Well, I did it!
I tackled the freakishly expensive fennel!
And get this. $8.50 of fennel only made enough to serve as a side for two people. That’s right! I figured we’d be eating fennel for days, but the three large bulbs I purchased are now resting in our bellies. That was one expensive side!
I prepared the fennel by loosely following instructions I saw in Clean Eating magazine.
First, I brought a pot of water to a boil. As the water was heating up, I chopped off the long, green stalks and the base of the bulbs. After quartering the bulbs, I tossed them into the boiling water for five minutes.
I then removed the fennel with a slotted spoon, placing it onto a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray. After drizzling olive oil over the fennel and seasoning it with salt and pepper, I roasted it at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes, flipping it halfway through.
While the fennel was roasting, I cooked a salmon filet on the stovetop to serve alongside the veggie.
The fennel was delicious and I’m really hoping I can find it for cheaper than what I paid for it at Whole Foods in the future!
Other highlights from the evening included a cup of Liberte coconut yogurt that I ate while prepping dinner.
This yogurt was more like dessert in a cup. With 17 grams of fat (11 of them saturated), I’m not sure how healthy it is, but it is pretty darn tasty!
And now for the number one highlight of my entire day…
BABE!!!
Ryan and I stopped by Big Lots (don’t judge) after work today to pick up some toilet paper (it’s really cheap there!) and as we were heading to the check out counter, Ryan glimpsed in the $5 movie bin and saw it… Babe! You know we bought it on the spot.
I mean who doesn’t love talking animals? I am seriously in love with this 1995 classic.
That’ll do pig. That’ll do.
I’m off to play this song from Babe for the 10th time tonight because Sadie seems to love it just as much as I do… Especially when I dance to it with her and sing it in my chipmunk voice.
“If I had words to make a day for you,
I’d sing you the morning golden and true…”
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mmm that dinner looks so delicious!!
ha LOVE Babe! and I need to get some Salmon in my life again. Its been far too long.
holy! that better have been delicious fennel for that price! did you end up purchasing Babe?
of course we bought it!
I can’t believe all that fennel you bought only lasted for one meal! Craziness.
No judgment here for shopping at Big Lots – I’m a sucker for a good deal!
YES. The 90s was the best for kid’s movies…I can’t believe it’s already been 16 years since that movie came out!!
Holy crap, that fennel is pricy!
So did you like the fennel??? I’ve never had it. Just curious if it lives up to the hype (and the $$)!
i liked it – but definitely wouldn’t pay $8.50 for it again!
Yeah, I don’t think I’d pay $8.50 for a single serving of anything without chocolate attached!
So did you like the fennel in the end?! Worth the splurge?
i liked it – but NOT worth the splurge!
BABE is my ALL TIME FAVORITE movie!!
I LOVE BABE!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂
Despite how expensive the fennel was, it looks delicious.
I checked out th fennel in grocery store today (in Canada) and it cost $1.99lb, but I noticed the stems were cut off already. I would complain to WF, how is it fair that you have to pay so much when half of it is inedible? Especially when some fennel will have way more stem in comparison to bulb…I love WF but that seems like quite the money making scam. Was it worth it at least?
you are hilarious! 🙂
i think you gave me the confidence to tackle fennel. thanks!
If shopping at Big Lots is wrong I don’t wanna be right! I’ve found some really great deals there.
Love Love Love Babe!! Such a good movie!!
you wayyyyyyy overpaid girl!
get it from your reg groc store. Fennel has tons of waste, i.e. the core is huge and you should never pay more than maybe $2 tops for a whole bulb of fennel. And you can serve 2 people from it.
I have a recipe for fennel roasted with ginger and coconut oil (or any oil) that is a 2 dollar make you hollar recipe. lol
It’s on my site, i wont link drop on you 🙂
do you have any farmers market-like places near you that may have fennel for a more affordable price ?
and I definitely wont judge… I love Big Lots, Target, Walmart, etc. and I LOVEEE that movie 😉 Enjoy your night!
Publix has fennel! Look for it near where the radishes, spices, etc are! 🙂 Has to be cheaper than WF.
Also–Big Lots rules! 🙂
coconut is a healthy fat.
Yeah but coconut wasn’t one of the top four ingredients… cream was!
Yeah 11g of saturated fat is certainly not good!
