Hi all,
I've been on this subreddit for a few months and a common thing I see is that people are struggling to switch to cooking real food when reducing UPF intake as it can be seen as time consuming and laborious. I have been cooking since I was a teenager out of necessity as my parents both worked full time and often long hours. I have a busy job and live in a city so I've picked up a few strategies to make my life easier. I am cooking for 2 with no kids for reference, obviously for those with bigger families this may not be so easy!

1. Stocks and broths

Stock cubes and premade cartons of stock are a common form of UPF and although I still use them occasionally, I have found an easy and more tasty solution. I keep a reusable ziplock bag in my freezer, everytime I cook I keep the odds, ends and scraps of vegetables and herbs. Same with any sad looking veg I won't be able to use. I try to buy bone in chicken if possible, I also save the bones and add them to the bag. Once it's full, add it to a big pot of boiling water for a few hours while I go about my business at home. Drain and freeze in leftover yogurt containers.

1. Bread

No knead bread! 500g flour, 350g water, 10g salt and half a packet of instant yeast. Mix and leave it in the fridge until it's doubled in size and I have time to cook it. Whack it in a casserole pot with a lid and it's done in 30mins. Normally I will do the prep in empty time like waiting for the kettle or the microwave so it doesn't really take any time out of the day. Loaf tin is an even easier method.

1. Quick veg prep

A big game changer has been a mini food processo mini chopper (along with a good knife). Whack carrot, onion and celery in and you have the base for Italian soups and ragu. Put some chickpeas in from a tin and you have hummus. It will cut 10 mins of dicing into 2. I use the ninja chopper but there are many others, often they come as an attachment with immersion blenders.

1. Prepare double of everything.

So you're making pasta or rice? Double it - egg fried rice and pasta salad the next day. You're making chicken? On a Sunday get the whole chicken and cook it. Keep it in the fridge and you've got wraps, curries, sandwiches. I make double of every dinner (or more) and keep it for lunch then next day or turn the leftovers into something else. This is even easier, and especially easy if you bulk out your meals with beans which take very minimal effort and are cheap.

1. Soup Trays

This has to be one of the easiest things I've found. You can also prepare in the oven at the same time as the bread to save on electricity costs. Whack a load of veg on a tray, doesn't even have to be chopped as long as the sizes are pretty small. I normally use tomato halves, carrots, onions and garlic. Cover in fat of choice, whatever herbs and spices you like and bake for 30mins. Then you literally just need to blend it with the defrosted stock and you're good to go! I make big batches, just chop a bit extra for my dinner and pop it in the oven while I eat. It's also a great way to use up the random stuff in the fridge.
I would appreciate if anyone else has any tips to leave them below! I will add more in the comments if I can think of anything.

Link to original nosleep post:
https://www.reddit.com/nosleep/comments/1bgxwgm/i_found_a_set_of_blank_cassette_tapes_at_the_junk/
Growing up as a young kid in the late 1980s, I was always terrified by the stories I'd hear of people who'd go to the grocery store, take a hike in the woods, or even a trip to a crowded beach, and would disappear, never to be seen again.
Whenever I'd see their faces memorialized on the back of milk cartons, their last photographs forever immortalized in the macabre medium of ink on cardboard, it would send shivers down my spine.
But the truth is, by the mid 1990s, I had overcome my fears, too preoccupied by the distractions of an adolescent life.
That is, until one day, in 1996, when, at the age of fourteen, a mere freshman in high school, during my weekly pilgrimage to the junk store, I made a discovery in the cassette pile that would change my life forever.
"You're still listening to tapes?" My best friend Jess asked, rolling her eyes, a nerd in the truest sense. "Get with it, dude. CDs are the future. Higher dynamic range, superior sound quality. It's not even a question."
"Yeah, yeah." I replied, ignoring her criticism, as I rummaged through the store's now mound of cassettes, its collection having significantly accumulated since the dawn of the compact disc just a few years prior.
"Look at that thing. It just looks... not cool." My friend Mike added, as he pointed to my cassette player, which was clipped onto my belt, its black plastic headphones draped around my neck. "I swear, if you wear that to school, and the football team asks, I'm denying that we're friends."
Somewhere between elementary school and high school, he'd been converted to an athlete and, by association, became popular. But I didn't care about being cool. Or acting cool. Or dressing cool. I just liked what I liked, and to me, cassettes were functional, and cheap. And that, to me, was really cool.
"Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never-" I began to say to them, before something caught my eye at the bottom of the box.
It was a stack of eight homemade cassette tapes, each with a number scribbled onto it, bundled together by a flimsy old rubber band, that looked like it would break at any moment.
There was just something about them. Something so nondescript, so unapologetic, so mysterious, that I felt compelled to buy them, without even knowing what was recorded onto their magnetic tape.
"What are you guys doing later?" I asked Jess and Mike, as we left the store, and began our walk home, the ocean's waves showering us with mist, as they crashed along the seawall of our small South Shore town.
"First game of the season tonight." Mike replied, "Wouldn't miss it."
"You should check it out. Even I'm watching," Jess added, "We signed Walker in the draft. I just have a feeling about this season."
"No thanks." I declined, "I just can't get into sports. Despite my blue collar dad's continued attempts to convert me."
"Your loss." Mike replied, as we parted ways, each of us heading off in different directions.
—
Later that night, I was lying in bed, fantasizing about a world where Jess confessed her undying love for me, when I suddenly remembered that I'd bought the cassette tapes earlier that day.
So, I found the one labeled "1," popped it into my cassette player, and hit the rewind button.
After a minute, I heard it stop, and pressed play...
CLICK.
...Expecting to hear some grunge, britpop, or maybe even ska music. But what came out of the speakers was something... else.
"If you're listening to this..." A man said, his ominous voice crackling over the magnetic tape, "...You've found my instructions on where to find the bodies in the marsh."
What the heck? I thought to myself, nearly spitting out my soda. This must be some kind of prank. But for some reason, I couldn't stop listening.
"Bodies that, if discovered in the correct order, will provide clues to who I am. And why I did what I did."
Okay, maybe it's some sort of audio game? Like a detective thing, Yes, that must be it.
"As this is the first cassette in the set of eight, for this tape I'll be providing step by step instructions on how to find the first body. So, when you're ready, please proceed to the marshes on 139, where the bend of the road meets the sharp turn sign. You'll want to pause the tape now, until you get there."
CLICK.
I did just as he instructed, and paused the tape.
139. That's an actual street, not far away. Wait a minute. Could this be... real?
I wasted no time, picking up the plastic rotary telephone that I'd begged my parents to let me keep in my room, and called Jess' house.
"What the heck, dude!" She answered, "You just booted me offline. I've been downloading this song all day, and it was at 95%."
"Sorry," I replied, "But there's something I need to tell you."
I proceeded to tell her about the tape, and its instructions, and asked her to skip school with me the next day, to accompany me on my search for the bodies. Naturally, she laughed off the request, citing a presentation she had to give at school the next day, but offered up going right then and there.
"At night? Are you crazy?" I asked.
"I mean it's not real. So what's the worst that could happen?" She reasoned.
"Okay, let me call Mike."
I would have bet a million dollars that Mike would have declined the invite, and called me an idiot for even entertaining the idea, but when he picked up the phone, he was so upset that the boys in green, as he called them, had lost, that he jumped at the chance to get out of the house.
"Really?" I replied.
"Yeah, I can't listen to my old man make up excuses for them anymore. It's much too early in the season."
—
About an hour later, Jess, Mike, and I met at the marshes on 139, where the bend of the road meets the sharp turn sign, just as the narrator, as I'll call him, had described.
"Where to now, genius?" Mike asked, gesturing to the immense stretch of marshland that lay before us. A stretch of marshland that was so expansive, in fact, that our town was even named for it.
"One second." I said, before putting on my headphones and pressing play on the cassette player.
CLICK.
"If you're listening now, it means you made it to the starting point. Next, you'll want to turn to the marsh, and scan the horizon for an old scarecrow. Once you find it, walk across the top of the marsh, careful not to fall into its trenches, until you reach the scarecrow. Until then, pause the tape."
Once again, I did just as he instructed, and paused the tape, before returning my headphones to my neck, and looking off into the distance.
Sure enough, about a football field's distance away, was the scarecrow, its body illuminated by the moonlight, its arms open wide, as if calling us over to join it.
"Follow me." I said to my friends.
—
A few minutes later, I was trudging through the grassy surface of the marshlands, my flashlight in hand, as Jess and Mike lagged behind me, bantering away as usual.
"It's up, up, down, down, right, left, right, left, A, B, and start." Mike said.
"No, you idiot, it's up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, and start." Jess corrected.
"Will you two shut up already?" I called out, as I forged ahead, too annoyed to look back at them.
"You know what, Tyler? I'm really starting to worry about you, dude." Mike said.
"Oh yeah? Why's that?" I replied, rolling my eyes.
"You're really changing. Hanging out at the comic book store. Listening to metal. And worst of all, wearing those flannels around your waist."
I stopped in my tracks, and turned back to him.
"Me change? Dude, I saw you bullying Shea in the locker room, with the other football players."
"So what? The kid deserved it."
"Did he? Why?"
"For being a nerd. That's why. And you know what?"
"What?"
"Maybe you deserve to be bullied too."
I dropped my flashlight and stormed over to him, before we both locked eyes, fists clenched.
That's when we heard Jess, call back to us from up ahead.
"Hey guys..." She said.
We both looked over to her.
Jess simply pointed a few feet away, where we saw...
...A giant scarecrow, towering above the marsh, its wooden body barely keeping it standing, nearly all of its hay having fallen off.
—
CLICK.
"If you're listening now, it means you made it to the scarecrow. Next, you'll want to look out at the Y-shaped ravine before you, separating you from two different patches of marsh. Jump to the one on the left, take about five steps, and dig there. That's where you'll find the first body, and a clue. After you find it, you'll want to switch to the second tape."
CLICK.
I relayed the recording to my friends, who had very different reactions.
"I'm not jumping-" Jess said.
"Stand back." Mike interrupted, as he took a few steps back, crouched down, ran...
...And cleared the ravine, his boots splashing into the muddy marsh on the other side.
Jess and I simply looked at each other, then over at Mike, then down at the ravine, and finally back at each other.
—
A few minutes later, Jess was helping me up from the ravine, she too, having just crawled up from it after falling in.
Meanwhile, Mike was laughing so hard at us, that he stumbled backwards and tripped over something.
Seeing that Mike, too, was now covered in mud, Jess and I joined in on the laughter, and before we knew it, all three of us were all uncontrollably howling under the moonlight, all three of us, dirt caked onto all of our clothes.
But then Mike stopped laughing.
"Hey guys..." He said.
Jess and I looked over at him.
"...What the heck is that?" He continued, pointing to an object that was protruding from the marsh.
I turned on my flashlight, shined it onto the object, and was shocked to find...
...A human hand, long decomposed, its digits collapsed into the mud, its wrist bones sticking up through the grass.
Jess screamed at the top of her lungs.
Mike, having just stood up, fell back to the ground, his eyes wide in horror.
And I, I took it the worst of all, immediately turning to the ravine and gagging into it, as if that was the polite place to do it.
"But wait," Jess began, "That means..."
"...They're real. The tapes are real. And there are seven more bodies out here." I muttered, my body beginning to tremble.
"Cool." Jess said, before taking a closer look.
"We've gotta go tell someone. The cops. Let's get out of here." I said, still in shock.
"Are you kidding, dude? We have a once in a lifetime chance here, to find these bodies. Now let's find the clue and play the other tape." Mike said, his voice excited, but his body shaking.
"He does have a point, as disgusting as it is." Jess added.
"You can't be serious?" I yelled out to them both.
"Hey, you're the one that found the tapes. And wanted to come out here." Jess replied.
"The way I see it, there's only one way to decide." Mike called out.
"Oh yeah? What's that?" I asked.
"We vote." He said, with a smile.
—
A few minutes later, Mike and Jess were digging through the mud, searching for the clue, as I watched on in horror, switched tape "1" for tape "2", and pressed play.
CLICK.

