Hanging out at Safeway's Leftovers Lounge

I will always be thankful to Safeway for being the first major supermarket chain to build a store in my town. Before they did, I had to drive 25 minutes into the next town to go grocery shopping. Since I had a infant at time, you can imagine what a big production – and headache – that was.

Now Safeway is an easy 5 minute drive away and I still love shopping there for the good prices, their very reasonably priced green and organic store brands, and the friendly cashiers. However one thing I have not done, is use their website to do everything from checking out Safeway’s weekly sales, finding new recipes, or getting some healthy living inspiration.

This holiday season, Safeway.com featured a holiday section, which included recipes, festive projects, decorating tips and even a game of Build your Own Gingerbread Man which you could feature on Facebook. However, one section I found will be particularly helpful in the days ahead is the Leftovers Lounge since I have about four pounds of leftover pork from Christmas dinner. The leftover lounge features some pork, beef and chicken recipes but leans heavily towards turkey – perfect for after Christmas too or to give you some ideas for Super Bowl Sunday.

Cooking and shopping made easy

Here are two recipes I’m thinking of trying. Not only can you print out recipes from the Safeway website, you can add them to an online shopping list and print it out before you head off to your neighborhood store. It’s what I’ll be doing before I go to the store tomorrow. (Now if only my local Safeway offered delivery service…well, maybe Santa can bring that for me next year.)

Asian Pork and Rice Stir-Fry

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Safeway Long Grain Rice
• 4 tablespoons Safeway Canola Oil
• 3 Safeway SELECT® Large AA Eggs, beaten
• ½ head green cabbage, cored and shredded
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 3 tablespoons Safeway SELECT® Spicy Ginger Dip and Grill Sauce
• 2 cups cooked pork loin, cut into ½-inch cubes
• 1 cup Safeway SELECT® Petite Peas, thawed and drained
• 2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce

Directions:

1. Cook rice according to package directions. While rice cooks, heat 1 tablespoon oil in a small skillet and scramble the eggs until firm; set aside.
2. In a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat, add the remaining oil then add cabbage and carrots; cover and cook until vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes (stir occasionally during cooking).
3. Add the cooked rice, stirring to break up any clumps. Stir in the cooked pork and the ginger grill sauce, cover, and cook 3 minutes.
4. Add peas and egg and stir, breaking egg into smaller pieces, then add green onions and soy sauce and cook briefly until heated through.

Easy Pork Tamale Pie

Ingredients:

• 2½ cups pork, cut in 1/2-inch cubes
• 1½ cups Safeway Steams In The Bag Frozen Corn, thawed and drained
• 2 cups Safeway SELECT® Three-Bean Salsa
• 2 teaspoons Safeway Ground Cumin
• 1 teaspoons dried chipotle chili
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 6 oz package corn muffin or bread mix (plus ingredients for making muffins)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°. Spray a large skillet with nonstick cooking spray, and place over medium heat. Add pork, cumin, chili, and salt and cook until spices become fragrant (about 4 minutes). Add salsa and corn; reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally until flavors blend (about 5 minutes more).
2. While pork mixture simmers, mix corn muffin mix according to package directions. Coat a 1½ -quart heatproof casserole with nonstick cooking spray; add pork mixture, then roughly spread muffin batter on top (it’s okay if it doesn’t cover completely). Place casserole in preheated oven, and bake until muffin topping is golden brown, about 20 minutes.

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Disclosure: Safeway sent me a grocery gift card to compensate me for my time and shopping experience.