Trader Joes

I'm actually a little surprised that I've never professed my love for Trader Joes to you guys.

But honestly.  I freaking Love Trader Joes.  

I'm an early morning girl, I get up early, I leave for work early and I love to do my shopping in the morning because it's al little less "people-y" out there, the stores are clean and the employees are generally still in a good mood. (Once upon a time, in my teens I worked in retail and I've worked in some aspect of customer service since my twenties).

Anyway...

Trader Joes opens at 8am, which works great for me since I'm not technically supposed to be at work until 9, even though I don't think I've ever been there "that late".  Lately I find myself driving over to TJ's in the morning to grab something for lunch when there were no leftovers from the night before because I know that I can grab a really filling, not crap filled, moderately healthy lunch for less than $5 and nothing near my office is even remotely that inexpensive (Im' looking at you sandwich shop with the  $17 sandwich and the $7 fries (Oh, they're freaking amazing alright, but that's definitely a once in a while splurge).

Their Cold Brew is really damn good too and I am such a total coffee snob.  We have this bit fancy schmancy coffee maker in my office, but.. eh, the coffee isn't spectacular and whenever I find myself grabbing a cup of it, I never finish it.  I like my coffee strong and rich and TJ's cold brew hits that mark and you get 3 servings per bottle (which is more like 2 for me and my giant mug) for $5.49 and while I love my Starbucks, it's definitely not something I'm doing everyday because if I'm getting Starbucks it's gonna be 30 ounces of that lovely bean juice.  There are days I'll just go and grab a black iced coffee and get 2 coffees out of it when I just add my own milk at the office... because leftover coffee doesn't bother me.

Oh.. and the blueberry waffles, Oh, they're good.... they're really good and like $2.49/ box.  I paid $4.99 for Kodiak protein waffles at target last week.. NGL, they were really good, but that's kind of a lot for a box of 10 waffles.  I will typically get the big box of Kodiak flapjack & waffle mix at BJ's but the last few times I've gone they've been sold out.  Last April I started upping my protein and cutting down on carbs and lost 20#. TJ's also has little microwable protein muffin cups (just like the Kodiak ones) for $1.99.

TJ's might not be my "everything" grocery store, but around the holidays you bet your ass I'm gonna find some great extras for the table.  Last year I got the strawberry and I think mango "secco" wine.  I don't drink, but everyone said it was great, it definitely didn't last to the end of the day. Whenever I'm scrolling on TikTok I always stop at the "what's new this week at Trader Joes" ones, take notes, save it or whatever and hope i find it at one of the local TJ's.

I had always thought Trader Joes was expensive, it's not, it's honestly one of the best priced stores around, filled with stuff you'd never think to try.  My spice cabinet is FULL of Trader Joes spices and I keep a few stashed at work too.

The green stuff

I did it first thing this morning!!

Made the smoothie you pervs.

I gathered all my ingredients and first made one for myself and after the kid had a sip of mine he asked for one too!! Score!!! He drank his up, I ran out of the house with a green smoothie in one hand and my latte in the other.

It's really really good!! All you taste is the peanut butter and banana you don't taste the spinach at all. Of course once I find this and make it, the bottom of the blade of my blender breaks, but I already ordered another one. So in a few days I'll be back making these awesome smoothies and trying out a few more :)

Biscuits ... and more...

Sometimes I'm at a loss of what to cook around here.. not because I don't know what to cook, not that the kid is a picky eater... sometimes I just.don't.know.

The last few weeks money's been really tight and my usual $50/week grocery budget has had to be pinched a bit to make ends meet.  It happens, I manage to make it work.  It's not always easy, but I can always manage to make it work.  Yesterday I went online and scoped all the circulars for all the grocery stores around here to see which had the best deals to make the most meals for a week and then armed with some coupons and a solid list in my head I went in, grabbed just what was on my list and was out of there with a week's worth of groceries for $26.94.

I don't often buy breakfast sausage.. sometimes the list of ingredients really creeps me the hell out.. but at $1 a box I went and grabbed two boxes because, well.. makes for an easy addition to a meal.  Eggs were $1.69 for 18 eggs.. I usually spend $2.19 for a dozen so that was a great deal.   Breakfast is often a challenge around here since I'm not a big breakfast eater and kiddo here isn't either unless he can just grab it and go.  So this morning I went ahead and made some biscuits with scrambled eggs and sausage mixed right in.  No muss, no fuss.  but really tasty.  All it was missing was cheese.. I'll remember that next time.  About 1/2 shredded cheese would have made them super!

