Costco Cuisine

Saving Time And Money With The Family Sized Packages Of Ground Beef At Costco

2012-01-31T16:06:00.000-08:00

As much as we enjoy cooking and eating together, my wife and I both work and when we get home at the end of the day, we want to eat dinner not very long after we get home. One of the strategies my lovely wife came up with that support this is to always have cooked, browned ground beef in the freezer ready to go.

What we do is we buy those big five or six pound packages of ground beef at Costco and then we brown all the beef at once. Browning one great big package is really not that much more work than browning one or two pounds. After the meat is browned, we let it cool, put it in containers and freeze it.

This saves us a lot of time in many ways:

As previously mentioned, browning a big package of meat is very time efficient
We have the meat divided up into easy to use packages
There is always cooked meat in the freezer, ready for us to make dinner with
Using frozen cooked meat is much faster than taking frozen raw meat and then cooking it

So even if you are a couple or just one person, buying the big packages of ground beef makes a lot of sense. It is both economical and a huge time saver.

A Review Of Skotidakis Jalapeno Greek Yogurt Dip On Sale

2012-01-28T15:46:00.000-08:00

The current coupon book ends tomorrow 1/29 and I thought I would make a few comments about this fun dip that is on sale.

It comes in a 24oz container, so there is enough if you want to serve a larger group of people. As for the dip itself, it is a competent, well made product that I think has a lot of uses. It has a bit of heat that builds but it is not heat only for the sake of heat, it definitely has flavor.

However, it is not an overpowering flavor, so it should be a good crowd pleaser. People that want some "zing" in their dip will like it but those with milder tastes will not find it overpowering.

And I think it is versatile too. We had it with some the Garlic and Black Bean Tostitos that I am fond of and it worked pretty well.

My wife also suggested that it would be great on baked potatoes and I think that would be a excellent thing to do to a spud.

I also see this as a garnish on Mexican style dishes.

While not the most amazing dip on the planet it is a good product and being yogurt based, it is probably healthier for you than something based on sour cream.

I recommend the product and the next time it is on sale, we will probably buy it again

Been Gone And Now I Am Back With: Peroggies With Spinach & Crumbled Black Bean Burger

2012-01-25T16:53:00.000-08:00

It has been a long time since I posted and a lot has happened. The Holidays came and went and I got a great gift for Christmas: A New Job! That and a few other things have been a distraction but it is time to return to blogging.

As time goes buy, I will probably be posting a few things that I have not gotten around to over the past few months but I do hope to keep more current with what we are cooking and eating.

As for this dish: my wife and I are very fond of those lovely black bean burgers we get from Costco. They are great being served as burgers, but for a long time, I have wondered how they would work as an ingredient in a recipe. One night, I came home from work and my wonderful wife answered the question for me.

She took some of that wonderful spinach we get from Costco and mixed it with some of the crumbled black bean burgers. Then, she tossed them with some pierogies. She was thinking the dish would either be a disaster or a big success and guess what, we both thought it was a big success. And it was interesting to look at too.

The flavors really worked well together. The black bean burger gave a bit of zing without being heat for the sake of heat. The spinach gave a lively, fresh vegetable flavor to the dish. Finally, the pierogies added some nice heartiness to the meal. And all this came from what we had on hand, so the dish went together in minutes.

I am sure we will do more with the black bean burgers and we will probably do this particular variation again.

White Bean Dip With Mission Tortilla Strips And Baby Carrots

2011-12-05T16:44:00.000-08:00

Food is a way I express affection and appreciation, so bringing in something for my coworkers to enjoy made a lot of sense. One of my coworkers has Celiac's Disease, so making something gluten free seemed like a great idea. As I am very fond of the tortilla strips and baby carrots we buy at Costco, some sort of dip to serve them with seemed pretty natural and the first one that came to mind was this white bean dip.

This recipe was simple, delicious, easy to make and gluten free for my friend. And it certainly was a big success at work.

Costco Coupon Book 11/10 To 11/27

2011-11-05T10:30:00.000-07:00

Thanks again to my wonderful friends at Addicted To Costco, I have a link to the upcoming coupon book.
Enjoy!

