Mac & Cheese for an Army

I received some tasty looking recipes in my email from Rachel Ray, ok, not directly from her but from her magazine's website, and decided I was going to make Creamy Macaroni and Cheese with Bacon last night. After I was halfway through the process I looked to see how many servings it would make. 8-hmm, there's only 2 of us. Guess I know what I'm having for lunch for awhile. I think the sad part about all this is that I am notorious for making A LOT of something. I always forget to check to see how any servings a recipe makes so I end up making enough to feed an army. I had an incident like this with eggplant a couple years back...the dish started out as some kind of eggplant casserole and ended two weeks later as a Mexican-filling for burritos. I have know idea how my roommates and I made that transition.

I went grocery shopping yesterday at WinCo. For those of you who've never heard of such a place, it's a large warehouse-style grocery store with cheap prices. If you're from the Midwest, it's like Super Saver. Anyhow, I ventured out to WinCo for the first time to go some shopping. Since we are trying to get ourselves stuck to a budget, I made a list of what I needed and kept track of the prices as I shopped. I know that sounds dorky but I felt better knowing I had taken care to stay in budget even though I went over by $8, oops. I think I will continue doing that but I need to get a regular calculator because using my phone just got annoying. They don't accept credit cards, just to warn you. They do take everything else: cash, debit, state benefits, and I think checks, but don't hold me to it.

After all the food was put away at home I ventured back out. I was going to go to PetCo.... I don't usually go to that store (that is how I will refer to it from now on). I enjoy Petsmart so much more! Petsmart is always cheaper than that store, cleaner than that store, and friendlier than that store. So why did I go to that store? We have a flea issue at our house right now and I am trying to get it under control. I decided that I am bombing the apartment with a flea flogger and going to treat the cats with Advantage. I usually use Frontline, but Advantage is slightly cheaper (like five cents) and it comes in packs of 4 rather than 3, which is nice when you have 2 cats. I checked online for prices and also my Drs. Foster & Smith catalogue. I then called Petsmart and that store to see what their prices were and if they priced matched competitors. Both said they did. I figured, hey what a deal! I will be able to take care of this flea thing tonight! Oh no no no, silly me and my optimism. After driving to that store, picking out my two items, and then waiting in line for who knows how long, the manager came up to run a register. I went up and told her that I had called earlier and was told that they accepted competitor's prices. She proceeded to tell me rudely that she was the manager and had been there all day and had taken no such phone calls. Then she said the competitor had to be local and not some mail order magazine. I told her I spoke to a guy and if she was going to be like that, I didn't want the stuff and I walked out. I've given that store many chances but now I am pretty sure I am never going to step into one again. It's really disappointing not having the other choice of a pet store but that store kept letting me down the last few times I've went in there. That's enough, I'm done with it. I am not saying to boycott the place, you decide what you want. It's was an experience I had and because of my many disappointments in that store, I am not going back.

Wow, I think that is about enough for one week....