I'm in love...

I mentioned in yesterday's post that we went to Trader Joe's this week during our break, and I'm now officially in love with the place. Until Tuesday, I was pretty much a TJ's virgin. I'd been there twice before, but it was to pick up something specific, and I never really did a shopping trip there. Now, if you know me in real life, you know that movies like Supersize Me, and the pictures of McDonald's fries failing to decompose have never really deterred me from enjoying fast food. When I was little, my mom used to tell me that I was going to turn into a french fry. My aunt likes to tell Finnboo about the time I almost ripped her hand off when she reached to take one of my beloved fries. Before children, I used to say that I wasn't going to feed them McDonald's, and that would be the changing point for me, but you know what? Everything in moderation. I get it, it's bad for you, if I eat fast food more than once a week I start feeling gross, but I don't deprive myself of a double cheeseburger when I want a double cheeseburger.

However, as Finnboo and Kieksy are growing and exploring food, and more and more information is coming out about artificial ingredients, etc., I have become more conscious about what goes into those little bellies. I've always tried to stick to non-sugary cereals, and we've been shopping the organic section at Wegmans more and more, trying to skip super processed foods, but this has caused a rise in our weekly grocery bill. After asking friends and family who are regular Trader Joe's shoppers about prices there (the consensus was prices were reasonable,) I decided to check it out.

Armed with my list, the 'boo and Kieksy, and some tablets/doodle pads and pencils, we set out. I figured they wouldn't have double carts, so Finnboo would be walking. (He's not always so good at listening when there's a lot to look at in a store.) I knew there wouldn't be trains and all that there is to look at like Wegmans, so I pulled out the tablets and pencils for something new and different to occupy them. As soon as we walked in, I was in love with everything-the small size, the reasonable prices on staples (milk, eggs, yogurt, etc,) produce, and the helpful staff. I even learned how to use the coffee grinder and am enamored with their coffee. The whole atmosphere of the place was relaxed, and because of that, combined with the tablets?, my kids were better behaved than they'd ever been in a store. Finnboo quickly became a favorite with onlookers as he walked along drawing the things we were putting into the cart and saying "check!" as he checked them off his pretend list. I was a proud mama as fellow customers smiled at him and told him what a big help he was being. Kieksy enjoyed the TJ's minted peas and ham he was offered in the ready to eat section, and wrote away in his Cars notebook with his Cars pencil. I know that the behavior could be a one time thing, but it added to my overall impression and newfound infatuation.

John asked me upon my return if I thought it was something we could "incorporate into weekly grocery shopping," to which I said, "heck yeah!" The difference in price between TJ's and Wegmans was negligible for most things (I'm not a couponer, and don't have exact prices memorized, but I have a general idea) and a lot of items were actually cheaper at Trader Joe's. The one thing that was priced higher was the meat, which I expected. I'm still on the hunt for cheaper meat. (That's what she said.) The fact that there's such a variety of all natural and organic products definitely makes the trip worth the while.

So I ask those of you that shop Trader Joe's, do you have a favorite Trader Joe's product? Johnny's sold on the Kalamata olive hummus, and we're both sold on the TJ's "Joe." (freshly ground at $4.59?!!) Let me know what other items we should try.

Did I mention that these two were angels?

Kieksy still writing away when we're back in the car!

**This isn't a paid advertisement for Trader Joe's, just a proclamation of new love. ;)

Food Blogs

As you can see on my blog roll, I read a lot of blogs. Actually, there are still more that I read and haven't listed there, yet. I joke with my husband that Google reader is like my daily newspaper, as I sit with my phone and coffee in hand (since the computer is usually occupied,) catching up on all the posts I've yet to read. I mainly read design, DIY or just plain old lifestyle blogs. Well, I've just changed the makeup of my Google reader significantly because babble.com posted their list of Top 100 Food Mom blogs for 2011. And I've just spent the last hour and a half going through and looking at almost.every.one. 

A few disclaimers here: 

1. It's naptime. (In fact, I just realized that I'm the only one in the house not sleeping. 

2. My house is (relatively) clean. 

3. I've already made blueberry muffins for breakfast and a huge pot of pasta y fagioli is simmering away on the stove for dinner.

I think I deserved the "me" time, don't you?

If you know me personally, you know that I'm not the cook of the house. That is usually left up to Johnny, who can take what we have in the house and turn it into a decent delicious dinner. He throws ingredients and spices around without measuring, and it always comes out tasting amazing. A baker; however, he is not. That's where I come in. I'd like to say (and I've been told) that I'm a good baker, but the hubs ALWAYS teases me because I have to measure every.single.ingredient.precisely. AND follow a recipe. Duh, how else do you think I get the cookies to come out perfectly??? I do like to think, and Johnny will also attest to the fact that I can follow any recipe, whether a dinner or dessert, and I have an albeit small, but really good collection of specialties, mostly taken from my grandmother's old wooden recipe box. (Like the pasta y fagioli currently cooking on the stove, homemade sauce, beef stew, etc. I just noticed these are all rainy day/Sunday recipes.) 

And beyond what I know, I love looking for new recipes to try. Sometimes I just hand them off to Johnny who executes them with his own personal flair, or I make them, fastidiously following the recipe. Either way, they usually come out pretty good, and we find new favorites to add to our dinner rotation. 

So, going back to babble's list, I went through the list rather quickly, reading their overview of each blog, clicking on most of the links to at least see what the blog looked like, and adding it to my Google reader if it looked remotely interesting to me. I can always go back and "unsubscribe" later. I was happy to see that several that I already subscribe to made the list-Smitten Kitchen was #1, Pioneer Woman was #2, and Weelicious was # 74! 

Hopefully my non-mom and male friends are still reading, because although these were the Top 100 Food "mom" blogs, very few of them were centered on cooking for children. The main focus of all of them was cooking good food, simply. I noticed several were created as a result of a child's food allergy, so there were some focused on that, including gluten-free lifestyles. There were also vegetarian/vegan blogs (which I still ended up subscribing to because their recipes looked amazing even though I'm not vegetarian,) and several centered on buying fresh and local products/supporting local farms. 

I obviously found many of them to be interesting, because I subscribed to at least 30 new blogs, and my reader currently has 242 unread items as a result. So, all you cooks, chefs, and food-lovers out there, I hope you enjoy this list as much as I did! 

Enjoy what's left of your weekend...Finnboo is all better, so back to school we go tomorrow!