Adapting With A Smile: Getting The Groceries, Trying The Recipes

/ Ally Bean

Welp, it has finally happened even though I said I’d never do this.

You see, we’ve started using online ordering for our groceries, then we go, together, to pick up our order outside the store.

There’s no charge for this now and it does seem like a healthier way for us to get groceries.  Plus not to put too fine of a point on it, we have the time– and allow me to clue you in, it can take time to do this.

On our last adventure our assigned pickup time was for a 5:00-6:00 p.m.  We arrived at 5:03 p.m., got in a line with about 20 cars in front of us, and left the parking lot with our groceries in the trunk of the car at 6:58 p.m.

Yes, almost 2 hours in line to get food, safely.

Ain’t life a pip? 

• • •

The knocked over sign said: PICKUP LINE STARTS HERE  We laughed at the folly of it all, having been in line for an hour before getting to this *beginning* spot. From the look of the damage to the sign someone before us may not have seen the humor in that sign at that point in line.

• • •

We did have a weirdly good time waiting in line together.  

We started watching shoppers, most of whom didn’t have masks, going in and out of the store.  We started making up back stories about them OR criticizing how they handled their groceries once they got to their vehicles.

Case in point, a woman wearing surgical gloves came out of the store pushing a cart, walked to her car, opened the trunk, put her groceries into the trunk, walked over to the trash container, removed her gloves properly.

Then USING HER UNGLOVED HANDS she opened the flap on the trash container, disposing of the gloves therein.  She walked back to her car trunk, shut the trunk, got into the car, and drove away– using her hands that had touched the trash container to do so.

ICK!

• • •

The shy sign said: PICKUP WAITING STARTS HERE We chuckled with mirth, but weren’t duped. We’d been in line for close to an hour and a half at this point. Clearly this sign saw what had happened to the previous sign and was taking precautions to stay safe.

• • •

Now that we’re dining in all the time we’ve been cooking and baking: carbohydrates are our friends.

In truth we’ve been having fun while trying new recipes and/or revisiting old ones.  In all cases we’ve adapted the recipes to work with what we have procured via said online ordering/pickup scenario discussed above.

Below is an alphabetized list of recipes we’ve made.  I’ve rated them and made a few notes about what we changed because of… oh you understand why.

Click on the title of the recipe to be taken to it online.

Alton Brown’s Shepherd’s Pie [A+] – used ground beef instead of ground lamb

Baked Cheese Grits [A] – used half & half instead of whipping cream

Bisquick Velvet Crumb Cake [B-] – added nutmeg to batter, cinnamon to topping 

Brown Rice and Corn Cakes [A] – used onion powder instead of fresh chives, white flour instead of whole wheat

Classic Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies [A+] – didn’t change a thing!

Classic Strawberry Shortcakes [A] – added 1 tsp vanilla extract, a pinch of nutmeg

Easy Bisquick Chicken Pot Pie [C-] – made as is, not bad but old-fashioned and blah

Grandma’s Anything Goes Strata [B] – used all milk [no half & half], used cooked bulk breakfast sausage instead of deli meat, added 1/4 tsp brown mustard

Lemon Curd [A+] – no changes to ingredients, cooked using double boiler instead of directly on heat 

Martha Stewart Spiced Walnuts [B+] – used 1 tsp chili powder for 1/2 tsp coriander

~ The End ~

184 thoughts on “Adapting With A Smile: Getting The Groceries, Trying The Recipes”

  1. I do like shepherd’s pie, and always have used ground beef. Also: no green peas, thank you very much. Green beans do well as a substitute, at least for me. I’m glad for the reminder. I’d forgotten about that dish, and I have everything needed to make it!

    Liked by 2 people

    • shoreacres, *yay* go make some shepherd’s pie and live big. Enjoy it. I know we did, but probably wouldn’t have thought to make it except for the fact that we had the ingredients here. Now. So why not?

      Liked by 1 person

  2. I’ve always wanted to try shepherd’s pie, but it would have to be made with ground beef. I’m not a fan of lamb. I’m sorry to hear the chicken pot pie was a bust. That immediately caught my eye. I baked some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies for our neighbors the other day, but that’s about all of the cooking I’ve done. Thankfully, Derek straps on his N95 mask and does the grocery shopping…and the cooking too, but without the mask.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Jill, I first had shepherd’s pie when I was in college and studied In England. I liked it there, I like it here. I’m jealous that you have a shopper, fully masked, in your house. Well, probably not jealous, more happy to know you’re safe. Also glad to know you have a cook in your house. You, girlfriend, have it going on, as they say.

      Liked by 2 people

  3. Mmmmm…thanks for the links to the recipes. The peanut butter blossoms especially caught my eye. (I’m on a peanut butter kick for some reason, at this moment in time). I tried something I never thought I would either, this week: Uber Eats. It was amazing, and an amazingly easy way to get takeout delivered to my door. Yep, I am at that point in quarantine in which I am getting damn sick of my own cooking 😜…

    Deb

    Liked by 1 person

    • Deb, you’re the first person who I’ve heard of who has tried Uber Eats. I see pizza delivery cars going up and down the street, but if Uber Eats is around I don’t see it. Which might be the point of it? I/we don’t mind cooking but our repertoire needs to expand a bit if we’re to be here much longer. Still we are limited by what we can get via the pickup service, so going with the flow here, are we.

      Liked by 2 people

      • I think it is new to our area. A great option for restaurants that offer takeout but would like to also offer delivery. Or any restaurant right now, actually. Wednesday is becoming Takeout Day – a day to support local restaurants during quarantine, which I wanted to do. When I downloaded the app I was given a number of promo coupons for $8 off a $15 or greater order. How could I not try this out? It was a great success!

        Liked by 1 person

        • That’s a good deal all around, both for the local restaurants and for you. I’ll check to see if anything like that is being promoted around here. This is a quirky suburban community that from what I can tell has gone into hiding for the duration. Still something might be open.

