4 Stores Today_Craziness

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All I wanted to make was fried cabbage and noodles today with Bratwurst & Bacon. What a challenge that was. We went to Smart & Final and all the produce was wiped out except the Asian type produce. So I am thinking our large Hispanic community is wiping out the produce to make soup to freeze. So off to Sprouts where I did get beautiful cabbage and asparagus, but no sausage, so now off to Ralphs, nope the line to get in the store was ridiculous so now off to one of our Hispanic markets, big mistake the line to get in the store was longer than Ralphs. Finally backtracked to Vons walked in the store and got my sausage. Not one store had a package of toitoi paper, paper towels or kleenex, so I am glad I was not looking for them. I buy toitoi paper from Amazon by the case so I was already stocked up. This is Crazy...

I worry about my daughter in tiny mining town she lives in with only 1 or 2 stores to grocery shop in. Plus there are rumbles of the mine shutting down like so many businesses are right now. I am saying my prayers they do not.
 
I’m sending out soap care packages this week, is that something you can do for your daughter?

a pound of rice may not seem like a lot but if she’s not feeding an army that pound can stretch pretty far and fill you up fast.
 
We went grocery shopping the day before yesterday at my neighborhood grocery (Fry's/Kroger) and they were completely out of distilled water (which I use to make soap and B&B) and also the 1 and 1.5-gallon quantities of bottled spring water and drinking water. They did, however have a small assortment of multi-pack and individual liter-sized bottled waters in stock, one package of which I put in my cart. They were limiting things such as water, paper products, sanitizer, disinfectant wipes, isopropyl alcohol, otc cold medicines to only one package per person.

No surprise- they were also still completely wiped out (no pun intended) of toilet paper, tissues and paper towels, hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes.

Other things that were completely gone from their shelves: eggs, potatoes, bananas, almost all the onions (only 3 onions were left, one of which I put in my cart), all poultry, almost all the ground meats, and almost all the cow's milk (although other kinds milks were in normal supply).

They happily had an abundance of corned beef in the meat section, so I was able to buy a package of my favorite flat cut of corned beef for St. Patrick's Day. They also had plenty of bacon, so I got a package of that, too.

Except for the potatoes, bananas and onions being gone or down to the last bits, the produce section was otherwise well stocked, so I was able to buy some vine ripened tomatoes, spring mix lettuce, cucumbers, broccoli, asparagus, carrots, apples, strawberries and blueberries.

The pre-packaged sandwich-type bread section was pretty wiped out except for the white breads and cheaper brands of wheat bread that have only a small % of whole wheat in them, although I was able to find one loaf of a whole wheat & oat sandwich bread, which I put into my cart. The fresh bakery breads (i.e., crusty French-type breads, artisan loafs) looked nicely stocked up.

The pre-packaged food aisle (pasta, rice, Hamburger Helper, mac & cheese-type products) was looking mighty sparse, as was the canned soup aisle and the canned tomato sauce aisle, but they weren't completely wiped out (yet).

The breakfast cereal aisle looked normal as always, as did the baking aisle and the oils/fats section.

The liquor aisle looked fairly normal, too. I searched for the 190-proof Everclear that I normally buy for various handmade stuff (perfume, aftershave, vanilla extract, etc...) and was able to buy the last bottle. They normally stock only small quantities of it compared to their other grain alcohols, so it wasn't too unusual to find only one on the shelf....but I was very happy to have it because I was getting rather low. I was surprised, though, that they had any at all- what, with the crazy, recent spate of YouTube videos showing folks how to make their own hand sanitizer.

The soap aisle was looking much more empty than usual (people are finally catching on that soap is actually better than sanitizer), but there was still a somewhat respectable amount to be had. I'd be curious to see what it looks like today, though. The laundry detergents were starting to look a little sparse, too.

For what it's worth, the cashier lines were actually not long and the store was not overly crowded at all when we went. It was as normally populated as any other shopping day, and everyone was polite/friendly as as normal.... no weird fights breaking out over the last can of whatever, or anything like that, thankfully.

Hubby went to Walmart this morning to see if he could find potatoes, bananas and distilled water......of the 3, he only came home with bananas- a really lovely bunch of organic ones!


IrishLass :)
 
Grocery store shelves here are pretty much empty. My daughter and I had been in New York for a week and she needed to get some food in the house for her and the kids and waited in line over an hour. I went to a local specialty market and was able to get all the meats, produce, veggies. I may have paid a bit more than the grocery store but it was well worth it. I even got asparagus for .99 lb. Score for me. The only thing they don't carry are paper products but I'm well stocked on those as I went to Costo several weeks ago just to get my regular shopping done.
 
I'm in California, where 6 counties have gone into lockdown. Mine has not (yet). I'm the kind of shopper who sticks up on things when they are on sale, so I am fortunate to have enough already to feed my loved ones for a few weeks, so I'm not concerned.

My mother, whom I live with, has a birthday coming up. I wanted to make sure I could make her favorite pastries since persons over 65 are being asked to stay home, so I decided to go out for eggs and pastry dough, just in case we have to quarantine or our area goes into lockdown.

I first went to my local Hispanic market, where I normally buy a case of 100 eggs for $10.99-13.99 with a coupon. The regular price is $18.99. They did have them, but they were charging $38.99 for the case!

I decided to move on. I visited (2) Vons, (2) Aldis, Smart & Final, Grocery Outlet, and Dollar Tree. Only 1 store had a few dozen eggs in stock (less than 25), and they had a limit of only 1 per customer or family.

All of the stores were completely out of bread, pasta, rice, beans, canned and dried soups, napkins, tissues, paper towels, and , of course, TP.

