Grocery Shopping

[Sunset]

Heck of a price. I have slaughtered, scalded, and scraped 3 hogs a long time ago, no thanks.

You have not experienced life until you dip a hog into a vat of boiling water.

That is a skill I have not learned, the most I've ever done is clean fish .
At my age now I'd prefer not to need to learn how to clean a hog, and I have no idea how you would get a vat big enough to hold one.

I'm very impressed

 

[blueskyk]

You can start smaller with, say, chickens. I launched a home meat chicken raising initiative a few years back using the portable pens in a pasture. DH was a good sport and upgraded pens with rolling wheels and other clever hardware to make them easy to move each day to a fresh spot.

I assured him we would just pack up the chickens and drop them off for "dispatch" and then bring them home in coolers.

As it turns out, no places around would take chickens so we had to do it ourselves.
We did a years worth of chickens in one morning. They were really tasty and we knew what they had been fed and the clean conditions in which they had been raised with lots of fresh air, clean pens and sunshine.

But here's what I remember most vividly - everyone knows that to eat meat, something dies. After that morning, I discovered the difference between thinking you know something as a general fact and the far deeper knowing of it as an experience.

There is a wide gulf between the two.

So, there you have it, meat processing and philosophy all in one!

 

[Sunset]

....

But here's what I remember most vividly - everyone knows that to eat meat, something dies. After that morning, I discovered the difference between thinking you know something as a general fact and the far deeper knowing of it as an experience.

There is a wide gulf between the two.

So, there you have it, meat processing and philosophy all in one!

When younger I never had a problem eating the fish I caught and cleaned, in fact it was really enjoyed, even though just 2 hours ago it had been enjoying life. Perhaps it was my youth, and that fish are so different than us.

Now as an old adult, I find I consider/think about what animals feel/think.

I don't even fish now, but like seeing the fish off my dock, and enjoy the rabbits munching through my yard.

I have the luxury of letting others do my killing.

 

[Sunset]

Picked up my Walmart Curbside order.

Strangely it must have been healthy people out shopping, as they were out of blueberries, OJ, and Chardonnay.

More amazing to me is I can order wine for $2.50 / bottle as part of the groceries. So did get a couple of bottles of Red but missed out on the white.

Meat was no issue, got all I ordered, chicken, hamburger, pork loins. about 12 lbs in total.

 

[Dtail]

The only stuff stores in total by us are out of is hand sanitizers and gloves.

 

[travelover]

A local farmer is selling 270 - 290 pound live hogs for $100. They were destined for a local processing plant which closed.

Might make nice pets if they can be house trained.

 

[Dtail]

Might make nice pets if they can be house trained.

Could be expensive.
I hear they eat like pigs.

 

[Winemaker]

They're best butchered before they reach 300 pounds, otherwise it all fat.

 

[CardsFan]

They're best butchered before they reach 300 pounds, otherwise it all fat.

BACON!!

 

[aja8888]

BACON!!

Pork Rinds (lots of them)!

 

[copyright1997reloaded]

A local farmer is selling 270 - 290 pound live hogs for $100. They were destined for a local processing plant which closed.

I'm tempted to jump on that, but central PA is quite the ride from upstate NY, and quite the ride back with a 300# hog in the back of my truck (either dead or alive).

However, I do have family down that way, if you could DM me the info I will pass it on. One has a farm so might be able to make use of the situation.

 

[Chuckanut]

I am going to try ordering online from my local Kroger's owned store and do a pickup at the store. I am unsure about tipping. Are we expected to tip the employees when we pickup the groceries? If so, how much?

 

[REWahoo]

I am going to try ordering online from my local Kroger's owned store and do a pickup at the store. I am unsure about tipping. Are we expected to tip the employees when we pickup the groceries? If so, how much?

HEB, our largest regional grocery chain, and Walmart both prohibit tipping curbside pick up employees. Can't speak for others.

 

[geeky_grrl]

I am going to try ordering online from my local Kroger's owned store and do a pickup at the store. I am unsure about tipping. Are we expected to tip the employees when we pickup the groceries? If so, how much?

Kroger doesn't allow tipping.

 

[ivinsfan]

Generally speaking if the person loading your food works for the store..no tipping...

 

[Winemaker]

I'd take you up on that offer, but things got messed up in the past week. DW and I picked up our annual beef last Saturday, the 25th, it was sent to the butcher's on the 12th. After the kill, gutting, hanging, processing,wrapping, and freezing, almost 2 weeks. My niece, wanted a beef from my friend, he can't get it to the same butcher now til July 10th! That's how much business has picked up since the meat shortage fears came to light.

