HALLIE EPHRON: With Omicron in retreat, I'm back shopping in stores. Thinking about important questions like: why would anyone buy “low salt soy sauce.” Look at the label! It’s low-salt because they added water. You’re paying extra for water… that’s free and that you could add yourself, but then you’d probably want to add more soy sauce because guess what, water dilutes the taste!
Equally surprising to me are products like SPINDRIFT which are bubbly water with fruit juice added. You can do this yourself... just add cranberry juice or orange juice or lemon…. Easy peasy. Those 12-ounce cans go for a little over a dollar each. Seltzer water is about 1/3 the price. And even less if you start with tap water and make your own carbonation with Sodastream and think of all the plastic bottles you won’t put into the wastestream.
Marketing geniuses have gotten really good at touting what isn't there. The other day I picked up a carton of eggs in the supermarket and emblazoned across the lid, it said GLUTEN FREE. Same deal with mayonnaise. I wondered if they were charging more for a missing ingredient that would never be there in the first place.
I've always wanted to be radiant.
Its not-so-secret ingredient: “Infused with black diamond truffle” which is apparently a rare commodity. 1.7 oz of this cream can be yours for $310. Free shipping.
I know, you’re wondering what the #1 ingredient is. It's not black diamond truffles. It’s water.
Where's Doris Day when you need her? She used Vaseline for "skin care." 1.7 oz from Target costs $1.79. Made of 100% petroleum jelly. And yes, it is gluten-free.
No water added.
Are you back in the stores shopping, and what does it surprise you that people actually buy?
Shopping is an exercise is avoiding the pitfalls in every aisle. I’m always surprised at all the people who buy bottled water for the convenience. Couldn’t they just use a reusable water bottle? Of course, most “convenience” foods aren’t really a good buy, anyway. But the one that always gets me is frozen yogurt. There’s so much sugar in it, you’re just fooling yourself about "health benefits" . . . .
ReplyDeleteI wonder if people might be buying 'frozen yogurt' instead of "ice cream" thinking there's less fat. Or maybe they like that little yogurt-y acidic tang? Any frozen yogurt lovers out there?
DeleteI love frozen yogurt...Sometimes I take regular yogurt, put it in a dish and put it in the freezer to get it really cold and a little icy. It's not the same, of course, but who cares?
DeleteI stopped in-person grocery shopping when I tested positive for COVID in March 2020. We had limited grocery delivery options in Ottawa back then. Instacart was brand new and I used them until I finally tested negative 7 weeks later.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Ontario has been through multiple lockdowns or open with limited store capacity, I have shopped in-person for groceries since May 2020. Social distancing, hand sanitizer and masks are part of the normal routine. Ontario will be dropping the provincial mask mandate on March 21 but it seems that many citizens are still wary about omicron and will continue to wear masks while indoors.
The only new grocery delivery service I started using was the 2 online FM stores. The produce lasts much longer/fresher than what is being sold in the stores now (supply chain issues). It's also nice that I don't have to walk 30-45 min along snowy/icy sidewalks lugging groceries home (I don't drive).
P.S. Another water-free item I use are those Tru_Earth laundry strips. Those jugs of liquid detergent are mostly water.
I'm going to have to find laundry strips - not carried at my grocery store... I used to buy detergent in boxes which seemed much more environmentally friendly.
DeleteHallie, there are several options for laundry strips available through Amazon and directly from the companies. We've been using Clean People for a while and it's really effective.
DeleteThe laundry soap strips are so much more efficient, and keep masses of plastic jugs out of landfills. And they do the job just as well as the water-filled jug stuff does.
DeleteOh, I will look for those strips!
DeleteI use the laundry strips. They work well and come in a small cardboard box!
DeleteIt's a bit of an investment to get a package of the strips, but they wash so many more loads than one of those gigantic bottles.
DeleteKAREN: Yes, I bought a few to try and once I like them, I got a 1-year Tru Earth subscription during their sale in fall 2020. I have only used 1/3 of the strips 1.5 years later, so I paused the renewal of the annual delivery.
DeleteTru-Earth also has a household cleaner product. You put a strip in a spray bottle and reconstitute it with your own water. Works pretty well. They also sell wool dryer balls, which just work.
DeleteGrace: I still use grocery delivery and curbside. There is a service called Mrs. Grocery that delivers from many of the small locally owned places. Masks for me for a good while yet.
