Fast and simple meals, that’s what was on our plates this past week. I was so busy with all the wool stuff that I didn’t devote any time to new recipes or a meal that took longer than 10 minutes to make.
Some weeks are like that. In and out of the kitchen in a flash… And I’m okay with that.
I’m on a mission. A mission to have a carefree and relaxed spring, summer and fall, and that means there’s no time to dilly dally in the kitchen. There’ll be plenty of time for that later. 😉
That being said, what is the deal with crab rangoon? It seems like it is under EVERY hot lamp in New England. Why do New Englanders love it so much?
Before moving to the east coast, I had never even heard of it before, but it’s everywhere here.
I even spotted it in the freezer section!! Have YOU tried it before?
Usually the HH does the grocery shopping these days, but we were out on an errand and so I popped into the store with him and guess what I found!!
A whole cart loaded with bagels for a quarter a bag!! When does that ever happen these days? I felt like we hit the jackpot.
I was tempted to buy all of them but didn’t want to be greedy and settled on 4 bags. 2 plain and 2 everything bagels. I love everything bagels, especially toasted with a thin layer of cream cheese on top. The HH is not a fan.
I popped the bagels into the freezer and will take them out one at a time. I supposed this batch will last until spring. We’ll see.
The problem with “popping” by the grocery store though, is that things get tossed into the cart that you normally wouldn’t buy if you had prepared a list head of time and were on a mission to get in and out of the store with blinders on
Things like a frozen coconut cake and Velveeta cheese. Gaa, when was the last time we bought Velveeta cheese? Rosemary ham though, you can never go wrong with that.
A cabbage isn’t something I normally pick up on a whim… But I did. Now I’ll have to make fried cabbage and bacon.
Fact: Trader Joe’s hands down sells the best avocados. I haven’t had a bad one yet. I would be eating 2 sacks of the teeny tiny avocados once a week if we lived closer.
The satsuma mandarins were spot on too. I love citrus this time of year! It’s the only time of year worth buying it in my opinion.
My neighbor was headed to Costco and asked if I wanted her to pick anything up and so of course I said a couple of bags of the Mediterranean Crunch salad. $8.99 for 2 bags… It’s a total deal in my book.
Things we ate last week:
Big salad.
Toasted bacon and avocado sammies. A winning combo if you ask me. No lettuce or tomato needed.
Toasted ham and cheese.
Weenies with the Trader Joe’s sauerkraut I bought back in October. They put pickles in their sauerkraut!!! It was good, but kinda funky.
Avocado toast.
Trader Joe’s teriyaki chicken and rice from the freezer section.
And of course there were multiple plates of pickety bits.
It was a good week, with lots of fast and simple meals. I got a lot of work done, got out of the house, scored a deal and had 1 pajama day. And that my friends, is as good as it gets around here in January. 😉
How about YOU? Did you find any deals this past week? Do you freeze bread too when you find it on sale? Have you tried crab rangoon before? Curious minds want to know.
Have a good one,
~ Mavis
Total Spent This Past Week:
- Market Basket $60.26
- Trader Joe’s $26.93
- Costco $8.99
Total Spent in January on Groceries $96.18
Nicole says
Avocado toast? Are you Australian
Laura Z says
I absolutely freeze bread when I find it on sale. $1 for 4 bags of bagels! Amazing. I’m thrilled if I find them marked down to $1!
Crab rangoon is standard on pretty much every chinese buffet here in NC
Wendy C says
I freeze bread and those bagels were practically a steal. It snowed here in Alabama on Friday so I made a big pot of chili. Hubby grilled pork chops (in the leftover snow and freezing cold) on Saturday night. I made homemade mac and cheese and green beans. Yum. I have to work today so I’m putting beef stew in the crockpot which we will have over leftover rice. It’s been a meat-heavy weekend, but it is sooo cold here. We aren’t used to and comfort food helps. 🙂
Mallory Lemieux says
Next time your at Market Basket, snag a rotisserie chicken. They are $4.69 – the cheapest out of any of the local groceries stores. While they are smaller than the Costco $5 chicken, we find the flavor and tenderness to be superior! In the produce section sometimes they will also have marked down bags of produce. The quality can be very hit or miss. I have actually found that the “new” Market Basket by Walmart in Rochester, NH to have the best produce markdowns (typically $.20 a pound). Always keep your eyes peeled in the dairy section too!
Ramona says
I freeze bread and hamburger buns and take out a few slices or bun when needed. I did not find any bargains when I went shopping a few days ago. I needed eggs and could not believe they were $5.50 a dozen for the first 2 dozen, additional at $8.89 at Winco where prices are lower than other stores. Someone else was buying eggs also and had 4 dozen in the cart. I pointed out that those extra 2 dozen were going to be extra cost. He didn’t see the smaller print and thanked me for pointing that out, and put back the other 2 cartons.
