If life gives you (giant) lemons...

When we were in California, we picked lots of citrus and avocados from the hub's aunt's farm, so recently we've been making all sorts of citrus-y things: Blood Orange Tarts, Citrus Cupcakes, Lemon & Shrimp Pasta, Orange and Beet Salads, Citrus Pancakes, Avocado and Grapefruit Salads, Orange Juice, Margaritas (you knew it was coming), and who knows what else - oh yeah, Limoncello.

But I just had to show you guys this monster lemon that my hubs picked while we were there. To fully illustrate how ginormous this is, I thought it would be good to show some comparisons.

A regular lemon.

My hand. (Don't look at the spot on my counter.)

We jokingly have been shouting "Go long!" with the accompanying tossing and catching motions for a couple weeks now, as we've been saving this football lemon for last.

FWF: Week 3

Slowly but surely I'm getting a bit better at this. Total food waste this week was not as bad as previous, but I still have a long way to go until there is no waste.

So, what went bad?

1/2 c. chicken stock. I made a creamy gravy for raviolis and didn't know what to do with the remaining half. I was using it for the gravy because it was already getting to the point where it would need to go, and I didn't have anything that needed stock coming up to eat. It's homemade, so the cost to us is negligible. Old chicken bones don't really cost a thing, and makes about 20 cups. So, this half cup, while I'm sad to see it go, isn't a tragedy.

a bit of lettuce. Just a few bites really. I'd say less than half a serving.

1 c. coleslaw. I made a whole cabbage worth of coleslaw last week, and I have to say that while I do feel bad about wasting this, it's not a huge cost and it's more of the coleslaw than usually gets finished.

2 scones. I made scones last week as part of a Club Baked recipe pick. All was going well, except that I didn't realize how quickly they would develop what appeared to be mold. The hubs and I were both unsure if it was really mold or just butter and flour, but we didn't want to risk it. Sadly, two scones bit the dust. Note to self: make half recipes when baking.

Still a ways to go, but feeling better about getting the hang of this. Grocery bill this week: $1.67. I ran out and bought bread because I wanted french toast but was feeling a bit lazy and didn't want to wait for bread to get made at home. I feel like next week will be a doozy.

FWF: Week 2.

This week I still had some serious food waste.

a potato. I could salvage quite a few potatoes nearing their end, but this one just didn't make it. Luckily it was a little guy, so I feel a bit less bad. 

lettuce. I knew this one would be a challenge. Usually we eat up salads for lunch, but my husband's work schedule changed and he didn't end up taking his lunch to work, which meant I had too much lettuce. Should have eaten more dinner salads.

a mango. No excuses. Should have cut it up and put it on the above lettuce and called it a salad.

leftover tart dough. I made a half recipe of dough, but it didn't come out quite right. I re-made it for my Blood Orange Tart, put the funky dough in the fridge thinking, maybe I can fix it, but I didn't...

snow peas. Made these for the hubs lunch. He ate most of them, but had some leftovers, which never got eaten.

a clove of garlic. You know the one. The odd ball one in an otherwise beautiful bulb that just is bad from the moment you bring it home. I call not my fault.

And, I still have a fridge full of food. I've been using up the veggies and fruit we were gifted on our recent California trip, and supplementing with some things from the market.

A no-so-surprising bonus of participating in FWF is that I have become more responsible with not only using everything up (which stretches everything further), but also in buying less to begin with. Our grocery bill this week totaled 39.70. Over $5.00 of that was for a jar of martini olives (we all have our vices, no?). I know many people who spend less on groceries, for bigger families, but for us, this was a decent week. And I imagine next week will be even lighter, in waste and in spending.

Check out The Frugal Girl to see how other people did this week. 

Club Baked: Nutella Scones

My mom has always tried to instill healthy eating habits in me. We had rules in our house. One sweet thing a day, no cereal with more than 11g of sugar per serving. I was the only kid who read nutrition labels in the second grade. Grocery shopping included a lot of veggies and fresh foods. I got excited when I was able to pick out a new fruit to try because I knew I wouldn't get away with sneaking Bubbalicious into the cart. Eyes in the back of her head, she said. She cooked our meals, which I never thought was abnormal until I went away to school.

Fast forward to college: Shopping with my roommate senior year, she mentioned that she wanted meatballs. So, I steered our cart towards the meat section. She looked at me like I was crazy and asked, "Where are you going?" I told her to the meat section, so she could get meat for meatballs. She then introduced me to the frozen foods section, two whole aisles of food that is already made. And then pointed out the meatballs. In a bag. Ready to be eaten. (Did you also know they made french toast like that? Sheesh, the education I got that day.)

So, I immediately text my mother (who I think might still have this text message): "You did not prepare me properly for the world. Did you know that they have meatballs already made in the freezer section? They make lots of things already made. How could you not tell me this?" I'm paraphrasing, of course, but that was the gist of it.

Her response of course, was that I could make my own meatballs, freeze them individually on parchment paper and then bag them up to have my own ready made meatballs in the freezer. Totally missing the point that you could buy them that way.

Anyways, that whole meatball intro was to help you understand my culinary background and it's lack of processed foods. And the fact that I've never in my life had Nutella. 

Deprived. I know.

Anyhow, now that I am all old and grown, I have this pesky milk allergy and I can't have Nutella. (Thanks Mom, seriously, all those years that I missed out.) So, for the Club Baked Nutella Scones recipe, I made the "Hazelnut Spread" recipe that was found in the cookbook. And my loving husband said that it does not taste like Nutella. Great...

Despite that fact, I continued on and made the scones. I actually love scones. They are easy to put together, quick to make, and can have almost any flavor, sweet or savory. These are no exception in ease of preparation and the flavor is nice. A chocolate scone with a layer of Nutella (or, in my case, hazelnut spread) running through, topped with another drizzle of Nutella and crushed, toasted hazelnuts.

My only complaint: These are dry. I get that scones are dry. But I guess I got spoiled with the scones recipe from the Sweet Melissa Baking Book, my preferred scone recipe that makes a lovely, as moist as a scone can be, scone.

All in all, these weren't bad. And I'm glad I got to try sort of, almost, but not quite Nutella.

This recipe was hosted by Lorraine, so go over and check out her blog for the recipe.  Check out the Baked site for the other baker's takes on this one!

**We were recently at a party with the hub's co-workers and their families. One of the other girls said something about wanting almond butter, and did I know anywhere to get it, to which I replied "Just make it." Not realizing that this was weird until the hubs called me out on it. Outcast for life. Thanks, Mom.

It was a wild time...

During our weekend in California, we stopped at the San Diego Zoo. It was a hilarious time, and we will definitely have to make a second (or third!) trip as it was too big to take in in just one day. Plus, I totally want to do the "Skyfari."

 

 I loved that Jessica was "The Queen." The hubs thought that it was hilarious that she had a "big appetite."