Hubby went to the grocery store today. Only had a few itemds on list so it should have been a quick

[napi21]

trip. There were things that were all gone that surprised me. Rice? Yeast? Tonic water? What the heck! He got eggs & milk that were sold out last week, but now most everything was "limit 2 or an items you buy. He asked the mgr. about the rice & was told "It's gone right after we restock it!" I thought by this time anyone who was going to stock up on stuff already had what they wanted and the shelves would be back to normal, but I'm wrong again. Fortunately I have some instant rice I can use and the rest of the stuff will just have to stay on the list for another week.

[mcar]

1. I've been trying to get flour and yeast for 2 weeks

Sorry, but I don't believe that many people can bake their own bread.

Also, no rice, at all. Nor meat, chicken. But plenty of frozen fish, so we're fine.

[mucifer]

2. I have baked bread twice since being home. Yum! But, I only bought

3 yeast packs I got two left

[GulfCoast66]

21. Just save a little of the dough. And mix it into your next batch.

Sometimes bacteria and yeast are your friend. Actually more times than we realize.

[The Blue Flower]

57. Great advice

Many thanks!

[womanofthehills]

30. You can buy sourdough starter online

And then keep it going forever - if you can find or you have flour. I’ve been making bread every week for a few months now. I only have 15 lbs of flour left though and the I might be screwed.

[getagrip_already]

51. You can make your own easily...

Yeast is naturally occurring on flour itself, as well as in the air. All you have to do is culture it.

Get 2 Tbs of whole wheat four, or at least a flour that hasn't been bleached. Add 2 Tbs of water, and let it sit out until the next day. Repeat. When you get to a cup or so, throw half out and add 1/4 cup flour and water each day, throwing out a 1/4 cup of starter.

When it gets bubbly, let the volume of starter climb to about 2 cups, and hold it there (again, adding 1/4 flour-water and throwing out a 1/4 cup starter every day).

It will get progressively more active. After about a week to 10 days you should be able to use it for baking. But it will require more rising time than sore bought yeast.

Lots of youtubes out on it. Enjoy.

[Flaleftist]

5. Some bakeries will sell ingredients directlly. Lookup local bakeries in your area and ask.

You can also ask your store when they expect the trucks that might deliver the items you want and show up a while later after they have had time to offload the truck and stock the shelves.

[procon]

8. EBay has hundreds of sellers peddling yeast at

10x and higher than the store bought price for the strip of 3 packets.

These are greedy profiteers, price gouging consumers after they bought up the supply.

[Mariana]

15. I can't find yeast either. I do have flour.

So, I'm growing a sourdough starter with wild yeast. It's coming along nicely, should be ready to use in another two or three days.

[Arkansas Granny]

23. I've made loaf bread, hot rolls and 2 kinds of focaccia. Daughter found some yeast snd

whole wheat flour a couple days ago so we can make some more.

We love to cook and bake, but often don't have much time to do it. We've been cooking like fools the last couple of weeks.

We're baking cookies tomorrow to deliver to friends and family. We'll leave a package on the porch and then text them to go get it.

[Bluepinky]

26. That's really sweet!

[SpaceNeedle]

24. When people are locked down they tend to bake cakes and cookies and brownies a lot

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

27. Cakes, cookies, and brownies don't require yeast.

[Laffy Kat]

32. Try a local bakery.

In our town, one of our bakeries that is only selling curbside now is also selling staples in bulk. People having trouble finding flour or sugar can buy it there by weight. It's worth a try.

[mcar]

56. Unfortunately, we don't have any local bakeries

But that's a good idea, nonetheless.

[BumRushDaShow]

45. Since I had been using yeast quite a bit over the past couple years

I still had an unopened 1lb brick of SAF Gold in the freezer that I pulled out a couple days ago (only had a little left in my fridge jar so it was time anyway) - and ended up dishing out some for my sis who wanted to bake some bread and a sweet loaf and saw ridiculous eBay prices of $12 or more for 4oz. I had paid $6.95 from KA for the 1lb brick (and the Gold normally costs more anyway).

I made a loaf of sandwich rye a couple days ago (finally sliced it to freeze and kept some slices out to make some Reubens).

Luckily too, I'm a rice person (literally have it almost every week) so have tons of all kinds (from black/red/brown/golden to the jasmines, basmatis, and Thai glutinous rices)... but did grab the last bag left on the shelf (parboiled golden) a few weeks ago since I heard there was a run on rice.

[Flaleftist]

3. Maybe the hoarders are still at it, making multiple trips and hoping from store to store.

[Throck]

55. Factories, trucking, store stocking all are down people.

Basically logistics are screwed up in addition to the hoarding. Although I see lots less hoarding out there. I think the problem is more logistics than hoarding now.

