I’ve learned that the secret to being a successful shopper at Trader Joe’s on the weekends is to either shop early or shop late. We are always there either first thing, within an hour of the store opening or around 8 pm at night. Any other time is an overcrowded mess that makes me want to get out ASAP, which means that I end up forgetting a bunch of things.

Here are this week’s purchases:

We are planning on making Greek couscous salad with seared pork chops, turkey meatballs with broccoli rabe and shrimp Caesar salad for our dinners. We usually have enough leftovers to make at least one of our meals to stretch into dinner the next day.

We also stocked up on fruit and veggies: grapefruit, pears, apples, grapes, strawberries, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, spinach and baby kale. We also got yogurt, cereal and some of Alex’s favorite bars. Oh, and of course ice cream!

Weekly Eats from Trader Joe's #fitfluential #eat
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We usually pick up a few of their frozen meals which are perfect for busy days. The Kung Pao Chicken was recommended by a coworker, but we are yet to try it. We also always pick up some seltzer. Tommy and I are not big soda drinkers and we almost never keep it in the house, but we both love our seltzer. We also pick up cold cuts at a local deli for sandwiches and snacking.

Where do you do your grocery shopping? What are your grocery staples?

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put together and it is prefect to bring for lunch or to have as a side with dinner. I am actually boiling water as I write up this post to make another batch of this for my lunches for the rest of this week.

5.0 from 1 reviews

Whole Wheat Couscous Greek Salad

 

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Prep time

30 mins

Total time

30 mins

 

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole wheat couscous
• 1 pepper (any color), diced
• 1 cup baby tomatoes, halved
• 1 cup pitted Kalamata olives
• 1 English cucumber, cubed
• ½ red onion, diced
• juice of 1 lemon
• 3 Tablespoons olive oil

Instructions

1. Cook couscous following package directions.
2. Combine the remaining ingredients with cooled couscous.
3. Let cool in the refrigerator for at least one hour before serving.

3.2.1255

The couscous and olive oil I used both came from Trader Joe’s. I think that this particular olive oil really gives the salad a great flavor because it is made from Greek Kalamata olives. You can really pick up on the distinct flavor of Kalamata olives in the oil and it is very yummy!

I hope you enjoy this!

Have you ever tried couscous? What if your favorite type of oil?

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These are the things that I picked up on my last trip to Trader Joe’s. It had been a few weeks since I’d been to TJ’s and about a week since I had been to the grocery store, so a lot of the things I got are my staples. I’m going to elaborate on the things that I think you really need to try!

• I love TJ’s pre-cut fruit. I am a huge pineapple fan and I love that I can be lazy and buy the precut spears without breaking the bank
• Bagged Greens. I use Kale in my green juices and spring mix is a salad staple
• Baby Beets. These are peeled, precooked and ready for eating. Being a huge fan of beets, I could just eat these out of the package, but they usually go into my salads.
• English cucumbers. My favorite crispy, crunchy veggie. I love slicing these and dipping into hummus or dressing.

Dinner items:

• Veggie/Mahi Mahi burgers. See vlog below!
• Potstickers. These are Munchkin’s favorite thing. The boy loves his dumplings.
• Fried Rice. This rice is a staple in my family. We seriously have it at every family get together and we never have leftovers…ever.
• Lobster Ravioli. Great for a quick dinner and insanely good!

Snacks:

• Jerky. In this trip I had gotten Salmon jerky, but I’ve had turkey and beef and none have ever disappointed.
• Fruit Leather Bars. They come in a bunch of flavors and a great alternative to other supermarket “fruit snacks.”
• Larabars/Cliff Z Bars.
• Rice cakes. I eat these dry and I also make them into sandwiches when I’m a bit hungrier.
• Cocoa Almond Spread. This is glorified Nutella, but I love it!
• Apple Carrot Crushers. These are little applesauce pouches, which Munchkin and I both love.

Condiments:

• Sweet Chili Sauce. I mention it in the vlog, but this is the best all purpose topping to any protein. As you can imagine from the name, it is sweet, but the chili flakes give it a nice kick.
• Coconut Oil. TJ’s is my place for coconut oil. I use this stuff for everything so I go through a lot, and at the price you can’t beat it. I’ve also seen that they have a spray coconut oil, but sadly my TJ’s hasn’t stocked it yet.

