The Costco Crud

This is my new magnet on my fridge.
It's a gift from my friend.
And it's how I feel when I get back from Costco.

When I worked in Arkansas, there was a woman who came to work dragging during flu season. She moaned and insisted, "Oh, it's just the crud."

Well, that's how I feel after I go to Costco. I moan and get grumpy. I feel achy and want to say, "Oh, it's just the Costco crud."

Today, Jack and I hit the warehouse on the hunt for some family staples. Unlike my trip to Whole Paycheck, I stick to my list. It's because temptation is tempered by quantity. I love a good Lindt mint chocoalte bar like the next girl, but buying nine pounds turns me off.

There's also something about that place that zaps my energy. Yes, it could be the airplane hangar scape of endlessly high palettes of bulky purchases. Or it could be the interrogation lighting that makes me feel a little sick and guilty when Jack and I eat free cheesecake samples at ten in the morning. The guy insisted we try the mango one. Really.

Maybe I don't like it because it's artificial work for food. It's not like I'm harvesting, growing or supporting a local food chain. Maybe it's because I lug 256 fluid ounces of orange juice, six pound hunks of ground beef, 60 ounces of organic peanut butter and almost a pound of cinnamon from the depths of the warehouse to my car and up the driveway and in to the house.

I lose my lust for food in this place. I want to shout, "Life is too short to cook for you people!" Just like my new magnet. And then I want to buy frozen fried spinach balls and pizza with buckets of ice cream and call it a meal. It makes it so easy.

But no ... I stick to Fresh Mouth. I buy French cut green beans, broccoli florettes - three pounds of them - and gallons of organic milk. Jack and I load up the car and lug in our basics in bulk, and I drive home thinking how much I want a mint chocolate bar.

Nugget o' the Moment: "Calories consumed standing up don't count." - the guy at Costco doling out the cheesecake chunks.

Costco Curry Shrimp
This was an adaption of a "real simple" dinner I saw in a magazine like Real Simple or something ... anyway it's brought to you tonight thanks to Costco. It was great and really, really simple ... and a change in our culinary palette.

2 carrots from the gigantic Costco bundle, diced
1 onion leftover from the last Costco run, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped (I didn't see garlic at Costco this time)
1 of the zillion cups of rice in the Costco bag
2 cups of water, get these from your tap
2 teaspoons of curry that isn't available in bulk at our Costco
20 shrimp ... this equates to about 3 of the 11 servings of cooked shrimp in the Kirkland Signature Shrimp bag from Costco
Handful chopped parsley, we got this from our backyard
Salt and pepper to season

1. Chop carrots, onions and garlic and saute in olive oil over medium heat in large sauce pan for about eight minutes.

2. Add one cup of rice and two cups of water. Bring to a boil. Stir in two teaspoons of curry powder.

3. Let mixture boil for two minutes, and then turn heat down to simmer for 15 more minutes.

4. Add Costco cooked shrimp and cook for five to ten more minutes.

5. Plate and garnish with chopped parsley, salt and pepper.