What grocery items are always worth the extra $1-$5?
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For purely economic reasons, the less often I need to buy it, the more I allow myself to splurge.
So vegetables and my go to drink I consume everyday are bought the absolute cheapest, but that spice blend for those veggies lasts me months so I really don't care if there's a cheaper alternative.
Of course, expensiveness is measured per kg/litre, paying a bit more up front is always worth it if it means a lower price per kg (if you can consume it before it goes bad).
Spices are a great investment! Small independent Asian stores often have amazing ones which last way longer that supermarket ones. I don't have any shops like that near me so I buy on amazon and have found great ones there
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I'm two ways about this.
In recent years I've become quite a coffee lover. I've experimented with a lot of brewing methods, and got into small batch beans from independent roasters, with interesting qualities like being aged in whisky barrels (that one tastes and smells sooo good)
At the same time though I grew up in a family where the only coffee my parents ever drank was instant - a teaspoon of granules with some hot water and milk and maybe sugar. When I go over there to visit that's what I'll get, and I'm not going to turn my nose up at it. In some ways it's got that taste of nostalgia lol.
I didn't drink coffee for half my life because I was usually always around burnt, bottom tier coffee.
After moving largely away from whiskies and runs due to medicine I was on, I wanted a complex beverage to fill that void and gave some decent coffee a shot. It was of course worlds beyond most of what I've had anywhere else, and now I try different single origins every month.
But the real wild thing, is now I apply that tasting ability I've developed to diner coffee, and now the particular funk of a Waffle House cup gives me the memories of old road trips. The coffee from the local diner reminds me I'm home. Now that I can pick out one cup of low grade from another, it lets me appreciate the times I do go low on coffee.
Your comment made me think of the semi-famous Tom Petty coffee story from Rolling Stone. In searching for the article, I saw something claiming his daughters refuted the claims of his brand of choice, though still others claimed Mr Petty had personally verified it with them, so who's to say for sure at this point. But anyone who likes coffee, Tom Petty, or some food storytelling should like this tale of a man and his quest for the perfect cup. For anyone that hasn't read the story, I really enjoy it and think it's a fun read and a reminder of simple joys in life.
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Hawks, snakes stealing eggs, and then a fox finally did mine in
We live somewhere with a ton of hawks and coyotes. Our coop was our quarantine project so we kind of overdid it. Itās 8-by-16-feet, surrounded on the sides and bottom with heavy gauge hardware cloth and a metal roof. Nothing can get into it.
The run, on the other hand, is about 30 feet along one side, chicken wire and covered with bird netting. We lost two of our girls when someone made a mistake and locked them outside in the run. A fox dug under and took them. I added a skirt along the ground to stop anything digging in but itās not as good as the coop itself
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We live somewhere with a ton of hawks and coyotes. Our coop was our quarantine project so we kind of overdid it. Itās 8-by-16-feet, surrounded on the sides and bottom with heavy gauge hardware cloth and a metal roof. Nothing can get into it.
The run, on the other hand, is about 30 feet along one side, chicken wire and covered with bird netting. We lost two of our girls when someone made a mistake and locked them outside in the run. A fox dug under and took them. I added a skirt along the ground to stop anything digging in but itās not as good as the coop itself
Thatās exactly what happened to us. The coop was a fortress, but a fox dug into the run and it was a crime scene. Chickens need a big run but damn itās tough to keep them safe.
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I didn't drink coffee for half my life because I was usually always around burnt, bottom tier coffee.
After moving largely away from whiskies and runs due to medicine I was on, I wanted a complex beverage to fill that void and gave some decent coffee a shot. It was of course worlds beyond most of what I've had anywhere else, and now I try different single origins every month.
But the real wild thing, is now I apply that tasting ability I've developed to diner coffee, and now the particular funk of a Waffle House cup gives me the memories of old road trips. The coffee from the local diner reminds me I'm home. Now that I can pick out one cup of low grade from another, it lets me appreciate the times I do go low on coffee.
Your comment made me think of the semi-famous Tom Petty coffee story from Rolling Stone. In searching for the article, I saw something claiming his daughters refuted the claims of his brand of choice, though still others claimed Mr Petty had personally verified it with them, so who's to say for sure at this point. But anyone who likes coffee, Tom Petty, or some food storytelling should like this tale of a man and his quest for the perfect cup. For anyone that hasn't read the story, I really enjoy it and think it's a fun read and a reminder of simple joys in life.
The coffee story is quite a long way in, but it was an interesting read, thanks.
I guess the message is, things aren't always good because they are objectively good. Sometimes things are good because of when we had them, and who we enjoyed them with. And that's definitely true.
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Prices keep climbing, so Iām trying to pick my battles in the supermarket. Which items do you refuse to cheap out on, and why? Taste, health, longevity, peace of mindā¦ Iād love to hear whatās worth the few extra dollars for you.
For me, itās honey from local beekeepersāsupermarket brands locally are known to sell fake or adulterated sugar syrup as honey.
4-ply toilet paper.
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Yeah, even just growing them are better. I thought I hated Cherry Tomatoes, but then I had some off my own plant and they taste so good.
Home grown cherry tomatoes were my favorite summer snack as a kid. Pop pop pop they go! Amazing!
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The coffee story is quite a long way in, but it was an interesting read, thanks.
I guess the message is, things aren't always good because they are objectively good. Sometimes things are good because of when we had them, and who we enjoyed them with. And that's definitely true.
It does meander a bit, as it's more a reflection of the author's history with Petty on the one year anniversary of his passing that just happens to eventually settle on a tale about coffee perfection.
