QFC Grocery Basket 8/13

What you are looking at are the Three Sisters.  They are three volcanic peaks in the High Cascades of Oregon and are all over 10,000 feet.  You may wonder what they are doing on Miss MoneyPenny.  This is proof that I was switched at birth and my sister, Miss SmartyPants, is not really my sister.

My sister just spent seven what she calls blissful days on the trail in these mountains with a 40 pound pack on her back.  Crazy.  Backpacking is her passion.  I do not share that passion.  What about snakes??  What about bears??  What about no shower??  Miss MoneyPenny considers the BackYard to be as much wilderness as she can take.

This is my sister on the trail:

Okay.  Switching gears.  Didn't you just love that summer rain that we got last night and this morning??  It was the kind of rain that really wetted things down good.  And I'm happy about that because I've been going bankrupt keeping everything watered and I don't even water my lawn which is hard as pavement and brown..  It will green back up in the fall and be just fine.

Let's talk about the ad for this week and it is weak.  But we gotta eat.  This is the second week that cherries haven't been featured so I'm assuming that they are winding down.  I ate tons of them, so I'm good to go until next year.

Be sure and take advantage of the salmon as that season will be winding down also.  My son has been fishing Mid-Channel and has yet to catch a salmon.  Halibut but you can't keep them.  And the crabbing has also been dismal.

Be sure and go to QFC's home page and load the digital coupons to your card for added savings on the products that you use.

Here are my suggestions for this week:

Franz Natural Bread - $2.50/loaf
Fresh NW Cooked Shrimp Meat - $5.99/lb (it only takes a half pound for a big Louie for the family)
Fresh Fraser River Sockeye Fillets - $10.99/lb
Fresh King Salmon - $16.99/lb
Fresh Dover Sole Fillets - $5.99/lb
Flank or Strip Steaks - $6.99/lb
Broccoli or Celery - $ .99/lb
Cucumbers or Green Bell Peppers - $ .79/ea
Driscoll's Strawberries - $2.50/16oz
Hatch Chile Peppers - $1.49/lb
NW Yellow Peaches or Nectarines - $1.49/lb

I have a lot of produce from my garden and one of my favorite ways to eat it is raw or lightly steamed as in the case of green beans.  I'm always looking for something to dip my veggies in and the other day I made an easy peasy blue cheese dressing.  And it was good!!  This is what I did:

1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 ounces crumbled blue cheese
1 grated garlic clove
Cracked black pepper

I really was surprised at how tasty it was.  I didn't add salt because the cheese and mayonnaise seemed to add enough.  You could play with the recipe and add red wine vinegar or cream instead of buttermilk or more or less blue cheese.  Make it to your liking.  I did.