Breakfast is GREAT at Trader Joe’s

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oatmeal, banana, pecans, maple syrup

We are addicted to our breakfast.

What is it you ask? What can be so good so early in the morning?  Wait for it… OATMEAL!

You can’t believe it can you??

Let us clarify. This is not just any oatmeal. This is organic, long cooking and hearty oatmeal that stays with you throughout the AM. This is the kind of oatmeal that cold cereals only dreams about becoming… This oatmeal is a star at the breakfast table.

OK maybe we are just getting carried away?

But we really do like this oatmeal. Because it is long cooking, sometimes we cook a batch the night before. Sometimes we cook up an even bigger batch for 2-3 mornings when there is NO extra time. Usually, we bring the oatmeal and water to a boil in the pan and then turn off the heat, and then go for our morning power walk. When we return, the oatmeal is nearly finished with only about 5 more minutes left to cook.

Then the real fun begins.

The toppings! What better way to keep your breakfast new and different then by changing up what you top it with? We have tried bananas and apples, raisins and dried cranberries an assortment of nuts, apple butter (WOW- just delish) and even granola (yes made from oats too) in a zillion combinations. What about whip cream and chocolate chips?

Right now for our breakfast we are serving up a most excellent batch of oatmeal topped with sliced banana, toasted pecans, blueberries and a swirl of maple syrup. Yum. If you have not tried a bowl of oatmeal in a while, we suggest you start. It is a great way to start a wintery morning when it is dark and cold, and we live in Tucson! Now just so we are clear here, this is not a Trader Joe’s brand, it is  a product that has the “Trader Joe’s seal of approval” and is sold in their stores. We also purchase all the wonderful toppings at our Trader Joe’s store as well.

Oh yeah…. want to know the secret to delicious oatmeal that we discovered in some cookbook, some show or on the Food Network?

Don’t stir it too much.

Really, just leave the oatmeal alone and “shake” the pan once or twice. OK… stir it quickly to make sure that it is not sticking on the bottom, but then stop and just swirl or “shake” the oatmeal around the pan. It is a myth that making oatmeal uses the same skills as making risotto. You do not need to stir it constantly. If you do, you only wind up with a gummy, pasty mess that no one wants for breakfast. When you “shake” or swirl the pan, the oatmeal grains are more separated and are still nutty.

Warning:  Go slowly when learning this technique, as we have spilled oatmeal on the stove a couple of times when we first started… Ugh….

Let us know if you have tried this oatmeal and how you like it. What toppings do you love on your oatmeal? Please leave your comments below and let us all know.

Have a great, OATMEAL start to your day!

oatmeal, pecans, bananas, blueberries

Easy Valentine’s Day Dinner Menu

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beef stroganoff from Trader Joe's

Spend time this Valentine’s Day with the one you love, and leave the cooking to Trader Joe’s.

Recently we noticed this beef stroganoff in the refrigerated case, near the sandwiches, and thought it looked wonderful. So we bought it and had it for a rather gourmet lunch on afternoon last week.

WOW– it was REALLY good!

There were big pieces of meat, whole mushrooms, firm noodles and the sauce- just excellent!   While I was eating, I thought gosh, even we made this from scratch  (the classic French recipe takes close to 3 hours) would it even be this good?  I mean we ate every last bit of this stroganoff.  AND  we would recommend serving this with a slice of crusty bread to soak up any of the stray juices on your plate….

This meal was simply delicious and very easy to prepare. It was so rich tasting we thought it would be a great “special occasion” or Valentine’s Day meal that would be quick and easy, but also taste as rich as the day required….  We just had to share it with you!

Products used:

  • Trader Joe’s Beef Stroganoff (in the refrigerator case)
  • Vegetable of choice (We used fresh broccoli florets)
  • Sourdough bread and butter ( from Trader Joe’s of course…)

Here are the steps:

1. Pre-heat oven: We use this time to set the table (don’t forget the candles) and cut up the veggies if needed.

2. Start the stroganoff: Transfer the stroganoff into an oven-safe dish.  Heat the stroganoff according to package directions, about 20-25 minutes.