[procon]

4. You copied my shopping list!

"Rice? Yeast? Tonic water?" Yeah, I've been looking for those same things for a month now with no luck at all. Tonic water... Who knew, right? LOL

[napi21]

6. Yea! I thought most people feel the same as my son who says "that tastes like medicine mom!" n/t

[tblue37]

11. They think it's enough quinine to cure cv-19. They're wrong. nt

[procon]

16. Really? I use it to thin some fruit juices that are

just too sweet for my tastes. Also works to settle my upset tummy.

[Crunchy Frog]

39. Gin and tonic was originally a malaria cure. n/t

[procon]

40. Whew... Good to know I'm well stocked with the cure

just in case I might feel a touch of malaria coming on around the cocktail hour this evening.

[Laffy Kat]

33. Gasp! I bet you're right! It's the quinine they're after.

That did not occur to me until now.

[Ms. Toad]

7. For rice -

Try the Asian foods section. Sometimes it's a bit pricey, but they usually have it even when it is out on the US food shelves.

[Demovictory9]

9. yes. yeast has been snapped on. Public radio today had segment on how to make your own yeast with

flour and water

[napi21]

25. That's sour dough starter. I've made it a num,ber of times. n/t

[Demovictory9]

35. they started talking about the lack of yeast, then the guy gave a recipe for sour dough starter

you are right.

[BigmanPigman]

10. There is no rhyme or reason for what is in stock

around here. One week no pasta, cereal, or meat and chicken. Next week meat and chicken is there but cereal but they do have oatmeal now. Someone should make a study of the human mind and what they buy during various emergencies.

[Retrograde]

22. Odd shortages here as well

Plenty of rice last week at the family-run grocery, but no rice vinegar or fish sauce. Potatoes available singly but not in bags. Flour tortillas but no corn ones. Meat, fish, and produce seem to be readily available. Potato chips sold out, but plenty of tortilla chips.

It makes for creative cooking.

[fierywoman]

12. My Redmond WA Costco had yeast (humongous) last week. Try Oriental or Indian stores for rice.

[Phoenix61]

13. First couple days of the month are heavy

shopping days because SNAP and WIC renews. All children are home from school. Lots of them had breakfast and lunch there then a snack at daycare. Now they are all eating at home. It’s going to take a while for the stores to reset their normal stock levels.

[Doreen]

14. Hey, I was able to get cat litter, in fact 2 buckets of litter.

So far, it is always gone.

[LisaM]

17. We have been eating more rice.

It's cheap and versatile, and the leftover rice is really reusable. So far I have made fried rice and rice pudding with the leftovers.

[GemDigger]

18. I have been cheating and buying the frozen bread dough.

Thaw, rise and bake.

[BusyBeingBest]

19. I guess if I'm ever going to have chicken again, I'm going

to have to raise and butcher them myself. WTF happened to all the chicken? I haven't seen any in weeks.

[Generic Brad]

20. We found rice at a Korean grocery last week

We got a tip that they received a delivery in the afternoon. I drove there immediately after logging off work for the day and was fortunate enough to get one of their final 10 bags. This is insane.

[Blue_true]

28. Wow, I have a packet and a half of dry yeast in my kitchen.

If one of my neighbors mentions needing any, I will give it to them. I don't have current plans for making bread.

[cwydro]

49. I have one of those small jars f years because I have a bread machine I like to use sometimes.

Last edited Sat Apr 4, 2020, 12:56 PM - Edit history (1)

However, I’ve not noticed any shortage of bread in the stores so I find all these people suddenly making bread kind of odd.

[Blue_true]

59. Bread was short three weeks ago. But you are right, now the shelves look normal.

Toilet paper is another issue. I have taken to going to Dollar stores for stuff like bleach and toilet paper, because they seem to regularly have both (I obviously am not there all the time, but when I have visited, I see people buying toilet paper). I looked at their TP and don't like it, I found better at Walmart, Publix was still out. I do use the Dollar store bleach because I can't find national brand bleach (which I think is better).

[cwydro]

60. For some reason, tp is one of those things i always buy whenever I go to the store.

So I’m well stocked.

I’ve noticed that some small stores have it even when the big stores don’t. But I’m picky about the kind of tp too, so I hear ya on that.

[riversedge]

29. Rice and beans are fairly cheap and filling. staple diet during rough times

for many people. I worked at at food pantry today. Many bags given out and people asking for rice--and beans they can soak and cook.

[Chellee]

31. You can always use another grain.

Just because you're making a stir fry doesn't mean you can't serve it over farro. And a broccoli barley casserole is just as tasty as a broccoli rice casserole.

[womanofthehills]

34. I ordered online at Walmart today - for pickup

I usually shop at Whole Foods but did not want to go into a large store). I could only order 2 of lots of items - almost all the varieties of cat food - only 2 of each, kombucha tea only 2 per flavor, etc for most items. I ordered $165 worth of food but when it totaled up at end - $30 was deducted for food I ordered that they didn’t have. They have no white flour even listed on their web page. I had to wait 2 days to get on schedule to pickup my food which I do tomorrow.

