Well? What did you have for dinner tonight??

[Dragonlady]

The town I live in is whiter than white. There are a lot of Dutch and Germans here. I can’t even find lamb in the grocery stores.

I usually make a run into Hamilton or Toronto once or twice a month. Both have large ethnic communities and huge farmers markets so it’s easy to get ingredients when I go.

I hadn’t thought of online shopping for ingredients. I use it for lots of other things though. Thanks for the suggestion.

This is a tri tip which is hard to come by if ya just look.
Find a proper butcher and you're golden.

There is no butcher in this town. There are two supermarkets, and a local Farm Market in the summer. I don’t have a car.

I had the BEST butcher in Toronto. Gus. I miss him like crazy. I told my daughter, who now lives in Hamilton and she said “Oh me too”.

Is there a butcher in one of your supermarkets?
They know way more than you think they do and are sometimes proud to show their knowledge....play on that.

The Sobey’s (high end food and priced the same) has a butcher counter but their staff isn’t very knowledgeable. When I asked about lamb I was told what was in the display cooler (a couple of very fatty chops at an outrageous price), was all they had.

The Food Basics has no butchers and quite frankly, their meat is sketchy. Even my neighbour, who buys a lot of his groceries at Giant Tiger (cheap Chinese imports) goes to Sobey’s for meat.

What I do have is a farmer friend who raises lambs, pigs and chickens - all free range, grass and organically fed. Her chickens are so tender and full of flavour my mouth waters just thinking about them.

Sadly it’s a small farm and she is limited on how many animals she can raise. You just have to catch her at the right time. Some of the better local restaurants have found her farm and will buy out her entire stock. I’m on my own and don’t buy a lot of meat, 2 or three lbs. a week, tops. So I view meat from the farm as a nice treat when I can get it.

You can actually buy meat online and have it shipped to you. Not something you want to do frequently, unless you have some bucks, but if you want something special, it's an option.

Now that I’m retired and living on a pension, I’ll admit price is a huge determining factor. I try to eat as “clean” as possible but I have given up the $16 a lb. high end coffee for a 2 lb. tin of Maxwell House on sale for $6.99, as well as the $2.39 a can organic soups and premade cereals. I now make my own soup and eat organic oatmeal instead.

Online food purchases involve shipping and handling charges, and most of the sites charge US dollars. With the current Canada/US exchange rates that adds 20% to the already high costs.

My oldest daughter used to drive to Buffalo every week to buy her groceries at Trader Joe’s, but since the CDN dollar dropped like a stone, the Organic Garage in Oakville is her alternative. I wish we had Trader Joe’s in Canada. I love their house brands.

Sobey’s has really good meat if all you want is pork, beef or chicken. They even have a decent seafood department. Sufficient to my purposes at least. If I want something “special” I’m not adverse to spending the day in Hamilton. It gives me an excuse to spend time with my grand-babies.

30+ years of living in Toronto where anything I might think I wanted was mere steps away have spoiled me. #FirstWorldProblems.

 

[Care4all]

I love lamb but haven't even considered looking for it since I quit working and we are a one family member earner now.... When we lived in Florida, I could buy it from Publics grocery store near our home in Tampa....so the grocery store did have it.

I have not even looked for lamb up here, and I should, because we do have a few Sheep farmers around here so it could be a little more reasonable???

And how I love it is the traditional lamb chops, but I love it the most in a tomato base stew with turnips and carrots and potatoes and onion, served on top of Couscous..... Oh man oh man, my Italian grandmother used to make it, and my mom too which was great but never as good as grandmoms....and now me, but not as good as moms....oh well...

 

[Dragonlady]

I got excited when my farmer friend was selling lamb chops for $7 per lb. One of her restaurant customers stuffed her on an order and she ran out of space in her freezer. Grass fed lamb. Yumm!

Mostly she sell “value packs” - 30 lbs of assorted grass fed/organic pork, lamb and chicken for $200. That’s way too much meat for one person. It would also completely fill me freezer which I need for my homemade pre-packaged dinners.

