Save on Groceries, Save on Gas

The Market in Anacortes and Everson,  and Whatcom County Cost Cutter and Food Pavilion stores have introduced Pump Perks as the newest, most innovative way to save on both groceries as well as gas.

Customers are invited to sign up at participating stores for a Pump Perks card.  Then, shop at these stores, purchasing products identified with the Pump Perks logo and receive the per gallon savings shown on the shelf tag.  There are thousands of Pump Perks savings in our stores every day, in every department.  There's no limit to what you can earn!

The per gallon savings are tracked on the customer's Pump Perks card, and add up with every visit. 

At participating local fuel stations, insert the Pump Perks card at the pump, and actually watch the pump price roll back, saving on gas!  

Participating stores are The Market at Anacortes, The Market at Everson, Cost Cutter at Meridian, Sunset, Lakeway, Ferndale and Blaine, plus Food Pavilon in Lynden and Southside. 

So, there have been reports out this week about scientific studies linking shorter lifespans to consumption of more red meat.  It seems like every day brings yet another  food-related concern, be it pondering whether fructose syrup is the new food bad guy, or if dark chocolate does more than turn around a bad mood. (I vote yes on all good things attributed to dark chocolate.) 

I'm certainly not a scientist, and have no way to quantify any of these studies.  What I do is scan them, tuck them away, and go back to my default position: moderation in all things.  Maybe eating mackerel every day isn't the best approach if you want to cover all your bases.  But, do you really want to eat the same food all the time anyways?

I sure don't!  In a time when we're all thinking about trimming our budgets, food is one of the best , most inexpensive ways to add zest, interest, excitement and even drama to daily life. 

This is a roundabout way of telling you how I had a nice flank steak I decided to marinate last night in soy sauce, lime, sugar and garlic, intending to broil it, slice it and make lettuce wraps with cellophane noodles, a sort of Asian-inspired meal.  But I took a U-turn into thinking about Mexico and how it might be to visit there...and it morphed into a hearty beef fajita dinner with a Northwest twist of whole-grain tortillas stuffed with fresh avocados, sauteed green peppers and onions, plus heapings of shredded cheese and really hot salsa.  Yum!  I'll get back to the lettuce wraps another time, but last night, that meal was simple, satisfying and made everyone happy. And that's got to count for something, health- and otherwise.

Enjoy these moist, king-sized meatballs topping a mound of red sauce and your favorite pasta or adorning a big homemade sub sandwich.  Excellent, too, all by themselves!

Ingredients

• 1 pound extra lean ground beef
• 1 16-oz. container ricotta cheese
• 1 egg, beaten well
• 1/2 cup fine bread crumbs or panko crumbs, seasoned
• salt and pepper to your taste
• l clove garlic, well-chopped

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Peppers
• 3C mushrooms-stems trimmed
• 4T olive oil
• 4T unsalted butter
• 1 lemon cut into small wedges
• 4T minced garlic
• 1 tsp dried whole thyme
• 1 tsp San Pedro season salt

Ingredients

• 6 salmon steaks ¾-1 inch thick
• San Pedro season salt to taste
• Olive oil or non-stick spray
• 6 T Basil pesto (recipe below)

Basil Pesto

Ingredients

• 1 cup basil leaves (stems removed)
• 2 cloves garlic
• ½ cup toasted pine nuts
• 1 cup asiago or parmesan cheese (grated)
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp pepper
• ½ tsp fruit fresh (opt)
• 1 cup olive oil (plus a little more for storage)

March is full of special food days.  For example, Friday is National Ravioli Day (think red sauce), and we just passed Oatmeal Cookie Day yesterday.  Of course, St. Patrick's Day has all kinds of food-related memories:  a juicy corned beef, chunky soda bread with currants, green beer...but we digress.

Monday is a day that probably needs a boost: National Chip and Dip Day.  What better time than cold, fickle March, in the midst of the basketball madness, to settle in with a big bowl of chips --- flavored or not --- and a tasty homemade dip?

Some people go for  thick, almost spreadable dips, like the smoked salmon/green onion/cream cheese version,  which requires a hearty chip to hold all the goodies.  Others go for the classic mid-50s fave, the sour cream and dried onion soup melange, which adapts itself quite easily to any kind of carrier you might have around.  And it gets better after sitting for 24 hours (refrigerated, of course!)

Dips are a little special treat you can give yourself and your family and they're easy to make from scratch, easier still to pick up in our stores.  Right now, I'm heavily involved with an uber-dip, the wonderful guacamole, which I prefer especially spicy.  Sometimes, I like a messy, drippy cheese and refried bean mix, baked in the oven, really gooey.  I include dips like hummus into the category, and those creative dips, like the spinach and water chestnuts blended with cottage cheese, served up in a big round of sourdough bread.  Parmesan and artichokes?  Pumpkin, cinnamon and just a hint of cream cheese?  What's your favorite nosh when you're got the attention of a big bag of chips?  (And even though it's National Chip and Dip Day, sometimes it's just right to sub out fresh veggies for those chips.)

Ingredients

• 2 c Mayonnaise
• 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 2 tbsp chopped parsley
• 2 tbsp chopped thyme
• 2 tbsp chopped savory
• 2 tbsp chopped chives
• 2 tbsp chopped rosemary
• 2 tbsp minced garlic
• 2 tbsp soy sauce

I was chopping up some fresh, emerald-green cilantro to adorn and flavor my green chile stew, savoring its unique scent...but wait!  I was reminded by a recent foodie report that there are some people who absolutely detest the smell of cilantro.

Surprising?  I think of cilantro (also known as coriander) as a hallmark scent and flavor for Tex-Mex foods, Asian dishes and even omelettes and fritattas.  But this report (and isn't there a report for just about everything you'd want to know?) said that some people find cilantro to have a noxious, soapy smell that drives them away from any food containing this summery herb. 

It doesn't smell like soap to me, fortunately, because I can't get enough of it, and add it to all kinds of foods, though always at the end of cooking, since heat seems to make its readily-identifiable flavor kind of bland. 

So, how do you like your cilantro, or does it make you cringe?  I haven't tried dried cilantro, but I always include some in my window herb garden.  When I add it to posole or even scattered over a jalapeno-studded cornbread, it's pure dining pleasure.

Spring is around the bend in Western Washington, which means it’s time to plan your garden. Growing your own food is fun and rewarding, and it can help offset the rising cost of food (and everything else). If you haven’t set foot in your garden yet, you may have some catching up to do.  Here’s a list of things to do around the garden in March:

Clear out any winter weeds that grew in while you weren’t watching.

Till your soil only if it’s dry enough (if it crumbles in your hand into smaller pieces it’s ready, but if it compacts and stays in large clumps – wait until it’s a little drier

After tilling your soil, fertilize your garden and mix in compost. Try a bag of fertilizer with 15-10-10 or a 6-10-7 (percentages of nitrogen-phosphate-potash) at around a pint per 30 square feet. Just get whatever fertilizer is inexpensive (and non-synthetic). For your compost, use last years grass clipping and food scraps – or buy a bag.

Prune and feed your roses.

If you haven’t started cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower indoors – start them now with a fluorescent lamp. Also start tomatoes, pepper and eggplant indoors under lamps.

Outside, sow beets, chard, lettuce, onions, peas, potatoes, radishes, spinach and turnips.

This is a lot of work, and there’s much more to do – so plan ahead and break it up into sessions. If possible, get friends and family involved in your garden, it’s less work and more fun. Now get out there and see what grows!