Ham And Cheese Pinwheels Plus A Review of Flatout Multigrain Flatbread

2011-10-30T13:54:00.000-07:00

I have made this recipe for ham and cheese pinwheels a number of times and they are always well received. For a change of pace, I thought I would make them with some Flatout brand flatbread instead of tortillas. I made a double batch and used three of the Flatout multi-grain bread. Below is a photo of the finished pinwheels.

The pinwheels were well received at the party I brought them too and there were no leftovers to take home.

However, I don't think we are likely to buy these again. It is a good product but for only two people, 18 pieces of flatbread is a huge quantity. So my review of them is this:

Good product, good taste and useful, but for two people, the package at Costco is just two big. For larger families or for parties, this is a good product to buy.

Peppers And Tomatoes Stuffed With Quinoa And Chorizo

2011-10-26T16:57:00.000-07:00

While watching the most recent season of "The Next Food Network Star", I was intrigued by a dish of chicken and quinoa stuffed peppers. I thought the idea of using something hearty and healthy to stuff peppers with sounded like a great idea, but I thought I could put my own spin on it. After some thought, I decided to use cooked chorizo as the meat in the dish.

But that was not the only way I experimented with the dish. While discussing this idea with my wife, she suggested adding a poblano chili to the stuffing and I thought that was an excellent idea. Then, to round out the flavors, we put in some chopped onion. Finally, since my wife is not fond of cooked peppers, we stuffed some tomatoes to suit her tastes. The final dish was as follows:

1 small sweet onion chopped
1 pound chorizo
1 poblano, seeded and chopped
1 cup quinoa, cooked according to directions
About 1 tablespoon of chia (Available from Costco)
Peppers and tomatoes, tops cut off and centers cleaned for stuffing

Oven was preheated to 350 degrees.

The chorizo and onion were sauteed together, until the chorizo was cooked through. The chopped poblano was then added and cooked for a few moments. Finally, the cooked quinoa was added, along with chia. The filling was mixed together and then the vegetables were stuffed.

The stuffed vegetables were placed in the oven and cooked until the tops were browned a bit, about 20 minutes. (Please feel free to cook these to your preference).

Aside from being good eats, I thought the results were attractive:

This was definitely a success. The stuffing of the quinoa and chorizo was flavorful and very satisfying. As a stuffed vegetable dish this was wonderful, but my wife also had some of the stuffing for leftovers later and she commented it also works well as a stand alone dish.

This was easy, flavorful, and fun and it works well using both the peppers and the tomatoes. It is our guess that this would probably also work well with squash.

If you are looking for a hearty, meaty use of quinoa, this a great idea and I highly recommend this.

Sacrilegious Black Bean Burger With Bacon And Pepper Jack Cheese

2011-10-22T03:30:00.000-07:00

We are huge fans of the Morningstar Farms Chipotle Black Bean Burgers. They are delicious, easy to cook and nutritious. One day I suggested to my wonderful wife that they would be great with bacon and cheese and she was a bit taken aback. While we are definitely meat eaters, she thought the idea of putting meat and cheese on a vegan product was blasphemous. I, however, thought it sounded pretty yummy and we went ahead and did it.

The bacon and spicy cheese went very well with these burgers. The flavors and textures all complimented each other very nicely and it was an exceptionally satisfying combination.

My wife made the comment to me that this was a great way to serve these burgers and I am sure we will do something like this again.

If you like meat, this is a great way to have some serious fun with these black bean burgers

Costo Coupon Book For October 13 to November 6

2011-10-20T17:22:00.000-07:00

Courtesy my wonderful friends at Addicted To Costco, here is a link to this month's coupon book.

Among other items, both the Take and Bake pizza and the Palermo frozen pizza are on our list.

Enjoy!

Leveraging Caprese Salad: First A Great Salad, Then A Great Sandwich

2011-10-19T17:57:00.000-07:00

We are quite fond of the Belgioioso fresh mozzarella that we get from Costco. One of our favorite dishes with it is a Caprese salad. As you can see from the photo below, it is as beautiful as it is delicious.

As delicious as this salad was, there was so much of it we didn't finish it in one meal and that gave me an idea. I thought it would make a great base for a sandwich so we got some sandwich rolls and toasted them lightly. Then, on the bottom half, we put some cappocolla and topped it with some of the leftover caprese salad. It was then put under the broiler just long enough to melt the cheese a bit and warm everything up.