But I hasten to add that even though the shopping is limited, and there are no ethnic restaurants to speak of, I love living in this beautiful little town. Everything is within walking/biking distance. People here are kind and very friendly, the air is so clean and sweet smelling, housing is cheap, and did I mention the beaches!

 

[Cecilie1200]

This is a tri tip which is hard to come by if ya just look.
Find a proper butcher and you're golden.

There is no butcher in this town. There are two supermarkets, and a local Farm Market in the summer. I don’t have a car.

I had the BEST butcher in Toronto. Gus. I miss him like crazy. I told my daughter, who now lives in Hamilton and she said “Oh me too”.

Is there a butcher in one of your supermarkets?
They know way more than you think they do and are sometimes proud to show their knowledge....play on that.

The Sobey’s (high end food and priced the same) has a butcher counter but their staff isn’t very knowledgeable. When I asked about lamb I was told what was in the display cooler (a couple of very fatty chops at an outrageous price), was all they had.

The Food Basics has no butchers and quite frankly, their meat is sketchy. Even my neighbour, who buys a lot of his groceries at Giant Tiger (cheap Chinese imports) goes to Sobey’s for meat.

What I do have is a farmer friend who raises lambs, pigs and chickens - all free range, grass and organically fed. Her chickens are so tender and full of flavour my mouth waters just thinking about them.

Sadly it’s a small farm and she is limited on how many animals she can raise. You just have to catch her at the right time. Some of the better local restaurants have found her farm and will buy out her entire stock. I’m on my own and don’t buy a lot of meat, 2 or three lbs. a week, tops. So I view meat from the farm as a nice treat when I can get it.

You can actually buy meat online and have it shipped to you. Not something you want to do frequently, unless you have some bucks, but if you want something special, it's an option.

Now that I’m retired and living on a pension, I’ll admit price is a huge determining factor. I try to eat as “clean” as possible but I have given up the $16 a lb. high end coffee for a 2 lb. tin of Maxwell House on sale for $6.99, as well as the $2.39 a can organic soups and premade cereals. I now make my own soup and eat organic oatmeal instead.

Online food purchases involve shipping and handling charges, and most of the sites charge US dollars. With the current Canada/US exchange rates that adds 20% to the already high costs.

My oldest daughter used to drive to Buffalo every week to buy her groceries at Trader Joe’s, but since the CDN dollar dropped like a stone, the Organic Garage in Oakville is her alternative. I wish we had Trader Joe’s in Canada. I love their house brands.

Sobey’s has really good meat if all you want is pork, beef or chicken. They even have a decent seafood department. Sufficient to my purposes at least. If I want something “special” I’m not adverse to spending the day in Hamilton. It gives me an excuse to spend time with my grand-babies.

30+ years of living in Toronto where anything I might think I wanted was mere steps away have spoiled me. #FirstWorldProblems.

You could also find a friend in the US who can get the stuff you want and ship it to you. Or, for that matter, someone in Toronto.

 

[Cecilie1200]

I got excited when my farmer friend was selling lamb chops for $7 per lb. One of her restaurant customers stuffed her on an order and she ran out of space in her freezer. Grass fed lamb. Yumm!

Mostly she sell “value packs” - 30 lbs of assorted grass fed/organic pork, lamb and chicken for $200. That’s way too much meat for one person. It would also completely fill me freezer which I need for my homemade pre-packaged dinners.

But I hasten to add that even though the shopping is limited, and there are no ethnic restaurants to speak of, I love living in this beautiful little town. Everything is within walking/biking distance. People here are kind and very friendly, the air is so clean and sweet smelling, housing is cheap, and did I mention the beaches!

Well, there are trade-offs to everything. I love my city, but I won't say that it doesn't have the typical city problems (seriously, where did these fools learn to drive?).

It just amazes me that something Europe considers "poor people food" is a $7 a lb delicacy here.

 

[tycho1572]

I’ll be having some seafood salad when I get home.

