My philosophy has always simply been this – – generally a rule of thumb- – women are gatherers and men are hunters. So I do all of the meal planning and gather what I need at home, and send the hubs to the store to hunt for the rest. 😉 😀
It might not work for everyone, but for us, it seems to work extremely well. And any time my hubby gives me the hairy-eyeball glare when I hand him a list….I ask if he’d like to trade places.
You see, not including the hours it takes to plan the meals, I also cook all of them, bake all of them, and do most of the dishes. He does help sometimes….but that does not grant a Gold Star when it takes hours (and sometimes days) for each and every meal to arrive to the table while rinsing a few plates takes minutes.
The entire grocery shopping adventure for him, who is a self-proclaimed “power shopper”, takes him a mere 30 minutes, sometimes an hour, at the most. I think he has it quite easy.
Oh, … we used to shop together. But I’m one of those shoppers that likes to look at everything. And I mean – – EVERY – – thing.
New stuff, cool stuff, is this a better deal than that brand, what’s the weight on that jar, do we have a coupon for that?, where’s the sale paper, what do you mean what aisle is the duct tape in? duct tape wasn’t on the list…..and you see where we’re going with that one…
I, like my hubby as well, prefer to just shop alone. I cannot do it all, and I admit, he’s better at it than I am. If I did the shopping, as I remind him when he grumbles, the grocery bill doubles, even triples, and we end up with WAY too much stuff for two people.
Besides. Household tasks should be divided evenly, right? Right. 😉 Case closed.
But there’s always just a bit more to the story. Oooooh, yes. And this is always the fun part. Not kidding, actually!
When the expert shopper aficionado arrives home and the bags are brought in and everything slowly is accounted for and…recognized. MOST of the time, in his defense, he does a spectacular job! Then there are times when I just shake my head…like this last time.
I asked for an orange. Yep. An orange. He comes home with a HUMUNGOUS-sized orange that not only it’s size was a dead-giveaway that something was terribly wrong in Florida, but the color was not right as well. It had thick skin like a navel orange, but was almost peach in color. I knew that this was no ordinary “orange”. And I was quite certain that it might not be an orange at all. I couldn’t hardly wait to slice into it!
Supper was going to be a bit different. Oh yay.
So after everything was put away and organized….I grabbed a big sharp knife and decided to see what in the heck kind of crazy “orange” this man of mine scouted and hunted.
It was a biggun.
I can see why that hunter he-man of mine went for it. (If I were hunting, I think I might have wanted a trophy for it, too.) After all, it truly was a beauty!
Well, as soon as I sliced into it, I quickly realized that what we had here was some type of Ruby Red Grapefruit. It’s aroma and taste decided that immediately.
So. Ooookay.
Mystery solved….but what was this going to do to all of my dinner plans?!
It actually made everything even better! I had already not wanted to use a lemon or a lime, or even Key limes, because of the monotony and over-use.
So when I saw the cool gift that was brought to me by my fearless hunter…honestly…I almost cried. This wrongly purchased, trophy-sized, “orange”, that some lazy customer placed into the wrong bin after deciding not to purchase it, became mine and my hubby’s treasure of a find.
My brave hunter of Walmart fought off the beasts and brought home the prized, ruby red, jewel of the Walmart jungle! 😀
My hubby, Tom, LOVES anything with grapefruit, and I love the Ruby Red ones, so this was a win-win and challenge ON! 😀
This extremely healthy fruit is so overlooked and not “popular” at the moment. But, well, I say, yes it is and it should always be!
Grapefruit in general is a fruit that sadly gets bullied and overlooked by the latest billboard chart topping, trendy fruits at the given moment, and yet it’s one of THE most health-benefitting ones out there!
So, three cheers to my brave fearless hunter! 😀 This sadly long-forgotten and wrongly-snubbed fruit has just found a lifelong welcome spot at our table!
Make sure you give these guys a nice home too, as the flavor is better than you remember, trust me, so very versatile, and just as pretty as any of it’s citrus relatives. 😉 😀
*See tomorrow’s post for my tilapia recipe! And soon to come, my asparagus recipe as well!
STRAWBERRY MANGO KIWI SALSA with BELL PEPPER, VIDALIA ONION & RUBY RED GRAPEFRUIT JUICE
Makes about 4 cups
1 mango, diced (no peel)
8 large ripe strawberries, hulled and diced
2 large kiwis, peeled and diced
3 Tbl. sweet vidalia onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup finely diced green bell pepper, can sub several Tbl. fresh jalapeños if desired
8 flat leaf parsley leaves, finely julienned (*can sub cilantro if desired)
zest and juice of a fourth of a large Ruby Red Grapefruit, or more if desired
salt and coarse ground black pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS:
Placed chopped fruit and veggies into medium-sized bowl. Add parsley (or cilantro) and grapefruit zest and juice. Add salt and pepper to taste and gently fold a few times to mix. Cover and chill.
Serve with chips as an appetizer, or serve over baked or grilled fish, chicken, pork, or beef.