The finished product definitely met my expectations. The flavors from the salad had blended together very nicely and by just warming it through with some gentle melting, the cheese was soft, warm and delicious. Finally, the Italian lunch meat made this a complete sandwich. This was an absolute success and I am positive we will do something like this again.

Also, it is a great example of making one dish and leveraging it into multiple meals in different ways.

A Dinner To Celebrate The Anniversary Of Our First Date: Baked Salmon, Mashed Potatoes and Green Beans

2011-10-17T17:05:00.000-07:00

Now that I am settled into my new 1st shift job, I have a lot more time to spend with my lovely wife. Normally, to celebrate the anniversary of our first date, we go out of town or have dinner out. But my wonderful wife thought it would be romantic to have a nice dinner at home and watch a movie, and I concurred.

However, as much as we wanted a nice dinner at home, we had no desire to spend three hours in the kitchen, so we came up with this elegant, simple and quick meal to celebrate eight years together as a couple.

For the main course, my wife took some Kirkland Signature Atlantic Salmon and cooked it in parchment paper with butter, dried dill, salt, pepper and a little lemon juice. She set the oven to 350 and baked it for 20 minutes. While that was going, I snapped some fresh green beans and my wife cooked up some pancetta from the local Italian deli. After steaming the beans, we added the pancetta to them and they were good to go.

For the potatoes, I made some Honest Earth potatoes we bought from Costco and dressed them up with bacon bits and dried chives. The resulting dinner, along with being tasty, was also quite attractive.

The salmon comes in individually wrapped portions, which made the preparation of them simple, neat and quick. The potatoes were also a snap to prepare, but as I said, adding the chives and bacon (real bacon!) made them more upscale.

The salmon was tasty and a great value for the dollar and we have already decide to make a meal like this again for entertaining my mother.

Once again, Costco gave us some great food at a great price that was easy to cook with.

Leveraging Homemade Corn Salsa Through Costco

2011-09-16T03:14:00.000-07:00

Recently, my wonderful wife made some fresh corn salsa. Absolutely delicious stuff and versatile too. Her first use of it with Costco items was to make some scrambled eggs along with a quesadilla filled with the Jarlsberg cheese we get from Costco. Then she finished the meal by stuffing a tomato with the salsa. This was a complete meal nutritionally and it was tasty and beautiful.

We also used the salsa with those wonderful black bean burgers we get from Costco. These burgers are always delicious but the corn salsa really added a vibrant, fresh flavor to them that really was just wonderful.

Fruit Bars and Limoncello, A Tasty Combination

2011-09-11T06:46:00.000-07:00

We stocked up big time on the Edy's Fruit Bars that were on sale earlier this summer. They are tasty, refreshing, fat free and low calorie: how much better can a sweet treat get?

My lovely wife discovered a fun way to have a little alcohol with them. She buys Limoncello at Costco and gives the fruit bars a quick dip in them as she eats them.

This adds another layer of flavor to the fruit bars, plus it adds a tinch of alcohol to make it festive for for grownups.

So dunk and enjoy!

One Last Chance At This Month's Coupons Expiring 9/11/11

2011-09-11T06:38:00.000-07:00

If you have time to run out to Costco today, you can get one last tray of the Alfredo on sale, or for that matter, a lot of other fun items on that they have coupons for this month.

Here is the link courtesy of my friends at Addicted To Costco.

Chicken Salad With Cannellini Beans, Sun Dried Tomatoes, Green Pepper and Sweet Onion

2011-08-05T15:37:00.000-07:00

We had a rotisserie chicken from Costco recently and my wonderful wife decided to make chicken using salad using it. Here is her list of ingredients

Rotisserie chicken-from Costco
Cannellini beans
Green bell Peppers
Sweet onion
Romaine lettuce-from Costco
Bella Sun Luci tomatoes-from Costco
Meyer lemon olive oil

The salad was colorful, easy to eat and refreshing-a perfect summer lunch or light dinner. I liked how she combined the crunchy with the chewy. Also, using mostly fresh ingredients gave this a nice, bright flavor profile.

While chicken and lettuce are the basis of this salad, it is the rest of the ingredients that sets this apart and makes it a home run.

