We've been eating food from home for a while, so I told Farmer H that I might check Country Mart's deli to pick up something for supper. First I made sure that he hadn't eaten the same thing for lunch at the senior center. That has a way of happening. I'll plan a meal, and when he gets home, he mentions that's what he ate for lunch!
"Where are you? I'm heading to town, and might pick up some supper. What did you have for lunch?"
"I'm sittin' here shootin' the bull with my buddy. Chicken... no, turkey! It was turkey and stuffing and cauliflower."
"Oh. So you probably don't want chicken. That's about all they have lately at the deli."
"No. Chicken is okay. I like their chicken. I had TURKEY for lunch. I just said it was chicken."
"Okay. I'll see what they have."
Well! They had something new! Baked chicken leg/thigh quarters, in BBQ sauce. There were only four in the bin, and two looked kind of scrawny, without much sauce. AND they had the fried shrimp again! They're pretty big. The Pony used to love them.
"I'll have two of the chicken leg quarters. No dinner. Just two of the chicken."
"They cost $3.97 apiece. Do you still want them?"
"NO! Never mind that! How much is a shrimp dinner?"
"That's $9.99. It comes with five shrimp and two sides."
"Oh. And I have to get extra shrimp, too, and last time it was a dollar a shrimp! So no on the shrimp dinner. How about the fried chicken?"
"White meat is $8.99. Dark is $7.99."
"Okay. I'll take a white meat chicken dinner. With mashed potatoes and brown gravy, and the macaroni and cheese."
"Huh. I can't tell what this piece is. I thought it was a breast. But what's that stuck to the side? I think that might be a neck!"
"It's okay. My dog will like the neck. Or maybe my husband, heh, heh! Do you think you could put in a leg, instead of the wing?"
"Yeah, but you didn't see me do it!"
"Okay. I'll just look again in your cold case for something for me. It's gotta be better than $8.00 for two leg quarters!"
Yep. There was a clear box of cold fried chicken, made today, that had a breast, two thighs, a leg, and something that might be part of a breast, or another thigh. So five pieces of chicken, for $6.01. That's a better deal. So now I don't have to cook until Sunday.
Of course I could have bought raw chicken cheaper, maybe, and cooked it myself. But that defeats the purpose of picking up something in the deli.
4 comments:
Food prices are downright scary. It was hard enough to feed our family of seven when I had three toddlers and coldn't afford daycare to work. I cannot imagine doing it in this economy. Kids eat a lot! I am happy with a snack and one meal a day. Can't do that with growing children. Finally found a discount grocery. No save a lot's remain open down here. United Grocery has some good prices on meats and produce. Webought some Angus T-bones for $4.99 a lb.! The big surprise was that they were really tasty and tender!
Kathy,
I know that Country Mart has higher prices, but they are so CONVENIENT that I still go there and complain! Their meat is at least good, unlike meat at the Devil's Playground, which I find tasteless and infused with water. The frothy grease doesn't lie!
When I took a year off to have the infant Pony, I would drive over to Bill-Paying Town to shop at Aldi's. Good savings, but hectic with a baby and just-turned-3-year-old. Farmer H took pity on me one Saturday that he was off, and drove us over there, and went inside with my list and Genius. He was flabbergasted by the way the gal shoved the items down the counter, and the carting and bagging that fell upon him. (This was in the days the cashier didn't even put the items in the cart after scanning.) He returned to our Ford Aerostar van, declaring that I would NEVER have to shop there again WITH THE BOYS. That he would babysit them while I went...
I don't see how people survive these days. Around here, many have to drive an hour to the city for work. The gas prices must be eating them up. At least the school-age kids can get free breakfast and afternoon snack, and also free lunch if the parents will do the paperwork. When I retired, the elementary was even serving a hot meal for the kids in the afterschool program. Even without the free lunch forms, the cafeteria fed the kids milk and a sandwich.
Food prices here are horrendous too, although Junk Food (fast food takeaways) is still relatively cheap. I had a yearning for steak which I haven't eaten in almost a year and the prices made my head spin. I finally bought a pack of two fillet steaks, each one about the size of my palm and I have small hands, for $15.21. I had one yesterday with roasted veggies, green beans and brown gravy and I'll have the other one tonight, with the same sides. Different types of steak have different prices per kilo (2.2pounds) with "restaurant cut" being quite pricey because each steak is about an inch or more thick, most cheaper cuts of steak are over $30-$35 per kilo. My tiny fillet steaks were 0.234kg, so just under a quarter of a kilo, about half a pound, that's both of them, not just one. I just checked the price tag and this type of steak is $65 per kilo. No surprise then that I buy minced beef and stretch it with fillers to make patties and meatballs.
River,
The price of hamburger (our minced beef) at Save A Lot has almost doubled from a couple years ago! I usually don't buy steaks except for Farmer H and The Pony to grill. I don't cook it well enough to make it delicious! So with the weather cooling off, we probably won't have it for a while. At least I can find some at a decent price if I watch the sales. The Pony is feeling rich now that he's no longer a student on an allowance, and uses his earnings for steak when he's not eating out at Steak N Shake, or calling for Chinese takeout.
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