I’ll go first. I went to elementary school back in the 2000s (started kindergarten in 2001). I remember that those of us who didn’t have enough lunch money in our account would be given a cheese sandwich and a tiny carton of milk for lunch. Except that cheese sandwich was a single slice of cheap white bread cut in half and the cheese was half of a single slice of those Kraft sliced “cheeses”. In hindsight, and maybe it’s just me, but it seems humiliating and awfully punitive to do that to a bunch of 7 year olds who didn’t have money? Why did anyone think it was okay to give young children only that to eat for a whole 8 hours?
Anyways, does anyone have any similar stories about their time in school?

Pigs can be very dangerous animals. There’s a reason why Dorothy’s uncle freaked out when she fell into the pigpen in The Wizard of Oz.
I’m not talking about wild boars, either. Farm pigs aren’t aggressive or carrying some zombie plague (as far as I know), but the danger lies in their appetite. Anyone who lives on a farm with them for even just a few days knows that they are definitely not herbivores. They’ll eat just about anything, all the way up to human bones. I guess that’s one way to get your calcium.
Now, don’t get me wrong, if you fall into a pigpen, you’re more than likely going to be alright, as long as the fall doesn’t knock you out. But let’s say the back of your head hits the ground particularly hard. You’re unconscious. A group of even slightly hungry pigs will probably start with your clothes, boots, hair, and maybe even your ears. But if you give them long enough, once they’ve got going, they’ll do much more permanent damage.
My maternal great-grandfather was a pig farmer. One day in a record-temperature July, he got a bad case of heat stroke and did just that. He was passed out in that pigpen for an hour and a half before my great-grandmother found him and rushed him to the hospital. He lived, but he lost three fingers, had been given plenty of scars that would never fully heal, and had to walk with a cane for the rest of his life.
Why am I telling you all this? Well, suffice it to say, I would rather cover myself in ketchup and honey and take a long nap in a commercial pig sty than have to look out of my kitchen window at night and see that Pigman standing in the fields one more damn time.
Before I make it sound like I hate pigs, I don’t. All domesticated animals come with their own dangers, and most won’t hurt you unless you somehow give them the opportunity, even unintentionally. There’s something to be said about the intelligence and even kindness of the humble swine. But that... thing. It was different. Every time I caught sight of the shine of its dewy, misshapen eyes in the darkness, I felt sick to my stomach.
Hamlet squealed and put his little hooves on my chest as if he could read my thoughts and was pleading his little piggy case. I sat the brush down and scooped him into my arms, rocking him like a babe.
“Oh, you’re not gobbling up anyone’s fingers, are you, little guy?”
He squirmed around and oinked like a giant porky worm, and I gave him a slice of apple before letting him go. Dawson was always bringing apples over now, and the animals loved it. I wouldn’t admit it to him, but so did I.
I gave Hamlet back to his appreciative mother and brushed off the seat of my overalls. The afternoon sweltered, even in the shade of the barn, and my throat was dry. I made sure everyone had plenty of water before going back toward the house. Maybe Aunt Jean could pull some sweet iced tea out of a pocket dimension because I’d forgotten to make more. Dawson was going to kick my ass when he made it over for dinner.
A glass of tea with a lemon slice was waiting on the kitchen table when I went inside, like I’d tupla’d it up. Reading minds would’ve been the least surprising thing Aunt Jean was capable of. I gave it a cursory poison sniff, drank it down, and then popped the lemon slice into my mouth, rind and all. No sense in wasting it.
As soon as I was hydrated, my body immediately decided to ruin it all and jones for a cigarette.
“Hey, Aunt Jean?” I called up the stairs. “Thanks for the tea; I’m gonna step out for a smoke real quick. Don’t forget Dawson will be over in a few hours!”
The only audible response was the steady creak of the rocking chair starting up again upstairs. If she had spoken, I no doubt would’ve heard her call out, “I’ll wear my best, chickadee.”
I rolled a fresh cigarette and stepped outside with my zippo. A faint, musty scent clung to the breeze like a fat tick, and as I looked out to the field, I remembered the rotted roots of some of the corn stalks. My stomach twisted into a double pretzel knot.
It’s one of the worst feelings in the world to know something is going terribly wrong, something that will affect you severely, and not be able to do anything about it. My crop, sewn with my own blood, sweat, and diesel, was dying. As far as I could tell, I’d done nothing wrong or different than usual besides my land being host to “the Evil.”
At that moment, I told myself that no, I wouldn’t sit back and watch it happen. I’d do everything short of black magic to save that corn. Surely, Two-Tooth Steve had something helpful and questionably legal to offer me.
As I shifted my gaze upward from the exceptionally nasty-looking patch, I saw him.
The Pigman had never been out in the day like this before. But there he was, standing with his hammer over his shoulder and staring at me with those inky eyes. He was an even worse sight to behold in clear light. I could see every greasy wrinkle and every pit where his skin settled wrong.
I sat on the porch railing, lit the cigarette, and lifted it to my mouth. I needed it then more than ever.
As I blew a cloud of smoke out of my nose, the Pigman began to move. I looked on in stunned silence as he walked to the edge of the cornfield. We held eye contact for what felt like ages. The cigarette burned down to ash in my hand, and the wind whistling through the stalks was the only sound other than my heavy breathing. Was he going to run up here? Was this it? Would he charge me, pick me up, and chew me down to the bone?
As my life flashed before my eyes for the… let’s face it, I’m not counting anymore, all I could think of was Dawson and how much it was going to suck for him to find my mangled corpse when he came over for dinner. I would’ve gone through the reverse a thousand times if he didn’t have to even once. I couldn’t deny that he was sweet; he didn’t deserve to see shit like that.
The near silence was suddenly broken when the Pigman let out a squeal-scream so loud that he leaned forward into it. Birds took flight in terror from the pines in the distance, and I jumped so hard that I fell forward and hit the ground three feet below. I clutched at my knee and groaned in pain like some fat guy who tripped over a mailbox. The Pigman just watched me, making odd snuffling noises that might’ve been the pig equivalent of giggles.
I pushed myself to my feet and started limping toward the cornfield with my skinned knee. That tore it; I was about to give this swine behind a piece of my mind.
“What the fuck is wrong with you, huh?! Why do you like to torture me, you creep?! Why can’t you just leave?! You aren’t paying rent! Go somewhere else!”
I met him at the edge of the field and quickly realized that I’d never been this close to him. The stink of old blood overwhelmed the rotting corn scent, and I felt my breakfast threatening to come back for a visit. Slanted pig teeth, stained brown, poked out from a snout that looked like it was melting. His eyes sat even farther in the sockets than I’d initially thought, giving the whole thing the appearance of a cheap, two-sizes-too-big latex mask. His fingers were crusted with dirt, and his nails were bitten down to bloody quicks. One ear had begun to mold, and the other bore a small yellow livestock tag, which I couldn’t read. As I took it all in, a fly crawled in through his nostril and out of his eye.
I thought faintly about running back to the house, but anger beat out fear.
“You need to find some other farmer to bother! I’m not taking your shit anymore!”
Without considering the consequences for longer than a second, I broke the barrier between us and stepped into the cornfield. The old blood smell grew fresh and overwhelming. All around me, I could suddenly hear the tramping of hooves and the screaming of pigs. Not oinking or squealing— this was a slaughterhouse cry. I tried to step back but froze when I heard something entirely different above the noise.
“Leave, Newport. You have no place on this land,” called out a male voice. Unlike everything else, it came from inside my head. It was harsh but… familiar. It conjured a face and a name in my head, but I couldn’t make either out. All I saw was blurry shapes and colors. The puzzle pieces that filled the gaps in my memories were lost in a woodchipper.
I didn’t know if it was the Pigman who had spoken to me, but I told him off anyway.
“Fuck you. This land, this house, these animals all need me. This is my home. I belong here.”
The hoofbeats got louder, and I felt something hard come down on my ankle. When I fell to the ground, all bets were off. Hit after hit, all over my body, pigs I couldn’t even see ground their feet into my skin as they trampled all over me. I could feel the gritty dirt they left on me with each step, and I choked on the dust they kicked up.
When the onslaught was over, not an inch of my skin was left unbruised and sore. The only thought in my mind was that I’d like to see Dawson try to put an ice pack on all this! Maybe that was just a coping mechanism, though.