 

[Dragonlady]

There is no butcher in this town. There are two supermarkets, and a local Farm Market in the summer. I don’t have a car.

I had the BEST butcher in Toronto. Gus. I miss him like crazy. I told my daughter, who now lives in Hamilton and she said “Oh me too”.

Is there a butcher in one of your supermarkets?
They know way more than you think they do and are sometimes proud to show their knowledge....play on that.

The Sobey’s (high end food and priced the same) has a butcher counter but their staff isn’t very knowledgeable. When I asked about lamb I was told what was in the display cooler (a couple of very fatty chops at an outrageous price), was all they had.

The Food Basics has no butchers and quite frankly, their meat is sketchy. Even my neighbour, who buys a lot of his groceries at Giant Tiger (cheap Chinese imports) goes to Sobey’s for meat.

What I do have is a farmer friend who raises lambs, pigs and chickens - all free range, grass and organically fed. Her chickens are so tender and full of flavour my mouth waters just thinking about them.

Sadly it’s a small farm and she is limited on how many animals she can raise. You just have to catch her at the right time. Some of the better local restaurants have found her farm and will buy out her entire stock. I’m on my own and don’t buy a lot of meat, 2 or three lbs. a week, tops. So I view meat from the farm as a nice treat when I can get it.

You can actually buy meat online and have it shipped to you. Not something you want to do frequently, unless you have some bucks, but if you want something special, it's an option.

Now that I’m retired and living on a pension, I’ll admit price is a huge determining factor. I try to eat as “clean” as possible but I have given up the $16 a lb. high end coffee for a 2 lb. tin of Maxwell House on sale for $6.99, as well as the $2.39 a can organic soups and premade cereals. I now make my own soup and eat organic oatmeal instead.

Online food purchases involve shipping and handling charges, and most of the sites charge US dollars. With the current Canada/US exchange rates that adds 20% to the already high costs.

My oldest daughter used to drive to Buffalo every week to buy her groceries at Trader Joe’s, but since the CDN dollar dropped like a stone, the Organic Garage in Oakville is her alternative. I wish we had Trader Joe’s in Canada. I love their house brands.

Sobey’s has really good meat if all you want is pork, beef or chicken. They even have a decent seafood department. Sufficient to my purposes at least. If I want something “special” I’m not adverse to spending the day in Hamilton. It gives me an excuse to spend time with my grand-babies.

30+ years of living in Toronto where anything I might think I wanted was mere steps away have spoiled me. #FirstWorldProblems.

You could also find a friend in the US who can get the stuff you want and ship it to you. Or, for that matter, someone in Toronto.

Hamilton is a 40 minute drive. My neighbour works there so when I want to go, I get up early and ride in with him. My youngest daughter and my son both live there so as I bonus, I get to visit them too.

My oldest daughter works in Toronto every Sunday so I can get a ride in on Sundays with her. Unfortunately, the St. Lawrence Market is closed Sundays so if I want to do a Market Shopping, I go in on Friday, and stay with friends, and come home with my daughter on Sunday. She’s lived about 15 minutes away from me.

Canadians never talk about distances. We express distance in terms of travel time.

Today, my friend dropped off 6 turkey pot pies. The Ladies Guild at her Church makes them and sells them to raise funds. 6 pies for $20.00. They’re delicious.

 

[Cecilie1200]

Is there a butcher in one of your supermarkets?
They know way more than you think they do and are sometimes proud to show their knowledge....play on that.

The Sobey’s (high end food and priced the same) has a butcher counter but their staff isn’t very knowledgeable. When I asked about lamb I was told what was in the display cooler (a couple of very fatty chops at an outrageous price), was all they had.

The Food Basics has no butchers and quite frankly, their meat is sketchy. Even my neighbour, who buys a lot of his groceries at Giant Tiger (cheap Chinese imports) goes to Sobey’s for meat.

What I do have is a farmer friend who raises lambs, pigs and chickens - all free range, grass and organically fed. Her chickens are so tender and full of flavour my mouth waters just thinking about them.