          Liked by 1 person

  4. I LOVE Shepherd’s Pie (a lot of English blood in me) and when a child, that was what my special birthday dinner request was, year after year. I make it now – always with gr. beef. I like your recipe and will try it. The best chicken pot pie we can find (better than what we can bake) is at our local farm. Everything about it is just right, to a perfect crust and lots of white chicken meet and veggies in there. Oh, Dear. Food is becoming so important these days. I grimaced when I heard your waiting time for your groceries. That’s ridiculous! We finally used Instacart – 5 day wait for delivery – but it came right to our front door with 1.5 weeks worth of food. Not bad.

    Liked by 1 person

  5. I would not be surviving this without salty stuff….we’re still venturing into stores. The window for delivered groceries is impossibly thin. I just hazmat up…

    Liked by 2 people

  6. Thank you for the recipes! Yesterday I realized that we had nothing from the day to add to our compost bin. Apparently when you eat only carbs you don’t end up with any fruit or veggie peelings. Oops. Be well!

    Liked by 2 people

    • momocular, yes we’re all about the carbs right now because that’s what we can get. I miss eating a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables at every meal, but that’s not the way it is now. I can imagine that your compost bin is suffering, poor thing.

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  7. My husband and I love to people watch and make up stories. We also play this game where we find the worst possible versions of ourselves in other people. It’s horribly fun. HORRIBLE fun, I should say.

    People are clueless about being sanitary, which is why I am not at all surprised there is a pandemic. I am a germaphobe, so I have been preparing for this my entire adult life.

    I love all of those recipes and I also love that we feel like we have an excuse to make them now. Like, I would save recipes for the weekend which is so funny to me for some reason.

    I also understand why my grandma used to hoard ketchup packets from McDonald’s when she was alive. I GET IT NOW, GRAMMA.

    My friend made depression cake this week and I am making it this weekend. My grandma would be so proud.

    Liked by 2 people

  8. Sorry for the “interesting” pick up experience Ally Bean. It can work well if you are shopping at a store that already had pick up options in place in the before time. One line drive up just doesn’t cut it but at least they’re trying.

    Have to confess, I mistook Brown Rice and Corn Cakes on first glance for “Brown Rice and Corn Flakes” and couldn’t imagine why you would even consider trying that recipe :0

    Liked by 1 person

    • Deb, you make a great point. We’ve had this online order/pickup service available for a while, but it was never set up for this kind of demand. They’re doing the best they can so no complaints, but my goodness one does have to wait.

      The Brown Rice and Corn Cakes recipe is one of our favorites that we’ve enjoyed for years. I can assure you no corn flake is harmed in the making of said. Love your misreading of the title. 😁

      Liked by 1 person

  9. People really don’t understand basic hygiene, even before this whole crisis. I remember asking for a pound of fish at a supermarket and the clueless guy behind the counter put on some gloves, went to the scale and with his gloved hand pressed in the item number, went over to the collapsable side of the fish counter, grabbed the handle and took it down, grabbed the raw fish, and plopped it on the scale. Then he wrapped it up. I asked him why he bothered to wear the gloves if he was going to handle everything else before even picking it up, and looked at me like I had two heads.

    Liked by 3 people

  10. Around here it’s hard to get a time slot in less than 10 days. We’ve gone in gloved and masked and bought enough so we don’t need to do it frequently. My husband eats a banana every day. He’s been going without occasionally because you can’t buy enough for two weeks without them going bad. I also shop for my brother at the same time. I am amazed at his list. So far (keep in mind this is for 2 90-year-old people) in the last 3 weeks I’ve bought him 2-1/2 quarts of non-fat half/half and 10 lbs. of potatoes. He also asked for lots of yeast. I’m wondering what he’s making. No meat at all. Oh yes, hot dogs but I don’t count that as meat.

    Liked by 2 people

  11. People watching is the best, but for a two-hour wait, I’d want to be prepared and bring along snacks. I confess there’s a whole lot of comfort carbs being eaten at our house. I’m going be waddling out when sequestering is over.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Deborah, I didn’t think to bring snacks but will be doing so in the future. I think our hunger may have worked to our advantage because we got slap happy as we waited, laughing at the darnedest things. And yes, we waddle now, too. BUT we’re healthy as we waddle, so there.

      Liked by 1 person

  12. I had my first experience with the pick up service yesterday, too. Here, they sent me an email when they were ready and we drove over there and parked in one of the special slots. They have you call when you get there and poof, they were out with the groceries. I had to refuse both substitutions because “ultra whitening” does not sub well for sensitive teeth toothpaste and quart size ziploc do not sub for gallon size. Besides, I have a whole bunch of quart sized but that’s another story. They failed to credit the toothpaste so now I have to go in to the store and explain why I am returning something I refused. No more substitutions for me! I thought they’d use some sense making substitutions but apparently not.

    My brother uses instacart, by the way. There’s nothing that fancy down here. We don’t usually even have curb side pickup. I’m uncomfortable with someone else choosing produce or meat for me but perhaps I will try that the next time I need something.

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    • Zazzy, interesting about the substitutions. We get no substitutions unless we specifically explain what we’d accept as a substitution. For instance, we asked for “Henry’s Blend” from Seattle’s Best Coffee, then had to add a special instruction that said we’d accept any blend of coffee from Seattle’s Best Coffee. Learned that the hard way, btw.

      I understand your reluctance to allow someone else to pick out your produce and meat. I feel the same way, but neither of us wants to go inside a store so we’re making the best of it. We’re taking the stay-at-home directive seriously.

      Liked by 1 person

      • I am taking the stay at home thing seriously and am frustrated with those who aren’t. We are very lucky to have between zero and three confirmed infections in my county and the two closest counties, but I can’t believe it’ll stay that low if people keep treating it like it doesn’t apply to them. Fortunately I stocked up fairly well before things went too nuts and well, I’m used to being at home. It’s just the fresh stuff that is driving me nuts.

