"merryb" > wrote in message
...
On Sep 5, 2:05 pm, "Julie Bove" > wrote:
> "Janet Bostwick" > wrote in message
>
> ...
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> > On Tue, 4 Sep 2012 22:15:20 -0700, "Julie Bove"
> > > wrote:
>
> >>"Jean B." > wrote in message
> ...
> >>> Janet Bostwick wrote:
> >>>> On Sun, 02 Sep 2012 23:20:40 -0400, "Jean B." > wrote:
>
> >>>> snip
> >>>>> Here I thought my initial thought was crazy: bury them in sand and
> >>>>> keep
> >>>>> them in a cool place. Your idea may be better though. Less grit.
> >>>> I believe that is the suggested way to over-winter carrots.
> >>>> Janet US
>
> >>> I need to try these methods. I suppose the sterilized sand will be
> >>> hard
> >>> to find now (as vs. in the spring when the kiddies' sand boxes are
> >>> being
> >>> set up.)
>
> >>I was most unhappy tonight. We bought 4 sweet potatoes at Albertsons
> >>last
> >>night. They all looked very good. I set them on top of a box of Taco
> >>Salad
> >>Shells that was sitting on top of my bread box. They were in my
> >>possession
> >>for less than 24 hours. And one was totally bad inside. Not rotten like
> >>mush but like...all dried out and there were holes throughout it.
> >>Clearly
> >>we need to do more research because we must not know what a good sweet
> >>potato looks like.
>
> >>I must also be more careful with the produce at Winco. We bought 2
> >>cucumbers on Friday and they were totally rotten on Monday. Their
> >>produce
> >>is super cheap. But... I think it is also close to going bad. Which
> >>perhaps is why it is so cheap.
>
> > Don't buy your produce from the un-refrigerated area, buy it only from
> > the cooled produce. Feel the cucumber before you buy it. It should
> > not give to the touch at all. The color should be dark green -- yes, I
> > know cucumbers are dark green. But if you look at a bunch of them,
> > you will see that the color of some of them is not as rich or pure.
> > They are older or grown too long in the field. Do no choose the
> > largest cucumber in the bin. If the cucumber is totally, totally
> > smooth, with absolutely no bumpiness anywhere, looking like it may
> > have stretched its skin, it was grown too long in the field.
>
> It was refrigerated but I had my daughter pick them. That perhaps was my
> mistake.
>
> > Julie, I really hate the way you condemn an entire business or food
> > type or whatever just because you had a bad (in your view) experience.
> > Everyone who shops needs to know how to make the best selection of
> > goods. You simply do not know how to do this. Do you really think
> > that Winco orders produce from the supplier saying "now, be sure to
> > give us the stuff that is just about to go bad?" Or that there is a
> > supplier that specializes in food just about to go bad? Some day
> > someone is going to sue you for making false statements about them.
> > Janet US
>
> Yes, I do think they do this and that is probably why they can keep their
> prices so cheap. The reason I think they do this is because on the produce
> that has an expiration date on it, it is always either that day or a day
> or
> two later. Granted we do usually go there on Friday but we have gone on
> other days and it is always the same. There's a chain of cheapo grocery
> stores in PA (or at least they used to be there) that did the same. They
> bought stuff that was close to expiring at a cheaper price so they could
> sell it for cheaper. It was fine when I needed to cook something that day.
> I often shopped there when I needed a large amount of food.
>
> They can not sue me for saying what I think. I have no proof of this of
> course. It's just what I think. And that's not the case for a lawsuit. I
> am not the only one who has said bad things on this NG about that
> supermarket. In fact I was made fun of for shopping there. They clearly
> are targeting a low income market. If you had ever been there, you would
> know. I will buy some things there. Not others.

You get what you pay for, especially there. Ever go to Food 4 Less?

I don't know. Is Food 4 Less in this area? I have been to Grocery Outlet.
Right nasty place that one is. My friend set foot once and only once in the
one in North Seattle. Said the aroma of spoiled milk whapped her in the
face when she walked it. I have only ever been to two of them. The one in
Oakland which wasn't super bad comparatively and the one in Lynnwood. Yick!
Even the customers in there. Yick! I only went because at the time we were
eating a certain butter substitute and they had it for much less than any
other store. I would buy 6 of them at a time because I didn't want to go
back for a very long time. I have another friend who lives out near Sumner
who loves them. So hers must be good.

I do like most of the Hytop products that Winco sells. The refried beans
were very runny so no good, IMO. And the cats wouldn't eat that brand of
food but that's fine because I prefer to feed them a premium food. I
thought they had a good price on whole wheat pasta until I found out that
the Fred Meyer brand is actually cheaper!

I can get good prices on cheese, packaged lunch meats, milk, cottage cheese,
yogurt, paper products, baked goods and sometimes soda pop. Plus they
discount their magazines. And I have gotten some nice cat perches for cheap
but have also seen some crappy ones in there.

When I go there I go there only with a very loose list. I might list
something but then put a question mark by it because I never know if I will
really buy it there or not. I mostly just go looking for bargains.

More and more I am thinking that Target beats their prices on a lot of
things. My dad did read that they have the lowest price overall for
groceries. The only problem is that they don't have a full, complete
grocery. Yes, I can get enough stuff for a meal or two but I can't
necessarily get specialty items. I did get the Red Card so can save another
5% now.

One thing that is good about Winco though is that they do seem to have a
pretty good selection of Asian and Latino foods. Not as much Asian stuff as
Central Market but much better prices. If you're looking for noodle bowls
or Ramen, that's the place to get it! Not that we buy it for ourselves mind
you. But when the food bank was looking for Ramen, we bought several cases
there.