What products don't you go cheap on?

[pomtzu]

LOL! It's probably 20 years ago I last had peanut butter and I can't remember ever buying ketchup. Do you use it for hamburgers or what?

Yikes - no peanut butter or ketchup in your pantry?? That's pretty much unheard of in the U.S. And yes - ketchup on hamburgers, hot dogs, french fries, and a whole lot more.

With the economy the way it is and since I retired, I'm not as strict on my brands as I used to be, but here are some items on my "must be good stuff list" with no generic or less expensive brands:

Soft drinks - Pepsi or 7Up
Mayo - I don't do mayo so it's Miracle Whip
"Butter" spread - Shed's Spread or I Can't Believe It's Not Butter
Baked beans - B&M or Bush's
Fresh chicken - Perdue or Tyson's
Cranberry sauce - Ocean Spray
Maple (flavor) syrup - Mrs Butterworth's
Dog food - Myndi has to have K/D prescription only. Sparky - all he will eat is Pedigree or Cesar's, or fresh cooked chicken. Not the best, but I have NEVER fed cheap store brands.
Bras - Barely Breezies
Sandals - Birkenstock
Toilet paper - Angel Soft or Quilted Northern
Toothpaste - Crest or Colgate
Shampoo, conditioner & gel - Pantene
Hair spray - L'Oreal Elnett
Other makeup - A good brand - no super cheap junk

[Edwina's Secretary]

Yikes - no peanut butter or ketchup in your pantry?? That's pretty much unheard of in the U.S. And yes - ketchup on hamburgers, hot dogs, french fries, and a whole lot more.

I have never eaten peanut butter (or jelly!) and I do not use ketchup. Before I was married I had a jar of peanut butter someone had given me as a joke. I used it to bait mouse traps... my mother always kept a jar for feeding the birds in winter. No one in my family ate peanut butter.

As for ketchup - I would have those little packets from the fast food places in case a guest wanted it.

My husband likes both (and does the grocery shopping!) so they are in the pantry now. But I can't even bear the thought of eating peanut butter, jelly or ketchup!

[Catty1]

Peanut butter and honey or raspberry jam sandwiches - loved those as a kid. I couldn't understand friends who had peanut butter and BANANA.

If you mix ketchup with horseradish, you get a quick shrimp or seafood dip.

Pop/soda - diet or otherwise - I had my first serving yesterday in about 3 months. No biggie. Most fast food places have orange juice or iced tea. Yes, iced tea has lots of sugar in it, but won't hurt my bones like the fizzy stuff will.

Karen - there are quite a few recipes for home-made ketchup online. This one looks pretty good.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/ketchup/detail.aspx

I don't skimp on cat food - which kinda gets tough with 3 kitties now. (I know, I know...but there was no sending Zoe back! ) I use the Loblaws/President's Choice natural clumping litter - made entirely out of ground corn husks. It's a bit expensive, but lasts a surprisingly long time.

I try and buy beef etc on sale - but today was happy to pay $15 for a frozen chicken sold at the local Farmer's Market by the Mountainview Hutterite colony. They are officially inspected (tagged) huge and delicious and one chicken goes a long way.

Nor do I skimp on Internet.

[pomtzu]

Peanut butter and honey or raspberry jam sandwiches - loved those as a kid. I couldn't understand friends who had peanut butter and BANANA.

I try and buy beef etc on sale - but today was happy to pay $15 for a frozen chicken sold at the local Farmer's Market by the Mountainview Hutterite colony. They are officially inspected (tagged) huge and delicious and one chicken goes a long way.

$15 for a chicken??? You're kidding - right? I could buy a decent sized turkey for that. I pay 78 Cents per pound for fresh huge Purdue roasting chickens at Sams. They come packaged in 2's, and average about 6 or 7 lbs each. Too bad I can't send you some packed in dry ice. One chicken feeds us (3 adults and one teen), with some left over for the pups. I guess I would starve if I lived in Canada.

And peanut butter and banana is delicious, tho I prefer it with strawberry or peach preserves. I use it more in other recipes for baking, than I do just eating on a sandwich tho.

[Catty1]

pom - it's a fresh farm chicken, free range. The flavour is amazing - and I have to use turkey roasting directions for the size of the thing.

[K9karen]

The peanut butter posts made me laugh. My 98 y.o. uncle puts peanut butter on bread, waffles, pancakes (PLUS the syrup!) Maybe that's his secret to longevity! I buy him the biggest jar of Skippy or Jif that I can find and it's gone in no time! I rarely ate pbj as a kid. My mom thought it was more of a "treat" not a lunch meal. For some reason same with pizza. It was a late snack on weekends. (not now, though-pbj on raisen bread!! yum!)

