Trader Joe’s – Page 6 – Fervent Foodie

Ramblings

Confession

June 15, 2010 6 Comments

So, I have a confession to make.

…

Before we get into that matter, let’s recap lunch and dinner:

As posted earlier, I was ill-fated this morning so I decided some pizza for lunch would help me come around.

Lean cuisine cheese pizza with leftover gionino’s hot sauce… Pretty darn close to the real thing:

If you haven’t tried hot sauce on your pizza, I am begging you to give it a try!!! Soooo good!

On to dinner. Things just keep getting better! I don’t mean to brag, but hot damn my dinner was good! (said with midwest hillbilly accent while simultaneously throwing in an arm jab)

I had a leftover turkey burger from the weekend I wanted to use up, but I wasn’t feeling the typical ketchup and mustard fixins. So I decided to make a quesadilla burger — and let me tell you it was glorious!

Here’s what went into the quesadilla burger:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — quesadilla burg fixin's

The sauces I used were 1 tbsp fat free breakstone’s sour cream, 1 tsp (AKA all I could scrape from the container) of Trader Joe’s Jalapeno Cilantro Hummus, and some Frank’s red hot. I threw it all in between a Mama Lupe’s Low Carb tortilla I had ordered from Netrition.

I also decided to take a second stab at turnip fries. This time, I cut them into larger wedges and cooked them at 450 degrees for 35 minutes.

I threw the quesadilla burger on the waffle iron (that’s right, waffle iron) to crisp up the tortilla and heat everything through. Why dirty the george foreman when the waffle iron was just sittin there begging to be used?

All together on the plate:

Not the most appealing photo, but trust me this quesadilla burger was awe-inspiring.

The turnip fries still didn’t have the fry texture I was shooting for. Crunchy? No. Tasty? Yes. I actually preferred the smaller skinny fries we made last time over these. Could be because the larger fries reminded me of the rooty texture of you know what.

Dinner Stats: 298 calories, 23g carbs, 9g fat, 36g protein, 9g fiber

On to what you are all really here for: the confession.

About a week ago, I discovered what may be the most amazing cereal on planet earth. I have secretly been enjoying sporadic handfuls of this glorious cereal since then, yet I have not posted anything about my discovery on my blog!

Well here it is.

Barbara’s Peanut Butter Puffins.

Lets take a few moments and discuss why this cereal is utterly amazing.

First the limited list of ingredients (which is pretty darn good for a cereal).

Second, one serving is only 110 calories, 23 carbs, 2g fiber, 6g of sugar, 3g of protein!

Third, the taste is pure peanut butter amazingness.

Fourth, the puffins are shockingly large. For comparison purposes:

Go. Buy. Now.

What I ate

(good) Case of the Monday’s

June 14, 2010 1 Comment

It’s Monday, and I am surprisingly cheery today! Even despite the gray and dreary weather we’ve got going on outside.

Maybe my good mood is due to the delicious Trader Joe’s coffee I had this morning on the way to work… That Trader Joe… Sure knows how to put a smile on my face 🙂

Almond butter sounded good this morning, so I went with a toasted Pepperidge Farm Deli Flat (that I had leftover from the turkey burgers) with Trader Joe’s crunchy almond butter and a little smear of Smucker’s Blackberry preserves (my favorite! love the seeds!).

Motivational poster I drew for the BF:

For breakfast #2 I went with a barley breakfast bowl again, which consisted of Stoneyfield Farms Greek Yogurt, Barley, and Red Raspberries:

I still have some leftover barley, so I think I’ll try and incorporate that into dinner somehow…

Today for lunch I had a very special treat 😀

Jarrod made me a GINORMOUS salad with romaine, grilled chicken, black beans, tomato, onion, cucumber, and carrots:

He has an uncanny ability for chopping things into perfect shapes 😉

As I’m eating my lovely salad, I realize that I haven’t really planned anything out for lunches this week. Do you ever fall into sack-lunch-doldrums? I know I do. I’ll have to do some brainstorming and see if I can spice things up this week.

