Bargains

As I said in my last post, I went looking for bulk yeast when I was shopping. The closest I came was the little 4 oz. bottles. All three stores had the same brands, and the same types, either active dry or bread machine. No other types. I had been wanting to try some instant yeast, but it is too costly in those little packets. So when I got home I went online and Googled it. Some folks said it was available at Sam’s Club and Costco, but I won’t enrich the Walton family, and don’t have a Costco membership. Besides, Costco only takes American Express. Not to mention the long, long, bus ride to either place. What to do?

Someone else mentioned a place you can get bulk yeast online in pound packages. Eureka! But is it really a bargain? Let’s see, I’m using about a jar a month, it will keep in the freezer, so I could use up a pound in the four months that you are supposed to keep open yeast. As for price, well let’s see. I paid $6.82 for a 4 oz. jar, and they want $5.95 for a pound of it? Double eureka!! When the jar is empty, I will be ordering a pound of yeast.

Another bargain I found recently is shopping bags. The mayor of Seattle has proposed a law (pdf) that would make you pay 20¢ for each paper or plastic bag you use next year. The merchants are getting behind it by offering inexpensive, reusable bags. Why not? I’m sure that is an expense they would like to bag. Imagine, the US finally catches up with Europe. Not to mention that paper and plastic are both made out of resources that could be used for other things. And at the price of oil nowadays, we don’t need to be using it to make &^^&*(&*&^ plastic bags. I have acquired several of them now. Some are better than others. Some are bigger than others. Some are prettier than others.

The ones from QFC are small, and I keep them in the bag that substitutes for the regular basket on Epona. This way I always have bags with me in case I do a little shopping. Unfortunately, they aren’t big enough for such things as a gallon of distilled water or 12-pack of toilet paper. For those things, which I usually buy at a near-by drug store, I just ask that they not bag them. They cost me $1.49 each, and have things in them to hold wine bottles upright. Which would be cool, except I don’t drink. I wish I could drink with my meds, I kind of miss wine.

The ones from Safeway are bigger, but are limp and kind of cheesy. And black, ugly black. They will do. But they are not attractive. And will probably wear out quickly. But you can scrunch them into small spaces. They were 99¢ a piece.

I don’t know what The Boyo paid for the one from Fred Meyer’s. It is also an unattractive black, but is better quality than the ones from Safeway. And it has pictures of food on it, instead of just a logo, like Safeway. I think it will last longer. Right now it is storing my onions and garlic.

The best one, though, is from Whole Foods. Not only is it pretty, it is waterproof. And it only cost the same as the ones from Safeway. I may go back to Whole Foods just to get more bags. I love this thing! It’s bigger than all the other ones, too. In addition, the tag on the bag says that Whole Foods will replace any bag that tears in normal use. I hung it from the backrest of my scooter with some heavy stuff in it, and it performed well.

The great thing about all these bags is that they are made from recycled material, namely, recycled two liter soda bottles. So not only do we keep plastic bags out of the ocean, we keep soda bottles out of the landfill. I particularly hate plastic bags. When I have a choice, I always took paper. Paper was easier to recycle, even here in recycle heaven Seattle. I finally had to buy a thingy to corral all the plastic bags I got saddle with anyway until I could recycle them. Occasionally, I would use them to pick up Friday’s poop, but prefer to use biodegradable bags especially designed for the purpose.

When I was in the Metropolitan Market, though, I saw the reusable shopping bag Rolls-Royce. It was built on what looks like a golf bag holder, and was kind of the same shape. It was completely covered, and it was on wheels. And small enough not to be a pain in the aisle on the bus. Cool stuff, but not for me. Especially with the $40 price tag.

Ok, I know, I’m crazy, I take pictures of shopping bags. And blog about them.

Shop-a-thon and Dump Cooking

Before I could continue my cook-a-thon, I had to do a shop-a-thon. Yes, I just got paid, and I hadn’t been to the grocery store yet. So, I set off. There are four groceries within scooter distance, and I hit three of them last night. I don’t usually go to Whole Paycheck, and indeed, last week was the first time I had set foot in the new store. I was disappointed in the store, it was not what I expected at all. There was a huge deli department, and actually it was difficult to find the miniscule grocery department. The store is in an area dominated by an arts college and lots of biotech start-ups, so I guess it makes sense to go with prepared foods. I had been hoping for lots of fine ingredients in bulk. Nope, not there.

The first market I hit was Metropolitan Market, a very upscale market. However, they do have a huge bulk section. They are too spendy for usual grocery shopping, however. I did get some fennel seed for my next bread, some unsalted sunflower seeds, and a bit of a mix of different types of brown rice that I think will be tasty.

Next stop, Safeway, my usual store. They were having a “buy one, get one free” sale, and so I stocked up on things like olive oil, plastic zipper bags, and cooking oil spray. My bill was astronomical, but I will have things for a while. I also bought a roast that was on sale to use for sandwich meat. But they were out of the ground beef that was on sale. I also bought a gift card to use for groceries the rest of the month, a trick I learned at a seminar on how to control your money. This is important for folks like me, who only get paid once a month, and seem to have no money sense. It’s like food stamps for folks that are a little richer, except you can use it to buy toilet paper and laundry detergent, too.

One of the things I had been looking for in the bulk foods was some baking yeast. Metro didn’t have it, but I remembered that QFC had bulk spices, and thought they might have it. So I rode on down there, and found they had a “10 for $10″ sale. Um, like you’re really going to buy ten of most stuff. Of course it is mix and match, so you can get what you want. And you don’t really have to buy ten things to get the price, but I guess “10 for $10″ markets better than “a buck a piece.” So I got some avocados, a mango, and some other stuff, and found my ground beef on sale here for the same price as Safeway, and actually available.

By the time I got home, I was hungry and exhausted. Dump cooking time. This is cooking where you dump a bunch of stuff together and eat it. So here’s the recipe for what I cooked last night.

Chili Mac

1 lb. ground beef

1 envelope taco seasoning

1 box macaroni and cheese

1 can kidney beans

Prepare ground beef with taco seasonings according to directions. Prepare macaroni and cheese according to directions. Mix together and dump in drained can of kidney beans. Nuke until kidney beans are warm . Eat.