My Costco Connection

You know from visiting my web site, I am a huge fan of Costco. In fact, I like to say,

"Every meal you eat is 6 degrees of separation from Costco."

I'm not sure what the heck that means but it's a fun saying and everyone seems to understand what I'm talking about.

Since I'm the primary cook in our house and still have a full time job working at home administering my website and social networks, finding shortcuts for dinner is a must. Most nights I have 20 to 30 minutes to put a meal on the table that my wife and kids are accustomed to and often that requires shortcuts and more often those shortcuts come from Costco.  (See my shortcut meals)

Whether it's rotisserie chicken, frozen "four cheese" ravioli, meatballs from a 5-pound bag or my youngest daughters favorite, filet mignon, I have been able to create quick and easy meals using ingredients purchased at Costco.

It's also the place I pick up a lot of my everyday staples and why every meal I cook is 6 degrees of separation from Costco. I purchase a lot of cheeses including Brie, goat cheese, Parmesan, Romano and Manchego. Also, I find their meat department to be very good so I buy most of my meat there including New York Strip steaks, beef tenderloin, pork tenderloins, lamb and whatever else looks good that week.

Pasta, veggies, Pellegrino water, salad makings, Eggos, frozen shrimp and scallops and of course I can't leave the place without one of their signature frozen berry drinks.

As a member, I also receive their monthly magazine, The Costco Connection. The magazine has articles about everyday stuff but also includes a food article and usually some recipes. In fact, Costco contacted me last month about the possibility of writing an article for them. If it happens, I'll be sure to let you know.

While reading through the October issue of The Costco Connection, I found out that they have several free cookbooks available on their web site featuring recipes using products you can purchase at the store. Brilliant idea and what great marketing. As Kathy Casey says more eloquently than myself in one of the books,

"Everyone is crunched for time these days, so easy recipes have big appeal. While there's nothing better than cooking up some homemade goodness from scratch, more often than not there just aren't enough hours in the day to make everything yourself. But with Costco's huge variety of products, you can pull together a quickie meal or go all out and spend the day cooking."

Some of the interesting recipes I found in their Easy Cooking The Costco Way

Beef Tenderloin Steaks with Blue Cheese Topping

Grilled Strip Steaks with Tomato-Pesto Glace

Herb-Crusted Lamb Loin Chops with Tomato Mint Salad

Grilled Veal Chops with Tarragon

Pork Medallions with Arrabbiata Sauce

Italian Sausage with Fusilli, White Beans and Escarole (I have to try this one soon)

What To Do With A Rotisserie Chicken

And then they have a bunch of recipes for using their "versatile rotisserie chicken." You can eat as is or use it to prepare sesame chicken salad, curry chicken quiche, southwestern chicken salad or chicken enchiladas verde.

All in all, a great source for everyday recipes featuring products that can help you save a little time at the end of the day when it's time to put a meal on the table. I'll test some of these recipes in the future and report back on how they turn out. If any of you give some a try, please come back and let us know what you think.