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.

 

Travels in the South

Surprise – surprise – surprise.  Just goes to show you that every once in a while mom listens to her body…. especially when it screams, “Eat a salad sometimes!” LOL

Last weekend, mom/dad went out for brunch.  We won’t discuss what daddy ate – probably another hamburger – snorts with piggy laughter.  But mom got a salad and I have to say it looked pretty darn good to me.  It had all of the regular stuff – croutons, red onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, shredded cheese with light Thousand Island dressing.

See mom can be good…. at times.

 

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

Friends, this is a great one today.  I know – I know.  I say that every week on my Travels in the South.  But listen – every week I think there is absolutely no way that mom/dad can top the week’s prior Travels in the South.  And every week, this little oinker is wrong.  Right after mom’s accident (4 weeks ago today), she was feeling really icky and low.  So dad treated her to this masterpiece.  What is it you ask?

Daddy was speaking with the owner of a local restaurant that we go to a lot and was telling him that mom needed something to pick her up.  The manager sent over this creation on the house.  This is called Goo Goo Crunch pie.  It has layers of chocolate fudge, peanut butter mousse and a nougat cream topped with caramel, chocolate sauce, fresh whipped cream and oh yeah – chopped up Goo Goo Clusters.  Can you say insanely wicked good?! Daddy said that he could tell it was good.  Not by the smile on mom’s face.  Nope.  Daddy said he could tell by the groans coming from mom.  Oh my piggy heavens.  Watch out Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan.  Daddy said mom had you beat on this day – snorts with piggy laughter!

 

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

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.

 

Shopping Around the World

Thanks to everyone for another great edition of Shopping Around the World last month.  It’s so awesome to see the various prices around the world – and the pictures with recipes!

This month we are concentrating on salads and I present to you mom’s salad.  It has a little bit of everything and mom/dad eat these several times during the week as their meal at night.  Hope you enjoy it!

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What you Need:

1 head of lettuce ($0.98); package of grape tomatoes ($0.99); croutons (package $1.19); shredded cheese (package $2.49); Cucumber ($0.98); sliced ham (2.49 for quarter pound); mushrooms (pack $2.49); chopped walnuts ($2.49 pack); Catalina Dressing ($1.49)

Everyone knows how to put together a salad.  What’s interesting is what people put ‘in’ their salads.  AND if this is what’s for dinner, you want the salad to be hearty.  Mom/dad eat this salad usually 3-4 times during the week, especially here in the Summer where it’s just too hot to cook anything on the stove or in the oven.

Now mom will change it up sometimes and use chicken from the night before instead of ham, or sometimes she even puts spicy pickles in the salad.  It just depends on what ingredients you have on your hand.

Mom fixes an entire bucket of salad and keeps it in the refrigerator for us at night.  And yes, even I eat salad – wouldn’t you with all of these ingredients?  Except mine doesn’t have ham – you know for obvious reasons but chicken night we all win.

When you think about the ingredients above averaging out for 2 people and 1 pig (snorts) over 4 nights, it only equals out to $3.90 for each dinner night.  Now that’s not bad at all!

 

Shopping Around the World

Thanks to everyone for another great edition of Shopping Around the World last month.  It’s so awesome to see the various prices around the world – and the pictures with recipes!

This month we have a suggestion from my brother Easy.  This month we are highlighting PASTA – what is your favorite PASTA dish?  How do you make it?  What kind of noodles do you use?  What is in your PASTA?  There is no limit count on ingredients – Share your recipe and picture!

I’m going to let mom take care of this recipe this month – she mumbled something to me about not being around while she cooked it.  So we all know what that means.  It must contain P.O.R.K.  Snorts with piggy laughter – take it away mom.

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One of our favorite pasta dishes to make here at the Hotel Thompson involves Cavatappi pasta – which translated from Italian means corkscrew.  As you can see by looking at the shape of the pasta – it does have the twisted look.

So we take a box of Cavatappi and put it on to boil in a pan (a box of Cavatappi is $1.00 for the entire box and that’s a lot of food!).  In doing this so we add salt to the water and a little oil so the pasta doesn’t stick.  Now some peeps will argue about the oil and the salt – you do what you think is best.  Here I prefer to do this.  While the pasta is boiling, you are going to fix the base of the pasta.

