Hell Yeah, HomeGoods!

I'm really cheap.

(Cheap like frugal, not cheap like skanky.) 

Whenever I need something for the house, I always check out HomeGoods first.  And usually, I can find what I'm looking for for a fraction of the cost of the exact item in a department store.  (If this sounds like a commercial, it's because I'm pushing HomeGoods.  But I am sincere about how much I love the place, too.)  I love HomeGoods not only because of the amazing deals (a set of king-sized 600-thread count sheets for $40!  a dutch oven for $24!  birthday cake scented candles for $6!), but also because of some of the hilarious weird stuff that I'll find.  Last year about this time I stopped in a HomeGoods and later posted about that visit.

Anyway, you can imagine my excitement when I got a complimentary $25 gift card in the mail from HomeGoods.  The idea was that I would buy gifts for other people (and then talk about it on the internet).  But here's the thing: I'd already completed my Christmas shopping.  So I decided that this gift card would be for Matt and me and our pretty little kitchen.  Here's what I picked up (all for $25!).

Awesome new box grater that grates right into a container. 

 This one was for Matt, who often gets stuck with the job of grating cheese (usually parmesan), and was growing tired of our little IKEA oval ones. 

A giant ice cream scoop. 

Why didn't I have one of these already?  I was planning on using it when we went to Hugh and Cassie's for Thanksgiving--you know, when I was supposed to make Mandy's Famous Pumpkin Cheesecake Ice Cream.  But I forgot to bring the ice cream maker.  I did not, however, forget to bring this giant ice cream scoop. 

And, finally, I got his new whisk.  I already have a whisk exactly like this but orange, so I was a little reluctant to buy this one.  While I was shopping, I had it in my hands, fawning over the pretty periwinkle color.  I was talking to Matt on the phone, asking him if it was really excessive for me to buy another whisk exactly like my favorite orange one (apparently I never had this conversation with him while I was on my "different-colored enamel colanders" kick), and he assured me that since I'd received the gift card for free, that, no, it was not excessive and that I should buy what I want. 

I love it when Matt encourages me to be frivilous.  I also love it when he grates the parmesan cheese.

What about you?  Are you a HomeGoods shopper, or does it stress you out?

Red Pepper Chicken

For most of the meals we cook, Matt and I look for simple, quick recipes that use very few dishes and require ingredients we can find at the grocery store.

This is one of our favorites: red pepper chicken with parmesan cheese. We used to stuff the chicken breasts with the pepper and parmesan mixture, but we decided that was too much work, it was mostly for show, and it was harder to cook the chicken evenly. This food is so tasty that it doesn't need the theatrics.

Ingredients:

Boneless skinless chicken breasts
Red bell peppers
Parmesan cheese
Kosher salt
Black Pepper
Olive oil
Pasta (optional)

First, dice up one or two large red bell peppers. Click here for fun facts about peppers.


And cut up some chicken. Pound it if you'd like. Throw on some salt and pepper.

Grate up some parmesan cheese.

(Matt loves to grate parmesan. Mitch loves it when we sprinkle some over his dog food.)

Heat up a cast iron skillet to medium-high. Add some olive oil, the peppers, and some salt and pepper. Cook until they're get a tiny bit black around the edges.

Remove the pepper from the skillet and fold in about 1/2-1 cup of grated parmesan.

Put the chicken in the skillet (not lotion in the basket). You may need to add a little bit more olive oil. Cook it. Don't eat undercooked chicken. If you do, you will die.

When the chicken is cooked, cut it up into bite-sized pieces. Toss the peppers and cheese and chicken together so that the flavors all blend together.

Toss the mixture on top of some pasta (we prefer angel hair) and voila, a tasty and easy meal.

Seriously, it doesn't disappoint.