Canadian Retail Thread

[casper]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

Saw Schneiders double smoked "butcher cut" bacon at Loblaws the other day at $13.69 for 500g!

Maple leaf foods positions Schneiders as their premium brand. So its intended to be expensive, but still that does sound high. They use Maple Leaf as their mid-tier brand.

Yes, that is expensive. I don't buy bacon that much but when I do it is from Costco. And we have bacon for quite a few days. Fletchers Thick Cut at Costco is great.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by Wigs

Do you guys feel healthier with these changes?

From a fast food perspective, I never eat McDonald's because I feel like absolute garbage within 30 minutes of consumption. However eating A&W (1/month) I feel perfectly fine.

Molson,
Galen Weston may be one of the biggest POS in Canada.

That's the million dollar question. I feel good after eating that stuff. I agree McDonald's in particular makes me feel like shit, so I haven't had any in years.

But other places work out ok. Pizza is my personal weakness, and home made beer on tap is probably the worst thing for me, health wise.

With respect to nutrition, I think you're playing the long game eating well. Small things will add up and catch up to you. My cholesterol and everything is in good shape, so maybe that's helping.

[urbandreamer]

Every home brewer I've met is an alcoholic lol. My uncle finally had to stop drinking because it interferes with his dementia meds (& probably contributed to getting it.)

I see Galen around the Annex and Queen West occasionally. He's just a typical rich guy who should pay his distribution workers more. $28/hr is the most you'll get to live in fear of being fired - happened to someone I know who'd worked there for years, getting fired for missing a shift due to a back injury.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by urbandreamer

Every home brewer I've met is an alcoholic lol. My uncle finally had to stop drinking because it interferes with his dementia meds (& probably contributed to getting it.)

Now that you mention it, the guys I know who home brew seem to be happy to pour out a mug at the drop of a hat...

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by 1overcosc

Thanks for the compliment! I'm already taken ;p I'd like to think my husband agrees.

Definitely - for me it started as a fun hobby but the health aspects (along with the financial ones) are what keeps it going.

Glad to hear you enjoy doing it. Saving money and knowing exactly what goes into what you're eating.

Originally Posted by casper

Maple leaf foods positions Schneiders as their premium brand. So its intended to be expensive, but still that does sound high. They use Maple Leaf as their mid-tier brand.

Yes, that is expensive. I don't buy bacon that much but when I do it is from Costco. And we have bacon for quite a few days. Fletchers Thick Cut at Costco is great.

Schneiders, the former Kitchener-Waterloo juggernaut was always seen as a cut above Maple Leaf.
I recall my grandma and mom were upset when Maple Leaf Foods took them over. 20 years later, my Mom will buy Schneiders "juicy jumbos" all beef hot dogs and sausage rolls but those are the only mass produced meat products she buys.
I try to tell her to limit hot dog consumption as they are typically the worst cuts of meat with god knows what fillers. I do enjoy hot dogs in the summer though.

The local butcher bacon I buy most recently was $6.39/484g. So roughly $6.60/500g (if my math is correct)
Double smoked is always more. I'd assume closer to $9-$9.50/500g
Much higher quality than the mass produced stuff.

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

That's the million dollar question. I feel good after eating that stuff. I agree McDonald's in particular makes me feel like shit, so I haven't had any in years.

But other places work out ok. Pizza is my personal weakness, and home made beer on tap is probably the worst thing for me, health wise.

With respect to nutrition, I think you're playing the long game eating well. Small things will add up and catch up to you. My cholesterol and everything is in good shape, so maybe that's helping.

Is life worth living without pizza and beer? For me, the answer is Hell No!

But yeah, agreed that eating better long term will pay dividends when you're older. Also satisfaction from the hobby and that if you do as much yourself at home that you actually know what's going in your body.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by esquire

Now that you mention it, the guys I know who home brew seem to be happy to pour out a mug at the drop of a hat...

Days that end in Y!

I would say I consciously monitor my intake now, since it's always "an option".

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by Wigs

But yeah, agreed that eating better long term will pay dividends when you're older. Also satisfaction from the hobby and that if you do as much yourself at home that you actually know what's going in your body.

The beer brewing was a pandemic hobby that just kept growing. Like anything, there's always a new tool of piece of equipment to buy, but the cost to produce the beer itself is cheap. It's fun and satisfying.

My wife started the bread baking before, and it's definitely a case of "knowing what goes in" for both activities I think. She does sourdough, "sandwich" loaves, english muffins, and of course, pizza dough.

