My Ode To Trader Joes

I FREAKING LOVE TRADER JOES. I know that immediately puts me into the wannabe hipster granola category, but I couldn't care less. I love the convenience that the store brings my life and I'm going to pass on some of my TJ tips to you people. If you don't have a Trader Joes in your town...well that really sucks.

Items I can't live without and therefore venture passed Rosedale Hwy (a really shitty road in my hometown that I rarely pass because I'm a neighborhood agoraphobe) AKA Buy These:

1. The Bruschetta Sauce:  When you walk into the store head over to the produce, cheeses and meats section first to pick up the first couple of my must buys. The Bruschetta is the yummiest, most versatile item that I get from that joint. I use it to make classic bruschetta, pasta salad (usually with one of their awesome stuffed tortellinis like 4 cheese or proscuitto), top grilled or baked chicken with the sauce and shredded mozzarella and broil for a simple yet fancy dinner, top fish or steak as well. I also have found that an egg white omelet is much more tolerable with this delectable basil and tomato concoction. I'll include the recipe for my grilled bruschetta chicken and my bruschetta pasta salad below this post.

2. Fancy Ass Cheese:  My favorite food is fancy cheese. Grab some organic grapes in the produce section and one of the wide variety of crackers they have and BAM you've got my dinner. My kids were raised on higher end cheeses from different regions because of TJ's. At age 3 my sons favorite cheese was Brie. He would request it at restaurants and get shocked looks out of the wait staff. Most of the time I'll see what strikes my fancy that my family hasn't before and pick it up to try. One of Scott's favorite things is to come home after work to find some cheeses and wine on a platter in the kitchen. We drink wine, eat cheese and talk about our days while I cook dinner. If you banish your kids to the back of the house then you've carved out a mini date for yourself.

3. Tzakiki:  This classic Greek sauce is the bomb diggity part of the last gyro you enjoyed. I think it might be the only reason that I love gyros. Shockingly this sauce isn't as fattening as it appears so it's another great shortcut to make simple healthy meals. I grab chicken and sauté it with salt, pepper and dried dill, stuff it into a whole wheat pita with romaine lettuce and red onion slices; top that stuffing with tzakiki and I promise you're family will enjoy this dinner. Add fruit as a side dish and you've included all of the nutrients your kids need for a meal.

4. Ezekial Bread: I love this bread. It's one of the only stores that carries it and it's packed with nutrients. There really isn't much to say about it other than buy it and make either chicken salad or egg salad to put in it. You won't regret it.

5. Tempeh and Tofu: Sure they sell tofu everywhere. My kids actually love it and I like to toss it into stir fries every so often. Tempeh is the one that is harder to find. Over a year ago I decided to try out a Vegan diet. I had received some troubling blood work results after my yearly physical and watched a documentary called Forks over Knives. I ended that flick with a ridiculous motivation for being a vegan. I actually kept it up for 3 months and lowered my shitty genetic cholesterol number back into the safe zone. My desire for steak eventually trumped my desire for eating plants only so clearly that was just a phase. However, I do still enjoy incorporating vegetarian diets into my families lives. Tempeh is a great way to make meatless meals such as Vegan Ruebens or Baked Buffalo Tempeh Tenders. Start having at least one meatless meal a week. Humans aren't made to consume as much meat as we do.

6. Cookie Butter: Give your kids a spoonful of TJ's cookie butter and watch their faces light up. This is by far the most delicious of all the "butters". My daughter Ellie loves to top her pancakes with a thin coat of cookie butter before she eats them (she's not a fan of syrup). They taste like Peanut butter and Sugar Cookies love child and you'll be very glad that I recommended it.

7. Garlic Olive Oil: this oil really saves you a step when you're in a rush and don't feel like chopping garlic. I like to drizzle it on top of chicken before I grill it to give it a garlic flavor base. Its delicious and doesn't need much of an explanation.

8. CHEAP BOOZE: I hate it when my wine fridge is running low. I like to know that I could have a spontaneous wine tasting party at any moment. Don't we all? Trader Joe's isn't all 2 buck chuck (which I now refuse to drink because I feel I've evolved). You can get any type of wine your heart desires. I highly recommend the MacMurry Pinot Noir. It runs at about $15 bucks and it's well worth it. 2 buck Chuck has it's place though, in the hand me down wine rack of a 22 year old college student.

So there are my 8 reasons to make the trek to my local Trader Joe's. Their prices aren't bad and they have the absolutely nicest employees ever. Period.

BRUSCHETTA CHICKEN

serves 4

4 chicken breasts grilled with Garlic Olive oil and salt n' pepper

1/2-1 cup of TJ's bruschetta 

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella

a few pinches of fresh Parmesan 

4 sprigs of fresh basil to top finished chicken. People will think you're fancy.

After grilling up your chicken or better yet- after your husband grills the chicken, top breasts with the amount of bruschetta you'd like (I enjoy the "tons" portion) and some shredded cheese. Place in High heat broiler for about 2-3 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Remove and sprinkle with the freshly graded parm cheese and top with a basil sprig. I serve this with a fresh green salad and crunchy garlic bread.