DeleteI get my wool dryer balls at Trader Joe's.
DeleteDEAUN: I bought my wool dryer balls before trying Tru Earth and have other eco-friendly cleaning products for the rest of the house. Ottawa really only has Instacart or Uber Eats for grocery delivery. And I am still prefer shopping at the Byward Market baker, butcher, fish monger, cheese store to get individual products rather than buying the bulk of my groceries from Loblaws or Metro or Farm Boy.
DeleteWe never stopped going inside grocery stores, but only masked and at times when few others are there. I did venture into Marshalls in early December. The chute where you stand in line waiting for a free register is lined with things you don't need. Keychains and slippers and flashlights and chocolates, all in pretty colors.
ReplyDeleteLike Joan, I'm always amazed when I see someone tip a big load of bottled water into their cart. Just...no.
I'm also appalled at how messy and smelly the bottle-return area gets at my local supermarket. And how many bottles that should be returnable get rejected by the machine. They make it so hard to do the right thing.
DeleteEDITH: Product placement for impulse shopping...psychology at work.
DeleteGuilty! Can't tell you how many things I've picked up while standing at the checkout line at Marshalls. They're brilliant.
DeleteI will use bottled water when I go for a long run. But that's because the small size I buy is easier to take than my refillable water bottle. A pack of bottled water will last me a long time, too, so it's not something I use often.
ReplyDeleteThere are probably some other things that I buy others find odd. But it is what works best for me.
Which somehow reminds me of juice boxes. Another super convenient but truly wasteful (from a trash perspective). We went through a ton of them when my kids were little.
DeleteI've never stopped shopping in stores. If I needed something, I went in. I didn't hang out long though. Just got the stuff and got out.
ReplyDeleteAs for being surprised by what other people buy, I can't say that I really pay much attention to other shoppers in stores. I'm more focused on getting my own stuff.
Get in and get out was my philosophy before the pandemic. And it's been that way after as well.
DeleteMy husband picked up a carton of almond milk for a houseguest: non-dairy almond beverage, soy free and gluten free. She uses it on her cereal.
ReplyDeleteAnd this: a carton of eggs, "no hormones or steroids added." And in smaller print, "by Federal regulation".
Have you tried oat milk? Or soy? And I bought some ice cream made from cashews which was very tasty. There's a lot of alternatives these days to cow's milk. Cows produce methane. It's so hard to figure out what we CAN use/eat that won't blow back at us environmentally.
DeleteI switched to non-dairy milk a few years ago. Almond milk worked for the longest time, but now I am reacting to this too (sigh), so I switched to oat milk.
DeleteI recently tried the oat milk. I got Plain because I thought that meant it would be tasteless. No, it tastes like oats and when I pick up a glass to drink it my mouth is not expecting oat! It wasn't bad on my oatmeal though. I really can't see putting it in mashed potatoes or frosting either. I will try the almond, which my son is sure I will like. Maybe.
DeleteJUDY: I mainly use oat milk on my overnight oats or for baking, so the taste of the milk itself is not noticeable. Have NOT tried to use non-dairy milk in mashed potatoes, though.
DeleteBecause Julie is waiting for a knee replacement, elective surgeries being backed up forever, we use a shopper and curbside pickup for groceries. It certainly discourages impulse buying. But yesterday we went to our very small ALDI store bit is fun, has all sorts of middle aisle bargains, and there were few customers on a Wednesday morning, most masked.
ReplyDeleteAnd then we went out to lunch. We are scratching our social itch before the next surge. It will come. Count on it.
Hallie, I do the Seltzer and fruit juice thing all the time, thought I’d invented it!
As for groceries, we buy a lot of family sized packs of chicken, fish, etc. Then I vacuum pack portions and freeze them. Much cheaper, very easy, and vacuum packed meat lasts forever when frozen.
I keep a well stocked pantry, can always turn out a dinner for us or for unexpected guests. Come on down!
I think you are absolutely correct about the next surge, Ann. We are really premature dropping mask mandates just because the infection incidence is down, and "everyone is tired of it". That's why the last surge happened.
DeleteI keep wondering if the downturn in the number of cases is people are testing themselves since kits are readily available and not reporting... because how would you even do that? When the tests were only available from designated places the results all got reported. Deaths and hospitalizations seem like the more accurate figure to track.
