I have to say that the Assiniboia Co-Op grocery store has really improved since last fall!!! I’m not just talking about the upcoming expansion, but about what they are stocking. They have a lot more international foods, a better deli section, fresher produce, and more. I just came out of there having spent $120 and I didn’t feel that I got robbed. That’s very high praise!

When I got to the till, I asked to speak to a manager about having something brought in. A manager came by and I asked about the possibility of stocking Maseca, the only reason I was thinking of heading to Moose Jaw for a shop (and if that ain’t proof that our Co-Op is on an upward swing, I don’t know what is!). I had to explain what Maseca is and he said, “OH! Come with me!”

He brought me to the ‘Mexican’ food aisle and pointed to something on the very bottom shelf. “We only JUST brought this in this week. We have a couple of Mexican customers who asked for it.”

No, not Maseca, but one of their competitors:

I already knew that it’s kind of a Coke/Pepsi thing, with strong sides in favour of one or the other, but essentially an equivalent product.

He said that he could try to bring in Maseca for me, but it’d be a few weeks. I told him no, that I was pretty sure this would do. So he said, “Well, I’ll give you a discount for being so open minded.”

I thought I might get 50 cents off or something. The bag was $7.99 and he rang it up at… $4.99!!! He made my day!

So now, my deep freeze is absolutely loaded with good stuff after this shop. I managed to catch a two for one plus additional discount on the pork loin chops I love and they had these pre-sauced single portions of salmon for just $2.99 instead of $6.99 (and an equivalent portion of non-sauced salmon was about $5.99), so I loaded up on those. I also got enough frozen pizza (bought six for $2o) that I separated into portions to get me through till I leave. I also got ground beef (my first time since adolescence buying some) as well as ground pork to make burgers!

I came home with another goodie from an unexpected source. I went to the Salvation Army to look for organizational stuff for my shed (struck out), but as I came out the clerk said to help myself to ask much bread as I wanted, pointing to a bin.

They frequently have free food, so I wasn’t surprised to get an offer for some. I’ve come home from the Salvation Army with canned soups on more than one occasions. I think they’re leftovers from the food bank, which they run. Anyway, there were mountains — literally dozens — of still pillowy soft not even past date bread, all from the Co-Op! White, whole wheat, raisin, cheese, olive, quite a variety!

Now, I’m avoiding bread (except, you know, the odd bit of pizza… *g*), but I thought a loaf of cheese bread would be really good for burgers, so I grabbed it. It was marked $5. I would never pay that for a loaf of bread!

The clerk assured me that it would not be greedy of me to leave with a dozen loaves… Yeah. That’s the last thing I need, a freezer full of bread! I was very happy with the one. 🙂