BRUSCHETTA PASTA SALAD

serves 6

1 package of prosciutto stuffed (or really any kind you'd like) tortellini from TJ's cooked and drained

1 can of drained and rinsed garbanzo beans

1 can of drained and rinsed kidney beans

1 cup of kalamata olives (you can guess where I buy mine)

1 container of feta cheese crumbles

1 container of bruschetta 

Add all of the ingredients to a bowl and place into the fridge because it's best cold. With this salad you can add more beans, different veggies or maybe even jalapenos. Just adjust how much bruschetta you add. Believe me, you want that to be the main flavor.

Get your reusable grocery bag and get to the store!

What the hell

Today was one of those days. Kids ate whatever they could reach, over fed the fish and watched movies in their jammies...all day. I don't feel the slightest but guilty.

Bulge Battles and Me...a love story

It's my least favorite time of year...Summer. When Olaf the snowman sang about his desire to see summer in the movie Frozen, he failed to mention squeezing his tubby snowy ass in a swimsuit or the dreaded the thigh chubs rubbing against the inseam of his shorts. These are the things I think about in mid-April when it dawns on me that I ate and drank my way through the holiday season (which I've determined goes through Easter) and I will not be rocking the bikini I haven't worn since George W. Bush's first term. My love/hate relationship with my body started at birth and has continued into my 30's with no sign of being tucked away with all the other things that Mommy Sarah has decided don't matter (i.e. my dream of having straight hair, winning a Pulitzer, having a torrid love affair with 1970's Chevy Chase). I have been torturing my body for years and only now have I decided to figure out why. So I started reexamining my childhood.
When I was 12 I started restricting food. I had been skinny my entire life until puberty and I was desperate to loose the baby fat that had accumulated in my middle and face. My body had formed into the "apple shape" that I've been trying to hide my whole life and I didn't know what else to do. By the time I graduated high school I was perfect. I was tall, thin, tan, and with the witty sense of humor of a young Diane Keaton. I was not healthy...at all. I frequently lost hair, was lethargic and suffered from intense hunger headaches. My daily diet consisted of a big Dr. Pepper and advil. Needless to say, I was a mess. My new boyfriend (Scott) didn't think being thin was worth all the trouble. He gave me an ultimatum--him or my lifestyle. He won.
It's been 13 years since Scott convinced me to eat. I married him in a size 6 wedding dress and felt like I'd finally found a way to be happy with the way I looked. I felt more energy and no longer felt sickly. Just when I began to be comfortable with my new body Scott got me pregnant. Fast Forward 11 years and three kids later and I'm the jolly mess you see today attempting to find a swimsuit that falls somewhere in between stylish and Amish to cover all my least favorite parts.
When did it become the norm to be skinny? I've seen photos of Bettie Page and Marilyn Monroe in their bikinis. They had large chests and full hips. They didn't have that flat as hell stomach that we aspire to today. By no means were they "fat" (a word I loathe but use daily) but healthy and sexy. Somewhere in the techno filled 90's everyone stopped eating. I blame all the heroin. Models got thinner and thinner and pressure to be small increased. I fell for it and apparently everyone else did too or cleanses and fat wraps wouldn't exist. I understand the desire to be young and hot before kids but now the pressure is on for moms to be MILFS and this chick can't keep up.
We are mothers raising little humans into the adults they'll become. I know I fell victim to the tortured rants of all the adult women in my life bitching endlessly about their muffin tops or the number on the scale. "Look Mija I look like I'm pregnant with a horse" my beloved grandma would say while patting her stomach. She didn't realize how negative words against herself would affect my life. My little brain would tally up all the negativity my female influences had and tack it onto myself. I saw that these beautiful, successful, smart and caring women placed their self worth in the size of their clothes and while they didn't mean me harm, they impacted the way I viewed myself.
So now I am the mother of a son and two daughters. They've heard me call myself fat or seen me refuse to go swimming around strangers. They've seen me do a few fat cleanses and diets. They've seen my weight fluctuate. They've heard me speak negative words in regards to the way people look. Although I believe I'm a good mom and I don't mean to do/say these things around my kids I know they've taken it all in.
This is where I am today. I don't want my kids to think it's okay to be obese. I'm in no way saying that we should teach them to eat whatever they want and live lazy lives as long as they're happy. Obesity causes health issues that are killing Americans every day. What I'm simply saying is that instead of forcing yourself into a swimsuit to make memories with them (I read that in another blog recently and is a great notion) we should be wearing them to show our kids that everyone is made different and we are all beautiful. I will continue to teach them that the right foods are fuel for our mini temples and that exercise keeps those temples healthy. I will buy cute swimsuits and walk around in them because I shouldn't care what others think. My body might have loose skin and stretch marks in the midsection but that's because I had big healthy babies in there. My boobs might be pretty damn big and hard to smash into cute tops but they fed 3 children and make my husband happy. I'm by no means obese and by no means done trying to be healthier, but I'm done trying to be anybody but Sarah. I'm a wife, a mom and damn good person. I'm going to own all of

that, chubs and all.