DeleteI wonder that, too, Hallie. When I tested positive in January, I did report it to my doctor, who gave me advice via MyChart, but I have no idea if she added the positive test to the national numbers or not.
DeleteHallie, I agree. I think that people who test Positive on home tests and feel sick enough to call their doctors end up being sent to a testing center to confirm the diagnosis. If they test Positive again, it gets reported. This is what happened with my uncle and aunt in the fall. They were both hospitalized, and my aunt did not survive. And these were breakthrough cases of Covid.
DeleteDebRo
DebRo, so sorry for your loss.
DeleteDEB RO: So sorry about your aunt.
DeleteAnd it seems like our (Ontario) government has not learned from previous lockdowns and re-opening attempts. Why not wait a few weeks after March Break to remove the mask mandate?
The only good news for me is the Canadian federal government announced today that vaccinated Canadians will no longer have to get a rapid antigen test 24 hours before arrival.
Potentially testing positive after attending LCC in ABQ was my biggest worry. I would have had to quarantine an additional 10 days in the US and test negative again to be able to return to Canada. Trip interruption insurance is supposed to cover these costs, but it's would have been a PITA.
DebRo: That's awful about your aunt. I'm so sorry.
DeleteDebRo, that's so sad about your aunt - I'm so sorry. We can't forget that this disease really is a killer.
DeleteVaseline is making a huge comeback thanksto TikTok influencers. Always been a staple in my house.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/11/business/vaseline-slugging-tiktok.html?msclkid=b8026678a5f111ec869e38809998afe4
Really?!? Good to know. It's like denatured alcohol and vinegar... good for all kinds of problems and very inexpensive.
DeleteWell, I’m going to buy some Vaseline! I think my jar is probably ten years old, and it’s just about empty. I’m running out of my facial moisturizer, and the prices have just about doubled. Vaseline, here I come!
DeleteDebRo
Hallie, your comment about low sodium soy sauce really befuddled me. I have used only low sodium soy sauce for decades now, and the concept of buying regular soy sauce, transferring it into another container and figuring out how much water to add to get the right flavor, and then having to store it that way, never once crossed my mind. In my experience, buying the lower salt version and using it in my recipes in exactly the same measure the recipe says gives me a sufficiently salted dish with the nice soy flavor but not the excessive saltiness of so many prepared foods.
ReplyDeleteIt works for you!! That's what matters.
DeleteShopping, for me, is a mixed bag. I admit that I am apprehensive about the lifting of the mask requirements in California. Since the change, I find myself venturing to the shops earlier in the day (fewer people, I hope). Unfortunately more people are NOT socially distancing and I do my best to maintain that six feet distance!
ReplyDeleteMore people are not wearing masks, unfortunately. A week after the lifting, I went shopping in the afternoon. Two people were Not wearing masks. I went back in the morning and EVERYONE was wearing masks! This week I went shopping in the morning and I noticed that two new people working behind the counter were NOT wearing masks! I was surprised because they were handling food! I was going to buy salmon fish then saw them NOT wearing masks, I decided NOT to buy fish.
Since the lifting, I have been scanning the news daily for the covid rates of total cases and deaths in CA.
Haven't seen what other people buy. I never saw gluten free eggs ?? though I have seen organic or free range eggs.
Diana
Gluten comes from wheat. Eggs have never had, and never will have, gluten. It's a marketing ploy only.
DeleteI do buy free range eggs and just hope they are what they say they are, from hens that aren't kept in tiny little cages.
DeleteI've not stopped grocery store shopping for fresh necessities, but the pandemic gave us the gift of Costco and Sam's Club deliveries. Costco even has a cold and frozen selection that arrives in perfect, non-melted, condition at your door. Highly recommend both.
ReplyDeleteAs for that low sodium soy sauce. My husband is salt sensitive. We started using coconut aminos. One company, Coconut Secret, produces one that is way lower than low salt soy sauce and is a wonderful soy sauce substitute. Hubs uses it on food, I use it in recipes.
Kait, thank you! I am salt sensitive too and I will look for Coconut Secret at my local organic grocery shop.
DeleteDiana
Thanks for the tip!
DeleteYes, coconut aminos is a good alternative to soy sauce. This Japanese-Canadian will never give up using the full sodium version of Kikkoman.
