Grocery Budgets: The Salvage Grocery Stores

 In many blogs and YouTube videos, I keep hearing about salvage grocery stores.  And I had no idea what those were.  Salvage stores and bulk stores seem to be fairly common in Amish or Mennonite areas.  Well guess what? I live right down the road from the 4th biggest Amish community in the country (and about an hour away from the second biggest).  So I decided to see if I could find some salvage stores and check them out to see what all the hype was about.  

I'm about 20-30 minutes away from two of the salvage stores that I found.  And since I've never been to a salvage store, I did not know what to expect or how my shopping experience was going to go.  10 minutes from both stores are Aldi, Walmart, and Giant Eagle so I had those as back ups and to fill in with fresh produce.  In the summer, fresh produce is plentiful in Amish country.  But we are in March in Ohio, and not much much grows here now.

I mapped out which salvage store to start with and worked my way to the big chain grocery location.  I even found a surprise bonus store on my way back.

With no list for the salvage stores, but a nice grocery list for the big chain stores in hand, I headed out.  I brought my own bags because I wasn't sure if the salvage stores had their own bags (and I know for sure that Aldi does not).

Salvage Store #1:  I was nervous.  I know that sounds odd, but I get anxiety in new situations.  Plus on the way to store it occurred to me that these Amish run stores might be cash only.  And did I stop at the bank before I headed out? No, I did not.  I have some emergency cash in my wallet and figured that if worst came to worst, I could use that and skip the second salvage store.  Luckily the first store took debit/credit cards.  I really had no idea what to expect.  These stores are quite small (they remind me of the grocery stores that we went to on Abaco island in the Bahamas),  but they have carts for you to use.  I was surprised by what I found.  You can pick up so many items!  The thing you have to look at is flavor, how damaged an item is, and the BEST BY date.  Most of the items that I found were past the Best Buy date.  If you are ok with that, then you will be fine.  If not, it's probably not worth your time.  I found some canned goods, boxed goods, and even a frozen meat that would work for me.  I'm ok with buying things close to or just passed the best by date.  But buying something 2-3 years past the best by date isn't something that I want to do. But I will say, they had giant pieces of meat (full deli hams, ribs, sausage packs) that were past the best by date but frozen and if I truly had limited funds I would head there to bulk buy for my family. Everything looked safe and clean. We need to feed our people and when funds are VERY tight, you can feed your people for a long time here. Things you will find:  dented cans, crushed boxes, trial flavors, items that didn't sell well in a regular box store, seasonal items (lots of Christmas themed cookies and candy), slightly damaged items (broken caps on shampoo bottles, but not broken seals).  I bought a few items and my bill came to just over $15.

Salvage Store #1

2 types of yogurt, and 1 pack of uncured hot dogs

2 boxes of cereal (1 box went to the food pantry),  2 boxes of Kodiak Cakes Mix,  Baggies,  Crushed tomatoes,  Minute Rice, and a can of Anchovies

Salvage Store #2:  On the way there, I passed a cheese co-op and made a mental note to stop on my way back.  Store number 2 was much of the same, but they offered different items. and paper products whose original package was damaged so they had been repackaged.  This is the store that made my trip worth it.  I found a King Arthur Gluten Free Flour just past it's best by date for $2.99.  It's normally over $12 per bag (I took a picture of the regular price at our Giant Eagle ).  This store only took cash or check.  Luckily I had my check book with me. Again, I spent just over $15.

2nd salvage store

over $13 for the GF flour at the grocery store

Gluten Free flour mix for $2.99, Annies Mac N Cheese for $.59 per box (bought 3 boxes), 2 bulk pack of oats (2# each) for $2.39 each, Goya beans for $.39, Carnation powdered milk for $1.69, and muffin mix for $1.50 each.  1 of the bulk packs of oats and the muffin mix went to the local food pantry.

The Cheese Co-Op:  I've passed this before and never stopped.  I think it was last year that I did a post where I stopped at the store at the actual cheese factory, and this co-op is a much smaller version.  The cheese I got there was decently priced, but so delicious.  It's so fresh and creamy.  It's a nice treat from the $1.99 Aldi cheese (cost effective but sort of bland).  

The Cheese Co-Op

A large roll of butter, 3 types of cheese, and small bag of snacking cheese for my lunch, cheese curds, and a large maple syrup.

I went to Aldi and Giant Eagle to finish out my shopping.  All together, I was probably gone 3-3.5 hours.  Did I save money?  I'm not sure.  I have my receipts, and I will have to do the math on those.  I bought a lot of food for the boys to take back to college and it's things that I normally wouldn't buy.  I will go over the receipts and update you here later this week.

If nothing else, it was a kind of adventure.  I have lived here for 22 years and I have to say seeing those horse and buggies trotting along the road never gets boring.  And I had never been to a salvage store before so it was a completely new experience. And the cheese I got from the co-op is delish.