3 of the stores were completely out of fresh fruits and vegetables and pasta sauces. 2 were completely out of all meat, cheese, and canned tomato products. Only one store had potatoes. 5 of the 6 stores were almost out of frozen vegetables, the sixth was completely sold out of all frozen foods except for vegan products. Lots of vegan food everywhere, lol.

One store actually did have Clorox wipes. There were two young men with a tiny table with a box of 6 or 8 canisters of wipes handing them out right next to the entrance to the stock room. When the box was empty, one of them would go to the back and bring out another box of 6-8 canisters.

Surprisingly, there were not many shoppers in any of the stores I went to. With the exception of a single homeless man who was walking up to people and pushing them for no discernable reason, everyone was surprisingly calm and curtious.

I told my mother about it when I got home. She's always been irked by the fact that I don't use antibacterial wipes to begin with, and practically had a meltdown for not buying them today. Explaining that I don't need Clorox wipes when I have 2 gallons of Clorox bleach, plenty of dishcloths, and a washing machine did not calm her down. **sigh**

On the bright side, I had no problem finding pastry dough. :)
 
I too have enough coconut milk, aloe juice and I have a couple gallons of distilled water as well as some powdered milks. I plan on making my first soaps this coming weekend in a year.
 
Over the last 4 days, out of towners have came through and wiped out all the TP, potatoes, bananas, most of the milk, all the cheap bagged cereals and bread.

Still plenty of other fruit and veggies, eggs are ok. Meat looked good.

Baking items are nearly gone, they got in a pallet of flour this morning but still no yeast. Lucky my mom buys yeast by the pound, so I'm making bread today.

Canned goods are ok, some of the cheaper brand of veggies are gone or nearly. Still have tuna and most canned meats, spam is sold out and I really wanted some.

Didn't check on cleaning supplies but dish and laundry soap is ok. So are paper products besides TP.

Meds aren't being bought, that strikes me as odd. I already have a small pharmacy so didn't need to buy more.

All in all, its not bad. The only thing we really need is potatoes, so does gramma. Hopefully they come in tomorrow.
 
It was a bit strange for me to wander through Smart & Final a couple of days ago. I always stock up on dry goods, but other than the dry noodles, the baking isle was pretty much untouched. They did have a limit on the eggs from what I saw. People were clustered around it, so I'm not sure. I didn't check the bread isle, but milk was bare. I got my milk, so I was happy. Other than the party napkins, paper goods were gone and there were a handful of bar soaps on the shelves. People were looking at me funny because I was laughing over it. The lady in line ahead of us overheard us discussing the situation. She couldn't believe how people were acting either. She mainly had fresh vegetables for her mom to make soups to can.

My aunt did a lot of canning when I was growing up, had a massive garden, as did my grandmother. We canned a lot of the stuff, so I picked up the practice as well. Still kept a few store bought canned goods for JIC situations. I still try to stay stocked up on dry goods, even dry milk which I can't stand. Missing my deep freezer though. That's one thing I wish I could have brought with me when I moved out here, but there's no room in this apartment for it.
 
Most things like mentioned above is a Limit of 1 or 2 each (small items 2) but Milk is plentiful. I didn't look at eggs as I have 2 doz here. I sure miss my Hens right about now. I could sell those eggs !
I did get a 25# bag of Rice at Costco and hope it is good as I hvae never had this brand before "Riceland Long Grain Rice" Anyone had it?
 
Looks like my SO was able to snag a bag of macaroni noodles this morning, along with his precious ramen (yuck!) and some TP, lol. He had to wait for the store to open after he got off work this morning. May have to pull out the pasta maker and move my soaps just to have a place to dry that stuff.
 
Looks like my SO was able to snag a bag of macaroni noodles this morning, along with his precious ramen (yuck!) and some TP, lol. He had to wait for the store to open after he got off work this morning. May have to pull out the pasta maker and move my soaps just to have a place to dry that stuff.
LOL, DD love Ramen noodles. Wallyworld had them is a huge stock pile so I didn't feel bad taking 4 boxes of them. They come in a 12 pack I believe. We add all sorts of veggies to it :)
 
LOL, DD love Ramen noodles. Wallyworld had them is a huge stock pile so I didn't feel bad taking 4 boxes of them. They come in a 12 pack I believe. We add all sorts of veggies to it :)
My family loves ramen, even though I refuse to go near the stuff. I'm actually surprised they had any this time since the stores were out of them the other day. My youngest was heartbroken the other day when she found out her butter noodles were sold out. Seems her biggest thing lately is tomato or chicken noodle soups and the lipton flavored noodles. Granted, now she's hounding me to make the chicken soup and bread.
 
I'm not a fan of ramen as it is meant to be served, but I do use it quite often for stir-fry. I re-hydrate the noodles without the seasoning package and strain the liquid. Then I put a little oil in a frying pan and lightly fry up whatever meat and or vegetables I have on hand (usually leftovers from other meals). Then I add the noodles, about 1 TBSP soy sauce and 1/2 TBSP oyster sauce. It is on e of my go-to meals for lunch or dinner when the leftovers are piling up, when I'm in a rush, or when I just plain don't feel like doing any "real" cooking.
 
It is totally crazy here in Australia too. I was lucky enough to get TP before the real craziness set in and have a well stocked freezer and pantry.

I was in tears the other day at the pharmacy because I couldn't get paracetamol (acetaminophen) for my 3 year old daughter who has an ear infection and was screaming in pain. I am not usually a crier so this was definitely out of the norm for me. Admittedly it had been the final straw at the end of a very long week (sick child, cancelling overseas holidays, cancelled events, stressful work days, credit card being hacked and limited sleep). Thankfully I managed to get some at the next pharmacy I tried but I got one of their last bottles and they weren't sure when they would get more.

Bring on 2021.
 

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