Shopping Around the World

This month we are highlighting easy dinner ideas for the summer months. Summer months are way too hot to be cooking in the kitchen making the house even hotter.

During these months, mom likes to go for ‘light’ foods that really don’t require a lot of cooking.  When mom/dad went to Chicago in May, my Aunt Tina got this salad in the picture below at Richard Walker’s Pancake House.  Mom was so amazed about the beauty of it and knew that she could do the same when she got home and she did!  So although this picture is not one of hers, she replicated it perfectly and has many times in the past couple of weeks.  It’s very feeling and I know that first hoof because mom has fixed me some too.  I’m a lucky pig, right?  So without further ado, mom will give you the breakdown below.  Enjoy my friends… I know I do!

Grilled or shredded chicken.  I buy a rotisserie chicken at our local Sam’s Warehouse on Sundays.  It costs $5.00 and I break it up into three different meals for two people each.  Part of the shredded chicken goes into this this salad.  Breaking it into three different meals makes it cost $1.67 for two people on this salad.

A head of lettuce costs $0.99 and again breaks it up into three different meals.  That makes this part $0.33 for two people on this salad.

Shredded cheese.  I buy medium block cheese and got a block on special for $0.99 a block.  It’s really hard to ‘cost’ how much it would be for this salad.  I use it on a lot of different things and shred some for this salad.  I’m going to assume I cut the cheese block up into four sections.  With that being said, this part in the salad would be $0.25 for two people.

Boiled egg.  A dozen eggs cost me $1.29.  If I know we will be doing several salads in the week, I will go ahead and boil 6 of them at a time.  That way I’m ahead of the game.  Two eggs (for two people) for this salad cost $0.11,

Avocado.  I love slice avocado but the hub doesn’t.  I buy one avocado and split it into two meals.  Avocados were on sale for $1.00 so the salad part is $0.50.

Tomatoes.  I bought six medium sized Roma tomatoes at the market for $1.39 – that’s $0.24 per tomato and we use one per meal for two people.

Broccoli – a head of broccoli was $1.59.  Again, we break it up into many different snacks/meals.  It probably ranged $0.40 per meal for two people.

Dressing for the salad – the hub uses 1000 Island and I use Italian.  We pay $1.50 per bottle and it breaks down to about $0.25 per salad for two people.

Now the fun part – putting the salad together.  The only thing I didn’t put in the salad was shredded carrots.  Jim is not a huge fan so we left them out.  To build the ‘salad’, we put shredded lettuce on the bottom.  And when you do this, I make sure all of it is ‘bite sized’.  I hate it when you order a salad in a restaurant and you have to use a knife to cut it up because everything is cut too big.  Don’t you?  After the lettuce, I then place the items above on top like the picture. I add the salad dressing and then toss to get everything coated with the dressing.  Then it’s time to jump into that delicious salad and enjoy.  Final cost $3.64 for two people.

 

Shopping Around the World

Hello sweet friends.  Welcome to another edition of Shopping Around the World.  This month we are highlighting things that we cook in this hot weather outside.  So without further ado, here is mom – take it away mom!

What we have this month is a meal that keeps on giving – LOL.  Friday morning before work, I put a beef roast in the oven.  I got a nice beef roast (around 3 pounds) at the market for around $14.00.  That night when I got home, I cut all of the meat up and put it aside.  In the meantime, I took a head of lettuce ($0.98 head) and chopped it all up placing it in a huge bowl.  On this date, I didn’t add anything extra – just the salad mix so far.  I then poured in some 1000 Island salad dressing into the lettuce (probably 1/3 bottle for the entire salad $0.34).  I tossed and coated all of the salad with the dressing.  At this time, you can add a little more if you need it.  Just make sure your lettuce is coated.

I then used some big plates and put some salad into the plates.  Next up, the beef that I had previously sliced was put on top of the salad.  Just as a garnish, I took some barbeque sauce I had on hand and drizzled it over the beef.  There you go – dinner is served.  The entire meal cost $15.32 and we had salads for two all weekend in this heat.