In a skillet you are going to add some thick cut chunked pancetta – which is an Italian bacon made from the pork belly that is salt cured and seasoned.  If you don’t have pancetta, regular chopped up bacon or chunks of leftover ham will do.  Cook it until brown.  (Pancetta can be a little pricey – we always keep some in the freezer.  We usually will get two pounds at a time at $10.99 per pound.  For this recipe, we will use an entire pound – $10.99)

When finished, add some chopped tomatoes, pepper, a few pepper flakes and oregano (or any other seasonings you want) to the party.  (Seasonings are something we usually keep on hand and tomatoes run us $0.99 a pound – a pound for this recipe).  Let this all marry together and by this time, your pasta should be al dente.  Drain your pasta and add it straight to your skillet.  Mix all of these ingredients together and let simmer for about 5 minutes.  Right before serving, top with freshly grated parmasean cheese (we also keep this on hand and it ranges $4.99 for a pound – use as much as you want)

Total cost for the meal is around $14.00 and this meal will last us several nights for the two of us.  In the long run, the price far outweighs the servings.

 

Blogger Action Day – Year of the Bean

Today my friends at WhattheDucks is celebrating Blogger Action Day in Celebration of Year of the Bean!  This is what their blog said on 1/27/2016:

“To join in, all you have to do is post something about beans, legumes or pulses on your own blog that day .  Share a recipe, upload a photo, write an ode to a chickpea!  Beans are good & blogging is good fun.  Hope to hear from as many bloggers as possible.  Even if some folks don’t know beans about beans, maybe you do!  Happy Year of the Bean, peeps!”

With that being said and being from the South – you just know that my mom is going to celebrate The Black-Eyed Pea.  Black-eyed peas are a staple here in the south.  On the first day of the new year, you have to serve them and collard greens for dinner.  It’s a tradition.  It’s thought by doing so, it brings prosperity to the new year.  And between you and me, mom makes sure they are on the table… you know just in case.

Now dad is not a huge fan of the black-eyed pea.  Therefore mom has to ‘doctor’ them up and give them such a flavor that dad eats an entire dish and then says that was wonderful without knowing what he ate… snorts – sounds like my mom huh?  Well, I’m going to head out because mom says that I don’t need to know how these are cooked.  She has a glint in her eye and I’m thinking it involves pig.  So here you go my friends – mom’s recipe.

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Now, I wasn’t able to make these before today – I know – I know.  There’s been so much going on here at the Hotel Thompson that it’s been unreal.  But I wanted to share with you my recipe for these wonderful understated beans.  Now this picture to the right is off of the internet under a google search of images.  Doesn’t it look amazing?!   They really are – if you’ve never tried them, you *must* at least once.  Now, I’ve asked Bacon to leave the blog because it does involve P.O.R.K. products which we don’t use here unless Bacon is out for the day.  Here’s the recipe to my Spicy Black-Eyed Peas:

UPDATE:  Lori brought it to my attention a very important step that my fast fingers left out – LOL.  The day before you make this recipe, you want to soak your package of black-eyed peas.  Shaking my head – how could I leave this step out?  What I do is the night before, before I go to bed I take a pot and fill it with water and add some salt.  I pour the package of black-eyed beans in the water – enough to cover – and then put the lid on the pan.  I leave this pan on the counter over night while we sleep.  The next day, I will drain them dry for cooking them at brunch/lunch.  The beans absorb the water softening them for cooking this recipe.t

Take 4 slices of any type of bacon that you like.  We prefer the thick cut or pancetta – which ever you have on hand.  I find it easier to go ahead and cut the bacon into small pieces and fry up in your iron skillet – we all have one here in the south 🙂  Once the bacon is done, scoop it out of your skillet and put on a napkin to drain the excess fat.  Put this aside for later.

Take one 16 ounce package of dried black-eyed peas that you have washed and add them to iron skillet that still has your bacon drippings.  Add fresh or a 12 ounce can of diced chilies and stir the two together. Add fresh or a 12 ounce can of diced tomatoes.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Add 3 cups of water and combine everything together.  Cover the skillet and cook for approximately 1 hour.   Now some people also add a diced onion to the party – we don’t here because Jim doesn’t care for them.  It’s a personal preference what you put in your beans.  While they are cooking, I will usually make some cracklin’ cornbread.

When the beans are done, scoop them out into a bowl and top them with some of your crumbled bacon.  Enjoy.