I staggered up to my feet, pretty sure my ankle was sprained to hell, and immediately fell back to my knees and puked. There wasn’t a lot left in me to come up, but it still managed to make it out of my nose. I got up again and ran for the house, sparks of pain shooting up my leg as I hit the porch steps and coughed up more stomach acid.
I took the stairs two at a time, racing down the hallway. I nearly had a head-on collision at high speed with the shower as I rocketed into the bathroom. I felt dirty and sick, and the countless bruises stung like wildfire. I stood in the cold stream of water, not even bothering to take off my clothes. Rivulets the color of rotten fruit swirled down the drain as I wept into my hands. My shirt stuck to me like pine tar as I struggled to pull it off.
An indeterminate amount of time passed. It was only Dawson’s voice that pulled me out of disassociation. I realized with some shock that I was so glad he was here. At some point, I’d ended up on the bathroom floor. My injured ankle was still hanging over the tub’s edge, and the water was ice cold.
“Hey, do you need some help there? I brought pie, and I feel like the floor isn’t the best place to enjoy it. I won’t stop you if that’s what you want, though. Where’d you get all those nasty bruises?”
I just nodded, and he took that as permission to help me to my feet and wrap a towel around me. If he had any thoughts about my impromptu coming out, he didn’t voice them. I’d never been that good at modesty, and he probably knew from the beginning.
“Seriously, though. What happened?”
He helped me sit down on my bed, and I rubbed my swelling eye.
“I, uh, fell. Into my tractor.”
Dawson raised an eyebrow at me but didn’t question it. He’d only been in my room a few times before that, and I was surprised by how completely unbothered by his presence there I had become.
“This wardrobe looks like it leads to Narnia,” he said, swinging the door open and looking through my collection of overalls and thrift store t-shirts.
“Yeah, my great-grandfather made it. If you climb in there and stay long enough, it’ll probably take you somewhere.”
Dawson snooped through my outfits, pausing to look at each one.
“I think it would just take me to Overall Land. I swear, I’ve never seen so many pairs in one place!”
I couldn’t help but grin.
“You’re one to talk, kitty cat princess socks.”
Dawson scoffed.
“Well fuck me for having a sense of childlike whimsy every now and again.”
As I slipped on my boxers, Dawson tossed me my favorite overalls (don’t ask me how he knew), and the Cheese is My Passion shirt. The yellow fabric felt cool against my bruises. I looked around, and it was like everything reset. I felt the tension drain out of me as I laid back on the soft quilt Aunt Jean had made for me not long after moving in.
“Yeah, yeah, you and your whimsy,” I said with a long, cathartic sigh.
Dawson looked at me before glancing at the CRT TV sitting on my dresser in front of the bed. Then he said the four best words he could have at the moment.
“Wanna play Mario Kart?”
There are few questions that you can almost never say no to, and that was one of them.
“That’s some whimsy I can get behind.”
Dawson handed me one of the controllers before making me scoot over on the bed.
“I know I said whimsy first, but can we stop now? It doesn’t sound like a word anymore.”
“We could, but I don’t think that would be very whimsical of us.”
Dawson nudged me in the ribs, enough to be annoying but not enough to aggravate my bruises. I stuck my tongue out at him. He tried to shove his finger in my nose. I faked biting at it.
Once we got serious, for the next thirty minutes, I kicked his ass at Mario Kart. Then we went downstairs.
I pushed my fork around my plate as we sat at the kitchen table with a glass of milk and a slice of pie each. I didn’t feel much like eating, but Dawson had baked it himself, so I took a few bites. It was delicious— honestly, one of the best slices of apple pie I’d ever tasted.
“I’m sorry I didn’t have dinner ready. I… I didn’t fall into my tractor.”
“I could’ve told you that,” Dawson said through a mouthful of pie.
“The Pigman tried to tenderize me into the main course, and I just… lost it after that, I guess. If you’ll give me a bit, I can—”
Dawson swallowed hard and thunked his fork down on the table.
“The guy out in the field? He did this to you?”
Dawson had never really asked about the Pigman. Once he got the message that some weird shit just kind of exists around here, he quickly adapted to my method of just letting it be. But nothing besides the Rot had ever really hurt me before. Not on purpose, anyway. Beez had almost put my eye out more than a few times, but chickens will be chickens.
“Yeah, but—“
Dawson stood up from the table and started toward the door.
“Wait! Dawson, no!”
That asshole didn’t even listen to me for a second. He threw open the kitchen door and started marching toward the cornfield like the next super soldier or something. I ran after him.
“Dawson, the Pigman has been here for a long time. He’s bad juju! You saw what he did to me! I don’t know what he’ll do to you, so just leave him alone!”
I grabbed Dawson’s shoulder, and he stopped for a second.
“I’m not going to try and bodyslam him. But he hurt you, and I’m gonna make sure he gets the message that he’s not to do it again.”
With that, he shook me off and kept going. I followed helplessly after him, dreading the bloodbath that I was sure would come.
Without a note of hesitation, Dawson walked into the cornfield and right up to where the Pigman had retreated. He wasn’t immediately run over by a stampede of pigs, but something heavy and tense was in the air.
They both stood there for a minute, quiet and unmoving. Then Dawson stuck a finger out at him.
“You leave my friend alone, you uncultured swine! If you ever lay a hand on him again, I’ll punt you so hard you turn into vegan bacon!”
The Pigman walked closer to him, closing the distance between them to maybe a foot. I cringed and tried to pull Dawson back, but he was solid and unshakeable. He wasn’t going anywhere.
“You won’t touch him again! Do you hear me?!”
Even with Dawson raising his voice, the Pigman’s droopy face remained expressionless. But, to my horror, he raised a hand, ready to strike.
“Don’t hurt him! Please! He didn’t mean it!”
Dawson got into a fighting stance, ready to fight what was clearly a losing battle if need be. I’d still root for him.
“Did too! I totally meant it!”
As the Pigman’s gigantic, greasy hand rose above his head, I prepared for the worst. I knew what those fists could do. I could remember sitting out on the porch with my mother when she was still with me, watching as the Pigman snatched crows out of the air with his surprisingly agile hands, crushed their bodies in between his sausage-like fingers, and shoved their corpses into his dripping maw. The sight always made me nauseous enough to go back inside, but my mom only stared vacantly at him.
“Show me what you got, Pork Chop,” Dawson taunted, and boy, did Pigman deliver.
Instead of Whack-a-Mole-ing him halfway into the ground, he opened his fingers. Only then did I notice two things I hadn’t before: that same musty carpet and dying plant smell in the air and the loop of rope around his middle finger. The protection talisman hung from his hand, and Dawson and I both stared in gut-wrenched shock.
We both turned at the same time and met with the same horrible sight. A trail of dead grass and swollen flies led up to the porch, where the door was swung open. In the distance, I heard the sounds of hooves on wood and the clack of old teeth.
I didn’t really care about any of my belongings, but Aunt Jean was in there, and I didn’t know what this thing was capable of. It was time for me to make the dumb decision to protect the ones I loved. I sprinted toward the porch, Dawson hot on my heels.
“GET OUT OF MY HOUSE, YOU POOR EXCUSE FOR A COMPOST HEAP!”
I threw a hand out in front of Dawson as we made it inside, ready to take the brunt of the attack if this thing was still here. The kitchen was in ruins. The last bits of my food were scattered across the floor, growing fat chunks of green and white mold with worms and ants feasting on the remotely edible parts. Aunt Jean was standing by the stairwell, unharmed but with a smear of dark dirt across her dinner dress and looking madder than a mule munching on bumblebees.
“Bastard,” was all she said, in a deep, masculine voice you’d imagine coming from a Navy seal and not a tiny old granny. I looked over to Dawson, who’d moved to examine what remained of the pie he’d brought. I almost wished I hadn’t.
The crust was dried out to hell, and maggots writhed around in what remained of the apple filling. I’d taken out entire hornets’ nests and fed a grape to a spider as big as my hand, but maggots were the one thing I could not handle.
“Nope! Fuuuuuck that,” I said, stumbling back to where I couldn’t see the little white fuckers. But that proved impossible because even the half-eaten slices left on our plates were swarmed with them.
“It took everything.”
Dawson was right. All the pantry doors were open, and the fridge and freezer were barren. There wasn’t a single morsel of edible food left in my house. But that wasn’t what I cared about right now. I cared about the tremble in Dawson’s lip and how his voice shook just a little. I knew he’d worked hard on that pie. He’d done it for me, and so few people did things for me.
“Yeah, it did. It took your amazing pie, and I’m gonna TAKE ITS KNEECAPS!”
I stormed outside and shook my fist at the sky like I was making sure God herself was watching.
“YOU COME OUT HERE AND FACE ME, YOU FUCKING COWARD! I’M NOT GOING TO LET YOU HURT MY FRIEND OR KILL MY CROPS! DO YOU HEAR ME? OVER MY DEAD BODY!”
Apparently, the Rot was ready to accept that challenge. I watched the trail of black wind its way out of the cornfield and up to where I stood. As it rose out of the ground, our eyes locked, and it had me right where it wanted me.