DeleteWe did a long stint of "curbside delivery" groceries, but we've been back in the stores for a while. Things that surprise me:
ReplyDelete- Yes, the gluten-free label on EVERYTHING. Makes me wonder if people really understand what gluten is.
- Bottled water for everyday use. There are times it's appropriate, like long car trips (and always reuse or recycle the bottles). But really, if your tap water has an aftertaste, get one of the many filtered pitcher options or a filter attachment for your faucet. So much cheaper and so much less wasteful.
- Flavored water: Slice a lemon/orange/lime and squeeze it in. Done and you've spent a lot less money. Plus, have you looked at how much sugar that flavoring adds? It's not all that healthy after that - don't be fooled by the fact it's water.
- Pre-chopped fruits and vegetables: Seriously? I mean, I suppose there are instances where this is appropriate. But why pay twice as much for something you can cut up yourself? Do you not own a cutting board and knife?
I have been sorely tempted by pre=packaged, pre-prepped vegetables. And during covid went back to buying frozen which have been surprisingly good - especially shoestring potatoes. Go figure.
DeleteWe use a filter jug for everyday water.
DeleteHallie, I have PTSD when it comes to frozen veggies. My mother (God rest her soul) would microwaved them within an inch of their lives, until they were brown and mushy. I haven't been able to go back (except for corn niblets, which I get a hankering for every now and again even though corn has very little nutritional value as I understand).
DeleteRemember when the thing was bottled water? Jim Gaffigan had such a great routine with how the French were putting one over on us. I live out in the country and my water comes from a well and is delicious. Water in town tastes pretty awful so I can see why people prefer bottled or filtered at home water.
ReplyDeleteSome of New York City water comes from a reservoir in my county, Schoharie. We love to tell people that's why NYC pizza is so good. It's made with "our" water.
I've heard that the reason NYC bagels are so good and hard to replicate is the water. We have reliably good tap water in the Boston area.
DeleteNope, not back in stores. Delivery is good, and totally works, and is incredibly efficient, and when I start thinking of myself as lazy, I rationalize that I am giving the delivery people a job.
ReplyDeleteAnd vaseline, yes, my total go-to. I use it on my face every day. And my hands. And eyebrows. And lips.
A girlfriend with radiant skin (at 75) recently revealed her beauty secret: olive oil, applied all over, every day.
DeleteOoh, Hank! Beauty secret revealed. My new allergist, who is trying to help with my year-long skin rash, recommended abandoning even the hypoallergenic lotion (which I was told to use by dermatologist last year) in favor of vaseline. Am off to buy a tub of it!
DeleteI never stopped going grocery shopping, masked and stayed away from people. I now use self checkout. It was my only “socializing” for over a year. I started reading labels many years ago. Almond milk is good but uses a ton of water to grow and produce. I get eggs from a local woman. I’ll have to ask her if they’re gluten-free! 😊
ReplyDeleteCould be... after all those hens eat grain.
DeleteJust kidding. But you can sort of see the logic.
Years ago I saw a water quality report on the source of our water here, the Ohio River. After processing it, it was very clean, although it does have chlorine (which I noticed more when I moved here from a town with naturally fluoridated, artisan well water). My best friend and her husband always buy huge bottles of "spring water", which comes from... you guessed it, the Ohio River, via a tributary. It was virtually no different from the water that comes (almost) free from our taps. And they still have those big water jugs delivered, now thirty years later. If I didn't love her so much I'd make a remark about having more money than sense.
ReplyDeleteA long time ago I bought everyone in the family their own reusable water bottles, along with reusable shopping bags that fold small enough to fit in a pocket. It tickles me when I see them all still using either the ones I gave them or replacements. Our family alone has saved a small mountain of plastic.
So bottled water is one thing that shocks me when I see it in grocery carts, but what shocks me more is seeing a cartload of flimsy plastic bags, each holding a single item or two. Including things that already have handles, like milk jugs. Those bags get used for the 10-15 minutes it takes to get the groceries home, and then they are discarded. Like plastic water bottles, all that plastic is made from OIL. Yes, like the oil they make gasoline from. And, oh, yes, it's also made from our most precious resource of all, WATER.
When we were going to Kenya we were warned not to bring plastic bags or bottles into the country. They are dead serious about not adding more of the world's waste to their country. They already have more than they can handle.
