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Normally, we have been able to purchase the food we are shopping for by going to two or three stores. But recently that has not always been true. My husband has been purchasing his favorite K-cups at Walmart in their 60 count box for a long time to save money. There is more cost upfront but the per-cup price is much less.
Last week, I was at Walmart to purchase a DVD player to replace our ten year old model that is not working great. He had me buy the coffee while I was there but they didn't have the large box. The woman who shelves the coffee was there and she was nice enough to look it up for me and said there was none in the store and she didn't know when (or if) it would arrive again.
So, I purchased the next size down box, which now costs more than the 60 count box did just recently. I am very thankful for friendly employees who helped me know that was the best decision right then.
Something else they didn't have... DVD players. I was surprised since there used to be a lot of them and they were quite inexpensive. I called my husband and told him since I was out already, I was going to drive to the bigger town near us and go to Best Buy to purchase a DVD player.
The first thing I noticed about Best Buy was that I could not find anyone to help me. There was a time one walked into the store and they were tripping over themselves to help. I found my way to their huge TV section and while they had all kinds of TV sets available, I could't find any DVD players.
I finally saw a young man with an employee badge and asked him. He went to the aisle where they should be and told me that (obviously) those shelves were empty. He said they may be on the truck on the Saturday delivery but there was no guarantee they would be there soon.
He didn't offer to look up anything on the computer, I expect because they don't know when the next shipment from overseas will arrive? He told me to come back on Saturday but I shook my head (Best Buy is not close to me) and told him it would be another thing I would order on Amazon.
I looked on Amazon but I haven't made a purchase, yet. That has happened a lot lately and I have to wonder when there will be a time even Amazon doesn't have DVD players. I have seen that happen with other items since 2020.
I have written that I am slowly doing some Christmas shopping off and on through late summer and fall. Last week, I was shopping for winter pajamas for Piper, Oliver, and the baby when I noticed how many of them had a "no longer available" notice and they did not know if they would be in stock again.
If there is one thing (among many) I am learning, it is if we need something now or in the near future... we had better try to buy it now if we have the funds to do so. I think waiting until we absolutely must purchase an item may be too late.
We have decided to have our annual furnace checkup in September instead of November this year, in case something has to be ordered. I would not like to wait until it was too late to order a part if needed when the days are already cold.
I was talking to a contractor recently and he mentioned he was having trouble getting a certain paint from Sherman Williams to finish a job. He only needs one large can of paint but it has not been available for weeks.
On the brighter side, I was asked if I would share the Stove Top Chicken Bake recipe. I'd love to and I thought I would also share a chicken casserole recipe that I found in a few Amish cookbooks. Both are simple to make and neither very expensive. At one time, I read that the Chicken & Dressing Casserole was popular at a college cafeteria. What they are not is... low in calories or fat.
However, I don't make these kinds of casseroles very often but everyone I have made them for liked them. Even people like me who do not usually use Stove Top stuffing. I have mentioned that my mother-in-law loved to serve casseroles to company and I can certainly see why. They can be assembled ahead of time and baked at the last minute.
Stove Top Chicken Bake
- 1 6 oz. package Chicken Stove Top (or other flavor)
- 4 boneless chicken breast (or leftover turkey)
- 1 can cream of mushroom soup
- 1/3 cup sour cream
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix stuffing mix with 1 2/3 cups of water, set aside. Please chicken in a greased 9 x 13 dish. Mix soup and sour cream. Spoon onto chicken. Spoon stuffing on top. Bake for 35 minutes.
I think you could substitute panko crumbs or even regular bread crumbs for the stuffing mix. I haven't tried it. You would probably want to add some favorite spices to the bread crumbs to make up for the flavor in the stuffing mix.
Chicken & Dressing Casserole
- 5 Cups chicken or turkey, cooked and cubed
- 6 slices bread, cubed
- 1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
- 1 can Chicken Noodle soup
- 1 stick butter, melted
- 1 egg, beaten
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients (I would not add extra salt since the chicken noodle soup tends to be quite salty.) Bake for 40 minutes. Good for potlucks, can be baked and reheated later.
This would make an excellent casserole to use up leftover turkey!
Image: Three Hens with Coop
8 comments:
We haven't had supply chain issues since 2020. I am keeping a deep pantry & so far we're getting what we want. Something like coffee, especially k-cups, I consider a luxury item. I do have my favorite brand of coffee & I keep extra bags in the freezer so we don't run out so I'm grateful I've been able to find it before I run out.
Appliances have been harder to find. Goodness we've had to replace an AC, a washing machine, a desktop computer & an upright freezer this year! Talk about everything going out at once. We replaced our dishwasher last year & had to take what was available. We could have ordered what we wanted but the wait was about 6 weeks. My freezer went out the day after I was diagnosed with covid. So my husband had to go to Lowes & just take what they had...he did all the work emptying the old & loading the new because I was in isolation. What a mess. I don't like the new freezer but I'm not complaining. It was the best he could find in our little town & we didn't lose any of our frozen meat or pantry items.
My refrigerator is 16 yrs old & we've decided to start looking for a new one before it goes out. I want a certain style & I really don't want to have to take whatever is available when it comes to a fridge.
What kind of soup and how much sour cream to use in the first recipe? When the pandemic started I started getting duplicates of my small appliances in case mine quit and wouldn't be available in the stores. Mostly I bought used from thrift stores. I've also been buying clothes for my grandson who lives with me in larger sizes. The prices in thrift stores have really gone up so I'm glad I got them when I did. Thanks for your informative blog.
This week I received an email from Grove telling their customers that future orders will include a $2.99 supply chain fee. I haven't noticed this with any other companies I order from but guess I should expect them to follow suit.
Good morning Brenda! Happy Sunday :) While looking at the Stove-Top casserole, you mention mixing sour cream and soup, but I didn't see proportions, or type of soup. I'd love to try this, but wanted to ask about amounts first. Thank you for your posts, I so enjoy "visiting" with you each weekend ;) Donna
Hi Brenda, My son works at a thrift store and said dozens of DVD players are donated every week since most Americans are now using streaming services. You might try there.
I think you are missing sour cream/soup details in the Stove Top recipe???
For the Stove Top Chicken Bake - What kind of soup and how much sour cream? It sounds yummy!
I agree with the "buy it now" philosophy, only adding that when you do buy it, get two! I have always kept a well-stocked pantry, but I find it necessary now to add a storage container on my screened back porch in which I can store more canned items. I would not add flour or boxed ingredients there, but for canned items, it works great. And how much more important to grow even a little, such as lettuce or a few tomatoes. The price at the store or even the farmer's market is out of sight.
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