I finally got to the store to restock my pantry shelves and freezers. I ended up spending $480 at Costco, but $110 of that was renewing my membership fee. I get the executive membership because we buy most of our groceries at Costco, so the 2% rewards check ends up paying for my whole membership fee. It’s like shopping at Costco for free! Some of the deals I get at Costco are hard to beat, but you have to come up with ways to use fresh foods bought in bulk before they go bad. The price of a fresh pineapple at Costco is the lowest I’ve seen at $2.99 pretty much year round. I really loved grilled fruit, so I paired the pineapple with some pork and peppers on a grilled kabob. I also stocked up on some pork loin the last time Costco ran it for $2 off a package. My tip for using up 6 plus pounds of the pork loin is to slice it into portion, about 1.5 lbs for my family, and stick it in freezer bags in different types of marinades BEFORE freezing. As the meat is dropping in temperature to freezing, the marinade will penetrate the meat. I also found that the salt content of the marinade helps prevent freezer burn. As the meat is thawing, the marinade also gets into the meat. With the last 8 pound pork loin I bought, I made 5 package of meat in 2 different marinates. The first was a lemon, rosemary, and garlic marinade, and the other was an Asian marinade that I added a squirt of sriracha to. I used the Asian marinated pork for the kabobs. 
The rosemary for the marinade was out of my container garden. I have various veggies and herbs planted in big orange buckets from Home Depot. The buckets are cheap and easy to move, so they work well with our Mussgo lifestyle. My mother in law told me while she was visiting that an old saying says “where Rosemary flourishes, the Woman rules” and in England it was believed that rosemary could not grow in the garden unless the mistress was the master of the home. I don’t know if that’s true, but my rosemary is growing really well. Anyway, lets get on to the menu and the ways I used all fresh produce I bought from Costco including asparagus, pineapple, mushrooms, and summer squash.
Friday
- Crock Pot Texas BBQ beef with rolls
- Potato salad
- Grilled veggies ( asparagus, summer squash, mushrooms, onions)
Saturday
- Mussgo, freezer meal, or meal not used last week
Sunday
- Pork, pepper, and pineapple kabobs
- Asian cashew salad (another favorite Costco item)
- Teriyaki rice
Monday
- Spring veggie fettuccine with homemade Alfredo ( asparagus, mushrooms, peas)
- Garden veggie salad
- Peanut butter cookie sandwiches with strawberry ice cream filling
Tuesday
- Tilapia tacos
- 7 layer dip with chips
- Mexican fruit salad (using up the rest of the pineapple)
Wednesday
- Lemon chicken breast
- Summer squash ricotta galette
- Arugula salad
Thursday
- Mussgo
- BBQ Beef poutine ( leftover BBQ beef from Friday)
- Cream pasta salad with lemon chicken (using leftover fettuccine from Monday and diced lemon chicken from Wednesday)
My Friend Marcy’s Alfredo Recipe
Ingredients
8 oz full fat cream cheese
3/4 cups grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup milk ( I’ve used skim, 2%, and whole, and it always had turned out delicious)
Instructions
Mix all ingredients over medium heat in saucepan until melted and warm.
This sauce is so simple and so delicious! It is great over pasta or spaghetti squash, as a dip for bread, or over veggies…heck I would probably eat anything covered in this sauce!
Make sure you check out Marcy’s blog and read her heartwarming posts she writes about faith and family and her experiences with infertility & adoption. Well, I must go water my garden now that I am thinking about it. Enjoy this weeks meals!
-Mussgo Momma