands.

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It's interesting going into different Walmarts in Edmonton (it's more noticeable in Edmonton compared to Calgary) one will be geared to Flilpinos, another to East Indians etc etc. Makes for fwr more shopping choice.

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Ours is full of pies, crisps, chocolate,cake, fizzy pop and white bread and buns- the standard Walmarter's fayre I suppose- nothing so cosmopolitan as you Piff Poff:cool:

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Ours in similar but on a small scale, a small section of East Indian, a small section of Filipino.

All dry goods though and small, like 2 shelves for each. During East Indian holidays they will put in an extra couple of pallets in the main aisle.


Not sure if the Filipino section will last though, noticeable decline in the Filipino population over the last year.

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I just heard on the news that vegetables and fruit have gone up 13% and lettuces 21%.

The shape of things to come I suspect!

:)

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And of course BC seems to be leading the pack according to the news reports out this way...

CBC has increases:

Lettuce 21%
Apples 11.8%
Pasta products 9.5%
Oranges 8.8%
Fresh or Frozen beef 5.8%

Inflation in Canada ticks up to 1.6% in December on higher food prices - Business - CBC News

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Indeed...all going a bit pear shaped now...

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#3 yellow onions $1.77
Bok Choy $1.68
Great Big Ham. $21.16
Hungarian Saus
from Ukr Co-op $8.11

I cut a ham like that in 5 pieces and freeze 4, eat 1 at a time.

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Any idea of the weight for the ham?

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Really heavy (I'm not going into the garbage for this). They usually cost this much at Wholesale Club but it's what they cost at No Frills when they have a sale because of close due dates - this is good until late March. I think No Frills normally wants $10 more for the fresh stock. Ham and beans, goes together like hard liquor and handguns.

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The biggest money saver as far as food is concerned for us has turned out to be my daughters Vitamix. Any leftover food ends up being dumped into it to make great soups which we now eat 4-5 times a week with nothing wasted. If we get any fruit that is going off it can be dumped into to vitamix to make a smoothie or into the breadmaker to make jam!

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:goodpost: that works, as does buying 'in bulk/club packs', 'what's on special' or 'flyer price matching' to cut down on the crocery bill

never ever discard food away, ever.

We always do some of the above as well as make two or more meals at the time of cooking for meals within the same week.

Since we three people eating, we cook for six, then save the extra for the next meal. It saves /work/effort, money, utilities etc

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:lol:

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Would a normal blender do? I just looked up Vitamix and they seem fairly expensive units.

My attempts at homemade soups have been hit and miss. So much so that I have stopped attempting. Fresh soups are only £1.50 on sale and are pretty good IMO. Even Baxters canned soups are pretty good.

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While not as fancy at the Vitamix, Ninja makes poor man versions that can do the basic stuff better then a normal blender. We have the little version of a Ninja and it can turn ice and vegetables into a liquid smoothie in seconds with very little if any solids left, where a normal blender always seems to leave big chunks of vegetable matter...

We paid $80 for it, but it doesn't do all the fancy stuff, just basic stuff so not a direct competitor or comparison.


We very rarely have left over food from meals, I only make enough for each meal, usually a protein source (chicken usually) and 2 cups of vegetables for a dinner, 1 cup of veggies for each of us.




For 2 people and limited freezer space, just not feasible to cook multiple meals at once, and I only make enough to eat for each meal, so never any left overs to fuss with.

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on special this week at No Frills is Campbells soups, 2 cans for $0.88 - varieties of Vegetable, Chicken noodle, Mushroom.

As a base soup, with one can condensed vegetable soup (with equal amount of water) + one chicken leg in a pot (add herbs, spices or other ingredients), simmer for two hours, feast of the table.

Remove chicken leg, take off the bone, cut up the chicken, back into the pot. Serve in two bowls with a slice a bread each.

Repeat the recipe with the other soups... chicken & mushroom, or with the chicken noodle by adding extra chicken pieces

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Two hours?

Why not keep back some already cooked chicken and then just add it to the soup and heat, saving two hours?

I doubt not cooking a chicken leg in the soup and herbs etc will make a huge difference to such a small part of it - the herbs and stuff will still be in the soup. But the chicken that you keep back could be herbed etc anyway from when it was cooked first.

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Are you winding me up when I'm trying to be serious about frugal, without going the 'frozen ready prepared meals' which many have to resort to?

Starting from scratch, no leftovers, its a simple peasant meal, not your average expensive prime rib roast beef,lamb, chicken breast, that most seem to have all kinds of money to buy - excluding the alcohol booze & spirits.

The two hours on simmer with a raw chicken leg is essential

Try it.

Add in lumps of potato, or some other veg going soft in your fridge, even a zucchini from the seconds produce shelf $0.35 tops worth of added ingredients.

Then there's the cabbage soup, with mixed beans, veggies from the marked down produce shelf etc - throw in $1.00 worth of meat scrap ends from the deli, even the chicken carcasses or meat bones from the ethnic store (if there is one of them around) - lots of meat on them

This may end up as three meals for two people

.

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Unfortunately "normal" blenders aren't really powerful enough to make the really smooth fully blended soups that a vitamix type blender (the difference really is amazing) makes. One thing I really like is that they are so powerful that they heat the soup up in the blender by friction. There are a few other professional type blenders around including blendtec that work. Refurbished blenders from the manufacturer are cheaper and still come with a longish warranty (5 years?). Judging by how long our old normal blenders lasted 2 years or less (with a lot less use) and the expected life of the Vitamix 10 years plus (7 year warranty with free both way return shipping) the real cost difference shrinks.

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Nope.

I'm just questioning the need for it to be raw.

What's wrong with, for example, buying a chicken when they're $1.99 a lb or buying some other chicken portion when on 'special' or something approaching its date and then cooking that for one or two meals but keeping back a bit of it for the soup later?

A two hour cook time seems excessive for a chicken leg that could be "made ready" during the process of other meals.

Sorry. :unsure:




.

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sure, whatever it takes in the individual cooking style or kitchen. I mentioned from scratch, no leftover chicken. Maybe two cans of soup, two chicken legs, anything goes.

No different than making batches of preserves or multiple meals.

Then, as discussed on BE previously, that folks buy [quick & easy] dried pasta instead of making it from scratch with one egg & a cup or so of flour.

Or buying packs of dried beans & soaking them overnight instead of beans out of a can.

This past week I bought 10 lbs of chicken legs on special at the local ethnic store for $0.79/lb. Will go a very long way into several different dishes.

To each their own way of grocery living & meals.

Then there are folks that will buy all kinds of junk, prepared foods, ranging from soda pop, snacks, chips, cookies & all kinds of unhealthy crap & whinge they don't have enough money for proper food

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My Prussian heritage dictates that I put sausage in with the vegetables in my cabbage soup. When I made cabbage rolls I only wanted to make a half dozen or so large ones so I parboiled the cabbage and when I was done froze the bulk of it. Now even though it's frozen I can take it out and slice off as much as I need easily.

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along those lines, that works also.

Could it be the British way being brought up to eat prepared foods, foods out of packets or cans, crap snacks, down to it must be 'roast beef, sausage, pork anything with spuds & peas' or fish & chips or a pork pie - anything else or other methods of cooking doesn't look right.

Do most British folks not indulge in fresh anything natural foods?

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My mother in law does that. She adds a bit of pork belly to it for her own baked beans as well.

79c a lb? :ohmy: Maybe I should move to your neck of the woods. Are you near Cobourg? :lol: