The texture in your stir fries is kinda mushy and honestly that's just the price you pay for cheap veggies, literally. I did the same swap last winter and my fried rice turned into sad green mush, so now I only use frozen for soups and curries where nobody can tell. The $18 a week is real money though, so maybe split the difference and keep fresh for stir fry nights.

Honestly, is this really a big deal? A card reader instead of a coin machine is just how everything works now. I get that it feels weird if you've been going there for years and the clunky old machine was part of the routine, but you can't expect a business to keep hauling coins around forever. The real question is whether the thing actually works and doesn't eat your money, because that's what would bug me. If it takes your card and gives you a card, what's the problem?