Hello dear readers!
Before I resume with the 21 day blog challenge, I would like to share an update with you. On Friday, we were rear-ended by a careless driver and I sustained a mild whiplash from the impact. Today, I am pleased to report that the pain in my neck is about 90% gone. I have slight discomfort when I move my head quickly, but since my neck was recovering so nicely on its own, I decided to forgo any physical therapy on it for the foreseeable future. Plenty of rest and relaxation with Ghost Adventures streaming on my computer to keep me entertained has done much to heal my neck. However, being sore and having a VERY active baby climbing all over you are not terribly conducive to writing a blog, though we recently were given a baby jail and a walker by a friend who was cleaning out her home. Those have helped somewhat with giving me a break from parenthood for a short stretch of time.
Anyway, back to day 18 of the challenge. This prompt was a bit of a challenge because I really couldn't think of what to write which fit! The subject will be skewed a bit towards my Arizona perspective, but I do think there is something worth considering regardless of where you live here in the US.
Since we receive food stamps, and I am extremely blessed to have a husband who cooks, we do lots of grocery shopping during the month. Sure we shop at Walmart and the local versions of the national chains like Kroger (Fry's in Arizona), Safeway, Albertsons, but we also shop at several local grocery stores that have limited markets outside of Arizona (Basha's/Food City and El Super). With our alotted amount, we actually can make it to the end of the month and still have food to eat!
What is the secret to our success?
Mexican grocery stores.
Here in Arizona, we have a high Mexican population. Others may be uncomfortable with this reality, but I honestly don't mind it because there are benefits that come from living among others who are very different from you. Food stores are one of them. It never fails-here in town the cheapest vegetables and fruits can be found in Mexican grocery stores like El Super and Food City. The national stores try to compete and sometimes have decent deals, but it's almost always consistently the Mexican stores with cheap, quality produce.
In addition to produce, the Mexican stores usually have good deals on pop and meat, though they aren't always consistent about effecting them. Many times, we have gone to Food City to buy vegetables and found the 2L bottles of pop to be selling for more than $1/bottle and beef flap meat selling for more than $3.99/lb. It's annoying sometimes, but that's life.
Of course, like anywhere else, there are things you avoid buying at Mexican grocery stores. They tend to be bad about selling cereal and baby foods (both horribly overpriced), frozen foods, dairy products (unless they're Mexican cheeses, then they're ok), alcohols, and most juices. Canned foods can be hit or miss, depending on what is being sold. I've bought cans of vegetables for $0.50/can when there's a sale, but would stay away from soups or canned spaghetti like Chef Boyardee because they were vending for FAR over the $1/can max price I'd be willing to pay for the product.
You may wonder if people look at my husband and I with strange looks when we go shopping in these stores since we are clearly not Mexican and speak Spanish poorly. The answer is no because NOBODY CARES! We're all too busy maneuvering around carts left in aisles as we try to get to the tomatoes and celery at El Super and inching our way past the meat counter traffic jam at Food City, just like everyone else and nobody looks twice at us. Unlike the adherents of the Republican Party, I'm just as comfortable in a Mexican grocery store as I am in an American one.
Thank you for reading this post and please don't forget to share, comment, and subscribe!
Before I resume with the 21 day blog challenge, I would like to share an update with you. On Friday, we were rear-ended by a careless driver and I sustained a mild whiplash from the impact. Today, I am pleased to report that the pain in my neck is about 90% gone. I have slight discomfort when I move my head quickly, but since my neck was recovering so nicely on its own, I decided to forgo any physical therapy on it for the foreseeable future. Plenty of rest and relaxation with Ghost Adventures streaming on my computer to keep me entertained has done much to heal my neck. However, being sore and having a VERY active baby climbing all over you are not terribly conducive to writing a blog, though we recently were given a baby jail and a walker by a friend who was cleaning out her home. Those have helped somewhat with giving me a break from parenthood for a short stretch of time.
 |
| It is also Ash Wednesday, so I hope y'all remembered to go to church today! |
Anyway, back to day 18 of the challenge. This prompt was a bit of a challenge because I really couldn't think of what to write which fit! The subject will be skewed a bit towards my Arizona perspective, but I do think there is something worth considering regardless of where you live here in the US.
Since we receive food stamps, and I am extremely blessed to have a husband who cooks, we do lots of grocery shopping during the month. Sure we shop at Walmart and the local versions of the national chains like Kroger (Fry's in Arizona), Safeway, Albertsons, but we also shop at several local grocery stores that have limited markets outside of Arizona (Basha's/Food City and El Super). With our alotted amount, we actually can make it to the end of the month and still have food to eat!
What is the secret to our success?
Mexican grocery stores.
Here in Arizona, we have a high Mexican population. Others may be uncomfortable with this reality, but I honestly don't mind it because there are benefits that come from living among others who are very different from you. Food stores are one of them. It never fails-here in town the cheapest vegetables and fruits can be found in Mexican grocery stores like El Super and Food City. The national stores try to compete and sometimes have decent deals, but it's almost always consistently the Mexican stores with cheap, quality produce.
 |
| One of my regular haunts, El Super. This is from one of their stores in California. Pic found here |
In addition to produce, the Mexican stores usually have good deals on pop and meat, though they aren't always consistent about effecting them. Many times, we have gone to Food City to buy vegetables and found the 2L bottles of pop to be selling for more than $1/bottle and beef flap meat selling for more than $3.99/lb. It's annoying sometimes, but that's life.
Of course, like anywhere else, there are things you avoid buying at Mexican grocery stores. They tend to be bad about selling cereal and baby foods (both horribly overpriced), frozen foods, dairy products (unless they're Mexican cheeses, then they're ok), alcohols, and most juices. Canned foods can be hit or miss, depending on what is being sold. I've bought cans of vegetables for $0.50/can when there's a sale, but would stay away from soups or canned spaghetti like Chef Boyardee because they were vending for FAR over the $1/can max price I'd be willing to pay for the product.
You may wonder if people look at my husband and I with strange looks when we go shopping in these stores since we are clearly not Mexican and speak Spanish poorly. The answer is no because NOBODY CARES! We're all too busy maneuvering around carts left in aisles as we try to get to the tomatoes and celery at El Super and inching our way past the meat counter traffic jam at Food City, just like everyone else and nobody looks twice at us. Unlike the adherents of the Republican Party, I'm just as comfortable in a Mexican grocery store as I am in an American one.
Thank you for reading this post and please don't forget to share, comment, and subscribe!
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