This afternoon I had to go to the Post Office (return Netflix) and I thought I would swing by Walmart and pick up some sulphur for the dreaded black spot's on my roses. I approached Walmart from the west, I usually swoop in from the east, I zoomed right past the entrance! So, off to Miejer I went because not only will they have the sulphur (could not find it) but they continue to carry the Yoplait Whipped Chocolate Mousse I am addicted to. I curse Walmart for dropping it because Miejer charges $.21 more for it. Damn you Walmart!
Then to ALDI for the $5.99 bag of 3lb frozen chicken and $1.99 gallon of milk vrs. the $6.79 and $3.89. (Walmart)
My shopping habits have begun to change due to the rapidly climbing grocery prices! I now read the newspaper and chase the sales when I'm able and or in the vicinity. I can hardly afford my Coconut Rum anymore! It too has gone up in price forcing me to purchase the economy size 1.75 liter which in some ways is very very bad.
I happened to catch a television program in Memphis addressing the growing problems of limited income families making ends meet in regard to grocery shopping. That was where I was hipped to ALDI. I was also informed about a program called ANGEL FOOD that operated in and around Memphis. On a lark, I looked it up and found they have many locations in Kentucky and Indiana close to my home. Alas, I have not been able to take advantage of the great program, where you receive a truck load of food for $30.
It would be no problem for me to eat whatever is in the "box" for the month because of my Mother and our menu's while I was growing up and a captive in her house.
My Mom is a very educated person. Long story cut short, my Mom is the youngest of her siblings and very smart. She was the scholar of the family and her sister Maura did all the cooking cleaning etc. while Mom studied and did all sorts of astounding stuff like graduating from high school at 16, College at 19 and then received her Masters from Columbia after her mother whisked her off to Ireland for a year.
In other words, my Mom never learned to cook.
Our menu's never deviated from week to week, except when she was feeling anemic then we got the dreaded liver and onions.
Monday was Hot dog night. Hot dogs boiled in a sauce pan on the stove and served with buns and mashed potatoes, green beans from a can. Chocolate milk with raw egg for the boys, milk for me and jello for dessert.
Tuesday, hamburgers and french fries. The hamburgers were the frozen kind that came in a box that you took a knife to and separate. French fries were also the frozen string variety served in a wooden bowl. Maybe a can of corn or celery and carrots boiled together.
Wednesday night was meat loaf night. Greasy and made with egg and crushed crackers. Green beans from a can and mashed potatoes.
Thursday was left over night.
Friday was spaghetti night! And maybe some fried shrimp, which she also made in a beat up sauce pan and sometimes turned black but was still a delicacy to me! If there was no smoking shrimp, there was tuna fish. No garlic bread, maybe some toast with butter. No mashed potatoes, though there was jello for desert.
Saturday she worked at the library and Nana made dinner when she lived across the street from maybe 1967 - 1972. Then we had chicken! Yea Nana! She made Waldorf salad with apple cut up in the lettuce. And mashed potatoes. She also made apple turnovers and sometimes cherry. The new fangled kind that you purchased in the dairy section and included was a small bag of icing. Oh I still remember how we looked forward to Nana!
Sunday was always special and we would have something different like a stew or a pot roast. Mashed potatoes and more veggies from a can. And maybe fruit cocktail from the can. And if it was Easter or someones birthday that week, a cake.
We were all skinny kids. We all had to eat what was on our plates because there were starving children in China. Sometimes my brother T. had to be restrained in his chair, as was his habit to slide down his chair and try to escape under the table. He was caught every time. Unfortunately I had to sit across the table from him and I will never forget the faces he made eating mashed potatoes. Like he was going to barf.
Every night except Friday.
We laugh about it now. It is still a good joke among us kids.
Back to my point, if I get liver in the Angel Food Box I can handle it. Just like the old days.
6 comments:
Oh, I could handle that too. Except, I never, ever buy liver. No sirree!
OMG...all of the mashed potatoes and green beans... My mother was a pretty good cook; however, EVERY SINGLE NIGHT we had mashed potatoes and green beans (from a can). I was the designated potato peeler and I have sworn to never peel another potato for mashed potatos. Instant potatos are fine with me.
I miss jell-o salads. We usually said ours was for dessert. We had mashed potatoes every night too. I don't even think they had 2% milk back then, did they? Portion size was correct too, not like today where they give you a platter full of crap. Enjoyed your entry Mary! Anne
OH you had me ROFL...this brought back memories. My Mom was not educated but never learned to cook and to this day her "skills" in the kitchen are lacking.
My Dad always joked that by 14 I could cook well and he never could figure out how I learned. My Mom's specialities were sliced Spam from the can, topped with sliced pineapple rings under the broiler. She used cans of tomato soup instead of tomato sauce and had no concept of spices! Trying to stretch the budget for 5 kid, three of which were boys. Even when my Dad left the Navy (thanked God daily for no more comissary surplus items they managed to find) she was frugal about food purchases. My brothers and I still joke about "Peanut Kids" peanut butter. I found some one day in a dollar store and bought it, wraapped it and presented it to my brother. He nearly collapsed with laughter. That food deal with the truck is fantastic. Here there are food pantries but they give small portions of rice and other staples. It is hard to make it on one salary these days. Last year our income was a constant struggle, thankfully now we are back to two and I am trying to put a few dollars away when I can. There are always bills though.
Take care, N.
I have an ALDI's not far from me, I'll have to check it out. I think a lot of the depression era families (children who were born to parents who lived during the Depression) had weeks like that. Doc told me his grandparents would always give themselves bread with milk poured over as a treat each evening. He thought it was a horrible treat but to them, I imagine those 2 ingredients were gold during that time. (Hugs)Indigo
Sorry, still can't handle liver. Love Aldi's. Love Food 4 Less, too. It's Kroger's idea of a stock up store. My only complaint is that it is big, and they do have a lot of everything they carry. They just don't carry much of a variety as you'd think they would. Gotta keep the costs down if we're going to survive though. I think if your food plan is the same as the one that our Church offers, you won't be disappointed. I used it for a while. Sometimes there were things that I wouldn't normally use. It still didn't go to waste though.
Jude
http://journals.aol.com/jmorancoyle/MyWay
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