Liberté mediterranée yogurt is my favorite! So thick and delicious! I eat the caramel flavor as a treat (definitely not an everyday treat with 8.5% fat)!
Now you made me crave some :P.
LOL… looks amazing! I also made salmon tonight… great minds I guess 😛
Check the veggie/meat market off Michigan by osceola I think is the cross street usually cheaper better veggies or on orange and mills is a place called Eat more Produce. The top part of fennel can be used as an herb in soups.
One of my coworkers (25 year old male) told me how whenever he was sick he would watch Babe! 🙂 lol so cute!
That fennel sure is expensive!! Not judging Big Lots coz we shop there for loo paper too! 😀
I have Babe on VHS! It’s a classic.
I love Babe! He is so cute that I can barely look at him without crying!
I thought of you as I bought fennel from Trader Joe’s on Monday. It was my first time buying it and I got 2 large bulbs for $2.49 (total). I am sure that you can find it much cheaper in the future.
Babe was one of my favorite movies growing up!!! I begged my parents for a baby pig, but they didn’t seem to fond of the idea. 🙁
UGH I had no idea fennel is so expensive! We got some in a CSA box last year, threw it in the fridge and it got pushed to the back. Ended up tossing it. I feel dumb now!
You seriously made me laugh out loud about singing and dancing the Babe song to Sadie. It definitely was how you said it that made me laugh but also the fact that I do the same thing with our dog and tell my husband that he likes it, too 🙂 Not to Babe specifically, tho…somehow it ends up being Spice Girls or commercial jingles…not really sure why on the Spice Girls… 🙂
hahaha love that you sang for sadie. is it bad that I love singing to toby (my golden)?? except I change the words of songs to include his name in it…like instead of “poker face” I sing “i love my i love my i love my toby face.” it makes him so happy! I also sang it in the stairwell of my apartment once and then realized there was someone else there..woops!
i saw get fennel at my harris teeter (local grocery in NC) for around $3!
LOVE BABE!
I loved BABE when I was younger! You make me want to watch it again!
OH!! AND GUESS what I found at the store today ( I look for it everytime I go to anystore in the wworld!) PINAPPLE CHOBANI! I have been looking for it for months! I snatched the last two! wahoo!!
That meal looks so good 🙂 I think anything along side salmon looks good.
I didnt like fennel the first time I had it! Did you think it tasted like black licorice? I’m not sure about shelling out close to 9 dollars for it!!
I watch Babe all the time with the girls I nanny for! They love it 🙂
Aw, sad the fennel couldn’t be stretched more… 8.50a pop is so expensive!
And yessssss Babe is suuuch a good movie! Does Sadie watch TV? Happy does… whenever there’s an animal on and she notices she keeps perking up to watch. It’s too cute!
You guys are stinkin’ adorable. I really like that movie, and I don’t judge you for going to Big Lots : )
Whoa – that is some pricey fennel. I cook with fennel (or herbsaint as we call it!) quite often and it is dirt cheap where I shop – my grocery store usually has it for $1.99 a bunch when it’s on sale! It lasts awhile since I use all parts – the bulb, the stems, and the leaf. The leaves are amazing as a garnish for soups or on salads (especially my favorite – butter lettuce, satsumas, goat cheese, white balsamic, fennel, and crystalized honey. Yum). I think you should look outside of Whole foods!
That’s one of my favorite yogurts. Too much saturated fat, but it works as a really good dessert.
Is that not the sweetest song ever?! goodness, sometimes movies create the best songs ever.
$4 for a dinner side per person…still better than at many restaurants! Sounds like you’re a smart shopper most of the time, so one accidental splurge is OK
No judging here…we love Big Lots!
Ahh I love Babe! I really like the melody of that song too! That version gets a little hard to listen to though… 🙂
Salmon is my 2nd fave dinner (after pizza), and I really don’t make it enough!
Love big lots but even more looovvve dollar tree- no shame in saving as much as you can!
I LOVE Babe!! It was my gave movie as skid! My momma used to sing that song to me as I went to sleep 🙂
ah im glad the fennel was tasty, but boy, that is one expensive side!!
I LOVE BABE oh my gosh i miss childhood favorites!
I’m glad the fennel was good! What does it taste like?
It actually has a slight licorice taste!
hey i think i saw someone commenting on a previous post that fennel is much cheaper at trader joe’s ..
..oh & now i wanna know what coconut yoghurt tastes like! lol