Some things are worth repeating...

I imagine by now that many if not all of my readers have heard about the peanut butter companies raising their prices in a major way--soon, if they haven't already. I wrote about and posted this article over on my other blog on Monday, and it gives details on when some of the prices are going up with some of the major peanut butter companies. Looks like there is some time left before some companies raise prices, but not much, so you may want to stock up on peanut butter, if it is one of your preferred preparation items. Since time is of the essence in this case, I hope you will pardon the repetition...

And since I am repeating myself, you may want to check out my post here that includes links to a great site that I don't think I have ever mentioned on this blog....

And, speaking of repetition, I can't say thanks too many times for coming back to read... :) Hope all is well with everyone!

Update on the watermelon, etc....

Yes, these watermelon came from our garden--my husband brought them in last night because there was an expected freeze. (The first expected freeze, even though last week we got, from one neighbor's account, 5 inches of heavy, wet snow. I can't verify the five inches (have to say I believe my neighbor) but I can verify the wet, heavy part-- from when the children and I cleaned off the driveway :) Anyway, yay, we grew watermelon in Idaho! Don't know how it will taste, but there is a certain happiness in having seen it get bigger and bigger.

Bigger and bigger, but not exactly huge. When the above picture was sent to relatives, an e-mail was returned asking about size, because it was hard to judge from the picture. So, the following e-mail was sent out:





Yeah, my husband's hand gives you a point of reference. Hope they taste as good as they look, and as to the size, you're always supposed to leave people wanting more, right? :)

We got a lot of carrots, our zucchini thrived, and we got a lot of peas from our garden this year. We had more ears of corn, but we waited too long to pick them. Our pumpkins are still out there, and looking good--how did your garden do this year? Hope everyone had/is having a great harvest...

Grapefruit juice...or the lack thereof

We don't buy grapefruit juice all that often, but recently, since it is one of my children's favorites, I went looking for some. The bottled variety was available, but there was no frozen concentrate. Ok, this didn't happen at the store I shop at the most often, but it does seem to have the best price on cheese that I've seen around, and the butter prices are better than most as a rule, and really good with the occasional coupon. So, I thought, it's a fluke. It's just this store.

Until, out of curiosity, I checked to see the availability of frozen grapefruit concentrate at our local national chainstore. There was none.

Then there is the bag-your-own variety of store that my husband needed to stop by because of something we had forgotten to purchase. When he called to tell me that he would be stopping by, I asked him to check to see if there was any frozen grapefruit concentrate available.

Again, nothing.....

Anyone else notice this in their area? I guess I can't really claim that there is no availability when it comes to grapefruit juice, since the bottled variety is still available, (at a somewhat hefty price) but I was surprised at the lack of the frozen variety, and am wondering--is it too expensive to produce in this form anymore, or have there been weather problems, crop problems, or something else that makes it impossible (at least as far as I have seen) to find now?

Paying attention at the cash register...

Can pay off if you actually are paying attention at the cash register, or really cost you if you aren't. Take today for example--I picked up a package (1.25 lb.) of ground turkey (would have picked up a 3 lb. package, but more on that later) and made my way to the cash register with other purchases. I thought the price on the package was $2.98.

Imagine my surprise, when, as the last product scanned, the turkey rang up at $4.58.

So I asked about it. The poor cashier, who had just put the closed sign on her register, asked me if I wanted her to check it. I did. So off she went. And she was gone quite awhile. When she returned, she said that the turkey at a different fat content level was the one at $2.98, but since there was no sign posted for the package I wanted to purchase, they decided that they would let me have it at the price of the other type. Quite the savings, if the $4.58 was the price it will be when they do find the sign...

I had planned to pick up a 3 lb. package, since I usually brown it and freeze it, and since we had been using our frozen meat, I had not noticed until now that there were no 3 lb. packages available. And no space marked for 3 lb. packages, making me wonder how long this had been going on, and if there were any plans to bring back the more economical package sizes. The turkey available was a different brand. So, I asked someone pulling a stocking shelf out from the back what the deal was--were we ever to see the 3 lb. packages again at this shopping location? The long and short of it was that he didn't know.

And hence, I don't know either. I do have one back up location for buying the 3 lb. packages, so I certainly hope it is stil available, and at a better price than $4.58 for 1.25 lbs...what are prices like where you are at?

And on the first note, makes me wonder how many times I have been overcharged without realizing it--through my own fault (misreading or misattributing signs) or otherwise...

Price check

Just wanted to mention a couple of prices that I have seen go up recently:

--The candy in the cashier lane.
Sometimes when my children go shopping with me, I will let them choose a treat from the shelves next to the checkout stand. Alas, I found out this week that the price on such treats has gone up nearly 50% when you consider the treats that are usually the ones being considered-- $.50 or less. Now, for the same treat, the price is $.74. Still under a dollar, but 50% is a big jump...

--The 12-pack Ramen noodle package

For quite some time, the price on this product has held steady at $1.68. Then, recently I saw that these boxes are now priced at $1.98. Granted, you might be able to find it at a lower cost, but I'm just talking about comparisons in the same store where I remember the previous price--prices are going up, up, and up... Still, not a high-priced item, but more is more...


Any price increases that have particularly caught your eye lately?

A new recipe tried, and the importance of good utensils...

I got a message in my comments recently about a new food blog called My Food Storage Cookbook. You gotta love food storage recipes that include the actual directions for using things like powdered milk/eggs, etc. So, one of my children and I tried out the German Spaetzle recipe today...

And that's where the importance of good utensils come in. Those, or at least expect to need a lot of practice if you're going to attempt to use the alternative method of preparation. We used powdered milk, powdered eggs, followed the excellent directions, and everything went well, including the test tablespoon in the boiling water. I loved the fact that the directions included the option of using a food storage bag with a corner stripped off to make the noodles if you don't happen to have a pastry bag handy.

Just turns out that I'm not that proficient of forming noodles via food storage bag. Yet.

The flavor of our version of the German Spaetzle was great, it's just that I had short, stubby "noodles". I'm sure that a pastry bag would have worked better--as sure as I can be, considering that I haven't used one that much. But my guess is that if I practice these some more, which I am planning to do, I will get better at the food storage bag alternative, or at the pastry bag method, if that's the route I choose to go. Can't underestimate the importance of practice...

Anyway, saw a couple more recipes over there I'm looking to try in the future, among them the Creamy Chicken Enchilada Recipe (which I will wait to try until it gets cooler, since it needs to bake for an hour) and the Italian Chicken Recipe, which looks like it would be a good option any time of the year. And that's only a couple of many recipes, with the author supplying sources, and a great way to organize your preparation efforts. There's a lot to check out if you are interested, so you might want to check it out. I know I'll probably head back for more info soon...

Hope that everyone is having a great summer, and that your garden is going well--in ours the radishes have done well, and there is great hope for the carrots. Looking forward to our raspberries ripening. Take care, and if you are in an area that is hot, hot, hot, try to stay cool, cool, cool..... :)

Happy Birthday, America!

Have a safe and happy 4th of July! Sending gratitude to all who defend and uphold our freedom, because freedom is never free...