Never go to Trader Joe's Hungry in December

Things nearly got out of control this weekend.

I had a busy day Saturday sleeping in, cleaning house, working out and doing laundry. All of a sudden a strong case of the HANGRY's snuck up on me without warning. I had no eggs, no meat prepped and had already made an adaptation of my Seven Minute Scramble in the morning.

The only reasonable option my hungry brain stomach could handle was to go to Trader Joe's, knowing the battlefield I was about to enter.

As much as it's true that you should never go grocery shopping when you're hungry, you really shouldn't go to Trader Joe's hungry in December.

Any other time of the year, my trips into TJ's are quick. I have a basket, I grab a coffee sample then hit fruits/vegetables/meats/wines in that order. Easy perimeter route of the store for all of the fresh and healthy items that are household staples year round.

Not in December.

In December I get drawn down the aisles. Where sweets and crackers and cookies haunt my goals dreams. What's so irresistible down these aisles? So much seasonal greatness. Kind of like how the store has everything pumpkin from September to October, December is a dangerous month for peppermint-anything lovers like me.

Need some examples of what can go wrong during your winter trip?



The boxes of Joe-Joe's are always gone, all that's left is an empty shelf with a hand-written tag saying how amazing they are and what a good price you can snag them for. When I see the empty shelf I imagine someone doing a supermarket sweep with their cart and grabbing all the boxes that they will then eat from December through November of the following year - no rationing necessary.

This weekend I splurged for the peppermint pretzel slims at $2.99 for the 6oz bag for the second time this month and I'm challenging myself to make them last the whole week this time.



Once my family constructed the mega-gingerbread man from TJ's and decorated him to look like my dad in his work uniform. This time I didn't see any of those remaining but the House Kits looked to be a popular item at only $7.99

Speaking of gingerbread, this paleo recipe for gingerbread brownies looks promising.

I know how amazing the signature pumpkin ice cream is (and survived 2013 without having any!) so I can only imagine what they've done for the Egg Nog. I have a feeling that a serving is one spoonful but that's not a concern during the holidays, is it?

Apparently this recipe for an Egg Nog Milkshake can't be beat. I'm tempted to try it with almond milk Egg Nog and make a serving just for one... because I can't be trusted to save a serving for "later".

I did have enough will power to mostly stick to my list, but you can tell that it bothered me enough to dedicate an entire post to how many amazing things I passed up to stick to my mostly-paleo plan. 

I consider my friend Marisa lucky that she doesn't have a TJ's to tempt her with all of this until 2014!

Sweet Potato + Quinoa Stir Fry

Today I'm sharing a new favorite recipe with you - by request of some facebook followers!

Sunday was a marathon of food prep and I was so thankful to have Dan by my side chopping, stirring, opening, grilling and sampling storing the foods we were making. This was a new one on our list and was born out of some inspiration from the internet over the past month: Brooke / Pinterest. It was also put together due to the fact that we had some vegetables that needed to be used or thrown out and I was having a productive weekend with more energy in store to prep.  

Feast your eyes on the mix that had me wishing for more and waiting in anticipation for today's identical lunch.

Sweet Potato + Quinoa Stir Fry

3 cups quinoa {cooked}

2 cans black beans {drained}

5 sweet potatoes {peeled + chopped}

2 jalapenos

1/2 white onion

2 tbsp olive oil

pepper to sprinkle

Preparation:

• Cook 1 cup of dry quinoa (1 cup seeds + 2 cups water) = 3 cups cooked


• Peel/chop sweet potatoes into bite sized pieces


• Dice onion + jalapenos into small pieces for flavor in every bite


• Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees


• Place your chopped sweet potatoes into a baking pan with 2 tbsp olive oil drizzle, bake for 15 minutes


• After 15 minutes - Stir your potatoes and bake for 10 more minutes


• Open 2 cans of black beans, drain


• In a large bowl, mix all ingredients {jalapenos + onion + beans + quinoa + finished sweet potatoes} and sprinkle with pepper


• Sample it, add protein to it, put it in a large container and have this for days!