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        • I know what you mean, Zazzy. All that is being asked of people is to stay. at. home. IT’S NOT DIFFICULT. Yet I read and see photos of people out and about, mixing it up with friends and other family, as if they’re immune from this virus. Glad you stocked up early. That’ll help you stay healthy regardless of what other people aren’t. doing. right.

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  13. Last week I had to wait 40 minutes for my pick up grocery order and didn’t get everything on my list. This week I’m donning my mask and gloves and going in and shopping! I hope they have a trash can that doesn’t require any touching at all when I dispose of my gloves! I have a face mask, but made a cover for it and will wear that.

    I printed out the Spiced Walnut recipe as I have some to use up. Thanks for sharing the recipes!

    Liked by 1 person

    • Deborah, we’re not getting everything on our lists, either. Fortunately I’m good at making meals out of odds and ends, so I’ve yet to feel the need to go inside a store.

      That woman with the gloves was a cautionary tale. I bet after she took them off it didn’t occur to her that she was contaminating her hands by touching the trash container. We liked the Spiced Walnut recipe. Don’t know that it’s on my Top Ten list of all-time favorites, but not bad, not bad at all.

      Liked by 1 person

  14. We have been doing curbside pickups at Walmart. I never shopped for groceries there before, but they are one of the few places here we can get time slots for. I do think their app and their process is pretty stellar. The pickup lot has numbered defined spaces and they use your gps and know exactly when you arrive at the store. Most of the delivery people have been pretty good about keeping the 6’ distance although we always don a washable mask just in case. We are too rural for Instacart. I am anxious to check out your recipe list.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Maggie, we have Walmarts around here, but none are close to us. However it’s good to hear that they have their pickup service streamlined. Our experience wasn’t awful, and we did make the best of it. I suspect as online ordering/pickup becomes more mainstream the system will get better. We don’t have any masks. They don’t seem to be as popular [necessary?] here as elsewhere. Maybe we midwesterners naturally adhere to social distancing by nature!

      Liked by 1 person

    • Colette, I felt sorry for that second sign. It looked frightened, having seen what had happened to the other one. Being bashful and being a sign… how difficult it must be to stand there every day.

      Liked by 1 person

  16. From what I’m seeing and reading on social media we’re all cooking and eating more. I suspect next fall we’ll all be on diets and signing up for gym memberships. Oh well, we’ve gotta do what we’ve gotta do to get through all this.

    Two hours to wait in line to pick up groceries! Wow! I went for the first time in two weeks and it was sure a different shopping experience than in the past.. There was doctor on TV who said they aren’t recommending people wear gloves to the store because we touch out faces too much and germs stay on plastic longer than on your fingers. When I got to the car and finished putting me groceries inside I took a Wipe and cleaned everything I touched including my keys and of course my hands.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Jean, I agree with you. It’d be the height of ingratitude to whine about not getting the food you want now, when other people cannot get anything to eat. Survive, then worry about your food preferences and weight gain.

      I’ve seen the same message about not wearing plastic gloves when you go to the grocery store. I think your approach seems sensible and wish I’d seen that woman do the wipe down part. She grossed me out by touching the trash container, then touching everything else like she normally would. I like your idea of wiping down your keys, btw. Good point.

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  17. Well thank you VERY much for doing this pre-cooking for me and testing out some recipes! I am all excited to try some now! We have been getting Hello Fresh shipments and have 3 meals a week from that so I have been trying some new things that I wouldn’t have made otherwise and it has really actually been fun and takes the stress out since we have not been grocery shopping for a month. I have made one trip to do curbside pick up of produce and gelato at a local market. The gelato saved me!

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    • Beth Ann, I figure if we’re at home we might as well try some recipes. It’s been fun, but I will be happy to get back to a diet based more on fresh fruits and vegetables whenever that happens. I’ve never tried Hello Fresh, but I can understand how it is a wonderful way to get your groceries. I’ll keep it in mind if this sequestered life, as I call it, goes on much longer. I haven’t had gelato in ages. Maybe I need to add it to our next online order? 🤔

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  18. It is always interesting to watch people! That’s still my Dad’s favorite thing to do when he is out. If only people knew the things we imagined about them. LOL!
    Your list of foods is making me hungry. Love cheesy grits and we have strawberry shortcake a lot, Shepherd’s pie. YUM!

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  19. Enjoyable post, humour, and even recipes! I admire your patience waiting in line and keeping your positive attitude. You are a keen observer of people and that makes for an excellent storyteller I believe.
    I tried making naan bread the other day for the first time. I followed the recipe and it turned out delicious but next time I will use more water so they are thinner. The recipe didn’t tell me to put oil on my fingers so the dough was sticking, my wife taught me that trick after chuckling. I was trying to surprise her.
    I love reading your comments, best wishes – David

    Liked by 1 person

    • David, I do like to watch people so this wait wasn’t awful, plus my husband and I can get quite silly when left on our own. Case in point with the made up back stories.

      I’ve never tried to make naan but I do like it. And I do have some time on my hands 🙄 so if I do make it I’ll follow your wife’s suggestion with the oil. Thanks for stopping by to comment. Stay well.

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    • John, two people were loading but there were 5-10 minute breaks in time between when you drove into your assigned number spot and when you got your order. We suspected that the store was short staffed inside the store and there was a lack of employees available to fill your order, thus we waited.

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  21. We are too rural and too small for grocery delivery, 30 miles from the nearest supermarket. Walmart has curbside pickup but when I looked at the ordering section of their website, I saw little that I buy. I can get some things from the little store in our town, but I fear I shall have to brave a trip to the bigger town next week.

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    • Carol, we’ve never tried grocery delivery, but many of the commenters have. The order online/pickup system worked as well as it could considering the volume. I guess it’ll get faster as they get the hang of it. It’s so odd, yet understandable, for you, and everyone else, to say braving a trip to the grocery. It seems surreal to me. Stay safe, be well.