My take-a-ways from the salvage store:

1.  Make sure you have the appropriate currency.  Some may take credit or debit, but some may be cash or check only.

2.  Best By Dates, packaging, dents, flavors:  These are all things to look at.  Do what you feel comfortable with.

3.  Some stores will have a day where you can get extra savings.  One of the stores I went to said that on Mondays you can get an extra 10 percent off.  

4.  If they are Amish owned or heavily Amish run, these stores will be closed on Sundays.  Always check days and times of operation.

5. Have patience.  The stores are small.  But with carts and people will feel crowded.  Even though you may be going the correct way in an aisle, someone else may not.  Have patience and offer grace,

6.  You never know what you are going to get.  If you just want to save money, driving an hour or more to visit a few salvage stores may not be worth your time and gas money.  But if you are in the area, by all means, stop by and see what kind of savings you can get.

7.  These are small, local stores.  If you live near by, please stop by and patronize to keep them in business.

The Best of 2020: Recipe Addition

Of all the things 2020 gave us, we seemed to get a renewed interest in cooking, gardening, and apparently making sourdough bread.  While I didn't personally make sourdough bread, I did do a lot of cooking.  The following are some of my favorite NEW recipes from 2020.

1.  Mississippi Chicken by Plain Chicken
It's just got a good flavor and is so juicy.  

2.  Sticky, Sweet, and Spicy Meatballs from Our Happy Mess
I call these sriracha meatballs.  I use gluten free panko crumbs and skip the egg to make these allergy friendly for our family.  I like to serve them over brown rice with steamed broccoli on the side.
  
3.  Greek Turkey and Rice Skillet from Budget Bytes
This is a good "bulk" meal to feed my hungry men.  It can be done cost effective and fills up their bellies.  The olives and the feta give it great flavor.  

4.  Easy Taco Mac from Maebell's Simply Easy Recipes.
Another good bulk meal.  My people love all things "taco".  This more than fits the bill and again, can be done economically.  

5.  Triple Decker Club Sandwich from Oh Sweet Basil
I'm not sure why I don't think of sandwiches for dinner more often, but I don't.  I make these to everyone's taste.  One is allergic to mayo so I leave that off for him.  Two don't like avocados so I leave those off for them and give extra avocado to the child obsessed with them.  Sandwiches can be quick and are great in the summer when it's hot out and you don't feel like cooking.

6. Fast and Easy Pesto Lasagna from Food & Wine
I used a nut free jarred Pesto sauce, gluten free lasagna noodles, and skipped the egg.  Easy and allergy friendly.

7.  Smothered Philly Cheese Cube Steak from Melissa's  Southern Style Kitchen
We bought a quarter cow last year and it came with cube steaks.  I never used cube steaks before and didn't have a clue what to do with them.  This recipe was a real crowd pleaser.  I used gluten free buns for the child with food allergies.  Just be careful if you put buns under the broiler.  They go FAST and I incinerated the first batch.

Some Extras:

8.  Pressure Cooker Beans from A Mindfull Mom
I ALWAYS forget to soak the beans.  With this recipe, you don't have to.  

9.  Teriyaki Sauce from The Genuine Table
I have a hard time finding allergy friendly teriyaki sauce.  Now I can just make my own.

10.  Sweet and Spicy Asian Coleslaw
We did garden this year.  And I got several giant cabbage.  Two children refuse to eat cabbage and one of those children has the food allergies.  I made the recipe as is, but if he liked cabbage, I would have subbed the mayo with a vegan version.  

You can find photos of most of these over on The Prayer, Grace, and Tea Instagram

I would like to give a BIG THANK YOU to all the workers of Giant Eagle Curbside and Delivery, Instacart Pick Up and Delivery, and Walmart Store Pick Up for all their hard work keeping us in food this year.  I am so grateful to you for all your hard work when I either couldn't get into the store or didn't feel safe going into the store.  My son works in the meat department of Giant Eagle so I know exactly how hard you all worked and what you had to go through.  THANK YOU!

From Thanksgiving, a birthday, Christmas, to New Years

 SO MUCH has gone on since mid November.

First we had Thanksgiving.  There were 11 of us.  And this year we did two turkeys.  One I did traditionally in the oven and the other my husband fried.  It was a nice, relaxing day.  I love Thanksgiving.  It's just a relaxed holiday with zero expectations.

The power went out the day before Thanksgiving but I was still able to get prep done with my handy dandy headlight lamp

The main table.  We also had a kids table in the kitchen.

The oven baked turkey.

