Sunday, July 5, 2009

Buying Groceries at Ross Dress for Less and Big Lots

     It is no secret that I am a fan of Ross Dress for Less and Big Lots.  I have discovered that blog land is inhabited by many people who feel the same way.  For me it’s part bargain and part flying low under the radar. Surely there is someone out there who relates to the flying low under the radar syndrome???

     Where else can you find groceries in the lingerie section- possibly on the floor?  Why at Ross’s of course.  In my deepest psyche there must be someone struggling to surface, who enjoys rooting around and digging. 

       Big Lots makes it so much easier for the aspiring gourmet cook.  There is an actual grocery section- what a concept.  Big Lots is such a wonderful mystery.  How did cases of Italian water reach their shelves?

     Today when I was in the mood to cook, using what I had in the pantry , I found some of these treasures.

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     I wasn’t deterred by the fact that the temperature inside my car had registered 107 degrees when I retrieved my purse earlier in the day. Why not have some wonderful HOT soup?    I assembled my ingredients.

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     I added an onion, a can of whole tomatoes, some fresh cabbage that was quickly reaching the end of the road, and fresh grown carrots from a fruit stand at the flea market.  My husband, who is a wonderful cook, suggested I add links of sausage, which I did.  After adding 6 cups of water and the seasoning packet, I let it cook all day.  It was really good.  We only had to lower the AC to 55 degrees to fully enjoy it.

     I was on a roll . I located the following ingredients in my pantry and refrigerator and decided to go for it.

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     The chili seasoning packet is from Big Lots.  After it was all mixed ,I added a can of kidney beans- also from Big Lots- and a package of frozen corn.  It was really good .

     I was having so much fun . I used to do this all of the time when the girls were little.  I loved cooking out of the pantry and using up what I had on hand.

     I then made a pasta salad out of rotini pasta, Marie’s raspberry vinaigrette dressing, craisens, sweet pickle juice and jalapeno juice, and a little bit of feta cheese. I was out of walnuts. It was pink! My husband’s comment? “I’ll eat it.”

     Then I spied two over ripe bananas.  I was able to make a half recipe of banana bread. No picture available…we ate it hot out of the oven with butter slathered on top.

     One last plug for Big Lots.  If you see this dressing, buy it, it is wonderful to put on meat- along with our all time favorite TexJoy.  Guess where we buy TexJoy?  Academy.  That makes perfect sense to us. How about you?

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     Enjoy!

17 comments:

Made In The South said...

We have a Big Lots,but I never really looked for groceries. Next time I will head to that aisle. Oh that bread sounds so good, I might have to make some next weekend. You are right, I should get my clothes lined up on Thurs. night before the weekend, that way I have no excuse.

Glenda/MidSouth said...

Have not been to Big Lots in a while - need to go. I am not real thrilled about where it is located.
Glenda

The Stylish House said...

Laura,
Your soup looks delicious and I imagine it tasted wonderful. I am definitely a fan of Big Lots and discount stores. We don’t have Ross where I currently live, but I used to enjoy shopping there. I like to find buried treasure at bargain prices and Big Lots has some great food. It is fun to poke around, because you never know what you might discover.
I hope you had a nice holiday and your husband is on the mend. It is hard to believe the year is already half way over.

Debbie's Garden said...

Hot soup on a day that your car says 107??? At my age, I'd love to keep the a/c on 55 all day. You should've cranked up the oven and baked some cornbread for your soup while you were at it.
Funny, last weekend was hot and we had a big cooked meal, one dish was scalloped potatoes. I had mentioned to everyone that sometimes a big, hot cooked meal just hits the spot during hot weather.

Dixie said...

Laura... I had to find something in the shed today... I looked... the thermostat said 123-degrees... good think we don't keep livestock in there anymore... and I never once thought of soup... but I'd already thought of fired porkchops and okra...

hey... it looks great and i love cooking out of the cupboard too! though I do prefer my groceries to come from HEB! Have a great week!

Pam @ Frippery said...

Laura, this all looks wonderful! I love Big Lots but haven't purchased food there. Now I am definitely going to check out the grocery section. I, too love to use up what is on hand. Thanks for the inspiration. I had never heard of Ross until lately through Blogging. We don't have any here but I feel like I am missing out. I love a good bargain.

Chloe m said...

You are amazing at finding deals.
Rosey

trash talk said...

Laura,
I love to shop Ross for the Anne Klein watches...such a bargain!!!
I am a nut for Marshall's and TJ Maxx. Great deals. Grocery shopping...not so much, but hey, I'll start looking. Ya never know.
It's amazing what will show up at Big Lots. We just bought almost all the paper supplies (Martha's eyelet line) for a shower while fooling around there. Who'd a thought it?
I could eat soup 24/7 no matter what the outside temp is.
Debbie

Stacey said...

We made chili yesterday to go with our hot dogs. It was delicious!

Yesterday I was shopping my "overflow cabinet" for pickle relish. I found a bottle of pickles that expired in 2007. Maybe I should cook out of that cabinet more often. :)

We don't have Big Lots! Boo hoo.

Dirt Princess said...

I LOVE Big Lots! I buy everything there!

Manuela@A Cultivated Nest said...

I always look at the grocery section at Big Lots! Mine has a freezer section too! I just wouldn't be able to eat hot soup right now! It's salads and very light foods for us. The great thing about summer is that it's so hot half the time I don't even feel like eating!

Manuela

Unknown said...

Big Lots is one of my favorite places to shop and I have bought food there. Warm wishes, Esther

Anne Marie said...

Hi Laura........

thanks for your lovely comments......

and thank you for stopping by! I always appreciate it......

xoxo

Susie Q said...

I miss HEB! I miss their brand of sausages! I'm sorry, but other than the natural foods store Sunflower Market up here, no place has a comparison, all the groceries are chains (well, so is SM, but they are good!) And miss Wolf brand chili...we buy a case when we go home for a visit. It's been a while......

Sewing-Chick said...

I love Big Lots for groceries!! My ex's mom referred to it as "used food" but I know that you can find great deals there!

Vickie said...

Big Lots/Marshall's/Ross fan here. I love digging and discovering little nuggets of gold! Big Lots has alot of ethnic foods, too, that we love, and that you just don't find in the grocery store. We used to have a McFrugals, too, but I think Big Lots bought them out!

sleney said...

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