Again with the food stuff.

Ok so maybe I am turning this into a food blog, lol. The thing is, we're so broke that we're cooking at home. No eating out. So food is taking up an even greater percentage of my day than it used to. Plus, it's the holidays so there are some things in my fridge that wouldn't normally be there. Oh, and it's finally cold, so the comfort food and baking has seen a huge increase. I scheme at 4am what I can make for meals that involve turning on the oven. What can I say? I'm easily amused. What was I talking about again?

Oh yeah! BRUSSELS SPROUTS!!! I hear you groaning. Shush. These aint your soggy, slimy, mushy, overcooked piles of goo your gramma used to make you eat. These. Are. Delicious. It's simple really. Toss fresh brussels sprouts that have had the stems trimmed and yellow leaves removed with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast in a baking pan in 425 degree oven, shaking to keep them from sticking every 7-9 minutes-ish, until they turn brown and a little crispy looking. It took ours about 40-45 minutes but reviews of similar recipes ranged anywhere from 15-75 minutes so watch them. If your sprouts are particularly large, cut them in half. If you're feeling particularly bold add some parmesan cheese to the tossing step. De-lish.

When buying fresh Brussels Sprouts, be ready to explain what they are and what you do with them. I guarantee they don't sell tons of them.

While I'm on a "say nice things about nice people" blog kick, I'd like to give a shout out to the Dierberg family of Direbergs markets. I have a Shop N Save 2 blocks from my house. I have a Schnucks up the road at Loughborough. I have an Aldi across the street from Shop N Save. Dierbergs, however (even though it is a couple of miles from home), shall henceforth be known as "The Only Place Gwen Will Ever Shop". Shop N Save is infuriating. They never have what I need, are consistently out of specific items I need, and I almost always come home with something that expired weeks ago and now has to be returned and exchanged. Aldi is great for a smattering of things but we keep getting fruit flies and it's usually due to aldi onions, of all things. I didn't realize fruit flies liked onions but apparently they do. Schnucks is just poorly laid out. My brain can't process the aisle down the center thing they have going on and I miss aisles and have to backtrack. Maybe that whole double-the-endcaps approach works from a selling-stuff perspective, but it cramps MY buying-stuff style so I don't like it. Most people, when I tell them that I prefer Dierbergs, scoff and go into a diatribe about how expensive it is. BUT IT'S NOT! I got 2 weeks of groceries, including STEAK today for $140. Included in that cost were Clementines (mmmmm), a small fake christmas tree, 2 dozen bottles of Vitamin Water, and STEAK, lol. More importantly, I got EVERYTHING I needed, don't have to go back, don't have to go anywhere else. Take THAT Schnucks and Shop N Save. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it. Good job Dierbergs! You rock!