http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1584796677/
Plus a Shun Premier Santoku (they also make an excellent French/German Chef’s Knife in that line, but the proper Japanese Santoku is technically superior–requires more skill, though). One of my next adventures.
1" cubes deep fried. ;D
($18/lb) high-quality farm-fresh butter…
You’re paying 18 bucks for “farm fresh butter”?
You can make your own for the price of a pint of heavy whipping cream. Pour it in a blender and in 5 minutes you have fresh butter. Keep an eye on it because once it reaches the whipped cream stage it turns to butter all at once in about a minute. Strain through some cloth or a metal strainer and salt to taste. Keeps in the fridge for a long time. I haven’t “bought” butter in years.
Farm fresh in my mind means the cream came from the cow, was churned, and had as little as possible done to it in terms of processing. Just my $0.02… But yes I think you’re paying too much as well. I can get beurre Barette that’s produced organically from cows about 20 km away for 6 euros / 500 g (~ pound). Anything beyond that is just marketing.
I am headed to the pet store right now, for a box turtle, and a pund of bacon. Me and my turtle will begin bacon eating trainig immediatly. Will post results later.
Gotta get you a big snapping turtle! Watch those fingers when bacon feeding training… 
I have struggled with food bills as well. In college, I was a vegetarian mostly for budget purposes–it works. Try to go vegetarian a few times a week and you’ll see a difference. +1 to rice and beans, buying in bulk, and CSAs. We freeze alot of our share too-- nothing like having summer quality ratatouille or pesto (freeze in ice cube trays) in the dead of winter!
Another thing I’ve learned is, it matters where you shop. Beware the price club places–bigger is not always cheaper, you have to compare, but some things work out well, i.e. frozen pastas like tortellini. I have shopped all the supermarkets at one point or another and by far, Wegman’s is the best. Their store brand items like canned beans and tomatoes, are exceptional quality and reasonably priced. They have good prices on meats and fish as well, and if you want, they also have the high end gourmet quality items as well–as opposed to Whole(foods) Paycheck which is really great but super expensive.
My wife makes great “surprise” mac and cheese with cheese ends bought from the deli counter for cheap. Use whole grain pasta, make a salad and you’re eating for a dollar a serving.
Two quick things - 1. Oatmeal. Really, it fills you up, and if you get the steel-cut unprocessed kind (also called pinhead oats, check your local health food store) they’re full of vitamins and minerals.
+1 on the oatmeal. I eat it all of the time. I prefer patriot oats though. 
No kidding. I have to limit that though; I’m not used to eating vegetables at all. You know supermarkets are organized because people head clockwise by nature (they shoved the doors on the left, put palates of crap in the way, and people crawled and fought around the palates like monkeys to wander the store clockwise!), with the fresh produce on the right side, doors on the right, etc. Fresh produce makes a good impression right?
I don’t shop clockwise.
I glance there, yeah. My brain immediately goes, “Nothing interesting in that direction.” It’s like instant repulsion. If i need something from there, I go there, usually after wandering the store in a daze for a bit unless the ONLY thing I need is an avocado to make sushi.
Beans, rice, soy, protein … no matter what I get, if I eliminate meat from my diet, my body fails to extract whatever it is it needs from the food (or maybe I’m missing something?) and in under a week I’m quite ill. It only takes 2-3 days without meat for me to lose my ability to heal, and in under 5 days I’m noticing open wounds and sores that have just appeared… the skin, it cracks and splits. In a week my immune system starts to fail and I get really sick. People experience problems going vegetarian yeah, but I’m like way beyond “outlier” here, I’m not even in the same universe.
I made buffalo burgers with meat I had for a week already, and finished them a week later. Raw until cooked and consumed. The last day the meat smelled sort of bad… do you know how I cook hamburgers? Frying pan, outside becomes well done and charred, but the inside is warm and creamy (creamy == RAW MEAT). Yes I ate rather… bad… smelling meat raw. I had a really bad stomach ache and headache that night, went into work about 2 hours late the next day completely recovered. Seriously that would kill a dog.
But yeah, $550-$640/mo is not exactly “struggling with food costs.” It’s just “spending too damn much.” I want the costs down so I have money to spend on other things, like expensive knives, tea, a bicycle seat shock absorber so my ass doesn’t hurt so much… Eating at the cafeteria work supplies is not a good way to save money, nor is buying a bunch of groceries and not effectively using them. Canned goods are cheap, and also garbage; Hormel canned chili with beans is like dog food.
Anyway point is I like bean soups and I like my rice, not into salads and veganism but I can do some fajitas and ensaladas and stuff along the way. I need my meat though; it is infeasible for me to abandon meat for more than 2 days. Which is odd because I abandoned food for 4 days in a row once with no ill effects…
Wow that is an extreme reaction. I guess you won’t be doing the vegetarian thing. I hate soy protein myself, and find that it does not digest in my system well. Ever try whey protein powder? The shakes are economical and make a great quick breakfast.
