The HH was down south last week for an appointment and so he popped into Trader Joe’s {which seems to be our favorite place to shop this year} to load up on more fresh produce and ready made meals.
He spent a whopping $84.46 which at first seemed like a lot, but really when you take into account the cheese and salami and ready made meals and produce, I suppose it seemed about right.
I love Trader Joe’s! And I think the HH is really liking it too for its small size and how nice and clean the store is. And the people! They’re always so friendly!
I don’t think I’ve met a grumpy Trader Joe’s person yet. It sort of makes you wonder what their screening process is. 😉
Trader Joe’s Hatch Chile Mac & Cheese. It’s crazy good and worth the $3.29 price tag.
However, as soon as I get caught up on all my rug hooking stuff, I am going to try and make it from scratch and see if I can crack the recipe. We already have baked macaroni and cheese recipe we love, but the Trader Joe’s version is really good too.
Toasted bagels with cream cheese and smoked salmon {from the freezer}. Perfection!
Trader Joe’s Orange chicken. I don’t think I’ll buy this again. It’s okay, but I’d rather eat their Kung Pao chicken. It’s 10x better.
Guacamole is always a good idea. Chopped tomatoes mixed in though, the HH wasn’t too keen on those.
Pickety bits were another winner.
What’s not to love about cheese and salami and a few nuts?
Leftover pot roast with a few sides from you guessed it, Trader Joe’s.
And last but not least… We went on a little date night and I ordered chili! It was the first time I have ever ordered chili in a restaurant that I can remember, but it was cold out and it sounded like a good idea. And it was!
Life. Sometimes it’s hectic and what you need are quick and easy meals. Other times you have oodles of time and you’re all in and make everything from scratch. This is not one of those times… Ha! But soon. Soon I’ll be baking up a storm. And you know what? I’m looking forward to it.
How did YOU do this past week? Are you in cooking from scratch mode or let me just get something on the table in 5 minutes mode? Curious minds want to know.
Have a good monday everyone,
~Mavis
Total Spent This Past Week on Groceries $84.46
- Total Spent in March $235.99
- Total Spent in February $282.90
- Total Spent in January $167.55
Brianna says
This week is hectic and I planned my meals yesterday. Simple stuff because I have three nights with kids activities and my twins have a birthday on Thursday. I usually separate it for one to get a lunch birthday and one for a dinner birthday, but this year I have to change it up because of school (it usually fell on spring break, but not this year). So we will celebrate one on Wednesday evening and one on Thursday evening. Tonight is loaded baked potato and salad, tomorrow is vegetarian taco bowl, Wednesday and Thursday will be purchased out, Friday will be veggie stir fry, Saturday will be exhausting and I have no idea what dinner. I am in love with your MIL favorite Goldbelly and decided to order a cake from a merchant (I’ve ordered various items over the past two years). I will also be baking the other one a cake, a dragonfruit strawberry cake. I hope it turns out, I had to order dragonfruit and strawberry powder online.
Bec in the PNW says
We returned from a trip a few weeks ago to a conked out fridge! Normally, I’m a fan of Trader Joe’s frozen stuff… but after being forced to eat out of our garage freezer (plus a cooler in the kitchen for refrigerated stuff) for two weeks, I’ve never been so grateful to be back to cooking! We ended up buying a freezer less refrigerator, which I didn’t even know was a thing until a few weeks ago. It has more space than our old fridge, which is great with two growing kids!
Rosemary says
I love orange chicken and today I will be making a batch of orange sauce for the freezer (along with a bunch of meals). Here the recipe I use for Orange Sauce if you want to make your own:
1/3 cup water
2/3 cup orange juice
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp pure maple syrup
2 tbsp rice vinegar
¼ cup soy sauce
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp olive oil
2 tbsp cornstarch
¼ cup water
Heat the olive oil in a sauce pan. Add the garlic and ground ginger – stir and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the 1/3 cup of water, orange juice, brown sugar, maple syrup, rice vinegar and soy sauce – cook for 3 minutes – stir often. In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch and ¼ cup water. Add to sauce pan and cook until thickened. I portion the sauce into small containers (enough for one meal) and freeze. I use it with chicken nuggets, rotisserie chicken, etc. – whatever I have available.
Laura says
Looks yummy! Thanks for sharing!
Laura says
As a former Trader Joe’s employee I can attest to it being a very happy place to work so it’s not hard to be pleasant with the customers (it’s also a very physical job, which is the reason I left. I was in constant pain). I loved working there though for several reasons: they hire nice people from all walks of life; customers are the focus; *everyone,* from the captain on down, works the store – no one sits in an office away from it all; you do different jobs all day long for an hour at a time (for example, one hour at the register, one hour loading product, and so forth); pretty much no dress code other than the t-shirt or sweatshirt – you dress for comfort; 20% discount on everything but wine and gift cards. It’s just a very pleasant environment and you work as a team. The store is Trader Joe’s brand, and everyone pulls together to make it a nice place to shop and a nice place to work.
One more TJ”s recipe for you that everyone loved: salmon dip. Blend together one container of Boursin non-dairy cheese (in the TJ dairy case) with a tin of TJ’s lightly smoked salmon, including all the oil in the tin. You can then add what you want if you like: finely diced onion, chopped fresh dill, capers, etc. Super easy and super good, and great for bagels, crackers, baked potatoes, etc.
Sandy says
I would love for you to crack that Trader Joe’s mac and cheese recipe. I look forward to it!
Sue says
You are so right about the nice employees at Trader Joe’s.
Orange chicken was one of my husband’s favorites and I always had it on hand to fix for him. On one occasion after he passed I was in our store here in Birmingham, the manger saw me and as I was checking out he handed me a dozen red roses and I got a hug.
I will always shop at Trader Joe’s.
Sue S. says
I was at Trader Joe’s today and I actually asked the checker if they ever get any grumpy customers. She answered that they rarely do
That must be a factor as to why they are always so friendly, personable, and kind. Love Trader Joe’s
tc says
Trader Joes does require a sense of humor, friendliness and more from their staff. I volunteer to do pick ups from them including flowers and boy this weekend was a bonanza of flowers – 6 shopping carts full each day which made the nursing homes and local hospitals very happy. Anyway the staff tell me there are requirements but they are treated well and just last week they had a crazy hat day so the staff were all wearing wild hats, they have a pajama day a couple of times a year plus other mad things, they all seem to be great artists too. I love that store and the people
Cher says
I’ve only been into a Trader Joe’s twice. Both times it was crowded which makes it hard to scope out a new store, so I never went back. Also nothing seemed to come in feeding an army size, which at the time was how I cooked. Now I’m just feeding two, so I might be worth checking out again.