3. Start the Vegetables: Start steaming the cut up veggies on the stove.

4. Eat: When the stroganoff is fully heated, the veggies should also be ready. We even recommend sneaking some  bread into the oven for the last 5 minutes to warm up….Yum

beef stroganoff and broccoli

So enjoy Valentine’s Day and spend it together (it is on a SUNDAY this year….) and don’t worry about your meal at the end of the day. Trader Joe’s has you covered.

Have you tried this product? What did you think? What is your menu for Valentine’s Day?

Drop us a line and let us know!

Easy Chinese Dinner Menu

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Easy Meal Orange chicken, brown rice and zuchini

This is an amazing meal that comes together FAST when you come home tired and don’t feel like cooking at all. In fact, we suggest keeping a bag of this chicken in the freezer for just such an emergency or “just in case” meal when you have had a super busy day.

Menu: Orange Chicken, brown rice & veggies

Tonight we used these three products from Trader Joe’s:

  • Mandarin Orange Chicken
  • Brown Basmati Rice
  • Zucchini squash

Here are the steps we used (to feed 2 people):

1. Pre-heat: Get  the oven warmed up, to heat up the chicken.

2. Start the rice: We used 1./2 cup of the rice and 1 cup of water. Brought this to a boil in a pan with a lid, and the turned it down to a low-medium heat to cook for 30 minutes. Then we checked and added a bit more water (2 spoonfuls) and stuck the lit back on, and let the rice continue to cook, until it was finished cooking. Total time 40 minutes.

Since we chose fresh veggies this time, we cut up 3 zucchini squash into half-moons and started to steam them on the stove.

4. Start the Chicken: As there were only two of us eating tonight, we only heated up half the bag of chicken on a cookie sheet in the oven, following the package directions. We also stuck some hot water in a coffee cup and dropped in the frozen sauce packet to warm up. The rest of the package went back into the freezer for another night.

WARNING: the chicken  is so GOOD, you might want to heat up the whole package!

5. Eat: Now in the 20 or so minutes that it takes the chicken to warm up in the oven, the rice and the zucchini will finish cooking.

Ta-da–  Everything ready to eat at once!

orange chicken, brown rice, vegies

Have you tried the Mandarin Orange Chicken? What do you think? Drop us a line when you get a chance and let us know.

Banish Dry Hands

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hand soap and lotion in a bathroom

Banish dry hands with Trader Joe’s Products!

We can admit this now… we purchase these products due to sheer laziness!

As you know we are regular shoppers at Trader Joe’s. But we usually just shop for food items. Over the Holiday’s we were soo busy and had run out of hand soap and lotion. Was it time to make the trip to the big box store?

Not so fast…

We have seen soap, lotions and shampoo products at Trader Joe’s before, just never thought to purchase them. How much better could they be we asked? Would they work on our dry, cracked, winter hands?

Well….

They are amazing! Incredible even!

We stuck these products in the bathroom and washed and moisturized as usual.  The soap is a lavender and chamomile scent and it pumps out thick and foams nicely.  The Moisturizing cream is unscented and pumps out thick as well. We thought they were working out great. Our hands became soft and did not become dry, red and cracked as it became colder and colder outside. In fact, it was not until we went to Kansas City for New Years that we really noticed how well these products were working for us.

On vacation, our hands became dry, rough and looked just horrible!

Now to be fair, there is a little bit of a temperature difference between Tucson and Kansas City in December, but we think it had more to do with the soaps we were using.  Because we were on the road, we were using whatever soap was available in the hotels and in restaurants. Eeks! Our hand quickly went from bad to worse. No matter how much or what brand of lotion we used, they stayed dry, red, and rough.

Once we returned to Tucson, we quickly resumed using the Trader Joe’s products on our dry winter hands. In only a few days, our dry cracked hands were smooth once more.

Official Names:

Trader Joe’s Hand Soap, Lavender & Chamomile

Trader Joe’s Moisturizing Cream, Unscented, Extra Dry Formula

So check out these product the next time you are shopping at your local Trader Joe’s. Let us know what you think about them.  Did they cure your dry winter hands?