I hope you found my list helpful and that some new items will sneak into your cart on your next trip to Trader Joe’s!

What’s your favorite supermarket to shop at? What are your Trader Joe’s must haves?

The post My Trader Joe’s Must Haves appeared first on Frolic Through Life.

Yesterday, Munchkin and I were up super early to get to his 2 year old checkup at the pediatrician. He was a great little guy and got not only two stickers from the nurse, but a picture book from the doctor. She said it was a pleasure to start her morning with him as her first patient. Munchkin is now 3 feet tall and 36.6 pounds – he is well above the average size for a two year old, and is actually closer in height and weight to the average 4 year old. I find that a bit crazy, but I was always the tallest kid in my class growing up, so I guess he’s following in my footsteps.

I haven’t had much time to cook this week and I really, really miss it. When I woke up this morning, I peeked into the fridge and found it completely empty. Since we are going to PA for the weekend, I didn’t want to do any grocery shopping, so dinner was a quick fix of frozen foods.

The Trader Joe’s Veggie fried rice is one of my favorite frozen items from the store. I picked up the dumplings at the Asian market because Munchkin grabbed them out of a fridge. Good choice for sure!

Now that I’ve gotten my work schedule, I’m trying to plan how to get everything I need to get done, done. Since I don’t have to be at work until 10, I am hoping that I can wake up around 7:30 in the morning to get a quick workout in before work, since after isn’t really an option. I’m also hoping to get all my homework done on the weekends to leave me with plenty of time blog in the evenings after Munchkin goes to bed. Cross your fingers for me, because I’m going to need to it to get into this new swing of things. I’m not gonna lie, it hasn’t been easy for me to leave for work in the mornings. There have been tears shed everyday so far, and most of them were from me, not Munchkin. I know it’ll get easier as time goes by, but it sure isn’t easy just yet!

Time to finish up packing and hit the road!

Have a great weekend!

What are your plans for the weekend? What’s you favorite quick dinner item?

The post Dinner Quickie appeared first on Frolic Through Life.

After some breakfast and a quick shower, Munchkin and I headed to Target to buy some baby essentials.  I swear, Target diapers and wipes are better than Pampers and Huggies, at half the price. The brand names are not worth paying double for, especially when Huggies, in my opinion, don’t even compare to Target brand.

We also hit up the dollar section where we scored a fall/Thanksgiving plate and Sesame Street coloring book for only a dollar each. You can find the best kid’s stuff in the dollar section, and for me, it’s not a trip to Target without a stop there.

Munchkin was so in love with the coloring book that he refused to let it go. He even fell asleep with it in his grips.

On the way home, I also stopped to take some pictures of the evil pothole that dented my rim. I ended up having to purchase a new rim because the old one was unfixable. I’m going to be sending in a claim to the city so hopefully I’ll get reimbursed for my pain and suffering.  The form that you fill out to be reimbursed cracked me up because at the top it says that it can take up to  year and 90 days for the claim to be resolved. Gotta love the speedy service of the City of New York.

At school, we had a guest speaker to talk to us about legal research for the 100th time.  The only real thing I took away from it was that the United States Library of Congress database is called Thomas, and that reminded me of Tommy.  Since Mondays are my short days at school, I was home in time to catch the first dance on Dancing With the Stars.  I think the top three are going to be Ricki Lake, JR Martinez and David Arquette.  That is unless, Carson Cresley’s fanbase pulls him through to the end.  That man cannot dance for his life, but he is really entertaining and funny.

This morning I woke up with a craving for cinnamon rolls and since I had these bad boys in the freezer, I was in luck.

The mini cinnarolls baked up flaky and crispy. I topped them off with a bit of icing before we dug in.  Since my eating schedule is messed up because of school in the evenings, I try to make breakfast extra special because it’s the only real meal I get to share with Munchkin.

That and breakfast is probably my favorite meal of the day, so that helps.

Have a great Tuesday!

Do you buy store brand items or stick to name brands? What’s your favorite meal of the day?

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