Co-workers were sniffing and oogling over what I was bringing back from the microwave - you'd have thought these were Laughing Planet leftovers!

What's your favorite way to use sweet potatoes?

Food Share

{Thank you everyone for the sweet notes and condolences for our family - we appreciate you}

I've wanted to share this one with you for a few weeks now but haven't found the words. I don't know that there are words, maybe just a dangle of drool down the side of my face.

This was the breakfast we enjoyed on Sunday morning at the coast two weeks ago when my brother was in the states. It was a family affair where I made the pancakes, mom made the scramble and the boys helped us clean up to ensure that there were no leftovers remaining. They didn't disappoint and neither did our brunch!

The scramble is filled with eggs, turkey, ham and Trader Joe's Healthy 8 Veggie Mix - the pancakes are Trader Joe's multigrain and the whipped cream was delicious!

The following St. Patrick's Day inspired cake is the dessert I made for Dan on Saturday while he was away playing basketball. There's nothing clean about this one except for maybe the spinach I added to get the authentic green color. The mix looked promising - made with Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Flavor, and I had all of the other ingredients already on hand to make it happen in no time.

The trick for making it was that I baked it in my new muffin-top only pan to get thin, individual servings to aid in portion control. I had to adjust my cook time for these thin mini cakes since there was no way it would take 40 minutes like the box instructions called for. I quickly threw it all together, got my photos taken (in surprisingly good light) and waited to see what I would pull out of the oven.

I allowed the cakes to cool and had the mini-cakes frosted, sprinkled and finished by the time Dan walked in the door before our Blazer game plans.



Taste test approved and we still have some left over!

Week 10: Cohabitation

As I sit here writing this post (hint: Thursday night) Dan is in the kitchen making us NY Strip Steak, sauteed veggies and we're both sipping wine from a new bottle we sampled today at Trader Joe's. Life is good Great!

This was a big week for both of us so let's focus on only the happy moments!

This week Dan celebrated his five year anniversary with the company of his dreams. When he was congratulated by a round of applause from his peers, he was then presented with a peer-voted Employee of the Quarter award for all of his hard work and passion for his work.

It'll be two more years until I get my very own plaque:

We grabbed coffee from our local coffee shop THREE mornings this week which always puts a little pep in our step! Normally when we make it into work we have a couple minutes to spare and those are spent resting on each other's shoulders to have a little more 'us time' before we are sentenced to 8-10 hours of non-stop work. The coffee puts us in the parking lot a little closer to go-time and it just plain tastes good!

Wednesday night we had a special visitor at the house! Mom was going out at night to meet with a long lost friend and we had the privilege of keeping an eye on the sweetest little girl. Bella has the sweetest temperament, the gentlest eyes and the softest coat of hair! She was a sleepyhead for most of the night as was I and fell asleep on my feet while we tried our hardest to stay awake for mom to come in after curfew ;)

-Pause-

This is dinner and drinks tonight, don't be jealous!

Weekend plans? No way!

Dan plans to run with me Saturday morning before getting 18 holes of golf in. I plan to run as far as my legs will take me and dream as far as my mind will let me travel. Maybe a pedicure too - what are you guys up to?

Oh right, St. Patty's Day! I hope you're wearing green! I can see us grabbing a pint of Guinness to celebrate but other than that I'm laying low. I think it's important to call out that last year I spent St. Patty's morning DIY-ing with Brooke and Erica where we made these pinterest gems: Bracelets & Shoes

Sorry to end this short, but my man's calling me to dance with him in our living room to some new J.T.- have a great weekend, everyone!

Recipe Share

I'm one of those people who hates trying new recipes because I can't stand going back and forth between instructions, ingredients, steps, measurements, photos (DSLR + iPhone) and managing my pandora playlist. #firstworldproblems.

This weekend I tried to challenge myself by making a special trip to the grocery store for ingredients to make a few recipe's I've been eyeing lately.

#1 Kale & White Bean Soup <--recipe

Saturday's weather was beautiful in Portland and probably the last thing on my mind during the day was making soup that night. Once the sun fell over the residential horizon I felt the wind chill kick in and was reminded that we won't truly put our trust in that summer air until July. Get used to it PDX!

