"Recipe" Baby Spinach/Thousand Island Dressing/Goat Cheese Crumbles

+ + = YUMMY!

There really isn't anything bad that I can say about the Trader Joe's Les Salades du Midi Baby Spinach, except for the fact that I don't really understand the connection to the fancy French. It's really cheap ($1.99) and very tasty and keeps in the fridge for almost two weeks which is usally one week longer than any other lettuce I've ever had.

I think the greated thing about the baby spinach is its versatility. I can use it as the base of a salad, I can add some arugula to it (I've been doing that lately), I can eat it all by itself with just dressing (which happens more often than not since I never seem to have fresh vegis around to toss in a salad but I'm usually in the mood for a salad), I can saute it in a little olive oil and add some cooked corn or tomatoes. It's really become one of my staples, because a little spinach is a great healthy snack and it never seems to go bad in my fridge. Which is kind of creepy but maybe it's also a sign that Paul and I are actually eating lots and lots of spinach like we should be doing.

My current favorite Baby Spinach "recipe" is Baby Spinach, Thousand Island Dressing and Goat Cheese crumbles. A little cheese really does make all the difference in salad, especially when it is delicious and good for you, like goat cheese.

And in case you are wondering, recipe is in quotation marks because I don't think it really technically counts as a recipe if all you are doing is telling people to put things together. But since that is going to be the extent of the cooking advice on this blog, I thought that I need to have an official sounding word like recipe.

Cost:
- $1.99 for 12oz of Baby Spinach
- $1.99 for 4oz of Crumbled Goat Cheese
- $1.69 for 8fl oz of Thousand Island Dressing (I need to double check on that one, seems too good to be true)

Nutrition:
The serving below is enough for two people so the total calories is about 100 per serving.
- 20 calories for 4 cups of Baby Spinach (2 g of dietary fiber)
- 80 calories for 1 oz of Goat Cheese (5g of fat, 3g of protein)
- 110 calories for 2 Tbsp of Thousand Island Dressing (11 g of fat, lordie that's why it tastes so good)

On the back:
Sadly none of the three items has anything funny or cute or interesting on the back, unless of course you cound the "Nothing added, no preservatives, pre-washed, final rinse recommended" on the back of the Baby Spinach.

Although that pre-washed thing is really important to note, actually. See most of the time, I get annoyed by lettuce because you have to rinse it and then you have to spin it in one of those salad spinners which really just means you get green water all over the place and then all you really have is soggy lettuce. With the pre-washed Baby Spinach, I really just toss it in a strainer, splash some water on it and it's all good to go. And if we are being completely honest here, sometimes I don't even do the final rinse (but of course if you've been reading this blog you know that about me already).

Store Location:
The Baby Spinach and the Thousand Island dressing are both in the fresh vegetable section, while the cheese is in the cheese section which is usually pretty close to the fresh vegetable section.

Categories: Dairy_, Heating Up™ Recipes_, Sauces, Dressings and Dips_, Snacks_, Vegetables_

Puffins Peanut Butter Cereal

So I decided to mix it up a little bit with this post. See the image is on the right this time. Crazy I know!

I've always been a little wary of the cereal with the rain forest animals on the front of it at Trader Joe's. I'm totally for the rain forest and I buy the over priced rain forest crunch candy at the rain forest cafe and make sure to eat the rain forest Ben and Jerry's peace pop thingies. But the rain forest animals on my cereal box was pushing it. I really love cereal and I didn't want to end up with some granola crunchy rocks and twigs swimming in milk full of fiber but tasting like crap. Paul would have killed me if I brought that home.

Luckily Puffins cereal is so delicious that you don't even really remember that it has something to do with endangered animals. Actually I have to throw this out there I have no flippin' clue what a Puffin is. But I'm sure the back of the box will tell me! (cut to the scene of me reading the back of the box and trying to figure out what the heck a puffin is)

Well that was disappointing. There's some information on the number of species of puffins, but I swear, the box is acting like I'm some puffin expert. (aside: seriously I don't think I've had this much fun in a while, you should really try typing the word puffin over and over and over again and see if you don't laugh out loud). The box is telling me to Adopt A Puffin, but I'm not really sure why, are they endangered? They kind of look like do-do birds, maybe puffins are toast because they look too much like other species that went extinct? The box invites me to buy some puffin stuff (a beanie puffin no thanks and a puffin canvas tote bag, an idea they clearly stole from TJs) and also sends me to a website about "these unique costal birds" on www.projectpuffin.org.

Yeah, uh, these birds aren't actually endangered, project puffin just refers to the fact that they no longer live in Maine and they are trying to bring them back. Are you kidding me? But I do like the website because it answers 26 questions that I might have about puffins, including where they got their name: Puffin originally meant "fatling." The name was used to describe the chubby chicks of the Manx Shearwater, with which puffin chicks were confused.

