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What's for Dinner?

It's the age old question and one that often finds me cringing - especially as I'm just coming in the door from a long day at work. Because of my haphazard ways, I must confess to not being a good planner. Therefore, when I am hit with that question, invariably from our 16 year old, I very often do not know the answer. This makes me feel bad, which in turn makes me a little grouchy, which in turn gets my evening off to a bad start. Ugh!

However, I do have a HUGE deep freeze. In fact, the joke around our house is that my Big Strong Man could "off me", deposit my entire dead body into said freezer, cover me in frozen meat, and no one would be the wiser. Between that plotline in Crazy in Alabama and Desperate Housewives, someone might catch on eventually, but he's such a good guy, I think he'd have a good six months' head start on the authorities! But I digress...

Back to our desperation dinner. When I found myself in this situation, yet again, last week, I went out to the deep freeze in the garage to see what I could drum up. Since I regularly shop at Aldi and try to keep a good supply of meat in the freezer, I decided to make a game of what items of theirs I could turn into a delicious meal. Here's what wound up on our table:

• Teriyaki Marinated Pork Tenderloin ($3.99/lb - about $4.50). These are great grilled or roasted in the oven (about 15 minutes per pound at 350 degrees).
• Chef's Cupboard Cornbread Stuffing Mix (prepared with water and 2 T. butter) ($.79 and cost of butter - about $1.00 total cost)
• Princess Peg's Green, Green Salad (recipe below) (Total Cost - about $2.25)
• Dessert: Grandessa Frozen Fruit Bars

The pork tenderloin comes in a cry-o-vac package, so you can use it right away, keep it in the fridge for a while or freeze it. I usually just put them right into the freezer and defrost them in water in the sink when I am ready to use them. They don't take long to defrost that way. The stuffing mix also comes in Chicken and Cranberry flavors. All are good. The frozen fruit bars come in a variety of flavors, as well, such as Strawberry, Pina Colada and Pineapple Lime. My personal favorite is the Pineapple Lime. Tart and sweet all in one!

Princess Peg's Green, Green Salad

Romaine Lettuce Hearts (These come packaged in Three's) 

Mixed greens (in the bag)

Green grapes

Sugar snap peas

Pistachios (Southern Grove in the shell)

Favorite Aldi croutons

Shredded Swiss cheese

Grandessa Three Cheese Vinaigrette

I love the way the sweetness from the dressing blends with the grapes in this salad, and the Swiss cheese balances that out nicely. The pistachios are a nice surprise, too. Enjoy!