Marisa at Uproot From Oregon always has great recipes to share and this one is full credit to her:

#2 Protein Shamrock Shake <--recipe

Something that Saturday afternoon did bring to mind was the Shamrock Shake from McDonald's for a limited time only. It's definitely been a guilty pleasure of Dan and I's and we've shown a lot of self restraint to avoid that drive-thru this March. When I saw Taralynn share a protein-shake version of the same creation I knew I would have to try it and especially have Dan be the master taste tester.

In the end I think I used too many mint leaves, but was happy with myself rather than caving for the McDonald's version. Plus nobody ever complained about whipped cream topping and sprinkles!

#3 Tempeh + Lentil Salad

This one is a home creation and I always get rave reviews from people who see, smell and want to taste what I'm bringing back to my desk around noon.

• 1 cup of Romaine Lettuce


• 1/3 cup of Trader Joe's Steamed Lentils


• 4 oz. of Trader Joe's Organic 3 Grain Tempeh


• Drenched in Sriracha (as much as you can handle)

Pack the lettuce separately from the other three ingredients so that you don't heat the lettuce. Pop the tempeh, lentils and sriracha into the microwave for 45-60 seconds until you can hear it steaming, then dump it onto the bed of lettuce. Ta-dah! There's a tasty and clean meal in front of you waiting to be devoured.

Sometimes I even add an avocado and pepper - live life on the wild side, my friends.

Go on, what recipes do you have to share with me?

Easy Trader Joe's Brownies

Do you want to know the secret of how to make the easiest and most delicious desserts? Let someone else do the work for you! The lazy man's plan.

Even after all of the desserts I've pinned onto my Pinterest boards and the delicious morsels I see posted within the blogging community, I still am a fan of simplicity and efficiency.

To prove how quickly you can convert this from box to brownies - picture this. I was able to un-box, pour, mix, photograph and throw it in the oven before Dan even realized what I was up to. It was only when he smelled ooey gooey brownies that he raced into the kitchen to take a look! If I didn't still have the evidence out of the ingredients he'd have no idea it was the 'reduced guilt' option.

Bravo, Trader Joe's!

I'll show you how easy it is:

You can imagine how quickly this dessert disappeared from our house - I'm already getting asked when we can make it again!

Weekend Food Prep

So many of you have been applauding my meal prep on the weekends and have even commented on being inspired by it!

Nothing makes me happier - especially when your continued questions, comments and feedback remind me how easy, necessary and organized this whole food prep work can be.

If you like this topic, I recommend first checking out my post from a few weeks ago: Take The Time: Meal Prep where I go through the steps that are easy to follow on how to set yourself up for success. Taking inventory, making a list, checking it twice - it all counts!

For me, the magic happens on Sundays. Every weekend I shop for all of my weekly staples and make them all at once. I maximize oven/burner utilization, can make a big mess and have a big clean-up all while filling the house with warmth and wonderful smells except for the eggs!

Quinoa isn't something I discovered until a few years ago and I don't recall a time where I haven't had some available in the pantry. Knowledge of quinoa would have saved me from a lot of white rice consumption in college - but it's better late than never the way that I see it!

For every 1 cup of dry quinoa, you will need 2 cups of water. If you want to end up with 4 cups of cooked quinoa, it requires 1 cup dry / 2 cups water. If you want 8 cups, double the grains and double the water! Crank up the heat to medium/high, cover with a lid and allow it to soak up and fill out with no maintenance.

Grilled Chicken is something I'm lucky to have Dan for - he enjoys defrosting the frozen chicken breasts, seasoning them with great spices and throwing them onto the grill! I take a different approach and put them into the preheated oven at 375 degrees (after defrosting) and cook for 35-45 minutes until I see them the way I like them. If you know chicken, you'll know when they're ready. If you're new, test a piece to make sure the meat has cooked all the way through. Follow these safety guidelines for more information on defrosting and avoiding the "Danger Zone"!