Well even if the plight of the puffin was a little disappointing, the cereal really is the best thing ever. It's got a delicious crunchy peanut buttery taste, it tastes delicious with milk and it doesn't go soggy in milk at all (but maybe that's because I eat it so quickly because it's so yummy!) There are so many things going for this cereal taste wise. And because it is TJs, it's relatively healthy, which means:

• 100% Natural (whatever that means)
• Low Fat (okay but seriuosly most cereals are low fat... that's like putting low fat on Hershey's chocolate syrup, what do they think we are stupid? yeah I guess we are stupid)
• Wheat Free (this one took me a while, I marveled at how something so delicious could be wheat free because that sounds so wonderful, but really it just means that the puffin cereal is made of corn and they just don't want to advertise that it's really corn deliciousness)
• No Hydrogenated Oils or Trans Fats (those are the newest enemies so thanks Puffin Cereal!)
• Dairy Free (well okay but I'm going to add tons of dairy because it's cereal, do the Puffin people really not understand that part of eating cereal?)
  
• Vegetarian (ARE YOU KIDDING ME? What, cereal comes with bits of meat nowadays?)
• No Cholesterol (thanks Puffin Cereal!)
• No Artifical Flavors, Colors or Preservatives (I kind of doubt this one, since it tastes so yummy it can't possibly be free of preservatives)
• Kosher (Oy that's good I guess)

Long Live The Puffins!

Cost: $3.29

Nutrition Facts:
Serving Size: 3/4 Cup and 1/2 Cup Skim Milk
Calories: 150
Total Fat: 2g
Dietary Fiber: 2g (this is the important thing to check out on cereal... 2g is pretty standard for cereals that aren't that good for you like Lucky Charms)
Sugars: 6g (this is also another important thing, especially if you like the sugar cereals like I do, Lucky Charms actually has 13g of sugar per serving, so I guess Puffin Cereal is marginally better than Lucky Charms)

On the back:
A whole bunch of information about puffins, but here's the hard sell on the Puffins Cereal (in case you are wondering Barabara is the name of the bakery that puts out the puffin cereal, visit her online at www.barbarasbakery.com):

Energize your day the healthy way with the nutritious crunchy corn taste of Peanut Butter Puffins. Lightly sweetened with real peanut butter and made from only natural ingredients, Peanut Butter Puffins make a delicious breakfast fun. All Barbara's products are made without artificial flavors, colors, preservatives or refined white sugar and Barbara's never uses hydrogenated oils, which may increase the risk o fheart disease. Enjoy Puffins as a low fat snack right out of the box or as a tasty topping for yogurt or ice cream. Try all four varieties - Original, Cinnamon, Peanut Butter and Honey Rice.

Store location: by all the scary natural granola, rain forest cereal types.

Pear Halves

TJs Pear Halves (or Peach Halves) are pretty awesome, mostly because if you have some in your fridge, you always have some fruit to snack on. Fruit seems to disappear all the time in my apartment, mostly because it goes bad so quickly and therefore we feel compelled to eat it. And it's yummy. So I love the fruit in jars concept because it keeps so well (I couldn't even find an expiration date on the pear halves jar that's just awesome although some people would say that's just sketchy).

I usually take two or three halves and add them to TJs Greek Yogurt with a little sugar. With the peach slices, I like to just eat them with a little whip cream on top. You can also add the peach slices to cereal and the pear slices to oatmeal, yummy. I've never added them to salads, like the back of the jar suggests, but I guess you could make a pear, gorgonzola, walnut salad pretty easily. I think I might try that next time I buy the pears (these pears are almost gone, can you tell in the photo?)

Oh for the day that all fruit can be suspended in liquid and kept for a very very very long time! Actually one more thing about TJs Fruit In Jar Foods - the syrup is white grape juice and very light. Alot of Fruit In Jars have a very heavy syrup which even if you drain it off of the fruit when you take it out, still manages to make the fruit taste kind of funny and syrupy. Plus I think the white grape fruit juice manages to lower the calories a bit, but that's really an unconfirmed thought and I'm too tired to google it to confirm it.

Cost: $3.29 per jar

Nutrition Facts:
Serving Size: 1/2 Cup
Calories: 70
Sugars: 12g

Back Of Jar:
Trader Joe’s Pear Halves in white grape juice are grown in the region of Valencia, Spain. The warm Mediterranean Sea produces sweet, flavorful pears. Use them as a topping on your favorite desserts, such as ice cream or yogurt, or add them to salads.

