Groceries 7/3/13

After coming home from a trip with more food than I brought, I did not need a whole heck of a lot from the store.

I came home with three quart sized bags of Uncle Foodie's Amazing Spaghetti Sauce.  A few times a year, especially when the family gets together in Branson, he makes a large batch of sauce which yields 4 or 5 gallon sized bags of sauce.  We got 4 bags in our freezer to utilize over the week that we were staying.  I wound up bringing 3 of the bags home.  (LUCKY ME!!!)

I had purchased 2 Hawaiian Chicken dinners, 2 Turkey Breast stuffed with artichoke and spinach, and a twin pack of Chicken Piccata.  Never having made Chicken Piccata before, I was unaware of the fact that they are lightly breaded.  It was not until half way through the first chicken breast that I realized this, then it was such a negligible amount of breading, it did not give me any trouble.  Those are the things that I brought with me.

Once in Branson, my sister and I hit the Wal-mart for veggies, kid snacks, cheeses, chicken and burgers, and various other food and sun protection items.  Then, the second day of our trip, a family emergency made my Aunt and Uncle need to leave, and they emptied their refrigerator into ours, giving us multiple salads, cheeses, and some snack items.  It helped extend our food a bit.  Also, on the second day, my favorite brother in law (FAVBIL) got the grills going.  He barbecued chicken thighs, chicken breasts, and hamburger patties.  I had bought a large box of patties at Wal-Mart on sale, and FAVBIL went ahead and cooked them all up, and we used them all week long.  I added them to eggs in the morning, diced them up and tossed them on salads, and fed them to kids for a couple of lunches.  I wound up bringing the Hawaiian Chicken and the Turkey Breasts back home, and they became 4 meals here.

I needed Spaghetti Squash in order to serve some of Uncle Foodie's kick butt Spaghetti Sauce, and that wiped out my stock - necessitating a trip to Harps.  While I was at Harps, I also picked up a few small items.

Mangos  2 for 1.00                                         $ 1.00
Celery                                                             $ 1.69
Spaghetti Squash @ 1.49 per lb 2.46 lbs        $ 3.67
Spaghetti Squash @ 1.49 per lb 2.50 lbs        $ 3.73
Spaghetti Squash @ 1.49 per lb 2.39 lbs        $ 3.56
Spaghetti Squash @ 1.49 per lb 2.64 lbs        $ 3.93
Pecan Halves @ 17.99 per lb  .33 lb              $ 5.94
Tax                                                                 $ 1.06
                                                  TOTAL =   $ 24.58

I also found out a great new way to cook Spaghetti Squash - in the microwave!!!  :-)  Looking on my phone for the pre-heat setting, a microwave way popped up.  I followed the instructions and poked holes in the skin, then cooked it for 12 minutes.  The directions were for 10-12 minutes.  12 minutes made it a bit mushy, so I have been cooking for 10 minutes since then, and have been pleased with the mildly crunchy texture of the squash.

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