Lana says
If and only if we happen to be there when the bread delivery takes place at our salvage grocery we can get Pepperidge Farm bagels for $1 but they are the first to go and that is rare. I would have had a hard time stopping at only 4 for a quarter a apiece! And that coconut cake, oh YUM! Aldi has those same Satsumas and we have been loving them. When my Hubby and I got married his family home had a Satsuma tree and I was the only one who ever ate them. I was so happy to see them at the store because it has been forty years since that house was sold and I have never seen them at the store until now.
Diana says
We just made a big batch of sourdough rye bread and cut each loaf in half and stuck them in the freezer. We love avocado toast and have the bacon avocado tree we are harvesting from. We also are getting tons of citrus, and still getting a lot of tomatoes, eggplant, and lots of greens for salads. We are almost done with the stored potatoes and onions, but still have a lot of butternut squash. I try to plan our meals around the garden produce first so we don’t waste anything. Starting new seeds this week.
Nancy says
In MO, we got 6 inches of snow and I made Mrs. C’s pot roast (again) from this site. Thank you! Ate several days in a row, then froze leftover meat for soup later. I also bought things that weren’t on my grocery list – never fails before a predicted snow to grab snack stuff that I normally would not!
Crab rangoon is everywhere here, too. I love it! On the menu here at any Chinese restaurant and other Asian or fusion type restaurants too, even though it’s my understanding that it an American concoction.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks says
What an amazing price on the bagels!! Yes, I freeze bread and they definitely would have gone in my basket! Lucky you. Rarely see bread markdowns here where I live.
We used to get satsumas when we visited my aunt in Florida. So good.
Brenda Robertson says
My local Kroger has a markdown bakery goods rack. I feel like I hit the lottery if I can get pumpernickel and Naan (our favorites). Our eggs were 5.39 a dozen last week. I am glad I did extra baking during the holidays when egg prices were down. I froze our leftover cookies and fruit cake and we ration them out when we want a sweet treat. We have our seed catalog and will place our seed order soon. (I am in north central Indiana.)
Sue in SoCal says
I’ve never had the crab rangoon, but now that I’m on a somewhat restricted diet processed foods are a no no. So, I tend to look at ingredient lists and wowsa that one is something else. I bet you don’t know what most of those things are let alone how to pronounce them. I bet they’re delicious though.
Cindy Brick says
Crab rangoon — isn’t that the gunky stuff with fake crab and cream cheese? I must be the only person in the universe who doesn’t love it. I used to trade mine at the Chinese restaurant — my mom loved it, but wasn’t a fan of eggrolls.
YES, I freeze bread. Especially when the local thrift shop gave it out free on occasion.
No great deals this week — or last, though. Trying hard to stay away from grocery stores right now…we have so much food from the holidays still stuffed in the fridge and freezer. Now it’s a mission to figure out what still is good — and what goes to the dog.
Mavis Butterfield says
Fake crab, cream cheese and wonton wrappers {fried} does not seem like a winning combination to me… But I won’t even try it, so what do I know. Ha.
Rj says
Try it at a good chinese restaurant. Waaayyy better than any frozen ones!!!
Mary says
I’ve made crab Rangoon… got the recipe from Pinterest . Kind of easy, and good for an appetizer tray
SueD says
Crab Rangoon is a staple at most Chinese buffets in mid Michigan. I usually bake sourdough bread or baguettes; want to try making bagels next. Coming from NYC, I do like a good bagel.
Mimi says
I’ve discovered that the higher priced grocery store in town has the best discounts on high quality beef in their “quick sale” bin (often with several days to go before the sell-by date) so I’ve been scooping up deals. Premium grass-fed beef is piling up in the freezer for $3.99-$4.99 a pound.
I bake sourdough bread every week and after making sourdough bagels I’m hooked. Really, really good!
Lindsey says
Velvetta cheese has its uses. It makes other cheeses have a better meltability, for lack of a better word. I worked as a kitchen helper in a high-end restaurant while in college and that was where I was told by the chef that he and most of the other chefs he knew that made mac and cheese, used some Velvetta. It was undetectable to most diners, but it helps keep the mac from getting grainy.
Gigi says
I only use Velveeta to make asparagus soup. Other than that, I tend to avoid it and crab rangoons. If you want the asparagus soup recipe, let me know.
Heather in Nevada says
We sometimes get crab Rangoon when we order lunch specials at Chinese food restaurants.
Our Grocery Outlet had some super deals today. Canned sparkling water for $0.33, Starbucks cold American for $0.97. Both had multiple days before the best by dates.
Eggs have gone insane $6.69 and higher. Costco was out the last time we went. I can use the egg substitute for baking, but not everything.
Jeri says
Our favorite little Chinese restaurant in Edmonds, WA used to have a free order of crab rangoon with any purchase over $25! That’s how I came to love it. They were slightly sweet and filled with cream cheese. They were so good!