Sadly it’s a small farm and she is limited on how many animals she can raise. You just have to catch her at the right time. Some of the better local restaurants have found her farm and will buy out her entire stock. I’m on my own and don’t buy a lot of meat, 2 or three lbs. a week, tops. So I view meat from the farm as a nice treat when I can get it.

You can actually buy meat online and have it shipped to you. Not something you want to do frequently, unless you have some bucks, but if you want something special, it's an option.

Now that I’m retired and living on a pension, I’ll admit price is a huge determining factor. I try to eat as “clean” as possible but I have given up the $16 a lb. high end coffee for a 2 lb. tin of Maxwell House on sale for $6.99, as well as the $2.39 a can organic soups and premade cereals. I now make my own soup and eat organic oatmeal instead.

Online food purchases involve shipping and handling charges, and most of the sites charge US dollars. With the current Canada/US exchange rates that adds 20% to the already high costs.

My oldest daughter used to drive to Buffalo every week to buy her groceries at Trader Joe’s, but since the CDN dollar dropped like a stone, the Organic Garage in Oakville is her alternative. I wish we had Trader Joe’s in Canada. I love their house brands.

Sobey’s has really good meat if all you want is pork, beef or chicken. They even have a decent seafood department. Sufficient to my purposes at least. If I want something “special” I’m not adverse to spending the day in Hamilton. It gives me an excuse to spend time with my grand-babies.

30+ years of living in Toronto where anything I might think I wanted was mere steps away have spoiled me. #FirstWorldProblems.

You could also find a friend in the US who can get the stuff you want and ship it to you. Or, for that matter, someone in Toronto.

Hamilton is a 40 minute drive. My neighbour works there so when I want to go, I get up early and ride in with him. My youngest daughter and my son both live there so as I bonus, I get to visit them too.

My oldest daughter works in Toronto every Sunday so I can get a ride in on Sundays with her. Unfortunately, the St. Lawrence Market is closed Sundays so if I want to do a Market Shopping, I go in on Friday, and stay with friends, and come home with my daughter on Sunday. She’s lived about 15 minutes away from me.

Canadians never talk about distances. We express distance in terms of travel time.

Today, my friend dropped off 6 turkey pot pies. The Ladies Guild at her Church makes them and sells them to raise funds. 6 pies for $20.00. They’re delicious.

Phoenicians talk time instead of distance too, but that's because it takes a depressingly long time to go really short distances.

 

[MisterBeale]

Is there a butcher in one of your supermarkets?
They know way more than you think they do and are sometimes proud to show their knowledge....play on that.

The Sobey’s (high end food and priced the same) has a butcher counter but their staff isn’t very knowledgeable. When I asked about lamb I was told what was in the display cooler (a couple of very fatty chops at an outrageous price), was all they had.

The Food Basics has no butchers and quite frankly, their meat is sketchy. Even my neighbour, who buys a lot of his groceries at Giant Tiger (cheap Chinese imports) goes to Sobey’s for meat.

What I do have is a farmer friend who raises lambs, pigs and chickens - all free range, grass and organically fed. Her chickens are so tender and full of flavour my mouth waters just thinking about them.

Sadly it’s a small farm and she is limited on how many animals she can raise. You just have to catch her at the right time. Some of the better local restaurants have found her farm and will buy out her entire stock. I’m on my own and don’t buy a lot of meat, 2 or three lbs. a week, tops. So I view meat from the farm as a nice treat when I can get it.

You can actually buy meat online and have it shipped to you. Not something you want to do frequently, unless you have some bucks, but if you want something special, it's an option.

Now that I’m retired and living on a pension, I’ll admit price is a huge determining factor. I try to eat as “clean” as possible but I have given up the $16 a lb. high end coffee for a 2 lb. tin of Maxwell House on sale for $6.99, as well as the $2.39 a can organic soups and premade cereals. I now make my own soup and eat organic oatmeal instead.

Online food purchases involve shipping and handling charges, and most of the sites charge US dollars. With the current Canada/US exchange rates that adds 20% to the already high costs.

