On the Cheap

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Windlord on June 8, 2012 at 2:38pm

Your best bet is Kodiak, but you already know about that.

Besides that, various Food City's often offer a discount box of overripe nans for $2-4.

Leelee's Asian Mkt (there's one at 75th and Cactus) also sometimes have scratch n dent produce + some good mangos and durians. 

The best durian price is at the Chinese Cultural Center right in the center of town. 

But when it comes to local produce, get to know the farmers.  Over time you'll build relationships that may result in significant discounts.  Stella of Horny Toad Farms is the queen of produce IMO in the Valley.  She cuts a fair deal, and her munch is prime.

Permalink Reply by Vincent Franzen on June 9, 2012 at 12:11pm

I have a food city near me I will have to try that! Which durrians do you buy? Obviously I can't afford one now, but in the future I may need one!

Good call on the food city. Scored a box of conventional bananas for $3 bucks.

Permalink Reply by Windlord on June 10, 2012 at 4:08pm

Nice find.

I'm not sure what you mean by "which" durians.  At the cultural center (at 44th st just south of the freeway north of the airport) they're frozen whole.  The variety is Mornthong and just 1.69 # as of a few months ago; best price in town I believe. 

Permalink Reply by Vincent Franzen on June 11, 2012 at 12:48am

You answered my question. I wasn't sure if you bought frozen or prepackaged. How long does it typically take for a full durian to thaw?

Permalink Reply by Windlord on June 11, 2012 at 3:36pm

I'd say within half a day on the counter or a few hours in water.  In the fridge, it should be fine within a day, day and a half.  You can tell because it gets a little squeezeable. 

Permalink Reply by Tasha Frost on June 10, 2012 at 9:45am

I just joined a co-op called bountiful baskets. They have produce baskets every week, for a conventional basket its only $15 and for organic its $25. I got the organic basket and ended up with about 8 nectarines, honeydew melon, a big bag of red grapes, bananas, swiss chard, kale, mixed heirloom lettuce, spinach, carrots, onions, and potatoes. If there's something you don't want, you can always trade it to someone who does. In my case, I traded the potatoes and the onions. The baskets are different every week and it seems like you get a bit more for conventional, but I'd still prefer organic. The conventional baskets were loaded with some things I didn't get like pineapple and celery. I've never been to Kodiak before but I keep hearing about it on here so I think I'm going to take the drive as soon as I run out of all this produce I got today at the co-op and farmers market. 

I'm tempted to shop at food city just because of their amazing prices, but I just can't do it because I've done so much research on conventional farming techniques and the chemicals they use on the produce and it scares the s*** out of me. 

Permalink Reply by Vincent Franzen on June 10, 2012 at 11:57am

Bountiful baskets gets their produce from Kodiak. I have seen boxes from bountiful baskets there for sale. Kodiak is awesome if you can go. The prices are super cheap (cheapest you will find), but it is hit or miss on whats there. I was going regularly at 7am on Mondays and the selection seemed ok, but not amazing. Then one day I was late getting there and showed up around noon. They had tons of produce everywhere and more organic then they normally do. Judging by this I would say go later then earlier. Winlord seems to know more about Kodiak. If you are interested in splitting some of the stuff from Kodiak, I would be interested (sometimes it's hard to power through a whole box of yellow squash before it turns).

The food city bananas I got taste like s***, but at $3 dollars for 40lbs and $30 some dollars to my name for the week, it will have to do. 

Permalink Reply by Tasha Frost on June 10, 2012 at 2:23pm

Yeah I've been wanting to go down there but its a bit of a drive for me. Bountiful baskets delivers baskets to a park right next to my place so its a little more convenient, but I'd like to have the option of choosing what I get. I would definitely be interested in splitting stuff too! 

Permalink Reply by Vincent Franzen on June 11, 2012 at 12:47am

Sweet!