      Liked by 1 person

  22. Glad that you were in good company for that 2 hour wait. BFF went to the grocery store for us 2 days ago for PRODUCE ~ potatoes, bananas, celery, carrots, green beans, asparagus, broccoli, apples, romaine lettuce, grapes, strawberries, etc. There aren’t too many co-vid cases around here so we just wash our hands frequently and keep our grubby paws away from our faces between washing. So far, so good.

    Thanks for sharing your list of recipes. Your brown rice & corn cakes look similar to the corn pancakes my dad used to make. A favorite!

    Liked by 1 person

    • Nancy, we’ve been able to get some fresh produce via this system, but I prefer to see what I’m buying. Alas that’s not how it is for the immediate future. The Brown Rice and Corn Cakes are a family favorite around here. They get 2 *yums* up.

      Liked by 1 person

  23. Our store’s pick up slots are sold out, for the past month and into the forseeable future. I’ll venture into produce and dairy next week. Everything else is delivered by a variety of stores and food services. I’ll be wearing my mask, no gloves. I was always good at not touching my face, and NEVER touch the trash can, so I’ll be OK until I get home and wash my hands.

    I might try the strawberry shortcakes since I ate the teeny strawberry shortcakes I received last weekend for my birthday. Thanks for the recipes!

    Liked by 1 person

    • Tara, when I go into a store again I’ll follow your example. I rarely touch my face having been broken of that habit as a child. The whole touching the trash container after taking off the gloves about did me in. So close…

      We liked the Strawberry Shortcakes. It’s a recipe we come back to when need be. And we have a box of Bisquick so the time is now.

      Liked by 1 person

  24. Online grocery ordering with pick-up option has been available here for years but none of the merchants ever put much emphasis on it or invested any resources in it. Now that demand for this service has suddenly exploded, none of them can keep up. Wait times are running from 3 days to 2 weeks from order placement to pick-up. Absolutely no one can fill an order the same day, so my wife still goes in-person once a week. She goes early and there are lots of added safety measures in place: limited number of people in the store at a time, carts disinfected after each use etc…

    Liked by 1 person

    • Norm, it’s only been within the last year, maybe, that we’ve had this online ordering/pickup service. Our wait is currently about 10 days, but we’re doing well at planning ahead. The last time I was in a store it was chaos, but there was someone disinfecting each cart which I liked. However the shopping experience itself was stressful. Hence we are now doing that which I said I’d never do. Never say never.

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  25. Wow! 2 hours to wait in line to get groceries? That’s amazing. I had to laugh at how you passed the time waiting. Of course, a writer would make up backstories for everyone they see! 🙂

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  26. That’s interesting about your delivery experience. My store gives me a large window of time. I park in a spot, call and within 5 minutes or so, they’re loading my groceries for me. HOWEVER, I never get quite what I want. They substituted a bag of ice berg lettuce for the romaine I ordered. One of the two cauliflowers I got had a bunch of brown spots on it. No hand soap or TP. I want to move in with you and have you cook for me! I usually only went out once or twice a week to a Happy Hour or dinner, but I really miss it. I like the anticipation of looking at the menu, and figuring out what sounds good to eat. Then waiting a while (with a drink) for them to bring it to me.

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    • Margaret, you’re the second person who said the grocery made unsatisfactory substitutions. Our system will only give you a substitution if you specifically request something, otherwise you do without. I rarely go out to eat, but I can understand why you miss what you miss. Eventually we’ll get back to that way of life again. I might even be more inclined to go out to eat, having eaten here for so long.

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  27. Well done, you! Love the shy sign. I haven’t gone to grocery delivery because it’s too much fun to go shopping now…NOT!!! Last week I stayed home entirely (from shopping, not counting morning walks), then went out Monday morning, masked for the first time. I don’t bother with gloves. Either the store cleans the cart handle or I do, I use self-checkout, and use hand sanitizer once I’m in the van. I actually wiped down all the non-fruit/veggie type things when I got home, mostly for my husband’s sake and of course, washed my hands thoroughly and often. Should be good for some time now. I saw a mix of masked and non-masked people and masks are certainly not fun to wear. But trying to open produce bags without spitting on your hands is much, much, MUCH more trying!! 🙂

    Keep that smile and stay well,

    janet, smiling in Arizona

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    • Janet, I liked the shy sign, too. I swear the poor thing had a worried look on its face. 🙁

      I hadn’t thought about how you could, or could not, open a plastic produce bag with a mask on. Another reason for us to use the online service. If/when I go back into a grocery store, I’ll be doing as you do. That is, wear a mask, use self-checkout, and have a hand sanitizer in the car. Cautious, but not nutso about it.

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  28. Our stores do not have pickup nearby. Instead, we would have to drive to a designated store, nearly an hour away, to get our order. They decided to centralize their operations. Not very convenient, so I glove and mask up to go get what I need about every two weeks, mainly fresh produce.

    I leave a small lunch-size paper bag on the front seat of my car, opened and ready, and once I’ve loaded my stuff in the trunk, I open my door, carefully strip off my gloves, and place them in the paper bag, which I then seal shut. I then sanitize my hands and go home. The rigamarole that awaits me there is exhausting, but necessary.

    I am trying not to carbohydrate load, but it’s hard. And I find we’re both getting tired of Dinners As Usual. As a result, last night’s dinner was homemade guacamole and chips. And dessert was brownies, which I fancied up by adding the zest of one orange. (I highly recommend that, by the way. Very delicious.)

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    • nance, I don’t think I’d drive one hour to find a store that offers this pickup option. I’d take precautions like you do then go in the store. Your way of disposing of your gloves in your car is brilliant. We do a lot post grocery shopping rigamarole too. Clean, clean, everywhere.

      I’m not thrilled by this shift to carbs either. It’s nots my preferred way of eating, but we have food so I shall not complain. I like the orange zest in the brownies idea. I sometimes put chili powder in ours for a subtle little kick.

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  29. Carbs are comfort food, and easier to manage these days. We used to get our produce from the Farmer’s Market, but those have been shut down. Now would be the time for asparagus, strawberries, and blueberries.

