What's On My Plate

Lately we've been going to the grocery store A LOT. And when I say A LOT, what I mean is every freakin' day. This is crazy for so many reasons. 

1. It is a waste of my time and Tim's time.

2. It is almost impossible to maintain a food budget when you shop that often. We definitely fall into the habit of impulse buying when we are there without a list. (side note: do not fall for the exceptionally well done Oreo Fudge Creams commercial. "Shut the front door" they are not that good.)

3. If we are grocery shopping everyday, we are not menu planning. If we are not menu planning, we are not eating as well as we should.

Today I am trying to get back on track. I menu planned this afternoon... well sort of. I decided I was not going to the grocery store everyday. Therefore I menu planned as I was driving to the grocery store. It is not the best menu I have ever written, but I did manage to buy all of the ingredients for the dishes I picked, and I remembered lunch food and breakfast food. 

Here's to getting back on track!

The first item on the list was the Farmer's Market Pasta made with the bounty from Saturday's Farmer's Market adventure. It looks much more beautiful than it was delicious. The Agretti was good, but will probably not make a reappearance on our table. The texture didn't soften enough. It had a grassy mouth feel, and I am not a cow. The baby artichokes were a huge disappointment. We have both had baby artichokes before and loved them. The beauty of a baby artichoke is that you can eat the whole thing. You don't need to peel them. You eat the leaves, the heart, the entire delicious goodness. The guy at the stand assured Tim that was the case with the ones he bought. They were beautiful and purple. They were also woody and tough. A basket of them was $3. Two extra large artichokes were $5. Lesson learned the hard way. What was scrumptious was the white wine lemon sauce that Tim created. It was so good we had to toast off some rolls to sop up every last drop!

So enjoy the lovely picture, but realize that not everything is as good as it looks.

What was shockingly good was the Cherimoya. The guy at the stand said it was a tropical fruit and the flavor was a cross between a pineapple and a banana. You cut it in half, scoop out the seeds, and eat it with a spoon.

 What we got was more mango, banana, vanilla custard than pineapple/banana. It was divine. The seeds are throughout, so you have to work at it the same way that you worked on a watermelon when you were a kid. But the fruit is so gentle that it feels like you are having dessert. You could not eat one of these everyday. It is way too rich. But you should experience it. Cherimoyas should be served ice cold.

A perfect fruit for the deck on a gorgeous summer afternoon.