u/FishCobSmith

Dinner a few nights ago. Seasoned appropriately with some salt and pepper and whatnot.

My neighbor gave me some of the cherry tomatoes that her mom gave to her. I had a loaf of semi-stale sourdough bread from last week's grocery order, and leftover roasted broccoli from a big batch I made the other day.

I sliced up some fresh mozz that was languishing in my cheese drawer, and added the mandatory ground black pepper.

I wanted more protein with my dinner, so I mixed up a can of tuna with a couple random things from my vast array of condiments, and used celery (also a gift from my neighbor) as a dipping device.

Grapes for dessert!

Last week I said it was probably going be a good long while before I had a Whole Foods $1 oyster Friday dinner again...but I had some super annoying life frustrations this week, so I treated myself accordingly today.

Oysters: Great White, Olde Salt, Rappahannock (all Atlantic)

Cheeses: Butterkäse, Piave Vecchio, Merlot Bellavitano (all from the odds and ends bin, as tradition dictates)

Olive bar stuff: onions, tomatoes, peppers (no actual olives this time!)

Crackers: leftovers from last week (I've been rationing all 3 kinds because I can't be spending $6 on a single little package of crackers on the regular, no matter how good they are)

Lemons: because lemon wedges are mandatory for oysters (and I already had a couple on hand)

Raspberry mignonette: made with a shallot I bought today and raspberries I had in the freezer (whipped up in about 5 minutes, the only real effort in this entire meal).

Grapes: red seedless, extra crispy (my favorite fruit, and my favorite dessert when I'm eating fruit for dessert)

I got the $1 oysters from Whole Foods again yesterday. It will likely be a good long while before my next oyster rodeo, so I kinda went all out.

Oysters: Great White, Olde Salt

Crackers: seeded, chili flake and olive oil, rosemary (the rosemary ones are my favorite by far, so I probably won't buy any other varieties from here on out)

Cheese from the odds and ends bin: sharp cheddar, asiago fresco, smoked scamorza

Olive bar: blue cheese stuffed olives, marinated mushrooms

Almonds: rosemary Valencia

Cherry tomatoes: gift from a neighbor!

Sauces: cocktail, tartar, something kind of like mignonette (the last one is the only one I made; the other two are store bought). And lemon wedges for spritzing because that's mandatory.

Grapes: seedless red

Tonight's girl dinner will be leftovers of all of this (minus the oysters, of course).

I do not have state fair energy this year, but my kid has gone twice already. As he was heading out for his second trip a few days ago, I asked him to pick up some cheese curds for me.

Despite my clear and concise instructions (including a location, link, photo), he did not buy them from my preferred curd vendor. But that's okay because he did me a big solid...and I've never met a curd I didn't like.

I thawed a couple of Costco croissants I had in the freezer, sliced and toasted them, spread some leftover guac on those baddies, threw on some fresh sliced tomatoes, sprinkled on some dried minced onion and ground black pepper, and finished it all off with cheese curds that I revived in the air fryer.

10/10 would curd again.

I woke up hungry from an unplanned nap yesterday afternoon and immediately thought "Maybe I should go get some $1 oysters from Whole Foods again". So I did. I limited myself to 2 dozen this time, because last week 3 dozen was...a bit much.

Oysters: Atlantic Blue Point and Salty Hog

Sauces: I absolutely did not have the energy to mix up my own sauces this time (even though it only took a few minutes last time), so I bought tartar sauce and cocktail sauce, and sprinkled lemon pepper seasoning on the former and dried minced onion on the latter.

Also: Lemon wedges and some leftover oven roasted tomatoes from a big batch I made recently

Olive bar stuff: Olives and mushrooms and cauliflower, oh my!

Crackers: Leftovers from last week (everything seasoning flatbread and rosemary crisps)

Cheese: a couple of random bits from the odds and ends bin

Almonds: lemon pepper Marcona (these MFers are EXPENSIVE but IDGAF, they are worth their weight in gold)

Grapes: seedless red, extra crispy

I will not be doing this EVERY Friday because I don't have that level of grocery money in my budget, but I can see myself making it a monthlyish thing.

Toasted sourdough bread with smoked salmon, beefsteak tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, black pepper, Lawry's, and sesame seeds

Mandatory pickles

Extra crispy seedless red grapes

Oysters were $1 apiece (with free shucking!) so I bought 3 dozen and then spent 10 minutes whipping up a few sauces with stuff I already had at home.

