Hey guys! I hope you’re all having a great week!
As promised, I have some loot to share with you guys from my trip to Nashville last weekend…and I know you guys are just dying to see it!
Reason #436 food bloggers/readers aren’t considered “normal”
But that’s ok, our abnormal world is more fun and MUCH MORE delicious! π
First up, Trader Joe’s!
My usual staples: unsalted almond butter, olive oil, extra-firm tofu, unsweetened organic applesauce, and tomato paste (am I the only one who loves this JUST because it comes in a tube?) along with a “few” extras…
I got some freeze dried fruit for some baking experiments I have in mind, the crescent rolls were a result of having a total “omg, I’m craving buttery deliciousness” moment, and the peanut sauce was just something I HAD to have! π
I also HAD to have that Island Soyaki sauce after hearing Emily rave about it!
Corn tortillas because I’ve been craving tacos like nobody’s business…
And my FAVORITE mints and MORE mint…because the Mint Chocolate Chip Parfait was only the beginning! π
Next up, it was onto Whole Paycheck Foods!
I always head straight for the bulk bin section to restock my supply of rolled oats and whole wheat pastry flour, but this time, I also picked up two containers of TVP! I made Laura’s chick-less nuggets a few weeks ago and have been CRAVING them like crazy!
Cute AND delicious!
After stocking up in the bulk section (and maybe stealing a couple of nibble of chocolate covered almonds and honey sesame sticks) I wondered over to the produce section. When I saw that they had golden beets, I just couldn’t pass them up…so pretty! I also picked up a nice assortment of fresh figs, two perfectly ripe nectarines, and one pink lady apple.
With my fall goals in mind, I picked up three packages of seafood from the fish counter…Coho salmon, mahi-mahi, and my lovely sea scallops!
Then I headed over to the cold section on a mission…I’ve been looking for a good, minimal ingredient ricotta for a few weeks now and I FINALLY found it! I really want to add it to pizza…maybe with a bit of pesto and some sun-dried tomatoes?…but we’ll see if I can keep my spoon out of the container long enough first! π
While I was cheese-hunting, I also spotted some new-to-me yogurts and omg, I’m sorry Chobani, but I think I’ve found a new favorite!
The 365 brand is AMAZING!
Both the fat free and the low fat only have 2 GRAMS of sugar and the consistency is so thick and creamy…I didn’t want them to end!
On my way out, I hit up the “snack zone” and picked up some new bars, a package of hemp seeds, and two sample packs of hemp protein…I’ve heard a lot about hemp lately, but have never tried any so I’m excited to see how these taste!
I also spotted these guys on the very top shelf…I almost missed them…and actually, I wish I had. They were definitely better after a few seconds in the microwave…the peanut butter was just ok, but the pumpkin didn’t even taste like pumpkin!
So disappointing!
But one thing that WASN’T disappointing…
the BEST purchase of the day (next to the yogurt):
Oh yeah!
It’s a little sweeter than my favorite coconut peanut butter, but so rich and so creamy, and it was the PERFECT topping to Sunday morning’s pancakes!
Mmmmmm!
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go raid the kitchen for random dippers! π
What are your Whole Food’s/Trader Joe’s “staples”?
Have you found any new favorite foodie items lately? Do share!
Don’t mind me when I show up at your house to rob your pantry. π
Have you tried the Wallaby yet? That stuff is the shizz. Need to try some 365 though.
Thanks for the nugget shout out! How have you been spicing them? I need to branch out with some new flavors. maybe try Allie’s fish stick version? and I need ot try scallops! Can you come give me a tutorial?
I did try the Wallaby…it wasn’t bad, but not as thick as I like…which is the consistency (but not the taste) of like wet cement! π
I spiced mine with smoked paprika and a TON of garlic…you can never have too much right? But I DO wanna try the Allie’s version with my seaweed and sesame seasoning!
The scallops are SO simple! I actually had no idea until BB cooked them for me for the first time. All I do is season them and then cook them in a skillet until they start to firm up…it takes like 5 minutes per side?
I am intrigued by (and a little bit obsessed with) that sweet & salty bar. And that coconut peanut butter! YUM YUM YUM x 64800. I wish I could be in your mouth right now. Wait.. what? YEAHHHH.
Bahahahaa! Omg, omg, I think I just peed myself!
Okay, I’m coming over right now. Seriously. What an amazing grocery haul! And I’m sooo excited that you decided to try the Island Soyaki Sauce (thanks for the shout out!) You’re going to fall in love…and then I’ll steal whatever delicious recipe you end up making with it. (:
Those chicken-less nuggets are adorable! Why are tiny foods so cute? And Earth Balance’s coconut-peanut butter is to die for…I just finished my jar of it and wanted to cry- Must. Buy. More.
Wow. Okay, if anyone who isn’t a foodie reads this comment they’re going to think I’m a crazy person…
Haha! Love the last sentence! It STILL kills me how my “real life friends” just don’t GET IT when I get all excited about new foodie loot…and especially when I get home and break out the camera to document it all! They just don’t know what they’re missing! π
Omg, I can’t WAIT to use the soyaki! I’m not sure what’s gotten into me, but I feel like I have like a million recipes to get up on the blog so don’t let me forget about this! I’ll have to make sure it doesn’t get lost in all the mustard! Lol
And PS, of COURSE I had to give you a shout out! I love you AND your little bloggy! π
oh you can’t tease me like that. We don’t have a Tjs and my foodie pen pal sent my some goodies from there like yours. Well, there are about gone. I’m sad. Can i come visit?
