Shopping - SubEarthan Cottage

Posted on February 7, 2020January 15, 2025 by sophiecls418 — 2 Comments

Price Comparison Kroger vs. Walmart

Be sure to check out the updated prices for January 2025 here.

A few days ago, I learned that my local Kroger is closing. Luckily there is another one not too far. Still, I’m used to the layout at my local store, and I’ve gone there for so long that many of the employees know me.

Since the announcement, I’ve seen many conversations about that store and Kroger in general on Facebook. One thing that I’m constantly hearing is that Kroger is overpriced and Walmart is much cheaper. There’s even a Walmart commercial running on TV right now that compares a basket full of similar items from each store with Walmart’s basket coming out to be cheaper. While the commercial doesn’t surprise me, I am a little surprised every time I hear an individual say Walmart is cheaper. For me, I’ve always thought Kroger is cheaper on most groceries I buy. With everyone saying the opposite, I decided to do a little price comparison shopping.

Kroger vs. Walmart: The Plan

For the comparison, I created a grocery pickup list for each store based around some of my most common purchases. As much as possible, I matched brands at each store or chose the store brand at both. I used the normal price rather than the sale price where applicable. Due to eating gluten and dairy free, things like bread and milk that most people regularly purchase won’t be on my list.

The Food and Price Comparison

Coffee: Kroger Select Blend Medium Roast, 30.5 oz, $4.99. Walmart Great Value Classic Roast Medium Ground Coffee, 30.5 oz. $4.93. Winner: Walmart
Frozen Mixed Vegetables: Kroger Store Brand, 32 oz, $1.99. Walmart Great Value Brand, 32 oz, $1.94. Winner: Walmart
Bath Tissue: Kroger 1000 Sheets per Roll Bath Tissue, 12 rolls, $6.79, $0.57 per roll. Walmart Great Value 1000 Bath Tissue Rolls, 16 rolls, $9.12, $0.57 per roll. Winner: Tie
Cascade Complete Gel Dishwasher Detergent, 75 oz: Kroger $7.59. Walmart $5.97. Winner: Walmart. Honestly, this one wasn’t a surprise to me because I do find Walmart better on a lot of non-food items.
Sugar, Store brands, 4 lbs: Kroger $1.59. Walmart $1.58. Winner: Walmart
Bananas: Kroger $0.49 per lb. Walmart $0.44 per lb. Winner: Walmart
Calidad Corn Chips, 12 oz: Kroger $1.88. Walmart: $1.94. Winner: Kroger
Boneless, Skinless Chicken Thighs: Kroger Heritage Farm, $2.99/lb. Walmart store brand, $2.52/lb. Winner: Walmart
Ground Beef, 3 lb 80% lean/20% fat, store brands: Kroger $10.47. Walmart $14.42. Winner: Kroger.
Honey Nut Cheerios, 10.8 oz: Kroger $3.29. Walmart $2.98. Winner: Walmart
Pinto Beans, 4 lb bag, Store Brands: Kroger $2.99. Walmart $3.44. Winner: Kroger.
Potatoes, Russet, 10 lb bag, Store Brands: Kroger $3.89. Walmart $3.94. Winner: Kroger.
Canned green beans, 14.5 oz, Store Brands: Kroger $2.19/4 pk, $0.55/can. Walmart $0.50/can. Winner:Walmart
Blue Diamond Almond Milk, 96 oz: Kroger $4.99. Walmart $3.82. Winner: Walmart.
Eggs, large, 12 count, store brand: Kroger $1.09. Walmart $1.37. Winner: Kroger

Overall Totals

Kroger: $49.36

Walmart: $50.36

Kroger vs. Walmart Price Comparison: Overall winner

Kroger, by a whopping $1. At Kroger, the almond milk is currently on sale for $3.99 and the ground beef is on sale for $8.97. With those discounts, my Kroger total would have been $3.50 less than my Walmart total.

