Grocery Shopping

[W2R]

At some point this madness has got to stop and it will.

I sure hope so.

The last time I went to the grocery store was over a month ago, on March 3rd. I am not starving, but I have been trying to space out my (frozen) steak dinners with canned soup for dinner, and I'm tired of it.

I'd sure like to go to the grocery store again. I suggested it to F earlier this week, and he told me that our Trader Joe's was closed due to two employees who tested positive for the virus. They were only closed for two days for cleaning, and then re-opened; the other employees still work there even though they were in contact with their sick co-workers. Since then I have heard that in the past week or two our Whole Foods, Costco, Dorignac's (local supermarket), and, well, essentially every grocery store in town has had similar experiences with employees who have coronavirus, often multiple employees, and all have had to close temporarily or just remain open and send those employees home. So, I reluctantly decided not to go to a local grocery store right now.

Meanwhile we are supplementing what food we have at home, with Amazon Prime Pantry. Amazon has sick workers too, so we wipe down the foods we get and hope for the best. Also we have been getting hot take-out meals from our favorite restaurant, which only has their cook and one other employee on site these days.

There are several other options like Wal-Mart pickup that are available and I could try but haven't, so I'm not saying we are desperate or needing the forum to come up with a better solution than canned soup. I guess what I am saying is that I miss the old days when we could just go shopping on impulse, whenever and wherever we wanted, without a care in the world.

I am figuring this madness will stop by the end of summer. Or at least that is my hope, based on nothing in particular.

 

[2177V]

I only go more expensive supermarkets at 6 am when there are very few people shopping this early in the morning. Walmart and other discount supermarkets are too full of people for me to go in. This is not the time to count pennies.

Also, I noticed fresh food prices in Northern California seem to be going up recently. Have anyone out there notice that too?

 

[gwraigty]

our Trader Joe's was closed due to two employees who tested positive for the virus. They were only closed for two days for cleaning, and then re-opened; the other employees still work there even though they were in contact with their sick co-workers. Since then I have heard that in the past week or two our Whole Foods, Costco, Dorignac's (local supermarket), and, well, essentially every grocery store in town has had similar experiences with employees who have coronavirus, often multiple employees, and all have had to close temporarily or just remain open and send those employees home. So, I reluctantly decided not to go to a local grocery store right now.

It's a tough situation. At first, if someone had known contact with a confirmed case, that person was to self-quarantine. After awhile, I read that quarantined health care workers with no symptoms were being asked to come out of quarantine because of a growing shortage of health care workers because of all the "known contact" self-quarantining that was going on.

So, imagine what would happen if every grocery store that had a confirmed employee shut down for 2 weeks. No one gets any groceries, maybe for miles around. Period. So many previously unimaginable things are going on right now, I don't want to imagine being cut off altogether from food supplies.

 

[ArmchairMillionaire23]

I only go more expensive supermarkets at 6 am when there are very few people shopping this early in the morning. Walmart and other discount supermarkets are too full of people for me to go in. This is not the time to count pennies.

Also, I noticed fresh food prices in Northern California seem to be going up recently. Have anyone out there notice that too?

There's not much fresh food available here where we live this time of year. However, I have noticed in my little local grocery store the prices of about 90% of everything in the store has gone up about 20 - 25% in the last 5 or 6 weeks. This despite signs in the store saying they promise not to raise prices due to the coronavirus pandemic. I'm guessing everything (except gas - $1.27/gal the other day when I drove by the local gas station) is going to cost more for quite a while.

 

[sengsational]

Walmart Site Haywire at Midnight

First shopping 'trip' was to get a pick-up slot. They'd been full, so, based on info shared here (thanks!), saw open slots at midnight.


The cart was already populated, so tried to check out and said stuff was not available. Fine, but no way to say 'never mind that item', only a thing to shop alternatives. Then, you need to type in your CC 3 digit code again. Then it said ANOTHER item or two wasn't available! Repeated that process 6 times until it said "credit card denied" and we gave up that to get on the CC site to remedy the denial thing.


I went to bed, but DW tried again at 1PM. The original slot was lost, but there were available slots. And the order went through... including the stuff that earlier it said was unavailable.