Anyone know where can I buy the fresh milk for cheap/cheaper? In NTUC it's usually priced at ard $6.88ish/carton.
Other milk brand I regularly drink are Magnolia and sometimes Meiji milk. But knowing that the Meiji ones are made in Thailand is alittle off-putting ngl haha.
What are your favourites? Anyone knows a better-tasting milk than this? I like how it is so creamy, fresh and clean-tasting without any weird funky cow aftertaste.

https://www.tracingcenter.org/resources/background/northern-involvement-in-the-slave-trade/
"A central fact obscured by post-Civil War mythologies is that the northern U.S. states were deeply implicated in slavery and the slave trade right up to the war.
"The slave trade in particular was dominated by the northern maritime industry. Rhode Island alone was responsible for half of all U.S. slave voyages. James DeWolf and his family may have been the biggest slave traders in U.S. history, but there were many others involved. For example, members of the Brown family of Providence, some of whom were prominent in the slave trade, gave substantial gifts to Rhode Island College, which was later renamed Brown University.While local townspeople thought of the DeWolfs and other prominent families primarily as general merchants, distillers and traders who supported ship-building, warehousing, insurance and other trades and businesses, it was common knowledge that one source of this business was the cheap labor and huge profits reaped from trafficking in human beings.
"The North also imported slaves, as well as transporting and selling them in the south and abroad. While the majority of enslaved Africans arrived in southern ports–Charleston, South Carolina was the largest market for slave traders, including the DeWolfs—most large colonial ports served as points of entry, and Africans were sold in northern ports including Philadelphia, New York, Boston, and Newport, Rhode Island."

My in-laws want us to move back to Newport from EP because when my husband moved there 9 years ago it was under $1000 with 10% DOD discount... They think that rent control prevents Harbor Village from raising their prices and if we had stayed they couldn't have raised our rent. MIL also says that we should look for housing on the island because it's close to my husband's job and it's cheap lol

Once again, this is a crosspost from the HWS Discord server. I cannot begin to describe how much I dislike Reddit as a platform, so if you happen to be in the Discord, please message me that way. Otherwise no prob, go ahead and chat or PM on here. Timestamp - feel free to request more specific ones if needed.
'Ello swappers.
Local 11566. Greatly prefer local sales in cash. Prices generally firm unless substantially off market value or you're buying multiple items. Shipped prices include cost of shipping. Please state in your DM what you're interested in and whether local or shipped. Thanks!
(Yes, these chips are mostly from the MC glitch. Capitalism go brrr. I have a couple cheap/crappy boards for these, feel free to ask if you need one.)
BNIB R7 7700X: $220 shipped / $200 local (2 available)
BNIB R9 7900X: $300 shipped / $280 local
BNIB R7 5800X3D: $245 shipped / $230 local
BNIB i5-12600KF: $120 shipped / $110 local (4 available)
BNIB i7-12700K: $175 shipped / $170 local
BNIB i7-13700K: $310 shipped / $300 local
BNIB i9-12900K: $250 shipped / $240 local (2 available)
A2000's are mined on with coppermodded VRAM, some were shuntmodded (since reversed), coolers are a little dinged up, work fine, I have FP and LP brackets available. Ada are open box (orig. box not included), 4080 includes squid 12VHPWR adapter. A770's are BNIB.
RTX A2000 6GB: $220 shipped / $200 local (10 FP / 6 LP available)
RTX 4070 TUF: $470 shipped / $440 local
RTX 4080 Trinity OC: $850 shipped / $820 local
Arc A770 16GB Titan: $230 shipped / $220 local (4 available)
PSUs I would classify as brand new open box, they were sold to me new in cartons of 10. Individual units will not include original packaging, if you want a whole carton I'll ship it as such. These units are supposedly similar in internal construction to other units ranked Tier B on the cultists tierlist but I have no way to back this up. They feel cheap but they're functional.
Gamdias Helios P1-650G: $59 shipped / $50 local (39 available)
Carton of 10x Helios P1-650G: $550 shipped / $500 local (3 available)
FAQ:
Open to trades? If it has value, yes, but I'll quote you liquidation/bulk pricing you won't like.
Can you hold something for X days/weeks/until Y event? Most probably not, but some stuff sells faster than other stuff, I may or may not have it then.
Where are you at? Merrick, NY (11566), for local deals I like to meet at the following relatively-public street corner near to me: https://maps.app.goo.gl/9NiSgCYbtqJfXskB8 but am happy to travel within reasonable distance via LIRetc).
How do you ship? Box. Padding. Pirateship USPS/UPS label, whatever is cheapest/most convenient for me at that moment. Let me know if you have a preference beforehand.
Would you take `=(ITEM_PRICE*0.5)`? No. I try to do actual research with my pricing. I feel it's fair. If I'm wrong, feel free to let me know, but generally speaking I'm firm on it.
Do you have other stuff not listed here? Yes, absolutely. Feel free to ask. I have a metric asston of hardware. Need wacky PS5 APU 12 node servers or like twenty very dead RX 580 2048SP's for microsoldering practice? I'm your gal.
Again, please DM any specific questions.

