Friday, October 03, 2008

Go! Buy! Now!

Last week was the most beautiful fall weather one could ever hope for. The sun was shining and it was fairly warm, but there was still a slight chill in the air and the trees were just beginning their transformations. It was that short time in the year where wearing sweaters and sandals just makes sense.



I was fortunate enough to have my parents visiting last weekend, so they got to share in this weather also. We had an absolutely fantastic time hanging out, shopping, and of course eating. We all love food, and I wanted to be a good hostess and make delicious meals for my family. The weather made it very easy to decide what to make. A little bit of summer + a little bit of fall, or a little bit of seafood + a little bit of soup equals cioppino!

Cioppino is an italian seafood stew, and one of my favorite foods. It looks like this:



I remembered this soup, when I was in the frozen seafood section of Trader Joe's. I have said before and I'll say it again- I'm not the kind of person who favors cheap and easy food, but I will also not shun a food for being cheap and easy if it's GOOD! Anyway, there it was, all bagged and frozen and ready to be heated on the stove. This meant less time cooking and cleaning and more time spent with my family, say, playing Yahtzee or watching the anticlimactic presidential debates.

I found the stew to be very pleasing. I read another review that said the fish was tough, but it must have been overcooked, because I was shocked at how good the bagged seafood was. It took four bags of the cioppino to feed my family of 5 dinner with leftovers (along with a baguette and a fantastic green salad). Still, though, at $5 a bag I think that's a good deal. Also, apparently it's 6 points a serving (if you need to understand what that means, you already do).

But don't take my word for it. Go buy the soup yourself!

2 comments:

The Saunders said...

I couldn't find this at Trader Joe's. I wanted to try it. I will look again. I made your meatloaf last night. I used ground turkey instead of beef and layered a bit of turkey bacon on top to keep it moist since I was worried the turkey meat would dry out. It was good! thanks for the recipe. Love you.

Naka and Raj said...

Hmmm...it was in the frozen fish section. Maybe it's regional? TJ's can sometimes be inconsistent with its stock.