[Jane Austin]

36. If you use a lot of tonic water or other seltzers,

You might find it helpful to buy a Soda Stream or other fizzy maker.

I got one for Christmas and I am really glad I did.

My go-to drink is seltzer water and grapefruit juice in a ratio of about 3::1.

It's delicious and I would really hate to run out of seltzer.

My son even gave me some Diet Dr. Pepper syrup to mix with it when I feel like indulging my favorite vice.

[ribrepin]

37. I love mixing Seltzer water and Cranberry-grape juice

It settles my stomach. I thought I was the only one.

[beachbumbob]

38. the real fear is setting in as people prepare for extended period of time of isolation

no way do we have enough food in the "system" to accomplish this

[a la izquierda]

41. Tonic was almost out when I shopped last week

But usually it’s just the off brand bottles. I’m a snob and like Fever Tree. A gin and tonic is a delight after a day of zoom meetings, existential dread, chatting with a stressed out partner on another continent, and preparing to quit my job to go to law school 🤣🤣🤣

[SoCalDem]

42. People are cooking now

I've always cooked, but for many, it's a new experience and with the whole family there all the time, they probably didn't have ingredients on hand already.

Bear in mind too that supermarkets are probably busier than they have been in a while.

Box mixes and frozen dinners are ok for fill in meals, but it's a LOT cheaper to scratch cook..

Everybody's got the time now

[ProfessorGAC]

43. Tonic Water

The run on this is based upon unfounded internet "science" that the quinine in there is a curative for CV.
That is not normally a high sales volume item, but the trumpets have heard "...quine" from their leader & the internet went nuts.
This disease isn't malaria!

[Vinca]

44. I went yesterday, too, and there were no paper products period and few cleaning supplies.

Thankfully, cat food was back, but no litter. Some canned foods were back, but bags of coffee are almost nonexistent. To the store's credit, the fresh fruit and veg was excellent and the meat cases were filled again. I'm going to take a fast run through the place early in the week to see if any of the things I needed are back in stock. I have yet to take advantage of "senior hours," so I suppose I could try to get up earlier and do that, but I figure getting proper rest is as important as anything else.

[mercuryblues]

46. restaurants

are buying it. They are not getting their deliveries either, so they are hitting up the stores and buying out stock.

[muriel_volestrangler]

48. Huh? Restaurants that have no custom are busy buying a product they can't use?

Pretty stupid restaurants.

[madville]

50. The restaurants are doing good business from what I have seen here in Florida

All have converted to take-out only operations and/or drive thru only. Fast food places have lines of cars around the building and now hiring signs everywhere, more traditional restaurants are all signing up for delivery services like door dash, uber eats, etc if they weren't already and delivery drivers are in high demand.

[mercuryblues]

54. They are still doing curb-side pick up &deliveries where I live

If you have an Oriental or Mexican restaurant that uses a lot of rice they will buy out stock if their delivery has not been made. Placing limits on how much you can buy would help keep it in stock.

The same with bakeries, they will buy out the flour and other baking needs, sure they are scaling down on their output because demand is lower. Where I live there has only been about a 30% decrease in restaurant sales. Very few have completely closed.

[muriel_volestrangler]

47. On Wednesday, I could get everything on my list except - printing paper

The supermarket has a stationery section, and I needed some more (I have about 3 weeks more at the standard rate I use it for work, which is normally from home). All gone. The printing supplies shop on the way back from the supermarket was shut, so I'm counting on the post office when I next go shopping. Or go online for it; I suppose that's still getting delivered. Postage on a heavyish product will be more than I'd like, though.

Too many people printing off shit at home they don't need to.

[Throck]

52. It's been going in waves.

Aldi has been going in waves, hit and miss. Lots of fresh food options. Meat in cases this week. No potatoes last week but onions, tons of potatoes this week no onions.

Stores have been placing limits on purchases finally.

As kids, mom planned menu on weekly specials. We're eating healthy here based on fresh food in stock. Nothing wrong with cabbage and pineapple?

My dad taught us how to adapt and adjust to materials on hand to keep going. (US Army; Korea). He and mom taught me how to cook. He hated C-ration canned goods so we ate fresh as often as possible. During plant layoffs we ate meatless as needed. We were vegetarians before it was mainstream those weeks. My dad was a kid, WWII and grew up with rationing.

In the end we all survived the 60s, 70s, 80s. A little different now. We'll get through this.

And my parents never thought I paid attention.

[aikoaiko]

58. Try arriving 30 min before stores open on Tues - Fri.

It seems like the best restocking happens the nights before those days and there is a little bit everything that is typically sold out later in the day.



Or maybe I've just been lucky. I dunno.