What we ate + grocery shopping 08-01-14

This is the salad we had for dinner. For the dressing I whisked together the juice of two limes, 1 T honey, 2 T peanut butter, 1 t chili garlic sauce, and 1/2 t cayenne pepper. I dipped the chicken into beaten egg, and dredged it in a mixture of breadcrumbs, parmesan, black pepper, and cayenne pepper. I then baked it for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. 

I also went to Menchie's during my lunch break. Unfortunately I missed the happy hour pricing by 10 minutes. 


Breakfast: banana bread
Lunch: peanut butter and honey sandwich, banana
Dinner: salad with crispy baked chicken, radishes, black beans, cheese, and spicy peanut lime dressing
Snacks/desserts: lemon meringue frozen yogurt with gummy bears, Butterfinger ice cream
Beverages: A&W Ten with half and half, water

Jeremy ate leftover chicken, rice, and veggies with cheese sauce for lunch.

We went to QFC after dinner and got:

Dreyer's Butterfinger Ice Cream $2.50
bag of frozen mixed berries $2.49
2 Lean Cuisines ($2.00 each) $4.00
28 oz jar of light mayo $2.99
18 oz jar of crunchy peanut butter $1.49
Salsa flavored Wheat Thins $1.49
Powerbar wafers (Free Friday download) $0.00
8 oz. shredded cheese $1.99
2 lb bag of carrots $1.29
1 head of cabbage $2.08
3 limes (reduced for quick sale) $.99
2 Anaheim chilis $.78
1 jalapeno pepper $.16
2.21 lbs celery $2.19
Multigrain bread $2.50
bunch of spinach $1.79
4 nectarines $2.64
4 boxes of protein bars ($1.00 each) $4.00

total: $35.37

But we used a QFC gift card which we bought for 3% off the face value, so the actual total spent was $34.31

More grocery shopping + what we ate 07-06-14

I went back to QFC and got 6 more 12 oz boxes of pasta for $.49 each. That, plus what I already have, should last us 3 or 4 months. Maybe more.

We also went to Grocery Outlet today and bought:

3 frozen entrees ($1.99 each) $5.97
8 oz shredded pepper jack cheese $1.99
3.7 lb variety pack of deli meat $3.99
8 oz. chipotle chicken deli meat $1.99
8 oz. Cajun turkey deli meat $1.99
12 oz. plum preserves $1.69
dijon mustard $1.29
Wolfgang Puck four cheese pasta sauce $1.99
butter toffee Rice Krispie treat $.50
20 oz. Diet Dr. Pepper $1.09
24 oz ketchup $.99

Total $23.48

Jeremy also bought a Rock Star this morning. He's not sure how much. We'll call it $2.50.

Here's yesterday's food I ate:

Breakfast: French toast with strawberries and a banana
Lunch: turkey and havarti sandwich on a King's Hawaiian bun, cherries
Dinner: burritos with baked whiting, cabbage, and a tangy cayenne lime sauce
Snacks/desserts: cinnamon roll ice cream, cashews, M&M's cookie (my coworker gave me)
Beverages: Crystal Light, water

I don't even remember what Jeremy had yesterday other than dinner.

I'm not sure how I feel about the whiting fish. I squeezed a lime over it, sprinkled chili powder, wrapped it in foil and baked it. The filets have the skin on, and even though I removed the skin after baking it, the flavor was kind of briny. I don't mind strong tasting fish, but I'm not really a fan of the briny flavor some types of fish have. Next time I cook it I will attempt to remove the skin first, and see if that helps.

The sauce we used on the burritos was good though. Jeremy found a recipe on some forum somewhere. He thinks it may have been myfitnesspal.com. Anyway, we wound up adjusting some of the proportions, because as written it wasn't all that good. It mostly tasted like mayo, and was too thick.  Here's what we put in it after "fixing" it:

1/2 cup lite mayo
juice of one lime
3/4 t cayenne pepper
1/8 t oregano
1/8 t dill
1/8 t cumin

burrito on a cat plate

Chicken and vegetable potstickers recipe

best thing ever

 2 packages of gyoza wrappers (about 40-45 wrappers per package)
1 1/4 lb ground chicken breast
1 cup grated carrots
2 cups shredded or finely diced cabbage
2 T teriyaki marinade
1 t sesame oil
3 T olive oil
1 T chili garlic sauce
2 crushed garlic cloves
1 T powdered ginger

In a large mixing bowl combine the chicken, vegetables, teriyaki marinade, sesame oil, chili garlic sauce, garlic, powdered ginger and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Moisten one edge of the potsticker wrapper with cold water, add 1 teaspoon of filling, fold and seal. This video shows a few different ways to fold them. Or you can just do whatever you want as long as all the filling is securely sealed inside.

 

 

When Winter helps fold potstickers

Add 1 teaspoon of olive oil to a pan heated on medium. Place 7 or 8 potstickers in the pan, and brown for 1 minute or less. Add 1/4 cup of water to the pan and cover for about 2-3 minutes until water is mostly gone and potstickers are steamed. Remove from the pan, place on a plate, and repeat until you hvae cooked all the potstickers you want.

Uncooked potstickers can be frozen and cooked at a later date. The filling also freezes well, so you can also just assemble as many as you want and save the remainder for later. Another thing you can do to save time, and a mess, is use bagged of coleslaw mix instead of shredding your own carrots and cabbage. Just use about 3 cups. Nutrition info is for one potsticker.

Lots o' food shopping

Today I bought groceries both at Grocery Outlet and at Uwajimaya in the International District. Here's what I bought at Grocery Outlet:

1 dozen large eggs $1.69
19 oz cashews $4.99
1 quart of organic vanilla yogurt $1.49
1 14 oz can of vegetarian baked beans $.69
2 cans of petite diced tomatoes (.79 each) $1.58
8 flour tortillas $2.59
3 7 oz boxes of tomato sauce 3/$1.00
7 oz wensleydale cheese with dried fruit $1.99
2 lbs. whiting fillets $4.99
jar of ground black pepper $.99
vanilla extract $1.49
8 oz. caraway havarti $1.99
4 oz. peppered soft goat cheese $2.49
2 2.5 lb bags frozen chicken tenderloins ($6.99 each) $13.98
1 lb sliced crimini mushrooms $1.99
sweet potato crackers $1.69
2 red bell peppers (.99 each) $1.98
48 oz vegetable oil $2.99
20 oz Diet Dr. Pepper $1.09
8 oz. reduced fat havarti $1.99
16 oz. turkey breast lunch meat $2.49
10 5 oz cans tuna (.63 each) $6.32

Total: $62.49

And what I got at Uwajimaya:

lemon fried pie $1.59
1/2 cup slivered almonds $2.39 (wish I had waited, as I went here first and there were much better deals on them at Groc Out)
soba noodles $1.59
3 packs of gyoza wrappers (.99 each) $2.97
1.08 lb lean ground beef $3.77
1.12 lb ground chicken breast $2.79
1 lb carrots $.89
2.70 lb green cabbage $2.13
5 honeycrisp apples $4.01
3 huge mangoes $2.64

Total: $24.77