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mahatmakanejeeves

(57,567 posts) Sat Aug 4, 2018, 07:50 PM Aug 2018

I just bought a ten-pound bag of russet potatoes at the Aldi for 99 cents.

It's not in the weekly flyer, so I think my local store is overstocked. A month ago, that bag had been priced at $5.99, which is way too much. Two weeks ago, the price had dropped to $1.99. I picked up a bag. It rang up at $1.95. I didn't buy two, because there's only one of me. I can't stock up on potatoes. The potatoes I bought two weeks did have some mold, but I cut that out.

I bought one bag today, and I might get another tomorrow. For 99 cents, I can peel away any mold I find. The potatoes come from some outfit in Bancroft, Wisconsin, OldOakFarms.com. I had not thought of Wisconsin as a potato-growing state.

In the same purchase was a two-pound tub of store-bought potato salad, for $2.29. I know; that doesn't make any sense. My mom made killer potato salad, and I know how to make it the way she did. The problem is, if you make more than $3.50 an hour, it's not worth your time to make potato salad. I don't use mayonnaise for anything other than potato salad, so I'd have a jar of that wasting away in the refrigerator. The pickles would be sitting around in the refrigerator too. I might break down and make a batch of potato salad. If I do, it won't last any time at all. It's much easier to buy it that it is to make it.

I'm having what I call "breakfast for dinner" tonight. Take a 12-inch cast iron skillet and put some cooking oil in it. Peel and chop up about three potatoes, chop up some onion and put it in, pour in some frozen peas and some chunks of sausage. Take a couple eggs, put them in, and scramble them. Let that mix combo take its time on a low heat.

Add some chili pepper and hot sauce.

Have a brewski, glass of wine, cup of coffee, whatever strikes your fancy.

Enjoy.

21 replies

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I just bought a ten-pound bag of russet potatoes at the Aldi for 99 cents. (Original Post) mahatmakanejeeves Aug 2018 OP

My local Aldi is being renovated, right now. I feel lost Siwsan Aug 2018 #1

My local Aldi opened almost exactly two years ago. mahatmakanejeeves Aug 2018 #3

And I dare you to eat them al in one sitting.... raw TlalocW Aug 2018 #2

I don't want to know how that would turn out. NT mahatmakanejeeves Aug 2018 #4

You damn fool! flotsam Aug 2018 #5

I bought a half-pound of Swiss cheese too. mahatmakanejeeves Aug 2018 #12

I am really, really lucky to have a low-cost fruit/veg market within driving distance. demmiblue Aug 2018 #6

There's a terrific fruit and vegetable store on the outskirts of Cumberland, Maryland, mahatmakanejeeves Aug 2018 #13

Bought milk with a good date at Aldi gibraltar72 Aug 2018 #7

That's a great price for milk, but I still wouldn't bring a date there. n/t sl8 Aug 2018 #14

I bought a little more than 6# of red grapes at Aldi's for 99 cents/#... KCDebbie Aug 2018 #8

You can mash them and freeze them. They come out as good as fresh. Squinch Aug 2018 #9

Make some potato soup. It's good. shraby Aug 2018 #10

Store you potatoes in the coolest darkest place you can and keep the onions far from them, they will braddy Aug 2018 #11

Post the recipe @ Cooking & Baking, plze! elleng Aug 2018 #15

There is no recipe. It consists of whatever you find in the refrigerator mahatmakanejeeves Aug 2018 #16

I had some leftover empanada dough blaze Aug 2018 #17

I'm hungry. NT mahatmakanejeeves Aug 2018 #21

Might find a lot of produce going down in price. Fla Dem Aug 2018 #18

Did you show your ID for your purchase? LOL Totally Tunsie Aug 2018 #19

Actually, I did, as a joke. mahatmakanejeeves Aug 2018 #20

Siwsan

(26,286 posts)

1. My local Aldi is being renovated, right now. I feel lost

Reply to mahatmakanejeeves (Original post)

Sat Aug 4, 2018, 07:55 PM

Aug 2018

I do the vast majority of my grocery shopping at Aldi. It is incredibly convenient - great location, great prices, great staff, and I LOVE finding little surprise specials. If we had a Trader Joe's, in the Flint area, my grocery shopping experience would be blissful.

19 more days..........

mahatmakanejeeves

(57,567 posts)

3. My local Aldi opened almost exactly two years ago.

Reply to Siwsan (Reply #1)

Sat Aug 4, 2018, 08:03 PM

Aug 2018

My grocery shopping went from night to day. Aldi gets almost all my grocery money. I have to carry the stuff home about a mile and change, but I've become used to the exercise.

TlalocW

(15,388 posts)

2. And I dare you to eat them al in one sitting.... raw

Reply to mahatmakanejeeves (Original post)

Sat Aug 4, 2018, 08:03 PM

Aug 2018

DO IT! DO IT! DO IT! DOITDOITDOITDOITDOIT!

TlalocW

mahatmakanejeeves

(57,567 posts)

4. I don't want to know how that would turn out. NT

Reply to TlalocW (Reply #2)

Sat Aug 4, 2018, 08:05 PM

Aug 2018

flotsam

(3,268 posts)

5. You damn fool!

Reply to mahatmakanejeeves (Original post)

Sat Aug 4, 2018, 08:07 PM

Aug 2018

I see no mention of cheese.

mahatmakanejeeves

(57,567 posts)

12. I bought a half-pound of Swiss cheese too.

Reply to flotsam (Reply #5)

Sat Aug 4, 2018, 09:47 PM

Aug 2018

I've been eating that as well, but I didn't add any to the skillet concoction.

demmiblue

(36,875 posts)

6. I am really, really lucky to have a low-cost fruit/veg market within driving distance.

Reply to mahatmakanejeeves (Original post)

Sat Aug 4, 2018, 08:10 PM

Aug 2018

My last trip: 2 pints of organic blueberries, 1 quart of strawberries, 3 lbs of baby red potatoes, 4 vine ripe tomatoes, 5 pickling cucumbers, 1 bunch of dill, 1 head of garlic, 2 blood oranges, 2 apples, 1 banana, 2 pears... $8.00 and change.

