T's away this weekend on a faculty retreat, so I was on my own. I set myself up to bum around, try to get stuff done in the apartment, and roam around running errands with my Metropass.
First up, lunch at St. Lawrence Market. A Toronto staple, this place has a farmer's market on Saturdays while the other building has all kinds of food stalls and vendors. Our usual thing is to go for lunch and get some fresh sausages - the trick is to go after lunch, around 1-2pm, when they are cleaning up and trying to sell off whatever they have left, and get them on sale. I also get some peppers (also on sale). Today, I tried something new - got some chicken and ended up with a big butternut squash. On the chicken, I got two two-breast chicken pieces. Usually I get them at the supermarket and they are nicely cut with not much trimmings. Today's were boneless, skinless, but not as nicely butchered (sp?) so it took a bit longer to pre-cut into small pieces before freezing (saves time on the weekdays when we cook). The whole process made me appreciate my mom and her skills to debone, cut and prepare a chicken. I wish I had that patience to prepare meats ahead of time and schedule meals days in advance. Maybe one day I'll be adventurous to try prepping and cooking "lomo con salchicha". Hehe.
On the butternut squash, I intended to buy a small cut-up piece that was on sale for $1. When I picked it up, the lady came over and said "May I suggest you get a big one? It's the same price, $1, only because it has a small imperfection - a tiny dot. Then you get a fresh cut, not dry". I pondered what I was going to do with a whole squash, but I bought it after she said I could cook it and freeze it. And so, I spent a hard 30 minutes peeling and chopping, wondering "why oh why did I get a big one...". I'm sure I'll be happy when we eat already-cut-and-cooked squash, but my hand is sore right now, even after cutting with my best knife. Does anyone have a trick to easily cut these things!?
Next, after dropping off my groceries at home, I went right back out to take the subway to Walmart. I really didn't need to buy much, but I armed myself with our grocery-pushy-cart, just in case of good sales. I left with a heavy cart :)
Tonight, I cooked up some ribs and lentils with butternut squash. Time for dinner!
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Next time, cut it in halves with the skin and steam them, cut however much you will eat and freeze the rest in 2x2 pieces so you can prepare them anyway you want later.
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