Grocery store hide and seek
 

It seems every week when we go grocery shopping we notice where IT was last week is not there now. Noticing today cookies/crackers are now where bottled water is. Takes us longer to shop for necessities. When we ask a store employee where IT is, sometimes they don't know either. This has been going on for months. Wouldn't you think with the pandemic stores would want their customers to get in and out ASAP? And this chaos is at all 3 stores that we shop. We're considering on line ordering but can't get same day availability. Oh, tu for listing to my rant. https://cdn.quiltingboard.com/images...es/redface.png

I *so* hear you on that! I hate when things I have found before in a certain place move -even if it's just due to 'seasonal' popularity. I feel like it's a plot by the stores to make us fumble around and end up putting more things in our baskets than we ordinarily would! I know I'm cynical...I also have a tough time even getting the original spot memorized so, for me it's extra challenging, sigh.

Not just grocery stores - - -

I know Walmart is changing up its store here. Total chaos to me. Something about making it easier to shop? Yeah, Thanks.

I love the curb side pick up and now do most of our shopping that way. It takes a little planning to get all the items you need and stock ahead of use. Every day supplies, paper plates, trash bags, laundry soap are ordered from web sites and delivered to our door. No need to even get in my wagon.

Stupid question. What is IT?

We use Walmart curb side pick up and love it. We don't even get out of the car.

I have been doing curb side pick up for months now and part of the reason is for just what you are saying. I don't want to be in a store any longer than necessary and moving goods around is so frustrating. Sure I may not get everything on my list but I get most of what I am looking for and I have learned to shop differently and more safely. There are definite draw backs when not choosing your own meats or produce but on the whole it works well.

IT is whatever you are shopping for.

Yeah, the "hide-and-seek" grocery shopping is a pain, but when we go shopping, we split up the grocery list so that helps to cut down a little of the "now where have they moved -----to?"https://cdn.quiltingboard.com/images...s/confused.png

FYI-I have noticed that store employee shoppers don't use coupons. They're hanging there right in front of the item. I pointed them out to a curbside shopper assistant, and they said they don't use those!

I also find this moving around a pain! I know people love the curb pickup but there are so many employees moving around those big carts that it is difficult to get thru the aisles and I have to ride a scooter--what a mess! I want to be able to get my own items as I have seen dented cans some pick up and I would not like them getting my produce!

You wouldn't believe how much I hate grocery shopping. But my husband loves to. He's a major foodie so it makes sense.
He does 99% of food shopping! I knew there was a reason we should be together haha!

In my little town seems only Walmart keeps changing their aisle contents............when they have anything to put on their shelves. Most times their shelves are bare so I check my pantry and stash, see what I might need in the next couple months and pick it up when I see it more often than wait till I need it as its not there then.

The personal shoppers at H-E-B don't have to use the in store coupons because when you place your order on line you "clip" the coupons and they are automatically deducted from your order. I've been using either their curbside or deliver for over a year and a half because of multiple surgeries and the pandemic. Love it!

I always seem to have one item on my list that I need to hunt for. Like flaxmeal - is it in with cereals, or baking supplies? How about non-dairy milk? with other drinks? It is not a large enough category to get space on the hanging signs.

I don't mind walking around looking for things that have been moved. I view the grocery shopping experience as a way to get some extra walking in. I wear a mask, and gloves, if I start to go down an aisle and it's got a lot of people I just wait or go down the next aisle and come back later so I get extra steps in. My pet peeve is I can't reach the products on the top shelf, I usually hang around until someone tall comes along and I ask for help.

I had three store employees looking for the Nestles Quik, it was found stocked in the chip aisle. Makes no sense but it's not my store. If the owner wants employees wasting time looking for items then that's his choice.