These biscuits are So easy and really light, fluffy and delicious!

Drop biscuits

2 C All purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp. Baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbs sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold butter, cut into cubes
1 1/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350°f  & Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, set baking sheet aside


In a large bowl add flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.

Mix with your hands to incorporate the dry ingredients together and then add the butter.

With your hands, incorporate the butter until it's the texture of a coarse meal*(see note about mix-ins).

Add the milk and give it a good stir with a wooden spoon or spatula to get it combined.

 DO NOT OVER MIX!

You want this a little lumpy, it's OK.

I use an ice cream scoop to drop even amounts of dough on the parchment lined sheet.

Bake 15-20 minutes and viola!

*Note
If you are adding mix-ins to the biscuits like meat, egg, cheese or all of the above add them to the dry ingredients and toss to coat them before adding the milk, this will keep them from sinking to the bottom of the biscuits.

Banana scones with brown sugar glaze

I love banana bread, but I wanted something a little diffferent.  I saw a recipe for banana scones the other day, but I didn't have a few key ingredients to make that specific recipe so I decided to wing it and try one on my own.. they came out Fantastic!

Banana Scones

2 1/4 Cups + 1 tablespoon All purpose Flour

1/3 C Brown sugar

2 1/2 tsp Baking Powder

3 Tbs Unsalted butter

1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 Large banana

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 Tbs milk

Preheat oven to 400°f

In a large bowl mix together flour, sugar, baking powder and pumpkin pie spice.  

Cut in the butter until it becomes fine crumbs and set aside.

In a small bowl mash the banana and add the egg, milk and Vanilla

Add the wet ingredients to the dry mixing until just combined.  Knead dough 12-14 times until smooth and pat into about a 7 inch round about 1 inch high on parchment lined baking sheet.  with a serrated knife cut into 8 slices and separate slightly.

Bake 15-20 minutes until golden brown.

Brown Sugar Glaze:

In a small bowl combine 1/3 C powdered sugar, 1 Tbs brown sugar, 2 Tbs milk and 1/2 Tsp vanilla.  stir to combine and drizzle over scones.

Dunkin Donuts Egg White & turkey sausage Flatbread

Lunch today would have been better had it actually come from my kitchen.  But, of course it didn’t.  Because heaven forbid I remember it in the fridge as I’m flying out the door at 7:30 yelling at the kid to hurry his butt up before he’s late for first period... again.

Today I decided to do a little research before I headed out to the snoozefest of choices we have over here by my office for lunch.. There’s the deli next door, Subway on one corner.. Walk the other way out of the building and there’s Dunkin Donuts, Chinese or Pizza.  I will not eat from the Chinese place, their food is soooooo greasy.  Pizza.. Meh.  I mean, guaranteed, the pizza is really good 95% of the time.. But, again... meh. I’d get a salad there if they weren’t freaking $9!!  Dunkin donuts has a wide variety of new stuff on their menu (minus that Texas toast sandwich that has a day’s worth of calories and 2 days worth of sodium) I went online to the DD website to check on some nutrition facts and decided on the egg white & turkey sausage flatbread sandwich.

I’m going to get my hair cut tonight *gasp* so unlike many days when I go without eating until I get home (I know, that’s really, really bad) I know I won’t be home until probably well after 6... so I had to run out and grab something before the other ladies went out to lunch.

 It’s good.  It’s not spectacular or something I’d make a special trip for or eat daily.. But whatever, it’s lunch.  The Egg part had enough little sausage bits and spinach to be noticed, but the flavor was pretty bland.  The bread is soft but closely resembles cardboard & the flavor wasn't much better. For under 300 calories and less than $4 I'm not going to complain.  It was good enough, it was food in my belly that was slightly nutritious and will hold me over (hopefully) until dinner. I’m running on 2 Latté’s already today (home made, first one was downed with the remnants of yesterday’s espresso while the fresh pot of espresso was brewing, lol.. Something I never do) and no food.. So, yeah.. I’ve gotta eat something before I keel over.

Wanna see my buns? Hot Cross Buns

I was SO excited to make hot cross buns, I haven't had them in ages and my mom always bought them for Easter.  I browsed Foodgawker and found a recipe that looked good.  

They came out beautifully

But, in all honesty, to me they're pretty bland.  They needed a little more sweetness, a little more spice and they would have been perfect.

I got the recipe here if you're interested in trying it.

I have to go through my cookbooks and see if I've got one in there and I'll try again.

Does Kashi Make You Smile?