I'm with you on the plastic bags. And having been to a gazillion mystery conferences I have a bazillion cloth bags, so it's easy for me to scoff. I do recycle the plastic bags I end up with -- the supermarket as a bin at the entrance, and they also take bubble wrap.
DeleteIn Connecticut, people are now required to bring their own bags to the store. It surprises me that not all states require this. Bags are available for purchase if people forget their own.
DeleteDebRo
DEB RO: It's the same here in Ontario. Grocery stores cannot use plastic bags. They can offer paper bags (for sale). Most of us bring our reusable cloth or synthetic bags.
DeleteKaren, those plastic bags get used for cat box leavings until full, then tightly tied and put in trash. Or were, before Oregon did away with them. Now we have to buy expensive bio bags for cat waste (we have 2 cats, 1 box). We use our own reusable bags for groceries, etc.
DeleteBottled water: we have a case in the garage. We chill bottles for workmen who come, and take some when traveling by car overnight. Otherwise, tap water is just fine!
Cut-up veggies and salads are a godsend for those who’ve suffered a stroke.
We’ve been back to stores for ages now. And recently without mask unless they are full. Also eating in restaurants now that numbers are so low and the disease itself doesn’t seem as threatening. I know do many people who have had it and it was tiredness and sniffles
ReplyDeleteI think long-COVID is still a real risk, even for mild cases at the time. I already have brain fog - I don't need any more added to it.
DeleteWHO estimates that 15-30% of all COVID cases get LONG-COVID.
DeleteMine was a original "mild" case but I still have symptoms over 2 years. Same with my other two friends who got sick in early 2020. My immune system was pretty messed up beforehand, as evidenced by the growing number of food sensitivities/allergic reactions, skin rashes I had been experiencing etc. Getting the 3 vaccines has helped reduce my LONG-COVID symptoms
(as some research has suggested could happen) but I'm far from 100%.
Yes, my producer had it--young and healthy and vaxed and boosted--and she was out and SO sick for three solid weeks and still hasn't gotten her taste buds fully back.
DeleteHANK: Sorry to hear your producer still has symptoms but at least she is back to work. That's the mystery of how COVID affects each individual. Some people get it and are asymptomatic, others get a mild case and recover, and others get a mild case which develops into LONG-COVID. My two friends who got long COVID are healthy women in their 40s/50s.
DeleteI do have plastic bottles of water in the freezer, I keep refilling and freezing them for road trips so I have cold water and my little cold chest food stays cold. I started the freezing water for trips and now always have frozen water in case I have time to pack some food for evacuations. I'm a label reader due to my soy allergy. It's surprising how often soy has been added to an item when it wasn't there the week before.
ReplyDeleteIt has ALWAYS not only surprised but disgusted me what people a) waste their money on, b) for something that's pointless, that will c) keep on polluting the water and destroying the earth.
ReplyDeleteI'm finished now. Have a nice day, Jungle Pals.
So, you don’t use motor vehicles of any kind?
DeleteHallie, confession time: since I was Dxd with high blood pressure, I switched to Low Sodium soy sauce without even checking to see if they increased the water content! I do know the trick about do-it-yourself low sodium canned veggies - if you toss them in a colander and give them a good rinse before cooking, you'll get rid of the majority of added salt.
ReplyDeleteI just want to put my pug in for manufacturers to switch to more products in glass. I'm frugal as all get-out, but I'm willing to pay more if I can get a jar of mayonnaise that's recyclable, instead of plastic that will end up in a landfill or in the Pacific Ocean. And on that topic, I highly recommend listening to NPR's Planet Money episode on how we were all sold a bill of goods about plastic recycling:
https://www.npr.org/2020/09/11/912150085/waste-land
Yes, to glass! It was a sad day when so many products got packaged in plastic. And we are all poorer in so many ways because of it. Our poor planet.
DeleteAgree about using glass.
DeleteOttawa also now has 3 ZERO-waste grocery stores under the NU chain.
All products are sold in bulk and you have to bring in your own container (glass, plastic) or bags. Everything is weighed at the cashier minus the weight of the container.
https://nugrocery.com/
Glass. Every time. I think it is dreadful that the object that is inexpensive at the grocery store is the most damaging in the long run. It makes it very hard for people on limited incomes to avoid those things. The same is true of polyester and other man-made fabrics.
DeleteGrace: We have a Zero-Waste in Waterloo, too. I love the concept but it is really pricey, so it makes it hard for those who don't have much to engage in it. I would love for them to expand their inventory.
