Thursday Thrift

 

I don't usually thrift past mid-week.  By then, most of the deals are shopped out.  Today was an exception.  After a visit to a friend who is recovering from an injury, I decided to stop into a Goodwill that is on the way home, which I never go into.  Sixteen bucks got me a dress, a butter dish, a glass block vase, and a heavy clear glass candle holder.

I have wanted a black butter dish for ages, but either they're over twenty bucks, or the handles aren't big enough. Butter makes the cover slippery, and a good handle is important if the dish is breakable.  This one was $2.99, so it's just what I want. And if we do break it, it was cheap anyway!

Here are most of the ingredients for my cheap dinner.  I'm reading Stanley Tucci's book "What I Ate in a Year," and just got through an account of tuna with pasta that I decided would be a great dinner to go with a pizza I'd planned to top with my Flash Food mozzarella. Price Rite sells Cento products at a decent price, and I'd planned to splurge on their tuna in oil.  Alas, they didn't have any. The regular tuna they  had was in vegetable oil -- but I wanted olive oil.  For this dish, I also specifically wanted San Marzano tomatoes.  The linguine was a Flash Food deal too - fresh Rana.

I decided to make my own tuna in olive oil.  First, I drained the water -- filling Frankie's dish with one can and mixing the other into her oatmeal. Why waste it if my girl loves it?  Along with the EVOO, I added capers, fresh lemon, and Penzey's Tuscan Sun spice blend.  I want it to have a couple of hours to macerate. 

I topped the pizza with red pepper and onion.  The pasta sauce was awesome too. In addition to the ingredients I already mentioned, I added some chopped green olives. Kind of an unusual dinner, but all freshly made from frugally sourced ingredients.  It's what we do in this house!

p.s. has anyone else read Stanley Tucci's book?