    Hurry up, summer garden!

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    • AutumnAshbough, you’re right that carbs are comfort food. We’re eating them because we aren’t able to get our normal fish and fresh veggie diet. Just this morning I was thinking about how our Farmers’ Market won’t be happening this year. I’d be munching on fresh lettuce, strawberries, and rhubarb right about now. *le sigh*

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  30. Last time I went to the market I stood in line for about 30 minutes, spend 15 minutes in the store shopping and another 30 minutes standing in line to check out. There’s no longer any such thing as “gotta pop to the store for that one missing ingredient.” We’ve gotten into pancakes. Simple and filling.

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    • Jan, yes you are right. The days of just going to the grocery on the spur of the moment for one or two things are either behind us or on hold. I’m not much for planning meals ahead, so this new way of weekly shopping is stressful for me. However I’m getting the hang of it. Pancakes sound good to me. Nice idea, thanks.

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  31. Wow, that’s quite a while to wait and my husband would NEVER have been able to stand that. I am doing most of our grocery shopping but I go very early in the morning on “Senior Day” with mask and gloves. I have been spending A LOT more money on groceries than before but the grown kids who are here with us have been chipping in too. Our daughter goes to Target and has Door Dash deliveries. Sounds like some good food you are making there.

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    • Janet, waiting was a lot like sitting in an airport waiting for your connecting flight that’s been delayed indefinitely. Z-D had lots of experience with that so this didn’t phase him. I know that around here 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. is when anyone 60 or over can shop in the grocery. I think that’s a good thing. I know what you mean about spending A LOT of money on food suddenly. It’s weird, isn’t it? I miss my lackadaisical approach to meal planning which somehow seemed to cost us less than how we’re doing it now.

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  32. There’s no way in hell my husband would sit in the car in line for 2 hours. Nope. Never. And to be honest, he would drive me so crazy complaining I’d rather risk Corona and go in the store!

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  33. Wow. About the long line and the woman with the gloves. I can only hope she at least sanitized her hands once she got in her car. We always do. Though it’s eerie and creepy to shop in store with all the masked people and the signs dictating where we can stand and what direction we can walk, it was nice to see how friendly people were.

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    • Betsy, I’d like to see some friendly people. I mean people on our street are pleasant enough, but a few friendly faces, even masked ones, would be a good change of pace. Tedium is beginning to wear me down.

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      • Oh dear. Whenever we’re out for a walk people tend to smile and wave–other walkers and people driving by, far more so than they used to. At the store someone was blocking my path, so I said excuse me, please, and she very graciously apologized and moved. Later I saw her talking with another gentleman (from 6+ feet away) about what spices were available. They were quite pleasant. It was certainly refreshing. At an earlier visit, we parked our cart on the designated line at check out to wait our turn, and the older gentleman ahead of us pointed to the wheels of the cart, just a smidge over the line, and said with a big smile, “You’ve gone over the line there. You’d better back that up.” We all laughed. So take heart, Ally Bean. People are still awesome. 🙂

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  34. You waited that long??? Oh my goodness. A friend has been trying to convince me to order my groceries online. Arrrrgh.

    I LOOOOOOOVE shepherd’s pie! Yum!!! Carbs are indeed our friends these days! I look forward to my afternoon lemon cookies.

    Liked by 1 person

    • L. Marie, yes we did wait that long. Of course getting our order was great when it finally happened. Made it all worthwhile, I guess.

      The shepherd’s pie was delicious. I’m glad we made it and will do so again, when we get the ingredients. Lemon cookies sound good to me.

      Like

  35. I have to laugh at the trash can. It took my wife years to get me to use my foot, elbow, any other limb except my hand. And this was before the coronavirus! The peanut butter blossom cookies look really good — yes, please. – Marty

    Liked by 1 person

    • Marty, the trash can was icky. And to touch it in the time of coronavirus? Double ick. The cookies were delicious. It was the first time I tried to make them. Will do again.

      Like

  36. Hi, Ally – Thank you for rating, and posting these recipes. They each sound great.
    We’ve been ordering our groceries on line and picking them up as well. There is a delay in finding a timeslot on line…but once secured the pickup process (at least so far) has gone very quickly.
    Fingers crossed!

    Liked by 1 person

    • Donna, I don’t know if our experience is the norm or a fluke. Give me a few more weeks of research before I come to my conclusion. It wasn’t like anyone was goofing off, the employees were working. I’m just glad we got our food and that we made the best of it. Whatcha gonna do?

      Like

  37. Thank you for sharing these recipes!! Strawberry shortcake is on my husband’s wish list of things for me to make. We haven’t ordered groceries for pick up but every two weeks I send my husband who is out for work a list and he picks it up.

    I do have some “supplies” that I’ll need to order for pickup.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Kate, I hope you enjoy the shortcakes if you make them. These recipes have kept us going so they aren’t all bad. Just maybe not quite how we usually eat. I take it your husband won’t pick up your “supplies”! Made me laugh with that one. Thanks.

      Like

      • Ha!! I don’t think I mean what you mean!! (I use a cup so don’t need those kind of “supplies”), but there’s some household stuff that he’ll pick up if I order, but won’t go in to get. I need to be thoughtful about my punctuation!! 😂

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  38. Now I’m a bit worried. We finally were able to get a time slot and order groceries from our local store. Our pick up is this Saturday evening… I hope we aren’t in for a long wait. Unlike Zen-Den, my husband doesn’t do lines very well. We’ve tried various methods of food procurement and this seems (or seemed) like the most reasonable, with the best selection. I guess we’ll see…

    Our orange and lemon trees are producing a lot of fruit right now so I’m always happy for recipes that use citrus – I’ll have to try the lemon curd. A couple others look good too, so thanks!

    Like

    • Janis, I don’t know if our wait is what is happening elsewhere or if we’re just lucky! It wasn’t so awful, the weather was pleasant, there were people to watch, we listened to music. It’s not like we had anywhere else to be, but if your husband is impatient he may not see it that way.

