Food Friday

Considering we didn't have anything in our fridge until Wednesday, I would still say we ate pretty well this week. When I wasn't cooking, we had the world's greasiest cheesiest pizza, as well as my favorite, clam chowder in a bread bowl from McMenamin's.

Wednesday I ventured out by myself for the first time and acquainted myself with our local Grocery Outlet and Dollar Tree (conveniently located next to each other). Now let me tell you a little about my new home. It's a resort town/retirement community, geared toward the vacationing and the vacationing permanently. Now brace yourself: there is no Walmart, Target, Costco or even a K-mart. There's something called a Bi-Mart but I have not been brave enough to visit it a second time. I'm stuck in retail HELL. We do, however, have a Safeway, aka the most ridiculously over priced grocery store known to man. And I felt every bit it's hoighty toighty dollar inflating punch. Part of it is my fault for not being overly prepared to grocery shop (no coupons, no looking at sales flyers, no sugar-free Red Bull in hand). The other part is Safeway's desire to suck the soul of its shoppers.

I did manage to make it a decent shopping trip, only forgetting 3 items (actually by that point, I had comethisclose to throwing myself on the floor toddler style, so I decided to say screw it and check out) and am thankful we at least have a Safeway card. One of the 3 items I didn't pick up was ground turkey but only because I had no desire to throw down my first born right then and there. The chicken was frozen, so we went meatless and I whipped out minestrone soup. 30 minutes and you have a great meal that is perfect for Oregon evenings (even better when you have a soup ladle, which after 2 years of marriage and countless pots of soup, I finally remembered to buy...yesterday).

Yesterday, I was feeling kind of lazy, so the crockpot made it's first appearance in our new home and I made a chicken with stuffing casserole. When using premade ingredients like the canned soup and boxed stuffing this recipe calls for, keep in mind the ginormous amount of sodium they usually have in them. I took a bite of stuffing and almost had to spit it out, it was so salty. I think recipes like this are fine occasionally, but I prefer to control the spices I put into my food.

Tonight will probably be pizza. If I make it to the Land of Fire and Gnashing of Teeth (Safeway), I'll pick up a rotisserie chicken and I'm thinking chicken pizza. If not, heart attack inducing pizza here we come!

Beginnings of minestrone

Chicken with stuffing in the crockpot

Don't Be Bitter Debra...

I am cranky. Very very cranky. It may have something to do with the fact that it's almost July in Redding, where it averages triple digit heat, and our a/c is broken. Or it may that I haven't run in a while. Maybe it's because I can't eat this everyday for the rest of my life.

Clam Chowder from McMenamin's in Lincoln City, OR

Or maybe, just maybe, it's because I spent the best weekend ever with Husband and now we're apart again. We saw the Kite Festival, walked on the beach, went to an Aaron Lewis concert and slept in the same bed in the same room in the same city.

And so I am cranky. I feel the urge to snap at people, give them dirty looks and just be a general all around curmudgeon. Oh and it's raining, which is kind of good because it keeps everything cooler but annoying in the fact that the girls treat rain like I'm pouring hot acid on their bodies and refuse to stay outside long enough to poop but instead leave me treasures by the front door. Effing rain.

P.S. Can anyone name the movie the title of the post came from??