Ever have a day when you thought you'd seen it all, and then... well, you realize you haven't? I went to the grocery store yesterday. Grab a cart or a basket and follow me below the sweet potatoes, after a word from our sponsor...
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As I've tried to get a handle on what we eat here at Casa Brillig, I've noticed I purchase less Prepared food, and more Ingredients With Which To Prepare Food food. I've learned how to easily make ingredients I used to buy- boneless skinless chicken breasts and chicken stock, I'm looking at you. I find myself buying dry beans and making my own because I like the texture better, enjoy NOT having all that aluminum can recycling to haul out to the curb, and as with so many things, I can prep a large amount once and freeze the rest. If for some reason we've got store-bought as well as homemade sandwich bread in the house, both kids will fight over it... to see who does NOT have to eat the store-bought. Et cetera.
I obviously do still buy lots of things pre-made, even if I could make it myself, because Not Living In The 18th Century. Things like hard and soft taco shells, for example. Pasta sauce, although usually a simple tomato basil to which I can add fresh tomatoes and other stuff. And pasta to go with that sauce.
Because the Casa often runs short on time, if I'm cooking pasta I often cook more than we need and keep it in the fridge. When we need more, a quick pass through boiling water and it's good as new for our palates. I will do this as well with a box of the whole wheat pasta that my doctor prefers I eat and which no one else in the family likes. Cook once, get 3 or 4 portions ready in minutes when regular stuff is cooking for everyone else. Easy-peasy.
Sooo, at the store yesterday, as I wandered through the frozen food section trying to remember where the pierogies were, I see this:
The hell? I look at the back of the package:
So we now have a plastic package containing four individual plastic packages of pasta that must be steamed in a microwave for a whole
two minutes and
must be used by February 1st "for best results" at over $4/package. That works out to over $1/per serving. A 1lb box of penne containing 8 servings is $1 at every supermarket near me. Double the cost and really,
even if you don't do what I do and keep cooked pasta in the fridge, what's it take to prepare it... 15 minutes IF you count boiling water time?
Frozen individually-portioned pasta/rice/mashed potatoes. Prepackaged sliced apples. Even-more-processed-than-usual deli meat in "convenient" plastic tubs because we can't be bothered to wait at a deli counter to get our product in a less-wasteful plastic bag. This is why we can't have nice things here, I suspect... we're so obsessed with convenience that we forget there are other ways besides bags and boxes and premade to get reasonably quick meals. Add to it that making it yourself is waaaay cheaper, and it's a no-brainer to me.
Because there are lots of people who don't have a library of quick tricks, what are your favorite timesaving measures? What have you seen out there in the wide world of #ICan'tBelieveTheySellThat and #ICan'tBelievePeopleBUYThat?
One of my favorite time-saving measures is collaborating on Top Comments with BeninSC! Splitting the work makes it easy for both of us!
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From Village Vet:
In this comment, Lynn47 wonders about the pressure by Oklahoma GOP state reps on the state attorney to drop its half of the Nebraska and Oklahoma v. Colorado case (asking the Supreme Court to overturn Colorado's marijuana legalisation law), specifically if the decision was taken at 4:20.
From elenacarlena:
I'd like to nominate this comment by TomP, in response to Denise Oliver Velez' commentary "Hatin' on hoodies - revisited" in this afternoon's Black Kos, Tuesday's Chile. Funny and true!
From Yours Truly, brillig:
There are many great comments in brooklynbadboy's So the NYPD stopped working and nobody noticed, but zenbassoon gets my nod for this observation and the thread it created.
Joan McCarter's diary First planned Republican Obamacare vote: Taking insurance away from 1.5 million workers brings this witty timesheet query by looseleaf.
Top Mojo for Monday, Jan. 5, 2015, first comments and tip jars excluded. Thank you
mik for the mojo magic! For those of you interested in How Top Mojo Works, please see his diary
FAQing Top Mojo.
1) Suborning perjury. by jrooth — 128
2) Law abridges speech by cybersaur — 125
3) The power of the prosecutor to abuse is on display by crystal eyes — 104
4) Non-eyewitness & liar #40 by a2nite — 103
5) This must be unprecedented by Oaklander — 101
6) Malicious lack of prosecution? by ericlewis0 — 100
7) Wow! by weezilgirl — 95
8) the hotels can go pound sand by annieli — 95
9) It shows just how bad... by Shaun King — 92
10) Tripadvisor.com by Utahrd — 91
11) If he knew she was not there, that has to be by merrywidow — 86
12) PS. The Rule of Law by TomP — 84
13) American business should certainly chime in by Dog Chains — 82
14) It is a crime. by Shaun King — 81
15) The way I read it, the complaint cites several by Timaeus — 80
16) How come cheap motels can offer free wifi by LemmyCaution — 80
17) Excellent! by CwV — 80
18) Your support for the rightwing, neoliberal... by bobswern — 79
19) Overpaid and underworked. by TomP — 77
20) our lack of high speed rail in this country by Laurence Lewis — 75
21) Interesting! A public policy exception to by Inland — 74
22) I was cracking up that this was one sentence: by Jen Hayden — 72
23) It's OK by gjohnsit — 69
24) Marriott is bigger than hotels, by CwV — 69
25) It's a long shot at best, but I am glad they by TomP — 69
26) Thanks for reporting this. by Hillbilly Dem — 66
27) The hypocrisy of some folks is beyond the pale... by bobswern — 62
28) It appears it is the ACLU by Kristina40 — 62
29) Vinaigrette couldn't even save that salad. by jwinIL14 — 62
30) Apparently, this person is fine with the increase by elwior — 58
31) Bingo. by pasadena beggar — 58
2015-1-6 Top Comments with Pictures, courtesy of
jotter!