      I like citrus so color me jealous of you and your trees. On the other hand eat an orange and please enjoy. The world needs whatever happiness a person can find. 🍊

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  39. Ally, I still go to the store about every 10 or 11 days. Brought a ton of stuff home yesterday (scores some TP!). I think I only saw one person in each of the two stores not wearing a mask. For health reasons I’m on a really strict diet right now, so I have to see what’s available in the store. I wouldn’t have a clue what to order (if that was even on offer, which it isn’t).

    Liked by 1 person

    • Eilene, interesting observations on your part. Masks seemed to be optional as shoppers went in and came out of our grocery. We had time to notice.

      Being on a strict diet must make you grocery shopping adventures even more exciting. Are there items missing that you need? The last time I was in a store, lots of items were totally sold out with empty shelves in each aisle.

      Our online ordering is easy, but there is a learning curve. The catch is that it’s only after you get your order that you find out what was sold out at the time you went to pick up your order. It’s a bit of a game.

      Liked by 1 person

  40. Our stores have discontinued pick-up because they’re too busy doing delivery. I’m going inside to shop. It’s not bad, the stores are quite empty, except for the delivery shoppers.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Dan, I don’t know that we have delivery here. I just know about the pickup service and while it took a long time it was good for us overall. I can see what you mean about the stores being empty now, though. Hadn’t thought of that variable. I could sneak in early, with purpose, and skedaddle with the fresh fruit and veggies that I’m craving. Hmmm… 😷

      Liked by 1 person

    • Anne, good question. I won’t be going into the grocery for a long time, even when [if?] this stay at home directive is lifted. I’ll let the extroverts have their social time there, before I venture inside. Weird to even be thinking like this, isn’t it?

      Like

  42. I’ve been ordering our groceries online and it’s taking a week before we can go pick them up. It’s stressful because by the time I get groceries I have to have another order put in already.
    I love people watching, too. And I’m always making up fun stories about these strangers! 😃

    Liked by 1 person

    • Michelle, oh you’d have been right at home with Z-D and I as we waited in line. Making up stories about strangers was a goof, but such harmless fun.

      Our available pickup times are about 10 days ahead so I hear ‘ya about the stress of deciding what to order now that’ll work with what you’ll have then. It’s a game that makes me scowl, but one that I’ll play.

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  43. That sounds like the way to go with shopping pick-up Ally. I’ve heard mixed reviews as to Instacart; one Michigan friend said it was hours late (like middle-of-the-night-late) and another said it was delivered/left at the wrong address (that was in NY though). I’ve still not strayed out to grocery shop as I’m working through my Winter “provisions” but not eating anything fun like you have here. I love Shepherd’s Pie, but looking at the picture of “Grandma’s Anything Goes Strata” made me hungry. I can eat breakfast any time – I’m not picky and now would be perfect!

    Liked by 1 person

    • Linda, I’ve only heard about Instacart from bloggers. I/we’re happy enough with using this online order/pickup service that we’ll try it again. I have faith that they’ll get faster with it as they do it more times. The Grandma’s Anything Goes Strata was delicious. I haven’t made a strata in a long time, so it was nice to have one. We’ll eat breakfast for any meal, too. Why not?

      Liked by 1 person

  44. Two hours!? I would rather shop in the store or have home delivery. Just found out from my neighbours that one of our grocery stores will do home delivery for seniors. The Optimist Club is helping them out by doing the actual delivery. So I might try that out next time. It is interesting to observe people’s behaviour sometimes.

    Like

    • Joni, I’ve not looked into home delivery here. I know there must be ways to do that, but we’re going to give this online ordering/pickup a few more chances. I wonder if what happened to us was a fluke?

      People watching is fun, for a while. My mother would have us make up cute little backstories for people who we’d see when waiting for something. I felt like a kid again.

      Liked by 1 person

  45. Last time I had shepherd’s pie was in a cute little restaurant/bar with a Scottish theme. They used lamb, and, even though I almost never cook lamb at home, it was delicious.

    Thinking of lemon curd makes my mouth water. Yum!

    Liked by 1 person

    • Nicole, I’ve made Shepherd’s Pie a few times before, but this recipe was better than the ones I used previously. It’s going to stay in rotation more often once we get back to normal [normal-ish?] living.

      I love Lemon Curd and making it is easier than I thought it’d be. Will do that again, too.

      Liked by 1 person

  46. You had me at lemon curd…
    As for the odd forgetfulnesses of staying ‘clean’ after taking off one’s protective gloves and all – triple ick,
    BTW: I did an on-line order for a joann fabric ‘need’ (!!!!) and their curbside service was fantastic…the line of people to enter the store after individuals left the store only got longer during my easy in-easy out pick-up…and I suspect those who observed my transaction time might just try it that way next time.

    Not the same thing as waiting for a needful item like groceries, I know…
    Not the same as food – I know.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Laura, I’m glad one of the recipes sounded good to you. I added them at the end of this post in case someone was interested in what we’d tried. Perhaps solutions to the problems of what to eat next?

      I didn’t know Joann Fabric offered that service. Thanks for telling me. I don’t need a thing from them but I need to become more aware of what other stores do curbside service now. It’s something under normal circumstances I’d never use, but now… I’m all: what a great idea!

      Liked by 1 person

  48. Our store no longer has any time-slots available for pickup for the next week. Looks like I’ll be getting creative-er with what’s in the pantry and freezer. That strata sounds INSANELY good. I have this-n-that soup on the stove, even as I type.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Marian, I like this-n-that soup any time so that sounds yum to me. The strata was easy and quite good. We are about 10 days out when we order online. It makes for some interesting meals in-between time . 🙄

      Like

  49. Two hours just to pickup?!! Yikes. I wouldn’t be eager to do that again.

    I’m shopping in person and not liking it a bit … which is why I do it as infrequently as possible. The end result – as you’ve noted – is some creative cooking.

