22 Foxhole East

Bargainhunter30

I order sometimes with Asda. Any substitutions I dont like, then I ask for a refund (and usually get to keep if the driver has already gone). Refunds are normally done straightaway, no questions asked.

badmemory

I know what you mean about home deliveries.  I too am worried about what substitutions they make, some seem to be totally bananas.  I worry about how you find out quickly enough what the subs are & really dislike the bit about having to tell someone it won't do.  I guess it may not be too many years before I have to bite the bullet, I'm mid 70s now so another 10 & I suspect that will be enough.  I have my suspicions that I may be a control freak!

Bargainhunter30

With Asda they send an email before delivery so you can just hand them straight back to driver. If I dont have time to look, then I just pop online and click a button to request a refund. That's it, nice and simple!

f0xh0les

Yeah, but swapping out tofurkey for turkey would still leave me with food I neither eat nor want........and a corpse.  There would be questions asked.    Too many vegan horror stories start with 'This week's substitutions include ...... ' and end with ' how best to get rid of a dead _______'.

The plum and walnut soda bread is  gorgeous.  Why do I not make soda bread more often? I love it, the kids love it, it literally takes 2 minutes to bring together and 45 minutes in the oven (or 8 minutes in a frying pan if making farls).  It tastes better than shop bought bread. I may  have started a new habit for 2021 .  The walnuts in it are utterly gorgous.  I need to do this more.

twinklie

I'll be honest, we've been getting deliveries from Tesco since March 2020 and I've not had one dodgy substitution at all. We did try home deliveries a good few years ago and it was horrific. But the foods all be good since we started this time. The substitutions we've had have been like for like but perhaps instead of a 4 pint of milk, 2 two pints etc. Although to be honest we usually get milk from the milkman. 

VintageHistorian

You can also select which items you don't want substitutes on (at least, you can with Tesco and Waitrose). So with the meat replacement foods you could simply untick to show you won't accept a substitute item, and then at least you won't end up with meat instead. Then you can just keep subs on things like veggies, toiletries etc. Or do one big shop at the beginning of the month for longlife or heavy items, and at least the trips you do make can be shorter.

I've been doing food deliveries since October, and while I don't order vegetarian/vegan/free-from foods, I have found substitutions to be sensible, and few and far between! I've had apple juice swapped for orange juice and vice versa once or twice. The biggest food crime we had was getting mushroom rice as a substitute for pilau, my husband hates mushrooms and it was for his dinner!

f0xh0les

I don't think it would  stop me from having to be in the supermarket aisle once a week, so I will stick with my death-defying 7pm trip tonight.  It is funny what meat-free stuff they run out of and how often. If I put no subs, and then ended up with no schnitzel/ sausages, then I would have to go in anyway, or my meal plans will be scuppered.  I have lost count of the amount of times I have had to point the 'delivery crew' toward the vegan chocolate cake in the bakery aisle, because I have heard them say they will just say it is out of stock as they could not find it.   Look, there, on the shelf!  Oh, I have clicked the button .  Poor vegan gets no cake now  - cue the laughing.

Just had my monthly energy bill, £130 !!  Might not sound much but from May I barely scrape over £40 so it is a huge shock for me!  Oh well,  at least I have the money.

I am off to work in a minute,  nobody else is up.  Happy Monday everyone, please stay safe,  I am now avoiding the parks as they are actually busier than my late night shopping trip.  

Baileys_Babe

Morning @foxholes enjoy your day at work.
I too have continued going to the supermarket throughout 2020 and will continue to do so. This is for many reasons including we prefer to shop at Aldi for both the price and range, I make a lot of the decisions in the shop ie milk my list might say 4 x 4 pints full-fat milk but if the best before date is shorter than a week I will adjust the quantity. When buying fruit and vegetables we care where it comes from and how it is grown so we have made various decisions ie we don't buy apples not grown in Europe. If there are no apples in stock that are grown in Europe I choose an alternative on the hoof, if we bought online we would still get apples as they have apples in stock. 

OH has been working full time from home since Mid March 2020, I have been doing all the shopping, as usual. Mid December OH had to post a letter, he decided to go to the postbox which is close to a supermarket as it has a late collection. Dd asked him to pop into the shop to get something that that store sells but Aldi doesn't, his reply was it was not safe enough for him to go into the shop - I was livid that it is okay for me to go shopping weekly but it isn't safe for him to go once. Also if it is so unsafe why hasn't he suggested an alternative and debriefed me after each trip? He ended up going into the shop as he didn't have a convincing argument why he shouldn't.

f0xh0les

Well I spent £62 in the supermarket last night. The freezer is rammed.  Lots of ys veg, lots of ys meatless products, lots of store cupboard bits. Should not need to set foot in a shop until we run out of milk again.  Happy me.

Supper is caulflower  and broccoli cheese,  soup of the day was miso noodle - thick udon noodles for 5 of us Skinny noodles for the dissenter.  There is always one! 

As this is the first proper whole week of timed tests, exams, and lessons, I have only found out today that DS1s lunchtime ends as DS2s lunchtime starts, so I will be without one for lunch most days.  Annoying!  But soup is easily warmupable so not a disaster. In fact it is the best thing to have at lunchtime if they need it at different times.  Serendipity.

I threw the rest of the weekly budget at the cc bill.  That way I cannot spend it now.  There is ice cream,  veg, beef style strips, chickn style pieces, kebab style shred, bacon style pieces, sausages, mock chickn burgers, all sorts in the freezer.  Far too much food for one week anyway, with soups for lunch, and I bought lots of wraps and ys loaves of bread and salad and pastry (13p shortcrust was coming home with me!).

DH has still not left the house this year.   I am bored to death with nagging DS4 who is totally slapdash with his work.  I may have to invest in a pair of velcro trousers for him to keep him at the table doing the work  - today we have tried letting him work in his room and honestly, the result is a total dog's dinner of a mess.   I have made chocolate nut splats with the last of the gifted Xmas chocolate and some dried sultanas and cranberries.  

Tomorrow I might make scones, more walnut soda bread, tomato and red lentil soup (with the last litre of tomato juice) and some kind of garlicky peppers and mushrooms and shred with salads and wraps for tea.

Now, after having had to  listen to the absolute worst most annoying witch  who is supposed to be inspiring children to write - Mrs Considine?  Have you heard of her? Oh my giddy aunt,I am  nearly in a killing frenzy.  Can't  cope with 'primary school teacher voice' after 6pm. For more than an hour??  Flippin' eck.  That  is how much I love my kids.    phew.

kerri_gt

Mabye duct tape DS4 to the chair? Seems to work well in kidnap movies