My Take

For the kinds of things I normally buy, Kroger is generally the cheaper store overall. I’m not a big coupon user, but I do check the Kroger app frequently and load any coupons that I think I may use to my Kroger card. After that, I shop like normal and any coupons I qualify for get applied automatically. Between that and sales, Kroger is almost guaranteed to be consistently cheaper for me.

I also generally like the produce and canned goods at Kroger better than Walmart. I usually can find what I need at both places, but if I need to buy lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, I avoid Walmart.

Having said that, there are things, like dishwasher detergent, that are definitely cheaper at Walmart. I wouldn’t say it’s worth it to make a special trip, but if I’m at Walmart anyway, it’s worth stocking up on.

Like I said earlier, my shopping list may look nothing like your shopping list. With more and more stores offering online shopping for pickup or delivery, it’s worth it to periodically do a price comparison between your local stores. It’s so easy to do online, and you may learn ways to adjust your shopping habits and save money.

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Posted on February 4, 2020October 20, 2020 by sophiecls418 — 1 Comment

Why I Love my Air Fryer

Another kitchen gadget I find myself using almost daily is my air fryer. Like my electric pressure cooker, my air fryer was a Christmas gift from my parents. This is the Gourmia model I own. It has a six quart basket and eight preset functions, or I can manually set the timing and temperature.

Unlike with my pressure cooker, I honestly wasn’t sure what to do with the air fryer at first. I don’t fry a lot of things, mainly because it’s messy. I also have the added challenge of making gluten free breading. Even before going gluten-free, I found it hard to get the breading to stick on things like chicken and have it cook all the way through without burning the outside. After some experimenting, though, I’ve found that the air fryer makes frying easier. I’ve also found that the air fryer does so much more than frying.

Ways I use my air fryer

Potatoes Whether it’s fresh home fries or frozen tater tots, the air fryer browns them all nicely. My air fryer has a french fry preset, so I just add the potatoes and start it. Every once in a while during the cooking, I give the basket a shake to keep them from clumping. This is especially important if the basket is fairly full. You can cook them completely without oil, but I do like to toss them lightly with a little olive oil. This seems most important with french fries. They’re okay without it, but I like the flavor better with it.
Sausage and bacon Both turn out beautifully in the air fryer. All the excess grease drains under the basket, leaving the bacon crisp and the sausage not greasy. I use the bacon setting on mine for both, but I reduce the time to nine minutes for sausage.
Reheating leftovers We got rid of our microwave a few years ago. We really only used it to reheat leftovers, which never tasted as good as if I heated them on the stove or in the oven, and it took up a lot of counter space. While I still use our stove and oven to reheat things for the whole family, if I’m just heating a plate of food or other small amount, I’ll use the air fryer. It’s quicker than the oven, and the food heats more evenly than it did in the microwave. The texture is better, too.
Frying I still don’t do this much, but I finally got gluten-free fried chicken to work, so that may change. I did cheat a little by quickly frying it on the stove first, just to lightly brown and set the breading. Then I added it all into the air fryer basket and let it finish it with the chicken preset function. While it’s not as low fat that way, the chicken turned out crisp and juicy but not at all greasy. That also freed up my skillet to make gravy while the chicken finished cooking so it was all hot and perfectly done at the same time.
Baking It is essentially a counter top convection oven, so it bakes as well as an oven. I don’t use this function as much, because, with a family of five, the oven is usually more convenient. If I’m only making a few cookies, though, it works really well. I’ve also baked cheesecake in it using the recipe that came with my air fryer. It turned out delicious and was super easy to make.

What are your tips?

I’m still learning new things to try in my air fryer. With just those five things, I already use it almost every day. I would love to hear more creative ways to use an air fryer. If you have one, please share your favorite tips and recipes in the comments.