Dude, you don’t have a TJ’s?! I had no idea! You’re welcome to visit ANY time love, but totally give me a heads up if you ever wanna do a foodie swap on our own! I know I have the e-book, but I’d TOTALLY trade you Healthy Bites for Trader Joe Loot! π
I love that brand of ricottaβgreat flavor and texture with awesome nutrition stats. I use it in tons of things from pasta to oatmeal, to dessert, to toast : )
Oh I know, I’m in LOVE! I wish they had been cheaper and I would have bought more!
Tell me more about the oatmeal!! π
I NEED to get my hands on that coconut peanut butter!
What do you mean food bloggers aren’t normal? Oh crap. π
Damn! Cat’s outta the bag! But uh, don’t worry…there IS such a thing as Santa Claus! π
Wooooooowie that’s quite the haul! Unfortunately, we don’t have Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s up here in my part of Canadaland, but I’ll be down in the States next week and you can bet that I’ll be hitting up both places and loading my suitcase with goodies to bring back home! It’s actually kind of sad how excited I was the first time I went to WF… I probably wanted to see it just as much, if not more, than all of the other sightseeing places we were supposed to go to lol. It’s just too bad that I can’t bring back yogurt, because you guys seriously have the best selection down there! We only get a few different brands up here…
Oh my gosh girl, you should have seen me the first time I stepped foot in a Whole Foods! I was like a kid in a candy store….no, more like Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory! I swear I think I was in there for at LEAST 2 hours! Lol And to THIS DAY, I am always in awe of the yogurt section…I think they come out with new ones just to tease me! So sad they’re not better transported! :-/
You picked up some good stuff! Grocery shopping makes me happy, & I love when others share the experience too:). You could make like a fig & ricotta pizza, bet that would be scrumptious.
No Wholefoods or TJ’s round here *tears*, I can’t actually get my hands on1/2 of your haul :(. Feel free to feel very sorry for me.
Xxx
Nooooooo! I heart is aching for you love! And to be able to SEE what you’re missing? I can only imagine the torture! I had only discovered blogworld a month or so before my first WF/TJ’s excursion and I swear to you I was in each store for like 2 hours! Lol
Fig and ricotta pizza! My god, you are in fact a GENIUS!! And I’ve really been craving pizza! π
Man I am so jealous of the variety and easy access American bloggers have to foods π Everything looks so awesome!
xo Emilie @ Hungry Delights
Love your loot here! I’ve only been to TJs a few times on trips to the US, but when I go I love to get their fig butter and pumpkin butter! And at WF I love to buy tempeh, grains from the bulk bins, organic apricots (so much better than the non organic ones!), and really cool kinds of cheeses! π
Oh yes, the fig butter is an old favorite! Although, since I haven’t been eating a lot of sweet stuff lately, I’m thinking it would be a little too much for me now! I opened up some pumpkin butter I got from the farmer’s market recently, and even though it only has like 7g per tablespoon, it seemed like SO much sugar!
And I LOVE the cheese counter…ugh, I could pitch a tent and stay for weeks!
I need more of that coconut peanut spread! I love all the trader joe’s goodness, and I especially love seeing my bill after π I heard that TJs now sells coconut cream, and I really want to get my hands on some of that.
Coconut butter? I saw they have the oil, but it’s refined and I actually prefer the taste of the unrefined versions. And yes, gotta agree the bill from TJ’s is SO much better than the bill from WF’s EVERY TIME!
Haha, I love the Whole (paycheck) Foods things. LOL. So true!! I was there the other day & sampled these delicious new meal replacement bars that have no preservatives or artificial ingredients. I knew it was the real deal because they have to be refrigerated (with an expiration date and all!). They were pretty good. But, you know how much they were? Like $4 for 1 bar!! I think I’ll just stick with the sample and see if I can somehow re-create their deliciousness on my own π
Holy crap! That’s ridiculous! They think pretty highly of those things don’t they? Sheesh! You gotta let me know if you have any success with recreating them…especially if they were THAT good! π
Woohoo TVP!! I bought a bag a few weeks ago with no idea what to do with it, now I do!! Hehe
I’ve seen that coconut peanut butter, do you taste the hint of coconut or not? AND I use that hemp protein all the time, I love it, I found a packet of it in my pantry today as i was tidying up, used up my big container of it a few days ago so I’m glad I get to have another soon, I love that high fiber in it, wonderful for cleansing π
Good to know about the protein powder…and I didn’t even realize the fiber until you mentioned it! Thanks!
You can DEFINITELY taste the coconut! Honestly, I think it’s more of a coconut butter with a hint of peanut…which I have absolutely NO problem with! π
I had my TVP for over a YEAR before I just recently made Laura’s nuggets! I kept saying I was going to make TVP chili with it, but still haven’t settled on a recipe! Lol
This just makes me sincerely wish we had TJ’s in Canada. They really need to get on that!
I love those corn tortillas! We always get those and vanilla unsweetened almond milk at TJ’s every week! I also have been getting their eggs whites too! So easy!
Let me know what you think of that hemp protein! I need a hemp protein but the TJ’s was really grainy and not good at all!
I’ve been looking for a good hemp to try for a while now so I was really excited to find these sample packs. Luckily I saw on someone’s blog not long ago that the kind at TJ’s was pretty rough. π Hopefully this one is much better!
Once I initially commented I clicked the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and now every time a comment is added I get 4 emails with the same comment. Is there any method you possibly can remove me from that service? Thanks!
So sorry about that Loreen! This is the first I’ve heard of it doing that…just made a few changes and hopefully that helps! Let me know if it doesn’t…I love having you as a reader so don’t want to annoy you by blowing up your email! π
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