Next up was my 50th birthday.  I'd rather not even discuss turning 50, but it did happen.  My husbands company Christmas party was at our house on my birthday weekend, so my husband planned the celebration for the following week.  I requested NO PARTY and I put my mom in charge of making sure that no party happened.  She did a great job because of course my husband wanted to do a party.  But instead he planned a night at a local glass works where we made Christmas ornaments and then went to dinner.  It was a fun night with just our family of 5, my parents, and my mother in law.

Me getting some instruction on working with glass.

Next up is Christmas.  It was a wonderful day spent with family.  The boys loved all their gifts and I love watching them open them.  It's 6 months worth of effort over in 45 minutes.  But I wouldn't have it any other way.

This years tree.

A gift from his big brother.

The aftermath.

And lastly New Years Eve.  It was another quiet night with just the 5 of us to start with and then just 4 of us because the 17 year old went to a friends house.  We usually do fondue, but we decided to have homemade chicken wings and French fries.  I bought everything for the fondue, but we were too full for it so maybe we'll use it this weekend instead.  After food, we decided to watch The Swiss Family Robinson on Disney+.  3 of the 4 of us made it to midnight.  The 7 year old went down at 11 pm.

Some of the wings.

I love homemade fries

The fondue pots were on standby.  Maybe we'll use them this weekend instead.

I can't believe the holidays are over.  It just goes by so fast.  But it was good and I couldn't ask for anything more.  Now on to the new year.  I'm hoping to get this house more organized in the new year.  I'm joining The Bowl Full of Lemons 2020 Home Organization Challenge.  I follow her on Instagram and I find her so inspirational.  I may or may not update my organizing here.  So stay tuned for future updates on how that's going and also what our family is doing in 2020.  Lots of major happenings this year!

It's Fall Ya'All.

It's fall!  It's my favorite season.  I love the warm days and the cool nights.  I love the changing color of the leaves.  I LOVE the smell in the air.  That smell is earthy and spicy and just magical to me.

I love fall!

I'm not going to think about what happens next (I'm not a fan of old man winter).  But I love fall.

The older I get though, the more melancholy I get at the end of summer.  Summer is warm and full of fun, sun, and precious memories.  It's the most time we get to spend with the kids.  Whether it's vacation or just carting them back and forth to sports, it's OUR time with these wonderful boys.  During the school year, they are not ours.  They belong to school, sports, friends, etc.  But during summer, they are all ours.

In the fall, they go back to all those things that take then away from us. It's their time.  It's them growing and moving forward.  And that's the way it's supposed to be, even if it makes me sad.

But even though I feel a bit melancholy, it's still my favorite time of year.

I have my candles ready.  I have some new ones this year.  I've only stuck with fall scents so far.

Dried Lavendar & Oak is my favorite so far.

I bought Farmstand Festival but I haven't lit it yet.

Spireside Ghostly Castle is my Halloween scent.  I really like it.

South candle Campfire reminds of fireplace or an outdoor campfire.  It's a really nice scent.

I did not buy this one (YET!) but today I came across Root Candle Tabacco Vanilla  It's such a nice, relaxing scent (I'm sure I will buy this one before he season is done).


I have also bought some Lori Mitchell figurines for Halloween.  I have a few for each holiday.  They are too cute.  But we thought we had the candy corn kids and it turns out we did not.  So of course we HAD to stop into our favorite store Chagrin Valley Antiques to pick them up.  And we ended up picking up those AND a few more.  And finding some that I just have to have for Christmas.

Chagrin Valley Antiques is one of my favorite stores.  I have been going there for almost 20 years.  The owners are amazing people.  I had not had the opportunity to go there for a few months.  And I really missed it.  Sadly, I found out that Tom, one of the owners passed away unexpectedly.  Please keep his wife in your prayers.  She is an amazing lady and they have been a part of our lives for so long.  I'm heartbroken for her and for our community.  We lost an amazing person.

The boys also went to homecoming.  At least the big two did.  The seven year old is still my baby.  They both had a great time.  I'd post pictures, but they asked that I NOT do that so you'll just have to take my word on how handsome they looked.

The oldest is playing football this fall and the middle is playing fall baseball.  Sports have kept us busy.

Last week we hosted Senior Football Dinner.  22 senior boys descended upon my house.  THOSE KIDS CAN EAT.  Luckily, the weather was good enough for me to set them up on the patio.  And luckily we did not run out of food.  They are 22 special young men and it was a pleasure to have them. I used That Hawiian Guy's BBQ for the food and it was delicious.  If you are local, please check them out.  Not only is the food amazing, but so is the owner.

And that's my update for now.  I know more has gone on but this is the major high lights.  We do not have Halloween costumes yet.  But we planted mums. College applications are in the works and FAFSA is completed. Hopefully I can get on here more often and update with minor coming and goings.  But for now, this is the crux of it.

So happy fall ya'all.  Enjoy every moment, every scent, every color, and every second.