Tag Archives: grocery shopping

May13

Simple Dinner: Homemade French Bread Pizza

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Simple Dinner: Homemade French Bread Pizza

Hello! My life is pretty crazy at the moment and it can be hard to find the time and energy to do much of anything once I return home for the day. One thing that always makes me feel good no matter how tired I am, though, is cooking dinner when I can. Earlier in the week, Johnny and I put in a curbside shopping order filled with all of our essentials and ingredients for me to make meals with. As soon as all of our groceries were put away, I got to work making homemade French bread pizzas as I wanted to use the loaf of bread we got at its freshest. They turned out SO good!

The cheese doesn’t look as melted as it actually was in these pictures and I will definitely keep them in the oven longer the next time around. I just didn’t want the pizzas to burn because I accidentally broiled them a bit too long in the first step. That was my bad because I actually should have baked it instead of broiled lol WHOOPS! Check it out:

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Ingredients:

1 loaf of French bread

Pizza sauce

Shredded mozzarella cheese

Butter

Garlic powder

Toppings

Step One: When I made jalapeno popper bread, I learned from the recipe to bake the bread with a melted butter and garlic powder spread to keep it from getting too hard. This was very effective and it kept the inside of the French bread soft and the outside nice and crisp. And, I repeat, BAKE not broil lol smh.

Step Two: Once the bread was taken out of the oven, I added pizza sauce, pepperoni for Johnny, and cheese, then put it back in the oven again to bake. Because of the broil catastrophe, I was monitoring my creation pretty closely and made the executive decision to take them out early. The cheese could have melted more, but it was an overall great first try!

Step Three: Enjoy!

This was such an easy and yummy dinner to make and was a fun twist on regular old pizza night. I really enjoyed my cheese French bread pizza and I know that Johnny loved his pepperoni ones because he asked me to make it again as soon as he was done eating. This is the best stamp of approval of all because my sweet husband is a fairly picky eater! I kept things simple in terms of toppings, but next time French bread pizza is on the menu, I will add some green pepper and red onion to mine; My favorite!

What is your favorite pizza topping? What is your go to simple dinner to make? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

 

 

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Apr15

Curbside Shopping Pro Tips

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Curbside Shopping Pro Tips

Hello! Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Johnny and I have still been using curbside pickup to do our grocery shopping and it is, honestly, the best. I definitely don’t miss squeezing in grocery shopping during my free time, hauling around a big cart, and playing Tetris with all of my purchases to load in the car. I also love any type of online shopping so it’s kind of fun too even if it isn’t scouring the shoe selection on TJMaxx’s website!

Curbside shopping saves time and I know for a fact that I’ve saved money from it too so I thought that I would share some of my pro tips today for the next time you shop curbside:

Plan Your Menu:

Like many, the first thing that I do before I begin my shopping is plan what I would like to cook for dinner. This includes looking over my saved pins on Pinterest, revisiting old favorite recipes, and coming up with new ideas in my head. I make a list of the dinner items that I need and those are usually the last things that I add to my cart because I can just type in what I want into the curbside search bar.

Evaluate What You Already Have:

The beauty of online grocery shopping is that you can consult your fridge, freezer, and pantry while placing your order to see if you already have something that you plan on buying. I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve done in store grocery shopping and returned home with something that was hiding in a nook or cranny! When I’m shopping curbside, I am always double checking what I already have so that I don’t have to pay for it twice.

Promotions/E-Coupons:

I buy my groceries at Giant Eagle and their store ad and E-coupons are conveniently located on the same site to shop curbside. You can also see the promotions running on each item while you’re shopping. Before my shopping, I’ll clip any coupons that I might need and check the ad for any good deals. To be honest, the E-coupons tend to leave a lot to be desired because it’s money off of items that I don’t need (baby care, pet care, etc.) but I have saved money from them on occasion.

Like many grocery stores, Giant Eagle has a rewards card where you earn money off of your next purchase or at the gas station when you spend money. If your grocery store has something similar, I can’t recommend signing up for their emails enough. Although emails from stores can be annoying, you will be notified of when you can earn some extra savings.

For example, Giant Eagle will do double points days and sometimes even five times the amount you earn on your next purchase. The last time I went to the store for some odds and ends was on a five times perk day and I ended up getting close to fourteen dollars in free money. My perks total resulted in forty-five dollars off during my last curbside order!

Double Check Your Cart:

When shopping in store, it’s almost impossible to go through a full cart and remove what you decide you don’t need. This is, of course, not the case with curbside and you can go through your cart at any time to add or remove items. After I have shopped through all of the categories, I will go through my cart at least two times and begin to dwindle down my order. It’s so nice to be able to see what you already have right in front of you, be able to look through what you have at home, and add or remove as needed. I never end up buying everything that was originally added into my cart which is a definite money saver.

At Giant Eagle, you can add or remove items into your cart up until your curbside shopper begins working on your order. This is also great because how many times have you returned home from the store to realize you didn’t get something that you needed! Make sure you find out the rules for your store so when you realize you need something at the last minute you can get it.

