Today, there are four coupon inserts in the Sunday paper. There are coupons I will use, things I use every month. Hopefully, there will be sales on these items this week or next, certainly before the coupons expire.
Several weeks ago, I bought bananas. The inside of the bananas had a core inside about the side of a pencil and very hard. Since I could not find the receipt, I just threw them away. Then, I bought another bunch that had no taste at all, even when they should have been sweet since there were little black spot on the skin. I tossed them.
I bought Halos that left a little to be desired. However, I finished those. I had more citrus that I threw out also, because I did not keep the receipt! Last week, I bought organic oranges because the price was no more per pound than regular oranges. Plus, they looked gorgeous, smelled wonderful and were firm. I ate one orange that was good. The second orange had no taste in some sections. The other sections were tasty, like an orange should be. The next was black inside. I actually found the receipt and received a refund.
At Customer Service I was commenting about the bananas as I returned the oranges. The person at Customer Service said she bought bananas that were red inside. She returned those. So, it is not just me. Usually, I never keep a receipt with just bananas. As I was muttering while selecting bananas, a customer said he had gotten bad ones, too. From now on, I keep every receipt for produce.
Several friends and acquaintances have commented about produce that is subpar lately. My complaints are not that it is not fresh. Well, I don't know what happened to the orange laced with huge black places, but it was firm and seemed fresh.
My beautiful Red Delicious Apples are probably all soft by now since they are from around beginning of December. I was not feeling well enough to eat apples from the first week in December until now. I just ate applesauce. Chewing an apple would take too much energy.
Your turn
Has anyone found that fruits and vegetables are not up to par lately? I don't think it is the season.
I try to keep fruits in season and not buy things out of season. Happily here in AZ we get fresher produce from Mexico so it isn't so bad.
ReplyDeleteurspo,
DeleteI like bananas all year round. I cannot eat oranges in the summer because of my allergies.
I bought celery recently that looked nice and fresh on the outside ribs, but the interior was wilted and brown. I will no longer buy any celery that is in plastic, only the ones bound with a rubber band so I can look into the center.
ReplyDeleteI remember that. I will buy celery in a plastic sleeve, but not the plastic sleeve that is sealed. I mentioned this to one produce guy who said he would let me open anything to check it and sell it to me. The point is once it is sealed in plastic, it starts to spoil. Thanks for reminding me of that.
ReplyDeleteMost of the year around here we have sub par potatoes. So many black spots inside, green skin outside, big hollow discolored spots as I am cutting up potatoes to boil. Potatoes with green skin outside, I can see and don't buy them, but the other potato issues that I can't see are a problem. A couple of years ago, a lot of the potatoes had an odor like they had been exposed to wood smoke.
ReplyDeleteApples at this time of the year are often mealy around here in our stores. I have been having good luck with oranges. I don't return produce unless it is just something really weird and bad, but probably should. It would be like a part time job, it happens so often with one thing or another.
I have good luck with celery if I take it out of its original open ended plastic bag and wrap the whole celery in parchment paper and then seal it in foil. I use whatever stalks as I need them and then carefully rewrap it. It lasts longer in my refrigerator that way.
Could the flavorless bananas you bought have possibly been ripe plantains that had mistakenly put in the banana display section by the grocery store workers?
Susie,
ReplyDeleteI bought 20 lbs of potatoes with those same problems. They were on sale but not worth the effort. The smoke smell seems strange.
I choose apples carefully and might do without if they are mealy.
I have never heard of doing that with celery. I will try that. Thanks.
No, they were bananas and had a slight banana taste. I know the difference.
I will try the celery storage.
I bought corn on the cob from Costco specifically for a special meal, got it home and it was off, smelled bad once you got the wrapping off. I am taking it back today. I toss all grocery receipts in a drawer and then shred then after about a month that way I can take something back if it goes off.
ReplyDeletecheappchick,
DeleteI can imagine how horrid corn gone off would smell. The only receipts I did not keep, obviously, were receipt with bananas. Thanks.