Perdue Farms Bourbon Chicken Wrap With Peppers, Chives and Romaine Lettuce

2011-07-30T15:43:00.000-07:00

With my lovely wife being off work for the summer, she has been doing the majority of lunch making. This lovely wrap consists of Perdue Farms Bourbon Chicken, fresh peppers, chives and romaine lettuce, all wrapped up in a flour tortilla. For dressing, she added just a little bit of lite salsa ranch dressing. As you can see, the dish is as attractive as it is tasty.

This was a wonderful idea and my wife executed it well. It was tasty, easy, quick and pretty to look at. The tangy flavor and meaty texture of the chicken was well complimented by the crisp vegetables and the soft flour tortilla.

The bourbon chicken from Costco makes for great finger food, but with a little creativity, you can also use it to make a fun and easy lunch or dinner. It works well in both sandwiches and salads and I am sure it will be it will be in our freezer on a regular basis.

Costco Coupon Book-July 14 To August 7

2011-07-18T16:08:00.000-07:00

Once again, I would like to thank my friends at Addicted To Costco for posting this month's coupon book online.

Our freezer is still fairly full of lots of Costco items, so we probably won't be stocking up on frozen foods this month.

But I would be very surprised if we didn't get the cookies at some point!

Pizza with Foster Farms Chicken Strips, Dole Pineapple, Sweet Onion and Barbecue Sauce

2011-07-16T15:31:00.000-07:00

I saw some lovely Dole Pineapples at Costco recently and I thought a chicken pizza with some barbecue sauce would be a great use of this fruit. My wife agreed and while I was at work, she made the following pizza using:

1- 12 inch pizza crust
1/4 of a Fresh Golden Dole Pineapple, diced
1/2 large Vidalia Onion cut into thirds and thingly sliced
1 cup Foster Farms Chicken strips, cut into chunks
Barbecue sauce to lightly coat the pizza

Below is a photo of the pizza before it went into the oven.

And here it is, cooked and delicious! It was in the oven for about 15 minutes at 425-450 degrees.

As you can see from the photo below, for a pizza, it has a variety of colors and textures going on, plus a very pleasing range of flavors.

Originally, I suggested that we put mozzarella on it, but my lovely wife thought that was not the best idea and I am glad she omitted it. The final pizza is definitely much better off without the cheese in this case. This dish has a lot of bright, sweet and tangy flavors and cheese would have muddled that combination.

This meal was a huge success and it will be repeated. I highly recommend picking up a pineapple at Costco now and then. They are fun, tasty and easy to work with in a wide variety of applications.

Free Cookbooks

2011-06-18T13:06:00.000-07:00

Here is a link to a variety of cookbooks that are available for free download.

If you don't have Kindle software, you can get it here by following the various links to the software you need.

Enjoy!

Open Face Black Bean Burger Sandwich: An Old Post But A Great Post

2011-06-17T15:52:00.000-07:00

Note: With the Morning Star Chipotle Black Bean Burgers on sale this month, I felt that a repeat of this post was in order. My lovely wife and I just love these burgers and you can serve them up very quickly and easily.

Recently we bought some of the black bean burgers from Morningstar Farms at Costco. They are frozen and are less than $14 per box of 12. That makes them convenient and reasonably priced.

We buy some delicious black pepper bread from our local farmer's market and toast it for the base of the sandwich. Meanwhile, we grill the burgers on our Griddler.

After the toasting and grilling, we put the burger on the toast, top it with some of the Jack's Special Medium Salsa and some cheddar cheese and we are good to go.

We love this meal. The burgers have just the right amount of zing and they are filling and certainly healthier than a beef burger. The toasted bread compliments the spicy flavor of the burger and give a chewy bread in contrast to the "meatiness" of the burger. The salsa and cheese provide a vegetable and dairy balance to the meal and a sense of completeness.

I can't say enough about how tasty this meal is. I could certainly see something like this on the menu at a restaurant by someone like Bobby Flay. Yes, it is that good. And the time, effort and money involved are very reasonable.

And the meal is just plain fun, too.

Costco Coupon Book- June 9 to July 3

2011-06-14T14:07:00.000-07:00

Once again I would like to thank my friends at Addicted to Costco for posting this month's coupon book.

I know we will be getting the black bean burgers, the Iam's dog food (to donate to our local shelter) and the take and bake pizza.

Enjoy!