Hard Boiled Eggs are very easy to make and can be a great source of protein that will start your morning off right. I also enjoy eating them in the morning because they are a little stinky when you store them - so I don't want the odor to be mistaken for something else while I'm at work. I've tried both the bake and boil methods and haven't yet found a favorite - I love them both! This past weekend I boiled and it was an easy 22 minutes of monitoring time and maybe another 5 for each Dan and I to peel the shells off. If you boil, vinegar is essential to your success.

Steamed Vegetables are SO easy to prepare in mass quantities and I haven't found a way to do it wrong yet.

I grab a big pot, dump in the frozen veggies, fill with enough water to cover the veggies and put the burner at medium to high heat. You'll be able to feel when they're done, and just remember that there's ZERO risk to sampling - so eat your heart out!

These are just a few of the main things I've been cooking lately and it's made a huge difference on the money I spend, the time I have during the week and most importantly the good choices I'm making before I even have a chance to change my mind!

Don't forget to make it pretty and take photos - what you've done is a work of art!

Everyone who's shared their progress and changes with me have kept me inspired - so please keep on encouraging me, sharing your success (even if it's just planning) and I'll keep sharing my tips!

<3 JE

South(east) Scramble

Most weekends Dan and I are pretty bad about eating breakfast at a normal time. Weekdays we are on a strict schedule but on Saturday and Sunday we like to sleep in and get our lazy on. Once we finally roll jump out of bed I often go for a run and he's surprisingly never really hungry until the afternoon.

This weekend actually was no different, but when we decided to make brunch after noon we put a little extra flare into it. We were both skilled cooks in the kitchen and had fun making a Southwesteast Scramble that would end up keeping us full all day long!

The inspiration for the scramble was the dozen eggs in the egg caddy that hadn't been touched for two weeks. The rest was fridge and pantry magic.

Check it out and make your own next weekend!

Ingredients:

8 Eggs

3 Trader Joe's Chicken Jalapeño sausages

1 Green Pepper

1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes

1 can black beans

MmmMmm Sriracha and maybe a little post photography shredded low-fat mozzarella

Simply amazing!

<3 JE

The Best Weekends

Why is it that the best weekends go by so quickly?

If you remember from Friday's Post I was looking forward to a pretty special weekend. It exceeded my expectations!

Saturday morning I got home before 9am which gave mom and I time to go shopping for an adopted thanksgiving family while super-dad took my car to the DEQ.

After trying to contain our excitement, we briskly drove to PDX to rescue Matt after his long travels from Luxembourg.

Bailey was beside herself when that guy that she always sees on the computer screen hopped into the car. She instantly had Matt covered in hair and sloppy kisses that she'd been saving since she last saw him in March.

^ Such a happy girl ^

On the immediate schedule was one of Matt's favorite Portland restaurants: Fire on The Mountain where we enjoyed wings, sandwiches, salads and by Matt's request, Cajun tots!

When we got home Bailey ripped around the house with Matt and tired him herself out!

The rest of Saturday we watched a huge college football upset and our Blazers lose in late minutes at home. Matt snoozed early as he couldn't keep his eyes open a minute longer.

I seem to only have foodie photos from Sunday (yum) so you'll have to trust me that the house was full of excitement with Dan over to meet Matt for the first time and join us for breakfast and a day of NFL.

^ Pepper Bacon ^

^ Garlic Sausage and Sundried Tomato Sausage from Trader Joe's ^

^ Yummy scramble ^

^ Pumpkin Pancakes - Trader Joe's ^

After a long afternoon of NFL and family + Dan time, Matt recommended that we get a Flying Pie Pizza for dinner.

We ordered their XL Combo 2 complete with Pepperoni, salami, mushrooms, onions, black olives, & Italian sausage. Not a single piece was left over after the boys had their portions and mom and I supplemented our slice with a salad.

^ Portland visit staple ^

^ Matt vs Pizza ^

To heal Dan's suppressed woes over the Bears game, we each enjoyed Bailey's and milk on the rocks with whipped cream. A sign of the holidays!

I was thrilled to get in two workouts with the food and family - but I have some serious work to do today with a lunchtime run and an evening Nike Training Club session on the schedule!

<3 JE