Caveat Emptor, Grocery Bargain Shoppers

I  first typed "carpe diem" for the title. Now, that is not a bad sentiment--to seize the day-- but this is a warning to those who bargain shop for groceries.

"Buyer Beware"

Nor long ago, at a smaller store in my quest for bargains, I found Miracle Whip for $1.29 for a quart/30 ozs. in the ads I search. I did check the date on the jar. I use lots of Miracle Whip, so according to the date, I could buy more for later or just buy one. I know the food is not expired!

Well, I looked at the use by date and it was two weeks away. I had just opened a jar of MW and would not finish it in two weeks! Plus, I had another jar on the shelf. I was planning on buying at least three at $1.29 and I had coupons! I never want to be out of Miracle Whip.

This incident caused me to check use by dates more carefully when things were on sale. I ate a can of tuna two years past the date on the can. It was fine. It had gotten shoved back on my shelves. However, I did not want MW to go runny, or off tasting even if it was still safe to eat! MW is the staff of life around here. Just kidding.

Plus, when I get a sale on canned goods, I do not want to be buying many if the cans are near the best-if-used-by date. I might buy two cans of green beans close to their date. Might!

This one event is the thing that has caused me to price-match because WM food from their warehouses turns over so quickly. The other store had been offered food from a warehouse and took it for a sale. I have found too-good-to-be-true prices in other smaller stores have the same problem.

Even if the food is near the date on the merchandise, sometimes I do buy it, knowing it will not be used by that date. It depends. Each person can make the decision on what they can deal with eating and how much there is on hand of that item in the home.

I won't purchase it or accept past-date, but if I have it on hand, I will eat it if the can is in good condition. Now, I am not talking decades-old cans.

Oh, I would not serve it to my children or grandchildren without my children's permission.

Dominique gave me an egg today!

UPDATE: Anne mentioned coffee. Here is my coffee story.

Your turn
Do you ever check dates on sale cans and find the food is two weeks from that date? Would you do a stock-up with cans close to the date on the can? Will you eat the food in your own stock if it is past the date?

Nothing but food today

Friday, exbf came up. I gave him a can of soup for lunch. That is a first for me. Usually, I give him something I cooked or smeared on bread, like peanut butter...maybe sliced cheese. Some days, I feed him better or we go get fast food. I hate getting fast food, hence the peanut butter sandwich. Since I gave him the choice, he had Progresso soup. It had so much liquid, I drained that off and he still had an overflowing bowl of vegetables in plenty of liquid. All the liquid certainly called for cornbread but I made none.

I have not made homemade spaghetti in years. But, today, I came close. I used two cans of spaghetti and a can of tomato sauce. I added garlic, olive oil, cinnamon, bay leaf, and three seasonings I dehydrated: celery, onion, and bell pepper. Then I added dehydrated zucchini. Today, I had pasta with spaghetti for the first time in a year or more. Since I am out of bread, I figured the pasta was not so bad.

Today, I put a bit of ground pork into the spaghetti. When I don't use pasta, I add lots of zucchini I dehydrated last summer. It adds nothing to the taste, but it gives a mouth feel and it's not like I just eat spaghetti sauce!

As I added all this to the crock pot, I realized I could have just made spaghetti with tomatoes. I only left out about a dozen ingredients from my mother's spaghetti recipe.

Why did I eat so much spaghetti? I ate three more helpings and am so disgusted with myself. Maybe this is why I rarely eat spaghetti even though it is a favorite food.

Two scrambled eggs for breakfast with milk held me all day. Well, when I went into the bank at 11 am, I had three cookies. At any rate, I was not hungry until after 5 pm.

Now, I want vanilla ice cream with hot maple syrup. I read a blog where they ate this and had pictures. Pictures do me in. Even if I cannot have what is in the picture or do not want to bake/cook/mix it, I will find something else in which to indulge!

Tonight, I will put dates in pint jars. You would think this would be easy. It's not! When you dump them in the jar, their stickiness just causes them to cling to the jars and leave lots of air in the bottom of the jar. By using the back of a spatula, I can arrange the dates so I can get a pound of dates in a wide-mouth canning jars, save 3 figs. I really only want to eat one fig, so tonight I will try to snug them in a bit more.  It will be a fun Friday night at my house. I do know how to have fun!

Did you know you can freeze cole slaw? I sent my question to Ask Jackie and they published my question and the answer in the magazine she represents. Yes, you can freeze cole slaw. On Sunday, I will shop and buy many cabbages at $0.69 for each head. Now, that is a great deal. I will freeze cole slaw in half pints, pushing it down. One half pint packed tightly will feed exbf and me. There will not be lots, but a pint is too much.

Your turn
Have you ever frozen cole slaw? Eaten it? Do you make spaghetti from scratch from a favorite recipe? Or, are you like me, settling for a jar of spaghetti?

If I Disappear

The power port on my computer is failing, getting more loose every day. I certainly cannot afford a repair at all. Another Dell failed in the same manner.

I took it to a store and the young man said he would fix it at home for me. I will only have to pay for the part. The store does not repair computers, so he is not cheating anyone. Whew! I am so lucky. He is the young man to whom I gave a bunch of electronics and cords. He carried them and three dozen fruit jars to the storage unit. Come Hell or High Water, I will bake an apple pie tonight. Maybe I will boil the eggs for gravy.

The fifth load of dishes remains in the dishwasher. UGH Must remove them and load it again.

Canning jars, half-pint, are clean and waiting on me. I have put 16 oz. of dates in one jar. Three more bags of the same size await. Plus, another pint has walnuts--16 oz. . And, two more bags of walnuts need to be jarred. I wish these were pecans.  I was surprised that 16 ounces in weight fit in 16 liquid ounces container.

It is so cold in here that baking will be a good idea!

Today, I delivered four Christmas Child boxes. I have more boxes, but my friend did not get out the supplies for them. Oh well.

I tried to clean up after the installation of the dishwasher. There is still all sorts of stuff on the floor. I cannot sweep. I cannot hold the dustpan. Maybe my friend will do that for me. Then, I went into the yard and it looks like a tornado hit. The guy did what I asked and put the dishwasher in. I did not expect him to tidy up.  So, it will all be gotten up by Thanksgiving. Of that I am sure.

The computer is charging now, so all is well on that front for today.

Update: Friday night about 9:30 the pie came out of the oven. Then, I put the leftover cut apples into a tiny casserole with all the pie goodness over them for a snack tonight. Onion and celery have been rehydrated.

Your turn
What will you bake first? Do you wait until Thanksgiving day to cook everything?

I need a recipe: UPDATE

I want to use two one-pound packages of dried dates to make date balls. Even though I have eaten date balls before, I have no recipe. I found recipes on all recipes but all require cooking then rolling. Is there a recipe that does not need to be cooked at all, either in pot or oven?

PLEASE don't direct me to the internet or a page of links.  Have you ever made date balls that just require mixing and making balls? I cannot find the recipe I know for sure is out there.

UPDATE: I went back and looked at the ingredients on the date balls. The almond date balls had date and almonds as the ingredients. The coconut date balls had coconut and dates. So, it seems two ground ingredients and rolled in either coconut or almonds is the recipe. Anne got it right below. But, I will still appreciate any other suggestions. By the way, 40 date balls, 4 varieties were $8.88. I can do better than that.

Correction above: I have two one-pound packages of dried dates--32 ounces.

Thanks.

Your turn
Recipes?