 

 

 

 

 

Travels in the South

 Welcome back my friends to another edition of Travels in the South.   Last week, I gave you some appetizers from a restaurant that mom/dad visited a couple of towns over from us.  You can read about that here.  Today I wanted to share the main course with him.  Now after eating all of those wonderful appetizers, mom did the right thing.  She went for a salad.  Mom said their salads were awesome with all kinds of the goodies that she likes in them like cucumbers, tomatoes, onion, mixed greens and croutons.  Doesn’t it look fantastic?

But dad, dad went straight up southern on all of us.  He got what the restaurant has on their menu as Glynn Street Burger.  Why is it called that?  Well the restaurant is on Glynn Street of course – snorts with piggy laughter.  Makes sense huh?  But what is in a Glynn Street Burger is the question.  Let me introduce you.

The Glynn Street Burger is an 8 ounce hamburger patty topped with a fried green tomato, pimento cheese and -gulps- bacon.  If you need to click on the picture to make it bigger to get a better look at this magnificent burger, please do.  You will want to see all of this goodness.  Dad says it’s one of those burgers that is wet and delicious.  You will need plenty of napkins… or as mom says a hose to hose you down before you get back in the car.  This burger is messy but so worth the fight in getting it into your tummy.  If you never had a burger with pimento cheese and a fried green tomato – don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.  Dad went straight up southern with this meal.   But as in the famous words of our favorite television detective, “One more thing.”  See those tater tots in the plate.  They are sweet potato tater tots.  Mom doesn’t care that much for tater tots but on this date couldn’t stay out of dad’s plate.  They were that delicious!

 

But wait a minute, mom has one more picture to share with you.  These are the outside doors of the bathrooms – too cute huh??!!

 

Travels in the South

  Welcome friends to another edition of Travels in the South.  Today is being brought to you by daddy.  Recently McDonald’s launched a bigger Big Mac called the Grand Mac.  Now dad loves his Big Mac’s of any kind but he has been opting out of trying this because of eating clean.  Well this past weekend, he couldn’t help himself.  He had to try one and of course mom was there to interview him and take pictures – that’s my mom.  She didn’t try one or any of his french fries – go mom and your will power!

Now this is from the McDonald’s website:  “A regular Big Mac is two pure beef patties, Big Mac sauce, sandwiched between a sesame seed bun, American cheese, crisp lettuce, onions and pickles.”  And a regular Big Mac has 540 calories.

Now here is the description from McDonald’s website on the Grand Mac:  “Sink into 1/3 pound of real beef seasoned with salt & pepper sandwiched between a sesame seed bun.  All dressed with special sauce, crisp lettuce, onions, pickles and two slices of American cheese.”  And a Grand Mac has a whopping 860 calories!

Okay, a little more beef, an extra slice of cheese and 320 more calories.  And the pictures on television and on the McDonald’s website show there is a size difference and we all know that size matters, right?  So what did daddy think about the Grand Mac?

Daddy shrugged his shoulders at it.  The Grand Mac that he got did not look much bigger than a regular Big Mac.  It didn’t taste any different per say.  It was just okay.  In fact, if dad had to do it all over again, he said he would pass.  It just wasn’t that awesome.  So there you go – from the dad’s mouth.

 

Shopping Around the World

Today’s Shopping Around the World is being hosted by our cousins Teddy and Angel Sammy from TWOspoiledcats.  This month Teddy and Angel Sammy are hosting main meals that do not have meat. Now this is a tough one.  Anyone that knows my daddy, knows that he is definitely a meateater.  So mom got creative.  She told daddy he had to come up with a meatless dinner.  HA!  It’s not so funny or easy when the job falls on the daddy.  Good one mom!  So without further ado, this is what daddy came up with for Shopping Around the World.

Dad here.  I told the mom I had this one.  I can do a meatless dinner.  Sure I can.  I have that much talent.  Okay, maybe it’s not how the mommy does things on Shopping Around the World but I’m a man… give me a break this time okay.  So over the weekend since we had a difficult time, I told the wifey I had dinner.  That’s when we went to a restaurant called Mellow Mushroom.  See, I know you are suppose to cook and post recipes but I do have a visual impairment so I get a learning curve, right?  Thanks friends.