I Love Kashi.  There is a box of Kashi stashed in my desk at work at all times.  It's great for breakfast to give me a boost, with milk or mixed into yogurt or to just munch on as a crunchy snack... and for the days when lunch just doesn't happen it's Kashi to the rescue.  Kashi Go Lean Crunch in Honey Almond Flax is my absolute favorite and is packed with protein.  

Can the taste of Kashi cereals actually make you smile?  Kashi wants to find out if people think their cereals are as tasty as they are good-for-you.  And they are looking for your help!  You can share your thoughts on how eating Kashi cereal makes you feel in a quick and easy video on KashiSmileReview.com.

Please visit www.kashismilereview.com to get started (and to see example reviews).  Kashi will be reviewing all entries until the deadline (December 19th), so make sure to get those cameras rolling!  Your feedback will help Kashi make eating healthier something to smile about.

The New Dunkin Donuts Waffle breakfast sandwich

I woke up feeling like total crap this morning, I was more interested in getting 10 more minutes of sleep than making coffee, my throat was so sore that the thought of swallowing anything other than medicine to numb the pain was outrageous. So on my way into the office I decided to run into Dunkin’ Donuts for a Hot Latte’ (because, honestly by then if I didn’t get some caffeine in me I would be fast asleep at my desk in no time) While I was standing on line that was practically out the door at 8:45 I saw an ad for a new breakfast sandwich, the Waffle Sandwich. From the picture it just looked like a mini waffle with egg, cheese & bacon.. But Boy was I in for a surprise!

I don’t normally get egg sandwiches from Dunkin Donuts, I used to refer to them as ‘rubber eggs’ as they were chewy and overcooked and pretty much all around nasty that no amount of ketchup and pepper could cover up. But being all I had all day yesterday to eat was a packet of wheat thins for lunch and a bowl of hot & sour soup for dinner I was absolutely starving and this honestly looked pretty good. So I went ahead and ordered the waffle sandwich and coffee and went on to my office.

Now, Dunkin Donuts has some of the hottest coffee around, no matter what kind of hot drink you get you always have to wait at least 5 minutes before even attempting to take that first sip without totally scalding your tongue and throat (or at least, I do) so I set aside the bag with the sandwich and my coffee and started to tackle the pile of work on my desk that never seems to get any smaller. Once the smell of the coffee started to wear me down I took a sip (ahh, lovely) and then I opened the bag with the sandwich and to my disbelief the 2 little waffles were studded with ......little bits of Syrup! Just like the McGriddle from McDonalds!!! And not only were these little waffles good, but the egg was light and fluffy and the bacon was crispy!!! It was all around good!


I like that Dunkin Donuts is spreading their wings a bit and expanding their menu options, their flatbread sandwiches leave much to be desired though, the eggs are chewy and the small portions leave you hungry. I really like this new waffle sandwich though, it’s a keeper.

The perfect Saturday brunch

Last night we were watching TV when a commercial for IHOP came on for their new fruit Crêpes and P turned to me and said 'mom, can we go to IHOP for Crêpes?' I looked at him with horror in my eyes.. as if I would go to IHOP for Crêpes when they're so simple to make at home. I remember making crepes with my grandma when I was little and we would put all kinds of things inside them... my favorite is Orange Marmalade and a little dab of butter. Well, since the kid didn't roll out of bed until almost noon (Remember people, he's 12 and the boy likes to sleep, lol) he came into my room, gave me the usual morning kiss and hug and uttered two words to me with love in his eyes.. "Crêpes... Please" I, of course obliged to my only son who hasn't eaten since around 8:00 last night with a Crêpe recipe I had in my cookbook binder from who knows where.

Alright, Now, back to the Crêpes.. this recipe here states that it makes 7 Crêpes.. I got about 15 out of this recipe though using my 6" circulon pan.

Crêpes

15 min | 5 min prep

7 crepes

• 1 cup flour
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Combine flour, milk, eggs, and oil.
2. Add salt.
3. Heat a lightly greased 6 inch skillet; remove from heat.
4. Spoon in 2 Tbsp batter; lift and tilt skillet to spread evenly.
5. Return to heat; brown on one side only.
6. To remove, invert pan over paper toweling.
7. Repeat with remaining batter.
8. Fill with your favorite filling.

I made strawberry compote with 1 cup frozen strawberries, 2 Tbs. vanilla sugar and a teeny bit of water. P. decorated his with whipped cream, I went with just the strawberries and a little honey and they were absolutely wonderful.