Adventures in Grocery Shopping

So the week following a vacation is pretty disorganized for whatever reason.  I think mostly because while leading up to vacation you don't want to buy stuff that'll expire/go to waste while on vacation. That in turn means you ain't got jack to eat when you get back. Which then means you have to grocery shopping. I for one actually love grocery shopping.  I mean let's not get crazy now- I still go/try to go at off times when other folks are either working and/or sleeping.

With the previous blog I had just gone for some toiletries- so no food was bought outside of those delicious wraps. So the grocery list had not been assessed or completed. Funny enough I only really plan and/or make lists for food. Mostly everything else I just wing as I'm not a very good planner- at least I don't feel that I am. I thank this food stuff very serious. I didn't choose the foodie life, the foodie life chose me. I'll pause here so you can get your groans, sighs, and/or polite laughs out of the way....go on it's okay...

I believe I've established that I'm a sucker for the word "NEW" on a product while pursuing the aisle of a grocery store. The first "new" item that caught my attention:

Pace Ready Meals: Fiesta Chicken and Rice

Now typically I'm not one for instant meals as I'm a fan of freshness...you might call me... (puts on sunglasses like that C.S.I guy)... the Fresh Prince. I mean it had a Mexican feel and was fairly cheap so decided to give it a shot. As the packaging says you microwave in 60 seconds and enjoy it.

Post Microwave heating

Honestly it was okay. I mean it wasn't terrible- I'm highly aware I'm not selling you on it being okay with that statement. It was one of those things that if you're in a time crunch and got nothing else/limited options it would suffice. Probably wouldn't buy this flavor again but would try another. As I tell Lily, you won't know unless you try it. She did not try it. Well played Lily. Well played indeed.

Another new item that I ran into was a new flavor of Oreo. Now it wasn't the crazy Swedish Fish flavor I saw folks posting about but if I ever run into them I will give them a shot. Instead I ran into these:

Fruity Crisp Oreo

Fruity Crisp Oreo was pretty damn good. Typically I'm not a big Oreo fan in general. Karen loves them but not so much the golden ones. This was no exception as she didn't care for them. I thought it was like eating a fruity pebbles/fruit loops cereal flavored creme cookie. Lily liked them too but I mean that's kind of expected so by default it doesn't count. I will say the possible deterrent would be based on your savory vs. sweet taste buds. If you're more savory type it can be overly sweet. I'm willing to bet these at least beat that Swedish Fish flavor one. Still best flavor per Karen is the mint Oreo. Per my recommendation has to be the Cinnabon flavored Oreo.

While on the topic of favorites and also a score from the shopping trip. These are my favorite chips- I dare say ever. They were on sale- some ridiculous 2 for $5 or cheaper. I don't remember but really doesn't matter as I would buy them if they weren't.

Krucher! Sweet Hawaiian Style Onion kettle chips

I found these many many years ago and tried them on a whim. I don't know what kind of GMOs, MSG, narcotics, or whatever they cook these with but they're addictive. Very distinct flavor with a nice balance of salty and sweet...in my mind Tina right now is saying "THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID".  I high recommend them and I'm fairly certain I've gotten folks addicted to them in the past. With that being said and me trying not to revert to Biggie form, I only buy them occasionally. In fairness they're only 140 calories a serving so overall not terrible.

On Facebook I saw a video from Tasty which had a recipe for sweet potato fries. Decided to give that a shot and bought some sweet potatoes. Interestingly enough I never liked sweet potatoes until around like 2005. Was never a fan of the taste or texture. One night Karen had made some baked sweet potato and for some reason I gave it a try and was like these are pretty damn good and became a fan. HIGH FIVE KAREN! Anyway the Tasty video that was posted can be found Tasty's Sweet Potato Fries

Prepping the sweet potatoes on a Watermelon themed cutting board. #gangsta

Mixing bowl action. Not a euphemism

Finish product

As a side to rotisserie chicken sliders Karen made

Turned out pretty good. I didn't add the parsley or Parmesan cheese at the end cause I thought it would take away from the flavor as oppose to add to it. I will say next time I do this I would do two things differently:

 

1) I would cut them into bigger pieces instead of smaller to space. Even though that looks like a lot of fries it actually would feed about 3-4 people as a side.

2) Wouldn't have put them on aluminum foil. Those ended up sticking pretty good to the foil. I think next time would just oil/butter the cookie tray, bake them directly on there, and then halfway flip them over.

They were pretty tasty...no pun intended. I would definitely make them again as they are a good alternative to frying. As a true foodie added them to the rotisserie chicken slider and BAM! WELCOME TO FLAVOR TOWN.

#FoodiePorVida,

Reef