I will get back to you.

I am unable to find a butcher/processor, in the proper time limit. I don't like to go over 300# on a hog, and I don't have the facility or ability to keep ARNOLD around the house.

 

[brewer12345]

I am unable to find a butcher/processor, in the proper time limit. I don't like to go over 300# on a hog, and I don't have the facility or ability to keep ARNOLD around the house.

You could always whack em and process em yourself.

 

[Hermit]

Curbside pickup at the local Kroger store. First time since March. Last time extra sharp chedar cheese was substituted with much smaller size. This time no cheese at all. Also no body wash and no substitutions. This really stinks! (Or could in short order.)

 

[travelover]

You could always whack em and process em yourself.

Or keep them in the garage or back yard until a butcher is available.

 

[gailwinters]

We continue to use Walmart grocery pickup (supplemented by some fruits and veggies which our DD picks up when she buys her own groceries) and we have had very few substitutions. When they do substitute, it is always with a higher quality or quantity item. For example, I ordered a 48 count box of coffee pods and they substituted a 96 count; on two occasions, I ordered a Great Value brand and they substituted a name brand.

 

[harllee]

We continue to use Walmart grocery pickup (supplemented by some fruits and veggies which our DD picks up when she buys her own groceries) and we have had very few substitutions. When they do substitute, it is always with a higher quality or quantity item. For example, I ordered a 48 count box of coffee pods and they substituted a 96 count; on two occasions, I ordered a Great Value brand and they substituted a name brand.

Pre Covid-19 this was the case for me with my Walmart grocery pick up. But since Covid 19 my Walmart grocery pick up has problems--substitutions for smaller or inferior products, MANY items out of stock (last week over one third of my items out of stock) and I am having to wait a long time for my pick up (at least 30 minutes after I am told to be there). I think my local Walmart is just overwhelmed. But no other place in my town is better. The local Whole Foods was just on the news as having many employees who tested positive for the virus. Getting groceries is stressing me out.

 

[brewer12345]

Groceries are stressing me out as well. I did a quick scan to try to figure out how hard it would be to resupply with a bulk sack of beans, since they are a core staple for us. Wow, everyone in the US must be trying to buy 25+ pound sacks of beans. I am used to getting a 50 pound sack of pintos cheap. Almost unobtanium now. I am hoping that in the fall when I drive past them coming home from certain hunting spots I can get a sack driving past the farm market that stocks locally grown beans.

The garden is starting to really produce now. Lots of lettuce at the moment, with some arugala and spinach. We should have radishes and turnip greens soon, and then the heat lovers (squash, beans, pumpkins, potatoes, beans, etc.) will go in. Takes some of the pressure off the weekly grocery run. We have a batch of quail eggs in the incubator to replenish out laying flock and the roosters will be grill fare at 6 weeks. I suppose I could raise meat chickens if I had to. If the meat supply chain is not functional by the end of the summer I will be reaching out to my daughter's 4H chapter to see if I can score a goat or lamb, since they would be easier for me to butcher than a hog. I better get a deer or an elk this fall.

 

[Chuckanut]

Kroger doesn't allow tipping.

Thanks.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

We continue to use Walmart grocery pickup (supplemented by some fruits and veggies which our DD picks up when she buys her own groceries) and we have had very few substitutions. When they do substitute, it is always with a higher quality or quantity item. For example, I ordered a 48 count box of coffee pods and they substituted a 96 count; on two occasions, I ordered a Great Value brand and they substituted a name brand.

I wish our local Walmart offered pick up but for some reason they do not. But since the shelter in place started here I have been ordering pantry items online from Walmart.com and discovered their Great Value brand. By Grabthar's Hammer, what a savings. They have really good prices on staples like olives and dried fruit.

 

[Winemaker]

You could always whack em and process em yourself.

While I would love to give it a try, DW would soon have me in a refrigerated truck waiting for my processing!

While I have offed a few groundhogs in the garden with sub sonic ammo, discharging a firearm in my neighborhood to kill ARNOLD would be frowned upon, even if I promised them some bacon. The couple, a few doors down, I'm sure are vegan, and they b*tch about everything!

And I'm positive that couple a few doors down would really be upset if ARNOLD was on a leash in the back yard. I don't even want to think about cleaning up behind it with a plastic baggy.