Grocery shopping was not on my agenda for today. My plans were to make Zuppa Toscana (Olive Garden copycat) for canning. I didn't have enough Italian sausage but I figured I could use ground beef, and add the spices that go into making Italian sausage and that would work. I had just started browning the ground beef and Vince came in and said he was going to Walmart. He needed sand paper because he was going to work on the deck. He wanted to know if I wanted to go. No. I was going to can soup. He looked sad that I wasn't going to go so I said fine . . I'll go.
We ended up going to Walmart in our town, Walmart in Carthage, then to Aldi, then to get a salad at the hospital and then to get ice cream. By the time we got home and I got the groceries put away, I was tired and didn't want to make soup but I did. My knee feels great until I spend a couple of hours following Vince around through stores and then my knee doesn't feel great at all.
My first grocery post is here. It was posted on November 8 and I spent $53.83. I fully expected that I wouldn't be buying groceries again until the week of Thanksgiving and then it would be just a few things that I had missed because most of what we need for Thanksgiving has already been purchased.
This week I will probably spend a lot of time canning. I need to can a lot of beans. It all depends on how many jars I have but I need to can cannellini, pinto, great northern and baked beans. I also want to make split pea soup this week and maybe butter chicken sauce.
The grocery bill today was $46.52 and I got the following:
- Eggnog (one quart)
- Whole Milk (half gallon)
- GV Ginger Snaps (for a Thanksgiving dessert)
- Sweet Potatoes (for a Thanksgiving recipe and Vince loves them. I will sometimes bake three or four at once and then he will heat them in the microwave when he wants one.)
- Onions (I didn't really need them this week but the 3 pound bags were on sale so I got two. Whatever I haven't used by Thanksgiving, I'll chop and freeze dry.)
- Boneless Ham (24 oz. uncured fully cooked and sliced). We use those a lot for breakfast, sandwiches and ham salad. I'll also add a bit of ham to the split pea soup I'm going to can this week. I have ham broth that I will add also.
- Lemons (2 pound bag).
- Split peas (three one pound bags) For the soup.
patti. not all copycat recipes taste like the original, if this one does could you tell me which one it is? ty, it's soup weather now for for the next couple of months. last nite was ham hock and beans, and early next week is tortilla soup!
ReplyDeleteSame here - I love soup weather!
DeleteSince I make mine for canning, it is a bit different. I use chicken broth in it for canning; then when I'm ready to serve it, I will drain the broth into the pot and simmer it down (without cooking the potatoes more than they need to be cooked), then add the cream and dump the kale, potatoes and meat into the simmering broth/cream. I haven't eaten at Olive Garden in so long that I have no idea how close it is to their recipe.
ReplyDelete