Any of that stuff fresh out of the oven with a little butter is

[urbandreamer]

I feel like my parents were 40-50 years ahead of this trend of DIY - sewing, gardening, canning, baking, home brewing (wine mostly), solar power. They tried making cheese, butter, ice cream and yogurt a few times. (Apparently yogurt was mostly an Eastern European/Jewish thing in the 1940s-50s when my grand parents made it?) Harrowsmith magazine was a big part of my childhood (the original hippy version, not the 1990s gentrified city slicker version.) My parents read books by H.J. Massingham, Henry Williamson (my favorite author) & other English rural writers from the early 1900s.

[WhipperSnapper]

You didn't tell any neighbours you had yeast for the first half of 2020. It was impossible to find. Everyone was instead trying to make sourdough

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by urbandreamer

I feel like my parents were 40-50 years ahead of this trend of DIY - sewing, gardening, canning, baking, home brewing (wine mostly), solar power. They tried making cheese, butter, ice cream and yogurt a few times. (Apparently yogurt was mostly an Eastern European/Jewish thing in the 1940s-50s when my grand parents made it?) Harrowsmith magazine was a big part of my childhood (the original hippy version, not the 1990s gentrified city slicker version.) My parents read books by H.J. Massingham, Henry Williamson (my favorite author) & other English rural writers from the early 1900s.

Well they were 50 years ahead or 50 years behind, take your pick.

My wife makes (vegan) butter, and yogurt, which is pretty easy in the world of Instant Pots. I do some gardening but I end up growing the easy stuff.

[manny_santos]

Today I grabbed lunch from Whole Foods for the first time since 2019. They were expensive before, but they're insane now. I used to pay around $15 for a meal from their hot buffet counter, today the total came to an eye-popping $26. For what was mostly mac and cheese.

I won't be getting anything but coffee and a muffin from them going forward.

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Any of that stuff fresh out of the oven with a little butter is

Not many things in life better than fresh bread out of the oven... With some butter spreaded on :slob

[Loco101]

Originally Posted by manny_santos

Today I grabbed lunch from Whole Foods for the first time since 2019. They were expensive before, but they're insane now. I used to pay around $15 for a meal from their hot buffet counter, today the total came to an eye-popping $26. For what was mostly mac and cheese.

I won't be getting anything but coffee and a muffin from them going forward.

I've never been to a Whole Foods just because I've heard how expensive they are but that is a pretty crazy price for what sounds to be a self-serve counter.

[urbandreamer]

Have you been to Radical Garden Market? WF is like a giant version of that, although I haven't been to Timmins yet (will try to plan a camping trip along 101/11.)

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by Loco101

I've never been to a Whole Foods just because I've heard how expensive they are but that is a pretty crazy price for what sounds to be a self-serve counter.

Also why make Jeff Bezos richer. He owns Whole Foods aka Whole Wallet.

[urbandreamer]

Whole Paycheck. I know a rich girl who exclusively shops at Yorkville WF: spends $400 weekly for two then is too cheap to tip the delivery driver. I don't eat out with her anymore, embarrassing dealing with her antics and rude behavior towards servers.

[SpongeG]

Originally Posted by Loco101

I've never been to a Whole Foods just because I've heard how expensive they are but that is a pretty crazy price for what sounds to be a self-serve counter.

it's like a steam table buffet and you get a container and pay by the weight, its very expensive. You really never know what it will cost till you check out. Its like buying bulk food and you think two scoops of smarties can't cost that much and end up being like $10, when you could have just bought a bag cheaper.

Other foods can be ok, I noticed a few weeks ago most of the produce was somewhat cheaper in comparison to Superstore prices. For instance a romaine was only 3.99 at whole foods compared to 5.99 at superstore at that time.


yelp

[1overcosc]

Originally Posted by urbandreamer

I feel like my parents were 40-50 years ahead of this trend of DIY - sewing, gardening, canning, baking, home brewing (wine mostly), solar power. They tried making cheese, butter, ice cream and yogurt a few times. (Apparently yogurt was mostly an Eastern European/Jewish thing in the 1940s-50s when my grand parents made it?) Harrowsmith magazine was a big part of my childhood (the original hippy version, not the 1990s gentrified city slicker version.) My parents read books by H.J. Massingham, Henry Williamson (my favorite author) & other English rural writers from the early 1900s.

Harrowsmith magazine is named after Harrowsmith, Ontario which is just north of Kingston. Frontenac County (Kingston's rural hinterland) had a big influx from the 1970s "back to the land'ers" movement and while that movement peaked and declined, the area is still a prominent centre for homesteading-type lifestyles. A lot of the canning and baking stuff I've learned these last few years, I've picked up from these folks when they come into Kingston to sell stuff.

[urbandreamer]

^Yes, a few year's ago I explored Harrowsmith Ontario and surrounding towns. Love it, although I imagine it was better in the '70s. My grandmother was a writer and associated with these beatnik hippies, introducing us to the Harrowsmith founder James Lawrence. Hung out at Al Purdy's PEC A frame cottage etc.