Wednesday, June 17, 2015

QFC Grocery Basket 6/17



Don Juan, the climbing rose, was getting all leggy and blooms were hanging every which way because he had ran out of trellis, so I decided to neaten him up.  In the process I ended up with a lovely smelly bouquet and Don looks a lot better.  He really responds to being chopped down in February.


As you can tell I don't water the grass which makes it kind of hard to drive the croquet hoops into the ground but here is my garden so far.  I had four crops of radishes and several heads of lettuce before it got too hot.  I've heavily seeded the wheel barrow and the chair pot with nasturtium seeds with some sweet peas thrown in for good measure this year instead of food plants.


The deck with the strawberry tower and raspberries in the background.


I started my begonias from little Costco bulbs but they have been having a hard time keeping up with the lobelia on steroids.  I planted four bulbs in this pot and the hanging pot but everyday I have to go out and move the lobelia out of the way.  I've NEVER had this problem with lobelia.


This is a miniature rose that Miss Pamela gave me a few years ago at our annual ladies' birthday party.  I love this rose!! but this year it has been attacked by spit bugs which are really called spittle bugs if we are being polite.  I'm organic so I don't use any type of poison except Sluggo which is not supposed to hurt pets, bees, or birds so I gave it a good hard spray of water and practically blew the poor thing out of its pot.  It has recovered and is now starting to bloom and I haven't seen any spit bugs since.  Knock on wood.


This year I bought an extra large potato bag from Gardeners.com instead of planting them in my limited garden space.  Here they are.  There ended up being about 100 pounds of Short's Magic Soil by the time I filled it up.  They are blooming now so when they start to yellow I'll dig around in there and see what I get.


My deck plants don't seem very imaginative this year but I was on a budget.  As it turns out that is a good thing because Poppy, the Boston Terror, flies off the deck in a mad rage to go fence fight the neighbors pit bull and shockingly knocks my pots off the deck - usually upside down.  The dog only weighs 15 pounds!!


The bird bath has been very popular with the birds this year - more than normal.  Maybe it is because the lemon balm is growing around it making it more private.  I've yet to see any frogs in there but they are all over the place this year...little green guys with big croaks.

Okay - let's look at the ad for this week.  On Monday I bought a piece of Copper River Sockeye and it was delicious but, anyway, I was talking to the fish lady and she said it was going to be on the ad again this week.  She was worried because the fish guys only gave her 50 pounds and said that there may not be any for this week, so check your fish counter before you put it on your menu.

Also - for families with teenage cereal eaters (and I know from experience that they can eat a box at a sitting) you can buy four General Mills cereals for $8 and get a free gallon of QFC milk.  And QFC is still running their Buy 5/Save $5 promo so check that out, too.

Here are my suggestions for "real food" this week:

QFC Butter - $2.49/lb
Alaska Sockeye Salmon Fillets - $7.97/lb
Fresh Pacific Cod Fillets - $7.99/lb
Draper Valley Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts - BOGO
Lean Ground Beef - $5.99/lb
Ribeye Steaks - $7.88/lb
Asparagus - $2.49/lb
Driscoll's Strawberries - $2/lb
Greens - $1.50/bunch
Oregon Blueberries - $3.50/18oz
Tomatoes on the Vine - $1.49/lb
Romaine, Butter, Red, or Green Leaf Lettuce - $1.50/ea
Washington Large Red Cherries - $2.99/lb
Yellow Peaches or Nectarines - $1.99/lb

A couple of weeks ago I took advantage of the sale on Roma tomatoes for $ .99 a pound.  Well, I bought more than I could eat so five of them were getting a little long in the tooth.  I cut them in half and put them on a pan with a rack cut side up.  I seasoned them liberally with salt and pepper and a drop of olive oil and roasted them for a couple of hours at 325.  They came out all flattened and yummy.  My idea was to use them on my salads but I added a couple to my sandwich and it took it to a higher level of yumminess.

Now you know that Miss MoneyPenny has been single for 20 years and I think I know what part of the problem is:


This is a shot of nighttime in the MoneyPenny bedroom.  On the left is Suzy, in the middle is Pici, and then the cat.  I don't know why they insist on sleeping crosswise on the bed but I've gotten real good at sleeping on my little sliver of bed.  And, of course, the Boston Terror is wrapped up way down deep in her king sized blanket to the left of Suzy.

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

QFC Grocery Basket 6/10


I mentioned last time that Miss Jeannie has been in of all places, Turkey.  The guy on the news the other night said that after the recent elections that Turkey is a dangerous place, so I hope they have moved on to London by now.  I love this picture especially since I just noticed that the big humpy guy is still tied up.

