Salmon Salad!

One of the many joys of moving into our new place... COOKING!

After staying with my in-laws for 11 weeks, I was so ready to get our kitchen set up and get back into healthy/fresh eating. One of my first meals to make in our new place was the beauty below:

Doesn't it look so summery and delicious?! I'm happy to report that it was quite easy, and is somewhat fool-proof. There's definitely some washing and chopping of veggies, but I love the fact that it'd be pretty hard to mess this one up (in case you happen to get distracted by, say, a 1 1/2 year old who is learning how to walk! ha!).

The recipe is Salmon Salad, and it's from Dinner: A Love Story (one of my FAVES! get it!).

But first, let's stop to admire the freshness that went into the salad...

Nice, huh? A few quick tips... At first you might think, "This must be expensive with all the fresh veggies you need to buy!" But no... You really just need such small amounts of each of the veggies, that it ends up being fairly inexpensive. Extra points for hitting up your local farmer's market for fresh produce!

Also, I was about to get a bag of frozen salmon (I figured it'd be a nice thing to keep in the freezer), but then noticed that fresh salmon was on sale at the fish counter (um, HELLO!). I ended up using just a half pound (instead of a pound, which the recipe calls for), since it looked like enough for the three of us, and my total salmon expense was around $3.50. Not bad!

And, if you have a husband who turns his nose up at salads for dinner (like mine!), never fear... My husband was quite impressed with this meal, even saying that he was "so full" from the "hearty meal". I served the salad with a nice crusty loaf of bread, which the boys also loved, of course!

Here's the recipe... Enjoy! XO

Good food, good price... At Whole Paycheck?

As I shopped at Whole Paycheck the other day, I was pleasantly surprised that I didn't actually spend my whole paycheck... And I had gotten so much great stuff: fresh fruit, fresh bread, snacks, prepared cold pasta salad, jalapeno pimento cheese (!) from the deli, olives from the olive bar, some locally made bath salts, and even a refillable three-gallon water jug.

And, how was I able to be so decadent without spending my Whole Paycheck, you ask? Well, I learned a few things while there...

1) Check out the snacks you can buy in bulk. I got a nicely sized portion of garlic sesame sticks for under $2. They also had tons of varieties of trail mixes, flavored nuts, dried fruit... You name it! It's awesome to just get what you need, and not have to buy an entire package.

2) If you find that yummy olives add a touch of elegance to your before-dinner snacks (I do!), then hit up the olive bar! I was able to only spend a couple dollars and came home with plenty of olives to share!

3) They had tiny portions of Parmesan for  around $1.50, which I thought was pretty genius. With the size I bought, we'll be able to enjoy at least a few pasta dishes with freshly shaved Parmesan!

4) That have AWESOME garlic bread for under $2 in the bread section. Do it!

5) At our Whole Foods, there's a self-serve station with locally-made bath salts... Such a great idea! I got plenty for two baths, and just spent a little more than $1.

So, there ya go! It's good to know that you don't actually have to spend your Whole Paycheck at Whole Foods, especially since ours is less than a mile and a half away! 

XO