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Posted on January 10, 2020October 20, 2020 by sophiecls418 — Leave a comment

Creativity Takes Courage Mug

If you follow me on social media, you know I frequently post inspirational quotes. I decided to start offering mugs printed with select quotes in my shop. Since I am a crafter, I’m starting with quotes focusing on art and creativity. Honestly, selling something that is my design but not my handiwork made me a little nervous, as I am a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to my products. I’m a big coffee and tea drinker, though, and the thought of getting to see a quote that makes me smile in my design every time I reach for my cup inspired me to take the plunge.

My first mug

“Creativity takes courage,” by Henri Matisse seemed like the perfect quote to start the new year. I ordered my mug on Friday, and it arrived on Thursday, so it only took a week total for printing and shipping. My mug arrived securely packaged in a box designed to protect the mug without needing additional packing material. Yay for no plastic or excess packaging!

The mug itself turned out beautifully. My late night craft room with my cell phone photos really don’t do it justice. The colors are true to the original product photos and the designs are crisp. Unlike my photos. They are a little grainy and for some reason the dots in the center of the flower show up brown instead. In person, they are bluish-green. Hopefully the storms hold off long enough for me to break out my camera for daylight photos tomorrow.

Mug options

I chose the 11 oz. size this time. There is also a 15 oz. size offered in my shop. If you’d like your own “Creativity takes courage” mug, they are available here.

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Posted on January 6, 2020October 20, 2020 by sophiecls418 — 1 Comment

T Shirt Bag Upgrades

Last week, I showed you how to upcycle a t shirt into a shopping bag with a little basic sewing. Now, I’m going to show you a few ways to upgrade your t shirt bag design.

Bottom hem

In last week’s tutorial, the bottom hem was double stitched but otherwise left raw. Since knits don’t unravel, it is fine to leave it that way. I prefer to finish the raw edge, either with a serger or by enclosing the cut edge.

The top seam is finished by serging the raw edge. If you don’t have a serger/overlock machine, you can use a zig-zag or overcast stitch on a regular sewing machine.

The bottom seam is enclosed. Do do this, when following the first tutorial (found here) do NOT turn the shirt inside out when sewing the first bottom seam. Instead, sew it with the shirt right side out. Once it is sewn, trim any excess material from below the stitch line, leaving about 1/8-1/4 of an inch.

Now, turn the shirt inside out and smooth the bottom seam flat, like in this photo:

T-shirt-bag-finished — Pretend the bag is inside out this time.

Once it is all smooth (ironing helps) sew a seam at least 1/2 inch to 5/8 inch from the bottom. This stitch line encloses the raw edge. Since it is the bottom seam that will get the most stress, I still stitch it twice. Turn it right side out, and you’re done, unless you’d like to add a little shape to your bag.

Boxing the bottom

Boxing the bottom of the bag basically squares off the bottom, similar to a paper bag. I rarely do this with t shirt bags. They are too floppy for it to make much difference without adding a ton of interfacing for support. I also like these bags because they are easy to fold and stash in the car or my purse. Boxing the bottom complicates that a little. Even so, sometimes a boxed bottom can help things like cereal boxes or egg cartons fit neatly, so having one or two is nice.

Step 1

With your bag inside out, flatten the bottom seam so that it forms a triangle. That is a horrible description, so hopefully you can see what I mean from this photo:

The white stitching is the bottom hem of the bag. It should be in the middle, cutting the triangle in half.

Step 2

Measure about 3 inches down from the point of the triangle and draw a straight line perpendicular to the hem stitching.

Step 3

Sew along the line you drew twice to make it a strong seam. This photo shows my stitching in red and my chalk line.

Repeat steps 1-3 on the other side.

Bag Upgrades inside boxed bottom sewn line

Step 4

To finish, you could cut the excess part of the triangles and leave them raw or overcast/zig-zag stitch the cut edges. If you want to add strength and more structure to the bag, leave the triangles intact. Fold them down flat into the bottom of the bag and either tack in place with a few stitches at the point or sew along the loose sides of the triangles.