My garden is finally in!!  I still have at least two pots to fill with flowers and I need to get my basil going in the green house.

Now the watering begins.  I water my front and side flower beds once a week for one hour so that means five moves of the sprinkler and then I attach to the flat granny hose sprinkler that I have laid out in my new bed.  Really it is just a border between me and the wild and crazy guy next door who has wild and crazy parties and they all park on my yard.  Anyway it consists of three barberries and two red twigged maples which need a lot of watering the first couple of years to get them established.

I have to confess that I fell asleep in my chair after lunch yesterday and one of the beds got watered for two hours.  Ka ching!!  Bring on the water bill!!

Okay - let's look at the ad for this week.  Yahootie!!  Fresh Copper River Sockeye Salmon fillets are on sale for $9.99 a pound.  Weather permitting, of course.  My favorite way to cook salmon is to roast it at 400 for about 20 minutes, or until just barely done.  I put little blobs of butter all over it and give it a good covering of lemon pepper and it is to die for.  And cold leftover salmon is delish in a green salad with a lemony dressing.

Also QFC is running their Buy 5/Save $5 promo and there are some good deals to be had.  Remember you don't have to buy five items of the same thing.  You can mix and match to your little heart's content.

Here are my suggestions:

Nancy's Yogurt - $2.50/qt
Draper Valley Whole Chickens - $1.29/lb
Fresh Copper River Sockeye Salmon fillets - $9.99/lb
Fresh NW Cooked Shrimp Meat - $5.99/lb
Fresh Dover Sole Fillets - $6.99/lb
Nathan's Beef Franks - $2.99/14oz
Driscoll's Strawberries - $2/lb
Medium Hass Avocados - $ .99/ea\
Red or Green Seedless Grapes - $1.68/lb
Colored Bell Peppers - $1.25/ea
English Cucumber - $1.25/ea
Whole Pineapple - $3/ea
Yellow Peaches or Nectarines - $1.99/lb
Zucchini or Yellow Squash - $1.29/lb


You can tell it is summer when Poppy, the Boston Terror, is out sunning herself in her very own deck chair.  And it is her very own chair.  This crappy chair is around 30 years old and not safe for any human butt but she is light enough that she doesn't fall through.  I keep intending to get rid of it but, yet, here it is again this summer - complete with her very own cushion.

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

QFC Grocery Basket 6/3



Now you know that Miss MoneyPenny is not a world traveller.  I'm a real homebody except for a few forays down to Oregon or fun day trips.  I also love to go RVing and used to go all the time with my favorite ex husband but none of the current men in my life have an RV.  But my dear friend Miss Jeannie loves to get on airplanes and go all over the world.

At lunch one day, she announced that she and her cute husband, Dan, were headed to Turkey to visit his daughter who is in the Air Force.  OMG!!  I asked her if she couldn't go someplace a little further away from all that violence over there....like Paris or Venice.  But she is a dare devil and went anyway.  The above picture was taken from her hotel in Ankara, which is the capital of Turkey, and the place looks just beautiful.  She says the only scary thing there is that pedestrians do not have the right of way and you have to be a fast runner, which she is.  I will be glad to see her safely back home.

Okay - let's look at the ad for this week.  Copper River salmon is at QFC (weather permitting) and it is going for $8.99 a pound.  Sounds wonderful, doesn't it??  The only drawback, and for me it is a biggie, the damned fish is whole which means that somebody has to cut it up.  I'm terrible at this because my favorite ex husband always did this and he did it with an electric knife with absolutely no waste.  He was a master at this and could even fillet fish after a half rack of beer with no problem.

Here are my suggestions for this week:

Tully's Coffee - $5.99/12oz
Best Foods Mayonnaise - $3.49/30oz
McCormick Grill Mates Seasoning - $1.50/ea
Fage Greek Yogurt - $3/17.6oz
Kroger Sour Cream - $1/16oz
Draper Valley Chicken Breasts - BOGO
Laura's Lean Ground Beef - $5.99/lb
Whole Fresh Wild Copper River Salmon - $8.99/lb
Asparagus - $1.99/lb
Mangoes - $1/ea
Red or Green Seedless Grapes - $1.99/lb
Washington Red Cherries - $2.99/lb


This picture is a big pot of dwarfish sweet peas.  I saw these in Territorial Seed's spring catalog and just had to try them.  My plan is that they will be a big pot of lovely smelling wonderfulness on my deck.  I was a little worried because they took forever to sprout but here they are...finally!!


This is what the pack looks like and supposedly they are for pots and don't need a trellis.  I'll keep you posted on this.