So my advice would be to avoid midnight on the Walmart grocery pickup web site.

 

[CRLLS]

My friend who is a Walmart store manager says they will be fired if they are caught accepting a tip. I used to offer, but stopped after she told me that.

Really? Walmart has a zero tolerance policy on accepting tips? I would hope that they would at least have 1 or 2 warning steps before firing. They don't understand how thankful that we, the customers, are that somebody is actually performing a service for us at risk to their very life. Do you know if that is a corporate policy or just your friend's policy?

I may have to rethink my offering. I wouldn't want to tempt somebody and get them fired over such a petty thing.

 

[brewer12345]

I realized that we are blowing through the wheat berries I grind up for flour and 1) flour seems unlikely to become available at a grocery store and 2) we have a long way to go. My usual suppliers are out, so I found a specialty baking supply place online that took my order for 100 pounds of organic white wheat at a not insane price. Got an email to day a few days after I ordered that they have gotten so slammed with online orders that they are shutting down their online store for a few days to catch up. Bear in mind the minimum size they sell is a 50 pound sack.

I better get a deer this fall. We will probably need it.

 

[Tiger8693]

Wife and I still go grocery shopping on average 2 times per week. She has always been a stickler about using wife to clean off the cart, so just continuation of the same.

 

[ArmchairMillionaire23]

First shopping 'trip' was to get a pick-up slot. They'd been full, so, based on info shared here (thanks!), saw open slots at midnight.


The cart was already populated, so tried to check out and said stuff was not available. Fine, but no way to say 'never mind that item', only a thing to shop alternatives. Then, you need to type in your CC 3 digit code again. Then it said ANOTHER item or two wasn't available! Repeated that process 6 times until it said "credit card denied" and we have up that to get on the CC site to remedy the denial thing.


I went to bed, but DW tried again at 1PM. The original slot was lost, but there were available slots. And the order went through... including the stuff that earlier it said was unavailable.


So my advice would be to avoid midnight on the Walmart grocery pickup web site.

It wasn't midnight, and it wasn't on the website but earlier this week when I went to Wal-Mart to pick up a prescription (which I had been waiting for a week for and I had called 45 minutes previously and was told it would be ready in 30-40 minutes) and was only given a partial refill due to someone walking in ahead of me and taking all of the (blood pressure) pills before my prescription could get filled. So I reluctantly accepted the partial filling (I had taken my last pill that morning and I needed what they could give me) and went back home. Two days later they called me on the phone and offered to mail me the remainder of the prescription but when I tried to give them my HSA debit card info to pay for the rest of the pills (the same card I had just used in the store two days previous) it ended up getting denied after multiple attempts by them to enter the numbers. I ended up just putting it on my credit card to avoid having to go to the store pharmacy in person.

 

[ivinsfan]

First shopping 'trip' was to get a pick-up slot. They'd been full, so, based on info shared here (thanks!), saw open slots at midnight.


The cart was already populated, so tried to check out and said stuff was not available. Fine, but no way to say 'never mind that item', only a thing to shop alternatives. Then, you need to type in your CC 3 digit code again. Then it said ANOTHER item or two wasn't available! Repeated that process 6 times until it said "credit card denied" and we gave up that to get on the CC site to remedy the denial thing.


I went to bed, but DW tried again at 1PM. The original slot was lost, but there were available slots. And the order went through... including the stuff that earlier it said was unavailable.


So my advice would be to avoid midnight on the Walmart grocery pickup web site.

To avoid this issue only fill your cart starting at 10 Pm or so..I have a CC number stored at Wal-Mart and that word seamlessly for me all the time

 

[Just_Steve]

When using the Walmart web site and buying groceries I cannot find anywhere to mark an item as no substitutes can anyone point me in the right direction?

 

[KB]

I realized that we are blowing through the wheat berries I grind up for flour

Maybe try grinding some oats or other grains and 'diluting' the amount of wheat you are using for bread. My favorite bread recipe is a blend of oats and flours.

Hope your order gets filled.

I am down to 8 pounds of AP flour, but I have white whole wheat, rye berries, wheat berries, oat groats, oatmeal, rice, etc. So I will start blending more when I bake again.