Assuming your locality recycles it. Mine no longer recycles glass.
DeleteDEAUN: True, the 3 Nu stores are located in the wealthier Ottawa neighbourhoods.
DeleteI live in Byward/Lowertown which has one of a significant low-income population. We don't have any discount grocery chains downtown (like No Frills or Price Chopper) so I am used to paying more for groceries wherever I shop in Ottawa (compared to Toronto).
Liz: Now that is a bummer. I have neighbours that can produce so I always have takers for good glass jars. That only works for the larger ones. The smaller ones go in the blue box. I would hate it if they stopped taking them.
DeleteI didn’t stop going grocery shopping but I went at odd hours when the store was almost empty. I still do that. Thank goodness for retirement! Around here, the stores were crowded during Senior shopping hour and I soon learned that I needed to find another time to shop. Even now, I don’t see many people shopping in the stores. Many shoppers seem to be using the curbside pickup service, and I know people with health issues who use Instacart. I must be choosing the right times because it’s rare that there is more than one person in front of me. I continue wearing a mask when I go out. It’s not always convenient or comfortable but I haven’t even had a cold in a couple of years.
ReplyDeleteDebRo
I do love Senior shopping hours... here the store is virtually empty. But it can get crowded like it used to be before Covid on weekends and afternoons.
DeleteBottled water. How have people been convinced that bottled water is better than the water in the tap? Why is it evil to pay taxes so the water in the tap is clean, but not evil to pay corporations to bottle that same water and sell it at gross margins? And then, given the "need" to grow that margin we get "smart water." Geez.
ReplyDeleteI think all Smartwater is, is water that's been distilled.
DeleteWhich you can buy in 4 litre bottles for $2.95. Distilled water is the one kind I will buy in bottles because we need to have it around but a still just isn't the easiest thing to have around the house.
DeleteHallie, I can't get around the idea of putting petroleum on my face. Ugh, no matter how trendy on TikTok. But it made me think of my aunt Marie, who had the most beautiful skin I've ever seen. She used Pond's Cold Cream every night.
ReplyDeleteI hate to tell you ;) ... but the #1 ingredient in Ponds Cold Cream is mineral oil: which is a clear oily liquid that is the "cheap by-product" of refining crude oil. Or it is, according to the Internet.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteYeah, I hear you about the petroleum. But it is wonderful, just use the tiniest of bits. A jar lasts forever. It's not a "slather" situation, just a touch around my eyes and lips.
DeleteAnd if I were to hazard a guess, I'd say your Aunt Marie had good genes.
DeleteI am back in the stores, but I don't have to go that often. My husband seems to like going to Kroger's several times a week. I think he has a thing for one of the automatic check-out machines. He also has taken quite an interest in what's for supper every day, e v e r y day. It's like my daughter and I were talking about yesterday. These people we live with want to be fed every day. Hahaha! I've finally learned to give in and not feel so guilty, letting husband fix supper some, especially when I'm in a mood, like now, where I don't care if I eat a bowl of cereal or open a can of beets (I know that will make some of you shiver). Sometimes buttered toast if pretty good, too. He's put a roast on today, with potato and carrots in the crock pot. I've cooked plenty over the years, and I still cook, but it's nice (now that I've stopped feeling guilty about it) to pass it off to someone else, too.
ReplyDeleteNow, I wanted to comment on the fruit additions to water, Hallie. I've started having Ocean Spray Cran-cherry juice added to water to try to increase my water intake. I love it. My friend LJ Roberts told me about it.
Kathy, you made me laugh with "he has a thing for one of the automatic check-out machines."
DeleteYay for Schoharie County water!It is a beautiful place.
ReplyDeleteYou bet it is!
DeleteIf you don't have a health problem with gluten, salt, etc., why avoid them, just use common sense. I tried soy milk and started itching all over so I avoid soy. Since I never liked soy sauce anyway, I use Worcestershire sauce, oyster, or hoisin instead.
ReplyDeleteMy city doesn't take glass anymore but at least I don't have to waste water cleaning the jars. It's a real struggle to clean a plastic peanut butter jar!
I went to the store all along but I still wear a mask. Stay safe and well.
I hear you on plastic peanut butter jars - I put them in the dishwasher and even then they don't come out clean.
Delete