Welcome to Target

[Despite the following development, the rest of my shopping experience went quite well today.  I got a gallon of milk for $2.99 at Costco, paid $0.99 cents for a huge container of blueberries at Stop & Shop, and found a napkin holder on clearance at Bed Bath and Beyond]

I had quite an experience today at Target.

 

My plan was to go through and get all the things I needed for the house (shampoo, cast iron pan, etc.) and then to head over the baby section and do some registering.  

I did pretty well getting all the household stuff on my list, although I did have to backtrack a few times when I realized I'd forgotten something (isn't that the point of a list?!).  

So I headed over to the baby section.  I had my little scan gun ready to put all kinds of fun stuff on our registry.  I went up the first aisle, then down the second, and... well, that was it.  So I walked around a bit more and said to myself "Clearly, I'm missing something.  There's no way Target only has two short aisles of baby stuff and the rest is clothes."  However, after walking up and down the same aisles two more times, I found that I was not mistaken.  This particular Target has a minute baby section.  I think I scanned a total of 3 things.  

Obviously, I can do the registering online, but part of the reason I'd wanted to do it at the store had been to experience the fun of looking at all the stuff in person.  And scanning it with the cool red scan gun.  Alas.  

I went through the check out with my household stuff.  The total seemed to come out to quite a bit more than I expected.  So while heading over the customer service desk to return my scan gun, I checked the receipt.  Lo and behold, the pan that had been on a rack labeled $9.98 was actually $39.99.  Left my cart at the customer service desk, went all the way back to the kitchen section (which I walked past and had to go back to), and found another pan at a better price.  Back to the front where I got in line to make my exchange.  Noticed that I also purchased the wrong sized toothbrush because I bought two and they scanned at different prices.  Decided I'd had enough of Target and just returned the toothbrush rather than go back out into the store for the third time.  

Target and I now have a love-hate relationship.

Recipe of the moment

This one took about 20 minutes from start to finish, and was quite tasty for something so simple.

Tomato & Spinach Pasta Toss

courtesy of kraftfoods.com

Ingredients:

- 2 cups rotini or penne pasta, uncooked

- 1/2 lb hot or mild Italian sausage, casing removed

- 1 pkg (6 0z) baby spinach leaves (7 cups)

- 1 can (14.5 oz) Italian-style diced tomatoes, undrained

- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

- 2 Tbsp grated parmesan

Directions:

1.  Cook pasta as directed on package

2.  Meanwhile, crumble meat into large deep skillet.  Cook on medium-high heat 10 to 12 minutes or until cook through, stirring occasionally; drain.

3.  Add spinach and tomatoes; cook 2 minutes or until spinach is wilted, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat, cover to keep warm.

4.  Drain pasta.  Add to skillet along with cheeses; toss lightly.