 

[REWahoo]

When using the Walmart web site and buying groceries I cannot find anywhere to mark an item as no substitutes can anyone point me in the right direction?

If I recall accurately, the option to substitute or not shows up along side each item as you begin the check out process.

 

[brewer12345]

Maybe try grinding some oats or other grains and 'diluting' the amount of wheat you are using for bread. My favorite bread recipe is a blend of oats and flours.

Hope your order gets filled.

I am down to 8 pounds of AP flour, but I have white whole wheat, rye berries, wheat berries, oat groats, oatmeal, rice, etc. So I will start blending more when I bake again.

Well, I tried order from my usual supplier and they sold me a couple sacks of red wheat, but they screwed up the order and sent a hundred pounds of flaked wheat. I got a refund, but they had no more berries to refill the order. I still have like 100 pounds of wheat berries to get through before I am out, but baking bread a couple times a week plus supplying my sister with the occasional bag means that my not cut it for the duration of this mess so I am thinking ahead to my resupply.

 

[pacergal]

I have had two successful pick ups from local Kroger. Substitutions were equatable, either same amount or one was a higher quality but same price. Still unable to get paper products or cleaning supplies for pick up, so have tried to go during sr hours to find some in the stores, with little luck. Last store run was a week ago, local Walmart, wiped down the cart handle, did self checkout (they sanitized the entire area in between customers-nice!). I have hand sanitizer in the car and use that and then wash hands when I get home.
For all groceries, we have a dirty and clean section when we bring them in. I wipe down boxes/bags with bleach solution and wipes and put them in the clean area to dry. Wash produce in soapy water and rinse well. After all is dry, they get put away and I rewash my hands.
Its an ordeal, but as safe as I can make it at this point. I have found some TP on Amazon and ordered, 2 week arrival, we'll see if it arrives on time.

 

[audreyh1]

Here is the link to the article: https://www.sciencealert.com/food-s...y-deal-with-groceries-during-the-pandemic/amp

"The biggest risk of infection is not contaminated food, but going to the store and being around other people."

We are wearing gloves and masks at the store. But we are not sanitizing our groceries when we return home. We wash our hands, put the groceries away, and wash our hands again. We wash our produce before cooking or eating like we always have, and wash our hands frequently while cooking in the kitchen.

We are now able to wait 2 weeks between store visits.

 

[Teacher Terry]

Some of my friends and my kids are sanitizing their groceries but I think that’s going overboard.

 

[LRDave]

Went to our Walmart in the hinterlands this AM. First trip out in 3 weeks. Reasonably well stocked - even scored some paper towels but no TP. Spent $415 - should last us at least another 3 weeks or maybe more. Went from a nearly empty freezer/fridge to stuffed to the gills!

 

[copyright1997reloaded]

Well, I tried order from my usual supplier and they sold me a couple sacks of red wheat, but they screwed up the order and sent a hundred pounds of flaked wheat. I got a refund, but they had no more berries to refill the order. I still have like 100 pounds of wheat berries to get through before I am out, but baking bread a couple times a week plus supplying my sister with the occasional bag means that my not cut it for the duration of this mess so I am thinking ahead to my resupply.

You must use a lot of bread in your family? What is you estimate of per person number of # required per week?

Additional questions: Have you made breads using 2 row or perhaps even better Maris Otter? (I'm not talking about Spent Grain bread which I've done many times.)

 

[brewer12345]

You must use a lot of bread in your family? What is you estimate of per person number of # required per week?

Additional questions: Have you made breads using 2 row or perhaps even better Maris Otter? (I'm not talking about Spent Grain bread which I've done many times.)

Every time I grind it is almost 4 pounds of grain. A batch of bread, some pizza and a bit of miscellaneous cooking and it is gone. I have two teenagers at home.

Never tried baking with malt flour. The couple times I tried barley flour it came out like a rock. If you try this, please let us know how it goes. I would guess you would want to add a lot of gluten.

 

[brewer12345]

Lining up a buy with my pastured pork supplier, hopefully tonight. If he has it, I will be getting 3 bundles of 40 pounds each and keeping one. The other two go to a couple hunting buddies.