Remember:

While your curbside shopper is working on your order, you will communicate over text message if an item is unavailable or if there is a suitable replacement. The shopper will typically send you a picture of the replacement item so don’t forget to turn your data on if needed. The first time I shopped curbside with my smartphone, I didn’t realize I wouldn’t receive pictures from a non-iPhone without my data being turned on so I never got the pictures that were being sent. Whoops!

In my opinion, curbside shopping is the way to go when it comes to your groceries. I used to dread my trips to the grocery store but now I always find myself looking forward to my next curbside order!

Do you prefer in store or online grocery shopping? What is on your dinner menu this week? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Nov18

Thanksgiving Checklist

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Thanksgiving Checklist

Hi! Thanksgiving is in one short week… Are you ready for it? Today, we’re going to check out a checklist to make sure that everything is in order for the big day. I, myself, have been fantasizing about Thanksgiving food since last Thanksgiving so I am very excited! Let’s get to it so your holiday meal with your loved ones happens without a hitch:

Prepare Your Menu:

Before going grocery shopping, it is important to prepare your menu in accordance to how many people will be at your meal and any dietary needs that they might have. For example, in my family there are three vegetarians so we never skimp on the side dishes! Doing a menu prep will also ensure that you are not cooking way too much or too little. Although, popping in an oven pizza if you haven’t cooked enough food isn’t the worst thing that could happen… I really like oven pizza lol.

Go Grocery Shopping:

Once your menu is in order, it is never too early to hit the grocery store so what you need isn’t sold out. Now would be a great time to get your turkey or ham, stuffing mixes, potatoes, cranberry sauce, beverages, and other cooking essentials like oil, flour, and milk. Veggies like green beans for the much debated green bean casserole (which I freaking LOVE) should be purchased a few days before Thanksgiving for ultimate freshness.

Clean Up:

If you are hosting Thanksgiving dinner at your house, then a deep clean is definitely in order – especially if you’re like my family who puts literally everything on the dining room table! Clean up the dining room, kitchen, bathrooms, and the living room so you have a comfortable space to relax after gorging yourselves. While everyone might be too full to play games after dinner, a movie screening in the living room will be much appreciated while you digest. I, personally, am hoping that my family continues with the tradition of watching Step Brothers after our Thanksgiving meal!

Early Food Prep:

There is plenty of food preparations that can be done before Thanksgiving day to make your cooking extravaganza easier on yourself. It is also an essential task for the perfect turkey. A day or two before Thanksgiving, you can work on cutting veggies and fruits if you’re having pie for dessert, baking rolls if you’re going the homemade route, and measuring all of the spices and seasonings you’ll need for each dish into a zip lock baggie. Anything that you can do beforehand will have you thanking yourself on Thanksgiving day since it will lighten your work load.

Get Your Outfit Ready:

I think it is so funny that people get super dressed up for Thanksgiving even though they are just hanging out at home but it is part of the tradition so a great outfit is in order. Plan out your OOTD ahead of time so you’re not left with the horrible feeling of having “nothing to wear” come Thanksgiving day. I already have a few ideas in mind so be on the lookout for an OOTD post of me straight stunting at the home front! 😀

Ease some of the stress that the Thanksgiving holiday can bring with the check list above so you can fully enjoy your day with family and friends. ❤

What is your favorite Thanksgiving food? Does your family have any Thanksgiving traditions? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Mar5

Love It: Contact Free Grocery Shopping

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Love It: Contact Free Grocery Shopping

Hi! As the COVID-19 pandemic continues on, it is always best to find ways to limit whatever exposure you can and contact free grocery shopping is an amazing way to help with that. Johnny tried curbside pickup grocery shopping from our local store, Giant Eagle, earlier in February and loved it so much that he claimed he will never grocery shop any other way. With such praise, I figured I could give it a try too and ended up doing our shopping curbside pickup style at the end of February. I have to say, Johnny was so right – it was great!

Giant Eagle’s curbside pickup program has one of the employees do your shopping through a list created online and then you go to the store and your purchases get loaded into your car for you which allows for a completely contact free experience. It also gave me the thrill of online shopping even if it was just for food, lol! At first, I was having a lot of problems with Giant Eagle’s website running super slowly but once I logged on at a less peak time it was smooth sailing from there.

Online shopping for groceries was kind of weird at first but it actually ended up being really easy and insanely convenient. It was nice to be able to see all of the sales and promotions clearly from the website and apply coupons on the spot. I felt like I was able to take my time browsing the site instead of power shopping to get out of the store quickly which introduced me to options that I didn’t even know existed. Like frozen buffalo cauliflower!

I also was so thankful for the option to edit the cart once my order was placed because, in true Sarah fashion, I forgot a few things that I needed. I swear, I am always forgetting at least one or two things that I needed when I grocery shop which always ends up turning into an extra trip to the store. Online grocery shopping was no exception but, this time, I got to go back to my order and add the items that I forgot. No extra trip necessary. 😀

In my youth, I can remember how much I enjoyed grocery shopping with my mom and, pre-pandemic, I loved my trips to the grocery store. However, it is so important right now to utilize the options that different businesses have available to limit exposure for all parties involved. I am so glad that I gave curbside grocery shopping a try and plan on using it until it is safer. 11/10 would recommend!

What do you like to shop for online? Would you ever try using curbside grocery shopping? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah