John and I stayed in on Friday night due to a double header wedding event the next day. I had a shower for Brett who is getting married in 3 and a half weeks in Hilton Head (!) and then a wedding for a friend of John's from high school. Combine Saturday's festivities with a busy Sunday that involved a hangover, planting flowers, 3. 5 mile run, and hosting an impromptu dinner party, and I knew I shouldn't do much Friday night. We ended up pulling some items from the pantry and making such a gourmet dinner!- Hummus
- Almonds
- Spinach
- Parmesan cheese
- Feta cheese
- Dried cherries
- Organic chicken
- Organic diced tomatoes
Oh, and the free samples. Obviously.
Anyway - the meal. This is simply grilled salmon (John seasons it with salt and pepper, olive oil, and a little dill), grilled asparagus (also seasoned with salt and pepper, and olive oil), and Parmesan polenta. This was my method for cooking the polenta:
Take a pre-made polenta log and heat it up for about a minute and a half. Add about 1/2 cup of milk, 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, and blend with a hand mixer. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
The polenta was so yummy and added a gourmet flair to the meal. I'm definitely going to add this to our pantry staple list so that we can pull more dinners like this together in a flash.
On a totally unrelated note, I am happy to say that Saturday morning we ran 6 miles on a whim and my knees didn't even hurt! I was stoked. We set out to run around the Capital City club which is a country club in our neighborhood that we like to explore because it's got enormous houses that are fun to look at :-) The loop is 5 miles but we were both feeling good so extended it to 6. I wore heels to the wedding Saturday night and was sure my knees would start screaming at me, but nothing! Maybe I'm finally getting past my horrible knees, a year after my marathon. I'd be so happy!
Do you shop at a wholesale store or do you consider it a waste of money? If so what are your staples when you go?
I use my mother's Costco membership so it's free for me, which is nice. My staples are:
ReplyDeleteHummus
Laughing Cow Cheese
Spinach
Apples
Frank's Hot Sauce
I bake asparagus a lot! I'm going to have to remember to grill some next time it's fired up!!
ReplyDeleteI have a Sam's Club close by and only go when my Mom's in town... she has the membership!
We do shop at Sam's every week. I try to get my meats, canned items (diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, chicken broth etc.), I also get lemons, limes, and onions by the bag too. Of course the staples like toilet paper, paper towels, shave gel, body wash, etc. I think it is a great deal. I wish we had Costco though because of the organic meats. My mom pays for our Sam's membership so you can't beat free!
ReplyDeleteTotally going to check out Costco's frozen salmon on my next visit, thanks!
ReplyDelete