Some albums have grown on me, and others I really liked upon first listen but didn't end up sticking with me. I think I may have been overly harsh with the Nirvana album, which I have revisted since then. And while I thought happy monday's was awesome the first time I heard them, I feel almost no desire to listen to them now.
Worst to best
Oar - Alexender spence- 1
Can't help but feel this album made the list due to the mentally unstable- genius romanticism. But this isn't Brian Wilson making Smile.
There are moments that album show's some potential, but it is so half-assed in it's production and performance that it makes it very difficult to listen to.
I don't enjoy listening to someone having a mental breakdown, it's just sad
Cheap Thrills Big Brother & The Holding Company 2
Average sounding blues/rock band with a singer who stands out.
Listening to a song or 2 with can be enjoyable given the sheer power of Janis Joplin, but can't make up for songwriting and instrumentation which doesn't sound particularly good.
Listened to about half the album, before I got tired of it.
Cross Justice 2
Found this grating to listen to, was disappointed because I expected more from this album
The Bones Of What You Believe CHVRCHES 2
Catchy, well done pop.
The voice sounds so neutral, that it doesn't express any emotion at all to me, the music has it moments but tires fast as it doesn't swing. Ultimately it's well done but sounds sterile to me.
Dare! The Human League 2
Not offensive but not memorable, which I think is among the worst things an album can be. Other albums might be harder to listen to, but have interesting moments that stick with me.
Bat Out Of Hell Meat Loaf 2
I respect the ambition to create this, but don't enjoy listening to it
2. Rem Automatic For The People R.E.M. 2
While I really like some of REM's songs, I found to chord progressions to be relatively uninteresting, and the album doesn't have the attitude or transcendent performance to make up for it.
I have to admit though, that I don't think I gave it a deep listen, and that my opinion might change if I do
Siamese Dream The Smashing Pumpkins 2
Instantly recognizable as a band. They found their space in the scene and I understand their popularity. The songwriting is alright, and the band also sounds tight.But I just can't tune into their music, stylistically the production sounds too crisp. Corrigan's voice is grating and the songs don't stick with me. I appreciate the fact that the lyrical themes are dark, in a way that seems genuine. But it's easier to relate to that if you dig the music (which I experience when I listen to Alice in Chains)
The Colour Of Spring Talk Talk 3
Interesting elements, but couldn't really get into it
A Little Deeper Ms. Dynamite 3
Decent album, first artist I hadn't heard of at all from the generator. When I heard "Dy-Na-Mi-Tee" I thought I might be in for a banger of an album. But it turned out to be the best song on the album.Very of it's era, both in it's production/performance and lyrical themes.There are occasionally pretty original arrangements and Ms.Dynamite is a very good singer, I can understand why it resonated at the time it was released but can also understand why it isn't viewed as a classic album all these years.
The Village Green Preservation Society The Kinks 3
Global reviews
Good melodies and guitar-work, with at times clever lyrics.
Also interesting that each song is a character study.However this nostalgia for all things traditionally english (which I and most people can't relate to at all) , and it clearly taking place in it's time gives it character but also dates it.(The Beatles have kind of similar themes in songs like Penny Lane, but the visuals / story-telling and central themes are so good that it makes it universal and timeless)
To me the album is imaginative and upbeat but simply sounds kind of dated, and doesn't transcend in such a way that I feel really compelled to revisit it again beyond a couple songs.Would give it 3.5 stars as I thought it was pretty good, but not amazing
Hotel California Eagles 3
While the Eagles are one of the best selling bands of all time, it's notable that they aren't really loved by the younger generations. Certainly not at all the way Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin or of course The Beatles are
They do almost everything very well; they all are very strong instrumentalists, the harmonies are on point, they have good musical chemistry and occasionally can churn out a strong lyric. Morever if the rest of the album was as strong as the first two songs the album would merit a really high rating, but the album decreases in quality (mostly songwritingwise) after that. And exposes the fact that The Eagles can be cheesy and boring at times. Still "New kid in town" and particularly Hotel California are fantastic songs fully deserving of being classics. Try and love is alright as well.
25 Home Is Where The Music Is Hugh Masekela 3
I appreciate his influence in South Africa as a jazz pioneer, but I didn't find the album particularly inspiring. The playing is solid and grooves, and there are high moments but I don't have the feeling that this is something I have to revisit
From Elvis In Memphis Elvis Presley 3
By 1969, Elvis had lost a lot of his cultural relevancy. With the Beatles and psychedelia taking over.Just as Sinatra wasn't welcoming to Elvis, when Elvis became huge. Elvis put down the Beatles (remarking to Nixon that they were a bad influence)His move to las vegas where his act was once too risqué is an indication that he was no longer the cool rebel but rather a symbol of times past.Still Elvis, rather than change stylistically to keep with the times sticks with what he knows .Vocally he sounds fantastic and the backing band sounds great too.The album does drag a little bit though, and doesn't seem to acknowledge the incredibly interesting changes happening at the time in popular music. At times it swings but at others it sounds dated. The guitar's bass and drums sound earthy and great but the string arrangements sound cheesy.Rather than listening to the whole album, I might re-visit specific songs.
Daydream Nation Sonic Youth 3
I admit I went into this with a bias against Sonic Youth.
They seemed to me to be the definition of style over substance, and they seemed like they viewed themselves as the coolest people ever. (See their interview with Nardwuar) Already in the first song I could hear that they were pretty innovative, as they sound like a 90s band despite the fact the album was made in the 80s. I could hear how the instrumentation(particularly the guitars) influenced great bands and albums (Loveless, The Bends) I would say they sound like an assortment of important 90s bands, but in reality I guess many 90s bands sound like them. Despite that, listening to the album confirmed some of my prejudices; the spoken word sections are meaningless and pretentious. The social critiques (lyrically) sound really basic and the album is excessively long. Still there are really interesting moments musically, particularly in the instrumental sections. The music sounds raw and at the same time very clear and layered. It sounds DIY but sophisticated and even when it's noisy and wild they create an interesting atmosphere.
3.5/5 because while it's innovative and interesting, it has it's drawbacks and to my ear's doesn't have that much replay value.
MTV Unplugged In New York Nirvana 3
Was expecting more from this, based on the couple songs I had heard in the past.Part of the appeal of Nirvana is the fact that they combine really catchy almost pop-ish melodies with explosive instrumentation that has a genuine edge. Kurt Cobain can sing the living hell out of a song, and his voice has a yearning, an anger and delicateness which puts all of Nirvana's elements together.The issue I have with the unplugged, is that a lot of songs don't hold up as well in the acoustic format. Songs like "Come as you Are" "I'm on a plain" lose of all their thrill factor and don't hold up well enough as compositions to excel in that context. Others though, like "All Apologies and Something in the way" lend themselves better to an acoustic format. The stand out of the show is Leadbelly's "Where do you sleep at night" where Kurt Cobain delivers an incredibly heart-felt vocal.The album attained a legendary status, in part because seeing the top grunge icons of the day (especially one so punky) playing acoustic with a really beautiful setting was no doubt really interesting at the time, and Kurt Cobain's pre-mature death gives seeing such an intimate performance an added dimension.If you take out Nirvana's status as grunge legends and all the mystique that exists around them, what you have is a band with an exceptional singer that doesn't sound it's best in an acoustic format.
8 Pills 'n' Thrills And Bellyaches Happy Mondays 4
Very funky and original.Well performed and produced, even though its at times deeply layered you can hear every element clearly and it's never overloaded.The lyrics are fun and catchy too.Particularly excellent guitar playing and bass playing. Lastly, making good happy music isn't easy, and they really pull it off so there's that too
Gunfighter Ballads And Trail Songs Marty Robbins 4
Global reviews
Very good storyteller, the songs are basically like short stories.And the music is really enjoyable to listen too also
Third Portishead 4
A very hard album to rate.Full of dissonant chord changes and melodies, hypnotic arrangements/loops. The singer captures isolation and trauma almost uncomfortably well.
The lack of emotional diversity (it almost all sounds isolated/alienated to me) hurts the replay value of it, this is an album to listen to when in a specific mood. I also think it's a very good album to listen to in small doses. There's a ton of interesting ideas and arrangements and they certainly accomplish what it is they seemed to be going for (capturing said isolation)
3.5 stars for the many fresh interesting ideas, I don't feel good giving the album 3 stars (seems to low for such a well executed album) but 4 seems excessive given that I didn't enjoy listening to the whole album much.
Going to give it 4
Do check out individual songs though
Machine head, Nylon Smile, We Carry on
Surrealistic Pillow Jefferson Airplane 4
Somewhat inconsistent album, and sometimes to hippy-ish.
But the standout tracks are really amazing.
I love the poetry of Today and particularly of Comin Back to Me, just beautiful songwriting.
As well as the power of Grace Slick and catchiness of Somebody to Love.
Interesting production choices too, what an insane amount of reverb on the drums. Sounds like someone is playing far in the distance.
The band plays well, has two very good singers (who compliment each other perfectly) and the songwriting is at times amazing. That trascends any weaknessess the album may have
Joan Armatrading Joan Armatrading 4
Really good songwriting, which in my mind is one of the most valuable and hardest things to find in music.
Younger Than Yesterday The Byrds 4
A rare example of an album who's second half is much stronger than the first.
The Byrds are at their best when they go introspective and personal. Everybody's Been Burned is beautiful and mysterious song with a lyric that reflects on the nature of love. Crosby's odd phrasing works perfectly in the song making it sound like he has deeply meditated both emotionally/spiritually on whether it is worth it to become vulnerable in the face of love with inevitable brevity and pain that certainly comes with it. Mind Gardens is also a fantastic song with with reflects on coping mechanisms in a very fresh and different way. The song builds perfectly along with the lyric, holding you the whole time.
There are times where the Byrds can sound just pleasant and not particularly interesting or deep, but Crosby's compositions elevate the album and give it a different dimension. It's a shame the album consists mostly of other writer's compositions. Most of the album is a 3, but because it has a couple incredible songs I'm going to round up to 4
Best songs: (in order)
Everybody's been burned
Mind Gardens
My Back Pages
Renaissance Fair
Highway 61 Revisited Bob Dylan 4
Bob Dylan goes electric, with a fantastic backing band (The Band)
What's interesting about Bob Dylan (from a lyrical perspective) is how the lyrics seem at once polished while simultaneously seeming like a total stream of consciousness. The lyrics sound good, the story-telling is amazing (and at many times funny) and yet something about his delivery and perhaps his willingness of veer off course narratively (though he always finds his way back) make it seems fresh.It's an interesting contrast with Leonard Cohen, who's lyrics sound totally perfect and thought-out. Dylan instead comes across as kind of wild and unpredictable (Cohen can be unpredictable too in his words, but everything seems pre-meditated) While with Dylan it's like fuck it, "the sun's not yellow it's chicken!"
The first song is a masterpiece, just incredible story-telling. Every line is piercing, and often clever and devastating. You feel mixed about the once-rich main character who was fucked over by a diplomat with a siamese cat, yet was oblivious to inequality and suffering when they were well off.
Tombstone blues is fantastic too, so fun and stimulating.
Musically the album has it's high points but is less interesting than it's lyrics with some songs in my opinion being almost a little boring. The Band sounds better playing their own songs.
However the high points are awesome, so I think 4 stars make sense. 5 stars lyrically, 3 stars musically.
Vol. 4 Black Sabbath 4
Black Sabbath are one of the central pioneers in the metal genre, while
Beatle song's such as Helter Skelter or I want you or Jimi Hendrix's Manic depression were also very heavy it's Black Sabbath that puts the whole package together. The low end heavy and at times dissonant riffs, the iconic imagery, the often times dark lyrical themes. What sets Sabbath apart though from other metal icons is their versatility, the drummer's funkiness, the authentic vulnerability of Ozzy's lyrics on songs like changes. The riffage of Tony Iommi sometimes leading the way to beautiful almost celtic sounding ballads. This is pure metal, darkness explored in a way that is meaningful and real. Not the cartoonish "edgy-ness" of later bands, nor the dick-measuring contest of who can shred faster or play louder. Heavy, funky and at times beautiful
4.5 stars
Ellington at Newport Duke Ellington 5
The band sounds so crisp, sharp and sexy. So full of life, big band music at it's best
42 The Dark Side Of The Moon Pink Floyd 5
Pink Floyd's greatest album.
I also gave Exodus by Bob Marley a 5—
And didn’t review Sade- Diamond life but really liked it too.

I purchased a few cartons of custard (bc it was cheap) any suggestions what i can make with it, besides using it as a food side accompaniment . Thanks!

eggs have been a staple food for me for YEARS, I go through phases where I get egg ick but one of my ultimate safe foods is a piece of toast with a soft boiled egg and lots of salt. if I’m visiting my parents I can make myself an egg for lunch when they might not have other foods I feel comfortable eating, they’re cheap, have decent protein, are a reliable number of calories, and keep me full. but the avian flu situation has made me SO scared of eggs. I know the CDC says they’re safe to eat if fully cooked but I don’t trust it lol. would a carton of pasteurized egg whites be safer? or does anyone have any good protein equivalents instead of eggs? I eat cottage cheese, yogurt, tofu, but it’s harder to keep track of the kcal without measuring and I don’t always have a scale.