Pasta Prima Chicken & Mozzarella Ravioli With A Spicy Italian Brats Tomato Sauce

2011-06-12T16:44:00.000-07:00

My wife and I are very fond of the Pasta Prima raviolis that we get at Costco. We had some of the fresh Chicken and Mozzarella variety in the fridge and it was calling to me. Given the more subdued flavors of the ravioli, I thought a sauce with a little excitement to it would be fun. My wife agreed and after gathering all the elements for the sauce that we had on hand, I finished the provisioning by getting some spicy Italian brats from a local meat shop, Montello's. The ingredient list this dish was pretty simple:

EVOO
2 cloves garlic; peeled, pressed and chopped
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and diced
Crushed red pepper
1 pound Italian brats, casings removed
1 28 ounce can diced tomatoes
Fresh herbs: parsley, oregano and thyme

While my lovely wife removed the casings from the sausage, I sauteed the onion, garlic and crushed red pepper. Then we added the brats and I broke them up with a spoon as I cooked them. After the brats were cooked, the tomatoes were added and I let it come to temperature and cook a bit as my wife got the fresh herbs. The herbs were added just moments before serving and then we garnished our portions as we saw fit with grated cheese.

As you can see, it was a pretty dish and it went together in minutes. As for the taste, it was excellent. My wife and I both commented that Italian brats were a lower fat alternative to typical Italian sausage, although I do think standard pork sausage would still work very well in this dish.

As we hoped, the sausage and the red pepper added some zing to the dish without making it just flavorless heat and spice. The tomato and onion helped to add at least some vegetable, so you really have a good variety of meat, dairy, pasta and vegetables in this dish, making it a true one dish meal.

This was absolutely a home run: delicious, easy, affordable and quick. I am sure we will be doing something very similar to this again.

Chicken Taco Salad With Tostitos Garlic and Black Bean Chips

2011-05-24T16:24:00.000-07:00

We make taco salads on a fairly occasional basis but they have always been beef based. For a change of pace, I thought we should try one that was chicken based.

To start the process, I took some of those Foster Farms chicken strips we bought at Costco a while back and tossed them with some chili powder and EVOO and put them in the fridge to thaw.

When my wife got home, she finished heating them up in a pan on the stove. I chopped some romaine lettuce, pulled the cheese out of the fridge along with some salsa and got those Tostitos Garlic and Black Bean chips that I reviewed recently.

Our conclusion: this worked really well and it was a fun, tasty dinner. There are a lot of different textures and flavors going on here. The romaine lettuce and the chips give some crunch, while there is a meaty texture from the chicken. The lettuce gives a fresh flavor while the salsa and the chips give a little spice and zing.

The value from this is pretty good too. A salad like this is probably going to set you back $16 to $20 for two people at someplace like Applebees. And unless you live next door to a restaurant, chances are you can put this together in less time than it takes to drive there and back.

So the next time you crave a taco salad, take a look in your cupboard, your fridge and your freezer. You very well might be able to make something delicious in less time than it takes to get to the restaurant.

Pasta Prima Chicken Mozzarella Ravioli With Pancetta And Vidalia Onions

2011-05-21T15:44:00.000-07:00

We stocked up on the Pasta Prima Chicken Mozzarella Ravioli that was on sale last month and I thought it would be a good idea to make very simple sauce to help highlight the elegant flavor of the ravioli. This dish had only four components:

Pasta Prima Chicken and Mozzarella Ravioli-one package
About an inch think slice of pancetta, cubed
Half of a large vidalia onion, chopped
EVOO

All there was to cooking this dish was just browning the onion and pancetta and then just adding a bit of EVOO to have enough liquid to balance out the sauce. By serving it with a romaine lettuce salad we had a fine and complete meal in just minutes.

My wife and I were both very pleased with how this turned out and it was definitely a success. The hearty taste of the pancetta complimented the more delicate flavor of the ravioli and the sweet, light taste of the onion.

Our only negative was that the dish is just a bit salty due to the pancetta being a salty meat. But let me be clear, it was a very sucessful dish. I am only saying that if we could figure a way to temper the saltiness of the meat in it a little, it would be perfect.

As it stands, it was a lovely meal and the return on our time was fabulous.

Costco Coupon Book For May 12 to June 5 2011

2011-05-14T17:36:00.000-07:00

Once again I would like to thank my wonderful friends at Addicted To Costco for putting this month's coupon book online.

Some of the things we will be getting this month include the bourbon chicken, the M&M's and the fruit bars.

I will have more on these items later.