My DH always did the grocery shopping (since pregnant with 38 yo DD cause I'd get nauseous just smelling the meat counter) and I'd make up a list, pull coupons and off he'd go. With Covid and his risk factors its on me now. Since our county does not mandate masks (despite a State college having done a study and showing that masks make a big difference in Covid #) I drive to the next county over and shop in stores there. It was a hassle this summer as I'd take coolers and have them bag frozens together. my biggest problem is that I'm not accustomed to the stores so have to always do a big of back tracking. And no one seems to carry corn meal mush which the DH loves for breakfast. I'm too unorganized to order online, plus we live too far from any store to go several times a week. I go every 3 weeks,we freeze lots of stuff, including milk. Nice thing about other stores is that they have better produce than in our local store.

I have never frozen milk. Does it change it when you thaw it back out?
Any hints?

I grew up in Alaska anyway, and my mother was paid monthly, so we typically bought all our supplies for the month at one large volume shopping trip.

We used the 2 quart size (rectangular) waxed cardboard type packaging. The freezing will make it swell a bit, so don't know by personal experience if gallon plastic jugs have enough expansion space. After it thaws, shake well and you might periodically shake before pouring. The freezing interferes some with the homogenization (the balancing of the fat particles) and so you do get some cream rising to the top.

edit: If you have a Dollar store near you, the shelf stable milk cartons are great to have in the pantry. Don't know about drinking it, but it's fine in my coffee :) Shelf stable milk was introduced back in the 70s, and while I was leary at first am fine with it now.

We sometimes freeze gallon jugs of milk after pouring out a small amount to allow for expansion. Was surprised at how long it takes to thaw. Put it in the fridge to thaw about 3 days before you need it. Give it a good hard shake before using. Was fine for coffee, drinking and making yogurt. We lived in Spain for a bit and they had no milk in the cooler, just the shelf stable boxes. Shopped around brands until we had a favorite for drinking.

I buy whole milk powder not instant powdered milk. It's good on cereal and perfect for cooking and baking. The trick is getting it very cold before using for taste. My kids never knew the difference since I made it the gallon milk jug and they used it cereal or making chocolate milk. It has a long shelf life. It sure was handy when we were out of milk during an ice storm. I wouldn't use it if fresh milk was available as it cost more but great for always having whole milk on hand. We are not low fat or 2% type of milk people.

I've been doing it since April and got directions from my friend who is retired home extensionist. She said your best bet is 1% milk as it thaws best, takes a longgg time to thaw so I bring up a couple of days before I need. Shake it up as it thaws so the milk fats blend. Also leave some space in the top of the container for it to expand while freezing. I will add that it looks a little yellowish when frozen because because the milk fat to separates so it's weak looking. Fine when defrosted and shook up. I typically will have some frozen for about 2.5 weeks.

would add that we also freeze (real) butter, cheeses and "fake" eggs too.

I freeze salted butter. I have found a package of butter in the freezer older then a year and it was fine. The unopened package was in a freezer zip lock bag. I freeze yeast and hard cheeses. Any food can be frozen so I freeze and then see how it is after thawing.

Stores usually do that so that you have to walk around looking for what you want and they hope you will buy other things you see. I find it so annoying as I'm not a person who wanders thru stores shopping. I know what I want. I go in and get it and get out. I hate it when I have to search to find what I want. Its another reason I shop at Sprouts instead of one the mega grocery stores. They rarely move things around and even if they do, the store is small and easy to find things in. Also, miracle of miracles, the employees know where things are!

Our two locally owned grocery stores might rearrange a couple things but it's rare, which is good because I hate change. LOL

I hate grocery shopping and love the online shopping and curbside pickup. I can shop in the evenings while watching tv with hubby, and pick up my order in the morning. I have been very pleased with my produce orders! I get very specific and they have fulfilled my order to a T. I once asked for 2 avocados, one slightly soft to the touch right at the stem, one hard to the touch at the stem, and they came exactly as ordered. Bananas, same thing, they gave me exactly what I requested.

I've been using Instacart a lot since I broke my ankle in 2019 and have been very pleased with them. Once or twice I got the wrong order, but mostly they have been very good and given me very nice produce.

I do the same. Order in the evening while I'm watching TV and have it delivered the next day. It's so convenient.