I love ketchup! I don't put it on everything, but my brother does..scrambled eggs, baked beans, sloppy joes.

For me, certain foods have GOT to be real: butter, mayo, ice cream, cheese (not those prepackaged slices), bacon. All the high cholestrol, fattening stuff. That's OK though, I use a sugar substitute!!

[Alysser]

I'm also gonna add laptops to my list. Never again will I settle for a $600 Dell since they never work right, at least for me. I'll always be a Mac person.

I'll also add workout clothes to the list. Many people just wear any old tee and shorts to the gym, but I'm always in Under Armour or Nike. I also ALWAYS wear basketball shorts. I don't like being sweaty so under armour is fantastic and it also just feels so much easier to move around in. I also use it for work. I do, however, usually buy it at discount shops or outlet factories. Even then UA is still quite expensive.

Last year, I purchased an Olympus Stylus Tough 6000. It was $275. For a point and shoot camera, people found that pretty ridiculous. You can buy decent point and shoots for $120-140. I've had many cameras, some of which broke for no reason, some I broke, some that were just way too outdated. Because I broke my camera before my Olympus I was looking for something way more suited for my lifestyle. I got out alot, I'm always outside, I go swimming/beach alot. I needed something that could survive all that. This camera is waterproof, shockproof so it can be dropped, and freezeproof. It may have cost me a bundle but it was well worth it. I never worry about dropping it, I'm always swimming with it. I take it everywhere with no problems, even in the snow! It's a little out there though. It's pretty beat up but it works great still. I'm looking into buying the new updated one for $250 with much better features, but of course I'll always love my first one!

[Karen]

Maple syrup - Mrs Butterworth's

Just a point of correction, Pomtzu! There is no actual maple syrup in Mrs. Butterworth's! It is primarily corn syrup, with molasses and other stuff, but no maple!

Thankfully, I am not allergic to maple syrup, so I can still have the real stuff. (I'm allergic to corn/corn syrup so now have to be picker than ever.)

[krazyaboutkatz]

Regarding peanut butter. I still eat PB&J sandwiches almost every day. The peanut butter has to be Jif extra crunchy and I prefer the jelly to be red raspberry. I've been bringing my lunch to work for quite a while now to help save money instead of eating out all of the time. PB&J on wheat bread, a protein bar, and an apple help to get me through the day at work. I grew up eating Jif extra crunchy with only grape jelly. Now I can't stand grape jelly. I also ate some Fluffernutter sandwiches(Fluff (marshmallow cream) with peanutbutter). They were pretty good too.

[Randi]

Well, I had my last hamburger in CA at Christmas, on that I had ketchup and it was good. Don made it for me. However, I also had a yummy hamburger in Spain many years ago, with only a slice of raw onion, green salad and a slice of tomato.

French fries I don't eat, but it seems that most people love them. I prefer normal boiled potatoes, oven baked or mash. I also noticed that Americans use syrup a lot, while over here, we use honey. When you refer to jelly, is that what we call marmelade/jam?

One thing I miss here, is a good cereal - like Jordan's Country Crisp with 4 nuts. Also Shreddies (little square ones).

[Karen]

When you refer to jelly, is that what we call marmelade/jam?

Jelly is usually clear - it gets strained (through cheesecloth when we made it at home) so there is no pulp or seeds, whereas jam or marmalade has pieces of the actual fruit in them, and rinds for the marmalade.

[krazyaboutkatz]

Jelly is usually clear - it gets strained (through cheesecloth when we made it at home) so there is no pulp or seeds, whereas jam or marmalade has pieces of the actual fruit in them, and rinds for the marmalade.

The jelly that I currently use and love is called Red Raspberry Preserves and it still has the seeds in it which I don't mind at all. I buy it at Smart & Final and the brand is First Street. I bought 2 more jars today and it just happened to be on sale.

[K9karen]

Randi, I LOVE honey! I buy the expensive all natural. I love it on plain yogurt with fresh fruit (and a few walnuts). I use it in tea and even cooking. Thanks for the reminder...

[finn's mom]

Red licorice! I will only eat the Australian red, Kookaburra brand. I use to eat Twizzlers and Red Vines, but after I tried the Kookaburra, forget it. I'll never eat that cheap stuff again.

[pomtzu]

Red licorice! I will only eat the Australian red, Kookaburra brand. I use to eat Twizzlers and Red Vines, but after I tried the Kookaburra, forget it. I'll never eat that cheap stuff again.

I'm sitting here with a bag of strawberry Twizzlers on my desk. I'm addicted to them. They make some other different flavors now too, but I'm not crazy about them. Where do you find the Kookaburra brand? - I never heard of it.