Oysters:

Happy

Great White

Rappahannock Atlantic

Salty Hog

Atlantic Olde Salt

Atlantic Blue Point

Sauces:

Something sort of like a mignonette but with blackberries and lime juice

Basically tartar sauce but thinner and orange and smoky

Garlic honey mustard 

Toasted dark wheat sesame bread, the last of the leftover refried beans from Mexican takeout, Roma tomatoes, cucumbers, cottage cheese, red pepper flakes, dried minced onion, ground black pepper.

Sweet potato chips for the mandatory side cronch.

I unfortunately got some super low quality tomatoes in my grocery order a few days ago...but I know how to make tomatoes into tomaterade with only a few minutes of effort.

I toasted some discounted bread from a local bakery, lightly buttered it, sliced up the last chunk of a fresh cucumber from my neighborhood's community garden, tossed on some bits of fresh mozzarella and pepper and other assorted seasonings...and topped it all with my low-effort/high-reward oven dried tomatoes.

And I tossed a big handful of sweet potato chips on the plate for extra cronch.

Toasted focaccia, mayo, cucumber, basil, dill, BIG MATERS, dried minced onion, lemon pepper seasoning...this was one of the top ten best sandwiches I have ever eaten, tomato or otherwise.

Lightly toasted sesame focaccia from my freezer stash of a purchase from a local deli, a smidge of mayo, much more than a smidge of ground black pepper, the last bits of fresh mozzarella from my fridge, and super duper fresh tomatoes and basil from my neighbors' gardens.

Last night's dinner:

The last few slices of delicious discounted dark dank bread from my neighborhood bakery, with a smidge of olive oil on the outside to make it bake up crispity and crunchity

A can of tuna mixed with leftovers of the yogurt lemon dill sauce I made for a fancier dinner a day or two ago, plus some other random bits and bobs from the fridge

TOMATOES

Feta, fresh mozz, pepper

Hooray for a one day break in the heatwave so I could turn on the oven without also cranking up the AC!

Something pretty weird: delicious discounted dark dank mystery bread from the bakery down the street, sesame oil, tomatoes, and the last bits of leftovers from a high effort meal (definitely not a girl dinner!) I made a few days ago...crispy baked tofu, roasted lemon garlic broccoli, orange sesame soy ginger sauce

Something more traditional: ciabatta roll, olive oil, tomatoes, an obscene amount of super fresh dill (my neighbor hooked me up when she went to the farmers market this morning), mozzarella, black pepper

Ciabatta rolls brushed with a little bit of olive oil on the outside

Shredded pesto rotisserie chicken breast with cottage cheese. Yes I know the cottage cheese might sound weird, but it did exactly what I wanted it to...it moistened the dry chicken.

Roma tomatoes

Fresh basil

Fresh mozzarella

Red pepper flakes

Ground black pepper

The weather has been so disgustingly hot for so long...I was delighted to turn my oven on for the first time in about two weeks.

This meal was OUTSTANDING!!!

Sandwich 1: ciabatta, pesto, tomato, basil, mozzarella, black pepper

Sandwich 2: bagel, southwest hot mustard, pickle, rotisserie chicken breast, tomato

Side dish: cucumber, plain greek yogurt, lemon pepper seasoning, dill, red pepper flakes, feta

All prepped and ready to roll in less than 15 minutes.

Shout out to my next door neighborfriend who hooked me up with the southwest hot mustard and lemon pepper seasoning because she accidentally bought more than she could handle. She's the best!

Focaccia, pesto, tomato, feta, pepper.

I could eat like 14,000 of these, but 2 is probably enough for tonight.

Rice crackers, smoked gouda Cheez-Its, okra chips, ranch, dijon mustard, barbecue sauce

I'm not normally an afternoon snacker, but I really needed a little something today...this hit the spot!

I had some Indian takeout leftovers that needed to get finished up today...but I was also craving tomato sandwiches, and I had a couple of nice ripe tomatoes. So...this happened.

Garlic naan, paneer tikka masala, swai pakora, tomato

Peshwari naan, peanut butter, tomato

Toasted plain bagel, Thai peanut sauce, tomato, guacamole, garlic cheddar cheese curds, black pepper