Stater Bros. New York Style Hot Italian Sausage Links

I'd have sworn Stater Bros. offered Sweet Italian sausage, but when I went there to pick up sausage specifically for the Number 1 Best Lasagna Recipe, they didn't have any available. That might be because I go to the smallest Stater's in the SoCal area. So I opted for Stater's Hot New York Style Italian Sausage.

The links were fresh and the ingredient statement not at all scary:

Ingredients: pork, water, seasonings (salt, dextrose, lemon extract, spice, spice extractives), sodium lactate.

A note about ingredient statements if I haven't mentioned it once before: many sites tell you that you shouldn't eat food that consists of ingredients in the statement you cannot pronounce. Personally, I can pronounce a lot of the components in many food items, and thus try to stick with foods consisting of the smallest list/statement possible. I think that's a better way to go anyhow. The more crap is listed, the more crap you'll be ingesting. Easy enough.

This ingredient statement essentially consists of pig, water, seasonings, and sodium lactate. Sodium lactate is used as a preservative/antimicrobial. And while you might say, "oh gee, golly, preservatives are bad," notice it is listed last in the statement (which means of all ingredients it is the least in quantity) and that it's the only preservative.

While I'm gun-shy about sausage in the first place due to my meat-packing plant background, I'm ready and willing to eat this sausage.

Available at Stater Bros. grocery stores for : $2.50/lb. Unfortunately for you East-Coasters, Stater's isn't out there.

Christy's Awesome Hot Ham and Cheese

Christy's Awesome Hot Ham and Cheese

I don't remember how I came across this recipe, but I did, and while I'd normally bypass a silly ham and cheese recipe, I didn't this time. For some reason, I thought I'd give this a go as it seemed really simple and simply tasty. Especially on some insanely good SunFlour Nine Grain bread. Did I tell you I love it? If not, I do. I'd marry it if I was the marryin' kind. Ok, so maybe not, but you get my drift. I really like this bread. Enough to prepare a ham sandwich from a recipe.

Christy's Awesome Hot Ham and Cheese
from allrecipes.com

2 slices whole grain SunFlour Nine Grain bread

2 tsp butter, or whatever it takes to butter one side of two slices
2 1 slices Swiss cheese
2 thin slices deli ham
1 tsp mayonnaise
1 tsp whole grain mustard

Preheat a skillet over medium-high heat. Spread one side of each slice of bread with about 1 teaspoon butter. Place one slice, butter-side down in the hot skillet.

Top with Swiss cheese and ham.

Spread the unbuttered side of the second slice of bread with mayonnaise and mustard; place it, butter-side up on top of the sandwich. Cook until the sandwich is golden brown and the cheese is melted, about 3 minutes per side.

Voila, that's it! Hot ham and swiss. All by itself.

Unless you just happened to make some Oven-Baked Fries. Which I did. Because I'm a potato fanatic. But that's neither here nor there.

Oh, now this couple should marry. They go great together.

The sandwich was good! I shall make this again, regularly. Usually when I make ham and cheese, it's just mayo. The ground mustard was certainly a good thing (said in my best Martha voice).

Cost:

• bread: $0.42
• ham: $0.44 (SWAG assuming 40 slices to a pound)
• swiss: $0.18 (SWAG assuming 20 slices to a pound)

Total: $1.04 to make a sandwich, neglecting mayo and mustard cost. Oh, and the butter. Let's just say it was $1.25. I'm cool with that.

SunFlour Nine Grain Bread

I've been shopping at Grower's Direct over a couple years now. And I only recently started purchasing bread there. When Rodney was here, he could plow through some bread, so we bought two-loaf packs from Costco. I barely get through a loaf in a few weeks.

When I looked more closely at the bread at Grower's Direct, I checked out the ingredient statement and was wowwed.

Looks like an ingredient statement for bread made at home, doesn't it? No weird sugars, no weird preservatives.

Best of all, it tastes great! It's perfect for making a decent sandwich as it is just soft enough, but still hardy enough, to withstand a nice buttering and skillet-grilling. I love this bread!

If you scoff because you don't think it wouldn't last more than a couple days like that one ciabatta I bought, you'd be wrong. Keep the bread in the bag it came in (be sure to close the bag by twisting or using a tie) and store it in the fridge. I can attest to the fact that you can eat this bread for at least a couple weeks before there is any moldy smell or visible mold. I love this bread!

Now I'm going to make a sandwich, excuse me.

Food Plan and Grocery List, 082710

Last week, I didn't have a plan.  I didn't even go to the store.  I didn't make that Number One Best Lasagna recipe. Honestly, I had plenty of lasagna in the freezer and I'd been eating that stuff almost too frequently, so wasn't exactly raring to go on that dish. I'm not sure I'm ramped up now to make it, but the basil and ricotta's not getting any younger.

