Food haul

[mindstalk]

$75 at Trader Joe's. Eep! Though $25 of that was expensive meats, 1.5 pound of wild salmon and some lamb tips. The salmon was one of those giant asymmetrical fillets that I can't cook well, I ended up with the thin edge fully cooked and the thick part warm and still red on the inside. Tasted good though, and I've learned to eat the skin, not throw it away. Especially if it's burnt. I managed to eat only half and fridge the rest, then took some bread and scraped up the juices and burnt salmon bits. Best way to clean cast iron. :)

A 5 pound bag of clementines has 41 of the things weighing about 1.7 ounces each after being peeled.

I got some white chocolate that claims most white chocolate doesn't have much cocoa butter in it, while this has 45% and "tastes like chocolate!" I think it does; it certainly tastes more interesting than my memories of most white chocolates. Green and Black is the runner-up, which I'd always attributed to their vanilla.

I've acquired a taste for Ritter dark chocolate squares with Hazelnut. Chile-G can gloat.

TJ has some ground beef that claims to be 100% grass-fed.

Comments

[scottopic.livejournal.com]

Do you normally regard your grocery haul with such suspicion? :)

[mindstalk.livejournal.com]

Suspicion? *puzzled*

[scottopic.livejournal.com]

I got some white chocolate that claims...
TJ has some ground beef that claims...

Well, that plus the weighing of the clementines struck me as an odd interrogation of your foodstuffs.

Just a random thought while breezing through - never mind :)

[mindstalk.livejournal.com]

Ah. I think that's how I tend to write and speak naturally. Avoid unverified 'is' statements if you can give an observational source instead. And the weight was just be being curious as to how many clems I had and what they weighed after peel, not doubting the 5 pound figure.

[mlc23.livejournal.com]

I don't frequent Trader Joe's as much as should. I'm fortunate in that I have a fantastic independent local (and not ridiculously expensive) health food store a mile away. Still, I miss the quirky products at TJs.

I've also succumbed to suburban living and got a membership at Costco - while I absolutely detest the shopping experience there (almost as much as the commissary), they have superb meat and seafood quality at excellent prices. Decent fresh stuff but even better frozen like Steelhead Trout and Wild caught Copper River Salmon Filets individually wrapped in 3 lb bags. I also enjoy their salmon burgers and ultimate fish sticks (lightly breaded, no crap, and minimally processed) for my son. I'm all about convenience these days so I just make one big trip and load up the chest freezer.

As an aside I'm not sure I should feel good (omega-3s) or bad (mercury) that my 4 year-old eats fish 3-4x a week but I've stopped worry about it.

PS. I wish lamb were more common in this country. It's my favorite meat ever, but too darned expensive most of the time.

PPS. Thinking of lamb reminds me of my month in New Zealand where you could buy "farmed" venison. I miss that too.

[mindstalk.livejournal.com]

I'm feeling driven to TJ by the high grocery prices here. There is one other option, but I think it's a 20 minute walk away. I should check. Or get my bike out. Don't know if I'd stick with TJ as much after I got a job, it's like 21+ minutes to get there (walk, train, walk) and an hour round trip. Though I'm doing big loads more than I have in the past, stuffed backpack and both arms hauling bags, vs. my "five minute walk means casual shopping" experience.

I really thought lamb chops from the supermarket where I grew up was a lot cheaper, on the order of low end steaks, $3/pound. But if so it much have been a miracle, because it's frigging expensive everywhere else. We had steak and lamb chops alternating weeks growing up, can't imagine my parents were paying $8/pound.

[mlc23.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure its your imagination about the lamb chops. When we lived in the CA high desert ~2003 I sometimes saw lamb shoulder chops on sale for $2.98/lb at a local ethnic market. Tougher than regular chops but very flavorful so I'd braise them or put them in the crockpot. I definitely haven't seen that around here, but I haven't really sought out the low end stores either. Maybe lamb is even less popular now?

I'm always amazed when people tell me CA has high food prices. Sure I'm coming from 5 years in Japan and Hawaii but I just bought oranges at 7 lbs for $1 at the health food store of all places, and steel cut oats for .50/lb . Not expensive IMHO.

[mindstalk.livejournal.com]

Well, it was definitely an ethnicy supermarket with a lot of cheap meat in general. -- less demand for lamb should *lower* the price, I'd think. By the usual supply and demand curves.

I didn't notice much food price difference between SF and Bloomington. Bloomington and most of Boston is another matter.