The Real Shopping Cart 31/10/24
zesty chicken for the win!
Highlighted Meal of the Day
Image description: Zesty Garlic chicken with bulgur, baby spinach, tahini ranch dressing and tomato on a blue plate with a fork.
This week there were numerous yummy meals. One that stands out is the zesty garlic chicken. We used chicken breasts; although it is equally good with thighs. The tahini ranch dressing is the star of the show. We use mayonnaise, tahini, a clove or two of garlic, green onions and a few teaspoons of lemon juice. Mix the tahini and mayo first, then add the lemon juice or water before adding the green onions and garlic to ensure it doesn’t emulsify. Cost for this meal was $5.52 for two and $2.76 for one person. The chicken breasts on sale were only $2.28. For the bulgur we got Cedar Burgol #2, which is a medium-grain bulgur, and the tomato was quite cheap too. We make this meal often. It gives me good blood sugar numbers as well.
While we’re on the subject of chicken, let’s talk about ground fowl. We often buy ground chicken or turkey and use it to make patties, stews and on top of salads. At our local Independent Grocer, we sometimes buy the brand depicted in the photo below. When we weigh it, we find that it is usually a significant loss. For example, we bought the ground chicken in September and October and each package had a loss of 54 grams. A certain amount of weight is lost due to water, but this is a substantial amount of loss and quite a rip off. It is bad for both the ground turkey and the chicken.
Image description: Text in a green triangle: Extra Lean/Ground Chicken/Poulet haché/Extra maigre/Net wt/poids net: 454 grams; Logo with a maple leaf and the word “Canada” in the circle. A yellow circle with a cook temperature of 74C/165f. / Best before/meilleur avant 2024 NO 04/ Made from Fresh and Frozen portions/Provenance: parties fraîche et congelée est 020 15:36.
The Life Smart product (a Metro brand) of ground fowl we purchased from Food Basics was only 1 gram per 450 grams short; or 1 gram per package vs the 54 gram loss per package from the nameless brand depicted above.
This Week’s Cart
Stores considered this week were Metro.ca, Walmart, Massine’s, Isabella Loblaws, Kowloon and Farm Boy, which are within walking distance, and the Real Canadian Superstore, Metro Rideau and Food Basics, which are accessible to us by public transit.
If we could get the cheapest price at all the stores, the total amount would be $151.59.
By combining delivery from Walmart and the Real Canadian Superstore, plus a few strolls to local stores, Charles has obtained a price of $153.13 for this week’s shopping list, only one percent higher than the cheapest price if we could shop all the stores.
This week again Walmart was missing a few too many key items so it couldn’t be included in the chart but did very well price wise for the items that were in stock and continues to be the backbone with its weekly grocery delivery option.
This week the chart is not very effective because no store came close to the thirty-eight items we were looking for. Therefore each store on its own will cost a shopper anywhere from five to nineteen percent more or an extra $28.08. Any store that provided less than thirty of the thirty-eight items we were looking for was disqualified.
I wish you nutritious, delicious and affordable meals, lingering conversations with loved ones, joy and whimsy.
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