Relationships are all about compromise, right? Growing up the youngest in my family, compromising wasn’t my strength. Everyone pretty much gave me whatever I wanted, because they were too tired to listen to my relentless complaining. I continue to be right 95% of the time as an adult. (If you can’t tell by now, I am completely kidding).
Ahhh, I digress. As I shared on stories earlier this week, I stopped shopping at Trader Joe’s after they were the source of my “last supper” before I was struck with the stomach bug about seven years ago. (Yes, you read that correctly. I straight-up quit Trader Joes. For seven years.) I’m usually not that black and white with things, but I still gag at the sight of a Trader Joe’s prepared salad.
Ben is the first person in my life who challenges me- in a loving way, of course. He was patient and put-up with my ridiculousness over Trader Joe’s long enough. This spring, I promised I would try to cut back on grocery store spending. (If Whole Foods makes a $25 dairy-free cheese, I’m sure to find it and buy it. I’m that person.) That being said, last Saturday I made my first trip to Trader Joe’s.
Here are some things I found:
1 CAULIFLOWER GNOCCHI
The main ingredients in these bad boys- cauliflower and cassava flour. I try to stay away from cauliflower-based foods as they tend to bother my stomach. That being said, I was fine with these. We made one of our favorite Sunday night dinners- baked almond flour chicken cutlets. We had these on the side with a little bit of red sauce. They cook in under 10 minutes and the consistency was pretty decent considering they aren’t the real deal.
Survey Says: YES!
2. Seasoned Sprouts
They are cleaned, shaved, and SEASONED. We roasted these in the oven for about 20 minutes. They were crisped to perfection -a quick and easy weeknight side- dish. The ingredients are only salt, pepper, and garlic.
Survey Says: ABSOLUTELY!
3. Dried Baby Bananas
I have a coworker who sticks to a very strict paleo(ish) diet during the week. I am always in awe of her commitment to eating healthy. When I saw her eating these, I figured they must be worth checking out. The main issue I have with these- I want to eat the entire bag. They are so delicious.
Survey Says: YES! (Buy one bag at a time, because you actually might not be able to stop yourself from eating these.)
4. Uncooked Buffalo Burgers
Burgers are an easy meal to have during the week. That being said, we always make our burgers super healthy. We tend to use bison meat and lettuce wraps. I saw these in the freezer section and was excited to try them! Federal regulations forbid the use of hormones or antibiotics with buffalo meat. That being said, the package says “only for 120 days.” I’m not sure what that means, so please enlighten me if you know. Otherwise, I will continue to do some more research. I like these, because their sodium content is low. They were relatively easy to make, too. They were a bit dry, even after adding our own seasoning.
Survey Says: Eh, I could do without these
5. Nothing But Fig and Walnut Spread
This week, I put this on apple slices for an afternoon snack. It was pretty good. I would like to put this on a slice of whole grain bread and melt a piece of dairy-free cheese over the top. I also feel like this would work well on top of a salad. The possibilities are endless with this stuff.
Survey Says: Why not? It can spice up some otherwise boring snacks.
BONUS! Dairy Free Mozzarella
It’s no Daiya or Follow Your Heart DF cheese, but it’ll do. It melted great over my Sunday night chicken cutlet.
xoxo Laura
My Trader Joe’s Motivation <3 (((swoon))