My oldest daughter used to drive to Buffalo every week to buy her groceries at Trader Joe’s, but since the CDN dollar dropped like a stone, the Organic Garage in Oakville is her alternative. I wish we had Trader Joe’s in Canada. I love their house brands.

Sobey’s has really good meat if all you want is pork, beef or chicken. They even have a decent seafood department. Sufficient to my purposes at least. If I want something “special” I’m not adverse to spending the day in Hamilton. It gives me an excuse to spend time with my grand-babies.

30+ years of living in Toronto where anything I might think I wanted was mere steps away have spoiled me. #FirstWorldProblems.

You could also find a friend in the US who can get the stuff you want and ship it to you. Or, for that matter, someone in Toronto.

Canadians never talk about distances. We express distance in terms of travel time.

We do that in Michigan too. Odd that.

 

[koshergrl]

I made an amazing venison stew last night...

Stew meat, seasoned, dredged with flour. I seared it in lard and added a couple tbsp of the leftover dredging flour to the pan as it was cooking. I also added onion to the pan while the meat was searing...about 1/2 an onion.

Then I peeled and cut up a big potato and threw that in there, then a cup of carrots and two ears fo corn on the cob, cut in half. Then I salted and peppered everything and added a couple of cups of water adn stuck it in the oven at 350 then turned up to 400 (because the kids were hungry..usually it would be 350). In about an hour, we had amazing stew. I had it covered for about 40 minutes then removed the top for the rest....also I made cornbread and that's what we had at my house.

 

[Dalia]

Steak and Frites.

 

[Cecilie1200]

I made an amazing venison stew last night...

Stew meat, seasoned, dredged with flour. I seared it in lard and added a couple tbsp of the leftover dredging flour to the pan as it was cooking. I also added onion to the pan while the meat was searing...about 1/2 an onion.

Then I peeled and cut up a big potato and threw that in there, then a cup of carrots and two ears fo corn on the cob, cut in half. Then I salted and peppered everything and added a couple of cups of water adn stuck it in the oven at 350 then turned up to 400 (because the kids were hungry..usually it would be 350). In about an hour, we had amazing stew. I had it covered for about 40 minutes then removed the top for the rest....also I made cornbread and that's what we had at my house.

We did the ever-popular chicken corn chowder. I really think it improves the flavor when I coat the chicken pieces in spices before browning them. And a touch of sriracha hot sauce to add kick.

 

[evenflow1969]

J'adore zdrawberry zhortgake fur dezzert.

Last night I made Chicken Tetrazinni with a side of green beans. Sliced mangoes for dessert.

Tonight, we're going out for sushi.

Where you finding ripe mangos? The ones I have seen in Ohio have not looked very good!

 

[boedicca]

J'adore zdrawberry zhortgake fur dezzert.

Last night I made Chicken Tetrazinni with a side of green beans. Sliced mangoes for dessert.

Tonight, we're going out for sushi.

Where you finding ripe mangos? The ones I have seen in Ohio have not looked very good!

I live in Oaklandton CA - we get great produce (except for tomatoes - no hot house tomatoes ever taste good, imo) year round. Mangoes are usually pretty good even off season, but the very best are the small ataulfos from Mexico in season.

 

[evenflow1969]

J'adore zdrawberry zhortgake fur dezzert.

Last night I made Chicken Tetrazinni with a side of green beans. Sliced mangoes for dessert.

Tonight, we're going out for sushi.

Where you finding ripe mangos? The ones I have seen in Ohio have not looked very good!

I live in Oaklandton CA - we get great produce (except for tomatoes - no hot house tomatoes ever taste good, imo) year round. Mangoes are usually pretty good even off season, but the very best are the small ataulfos from Mexico in season.

The oranges and pine apple you guys get are so much better than what we get also! I am envious!

 

[boedicca]

J'adore zdrawberry zhortgake fur dezzert.

Last night I made Chicken Tetrazinni with a side of green beans. Sliced mangoes for dessert.

Tonight, we're going out for sushi.