I can’t think of one grocery store that shops clockwise, in fact they are all counter-clockwise. Enter to the right - exit to the left (facing the store from outside) and skate in a counter-clockwise direction.
There is a science to movement in a store and everything else as far as placement in a retail establishment. I studied this in business school.
The most expensive place in a store is immediately to the right of the entrance but not too close to the entrance; high margin, high impulse items go here. Want to rent space for your product? You will pay dearly for this space.
The least desirable space is the first few feet inside the entrance. This is the decompression space. Have you ever walked in a store and had to look around for a cart or hand basket? You missed them because they are behind you. It takes a few feet for people to become oriented and they walk past with out noticing the first few feet.
High margin items (like store brands) are to the right of name brand-low margin items because people always compare a substitute to the item to the left, you know you have done it. The store I shop has dish washing liquid that is made by Dawn; same bottle, same cap, same back label, only the front label is different and the “blue” is a shade lighter (dawn has a trademark on the color). The store brand is to the right of Dawn. High margin items, even though sometimes cheaper, are always to the right. Check it out.
Why in the Hell don’t they open another register!?!?!!? There should be a minimum of 3 people standing in line not counting the person being checked out. Those racks with gum, batteries, candy, etc are called impulse racks by the trade. They need you standing in line so you will stare at a magazines and such so something will peak your interest and you will grab it.
Then there is the “scream factor”. Candy at low levels in the impulse racks, colorful cereal boxes with “prizes” inside at knee level, these are there for the kids to show their ass in public so mama will by it “if you will just shut up”. Embarrassing mama in public has made many store owners rich.
Those displays in the middle of a travel lane are there to break up the travel pattern and steer you head-long into an impulse/ high-margin item/area.
Staples like dairy, bread, eggs, snacks, soft drinks, the devils brew, etc… are placed in the far reaches to the left back of the store so you have to pass the buy1 get 1 free frozen pizza and other goodies on the way.
As a homework assignment we had to go to stores and verify all of this. Its true. Check it out the next time shopping.
My wife hates to take me shopping.
End of Tubercle’s marketing lesson.
This isn’t the case anywhere I do most of my shopping. In the main place, a really big place, when you walk in the produce is right in front of you. Along the right side of the store, front to back, is the cheese counter, the deli counter, bakery, seafood, meat. The wine is behind the produce, before the meats. The milk and eggs are right next to the produce. The beer is two aisles over, and runs one entire side of the aisle. The bread is another 2 or 3 aisles left, and the soda an aisle or two after that. The back left of the store is automotive, housewares, tools, that kind of stuff.
I’m sure they have some system to get you to buy stuff on impulse, but the one you’re describing isn’t it.
Checkout was self-checkout, I waited briefly. I noticed a headline that someone is cheating on Kendra, but I have no idea who they are or why I would care. I also saw that Brad was caught naked with his costar and Angelina was pissed. I know who they are, but still don’t care. I must not be their target audience. 
The HEB’s in Texas are a bit different. The produce is right next to a side (but main) entrance and it may be clockwise or counterclockwise to the meat and dairy- all of which are in the periphery of the building. The beer and wine is usually close to the register- at my after work but just before “stop-selling” (midnight or 1am on Sunday) store it’s the first thing one hits. Usually, there’s a huge line just before selling alcohol cuts off. This one has a very decent selection too.
Discovered that if I do the edges and shoot through the beer aisle then I can get out of there without being skinned too much. My problem is that I go 5 times a week for something.
Understood on the design. Mostly lost on me though. Full stomach, no shopping w/out a list, and virtually no processed foods. Get in, get out.
YES! Also, I shop in a linear fashion, start at one end of the store and proceed straight through, once. Done. My wife thinks shopping is a pinball game, careens around the store like the silver ball…
Update…my turtle is starting to fatten up, and all his farts smell like warm bacon.
I do this a lot because lucky for me, I much prefer dark meat over white meat. My only problem with the leg quarter packages is that one leg quarter might come from a 3.5 lb fryer and another might come from a monster 5+ pounder (and they usually still have the back bone connected). I much prefer the smaller birds so I sort through all the whole birds to find one 4 pounds or less. Often there’s only 1 or 2 that qualify. The dark meat gets eaten ‘as cooked’ and the leftover white meat gets used for making another dish (such as chicken tacos).
I like using shears to cut the backbone out and clip the wings.
I think there was something like this on a recent episode of House. a genetic disorder that caused issues when too much vegetables are eaten. I think the guy turned out to be a mass murderer, No connection though.
And we all know how much TV shows are like real life!