I'm trying desperately to get over my food photography issues so that I can actually start recording all of the yummy things I have been making recently. Hopefully, that will help to get this blog in better shape. Anyway, the first crumbly thing in this post was made for my Bro-inLaw, Steve. He has a serious PB&J addiction, not to mention a severe Chocolate Milk dependence. I sat around brainstorming how to translate either fascination into a birthday worthy dessert. Some of the more promising ideas that struck me were:
- Dark Chocolate Mini Cupcakes with PB Frosting, topped with big juicy Raspberries
- Yellow Cupcakes with Jelly inside and PB Frosting on top
- PB Cookies with Jelly thumb prints, or sandwiched with Jelly
- Doughnut Holes filled with PB Frosting or Jelly
I eventually went with an already established, and well recommended recipe for Peanut Butter & Jelly Bars.
This is a recipe by Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten. They were good, but they were also a little intense. Noone could seem to get past a couple bites, so unfortunately the double batch I made went pretty much to waste. I made a Raspberry batch, and a Grape, since I wasn't sure which Steve preferred. In my experience, if a person pretty much lives off of PB&J they'll probably have a pretty strict preference for the flavor or Jelly.
Another crumby thing I made this week was Everyday Food's Buttermilk Baked Chicken. This semi-healthy main course is relatively easy to whip up. It's basically a grown up version of Shake-n-Bake, but it gets the job done. Plus, the bone in chicken is usually pretty cheap, especially considering one variety or another is often on sale. For example, I made 5 huge leg quarters this week and only paid $3.50 for the chicken. Thrifty much?
Actually, I'm not the thriftiest cook in the world, but I do shave off cost where I can. First, I choose my grocery store carefully. Our nearby Shop Rite is considerably cheaper than our nearby Stop & Shop or Big Y, but it still has a kick-ass selection. We do have some cheaper grocery store in town, aptly named "Expect Discount", but their quality is sometimes questionable, and their selection is random at best. If I need a specialty/ethnic item that I know will be expensive at Shop Rite, I swing by C-Town, where the selection is catered to the Asian/Hispanic population in that part of Danbury. A good thing for cheese lovers everywhere.
So, my point was that picking your main grocery store is important. Choose wisely. My next grocery shopping tip is to pre-plan your meals for the week according to what is on sale. Every week I browse through Shop Rite's online circular to see what's on sale. I hit the Produce, Meat, and Seafood sections first, and plan my menu for the week based on what's cheap, and if I'm lucky, what we already have in the pantry. Not only does this method save a little money, it keeps me inspired as a cook. If a certain cut of meat, or veggie is on sale, I cruise the internet for recipes that include both.