    My menu last week also included Sheppard’s Pie. I was first introduced to it by my husband when we started dating in the Dark Ages … only the Quebecois call it pâté chinois. I’ve never understood the strange name “Chinese Pie”, but hey … it’s now one of my favourites 🙂

    btw – I use ground turkey and sweet potatoes. I like the combination of sweet and savoury, plus it looks pretty … although a friend of ours who used to be a chef was horrified when he found out 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  50. Lemon curd – have always ignored the compulsion to investigate the name “curd” – as in curdle? Mom used to make boxed lemon pie filling and spoon it into dessert bowls rather than a crust (her pastry-making skills were subpar, plus this was faster). Would you say this was the same product, or a reasonable facsimile?

    I may have to dig for a recipe – unless you care to share yours?

    Liked by 1 person

  51. I love how you can make fun happen wherever you go, Ally! My kiddos (adults on their own) are into the order ahead and pick up later routine now too. My oldest said their order was placed on Saturday, then told they couldn’t pick it up until the following Wednesday after 6 pm. They finally got their groceries at 9 pm Wednesday. My daughter was very kind to the gal who helped her load the groceries into her car. She told her how much she appreciated all her efforts. The girl almost started to cry. She said, “You have no idea how mean people can be, thank you for your kindness, it’s nice to feel appreciated.” Stay well, Ally!

    Liked by 1 person

    • Shelley, I can only imagine how some people treat the employees who put the groceries in your trunk. I’m glad you daughter made a point to be kind. Our available pickup times have been running 10 days out, but we just placed our next order and got a time slot one week from today. Feeling jazzed about that. 😁

      Liked by 1 person

      • 10 days out … WOW! Way to plan ahead!! I’m starting to wonder if this online thing will be the new norm for shopping? We haven’t done the online shopping yet, Mr. and I both can’t get into the idea of having an employee rushing through the fresh produce and not taking the same diligent care to pick out acceptable options for veggies or fruits. I’ve watched them do that task before and I wasn’t impressed. Do they let you order takeout wine too?! Cheers to adjusting and going with the flow of the things that are happening in our world. Stay well and stay safe!

        Liked by 1 person

        • Shelley, I know what you mean about the fresh produce and our experiences have been mixed. Some great produce, some shoddy produce. I prefer to mosey around that section of the store, deciding what to buy in the moment so this an adjustment for me. We can order wine and beer, HOWEVER so far the wine has always been sold out while the beer is available. I’m missing my wine, I tell ‘ya. Very much.

          Liked by 1 person

          • My daughter had another 4 out of 10 experience with the shopper she had. Moldy onions, wrong brand of tortilla shells, HUGE strawberries, 4 of the wrong flavor of tuna, etc. but the order was ready the same day, so that was delightful. WOW – our wine so far has been well stocked. And on sale. I’d be right there with you if there wasn’t any wine – beer is not on my wish list. What about the Spritzers? They’re not too bad? White Claw is pretty tasty.

            Liked by 1 person

            • I hadn’t thought of the Spritzers and that is an excellent idea. We got some White Claw with our order for the first time this past weekend. Have yet to try it. I don’t hate beer, but I think of it as something to sip in the heat of summer, not as something to center me in joy during a pandemic. And I want some joy, dammit.

              Liked by 1 person

  52. Trash Can Lid Lady, EWWWWW! Of all things!
    The Mister and Moo get our stuffs, for they are the Hunters. Also, pickup and delivery have both been near impossible to get, no times available for 2 -4 days, and then, when achieved, poorly executed, resulting in trips out to get what was not available after all. The big score Friday was 10 rolls of our paper towels and … a waffle iron. Not on the list, but fun. Now he’s made waffles for two days. Have I eaten waffles? No. Do I like waffles? Meh. LOL but that’s happy for him, isn’t it? 😀
    I think I will incorporate your/ Williams-Sonoma’s A+ lemon curd recipe as I do not have one, and always buy Bonne Maman’s. Thank you!

    Like

    • joey, yes that woman with the gloves was so close to being hygienic and then… ick. I bet she spaced out as she was getting ready to drive home. I LOVE waffles so I think you’re on the path to good health. The Lemon Curd recipe is good if you like that sort of thing, which I do. Enjoy.

      Liked by 1 person

  53. Pretty sure 2 hours of waiting in line would not fly with Sean. lol. Though I saw your note about having a better experience at a different time of day. I’ll have to pick one of your recipes to make! Thanks for sharing all of them. I have been making at least one slow cooker meal a week – I don’t cook so it’s sometimes an interesting experience. I subscribe to the NYT, so there are some good ones in the cooking section. We’ve made chicken green chili and pulled pork Sammies. I also found a recipe for tortilla soup on Delish. I’ve liked em all!

    My brother in law sent me a photo of a guy leaving the grocery store, pulling a glove off with his teeth. UGH.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Pam, now that we’ve had a faster experience with midday pickup, we’re going with that time slot again, assuming we can get one. I can’t help thinking that earlier is better. I like slow cooker recipes and have to get more into doing that. Anything with chicken and green chilies I like, so will make that soon because, miracle of miracles, we have both of those ingredients here at the moment.

      Double *ick* about pulling a glove off with your teeth at any time, but now? OH. THAT. IS. AWFUL.

      Like

  54. Two hours? Crikey! Here’s we’re still shopping in store – once a week – well Himself is, as it’s not permitted for more than one person per household to shop at a time. I had to do a separate shop by myself for the cleaning materials as I couldn’t provide him with a list containing all the possible potential substitutions! Getting a slot for home delivery has been quite the lottery ever since the weeks before lock-down. Sadly no baking or carbs here – ever since surgery I’ve been on a diet to reduce the load on my knee, but flour and eggs have also been missing from the shelves for weeks. I’ll still come out of lock-down waddling, but it will be a less than before, which I’ll certainly consider an unexpected win 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    • Deb, yes, it was an experience. I’d heard there might be delays with pickup so it wasn’t entirely unexpected. And since then we’ve gone at noon with only a 20 minute wait, so things are getting better. We’ve heard mixed reviews about home delivery, so we’re holding off on that for the moment.

