Warehouse Store Madness...or Brilliance

I think I'm a warehouse store addict. I love to buy stuff in bulk because everything is so economical compared with buying it at my local supermarket or at Whole Foods. But it's really only a bargain if it gets eaten or used, something I have found out the hard way when buying a 20 pound bag of sweet potatoes when I am the only one in my family of four who is nuts about them. Or when purchasing a gargantuan box of cookies and maybe a quarter of it gets eaten before the expiration date. Those are not bargains. I have become much pickier about what I am willing to buy in bulk and what is just plain wasteful. I always try to take a list with me, although I have been known to wander down each and every isle to check out what's new. Sometimes I find great deals this way. I also frequently blow my budget this way too. It's very hard to be restrained in these types of stores. Everything screams BARGAIN! And some things really are. Take the Roma tomatoes I purchased yesterday. Pesticide-free, delicious and sweet, they come in a 12 pack - a perfect amount when used in a simple pasta sauce or on homemade pizza or in bruschetta. I wash them thoroughly, dry them and cut them in half. Then they are ready to be drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt, freshly ground black pepper and herbs. I roast these in a 375 degree oven for about an hour, which gives them amazing depth of flavor. It also makes it easy to remove the peel if I want. Now they are ready to be used in all kinds of yummy dishes. This is one warehouse store purchase I make regularly along with the organic roasting chickens available at my local Costco. They come in a two-pack which is really great. I butterfly them, which is not as hard as it sounds with a really good pair of kitchen shears. (I found mine in the gadgets aisle. They were a BARGAIN!) Just remove the backbone so that the chickens will lie flat easier. After butterflying the chickens, rinsing them and patting them dry with paper towels I marinate them - usually in a citrus garlic marinade for a couple of hours in the Ziplock freezer bags I found in the paper and plastic products aisle. I like using these bags because they allow easy turning in order to marinate evenly, and they are no mess no fuss. Just toss them when they're done. I hate messing with raw chicken. When using a citrus based marinade I don't go any longer than a couple of hours or it will break down the meat too much. I remove the chickens from the marinade place them on a baking sheet lined with foil and sprayed with a little olive oil (with my handy dandy refillable spray bottles found in the gadget aisle - and they really were a BARGAIN!) If crispy skin is what I want, and who doesn't, I let the chickens air dry in the fridge and hour or two before baking. Just place them in the fridge, uncovered, right on the baking sheet. When ready to bake, remove the baking sheet from the fridge and spray the chickens with the olive oil (or drizzle them) and salt, pepper, herbs - whatever you like on your chicken. Preheat oven to 400 F. Roast chickens for 20 minutes, then lower oven temp to 375 F and roast until thighs register between 170-180 F, approximately 75-80 minutes. Is there anything better than roast chicken for dinner? I ask that every time I make it and my house is filled with the aroma of the Sunday night dinners of my childhood. Tomorrow I will make homemade chicken stock as a base for my Sicilian chicken soup, and make some chicken quesadillas for lunch. It's amazing how many fabulous meals I will get for such a bargain price. And best of all none of it goes to waste!

Easy Citrus Marinade

2 Oranges juiced

2 limes juiced

2 lemons juiced

4-6 garlic cloves

2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp freshly cracked pepper

1 tsp herbs de Provence or your favorite herb seasoning

1/2 c. olive oil

Make a paste from the garlic and salt, add the citrus juices, oil, the pepper and herbs. Mix well until emulsified. Divide in half. Pour over chicken in Ziplock. Discard marinade when finished.