I almost slipped into savings shannon mode when I saw my meat sales at pricesmart today. I may have stood still and in silence for too long in the meat aisle. A heavy internal argument was being had, but in the end I turned away from the double pack of meat. The second argument to convince me going to Windsor Quality Meats wasn't a long ways failed, but an alternative option was given (thank you, yelp). Excited that I had an option closer to home, I ventured to Cioffi's. Like Windsor, I brown bagged a piece of tenderloin. Unlike Windsor, it was pricier. A $3 difference, but I told myself not to judge by the price until I tasted it.

There is a $3 difference, and it's $3 more than it deserves (no thank you, yelp). I shouldn't judge based on one experience at each place, but the cut at Windsor was far better and not that kindness goes into the quality of the meat, but I felt more welcomed by the staff there. Screw distance, I'm going back to Windsor.

No picture. Picture the last steaks I made, but with disappointment.

Because I don't have the money to dress like Gwyneth Paltrow (at the moment), I gave cooking like her a shot a la GOOP. Although, I think it's more accurate to say, I gave cooking like the recipes she posts a shot. Or is it, recipes that are chosen by her team and she approves, then they post? Or is there someone there as her proxy that approves and she never sees them? I don't know, I'm a sucker for anything Gwyneth Paltrow and even if she doesn't hand pick or hand write half of the content, the fact that it has her stamp of approval is good enough for this sheep.

New England Bouillabaisse. I made the trip to the Daily Catch down on Commercial to get some fresh mussels and clams. Fresh mussels they had, canned clams I'd have to settle for. After I threw the halibut stock onto the counter, my total came to $12.50. Throw in the basa fillet I bought a day before and my dinner bill was $14. On par to a meal out, but I didn't have to tip or have to put on pants while I ate.

Aside from realizing the luxury of not having to have clothing restrictions during a meal, this cooking day taught me that I will not be buying frozen mussels ever again.

If you don't find this appetizing, I suggest you look up this recipe on the GOOP site. You'll get a visual of what it's actually supposed to look like or maybe mine does look as it should and that bouillabaisse had to succumb to the Hollywood pressures and someone like Madonna's photo editor had to airbrush out all its fat to reveal its mussel thigh gap. When did a thigh gap become a desirable thing?!

My vegetables looked spectacularly colourful... before I took them out the oven. Grilled them 10 minutes too long and they came out like a mushy mess. And obviously this botched batch was for my entire's week lunch. Five days. Five days straight of shoving the shit job I did in my face and into my mouth.

When it comes to salmon, I don't need anything more than squeezed lemon juice. Unlike my neglected vegetables, I gave all my love and attention to my dear salmon. I can stomach ruined vegetables, but to dry up a piece of salmon would be a sad story that I'd never forget.

Ever since I failed at coconut flour pasta, I've been wanting to redeem myself. I've conquered pasta before. Heck, I made spinach pasta once. That's a few pages into the cuisinart booklet, way past the intro pastas. Not needing to prove myself too much, I wanted to stick to the basics this time. Flour and egg. No funny business. Because I am on a budget these days and can't really be buying full bags of new ingredients, there was a smidge of funny business. I again decided to make do with what I had at home. This is why I say I cannot bake. I tend to enjoy making do with what I have and that often means altering a recipe. Luckily, when it comes to cooking, unlike baking, mods and slight personal adjustments are more forgiving. The mod today was whole wheat flour. The result was pasta that I could ingest. I was hungry and I made something that I could eat. Some may say that was a success. Enjoyment was not part of the requirement.

I will have to fully redeem myself when I run out of whole wheat flour or when someone gifts me white flour.

I'm not going to beat myself up too much. I only half failed at my dinner. It really wasn't a downer that the pasta was terrible, because my tomato sauce took my focus off of it. There's nothing to boast about my tomato sauce. It isn't original. No one will ever talk about it other than me, and I will most likely never offer it to anyone. It's simple, it's dependable and it satisfies me.

Tomato sauce: crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, onions, green peppers, celery, chilli peppers, basil and oregano.
Pasta: whole wheat flour (don't do it!) and eggs.