Spicy Ahi Poke Makes Its Way To Ann Arbor

Found ahi and albacore poke today at Costco. I haven't seen it in store since I had it on the big island of Hawaii. Mmmmm!

Premium Gas Under $2/Gallon!

Gas prices at Costco today. 

$1.699/gallon for regular

$1.979/gallon for premium

12/30 Gas Prices

Check out these gas prices at Costco! $1.869 for regular and $2.169 for Premium. 

Pumpkins for Procrastinators

If you've waited this long and still need a pumpkin, Costco has them for $5.49 each. 

State St. and Ellsworth Rd. Roundabout Open, World Keeps Spinning

The roundabout at State St. and Ellsworth Rd. has been open for the last few weeks and it really helps keep traffic moving. If you want to see how Darth Vader would say roundabout, check out this YouTube video from the GPS company TomTom.

My Allergies Don't Take the Winter Off

I'm always checking prices on allergy medicine and thought the price below had to be a typo. The price for a 365 pill (year supply) of Cetirizine, generic Zyrtec, is $14.99. That works out to $0.04 per pill! The generics at other retailers usually comes out to ~$0.30/pill and brand name Zyrtec is usually ~$0.40/pill. If you're really into the brand name, Costco's price at the time was around $0.30/pill or around what other retailers charge for their generic. The added benefit on top of the great price is the convenience of purchasing one bottle for the year. Most other retailers offer bottles with less than 30 doses. For what?!

 Note: these prices may have changed since I took the picture.

Craft Beer and BBQ Brisket Sandwich

It's good to see some more variety in the beer section at Costco. There's an expanded beer section in addition to this new Craft Beer display made up mostly of 750 mL bottles (1 pt. 9.4 oz.). Many of the brands you'd expect are represented as well as smaller breweries. Brands include Dogfish Head, Stone, Rogue, Sam Adams, Goose Island, Ommegang, Sierra Nevada, Unibroue, Chimay and others. 

In this post of new additions, the food court introduced a BBQ Beef Brisket Sandwich with coleslaw. I tried it today and thought it was pretty good. Overall, it was a bit sweet for my taste, but a good way to get a BBQ fix anyway. The construction is pretty neat as they use a paper ring to keep all the stuff inside the sandwich. 

A Favorite Quick Lunch Idea - CP Shrimp Wonton Soup with Noodles

I need a quick lunch from time to time and this is one of my "go to" meals. This is a CP Shrimp Wonton Soup with Noodles bowl from Costco. As is, it's a pretty solid frozen meal with 275 calories. Like most prepared soups, it is a little high in sodium so don't eat them at every meal. I like to dress this up a bit by throwing in frozen kale before it goes into the microwave. This provides some color and crunch to go along with the soft noodles and wontons, not to mention the benefits of fiber, vitamins and potassium. Be sure to add 30 seconds on the microwave if you add frozen kale. After pulling the bowl out of the microwave, I'll either add some hot chili sauce or Sriracha hot sauce to give it a little kick. All told, this lunch is under 300 calories which leaves room for something sweet. Enjoy!

Gotta have Sriracha

Roundabout Construction Planned for June

It's been awhile since my last post so I wanted to kick things off again on the right foot.

I've posted before about roundabouts, in particular the one planned for the State St. and Ellsworth Rd. intersection that will start this June at a cost of $2.3M. The story was posted in AnnArbor.com. 

Image Courtesy Washtenaw County Road Commission

I really don't recommend trying this in the new roundabout ;)

Food Gatherers benefits from Costco Ann Arbor

Food Gatherers Food Rescue program has benefited from Costco's Ann Arbor store. With the amount of food rescued/donated from Costco, Food Gatherers are able to provide an additional day of service, now 7 days a week, to those in need.

Food Gatherers serves as the food rescue and food bank for Washtenaw County. They offer mostly free and low cost food to those in need in addition to serving meals through their Community Kitchen at the Delonis Center in Downtown Ann Arbor. Over 70% of the work is done by volunteers. There's so much more to say about Food Gatherers but if you want more information, check out their website.

Costco Regular Gas $3.859, 8/29/12

Speedway down the street is $4.099

Costco Regular Gas $3.889, 8/16/12

Gas prices are spiking due to all sorts of reasons that should not affect our regional refinery model but such is life tied to petroleum.

Calbee Snapea Crisps

I love these simple snacks and so do toddlers. I'm not sure what that says about me but whatever.

2 - 9 oz. bags for $6.49

Are You Ready for Winter?

Costco is. Women's gloves with touch screen finger tip. These gloves have a similar feature to The North Face E-tip which allow the use of touchscreen devices without having to take off gloves when it's cold outside.

Children's Halloween Costumes

$12.99-$18.99

They have Disney characters which fall on the high end of the price spectrum.

Tomato Plants, Tomatoes and Hornworms

I found a few hornworms on my tomato plants. These are nasty little pests that will strip tomato plants clean in a matter of days. The best way to get rid of them is to pick them off the plant and dispose of them.

Picking the hornworms off the plants reminded me of the plants I saw at Costco this spring. They were very large planters, probably around 6 or 7 inch. They would have been ready a bit earlier than the 4 and 5 inch planters that I started with this year.

So far the crop has been pretty good. The plants are sucking down enough water that I have to fill the earthboxes twice a day.

Here's a picture of a small hornworm, about the size of a pencil. Larger worms get to be the size of a persons little finger or larger.

A Little Love for My Dog

After eating lunch at Costco, polish sausage and a drink, I picked up dog food. The 50 pound bag of Iams large breed was $39.99.

While looking around I came across the Jerky Treats advertised in the mail piece. It is a BOGO offer, no coupon needed. This comes out to 7 pounds (2 x 3.5 lbs containers) of dog treats for $9.99. Since I tear these up into smaller pieces, this should last into next year. It's a good thing the expiration date on the treats is in 2013.

Gas Price Comparison

Costco $3.449

Citgo @ State St & I-94 $3.699

July 21 Gas Price Update

Costco Regular Unleaded $3.409

Speedway Regular Unleaded $3.409

Costco's Least Controversial Product?

Who doesn't like a 53" stuffed bear? Maybe some parents when their kids are crying for one.