Field Trip: Making Good Choices

Yesterday, my day off, afforded me a field trip to the 99¢ store!

 I consider my trek to the 99¢ store a field trip since I live about 25 minutes away. I love the $ Store and the 99¢ Only Store, but buyer BEWARE...CHECK the EXPIRATION DATES!! Several months ago I popped into this same 99¢ Only and I spied some Sugar Free Jello singles sitting on the shelf. I thought to myself, jello singles would make for a quick and easy dessert. Well I picked up a box and happened  to look at the date...EXPIRED! O well. No Jello for me :-(

Anyway, when I shop at these type of bargain stores I remind myself  to not go overboard by throwing crap (crap=junk food) into the basket. I usually set a limit of $20 bucks. Last night, I found myself losing my mind while walking down aisle #1...the condiment aisle. This particular 99¢ sells lots of Asian and Hispanic condiments. On a previous trip I purchased this White Soy Sauce...I have yet try it. 

Last night I found theses bad boys, which expire at the end of April, so I will be a salad eating fool!

I tried the Hearty Italian flavor today with my grilled chicken wrap. Umm...YUM!

Grilled Chicken Wrap

1 La Banderita tortilla

3 oz grilled chicken

14 oz mozzarella cheese

5 large olives

1 TBSP Hearty Italian Boutiful

1 roma tomato

First, I layered all of the ingredients into this huge 1pt wrap I found at Wal-Mart.  The package read soft taco, but the tortilla was big enough to be used as a wrap.

Initially, I rolled the bulging wrap and shoved it into my Redi Set Go. When I opened my Redi Set Go, the wrap lay there opened swirling in juices, probably from the dressing. so, I decided to scrape the contents from the soggy wrap into another tortilla...pictured below

Next I rolled the wrap...

And then I devoured it...

Back to my shopping excursion...with the good comes the bad. Although I discovered some new healthy food finds, so many unhealthy food choices fill the aisles. And of course I wanted to eat everything I saw. Truth be told, I am guilty of a big no-no. I showed up at the store a little hungry...a big no-no. When you arrive at any place of business hungry, the food starts talking to you.  But last night, I talked back and said, "NO!" Instead of buying this...

I got that (pictured below)...Japanese rice crackers. These crackers taste great on salads, but I like to eat them by themselves too. They satisfy that crunch satisfaction I get from eating chips.

As I wrapped up my trip and paid for my purchases, something caught my eye...

Yes, a 99¢ pregnancy test...lol. Looking at that test made me wonder about the reliability of the results. But trust ME...I DO NOT, I repeat, I DO NOT want to find out...lol.

I mainly visit my local bargain stores to find recipe ingredients at discounted prices. Some recipes I find call for items not used in everyday meals.  For example, I planned to make a dish with rice wine vinegar, but as a single parent spending $3 & $4 bucks on a bottle of vinegar used for one recipe seems like an extravagance. Some of the local $ Stores carry rice wine vinegar as well as other recipe ingredients. 

Well folks...that concludes my field trip post. I would love to take a weekly field trip and post, but every time I write about a new weekly posting idea, the idea usually falls by the wayside...lol. Oh by the way, today's weigh in revealed a loss of 1.2 lbs.

What treasure(s) have you discovered at your local discount store?