Say that three times fast.
I am a power shopper in every sense of the term. I’ll go in, look around for five minutes, and if nothing catches my eye, I’m gone. I just don’t like wasting time.
Yesterday I put my power-shopping skills to work. Groceries? Check. Books? Check. Clothes? Double check.
Best purchases of the day: a pair of my favorite running shoes.
(I needed them and they were $20 off. Score!) and some tempo shorts. Ok, so I didn’t need the shorts. But I am such a sucker for cute running clothes… and for good sales. I’ll never buy full-price if I know a certain item will eventually go on sale. Even coconut butter. When Whole Foods marks the Artisana down to $8, I pounce! (If you ever see a girl with 10 jars of coconut butter in her cart, it’s me.) Same goes for shampoo, vitamins, and some produce.
After all that power shopping, I worked up an appetite for Chinese (thanks, in part, to the aroma of Panda Express wafting through the mall. I swear, it’s like they use super-smelling chemicals on that food!). So, when I got home, that’s what I made:
I discovered—midway through cooking—that we were out of soy sauce. So I just let the veggies do the talking flavoring. Surprisingly, the soy sauce wasn’t missed at all. From now on, I’ll always leave it out. I don’t really watch my sodium, per se, but there’s no point in adding excess sodium to something that tastes just as good without it.
Have you ever done that? Just let the veggies flavor a dish, without adding a sauce? Sometimes I don’t like to add sauce, because then the entire dish tastes like sauce. Veggies have so much flavor to add in their own right, especially when garlic is included.
As a side, I forewent rice in favor of Home Alone Pilaf.
If you haven’t tried rye flakes, I highly recommend them. They’re chewy, yet soft, and they have an almost nutty flavor.
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Questions of the Day:
Do you like shopping? And are you a bargain hunter?
I’m definitely a bargain hunter in that coupons make me super-happy, and I love when my favorite things are on sale. But I don’t normally browse the clearance rack at clothing stores or run out when stores have special sales. I never seem to find good clothes on clearance.
Unrelated: I’m leaving the Artisana Coconut Butter Giveaway up on Twitter for one more day.
🙂
Cute shorts! I’m more inspired to work out when I have new workout clothes. The stir-fry looks tasty, but I would need soy sauce. I’m a saltaholic.
Oh me too! It’s kinda scary… I mean, I will actually put up to a 1/2 tsp in my oatmeal even. I don’t have high blood pressure, so I don’t think it’s a problem… but every now and then, I wonder… 😕
Maybe it’s cause we don’t eat a ton of processed crap (um hello processed meats!) so our bodies actually need more table salt? I dunno lol.
Cute title!
those shorts look like they are hovering in midair.
I’m a big bargain hunter, but don’t buy in bulk as much as I’d like due to lack of room!
a good replacement for soy sauce is a bit of fresh shredded ginger and a bit of salt. yum!
lol I know! Silly google image. The ones I bought are much cuter, besides!
I don’t like shopping anymore. Maybe online from the comfort of my own home. But I used to big a big time shopper/spender. I DO love grocery shopping though, especially at specialty stores and markets!
I am the epitome of a bargain shopper! I TOTALLY buy in bulk when there is a really good deal going on! No shame, no shame!
You will never use soy sauce again ? Isn’t that a bit restrictive.
Oh lol no no, I just meant for this particular dish. 🙂
I am definitely a bargain hunter. Once natural peanut butter was on sale for 75 cents at my Whole Foods – I bought 12 jars. They were all gone in 5 months. 😉
5 months is a long time! 12 jars would probably only last 2 months at the MOST around here! 😉
I do like shopping, and I love a good bargain! I always buy things when they’re on sale even if I don’t need them!
I don’t use soy sauce either, moreso because of the gluten – but I never miss it!
I do not like to shop. I feel like the ugly duckling in my family because my mother and sister both love shopping. When they got me a Nordstrom Credit Card, I didn’t understand what it was.
I prefer food shopping, and I prefer food shopping for items that are on super-markdown!
And I agree about the vegetables. I ordered a side of veggies at a Mexican restaurant, and they were doused in butter. They tasted good, but not at all like vegetables!
I used to do that with Boca burgers: douse them in ketchup. I finally realized it was because I HATE the taste of boca burgers, so at least this way all I could taste was ketchup!
I love shopping. I’m a retailers dream because I need instant gratification…no waiting around for sales if I see the perfect item. Horrible habit I know.
I’m going to make up for not commenting on all your posts (because I was going crazy with homework and other shenanigans) by commenting on them anyway! 😉 I definitely am a bargain hunter. Mostly with food since I shop at goodwill, salvation army, and other thrift stores for my clothes to cut down on the consumption I do! I do have to go for all my outdoorsy clothes as well as running stuff by using new things, so whenever I can find something that is my favorite must-have item and is on sale (however rarely that happens…) I will definitely pounce. 🙂 It’s a fun thing to find! I love cute running clothes too, I’m a sucker for things like that. 🙂
Also, yay new shoes! I just wore my new ones in with a couple of workouts. It was rough for my five-miler, but the shoes are finally starting to work out okay!
😀
Mucho amor,
Aly
OH mannn i am so with you- probably end up spending more $$ cuz i manage to find a bunch of stuff on sale! SO worth it though 😀 I love TJ maxx and Marshalls for designer stuff for way less…..and as for sauce- i am more of an “on the side” type-girl, but i do love my condiments!
I am a huge bargain lover…and try to score deals. However for things like my exact model of nike shoes, I never find them on sale and buy them full price b/c i just have to have THOSE exact shoes or my feet, knees, joints aren’t happy with me.
But on things like food, or clothes, I love a good deal. And the older I get, the more frugal I get. I realize I dont “need” certain things and unless it’s a dang good deal, i pass it up. Or try to 🙂
Sodium…I avoid it for the reasons you mentioned and glad to hear your dish worked just fine without it!
I sometimes like shopping. Shopping for clothes can aggravate me!
Yes, I love getting a deal on stuff. 🙂 It gives me such a great sense of accomplishment when I get exactly what I need, but I got a great price on it. 🙂
Being a student again (with less income!) has really taught me how to bargain shop… and my roommate, she is the master of frugality so I’ve learned a lot from her too!