I spent $110 at Trader Joe's yesterday. My goal is not to go to the grocery store for the next two weeks - for anything. I need to eat down some supplies from the freezer and pantry. I almost didn't post this because it's not repeatable. I brought home so much stuff from TJ's that I needed to clean some stuff out of the freezer. I bought a Trader Joe's Indian Stew. To that, I added from my freezer, spinach and green beans. From my pantry came some dried split-peas that I simmered for a half-hour. Finally, it needed a little extra curry powder. I served it over jasmine rice and deep fried tofu strips with some TJ's Mango Ginger Chutney and frozen Naan. Excellent.

Alex helped with this one too. I think he has a chance to be a decent cook. He doesn't freak out when he makes a mistake and he learns quickly. He likes to taste the food to try to figure out what it needs. I let him smell two different (but really good) curry powders to decide which to add. We were in total agreement. It's fun having him cook with me. He's really looking forward to eating this dish as cold leftovers at school tomorrow. I wonder if he'll tell his friends he made it.

Nick had a piece of naan and some Trader Joe's pierogi. He proclaimed them "Better than Mrs. T's." I don't know if that means they're good or not.