Trader Joes, how do I love thee. I don’t care that you’re Aldi in a fancy dress. In fact, I love that you’re Aldi in a fancy dress and your delicious foods are priced accordingly. And I do love thee. Let me count the ways.

First there’s their Garlic Naan, in the freezer section for < $2 a package of  four big pieces. For that I love you lots. Then there’s the Vegetable Biryani, so conveniently packaged and ready to devour…

My favorite part about Trader Joes is that they make it easy and inexpensive to cook gourmet quality ethnic food. If I’m going to cook, I require variety, and what’s not to love about making something like Indian food easier?

I used Patak’s Rogan Josh sauce with chicken, onions and peppers in the goodie bags leftover from our friend’s taco party and piled the rest of it together.  Cheap, quick, and restaurant quality. Thank you, Trader Joes.

As we save up to buy our first home, we’re on a big money-saving kick. A big part of that is keeping up our lifestyle, eating the foods we love on a budget, so low-cost restaurant-quality meals are a big bonus.

Our favorite local gyros place (at least for cheap gyros) is about $4.50 for a huge sandwich. Not bad. But the gyros kits from nearby Grecian Delight Foods (I’ll be driving past their plant tomorrow, actually!) makes two good-sized meals with TONS of leftovers—enough for some more sandwiches, maybe a delicious gyros omelet, all for under $7.

I paired tonight’s dinner with the leftover potatoes from Sunday’s lamb dinner. Definitely worth staying in for a night of American Idol (okay, that’s just me and not the hubby—go Adam Lambert!!!)

Tonight I made the Cheesy Ranch Burger Hamburger Helper, but of course I added my own special touches to make it my own. I sautéed sliced onion and diced poblano pepper in olive oil until slightly charred. I then  added some sweet white corn and a diced roma tomato and let that sit.

I prepared the Hamburger Helper according to package directions (except the added fat) with 97% lean ground beef (worth the extra cost). When it was done, I tossed in the sautéed veggies and mixed it all together.

QUICK TIP: Cook your vegetables separate from the Hamburger Helper. This goes for any boxed meal that you’re modifying. Don’t just toss the veggies in with the water, milk and sauce mix. That will make the veggies soggy and flavorless. Sauté them in a separate pan and toss everything together right before serving.

I’ll add some other recent goodies too. It’s good to be back on track.

CONFESSION: So often lately I come home from a particularly rough day at work with absolutely no desire to cook. It’s one of the reasons I keep a pantry stocked with convenience foods.

Aldi’s made great strides in the quality of their convenience side dishes, and I was astounded at the amazing flavor and texture of the Lemongrass & Ginger Rice from their Asia Specialties brand.

The chicken potstickers I made came from my Asian grocer. I pan-fried these according to the package directions (be careful to get a bag with English instructions if you’ve never made potstickers before) with some sesame oil until cooked thoroughly and browned. I served this with some Tamari sauce for dipping, and in just a few minutes we had an amazing meal, even on a night where I really, REALLY didn’t want to cook.