I'll be staying at the WorldMark Tahoe April 28th to May 5th and a three bedroom two bathroom unit I'll end up having to go by myself so I really only need a studio. What's the best way to give my three and two unit back and get a studio and Bank the difference in either points, free night stays at a later date, resort credits, or cash? I've called the WorldMark timeshare Center as well as the front desk and both of them have said I can ask when I check in but if there's anything I can do offline or with somebody directly that'd be optimal. I purchased the week from Craigslist so I'm not an actual owner but I'm not sure if that matters or not. I've been buying unused weeks since the beginning of April for about $400 per week last minute( so far just Palm Desert, Newport Beach, and Tahoe) and this seems like the best way to maximize my vacation days and minimize the cost per day if anybody's done anything like this advice would be much appreciated as well as any advice on purchasing last minute cheap weeks. Right now I'm using red week Craigslist and eBay but I'm sure there's other ways to do it cheap

Wondering if anyone knows the price of one carton of Newport shorts or even just the cost of one pack? Will be traveling to Miami and wanted to know the cost to determine if I need to bring extra packs with me. TIA

So I have been purchasing the "Just Egg" liquid product for several years, now, and have never had any issues with them. Just recently, however, the last 4 cartons I've purchased have been really bad. They are pretty much inedible. They stick to the pan (well oiled), to my spatula, and they appear to not cook thoroughly. They break up into very small, wet pieces that do not hold any shape or texture. They look absolutely awful. Over my years of cooking Just Egg, I've NEVER had any issues like this. I've had to throw all 4 cartons away... and they are not cheap.
Does anyone know if they have they changed the recipe? The ingredients? Is there a reasonable explanation or theory anyone could provide that could explain the reason why the cartons I've purchased are doing this?
I'm storing them in my refrigerator, just the same as I've always done. They are not expired. I shake them very well before using. I've done nothing different on my part to yield different results.
Has anyone else experienced any changes like this recently? Maybe my grocery store is storing them improperly? 🤔

I've been playing for 20 years, and my buddy got into the game last year. I've never really purchased new or relatively new clubs, basically playing ebay finds and cheap stuff purchased from buddies. Aforementioned friend's mother gave me her hand me down Scotty GoLo before he started playing, and he went out and got a brand new Scotty squareback. After seeing the nice new shiny Scotty, I found a new old stock Newport. He's been playing his father's old Mavrik, and last week I found a new Sim2 Max. After seeing that club, he just purchased a new Qi10 Designer. I feel this cycle will not end until we both have all shiny new clubs.

(As always, flyers are out Wednesdays, most store sales for the new flyer start on Thursdays)
Adonis

• Eggs (Burnbrae) - $7.99 30-pack -- Awesome price for these big flats of eggs! 26.6c/egg.
• Beef eye of round (AA+) - $7.49 per lb -- We've seen cheaper, but this is a good fair price for eye of round.
• Beef short rib - $10.99 per lb -- A little bit of a pricier cut, but a good price for it.
• Ground chicken (lean) - $3.49 per lb -- Great price for ground chicken!
• Royal sea bream (free cleaning) - $5.88 per lb -- Good price for whole fish. I should try some sea bream! Widely considered by chefs to be the tastiest of all fish!
• Alaskan pollock (fillets) - $4.99 per lb -- Great price for pollock fillets!
• Red vine tomatoes - $1.49 per lb -- Ok price for tomatoes. Basically average.
• Lemons - $2.99 for 10 -- 30c a lemon! Awesome!
• Blueberries - $2.99 340g shell -- Great price for blueberries!
• Brick cheese (Black Diamond) - $4.88 400g bar -- Nice! Sub-$5 cheese is always a win!
• Akawi (Cedar, Phoenicia) - $2.29 per 100g -- Bulgarian feta, Baladi, and Kashkaval on for the same price! I'd like to try those last two!
• Feta and bocconcini (Tre Stelle) - $3.99 200g tub -- Good price for these two cheeses!
• Ricotta (Saputo) - $3.99 400g tub -- Nice! I like to see ricotta at this price. Hard to find it for less so regularly.
• Deli - MTL-smoked meat (Solmaz) - $1.99 per 100g -- Nice! I'm gonna get some of this!
• Deli - Beef bologna (Alzahraa) - $1.29 per 100g -- And I should get some of this while I'm at it, just to give it a whirl!
• Deli - Genoa salami (Mastro) - $2.29 per 100g -- Sounds pricey for deli, but the chubs are usually $6 for 200g. And, because it's a dryer deli meat, even 100g goes a very long way.
• Deli - Turkey breast (Olymel) - $2.79 per 100g -- Not the best deli meat to buy if you're getting a lot, but it could be a tasty treat!
• Tomato paste (Unico) - $0.99 156ml can -- Not bad. I like to score them for 88c if I can, but 99c isn't bad.
• Sourdough bread (Rudolph) - $2.99 500g loaf -- Last I tried to snag these loaves, I couldn't find any in-store. Ask a rep for help!
• BBQ hardwood (Basques) - $17.99 8kg bag -- Actually, not a terrible price for such a big bag of decent charcoal.
• Produce Price Rating: Medium, but always has well-priced chicken, the deli meat sale rotations are always fantastic, and just the overall variety of goods is refreshing. Personal favourite store.

Farm Boy

• Chicken breast (boneless, skinless) - $5.99 per lb -- Average sale price, but decent enough. Not a stock-up price, but fair enough…
• Atlantic salmon steaks (fresh) - $8.99 per lb -- Very nice! $1-2/lb under the average sale price, and it's a fun cut!
• Green beans - $1.99 per lb -- Awesome price for green beans!
• Green onions, radishes - $0.99 per bunch -- Nice!
• Mini cucumbers - $5.00 for 2x 6-packs -- Very nice!! I like to see cheap cuce on the shelf! Good salad material that's a little hardier in the fridge than leafy greens.
• Deli - Oven-roasted chicken breast (Brandt) - $2.99 per 100g -- Meh price as deli goes. I'd need to price-check their whole deli section to size this up. There may be better that's not advertised.
• St-Albert Cheese curb - $2.99 per 100g -- Nice! This is actually on par or better than what you'd pay for the bags.
• Canned Skipjack tuna - $5.00 for 3x 170g cans -- Not amazing, but fair for the brand and tuna quality.
• Dumplings (pork or chicken, Farm Boy) - $4.99 500g box -- Nice! I usually don't mention items like this, but this is actually good value.
• Bread (Dempsters) - $2.99 600g loaf -- Nothing new about bread pricing. Just nice to see $3 loaves of decent bread are still around.
• Produce Price Rating: High

Farmers Pick (can be a little late on their flyer) (https://www.farmerspick.ca/flyer-specials)
Food Basics

• Ground beef - $3.88 per lb -- Nice! Great price for ground!
• Ground chicken (lean) - $3.88 per lb -- Good price for ground chicken. Adonis has the better deal, but this is still fair.
• Atlantic salmon fillet (fresh) - $9.88 per lb -- Nice! $10/lb pink fish!
• Argentine shrimp (Ocean Prime) - $9.88 454g bag -- These look like the big ones! Nice on skewers!
• Eggs - $5.48 18-pack -- Not ground-breaking, it's still 30c an egg, but it's about 30-40c off the carton.
• Chicken wings - $3.99 per lb -- Worthy mention. Made some soy sauce chicken wings the other day. Freakin' chef's kiss! God they were good… (chicken wing post)
• Corn - $1.88 5-pack of cobs -- Awesome! Bring on the cob! Less than 40c is better than 80c to $1!
• Avocado - $0.88 each -- A 5-pack of these runs us $4.40 total, which is basically on par with average cado pricing.
• "Honey Sweet" onions (Vidalia style?) - $2.99 3lb bag -- NICE! I love these onions - cooked, freshly cut, doesn't matter. They're so good! ! Usually about $4-5 for the bag, worth trying!
• Sweet eppers - $2.99 4-pack -- Good price for peppers!!
• Mini cucumbers - $5.00 for 2x 6-packs -- Nice! Same deal as Farm Boy.
• Fresh jalapenos - $5.00 2x 250g packs -- Price is also for 2x 400g packs of tomatillos!
• Blackberries - $1.88 170g shell -- Fair sale!
• Navel oranges - $0.88 per lb -- Very nice! Great sale!
• Limes - $3.98 1lb bag -- Faigoing-rate for limes.
• Yogurt multipack (Astro) - $4.49 12x100ml pack -- Hmm, we were seeing these for $4 before. Noticed a little upward pressure in yogurt pricing in these last weeks.
• Chipotle in adobo (La Costena) - $2.79 319ml can -- Oh man… I have been hunting cans of this stuff. The shelves are always bare!
• Frozen veg (Green Giant) - $6.88 for 2x 750g bags -- Good deal for brand-name frozen veg.
• Frozen veg (Selection) - $5.99 1.5-2kg bags -- Amazing value!
• Italian hard cheese (Casa Azzurra) - $10.49 per lb -- Good price for a decent hard cheese. It doesn't have the same depth as parm or padano. But, it's way better than pre-grated shake cheese. And I find it aged nicely in the fridge (just keep it well-wrapped in a ziplock)
• Milk (Lactantia) - $4.88 4L bagged -- Very nice!
• Butter (Selection) - $4.88 454g bar -- Ohh, sub-$5 butter… Pray we see $4…
• Cooking oil (Saporito) - $7.88 3L jug -- Very good price! Includes vegetable, canola, and sunflower!
• Produce Price Rating: Low to medium low

FoodLand

• Pork back rib - $3.99 per lb -- Fair price. We've seen $3/lb, even $2/lb. But FoodLand is a little up there for pricing, so this is on-par and on-brand.
• Top sirloin steak (AAA) - $9.99 per lb -- Fair price for decent cuts of steak. Not a value proposition, but ok once in a while.
• Russet potatoes (Compliments) - $5.99 10lb bag -- Fair price for potatoes.
• Brick cheese (Compliments) - $9.00 for 2x 400g bars -- Nice! Funny, they have also a 700g bar for $10. Like… why advertise that 700g bar…
• Deli - Blackforest or Honey ham (Compliments) - $2.99 per 100g -- Going-rate for deli ham.
• Earth's Own Oat bev - $6.00 for 2x 946ml jugs -- Oat milk goes for a little more on average. But these jugs are half-size compared to Silk products. It's a toss-up… Be mindful.
• Produce Price Rating: Medium-high to high.

