Spending wrap up: The only non-grocery related expenditure was $4 to attend campus sporting event.

I am so frustrated with buying bad / moldy/ rotten food from the grocery store. This seems to happen to me at least once a month. Here’s the latest offense:

I was all set to make this recipe for Chipotle Macaroni and Cheese .
The pasta was cooking, the vegetables were chopped, the oven pre-heated, and then I went to open the brand new package of cheddar cheese (expiration date in February 2007) to find it all covered in mold. Uggh. I will take it back to the store, but the inconvenience is a bigger issue to me than the lost $2 (well, let’s say equally annoying).

The wheels for this meal were already in motion. Stopping the preparation or running to the store for more cheese are equally unappealing in such a situation. I ended up asking Mr. Bean to watch the pasta while I ran to a nearby store for another block of cheese. Unfortunately, the store where this cheese was purchased was not as convenient to run out to, so the icky cheese remains sealed in a Ziploc in the fridge until it's convenient to take it back. I know I could have cut away from the mold and still used it, but the cheese was BRAND new, so I will take it back and get another.

Anyway, the recipe was quite tasty and will make it again. Like other recipes with chipotle peppers, you don’t need an entire can. I typically freeze the leftovers, thaw for later use, re-freeze, etc. I don’t find that the quality suffers with the thawing / re-freezing.

Saturday evening friends invited us over for dinner and asked that we bring a loaf of bread to go with the lasagna they were making. I wasn’t planning on going to the store, so I made this Rosemary Focaccia. I made a few changes that were suggested in the recipe reviews, namely adding: 1 tsp Italian herbs, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp dried rosemary to the dough in addition to what was already called for. Before baking, I gave the top a healthy dose of sea salt. Tasty and easy—my favorite type of recipe! Since a decent loaf of bread usually costs $3-4 dollars I’ll also add in frugal.

Enjoy what’s left of the weekend everyone!


MOLDY CHEESE SAGA UPDATE: I followed Yummy64's advice and called Kraft. The representative said they would send me a re-imbursement. This was much better than toting it back to the store and having the 16 y/o clerk look at me like "Who is this crazy person who carries moldy cheese around for a $2.57 refund"! Today is garbage night so the moldy cheese is now at the curb waiting for its date with destiny.