Brand shopping habits and you

I think Deni describes my point best.

Originally Posted by Denicalis

I tend to cook from scratch, so I do this more with fresh ingredients, but the point still stands. You experiment until you find something that does what you want it to do.

There's two brands I will be adamant about sticking to: Kikkoman for soysauce, Best Foods for Mayonnaise. These two are the ONLY brands and only food products I'll harp on, only because I grew up on these being the only possible brads for these two condiments and I cannot compromise the taste of either.

Canned vegetables and dairy I tend to get whatever is cheapest (except eggs...I tend to splurge on the most expensive, organic, range-free hen eggs I can get my hands on since I do eat quite a bit of eggs raw/various degrees of "undercooked").

Other than that, I try to go for organic stuff when I can afford it.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I forgot one category I specifically steer clear from brand-name: Spices.

Aside from salt/pepper, I generally go to the Mexican aisle for my crushed/whole red pepper, oregano, rosemary, sesame seeds, etc. I realized that there's not much that can be added to dried plant particles, and therefore no sense in buying Bay Leaves in the bottle for $4.99 when I can get more of them for 59 cents per plastic baggy and keep re-filling the other plastic bottles I've had.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by RacinReaver

Not that I'm condoning the ridiculous prices that McCormick wants for their spices, but I've definitely found that some generic mexican-aisle stuff is really weak and doesn't flavor nearly as well as good stuff. Going cheap is fine, but you need to be sure that it's still fresh.

I agree, but paying all college expenses on my own has its limits. I'll do fine dining and being prissy with my fancy spices (or cutlery, for that matter) when I have a degree and an actual job. =P

How ya doing, buddy?