      We’re living on carbs because that’s pretty much we can get. It’s not awful, but I do better with less starch in me. I anticipate I shall waddle out of this experience, too.

      Liked by 1 person

  55. You’re eating well and so are we. I ‘think’ that’s a good thing. 🙂 Our local grocery store had to stop the order on line process, but the big box store still does it. I had to start the order about five days before pickup, but I could add and subtract during that time. The one issue is there are certain things you can’t buy online like that all in demand tp or a lot of the frozen items or stuff that is out of stock. On Saturday, we got a text the order was ready, we texted that we were on the way, when we parked, ‘it’ knew we were there, and we just had to put in our parking spot and car color. They brought the bags out in about 10-15 minutes. It was fairly easy, but tomorrow morning about 6:30 a.m. I’ll be at the grocery store getting the stuff I couldn’t get online. But, I still avoided a lot of folks with no face coverings and those that haven’t heard about social distancing. Glad you put your time in line to good use being creative. 🙂

    Like

    • Judy, like you I’m assuming that eating well will help us survive this pandemic. When I wrote this our wait for a time slot was 10 days but since then we got one a week out which makes us happy. Your pickup system sounds like it went smoothly, but I’m fascinated that you can’t get frozen items with it. We can order frozen items no problem, available contingent on the items being in stock. I haven’t been in a store for a few weeks now. The last time I went in at 7:00 a.m. it was chaotic, both in terms of other shoppers and partially-filled shelves. I decided to give up on that and do this order online/pickup service. It may not be perfect, but I do feel it is safer than the alternative.

      Like

    • The Travel Architect, ha! I won’t lie and say that we were thrilled with our 2 hour wait, but it was like waiting in an airport for a connecting flight and our car seats were much more comfortable than any airport waiting area, so overall we were cool with it. Since I wrote this we’ve been back again with a noon time slot and it took 20 minutes from start to finish. Maybe what happened before was a fluke?

      Like

  57. Hi there, this is my first time to visit your blog and I want to say hello.

    By the way, I am new in blogging and just recently I made a challenge to my self. I will be visiting 10 blogs each day for 21 days. I will leave comment on each blog I visit and have its link posted on my blog. Hope you can visit my blog to support me on this one.
    I also followed your blog.

    Like

    • Arlene, it is because of that time on my hands that I’ve been trying so many recipes. My husband is working from home now so we’re eating more food here at home than usual. As you can imagine. 🙄

      Like

  59. Thanks for sharing the recipes. I see a few that I need to try. I am still doing the grocery shopping, but infrequently. I made manicotti last night which was a first for me. I took the pieces of a few different recipes that sounded good and created my own version with spinach, ground beef, and three kinds of cheese. It was rather tasty.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Amy, your manicotti sounds delicious to me. I love mixing recipes and using what we have on hand. I never ever would have thought that grocery shopping could become this complex– and potentially unhealthy. What a world, eh?

      Like

  60. Grocery shopping is not as much fun anymore, to be sure. I have never tried curbside pickup, I wonder if that will be next to be mandated, as it would limit the number of people the employees of the store have to face. But I doubt it. At least you’re having fun with it, and your recipes sound delicious. It is interesting to think sometimes about how, prior to ALL OF THIS UNPLEASANTNESS, if I needed one item for a recipe, I would dash off to the store for it. Now I figure out what to substitute. Much better for the planet, I am sure, since I generally drive to the store.

    Liked by 1 person

    • J, you make a good point about how you [me] would go to the grocery for one item. Now we have to plan our weekly grocery list carefully, thinking ahead, anticipating not getting everything. I can do it, but I wonder if when we drift into our new normal if I’ll keep being this organized? I did enjoy running over to the store on the spur of the moment.

      Like

    • Laura, I think I’m the same way with cooking. I’ve enjoyed trying these recipes although I’m not sure I’d have made some of them if it weren’t for the fact that we had the ingredients here. Good to adapt to what is.

      Like

  62. Waiting in line? UGH. (At least you had an always changing parade and theater to watch.
    Here they have a bunch special parking places with signs. (You have a 30 min time slot) You park, text the store number the parking space number and out comes your food. So far so good. The walk-in lines seem to be less now. More stuff is available to buy – although it’s still a bit like Christmas and you wonder what you got and what subs they gave you ( they do text/call for approval of those). But ordering 7-15 days out and I forget what all I had on the list sometimes. Luckily now you can add 10 items to add to order instead of just 4…I just can seem to get everything on the list at once.
    Thanks for the recipe reminders – I laughed over the Biscuit Chicken Pot Pie – how long has it been, but hey, we’ve got the ingredients
    Fun slice of life post

    Liked by 1 person

    • philmouse, after we got into the parking spots, like the system you use, things went faster. Since this adventure we’ve done pickup at noon and it took 20 minutes. I wonder if our 2 hour wait was a fluke? Maybe short staffed on that particular evening? Benefits of doubt, I give. I don’t think we can add anything to the order after it’s ordered online, but I’m going to check that. Would be nice if we could.

      Liked by 1 person

  63. Hi Ally, Wow, on the online groceries. I have been on the fence on this one. I did the 7am shop after 30 days ‘sheltering at home’ (working on the words I use). I did leave food for 3 days in the garage as an extra precaution. I was a Dental Hygienist for over 25 years so the concept of “Universal Precautions” was part of my life style. We have added on social distancing on our walks. Nothing is 100%. We try. The classic peanut butter blossom cookies are a killer. I love anything peanut butter.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Erica/Erika, since I wrote this we’ve used the online ordering/pickup service two more times; each time there was a 20 minute wait which I think is reasonable, considering. We’ve gotten most of what we’ve ordered except for wine– which I’m missing dearly at this point. If you try it where you live it’ll be interesting to see how it goes for you. I recommend the PB cookies. We made a half batch so that we wouldn’t over indulge in them. 🙄

      Liked by 1 person

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