A Victorious Shopping Day

I love coupons. I wish I could frame my grocery store receipt from yesterday--$50 of food for $20. Of course, that was just a special shopping trip to take advantage of Kroger having stuff on sale that I also had coupons for, mostly “backup” meals I can keep in the back of the cupboard or freezer for emergencies. We now have about three months’ worth of cookie dough in the freezer. I also came in under budget for my regular grocery trip--$48! Yes, $48 for a family of three for a week. On the menu for this week is:


Steak with tomatoes and scallions and corn on the cob

Orecchiette with cauliflower, bacon, and breadcrumbs

Tomato-pepper soup with ham and cheese wraps

Grilled pork chops with cucumber dill salad

Asian noodle salad with chicken and cilantro

Grilled chicken Cobb salad

(All recipes from Everyday Food except the pasta, from Serious Eats)

Not bad for fifty bucks—plus stuff for sandwiches for lunches, and the aforementioned bonus coupon trip yielded enough breakfasty items to last at least a couple weeks.

We went thrift shopping in the afternoon. I was on a mission to find a new fall jacket, because I haven't been pleased with what I've seen in stores so far. I found one I really liked, sort of motorcycle style in a khaki color.  It was only after I got it home that I realized I already had the same jacket in black, purchased several years ago from Target.  No wonder I liked it so much!  We also got an owl trick or treat bucket for Georgia and an orange cat alarm clock for Josh (he has an obsession with orange cats). At the next thrift store I found a cute nautical-style striped sweater, Josh bought some video and cassette tapes, and Georgia picked out a book about the human body (I don’t know. It was shaped like a little person. She pulled it off the shelf and looked at it through the entire time at the store and the trip home). They had a vintage bike Josh was begging to get, but he’s already bought two vintage bikes in the last month that haven’t even been ridden yet!

We had the grilled chicken Cobb salad last night. They looked pretty, but ended up tasting quite bitter. I’m not sure what went wrong. Was the romaine lettuce bitter? Did I put too much Dijon in the vinaigrette? Was the bit of sesame oil I put in the vinaigrette bad? Who knows.

Next week I fully expect to completely blow the grocery budget. It’s Josh’s birthday and he’s requested wine braised short ribs. I’m going to use the recipe from Smitten Kitchen, which calls for both red wine and port. I’m a bit nervous about this. I was a vegetarian for a long time, so I feel like a bit of a novice when it comes to cooking meat--especially red meat, which I rarely eat. We’ll also be having a cobbled together recipe for chirquican—a Chilean side dish made of mashed potatoes, pumpkin, bacon, onion, and various vegetables. Josh saw this meal on an episode of No Reservations and insisted that it be his birthday dinner. I’ll let you know how it goes!