Freshco (price matcher)

• Chicken breast (boneless, skinless) - $4.99 per lb -- Nice! Great price!!
• Eggs (Compliments) - $7.99 30-pack -- Ah, another good deal on eggs!
• Cucumber - $0.79 each -- AWESOME!
• Fennel - $1.99 each -- Not a usual ingredient for most, but I love this stuff. Lasts long in the fridge, awesome for salads, soups, and stocks.
• Plums - $1.88 each -- Great price for plums!
• Sourdough bread (Rudolph) - $2.79 500g loaf -- Very nice! 20c cheaper than average sale pricing.
• Jasmine rice (Ox Head) - $15.88 7kg bag -- Haha, Flipp's ad was for a 70kg bag hahaha, that's a whoopsie typo.
• Dishwasher tabs (Finish) - $13.99 55 tabs -- Good deal on those tabs.
• Produce Price Rating: Low to medium low (more on the medium side)

Giant Tiger (*note the VIP prices; sales begin today) (price matcher)

• Bacon (Carver's choice) - $2.77 375g pack -- Great price for bacon! Mind the fat lines, but for this is a good deal for standard bacon.
• Cauliflower - $2.88 each -- Nice! Average is about $4 these days.
• Oranges - $3.88 3lb bag -- Fair price for oranges. Deal includes lemons (2lb) and kiwis (600g).
• Blueberries - $1.88 170g shell -- Fair price for a nice little treat!
• Dry pasta (Primo) - $0.77 454g packs -- These are "half-packs", but the full 2lb packs are often $2 or more. So, this is still a stock-up price.
• Produce Price Rating: Generally on the low side.

Green Fresh Supermarket (Vanier) (check https://greenfreshottawa20.wixsite.com/greenfreshottawa) * Produce Price Rating: Usually very competitive, catering to Asian cuisine. Warning: their newest sales start on Fridays - so this is a late advertising of their sales.
IGA (price matcher)

• Chicken legs - $1.29 per lb -- WOW! Way below average! Stock-up! Legs make a fantastic chicken cacciatore! Probably limited. Catch it while you can.
• Red vine tomatoes - $0.88 per lb -- AWESOME! That's fantastic price for tomatoes!
• Cucumber - $0.88 each -- AWESOME!
• Strawberries - $1.99 454g shell -- Scene Member Price. Regular 2.99.
• Deli - Cooked ham (Lafleur) - $1.99 per 100g -- Kinda like prosciutto cotto. Ok price for a cheaper deli meat.
• Deli - Cooked or Smoked turkey - $2.69 per 100g -- Ok price for turkey deli meat.
• Butter (Lactantia) - $4.99 454g bar -- Nice! $5 butter is always welcome!
• Produce Price Rating: Medium

Independent

• Beef sirloin tip roast (AAA) - $5.99 per lb -- Great price for AAA beef!
• Pork sirloin chops or roast - $2.99 per lb -- Fair sale price for pork.
• Russet potatoes - $5.99 10lb bag -- Fair price for potatoes.
• Strawberries - $2.99 454g shell -- Average sale.
• Tofu (Rooster) - $4.00 for 2x 454g bars -- A fair but average discount. Available at Loblaws, as well.
• Produce Price Rating: fairly high with few exceptions

Loblaws

• Beef brisket (AA) - $4.99 per lb -- Great price for brisket! I need to pull out my smoker!
• Whole chicken - $1.88 per lb -- Awesome price for whole chicken!
• Grapes - $1.99 per lb -- Great price for grapes!
• Produce Price Rating: fairly high with few exceptions

Provigo

• Chicken legs or drumsticks - $1.99 per lb -- Good price as chicken goes. It's on the edge of stock-up pricing. The IGA deal smokes this price, however…
• Pork sirloin chops or roast - $2.49 per lb -- Good price for pork!
• Russet potatoes - $3.99 10lb bag -- Funny. $6 at Independent, $4 at Provigo. Weird lol…
• Produce Price Rating: fairly high with few exceptions

Maxi (price matcher)

• Pork loin - $2.00 per lb -- Awesome! This is a stock-up price!
• Steelhead trout and Atlantic salmon - $7.99 per lb -- WOW! Awesome price for pink fish!
• Pork rib - $2.77 per lb -- Nice! Under $3/lb for pork rib is a good deal.
• Eggs (No Name) - $2.38 12-pack -- Wow! 20c/egg! That's a deal!
• Cucumber - $3.50 3-pack -- Nice! Not under $1, but still ok!
• Strawberries - $1.77 454g shell -- Very nice! That's a great price!
• Plums - $2.00 per lb -- Good price for prunes! Often more in the 2.50-3.00/lb+.
• Pineapple - $2.99 each -- Decent price for pineapple. This is my cut-off price.
• Mandarins - $5.99 4lb bag -- Fair sale price! Under $2/lb is good for nice citrus.
• Mozzarela (Saputo) - $4.55 500g bar -- Nice! Sub $5 cheese that's great for pizza and lasagna!
• Produce Price Rating: Generally medium low pricing! This store can post some impressive deals at times.

Metro

• Chicken drumsticks or thighs - $2.44 per lb -- Good sale price! Not the IGA price, granted, but still decent. Average non-sale can easily be over $3/lb, so this is ok. It's just not a stock-up price.
• Lamb leg - $5.99 per lb -- Not the best deal for lamb. $4/lb is the real price to look for. But, this is still always better than beef pricing.
• Fresh sausage (store-made) - $3.99 per lb -- Good price for good sausage. It's very rare to find it freshly-made for under $4/lb.
• Rainbow trout fillets - $9.99 per lb -- Fair sale on pink fish.
• Vadalia sweet onions - $3.44 3lb bag -- Ohh, those Vidalias… As mentioned, try some. They're only in season for so long.
• Sweet potatoes - $0.77 per lb -- AWESOME! Wow! That's an amazing price!
• Deli - Blackforest ham (Irresistibles) - $1.99 per 100g -- Very nice! Great to see the Metro show some relaxed deli pricing.
• Produce Price Rating: High. Kinda like Sobeys. You can see a 50% average mark-up compared to a lot of other stores. It's nice produce, but it costs you.

No Frills (price matcher)

• Chicken breast (boneless, skinless) - $4.66 per lb -- Awesome price! I'd stock-up a little at this price. Not too much, because you can sometimes score a $4/lb deal. But this is still very good.
• Cucumber - $0.88 each -- Awesome! Great to see more cheap cuce going around!
• Mini cucumbers - $3.99 11-pack -- Nice! This is good value!
• Corn - $2.99 4-pack -- Not the Basics deal, but still ok-ish compared to paying $1/ear.
• Green beans - $1.99 per lb -- Awesome price for green beans!
• Potatoes (Red, Yellow, Russet) - $4.99 10lb bag -- Nice variety of spuds at a welcome average sale price.
• Mini carrots - $3.99 2lb bag -- 2lb… that's 900g-ish… Usually the bags are 340g for $2… So, there's savings to be had here.
• Grapes - $1.99 per lb -- Nice! Lots of $2/lb grape sales going around.
• Cantaloupe - $1.84 each -- When $3 is a fair sale, under $2 is awesome!
• Watermelon - $6.99 each -- Well, certainly better than the $8-15 I've seen for sliced quarters. When convenience costs you abusive premiums, look to options like this.
• Silk plant bev - $3.79 1.74-1.89L jug -- Fair sale!
• Earth's Own Oat bev - $2.49 946ml jug -- Better than FoodLand for oat milk, but still not as good as the Silk value. Anyone have experience with both products?
• Produce Price Rating: Generally quite low, selectively amazing for some items.

Produce Depot (usually a little late on the flyer) https://producedepot.ca/

• Whole chicken - $2.69 per lb -- Decent and fair sale price for chicken, but there's better this week.
• Ground beef (lean) - $5.49 per lb -- Ok/Going-rate on ground beef. Not a stock-up price, but still ok compared to some regular pricing we can see these days.
• Asparagus - $1.99 per lb -- Nice! Great deal! And that's per lb, not 340g bunches.
• Cucumbers - $0.99 each -- Nice! Good to see $1 cucumbers.
• Eggplant - $1.79 per lb -- Good price. I hadn't realized how eggplant can swing so wildly. Like, up to $4/lb! Basics had it at 99c/lb a couple of weeks back, which was killer. Anything around $1.50/lb is a fair sale price. Over 2.50/lb is meh.
• Pink Lady apples - $1.29 per lb -- Nice! Fair price for a nice apple variety.
• Bosc pears - $1.49 per lb -- Nice price for bosc types. It's not often you'll see them for that $1/lb mark.
• Deli - All-beef salami (Lester's) - $1.89 per 100g -- Nice! Good price for deli meat.
• Produce Price Rating: Medium-low with very competitive specials on a shortened flyer. The small flyer is nice because it doesn't uselessly feature $6 heads of cauliflower and extremely high-price items that are either a confusion on the consumer, or an insult on the injury of not being able to afford supreme quality items.

Real Canadian Superstore (price matcher)

• Whole chicken - $1.99 per lb -- Great price for whole chicken.
• Ground beef (medium) - $4.99 per lb -- Meh average sale price for ground beef. Stock-up price level is about $4/lb.
• Ground beef (frozen, lean) - $10.00 1.1kg tubes -- Slightly better value than the medium ground. I'd buy this any day of the week at this rate. Still not a stock-up price, however.
• Duck (grade A) - $3.99 per lb -- Nice! Duck is pretty pricey, so don't rush the gates for it. But, it makes for a nice treat!
• Basa fillet (frozen) - $10.00 908g bag -- Not a terrible idea to keep a supply of these for easy, healthier-minded meals.
• Sausage (frozen, Marcangelo) - $11.00 1.4kg pack -- Nice price for decent sausage.
• Sausage (fresh, Marcangelo) - $12.99 1kg pack -- Interesting to see the contrast between the frozen and fresh. About 3.60/lb versus 5.90/lb.
• Mini cucumbers - $5.00 11-pack -- We saw some $4 packs, but this ain't bad.
• Grape tomatoes - $5.00 907g shell -- Pretty good! Especially considering some tomato varieties can easily climb into the same $2-2.50/lb range.
• Potatoes (Red, Yellow) - $5.00 10lb bag -- Decent price for spuds!
• Raspberries - $4.00 340g shell -- Good price for a full pint of berries.
• Apples (Imperfect) - $4.99 6lb bag -- Good price for apples, but I'd like to see these at $4. 83c/lb is a bit high for imperfect fruit…
• Cantaloupe - $2.99 each -- Decent price for a cantaloupe.
• Pineapple - $2.99 each -- Good and fair price.
• Watermelon - $7.99 each -- Good and fair price. Apparently they're 11lb on average.
• Paneer (Happy Dairy) - $4.00 300g block -- Great price! Usually $1-2 more for the same block.
• Deli - varieties of ham (Ziggy's) - $2.50 per 100g -- Nice to see deli ham at a fair price. Not amazing, but ok. I still prefer slicing my own from sale-price toupies that you can get for $1/100g some weeks.
• Chipotle in adobo (La Costena) - $2.49 319ml can -- A worthy mention again. I love this stuff… Makes a great easy chili. Smokey with a nice kick!
• Canned tomatoes (Unico) - $1.59 796ml can -- Nice! Great price for good tomatoes. Might be worth snagging a few cans for your pantry,
• Olive oil (Gallo) - $11.99 1L bottle -- Wow! Not the $8 of yesteryear, but I've seen the same bottles go for $15…
• Earth's Own almond bev - $2.99 1.74-1.89L jug -- Great price!
• Produce Price Rating: Generally medium-low pricing, selectively amazing for some items.