Where you finding ripe mangos? The ones I have seen in Ohio have not looked very good!

I live in Oaklandton CA - we get great produce (except for tomatoes - no hot house tomatoes ever taste good, imo) year round. Mangoes are usually pretty good even off season, but the very best are the small ataulfos from Mexico in season.

The oranges and pine apple you guys get are so much better than what we get also! I am envious!

Well, we certainly pay for the privilege. The cost of living out here is outrageous!

 

[evenflow1969]

J'adore zdrawberry zhortgake fur dezzert.

Last night I made Chicken Tetrazinni with a side of green beans. Sliced mangoes for dessert.

Tonight, we're going out for sushi.

Where you finding ripe mangos? The ones I have seen in Ohio have not looked very good!

I live in Oaklandton CA - we get great produce (except for tomatoes - no hot house tomatoes ever taste good, imo) year round. Mangoes are usually pretty good even off season, but the very best are the small ataulfos from Mexico in season.

The oranges and pine apple you guys get are so much better than what we get also! I am envious!

Well, we certainly pay for the privilege. The cost of living out here is outrageous!

Ya, I know Ilived in Thousand Oaks for years! Crazy expensive! The good news is you can save money on hotel bills! I use to go up to Santa Barbara for the wine tastings, to hell with a hotel I slept under the eucoliptus tree on the beach for free!

 

[boedicca]

J'adore zdrawberry zhortgake fur dezzert.

Last night I made Chicken Tetrazinni with a side of green beans. Sliced mangoes for dessert.

Tonight, we're going out for sushi.

Where you finding ripe mangos? The ones I have seen in Ohio have not looked very good!

I live in Oaklandton CA - we get great produce (except for tomatoes - no hot house tomatoes ever taste good, imo) year round. Mangoes are usually pretty good even off season, but the very best are the small ataulfos from Mexico in season.

The oranges and pine apple you guys get are so much better than what we get also! I am envious!

Well, we certainly pay for the privilege. The cost of living out here is outrageous!

Ya, I know Ilived in Thousand Oaks for years! Crazy expensive! The good news is you can save money on hotel bills! I use to go up to Santa Barbara for the wine tastings, to hell with a hotel I slept under the eucoliptus tree on the beach for free!

That sounds lovely. But given the homeless encampments everywhere these days, sleeping outside is no longer a good idea.

 

[evenflow1969]

Where you finding ripe mangos? The ones I have seen in Ohio have not looked very good!

I live in Oaklandton CA - we get great produce (except for tomatoes - no hot house tomatoes ever taste good, imo) year round. Mangoes are usually pretty good even off season, but the very best are the small ataulfos from Mexico in season.

The oranges and pine apple you guys get are so much better than what we get also! I am envious!

Well, we certainly pay for the privilege. The cost of living out here is outrageous!

Ya, I know Ilived in Thousand Oaks for years! Crazy expensive! The good news is you can save money on hotel bills! I use to go up to Santa Barbara for the wine tastings, to hell with a hotel I slept under the eucoliptus tree on the beach for free!

That sounds lovely. But given the homeless encampments everywhere these days, sleeping outside is no longer a good idea.

They were there back then too! I always found that kinda funny bums and millionaires sleeping right beside each other! We all had one thing in common though, the smell of alcohol!

 

[Cecilie1200]

J'adore zdrawberry zhortgake fur dezzert.

Last night I made Chicken Tetrazinni with a side of green beans. Sliced mangoes for dessert.

Tonight, we're going out for sushi.

Where you finding ripe mangos? The ones I have seen in Ohio have not looked very good!

I live in Oaklandton CA - we get great produce (except for tomatoes - no hot house tomatoes ever taste good, imo) year round. Mangoes are usually pretty good even off season, but the very best are the small ataulfos from Mexico in season.

The oranges and pine apple you guys get are so much better than what we get also! I am envious!

We get wonderful produce in Arizona, but don't talk to me about seafood prices. I envy anyone who doesn't have to take out a second mortgage for a fish dinner.