Food follow up

FYI: that Shepherd's Pie recipe from my last post was good. Really good, considering how natural and packed with veggies it is. (don't be scared off by the lentils...you can buy a bag of dry lentils for under $1 and constitute them in simmering water on the stove for 15 minutes - they're packed with protein and fiber) I didn't read in the post that the recipe serves 8, so next time I'll cut the recipe in 1/2. When I saw how much it made, I poured the filling into 2 pie pans and froze one (without the potatoes on top - I don't think potatoes freeze well) and we ate the other for dinner tonight.

While the oven was on, I also made peach crisp with the MASS of peaches that I bought at Sprouts this weekend. I'm going back tomorrow to buy more - they were SO sweet and 39 cents/pound! I'm going to peel and freeze them...gotta stock up while the prices are good. Quick tip: my mom has an easy way to peel peaches: cut a small X into the bottom of each peach and submerge them in boiling water for 1 minute. The peel will come right off. It's even easier if you use a slotted spoon to peel them, as I learned from my bloggy friend Emily today! (the timing of her post couldn't have been better!!) If you're local, the sale is only through tomorrow, so hurry.

OH - and I tried the "chewing gum while chopping onions" kitchen trick today and it totally worked! What's funny is that when I stopped chewing, my eyes would sting, and as soon as I started chewing again, they didn't bother me. It was some weird, magical mint thing. Like the mint overtook my senses or something.

Also, I just read that July 30th is National Cheesecake Day and The Cheesecake Factory's 30th anniversary. So they're offering $1.50 slices of cheesecake, limit 1 per person. Personally, I'm not a cheesecake fan, but I have to share the good deals with my loyal readers!!!