My Whole Foods cashier said "wow"

Because I only paid $0.53. Because I had a $10 off coupon for spending $10 3 times last month (which is when I got a frozen pizza).

Today I got dried shiitake mushrooms ($19.99/lb), dried woodland mix mushrooms (?), 3 cans of pumpkin ($1 each),  and a bag of arborio rice that I think is 16 oz and cost $3. That came to $10.53.

I haven't used my other dried mushrooms yet, but I'm getting ready. I will probably use some sort of mushrooms in risotto.

What do I do with dried porcini mushrooms?

I went to Whole Foods today to buy frozen pizzas because they were 50% off and because if I spent $10, they would give me a free $10 on my next visit. They were almost out of frozen pizzas, so I got fewer than I expected and did get a brand I didn't want at all–Amy's. Oh well. That was $4 so I still needed to spend at least $6 more. I got a can of pumpkin for $1. And I got dried porcini mushrooms. They were $49.99/lb and I got $6 worth. There were some other mushrooms too. I think morels were $249.99/lb. And dried shiitakes were about $15/lb. I almost got a mix of forest mushrooms or something like that, but they were also cheap and I couldn't find anything else in the store I wanted (even a second Amy's pizza) more than I wanted to upgrade to porcini mushrooms, so I got them. And I was happy I got to use Apple Pay again.

But I don't know what to do with them! I have used them to make a vegan gravy before. I know I could make risotto. What else? Make chicken marsala extra luxurious?

Pumpkin Pasta using Trader Joe's Ingredients

I just invented a new pasta dish. I'm not even done eating it yet. As I was making it, I realized almost all my ingredients were from Trader Joe's. It's pretty good. Here's the recipe.

1 lb (1 bag) whole wheat penne $1.39
1/2 can pumpkin (1 can is $1.99)
1/2 stick of butter
a bunch of diced onion
a bunch of capers (a jar is $3.69 at Trader Joe's)
oregano ($1.99 for a jar at trader joe's)
grated parmesan (parmesan is $6.49/lb)
15 oz (1 can) cannelini beans (optional. $0.89)

Melt the butter and cook the onions until you can smells them. You can add salt and pepper and oregano at this point. Then add the pumpkin and capers. Beans if you want them. I like adding beans to pasta because the same things that make pasta taste good make beans taste good and beans are healthy. Add some of the pasta water to thin the sauce out a little. (Dip a coffee mug in that pot, pour it in the sauce pan.) Once you mix it all together, grate some cheese into it and stir it, then grate some more on top of your plate when you serve it.

I like whole wheat for this because it's nuttier than regular. I don't ever really want to eat whole wheat pasta with marinara sauce, but it's great for this pumpkin sauce. Likewise, I like parmesan over pecorino romano for this because it's nuttier. Romano is my go to cheese, but parmesan's better here.

Ok, time for another bowl.