I have tried Aldi's in the past, but it is not really worth it for the few things that I would buy there to go on a regular basis (I have made a few really good scores there, though).

mahatmakanejeeves

(57,567 posts)

13. There's a terrific fruit and vegetable store on the outskirts of Cumberland, Maryland,

Reply to demmiblue (Reply #6)

Sat Aug 4, 2018, 09:56 PM

Aug 2018

on US 40 as you head west through the Cumberland Narrows. I've haven't been there in years, but I stocked up the last time I was there.

It's a lot bigger than a stand. It's an actual store.

gibraltar72

(7,508 posts)

7. Bought milk with a good date at Aldi

Reply to mahatmakanejeeves (Original post)

Sat Aug 4, 2018, 08:20 PM

Aug 2018

couple weeks ago for $1.08 a gallon from Wisconsin. I assume tariffs are killing the farmers.

sl8

(13,851 posts)

14. That's a great price for milk, but I still wouldn't bring a date there. n/t

Reply to gibraltar72 (Reply #7)

Sat Aug 4, 2018, 10:16 PM

Aug 2018

KCDebbie

(664 posts)

8. I bought a little more than 6# of red grapes at Aldi's for 99 cents/#...

Reply to mahatmakanejeeves (Original post)

Sat Aug 4, 2018, 08:32 PM

Aug 2018

Squinch

(50,989 posts)

9. You can mash them and freeze them. They come out as good as fresh.

Reply to mahatmakanejeeves (Original post)

Sat Aug 4, 2018, 08:32 PM

Aug 2018

I do it every Thanksgiving so it's done a week before the dinner.

shraby

(21,946 posts)

10. Make some potato soup. It's good.

Reply to mahatmakanejeeves (Original post)

Sat Aug 4, 2018, 08:43 PM

Aug 2018

braddy

(3,585 posts)

11. Store you potatoes in the coolest darkest place you can and keep the onions far from them, they will

Reply to mahatmakanejeeves (Original post)

Sat Aug 4, 2018, 08:47 PM

Aug 2018

last a very long time if you do, don't refrigerate them.
Pickles will last a year or two in the frig, buy a small jar of sweet or dill relish for your potato salad and make your own mayonnaise as you need it.

elleng

(131,047 posts)

15. Post the recipe @ Cooking & Baking, plze!

Reply to mahatmakanejeeves (Original post)

Sat Aug 4, 2018, 10:24 PM

Aug 2018

mahatmakanejeeves

(57,567 posts)

16. There is no recipe. It consists of whatever you find in the refrigerator

Reply to elleng (Reply #15)

Sun Aug 5, 2018, 08:55 AM

Aug 2018

Last edited Sun Aug 5, 2018, 07:36 PM - Edit history (1)

or lying around the kitchen that you want to use up before it goes bad.

blaze

(6,367 posts)

17. I had some leftover empanada dough

Reply to mahatmakanejeeves (Reply #16)

Sun Aug 5, 2018, 09:45 AM

Aug 2018

and mixed up a similar mashup (minus the eggs) and baked them up! And they freeze well (uncooked), so that's a plus.

I've been looking at these Amish Dinner Rolls that have a cup of mashed potatoes in them.

mahatmakanejeeves

(57,567 posts)

21. I'm hungry. NT

Reply to blaze (Reply #17)

Mon Aug 6, 2018, 09:32 AM

Aug 2018

Fla Dem

(23,723 posts)

18. Might find a lot of produce going down in price.

Reply to mahatmakanejeeves (Original post)

Sun Aug 5, 2018, 11:34 AM

Aug 2018

At least for this season. As the trade tariff feud takes hold, farmers have no place to send their produce. So this year's crop there will be a surplus. But then the farmers will plant less produce for their crops next year, 1. because they'll not have the money to plant their normal amount, 2) because they have no where to send them, except domestically. SO expect to play more for scarcer crops next year. In fact this year as the fall crops come due for harvest, a lot of farmers may just decide not to bother.

There is also a HUGE meat surplus.

A similar glut exists for the meat industry. According to new data from the USDA, American meat producers now have 2.5 billion pounds of chicken, turkey, pork, and beef in cold storage, which is also a record, according to the Wall Street Journal. And producers are running out of warehouse space to store it all.

The meat stockpile is in part, the Journal reports, because of newly implemented Chinese and Mexican tariffs on American pork. These were set in retaliation for tariffs the Trump administration placed on Mexican and Chinese steel, among other goods. With slowing exports — and increased beef and poultry production partially due to falling prices of grain — American meat producers have more product in the freezer. Though that might be good news for American consumers, as meat prices are likely to drop a bit at the grocery store. (As Vox’s Tara Golshan reports, the escalating trade conflicts will likely impact the dairy industry as well.)
https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2018/7/24/17606958/meat-cheese-surplus-visualized

Totally Tunsie

(10,885 posts)

19. Did you show your ID for your purchase? LOL

Reply to mahatmakanejeeves (Original post)

Sun Aug 5, 2018, 11:10 PM

Aug 2018

mahatmakanejeeves

(57,567 posts)

20. Actually, I did, as a joke.

Reply to Totally Tunsie (Reply #19)

Mon Aug 6, 2018, 09:31 AM

Aug 2018

I went back Sunday afternoon and bought another ten-pound bag. They're still 99 cents. I showed my photo ID that time too.

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