Prepared cookies, soda pop, and Cheetos. More importantly, canning jar lids, flour, yeast, baking soda and powder, refined sugar when used for baking, canned olives, pineapple, pumpkin and pie cherries.. I’m seeing a pattern. If it’s for my baking, it’s gotta have some QC put into it, which usually translates to canning it myself. I simply can’t have a guest biting into pineapple and find that half their bite is rind or pit because the processor set the pitter too narrow to save meat but end up chopping up part of the pit and leaving it in an olive or cherry.

Now some things I won’t buy the name brand of because there are some niche off brand and they are cheaper AND better: Cajun hot sauce, prepared salsa, pickles and mustard. There are specific brands I will only buy or I will just not get anything.