THE AMUSED LIFE BLOG

FINDS I have to give mad-props to Aldi (once again I know), for having the best deal on family sized skinless and boneless chicken breasts (and let me tell you these chickens are quite ample birds). It's less than 10 dollars and I end up getting between 5-6 breasts in a package which equals 2 meals out of one package. You cannot complain about that at all. In fact this lead's me to the second FIND of the week foodie-wise. My second find is this recipe for  CREAMY TUSCAN CHICKEN  I found on the website www.delish.com! It was incredible, now sadly my sauce didn't yield a sumptuous vodka/tomato sauce coloring as you'll note in the video on the delish website; and I'm pretty sure it's because I had a lot of browning on the chicken and the butter browned a bit as well. However, it did not ruin this dish - just gave me more excitement for making it again and perfecting it next time. Plus, I will 100% agree with the need to have some crusty Italian bread on hand becaus...

FINDS Take and Bake Bread is where it's at!  I swear you'd think I get a kick back from Aldi's but I don't. Not even a discount lol. But their take and bake french bread/baguette and their italian bread take and bake loaves will turn a regular meal into a night that feels truly home-made or akin to the night where you go out and they serve you fresh baked bread with your main meal. Seriously this stuff is good. Crusty on the outside, soft on the inside, it's a carb lover's dream. FAILS My Attempt at a Cauliflower Roasting Recipe was lackluster.  I tried this   recipe   for Ina Garten's Parmesan Roasted Cauliflower. It was good, but I think it could have been better. First my cauliflower didn't crisp up and brown as much as it should which I think would have made it more crispy delicious and second I don't feel that I truly seasoned it enough. While the end result was good and pretty great when you got a fork-full with the parmesan and gruyere melted ...

FINDS After trying two flavors I have to admit I cannot say enough good things about Simple Creations Seasoned Beef Ribeye Steaks available at Aldi's. We've now had the chop-house seasoning and the roasted garlic and herb seasoning; and all steak cuts were under $5.00. So I could get 3 for each of us (each one is a single serve); for $15.00 in total as opposed to $15.00 for probably 1 rib eye most places. Mind you I want to get a bougie rib eye at some point from a local butcher but this girl is on a hard core budget so I have to stay focused on cheap thrills. I've followed the instructions from Alton Brown for the most part from the episode: STEAK YOUR CLAIM.  Here's the suggestions: Get yourself a Ribeye. Use a Cast Iron Pan 10 Inch - 11 Inch. When making steak, put oven at 500 bake. Put skillet in oven. Coat both sides of steak with kosher salt (I did not because they were seasoned already). Put pan on high heat for 5 minutes. Black pepper on both sides. Canola Oil a...

FIND If you are a pizzahaulic like myself you learn that eating out is going to quickly result in a budget crunch. Now, I would NEVER in a million years not tell you to enjoy your take-out/delivery but I do suggest trying, on occasion to make your own at home. You can get all creative with the toppings and customize it to your heart's content. I've been making pizza since I was 15 years old and my first home economics teacher taught us how to make dough from scratch...and trust, from-scratch dough is THE BEST there is. However, we live in a relentless world where we're competing for time and energy so learning a few shortcuts is nothing to be mad at. That's what leads me to this week's foodie find. I've experimented with various pre-made doughs. I love Pillsbury's pizza crust when I want to make a quick calzone; but I never cared for Boboli (always had a weird "preserved for shelf life" taste to it), and as much as I wanted to LOVE the pre-made cru...

FIND Canada Dry Blackberry Ginger Ale is life!  OMG this has literally made me joyfilled during the pandemic summer. It's light in taste, crisp and refreshing and that blackberry flavor is there in such a delightful way. I cannot say enough goodness about this mix/combination. FAIL Double Stuff Cookies from Aldis are not double stuff oreos.  If you're wanting Oreo Double Stuff cookies just pay the extra. While Aldi's did a great job trying, they are more like regular Oreos. Now to find the Oreo MEGA STUFF and see how much I can add to my thighs. LOL.

FIND I love corn. I know it's probably the most nutritional equivalent of air and reminds you you had it later (sorry but it's true); so when I stumbled across this find in my weekly groceries list I decided I needed to try it. If you've never had Mexican Street Corn it's quite a complex load of flavors on the tongue (a mixture of cotija cheese, mayo, sour cream, chile powder and lime and then...more cheese). It's a lot to take in when you eat it on the cob fresh and can get a tad messy as well. So I was pretty hopeful this could fit the bill in a convenient way. It did! The only thing missing is the temperature heat of the grilled corn, but the flavors are robust and there is a slight kick to it that makes you just want more, even if only to try to figure out what that taste flavor is. Trust me, my sig-oth who always turns down random dips actually asked for more than 5 samples because he just had to figure out what that "flavor" was. So if you're loo...