QFC Grocery Basket 11/5

I love barberries.  They come in so many different colors and are pretty maintenance free.  This one is a lime green in the summer and changes to this gorgeous mix of fall colors.  Notice the red berries.  The birds certainly enjoy them.  Notice also all the fir needles in my beds.  They are everywhere and not just in the flower beds but in my house, too.  Every wind storm brings more of them.  I wonder what my gutters look like...hmm.

Anybody who knows Miss MoneyPenny knows that she is addicted to cooking shows.  I mean where real people cook real food, not those competitions where everyone is rushing around madly and sweating like crazy into the food.  I mean cooks like Rachael Ray, Ina Garten, and Melissa d'Arabian who cook real food that is fresh and healthy, that anybody could make at home and not break the bank.

Melissa d'Arabian has a show called Ten Dollar Dinners where she makes a meal, usually complete with desert, that you could even serve to company - all for $10.  Recently she made a broccoli and cauliflower salad that looked pretty tasty so I tried it.

Since my garden is no longer producing I actually have to go out and buy my veggies and am shocked at the price.  I've noticed that broccoli and cauliflower go on sale a lot and are usually paired together (not this week, though).  When I saw this recipe I thought this is something that I could keep in the fridge for a few days and eat off of it - only adding the crisp bacon when I dish it up.  I'm here to tell you that this is good stuff!!  This is her recipe:

• 

Broccoli and Cauliflower Salad

 Ingredients

• 1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
• 2 slices bacon, cut in small pieces, cooked to crisp
• 1/2 bunch broccoli, cut into small florets (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1/2 small head cauliflower, cut into small florets (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 teaspoon seafood seasoning, such as Old Bay
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Shock the onions in an ice water bath for 10 minutes to temper the sharp flavor, and pat dry.
Place the bacon, broccoli, cauliflower and onions in a large salad bowl. In a small bowl, whisk the sugar, vinegar and Dijon mustard. Slowly drizzle in the oil, whisking to make an emulsion. Mix in the mayonnaise and seafood seasoning. Season with salt and pepper. Pour the dressing over the vegetables and toss.

Recipe courtesy Melissa d'Arabian

This is what mine looked like before I mixed it up:

The finished product:

If you make this be sure and use the Old Bay because it really added that somethin' somethin' to the salad.

Okay - let's look at the ad.  Sorry to tell you but this is a two-weeker again.  I wish that they would quit doing that!!  Anyway, there are a couple things I want to talk about.  One is that they are running their Buy 10/Save $5 promo again.  Now is a good time to get out your coupons or download them for your favorite canned, frozen, and packaged products.  Think ahead about what you will need for holiday meals like canned broth, cranberry sauce, cream of mushroom, etc.

The other thing is that I didn't put roast beef on the list because it is on sale for $3.99 and $4.99 a pound which means that you could easily be paying $12 to $20 for the thing depending on the size of your family.  Maybe for some of us the days when you have a big hunk of meat for dinner are going to be few and far between.

Ground beef and turkey are on sale again this week.  I made some seriously good stuffed peppers out of the ground turkey that I bought last week.  I was going to use the colored peppers that were on sale for 2 for $3 but when I got to the store I chose the green because they were 50 cents a pepper cheaper.

Here is the list for this week:

Spice Island Spices - 50% off

Fage Greek Yogurt - $1/7oz

Kroger Cottage Cheese - $2.50/24oz

Simple Truth Cage Free Eggs - $2.50/doz

Kroger Frozen Vegetables - $1/10oz

Jennie-O Ground Turkey - $4.99/20oz

Lean Ground Beef - $5.99/lb

Broccoli Crowns - $1.29/lb

Honeycrisp Apples - $1.88/lb

Large California Navel Oranges - $ .99/lb

Tomatoes on the Vine - $1.99/lb

I don't know what is so special about this pink cat bed but they all love it.  Poppy, the Boston Terror, grabs it from under the cat and hauls it all over the house and I've seen all of my critters in it at one time or another.  I wondered why Suzy hadn't come to bed.  When I went out to find her she was looking pretty guilty like I had caught her at something.