Kitchen woes

I hate grocery shopping. It's boring, usually crowded and I feel like I just buy the same things every week. Granted I have a lot of factors working against me: my kids are pretty picky eaters, my gift is not the culinary arts and we have no time to experiment with a bunch of new recipes. AND let's not forget that Tom hates cleaning up the kitchen after I have attempted to "cook". But I hate eating the same foods over and over again. I don't like creating meals. I just want to mix them. Take the pre-made bread, cut holes in the tops, pour in the soup and hola! You know, meals like that. Say, that is a good one. (Note to self, Weds. is soup bowl night.)

So I have attempted to find some joy in this weekly ritual. I have really gotten into the coupon shopping and challenge myself to beat my savings every week. I scour the weekly ads, clip coupons, print coupons, add discounts to my Kroger Plus Card from Cellfire, Shortcuts.com and CouponMom. That was entertaining for a couple of weeks. But it takes A LOT of effort. I probably spend two hours a week matching offers with sales and stores to create my weekly menu.

Wouldn't it be the BEST sales idea ever if in the weekly grocery adds, on those little side flaps they took all of their sale items and featured dinner recipes for each night of the week? Hot damn. I would be all over it. I would just start calling the store and having it delivered. Yes... I'll take your week of specials, no Monday and two Fridays, please? (note Kroger CEO's, this blog is dated. I WILL notice if you rip off this idea).

So this week I have created my own "sales specials" meals. Sorry in advance for the mess, hun.

My first attempt: poached chicken in an avocado sauce, sweet potato and carrot pancakes and a salad. See it sounds good on paper, but didn't really work out. 1. The chicken is suppose to be served cold. I am not so much of a fan of cold meat. 2. The pancakes turned out more like hash browns. I really need a grater. 3. NEVER, EVER serve my kids anything with a green sauce. You are just wasting your time. I forgot that little rule, but don't worry, I wrote it down this time.

My associate chefs were also feeling creative and broke out the easy bake over for some homemade pretzels.

This is a glimpse of the masterpiece before they went into the oven. They looked better coming out, but didn't taste very good. That wasn't the important part though. Rolling the dough was the best!! Or maybe it was painting them with the brown sauce. Either way it definitely wasn't the waiting for 10 minutes for every single pretzel to cook.