The Food Update Begins

After all that, you're probably getting anxious to hear about my week. Well, maybe not, but you're back to read some more, so I'll share with you while you're here! ;)

It all started on Sunday afternoon when we went to one of our local farmer's markets which I had been planning on doing for a while and it finally fit our schedule. I knew there was a farmer there that sold large bags of produce for $10 and I had intentionally planned on getting the ingredients we'd need for canning salsa for that price. I was a little disappointed to find that they didn't really have all the things I'd need, but I still took advantage of the offer to get as much as I could and also get a large amount of higher priced produce items. Around here, bell peppers aren't very affordable, but they seem to go in so many recipes. I loaded up a bunch of peppers to begin with (some of them would be used for the salsa too), then I got some onions, tomatoes, more bell peppers, green beans, lettuce, poblano peppers (for the salsa), more tomatoes, more peppers, and broccoli until the bag was full. When we got home and unloaded my bag this is what we ended up with:

I think we counted up 15 bell peppers (I found one more after I took this picture). Those alone around here would have cost me more then $10 at the grocery store and I got all the rest of it too! Just thinking about it gets me excited again. I love a good deal, it's like my "drug"! ;) 

I instantly got busy getting these things ready to be stocked up and ready to be used later in the year. I chopped some of the bell peppers up to be used for the salsa and other recipes, then I cut a bunch of them lengthwise to keep for fajitas. I blanched and peeled all the tomatoes, cored and chopped them for salsa or other canning recipes, chopped the onions either for the fajitas or diced and ended up with: 

Each of these items was in smaller freezer bags, stored in 1 Cup measurements for easy use for future recipes.

The "fajita packs" have two different kinds of peppers and onions chopped and ready to be added to the meat we chose on fajita night. All I'll need to do is add it to the pan after the meat is cooked, add the seasonings and dinner is ready. I could easily use it for a stir fry or other meal too if I wanted to. It's so convenient for the dinner-in-a-hurry-nights. 

This got me started on what would turn out to be a deal-seeking, convenience-making week that hopefully will help me beat even more odds at the grocery store this winter!