 

[sheehs1]

I have not done curb side pick up yet.

I Have been wearing gloves the last 3 weeks, started wearing a bandana mask last week (have the others just saving them as I don't have a lot). I have a list and don't get deterred when in the store, stay 6 plus feet from others and remind them when they invade my space (Ha!). I go in and out of the store quickly.

I put things in the back of my car, take off my gloves outside the car rolling them up into each other and wrapping them with a wipe, take another wipe and wipe down steering wheel, etc, take my hand sanitizer and sanitize my hands, wipe my keys, pen, credit card or checkbook (anything that touched something), throw the gloves in public trash bin, drive home, sanitized each item with a Clorox wipe and throw the bags away, sanitize my car where the bags touched, etc., throw the jacket I wore into the laundry, wash my hands, put things away, wash my hands again.

Admittedly I have been going "somewhere" at least once a day to pick up whatever I thought about and had forgotten or was in the hunt for like sanitizing wipes. Finally got another canister at Rite Aid this morning-the truck came yesterday and I left them my name and number. However, I still went to pick them up because I didn't trust them to call me. Often I will score: like finding alcohol at Food Lion last week. Or bleach the week before. Or some disinfecting spray I never heard of before at Dollar Tree yesterday (Chases-still checking out it's effectiveness). I won't go back to Dollar Tree-the people in there do not know what social distancing is! I had to tell them to look at the floor-the tape was there for a reason.

Like some others, I would rather pick up my own stuff. I am very anal and careful. We had 3 local Walmart employees working curbside pickup test positive. That said, I think I will do a test run on pickup but it won't be at Walmart.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

I'm glad to see that WM is modifying its procedures to reduce the number of folks in the store. I am not sure what they are doing on the "grand scale" but at our local store, they are only letting in only 5 people per 1,000 sf, making isles one way and only selling essential items. I think the queue outside will make a lot of people just stay home or at least only come out when they *actually* need something. I am also hearing that the big box Home Depot type stores are doing the same thing...which I think is good considering how many people have been in the garden centers.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

I have not done curb side pick up yet.

I Have been wearing gloves the last 3 weeks, started wearing a bandana mask last week (have the others just saving them as I don't have a lot). I have a list and don't get deterred when in the store, stay 6 plus feet from others and remind them when they invade my space (Ha!). I go in and out of the store quickly.

I put things in the back of my car, take off my gloves outside the car rolling them up into each other and wrapping them with a wipe, take another wipe and wipe down steering wheel, etc, take my hand sanitizer and sanitize my hands, wipe my keys, pen, credit card or checkbook (anything that touched something), throw the gloves in public trash bin, drive home, sanitized each item with a Clorox wipe and throw the bags away, sanitize my car where the bags touched, etc., throw the jacket I wore into the laundry, wash my hands, put things away, wash my hands again.

Admittedly I have been going "somewhere" at least once a day to pick up whatever I thought about and had forgotten or was in the hunt for like sanitizing wipes. Finally got another canister at Rite Aid this morning-the truck came yesterday and I left them my name and number. However, I still went to pick them up because I didn't trust them to call me. Often I will score: like finding alcohol at Food Lion last week. Or bleach the week before. Or some disinfecting spray I never heard of before at Dollar Tree yesterday (Chases-still checking out it's effectiveness). I won't go back to Dollar Tree-the people in there do not know what social distancing is! I had to tell them to look at the floor-the tape was there for a reason.

Like some others, I would rather pick up my own stuff. I am very anal and careful. We had 3 local Walmart employees working curbside pickup test positive. That said, I think I will do a test run on pickup but it won't be at Walmart.

I think if you just stop going out so often, that would do you better than your "sanitizing "process"

 

[dd564]

Every time I grind it is almost 4 pounds of grain. A batch of bread, some pizza and a bit of miscellaneous cooking and it is gone. I have two teenagers at home.

Never tried baking with malt flour. The couple times I tried barley flour it came out like a rock. If you try this, please let us know how it goes. I would guess you would want to add a lot of gluten.

Why not just get flour at your grocery store like most people?

Do you live someplace unusual outside of the typical supply chain where you can't buy food?