I like it overall as a tale about simple pleasures and what will people remember most about us after we're gone rather than a guide on how to achieve the perfect cup. I have reservations about if I'd agree that was the best cup ever if I had been there with them, but that was what reminded me of the story while I was reading about you having a mug of instant coffee with your family.
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For purely economic reasons, the less often I need to buy it, the more I allow myself to splurge.
So vegetables and my go to drink I consume everyday are bought the absolute cheapest, but that spice blend for those veggies lasts me months so I really don't care if there's a cheaper alternative.
Of course, expensiveness is measured per kg/litre, paying a bit more up front is always worth it if it means a lower price per kg (if you can consume it before it goes bad).
If I'm going to skin or peel the vegetable, I go with the cheap stuff. If I'm eating the skin then I go organic. I never buy the prewashed lettuce and salads when they are on sale because those have already started to go bad usually. And when it comes to things like berries, strawberries, tomatoes, and peppers I go with whatever looks like it will taste the best. Cheap blueberries for instance, absolutely do not hold up against the good stuff; life is too short for tart blueberries.
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Pasta. It takes pasta dishes from "eh, it's food" to "this is really good".
Whole Foods, oddly enough, is the place I find the cheapest good pasta. Their store brand is less than most places and really good.
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Tomatoes are also quite easy to grow in the summer and are very prolific.
Also in season are strawberries. The ones I've got are small and don't look good, but the taste is superb.
Both can be grown potted, and the strawberries are quite hardy.
strawberries are quite hardy.
They're insane. We didn't weatherize our beds for winter but the strawbees didn't care. They took over nearly the entirety of both beds. They also try to escape the beds occasionally.
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Prices keep climbing, so Iām trying to pick my battles in the supermarket. Which items do you refuse to cheap out on, and why? Taste, health, longevity, peace of mindā¦ Iād love to hear whatās worth the few extra dollars for you.
For me, itās honey from local beekeepersāsupermarket brands locally are known to sell fake or adulterated sugar syrup as honey.
Fresh corn tortillas.
Tequila.
Haircare stuff
Husband bought "the good eggs" once and has not looked back since. I used to keep chickens and the bougie store eggs are much closer to those than they are to the factory farmed thin shelled light yolked ones.
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Farmerās market tomatoes. I went through my whole life thinking I hated tomatoes. Turns out, I hate grainy tomatoes that taste like nothing, and real tomatoes grown nearby and picked ripe are wonderful.
Absolutely. I was the same way then my mom make a margherita pizza mostly from scratch with tomatoes she grew herself and it was life changing
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Fresh corn tortillas.
Tequila.
Haircare stuff
Husband bought "the good eggs" once and has not looked back since. I used to keep chickens and the bougie store eggs are much closer to those than they are to the factory farmed thin shelled light yolked ones.
The best eggs are eggs from a farm that are unwashed and you keep on the counter. They taste a zillion times better and last for a long time. I get 3 dozen for 15 dollars at the local farm. It's honestly better than the store.
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I'm two ways about this.
In recent years I've become quite a coffee lover. I've experimented with a lot of brewing methods, and got into small batch beans from independent roasters, with interesting qualities like being aged in whisky barrels (that one tastes and smells sooo good)
At the same time though I grew up in a family where the only coffee my parents ever drank was instant - a teaspoon of granules with some hot water and milk and maybe sugar. When I go over there to visit that's what I'll get, and I'm not going to turn my nose up at it. In some ways it's got that taste of nostalgia lol.
As a fellow up the arse coffee lover - I moved away from drinking fancy coffee every day. Not just because 250 grams are, at best, at 16ā¬ and I drink about 35 grams a day on an average day, but also because it takes away the "specialty" if you drink it daily, regularly, ordinarily. I now have a go to coffee (pre ground even) that I enjoy drinking as my "normal" coffee and treat myself to a cup of specialty every now and then, and a bag now lasts me a month. I enjoy it much more and I save a lot of money - although my go to coffee is also not the cheapest crap.
I also started out with instant coffee btw - took some with me with milk and sugar to school in a small water bottle when I was a young teenager (and girlmore girls was on so I had to get into coffee). Just reading your comment gave me a flashback to being 14 and my mom giving me the "good instant coffee". Memories and vibes.
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Pasta. It takes pasta dishes from "eh, it's food" to "this is really good".
Ever since I tried bronze pasta I cannot look at regular pasta the same way. I cannot buy that yellow stuff anymore.
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Canadian maple syrup.
There's nothing wrong with new england maple syrup, but yes, real maple syrup not "pancake syrup" with maple flavoring.
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That sounds like a big increase in pain-in-the-ass for not that big an increase in savings. I'm happy to trade money for convenience on this one.
There is also a potential health difference. Lunch meat tends to be loaded with preservatives and falls into the category of "processed meat".
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Just had some of the worst āstore brandā honey mustard. How do you mess that up? Tasted like they watered it down by adding extra vinegar. Watery. Gross tasting. Lesson Learned.
Came here to say Dijon mustard. A jar of mustard lasts me 6 months, so a couple extra bucks for the good stuff doesn't amount to much.
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Prices keep climbing, so Iām trying to pick my battles in the supermarket. Which items do you refuse to cheap out on, and why? Taste, health, longevity, peace of mindā¦ Iād love to hear whatās worth the few extra dollars for you.
For me, itās honey from local beekeepersāsupermarket brands locally are known to sell fake or adulterated sugar syrup as honey.
Real parm instead of the canned stuff.
Chicken breasts - you can get massive pumped up chicken breast for the same price as "normal" chicken breasts. The problem is when you cook the big ones, they just leech out all their liquid.
