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.

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 $3.889, 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.

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.

Portable Chairs for Summer

These Director's chairs are a different animal than the typical portable chairs. For instance, they don't spill a drink every time you get up or sit down and they will hold a plate and other items on their folding side table. This can be especially useful when dodging an errant football while tailgating.

The price is about what I've seen them for elsewhere, but I haven't directly compared the quality of the products. Usually this gives an edge to Costco.

Lunch!

I finally got a chance to stop in for lunch and browse around the store at an off time. The result is a hot dog with deli mustard, ketchup and sauerkraut. They keep sauerkraut behind the counter. I finished off with an ice cream bar dipped in chocolate and almonds. 1200 calories later, I'm done with lunch.

Happy 4th of July America!

I hope everyone enjoys a day off Costco is closed today.

Quick note on gas prices, Costco is at $3.279 and Speedway is at $3.579. An unfair comparison since Costco is closed today, but I thought I would throw it out there.

Lobster Tail Review

The tails were served with mashed potatoes and a corn salad with a shrimp ceviche style soup with avocado to start. The smaller cold water lobster tails (~12-16 oz. instead of the nearly 3 lb. tails) were seasoned with salt and pepper, then baked in the oven. The simple preparation allowed the lobster flavor to come through. We had butter on the table but not many people used it.

The meat was tender and pulled out of the tail carapace easily. This made for large chunks of perfectly cooked lobster meat. The meat wasn't tough or chewy or rubbery flavored which can happen when overcooked. I would say Costco's lobster tail are worth it considering the price. While whole lobster will be cheaper, the front half of the lobster has more shell which accounts for more of the mass which equals less meat per pound.

Costco Gas Price Drops to $3.29/Gallon

Costco's price $3.29/gal
Speedway's price $3.59/gal

After the Costco opening, Speedway dropped their prices by $0.10/gallon. Since then Costco has dropped their prices by $0.04 and Speedway has raised their prices $0.10 back to $3.59.

Another Golfer's Special

I picked up these three Cabretta leather golf gloves for $13.99 this past weekend. Typically I wear a cadet medium due to the shorter fingers and the Kirkland medium gloves fit great. There's a sizing chart on the back of the packaging, but I was still concerned about the length of the fingers. The leather is soft and the Lycra inserts add a bit of flexibility. Overall, I'm very satisfied with the purchase. I'll report back on how long these last.

Costco Remains Very Busy Day After Opening

I didn't expect anything different but the parking lot was seriously full on day two.

Follow Up to Why I look forward to the Costco opening #4

Guys, remember back when I mentioned flowers. Here are my pics of what I was talking about.

Luckily peonies are in season right now. My wife loves peonies. If you don't know your spouse's/significant other's favorite blooms, get a clue.

I have to say the red, white and blue bouquets hit my patriotic side but they may not be the best option for your girl/guy.

After Work Crowd Finds Costco

At 8 am, the parking lot was just getting warmed up. After 5 pm, over 75% of the spaces were filled. Pittsfield Township police were keeping a watchful eye on traffic flow ensuring motorists safely entered and exited the area. Costco was busy.

If you're not already a member, Costco is running new member promotions for executive memberships and Costco American Express card applications.

Samples Everywhere

The most interesting sample so far is diapers.

Here's a list of samples I tried:
-Beef tenderloin, prepared simply with salt and pepper, cooked medium rare. It tastes as good as I remember, which is quite good.
-Cashews, large kernels, some broken but overall good stuff.
-Pizza. Reminds me of hot lunch, which is a good thing!
-Kirkland brand 5 hour energy (see pic). I haven't tried 5 hour energy, but the Kirkland brand pomegranate flavor wasn't bad. It reminds me Asian medicinal tinctures that I like.
-Aidell's chicken apple sausage, tasty.
-Italian cured meats. I should have camped out next to their table.
-rotisserie chicken. Picked a sample with some skin and it was tasty and juicy.
-sausage, alright, didn't see the brand.
-hot dogs, way too salty. It may have been overcooked.
-chocolate covered caramel and pecans. The pecans were very fresh tasting and the caramel was not too sticky or overly sweet.

There were a bunch of other samples that I didn't get to try.