We started out by ordering a lil salad to share.  It had romaine and iceberg lettuce, shredded carrots, red cabbage, onions, cucumbers, green peppers, mushrooms, Kalamata olives, Roma tomatoes and mozzarella.  See that’s a great start.  And I added candied pecans for crunch.  Yummo!  The salad cost $4.49 and there was plenty for me and the missus to share.  Sorry for the picture.  I forgot to snap it before I dug in.

Now came the hard part.  Getting a meal without meat.  This was the most difficult choice in my life in some time.  I mean heck, first up my wife usually makes my food choices and she knows I like my meat.  This body was made for meat!  Second up, I don’t do much cooking so I kind of had to cheat and go out since I was challenged with this Shopping Around the World.  I thought hard about what to order as a meatless entree.  I think I nailed it.

May I introduce you to a large wheat dough Mellow Mushroom pie with an olive oil and garlic base (extra garlic please), fresh mozzarella cheese and black olives – no meats.  Doesn’t that look awesome.  I also sprinkled it with red pepper flakes.  The pizza cost $16.96.  And here’s the kicker.  Me and the wife like to call this kind of meal, a meal that keeps on giving.  There is enough pizza to last a couple of more nights – Deal of the Day, right?

So for a total of $25.00 (including a tip), we have a meatless dinner that lasts three nights for two peeps.  So that’s what, $4.17 a person?  Not bad for a dude huh?  So I hope I pulled off Shopping Around the World this month.

Thanks again to cousins Teddy and Angel Sammy for hosting this month.  Sending you much love from the Hotel Thompson ❤

 

Travels in the South

Welcome friends to another Travels in the South.  This week mom/dad went seafood.  At our local Joe’s Crab Shack, they have an appetizer that mom/dad like to get and share.  Pair it with a salad and you can say perfect meal.  What is this appetizer?  Joe’s Crab Shack calls it Crab Nachos.  Mom/dad call it a little heaven.

It has almost everything in it – lots of delicious crab dip, pico de gallo, black beans, lettuce, corn, cheese and an awesome avocado lime dressing.  And there are plenty of nachos to scoop everything up with and enjoy.  And the bonus is that the nachos don’t get soggy.  You know how sometimes they get limp and wet with regular nacho toppings.

So the next time you are craving something seafood but with a curb of delight, check out your local Joe’s Crab Shack for this delicious appetizer… or make it a meal like my mom/dad do.

 

Travels in the South

Over the weekend while shopping, we decided to eat Mexican for lunch.  Now mom loves Taco Salads but she eats them weird.  Weird how you ask?  Let’s look at exhibit 1.  This taco salad has the following:  tomatoes, shredded cheese, sour cream and beef tips.  Do you see what is missing?  Yep, nods head.  Lettuce.  She does not like lettuce in her taco salads.  I told you she’s weird.  Yet, mom says that this was probably one of the best taco salads she has ever had.  The beef tips were simmered in beer and simply fell apart with your fork.  They were tender and juicy – not that I would know – hint hint mom.

So, do you like taco salads and if so what do you like in them?

 

Travels in the South

Welcome friends to another awesome Travels in the South.  Today we thought we would share with you one of dad’s favorite dishes from a local restaurant called Chili’s Bar and Grill.  This delicious looking dish is called a beef chipotle bowl.  It has almost everything in it that you could ask for – rice, lettuce, corn, black beans, cheese, tomatoes, avocado, shredded beef, sour cream, great little tortilla strips on top and an awesome spicy chipotle sauce.  It’s served with a slice of lime that you spritz all over.  This helps with the chipotle because it has a little zing in the taste.  You can bet that nine times out of ten, dad will order this delicious meal when he goes to Chili’s.  If you haven’t tried it and you have a Chili’s close by, dad highly recommends it my friends.