Store Location: In the canned food aisle, near the sugar

Organic Sugar

I'm sure the fact that TJs Organic Sugar is labeled organic helps TJs sell a billion units to all the people that love organic food. But I have a little secret, I don't really care all that much if my food is organic or not. Actually anyone who knows me and knows what I eat is usually suprised that I shop at TJs because it is known for great organic foods (although I think technically Whole Foods really deserves that honor... god I hate that place but that's another story). I'm not known for eating really healthy foods... I just eat whatever is tastiest and quickest.

If it happens to be organic, that's cool, although again I have to admit that I still don't really know what the benefit of organic food is to regular food. Or really care, because sure, if I really cared I could google it and find out but I just don't care. I'm the type of person who doesn't usually wash her fruit before eating it. I know its gross but remember, tasty and quick, that's my food mantra.

It's the package that makes TJs Organic Sugar the best sugar in the world. I love the little bag that it comes in. It seals up really nice much better than regular ziploc. Plus the bottom is awesome so it doesn't tip over and make a mess. I threw away my special plastic containers that I used to package sugar in because of the awesomeness of the TJs Organic Sugar packaging. I've also really found a lot of great luck with keeping my TJs Organic Brown Sugar nice and soft and everyone knows how problematic brown sugar can be (damn you to hell brown sugar).

TJs Organic Sugar tastes pretty good, although I have to say that all sugar pretty much tastes the same. Plus I really only use sugar to sweeten my yogurt and the occasional cup of tea, so I can't comment on the baking properties, since I'm no baker (although ironically I did do that for a summer job in college, that goes in the "what the heck was I thinking" category).

Cost: $2.49 ($2.99 for the Organic Brown Sugar)

Nutritional Facts:
Serv. Sive: 1 Tsp
Calories: 15
Sugars: 4g

Back of Package:
Trader Joe’s Organic Sugar contains only one ingredient: pure, natural, organic evaporated can juice. Grown on sustainable sugar farms and plantations in Paraguay, the sugar cane is cut by hand, then delivered to a facility where the juice is extracted from the cane. The evaporation process produces perfect sugar crystals, rich in flavor and molasses. Certified Organic and Kosher, Trader Joe’s Organic Sugar is wholesome sweetener you can feel good about.

Store Location: In the canned food aisle, near the pear halves

Greek Style Plain Yogurt

I've always been a pretty big fan of yogurt, but I've never liked those fruit on the bottom or fruit mixed in yogurts. They always tasted really sweet to me and this was way before our current hate-affair with sugar. My mom invented her own home-made yogurts by mixing plain yogurt, sliced bananas and sugar. I liked this concoction better than the premade yogurts but it always turned out a little soupy to me, regular plain yogurt was just too thin.

Then my friend Cassandra introduced me to the magic that is TJs Greek yogurt. When she described it to me ("its like yogurt with the thicker consistency of sour cream") I knew I would love it, it's that thicker yogurt that I had always been dreaming of.

Trust me a little bit goes a long way. The serving size is 1 cup but I usually probably only have 1/2 a cup because its very very rich. And its pretty tangy (my boyfriend Paul makes that unhappy puckering face whenever he accidentally eats some of this yogurt, he's not a big fan) so be generous with the added sugar, fruit or honey. I like to add about three teaspoons of sugar and some fruit (usually TJs Pear Halves or Peaches since all types of other fruit always get eaten before I can remember to save them for my yogurt treat).

Growing up I actually didn't know that you were supposed to put sour cream on baked potatoes because in my house we always used plain yogurt (weird but true and by the way mom and dad I've never met anyone else who puts yogurt on their potatoes). So I use the greek yogurt on baked potatoes and dips for chips and basically anything that requires sour cream. A quick google just confirmed my thinking that the greek yogurt is a little better for you than the sour cream (1 cup of sour cream has roughly double the calories and double the fat of 1 cup of greek yogurt).

TJs has a bunch of pre-mixed flavors of Greek Yogurt that aren't actually all that bad, they are still a little too sweet for me. The fig Greek Style yogurt actually tastes pretty yummy, even though it seems a little weird. And come on how can you not love something that takes you "on a journey to the land of ancient gods and ruins?" (see: back of the container) My first official shout-out to the awesome product copy writers at TJs.

Cost: $1.99 per 16oz container

Nutritional Info:
Serving Size 1 cup (trust me that's too much)
Calories: 260
Total Fat: 20g
Sugars: 8g
Protein: 12g

Back of the container:
Ready for something a little unusual and completely delicious? Come with us on a journey to the land of ancient gods and ruins, where yogurt is a thick, creamy concoction with the consistency of sour cream. The tart flavor is similar to yogurt, but with more bit. Serve Trader Joe’s Greek Style Plain Yogurt with fresh berries or granola for breakfast, or sweeten it up with a bit of honey for a satisfying snack anytime.

Store Location: In the fridge section near the other yogurts