Sobeys

• Ground beef (extra lean) - $4.49 per lb -- Scene Member Price. Regular 5.50/lb. It's only fair at the member price. Otherwise, it's really too average… Hit a Basics for ground beef this week.
• Napa - $0.99 per lb -- Nice! I love seeing napa at this price!
• Bok choy - $0.99 per lb -- And the bok choy! Out of all things for Sobeys to price really well…
• Brick cheese - $4.99 400g -- Always good to see a familiar $5 brick of standard cheese.
• Earth's Own oat bev - $2.99 1.75L jug -- Ok, I don't get it. Sometimes the oat is more expensive. Now this one is the same price as the almond. So confused! Lol
• Produce Price Rating: Generally a high price store, especially for produce. Some items are 50% more than more value-oriented stores. Kinda like Metro, some of the deals can be quite good.

Super C

• Beef top sirloin steak or roast - $6.99 per lb -- Good rate for beef, but no grade mentioned in the flyer. Mind the cut. If it's good, get some. But if it looks tough and meh, I might pass…
• Chicken breast (boneless, skinless) - $4.44 per lb -- Nice! That's the cheapest this week!
• Chicken legs - $2.49 per lb -- Fair rate, but no IGA sale, that's for sure.
• Iceberg lettuce - $1.49 each -- Very nice! Think of the 3-pack of romaine for $3-4, this is about 2 hearts of lettuce. Great value here!
• Grape tomatoes - $0.99 227g shell -- Beats the RCSS deal. 4 of these is $4 for the same 2lb.
• Green peppers - $1.49 per lb -- Nice! Not bad for peppers. Still waiting on peppers to be properly in season, but there few pepper sales this week are a good sign of things to come!
• Corn - $0.99 for 2 -- AWESOME! 50c a cob! WOOT!
• Cauliflower - $2.99 each -- Scene Member Price.
• Potatoes (Red, Yellow, Russet) - $4.99 10lb bag -- $5 10lb bags are always welcome!
• Apples(lots of varieties!) - $0.99 per lb -- WOW! Amazing! Great price for a wicked variety: Granny Smith, Red and Yellow Delicious, Honey Crisp, and Fuji!
• Red grapes - $1.88 per lb -- Good deal on grapes, but only red grapes. Green variety is excluded,
• Pineapple - $2.99 each -- Glad to see so many of these $3 deals around different chains.
• Brick cheese (Black Diamond, Ptit Quebec) - $4.87 400g bar -- Good ol' $5 cheese.
• Oka cheese - $6.99 190g wheel -- Oka is often 3.49/100g, This falls on par with that.
• Artisan dried sausage (Irresistibles) - $7.99 300g chub -- Nice. These are good products. I really enjoy the parm one, the chorizo is also really nice.
• Maple syrup (Irresistibles) - $5.77 540ml can -- Nice! These can float up to $7-8 a can.
• White sugar (Redpath) - $1.99 2kg bag -- Nice! Usually about $3 or more.
• Canned tomatoes (Primo) - $5.00 for 3x 796ml cans -- At 1.66 a can, it's a good stock-up price. Basics' Selection-brand cans go for 1.77 regular, but I find them a bit watery. Primo and Unico are better, I find.
• Dry pasta - $5.00 3x 500-900g packs -- Depending on the pasta variety you get, this is a slapping deal. The only thing that competes is the GT deal for pasta.
• Produce Price Rating: Generally low, but can creep into medium for some items. But, there's always something decent available!

T&T Supermarket https://www.tntsupermarket.com * Produce Price Rating: Usually very competitive, catering to Asian cuisine. Warning: their newest sales start on Fridays - so this is a late advertising of their sales.
Walmart

• Ground beef (medium) - $3.27 per lb -- WOW! Great price for ground beef!
• White mushrooms - $0.94 227g shell -- Awesome price for mushrooms
• Vine tomatoes - $0.84 per lb -- Awesome price for tomatoes!
• Corn - $0.67 per cob -- Great price for corn! Doesn't beat that Super C sale, but this is close enough!
• Potatoes (all-purpose) - $4.97 10lb bag -- Nice! More welcome $5 bags of spuds.
• Honey crisp apples - $0.84 per lb -- Awesome! Nice apples at a great price!
• Pineapple - $2.97 each -- More $3 pineapple. Anyone remember that 94c sale Walmart had that one time… I still think about it! LOL
• Brick cheese (Black Diamond) - $4.87 400g bar -- Good ol' $5 brick cheese.
• Pizza dough - $1.97 650g ball -- They also have easy canned pizza sauce for 97c (213ml). I'm a huge stickler for making your own pizza, and this dough makes it really easy!
• Earth's Own oat or almond bev - $3.47 1.75-1.89L jug -- I guess almond and oat can be the same price. I don't get it anymore hahaha. Why is oat special in some places, but not others hahaha
• Produce Price Rating: A little all over the place. Some really good prices between a lot of average pricing.

Costco (Note that these are the online/shipped prices - reduce each item by $3 for in-store pricing)

• NOTE: NEED TO REVISE - --
• Paper Towel (Kirkland) - $27.99 12-roll pack -- 2-ply; 160 sheets
• Paper Towel (Bounty) - $27.49 12-roll pack -- 2-ply; 86 sheets
• Toilet Paper (Kirkland) - $25.99 30-roll pack -- 2-ply; 380 sheets
• Toilet Paper (Cashmere) - $24.99 40-roll pack -- 2-ply; 250 sheets (on sale)
• Dish soap (Dawn Platinum) - $18.99 2.66L -- Food Basics often has this jug for $10!
• Laundry detergent (Purex) - $24.99 9.24L -- 250 loads
• Garbage bags (30 gallon; large) - $15.99 100-pack -- Amazon has Glad standard 74L bags, 100-packs for $23, sometimes less if on sale
• Countertop green bin liners - $21.99 125-pack -- Amazon has Glad Compostable green bin liners 100-packs for $18, sometimes less if on sale
• Produce Price Rating: I need to do a proper check to be sure, but I find it's pretty average. There's an illusion of getting a good deal because of the bulk. Just be careful.

Jean Coutu (new sales start Fridays)

• Produce Price Rating: I have to start checking these just in case...

Shoppers Drug Mart (new sales start Fridays)

• Produce Price Rating: Sometimes they have cheap butter, eggs, and milk on weekends.

Some additional references!

• Grocery Review Google Drive Location https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1xhLvBP1smXb1eSnxAW5yyBjO2aYFLJHC?usp=sharing
• Cooking Tips and Recipes https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1TCcHm9y0kWIa3x18hznKN2ix0BPcUv-m?usp=drive_link
• Google Maps list of the Grocery stores in Ottawa https://maps.app.goo.gl/YT7cZmv8vMQWU4J59

What do you do for water bottles at school for your kindergartners? Does your kid bring a reusable water bottle, or a disposable bottle of bottled water? Or just raw-dog the water fountain like a Gen Xer in 1993?
We are nearing the end of the school year. By my count, we have been through at least 5 reusable water bottles this year. All have been either lost or broken. None have ever turned up in the school's lost and found. Prices range from $5-$15. (Probably more broken ones near the cheaper end of that scale.) For a while, we were sending disposables because we happened to have a pack of bottled water left over from an event. My preference is to not buy any bottled water, and I find the single use plastic bottles bad across the board.
That said... if we lose a water bottle every 2 months, is that just as wasteful as single use?
When we do single-use, there is zero chance the empty disposable is coming home at the end of the day.
Do you have some other less wasteful single-use product you use, like aluminum or a cardboard carton? I don't think my kid's school has recycling bins for student use, but they might?
Should I just buy a dozen cheap plastic reusable bottles from Temu or something and assume most will not make it?

Can anyone point me to the cheapest pack of Newports, within a day-trip's drive? I'm seeing maybe New Hampshire or Maine?
Assumptions I'm making. Please correct if ive got bad info:

• tribal lands in NY are only allowed to sell tribal-owned brands, so that's no help here. I don't know if that's a New York thing or a federal thing tho?
  
• Mass and VT banned flavored tobacco, so no menthol's there?
  

Help me out, my nicotine-fueled neighbors...
edit: while I can understand the downvotes-for-my-own-good, they're not for me. Just looking for the information, thanks.
Edit 2: found if you cross the bridge from Vermont to New Hampshire on 7, the first shop on the right has cartons for $97 out the door cash. Best deal I found so far for the distance. I guess its rt 9? The bridge from Brattleboro Vt, to Chesterfield NH.