vegetarian??

I love to find deals at the grocery store. I don't mean to brag, but sometimes I have even been known to save more than I spend at our local Ralph's (sister company to Smith's). 


Some of my fav deals: Cereal that is 1.98 each when you buy four. Or that deal when everything is like 1/3 rd off when you buy 10 of the items that they suggest. Or canned vegetables at $ 0.69 if you buy 10 of the same item...So many great deals and so little meals in a day!!! 


Well, my latest deal I spotted was a whole chicken for $0.59 per pound! Yes, you fellow shoppers understand what a great find that was. So i jumped on it. That meant a whole chicken for $3.09! Who cares that there is only brady and I who eat. We can eat the rest of it for the next week if we want. Still a good deal. I got home and immediately found this great recipe http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/whole-roasted-chicken-infused-with-tangerines-and-rosemary-with-a-tangerine-glaze-recipe/index.html for a whole chicken. I thought, sure...looks easy. 


The recipe starts out by telling you to stick your hand down "it" and rub the spices on and in. However, if you have never cooked a chicken, you may not know where "it" is located? Because a grown hand definitely doesn't fit down the neck, (only 2 of my midget fingers), the only other option is the rear end. (Problem #1). 


Problem #2. What the recipe leaves out...conveniently, is that the chef must reach into the dark cavity and feel around the slimminess to locate the gizzards and the guts. Once you find them you must then yank them out! My own phobia of reaching into unknown dark places like down sides of seats and into dark purses is bad enough. I was NOT about to reach my bare hand down the rear of a chicken to pull out slimy who knows what! Especially because I was all alone and it was raining. So I called some people who could help. First my husband-the seller of kitchen things. No answer. Then I called the best chef I know who is very good at sticking her hands down dark sides of seats and into dirty crevices and cavities. She coached me through it. Barely. I almost lost the dinner I hadn't eaten yet. Somehow I managed. 


I'm a nurse in an Emergency room. That should give me something good like a tough stomach. I guess chicken guts don't qualify. By the time it cooked and Brady was home, I couldn't do it. I couldn't this meal. What is wrong with me??! Weak sauce.  Brady and his stomach had to eat the whole chicken.  


Welcome to Vegetarian diet. 


So my first vegetarian meal happened to also be gluten free. But it was very very good!


I would recommend it to all who have ever had a bad experience with chicken- or meat

Mediterranean Stuffed Peppers 


2 large yellow/red/green bell peppers
3/4 cup pomegranate juice
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 1/2 Cups cooked wild rice 
1 cup diced yellow squash (partially cooked)
1/2 cup nonfat feta cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (they give me kankers so I dont eat them)


1. Preheat oven 400 degrees
2. Cut off tops and save for lids
3. Combine pomegranate juice + cranberries in saucepan and cook for 7-10 min until juice becomes syrupy. 
5. Remove from heat, stir in rice + squash + feta cheese
6. Fill peppers
7. Top peppers with lids
8. Add 1/2 inch water to 13 X 9 pan and bake 30-40 min. 

Wonderful meal. Anyone will like it. I also served it with cooked apples. Yum.

the rest...

...Since I am new at blogging, I had to take a break from my Valentines post because it was getting a little lenghty. So now i am back and this is the rest of it. 

  On the way home, Brady and I found a church that started at 1:20. We drove around and look who we found right in our neck of the woods! The Allen's!! 

Because we are new to the area(s) and because YELP is a fantastic addition to the app store, that is how we usually find our good eats. This was a good indication of how you CANNOT always trust everything you read on an iPhone. YELP lied about this place....

NAME: Bay Cities Italian Deli and Bakery

LOCATION: Santa Monica

STARS: 4 1/2 out of 5

# REVIEWS: 1465! (way way too many)

Maybe its because it was a Sunday...the wait was like 30 min! just for a sandwich! 

Or maybe its because I'm not really into sandwiches.

 Poor Cliffords...a bit larger in life than the Allen's. Cliffords are giants.

 Brady meet Brady...

Brady: Wow what temple is that??

Sammi: I think it is the Santa Monica temple!

CORRECTION: there is no santa monica temple however confusing it may be that the temple is indeed in Santa Monica. It is the LA TEMPLE. So Pretty and so big. 

we spent the whole day at the best visitors center i have EVER been too! The LA visitors center. It is newly renovated and it is so pretty and the Sister Missionaries are so great! The spirit there is so strong. And look how cool...it was mentioned on World Report--see video that follows...

We spend our actual Valentine's day (Monda Feb 14, 2011) at the best place in California. I worked late and even though brady didn't have too...he surprise me with ROSES!!! Wow! What a lucky valentine I am. 

Dad's Original Balboa Frozen Bananas. Yes yum. 

VALENTINE SURPRISE!

Mr. Clifford surprised Mrs. Clifford with a fun weekend in Santa Barbara! Happy Valentine's Day! What a sweet husband I have. 

I drove up to Rancho Cucamonga on Friday and met brady at Bradshaw where he snuck out early so we could beat the traffic. And that we did. We stopped for dinner at a great little restaurant in Moorpark called Cafe Firenze. It is Fabio Viviani's. And for all those who aren't keeping up with Top Chef All Stars-Fabio Viviani was just voted off. Poor kid.  He is one of brady's clients so we thought we'd stop to say hi and eat. It was real fun and real tasty. 

The Villa Rosa. Our little Bed and Breakfast by the Beach

This was such a cute little place. The amenities are up for argue however. To the nice russian or slovanian desk girl, they come complete with a patio, a fireplace and a queen bed. To the American tourists from 2 hours away, the rooms are complete with a patio, a wall heater expending CO2, and a skinny double bed.  I guess everyone is entitled to their own interpretation of luxuries in life.

What a life huh...that will be me and brady in 40 years

This train will take one from San Diego to Santa Barbara! Fun! We didn't do it but it sounds like a good time.

When we asked the Russians/Estonians at the front desk what there was to do, we were responded with, "uh, i dont know. Great wine tasting, good bars..." 

Our interpretation= shopping and eating

Dreamy---sunny shopping all day long!

After we had scoured the stores we decided to go on a drive in the mountains that were so close! It was wonderful....the beach and the mountains! We drove to Solvang--a cute little Danish town up in the mountains.


Because we were so tired from our day long of shopping, we decided that we would stop and 'rest our eyes' just for a second at a vista point. Darn sandman got to us. When we closed our eyes the sun was shining....we opened them and the sun had gone down! ha ha well you can't have it all. Well rested eyes AND a pretty sunset.

The beauty of vacations on valentines day with ONLY your valentine is that you can eat whatever you want whenever you want! You can even have pastries and bakery sweets for dinner!!! Wow...great holiday.

I love my hot chocolate

 and my texting...(thats my usual texting face)

oh yeah, and my husband.