Today, I was all motivated to get a bunch of stuff done.  I caught up on some blog reading via Google Reader, made it to The Hat for a cheeseburger, fry and Coke* lunch, swung by the dealership and had the oil changed and tires rotated on my tiny truck while I studied Korean, went to Costco and looked at cell phone plans** and re-upped on TP, PT and kitty litter, unloaded the stuff at home, caught up with my friend in Chicago on the phone, made a food plan, hit The Meat House, Grower's Direct, PetCo, and Stater Bros. And then I cleaned the fridge!

Whew!

The line-up this week, in no particular order:

• #1 Best Lasagna
• Andy's Spicy Green Chili Pork
• Christy's Awesome Hot Ham and Cheese

So I shopped:

The Meat House:

• Boar's Head Ham: $8.90/0.99 lb
• Boar's Head Swiss cheese: $3.67/~0.5 lb
• TOTAL: $12.57

Grower's Direct:

• lime: $0.17/0.24 lb
• cantaloupe: $1.34/3.44 lb
• green bell pepper: $0.49/0.41 lb
• Roma tomatoes: $1.37/1.54 lb
• avocado: $0.99 ea
• pineapple: $4.29/4.33 lb (should've bought one at Costco as they were $2.99 each!)
• white sweet corn-on-the-cob: $0.66/2
• Hot House cucumber: $1.49/ea
• romaine lettuce: $0.89/head
• white onion: $0.27/0.55 lb
• serrano peppers: $0.08/0.06 lb
• cilantro: $0.39/bunch
• Italian parsley: $0.39/bunch
• SunFlower Nine-Grain bread: $3.59/loaf (you should see the ingredient statement on this bread!)
• TOTAL: $16.41

Stater Bros.:

• Guerroro flour tortillas: $2.49/pack of 10
• Stater Bros 2% milk: $0.99/pint (why do I buy milk?  I keep thinking I'll eat Cheerios, but then I  never do. At least I'm buying it in smaller packages.)
• Herdez salsa verde: $1.99/16 oz
• pork butt roast: $4.94/2.5 lb
• Stater Bros. fresh hot Italian sausage links: 2.50/lb
• TOTAL: $12.91

083110, Smart & Final

• sweet onions: $2.99
• 3-pack of kitchen towels (black and white, my favorite!): $5.99
• Dole Mandarin Oranges: $5.89/3 kg, that's 6 lb and 10 oz
• TOTAL: $15.39

Grand Total: $57.28.

*I know fountain Coke has HFCS in it and the phosphoric acid in it will simply rot my teeth and bones, but Coke goes good with burgers and fries -- and unlike some yogurt brands, Coke doesn't market their cola as a healthy food.  I (like a junky) consider it a treat as I now have it quite infrequently

**Costco is offering a deal right now: sign up for a 2-year contract with Verizon and get, for each line, a free Samsung Intensity 2 manufactured with 35% post-consumer waste with slide-out QWERT keyboard (not that it makes any difference to me as I don't text), rebate for activation fees, a free car charger, a free BlueTooth, a free case. Basically, sign a contract for free and get a phone with multiple gadgets for free.  Why didn't I sign up right then as my ATT call quality sucks ASS?

How to Reheat Frozen Lasagna

30 minutes earlier, this lasagna was frozen solid.  And while it's not as ooey-gooey as a portion was when the lasagna was first baked, it tasted just as good!

Remember when I showed you how I wrap individual lasagna portions in order to freeze? No? That's ok, you can see it here.

Tonight, dinner pickin's were slim, so I reheated a frozen portion of lasagna to eat immediately.

First, I preheated the oven to 350°F.

From a bag of frozen lasagna slabs, I selected one and unwrapped it.


I removed the lasagna from the foil, put it on a plate and used the defrost option on my microwave to defrost it for about 3.5 minutes (or 3:30 in microwave language).


Once defrosted, I covered the plate with the same foil the lasagna was once wrapped in and reheated the slice in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes.


Just to make sure it was warmed through, I cut the lasagna in half with my fork after a few minutes of cooling, took a bite from the center and it was perfect.


Dinner was done within 30 minutes and required near-zero effort.  Man, I love lasagna.

Cost of Take-Out Lunch, Week Ending 082710

Nada, zero, zilch. I'm lovin' it!

In My Down Time

I've decided to take a Korean course. As a half-breed American/Korean, I feel it's only right.

As of today, September 28th, I'll be lucky to maintain my current "D".  Posting has been, and will continue to be even more, sporadic as I try to gain some sort of traction in this class. Thanks for your patience.