After spending the entire day at the pool and piano lessons, I had to spend the evening getting ready for our big day tomorrow - Cooking with Rita! Rita is my real Italian friend from New York and I had invited her over to our house to teach me and the girls how to cook her authentic, Italian spaghetti sauce. If we were going to be eating at home for 30 days, why not make it great?
Tonight we had to shop for ingredients. On his way to a meeting, I sent my husband to Trader Joe's for a Two Buck Chuck - the affectionate name for the now $2.79 bottle of cookable, drinkable, enjoyable wine from Charles Shaw. I told him to buy two bottles. He came home with three.
Next we needed cheese. Rita originally recommended Parmigiano Reggiano, but later decided that Costco's Pecorino Romano would be a good, lower cost alternative. Because I literally had not been home the entire day, I bought the kids a cheap, tasty (although unhealthy) dinner at Costco. They were thrilled.
The cheese at Costco happens to be at the furthest corner of the store away from the front door. As I pushed the cart with four kids hanging and trailing, I realized a simple fact. They had way more energy than I did! When the five of us finally reached the checkout, the cashier looked at me incredulously. He said, "You came HERE, with all THAT HELP (the kids), for THIS?" Yes. Despite my better judgement, I had dragged four kids to Costco for one block of cheese.
We finished up our shopping at Kroger and two hours after venturing out, finally made it home with 8 ingredients!
Today's Spending:
Dinner for 5 at Costco: $8.55
Pecorino Romano: $8.81
Returned UnDelicious Apples to Costo: (+8.55)
Kroger: $22.31
Two Buck Chucks: $8.96