Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Trader Joe's

I never shop at Trader Joe's. First, until we moved to California, we didn't have them close by. Second, the carts are too small to hold both girls and they don't have those massive "car carts" that you can push through the megamarts like a big hummer. They have those tiny red carts that do not hold two kids and groceries. But my Dad met me at TJ last night so he pushed the girls around and I shopped. Here are some amazing things that I found.

  • In their fresh case by the hummus and cold salsa is a little gem called "Rosemary and Apricot Chicken Salad". All you have to do is scoop this up between two pieces of multi grain bread and you have the most fabulous chicken salad sandwich I ever had except for the kind I make from scratch which I only do for bridal/baby showers or on the days I host afternoon tea for the ladies in the neighborhood which if you know me happens ALL THE TIME. Ha ha ha har HAR HAR.
  • Dark chocolate Pretzel Thins - this was the motivation for the trip to TJ in the first place. Ali and Jeff introduced me to these little treats this past weekend. I am not even a dark chocolate fan. But trust me. Even Mike was like "OH MY GOSH" and he's skinny and doesn't even care about food.
  • 8-grain snacks. I have been looking for these exact snacks since I visited Amber last fall and she introduced me to a version of them made by another company. These are made under the TJ brand and I ate the whole bag last night which given how much fiber, whole grain and lack of calories they have, I didn't even feel guilty.
  • Milk Chocolate covered raisins - these make raisinettes look like welfare candy.
  • Peanut Satay Sauce - this is in a jar on the shelf and all you have to do is marinate some chicken in plain yogurt and grill it and serve this on the side with some steamed rice. It's the best peanut sauce I have ever had.
  • Artichoke Ravioli - fresh pasta case
  • TJ Vodka Pasta Sauce - I make a really good vodka sauce but this might be better. And it's on the shelf not refrigerated so you can stock up. I think this would be great with any pasta. I served it over the artichoke ravioli with chicken apple sausage. The girls ate the whole bowl.

STAY AWAY FROM:

  • carne asada burritos in the fridge case. They taste like a dog died inside the burrito.