 

Prep Night for Food

At night, I run around the house when mom gets home from the worky place.  Last night was an exceptional fun time.  After dinner and washing the dishes, mom prepped my food for the next two weeks.  This is *always* a fun time for me.  I get to be her sous chef while she works with my food. 🙂  You don’t want to miss this quality mommy piggy time!

She starts off washing my seedless grapes.  Those things are sinfully delicious.  She pats them dry and sometimes one or two may fall on the floor right in front of me.  Funny how that happens.  She pulls all of the magnificent grapes off of their stems, puts them in one of my containers and puts it in the magical food box.  Last night, one of them rolled under the kitchen table.  Mom was laughing because all she could see was my little butt shaking in the air trying to go for the grape.  I’m glad I was such amusement for her.

Then mom preps my carrots.  Mom says that I *must* have been a bunny in a former life because I LOVE my carrots.  They are also scrumptious.  She cuts all of them in tiny matchbox sticks and puts them in my giant ziplock baggie.  Of course, I get to try some, you know for quality purposes.  These also go in the magical food box.

Then mom does my salad mix.  I’ve never seen such huge heads of lettuce before.  She cuts it all up in tiny bite size pieces and puts it in two of my giant ziplock bags.  And, of course, for quality purposes I get to try some.  I have to make sure that it tastes good, right?  Again, this goes in the magic food box.

Lastly, mom fixes my favorite… okay all of them are my favorites.  My favorite though is the personal size watermelon.  Thud.  I really do love me some watermelon – from the juice, the melon and the rind.  They are divine.  She cuts all of my melon up, including the rind, and puts it in two of my canisters.  I of course get to try it… for quality assurance.  I did see dad in there last night trying it as well for quality assurance.  See, everyone wins during prep night.  She puts this in the big magic food box and she’s done for the next two weeks.

Of course, I eat other things as well but these are all snack and supplements to my piggy chow.  There is the occasional apple mom cuts up for me.  And then there is popcorn night!  Who doesn’t like popcorn night?  I can hear that corn popping on the stove all the way in my bedroom.  I’ll come running down the hall to get to the kitchen on popcorn night.

After all of this quality assurance during prep night, I disappeared while mom was cleaning the kitchen.  She finally found me though.  I was curled up hiding in my blankie on the couch. My belly was so nice and warm… and full.

 

Shopping Around the World

This month we received a suggestion from our friends Reilly and Denny with Cowspotdog. This month we are pricing FIVE items from two different stores for price comparisons in your area.  Now, we are going to make this kind of easy.  FIVE items of your choice in making a meal.  Of course, you can use more than FIVE items to make your meal but you have to price comparison shop FIVE items from TWO different stores.

---

We here at the Hotel Thompson have been trying to eat better these days and with it being so darn hot, we have been eating a lot of salads.  With that in mind, we took this month’s shopping adventure with the makings of one of our favorite week day meals.

1 – Head of lettuce.  It’s funny how the price of a head of lettuce fluctuates so much.  We went to Kroger where it was 0.99 a head.  Publix had it for $1.19 a head.

2 – Seedless Grapes.  We got a small bag of red seedless grapes, 1/2 pound, at Kroger on sale for $1.19 a pound.  At Publix, they had the same for $2.39 a pound.

3 – Shaved Ham.  Don’t tell Bacon okay.  We got the store brand low sodium ham shaved at the deli at Kroger for $4.99 a pound.  Publix brand for the same was $6.99 a pound.

4 – Cheese.  We buy the block of cheese from Kraft and cut and shred what we need.  A block on sale this week at Kroger was $2.50.  Publix also had it for $2.50.

5 – Strawberries.  In the summer time, it’s a fight for fresh strawberries.  We love them and they are one of Bacon’s favorites.  I like to slice them up and put them in salads.  We bought a package from Kroger for $2.50.  The same package at Publix was $4.99 this week.

Things also in this salad were chopped pecans and tossed with Catalina Dressing.  The all time perfect summer salad in this Georgia heat!

Hope everyone had fun this month – I know we did!