Have you guys ever noticed that healthy food is WAY EXPENSIVE? I mean, living in San Diego where we have the second most expensive housing in the USA is bad enough, but spending $100’s of dollars each week at Whole Foods, Jimbo’s and eating out can make a budget all the more challenging to stick to!
And that’s where Trader Joe’s comes into play. I LOVE THIS STORE. Not only do they have great organic, fresh produce and everything else I need, but the people who work there are happy and quite frankly, hilarious! I can actually bring my fiancĂ© here and they don’t think he’s crazy LOL. They even like his jokes. Hard to believe, I know. 🙂
Did I mention you can’t really get lost in this store? Its size is perfect for a quick grocery run without feeling overwhelmed with a bunch of over priced and over rated gluten free, fat free, sugar free items. YUCK. I gag at the thought of all the chemicals they add to make these items taste good. Granted, a few are OKAY, but the majority you can toss in your garbage can. My yorkies eat way better.
So, let’s start with a few of my fave items. Homemade detox water for one! I love a good blend of pineapple, lime and lemon, cucumber and turmeric in my water pitcher. Wait a few hours and serve it on the rocks, YUM. To die for actually. And it totally helps with any puffiness I may have in my body. TJ’s always has sweet pineapples, turmeric in powder form (fresh in the summer) and fresh limes, lemons and cucumbers at a very inexpensive price!
One of my favorite protein rich snacks is TJ’s canned pink salmon. I can easily eat half a can in one sitting. Pour a little lemon juice over it or add a teaspoon of vegan mayo and YUM. Their organic rice cakes are also a great go-to snack of mine. When I’m running out the door to teach I’ll grab one and spread a tiny bit of homemade cashew butter on top. DELISH.
I am nutty for coconuts. I love coconut milk in my coffee, cream in my skinny margaritas (I know it kinda defeats the purpose of skinny here guys but please, try to understand :)) and coconut flakes in my salads. If you add olive oil as your dressing, I swear the flakes actually taste like mozzarella cheese. (Sounds weird I agree, but trust me and try it!)
My cousin teases me because I like a clean, simple salad with my main choice of dressing a Greek olive oil (from TJ’s of course). So it’s kinda fun to spice up my salads with this variety of freeze dried fruits. Check out the nutrition facts on the back and see for yourselves! Freeze dried is WAY BETTER than regularly dried fruits. The strawberries I’ll even eat by themselves as a yummy snack between classes. It curbs the sugar cravings so we stay away from candy!
So I have to credit Anton on this one gang. He makes the best potatoes I’ve ever tasted! And all our ingredients come straight from Trader Joe’s. Colorful potatoes, coconut oil, rosemary and sweet onion is all you need. Light up the grill and prepare to be amazed! Btw Anton is always fascinated with how many potatoes I can actually eat in one sitting- definitely one of those entire bags for sure ha ha.
Let’s get the party started! This brut is on the dry side which I LOVE and sells for $10.99. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a Veuve Clicquot girl, but I can’t always be spending $50 a pop on champagne. And let’s put it this way, no way would I. As a treat, Veuve is my go to, but this Blason brut will do just fine any time!
I am a total blanco and silver tequila girl. Gold just does not send me. Same with my jewelry and clothing come to think of it. I guess I like the cooler shade of silver to match all the aqua in my life LOL.
So this blanco tequila makes a mean margi. Tastes great with a splash of their low calorie pink lemonade (I use this in lieu of any sweeteners or agave) and a whole lot of squeezed lime and lemon. I like it TART!
Move over Chopin and hello to Monopolova Vodka! This $10 bottle of potato vodka is smooth and makes a very serious martini. I enjoy it with club soda and lots of lime and lemon. Low calorie and clean, potato vodka is my choice of alcohol the majoritiy of the time when I am at home toasting with Anton. I try to stay away from the wheat vodkas- they seem to give me a hangover (nothing to do with how many martinis I may have had, ha ha). In all seriousness though, this one is definitely a winner in smoothness and in price. If my Russian likes it, it must be good.
And last but not least, my favorite alkaline water with electrolytes. Now I’m still on the fence about how I truly feel when it comes to alkalinity and how it affects our digestion. I’ll do a blog on that soon. In the meantime, if you’re working out a lot and need some electrolyte replacement or feel like you want a nice alkaline water, this is your go to source! I will even make ice cubes out of it with fresh basil and serve myself on the weekends. Sounds silly but tastes yummy!
There are SO many other cool finds at Trader Joe’s I could talk about. These are a few of my favorites. I seriously keep our grocery budget down probably by $50-$100 a week by shopping here. Yes, for specialty items I may head over to Whole Foods or the local fishery, but overall, Trader Joe’s is where I prefer to do all my grocery shopping. I’d rather find healthy food under budget so I can start planning my next vacay, how about you guys?!
Trader Joe’s is fast and I’m usually in and out in 20 minutes. Totally fits in with my crazy-busy lifestyle. Plus I find all the organic foods I need. Oh and I almost forgot… they just started carrying my fave vegan mayonnaise! The best for sweet potato salad or a little dip on your fish. Try it and let me know what you think. I’m open to and grateful for all of your opinions!
xx Shanna