What I ate

B#1, B#2, L

June 8, 2010 2 Comments

I’ve never really tried to make an omelet before, but this morning it sounded like just what my belly was craving! I’m sure there is a technique behind omelet making, but I decided to just throw everything in the pan and see what turned up.

Breakfast #1 Omelet: 1 egg, 3 egg whites, splash skim milk, 1/2 cup broccoli, 1/4 chopped spinach, 1/8 cup salsa, Frank’s Red Hot

Pleasantly surprised by how tasty the omelet was. I was worried the top/inside wouldn’t cook through, so I ended up covering the pan with a lid for most of the cooking time. This worked perfectly–the eggs were fluffy but not underdone. Think I’ll pick up some canadian bacon at the grocery store to throw into my next omelet creation!

Breakfast #1 Stats: 153 calories, 9g carbs, 5g fat, 20g protein, 2g fiber

Dessert Breakfast #2 – I’ve been wanting to try a Luna bar for quite some time. I usually eat breakfast/granola bars as snacks rather than meal replacements, and these bars are kind of high-calorie in my opinion (well they are if you eat the whole thing). Several times over the past couple months I’ve picked up a Luna bar in the store, looked over the package, placed it in the cart, then subsequently put it back on the shelf and walked away as quickly as possible. Yesterday, I happened to see them at a discount store so I grabbed a few. I’m a sucker for a good deal 😀

When I unwrapped the Caramel Nut Brownie Luna Bar I was presently surprised. It looked and smelled like a big fat candy bar.

So today’s dessert breakfast #2 consisted of 1/2 a Caramel Nut Brownie Luna Bar on top of some Dannon vanilla greek yogurt along with some blackberries.

Stats for B#2: 215 calories, 34g carbs, 3g fat, 17g protein, 4g fiber

Lunch

Lunch today is a repeat of yesterday (boring, yet tasty) with some steamed broccoli. Lettuce wrap in action:

I also brought some carrot sticks and Trader Joe’s Jalapeno Cilantro hummus. The hummus is so freaking good! I can’t wait to try out some of the other hummus flavors they sell.

I literally licked the container clean. This is why it is good I sit by myself at work 😀

Trader Joe is my homeboy 🙂

On the agenda this evening:

Mow my crazy overgrown backyard
Finish cleaning for the Jewelry Partayyyy (which is tomorrow evening)
Start Prepping food for party… menu selections to be posted this evening.

What I ate

Girl loves coffee

June 7, 2010 3 Comments

This morning, I literally sprung out of bed before the alarm went off because my body was subconsciously excited to try the coffee I picked up at Trader Joe’s yesterday. Just the smell of coffee beans makes my mouth water and instantly improves my mood.

Trader Joe’s French Roast didn’t disappoint!

Breakfast #1 today was a 3 egg white scramble seasoned with my go-to seasoning combo: salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes.

I served the egg whites up in 1/2 a Joseph’s low carb pita, and a bit o’ ketchup.

Stats: 86 calories, 7g carbs, 1g fat, 14g Protein, 2g Fiber

Breakfast #2: 1/2 a Thomas’ Whole Wheat Bagel Thin and 1 tbsp Trader Joe’s almond butta with Trader Joe’s pomegranate Greek Yogurt!

Both the almond butter and the yogurt were DELICIOUS. I’m now officially obsessed with Trader Joe’s!

Stats: 265 Calories, 27g carbs, 10g fat, 21g Protein, 5g Fiber

Lunch = Big ole salad with 2 tbs balsamic dressing and a Turkey/Ham Lettuce wrap with 1/2 a Laughing Cow french onion cheese wedge with some leftover Gionino’s hot sauce!

I think it’s safe to say I have mastered the lettuce wrap 😀

Side note — how weird is this?? http://www.sushipopper.com/default.aspx