New Freezer
Some Food Shortages / Cashier-Less Walmarts/ New Freezer Preparedness 4.0-
It's still pretty warm here and smoky but I think fall is hopefully on the way soon. With our bumper crop of peaches frozen (for now) and apples on the way we decided to buy a new freezer. Our 1st one is 7.5 cubic feet. Works great! We priced a upright but were way too expensive, $600.00+ . For $190.00 we got a Magic Chef 5 cubic feet that fits in my office, near all the food storage. Flour on top will go in after it chills. We got ours at Home Depot, Lowe's had similar ones too. We were happy to find one, as there was a shortage last year!
From Psitivelyosceola.com
We did some shopping last Friday night at a Walmart that we hadn't been to in quite a while. I'm not a big Walmart fan, so I don't go there very often. Maybe once or twice a year. I decided to pick up a few things that I knew they would have like powdered whole milk, etc. I found what I was looking for and then went over to the meat section and there was a whole section for chicken that was completely empty. I'm talking a really long cooler, multiple shelves probably 15 to 20 feet long. I should have taken a photo, but I didn't sorry. I was just kind of shocked! I've been hearing about food shortages from various people I know on social media, seeing it firsthand was different. The other thing that we ran into was going to check out. There were literally zero cashiers to check out. It was all completely self checkout. Dave and I kept looking around thinking we were not seeing the cashiers and realized that there simply weren't any. I ran across this article, as well as something else in social media, Positively Osceola.com I guess this going national. Really makes me wonder how many people are now out of jobs? Walmart's always been known for just making money and this sadly is another example. I did go to a local WinCo store on the weekend and their meat supply was totally different. Everything was completely full and stocked, with chicken parts for .99 cents a Lb. I was also able to find some canned beef in gravy there, which I had heard about. I bought a couple cans, might be good for a change at some point. I finally got my tote of oats in some 1/2 gallon jars-
I bought two of these on sale at Amazon, $15.00 each, good deal! We love black bean cakes!
I also bought some whole shelf-stable milk for guests or baking, etc. -
Whole Powdered Milk = Butter!
While we don't drink much milk I decided to buy some whole powdered milk, $4.00 for a small tin at Wallyworld-
Spanish label (English directions on the back)
Cooking Home-Frozen Fresh Eggs-
I saw a Youtube video a few nights ago about freezing eggs. The person said if you don't whisk them together you'll get this hard lumpy yolk. I decided to do test drive the eggs I froze. After thawing overnight there definitely was a lumpy yolk to be seen-
I decided to scramble the eggs, which is what I would usually do for breakfast. I was able to squash the yolks down using a fork repeatedly, texture was not too bad, flavor was the same. Having said that I would definitely not use these for baking now that I know that. I'll be whisking at my eggs in the future when I freeze more. Going to find out this time of year since the chickens are still laying really well even with the heat! So if you plan on freezing eggs whisk whisk and whisk!
14 comments:
Thanks for all of the great information, Nancy!
I wonder if no cashiers at your Walmart are because they simply can't get the employees? I know around here (northern Minnesota) the shortage of employees is getting to the desperate level. The word is that so many people are getting more money (than they can by working and earning} by collecting unemployment checks that they've chosen not to go back to their jobs they originally lost because of COVID.
I found 1/2 gallon jars at Menard's for $10 a case. If you have a Menard's near you, you might want to check it out.
Thanks Susan!
Yes I could be but I know that Home Depot tried this a few years ago too. No need to pay benefits, no absenteeism, no retirement etcetera. Yes I found half gallon jars for $13 here for 6 good thanks! No Menards here though
Great information Nancy. Always find your tips helpful. Our walmart started to only take cards no cash. People were walking out myself included. Target is much further from us but im done with walmart. Our son has not set foot in that store in 15 years. I wish they would put a target closer I know a lot of people who would go there instead of Walmart. Target is over 1 hour from me. That extra freezer you got is sure gonna come in handy. Have a great day
Thanks Judy! I didn't know they weren't accepting cash anymore but I think that's the wave of the future for reasons I will not get into. Sadly it is sometimes better to just drive farther and get better support from a business. I try to buy things that are local Ace Hardware rather than buying things online from Amazon. Good to support smaller businesses. Yes the freezer is working great so far it's fired up and I will get it filled specially with more fruit on the way and are tomatoes coming soon! Have a great
Good to know about whisking the eggs. I water-glassed mine and they were great for baking, just not for scrambled eggs. We too are seeing all self-check out at our Wal-mart.
Thanks Kristina. Glad that worked for you! I've heard of that before. I guess the Walmart thing is national.
Our Walmart still has cashiers (2 or 3). Our DollarStore has self-checkouts and a cashier if you stand and wait and don't want to use the self-checkouts and after they notice you standing waiting. Canada East location.
Thanks for letting me know! Always wanted to visit Eastern Canada Nova Scotia Etc oh, what a gorgeous area!
Nancy, what a great little freezer! I'd love to have one (I just have my little freezer at the top of the refrigerator), but we're always having power outages (eyeroll, please) so I hesitate.
Sure I understand maybe get a small generator of some kind or get into the hydrated and canned foods. Home canning is not that hard to learn!
Hi Nancy! :) Thanks for the tip about making the butter, I never thought of that!! I am a great fan of the cashier-less system. I like to take my time and make sure everything is the right price and handle my own purchases. I found at Walmart though, when they first started that here, there were so many bugs...they had an assistant for each machine anyway!
We have been seeing a lot of shortages in our area also. Some things that make sense and others that don't. We have started stocking some things that aren't ususally on the preps list; rolls of twine for the baler, extra barbed wire fencing, sausage casings, contact solution, etc. Strange but would probably be as important as our food preps. Thanks for sharing this with us on the Homestead Blog Hop!
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