Meal Plan Monday … it’s baaaaackkkk! I’ve been hearing you loud and clear so I’m going to do my best getting back into a routine of putting these posts together for you again but with a little bit different of a spin. I’m also going to mix in my favorites from Trader Joe’s, favorites from Aldi, simple sides, crock pot creations, dips & desserts, snack attack ideas and our family favorite recipes like before. We also recently signed up for a meat subscription service, so I’ll share more than soon. I’d also love to hear you ideas for types of recipes you’re looking for!
Today I’m coming at you with some of our recent favorites from Trader Joe’s and the dinners I’ve made around them. I’ll be honest, I didn’t become a TJ’s shopper until about 2 months or so ago. Columbia opened its store about 5 years ago and I remember checking it out for the first time with my Mom. The parking lot was a hot mess, it was so hard to maneuver and I just wasn’t used to the format of the store to be able to appreciate what they have to offer.
I took the girls to Trader Joe’s for the first time (and my first time in years) because I wanted to mix up our dinners. I had rotated through some of our family favorites and was getting bored cooking the things I knew I could make from the ingredients sold at Aldi so we went with nothing more than a few of your recommendations.
It was fall when we went, so when we walked in we were surrounded by pumpkins and mums. I immediately got sucked in and bought 2 different mums because they were only $3.99 each! I actually did pretty good at keeping them alive through the season. I also bought a little painted day of the dead skull that had a succulent in it. I’m happy to report it’s still alive. I always love looking at their flowers but haven’t made any recent purchases in that section in awhile though I’ve come close to grabbing some eucalyptus.
I’ve since been back several times and the amount of items in my grocery cart grows. And according to my husband, all of the TJ’s dinners have been a success! I also love that they have different options from a traditional grocery store and reasonable prices.
Here are the things I bought on our last haul and the meals they became:
BBQ Chicken Teriyaki + Vegetable Fried Rice
This is the perfect easy dinner!
You literally just warm them on the stove and voila, a balanced meal! I serve this in a bowl with the chicken over the rice. No need for extra sides since the rice is loaded with veggies including bell peppers, corn, peas, carrots, onion and edamame.
Porcini Mushroom & Truffle Ravioli +
Creamy Tomato Basil Pasta Sauce
This is our favorite sauce from Trader Joe’s so I always buy several jars to
keep the pantry stocked. We use it when we make spaghetti & meatballs and it’s
our go-to for ravioli too. These ravioli only take about 4 minutes to cook in boiling
water and then I just warm the sauce in a separate saucepan to put on top. I’ve
included a picture of this meal we had last week with a side of baked veggies
consisting of sweet potato, onion, squash and zucchini cooked with just some olive oil, sat and pepper.
Chile Lime Seasoning Blend
My sister-in-law raved about this stuff when we were all together for the Christmas holiday so I grabbed some on our last trip. She wasn’t lying — it’s SO good! I’m usually not a big fan of lime but it’s just the right blend of heat and citrus. I recently used this on chicken tacos. I poached frozen chicken breasts (in about 5-6 cups of water) in my crock pot on high for 4 hours. I then shred it and mixed it some of this seasoning. Boom! Ready to go in the tortilla with the toppings of your choice. Yummy!
Mildly Sweet & Spicy Beef & Broccoli
This is easily one of Brad’s favorites. I’m still trying to find the right touch with cooking the beef but the flavors are great! Definitely packs the heat but the sweetness calms it down. You simply warm the broccoli in the pan until it is warmed through, pull it out and put it on a plate to the side, put a tbsp or so of oil in the same pan and then add in the beef. It’s cut thin so if your pan is too hot it will immediately start to fry in the hot oil and burn. I’ve found I have much better luck in a non stick pan rather than a regular pan with extra oil. I serve this over Jasmine Rice (if you’ve never tried this, you are missing out!) which I usually have in our pantry. I can get a big bag of it at Aldi for only $4.99!
Outside In Stuffed Gnocchi +
Creamy Tomato Basil Pasta Sauce
Trader Joes also has sweet potato, cauliflower and kale gnocchi but when I saw
this one I knew we had to try it. I love the Chicken & Gnocchi soup at Olive Garden
and knew I would enjoy these, however, I wasn’t sure if Brad would be a fan of this texture or not. It was fairly simple to cook — just a little butter in a non-stick pan to brown up the sides and that’s it. I opted to just give us small dipping bowls of our favorite (warmed) tomato sauce but wouldn’t mind them tossed in the sauce next time. If you prefer a little crunch, just brown the gnocchi a little bit longer to lose some of the chewiness. I served them with a side of oven roasted carrots baked with a little olive oil, salt, pepper and Italian seasoning. It was delicious and I was so glad Brad liked them!
Beef Bolognese Ravioli + Organic Vodka Sauce
This was another winning combo. The ravioli cooks in just a few minutes in boiling water and I warmed the sauce in a saucepan. This sauce came as a recommendation from a fellow blogger and it was delicious! I think I still like our creamy tomato basil sauce better, but would keep this in the pantry as well to mix it up sometimes.
Chicken Spring Rolls + Sweet Chili Sauce
These spring rolls were packed with so much flavor! All you have to do is bake them for about 10 minutes or so in the oven and then I served them over jasmine rice with a side of steamed broccoli. The sweet chili sauce was yummy for dipping the spring rolls in.
Sweet Italian Sausage & 4-Cheese Ravioli +
Mushroom Medley Alfredo Sauce
We’ve had this sausage ravioli before and really enjoyed it. This time when I was
grabbing it from the refrigerated section, I noticed this sauce a few shelves up. We
love mushrooms and we love Alfredo sauce (but rarely buy it because calories) so
I decided to splurge. Well, it didn’t disappoint and this was a winning combination! The ravioli cooks in just a few minutes in boiling water and the sauce has microwave instruction. So easy! I simply steamed some broccoli and that was dinner!
Gluten Free Toaster Waffles + Crunchy Cookie Butter
I originally bought these waffles for Morgan, who is gluten and oat intolerant, but they are now a family favorite! In our opinion, they are better than Eggo as well as any other brand we’ve ever tried. They are twice as fluffy as Eggo! Laney and Morgan gobble these right up and Brad loves to eat them with a little cookie butter spread on top.
Funny story — the first time we bought cookie butter to try, we literally stood there for several minutes trying to figure out why they had 2 different color labels. So after we both stood there reading and re-reading the labels, we chose this one because there was less of it in the display than the other and figured it must be the better one, whatever the difference was. Well, when we got home Brad couldn’t wait to try it so he grabbed a spoon and opened it up. One bite in and a quick glance back at the label, he finally realized what the difference was: crunchy. All of a sudden we could see the label clearly. Why this wasn’t clicking at the store, I’ll never know. Brad isn’t a fan of crunchy peanut butter so I assumed he wasn’t going to like the crunchy cookie butter, but he LOVES it! He said, “No wonder this one didn’t have many left in the display. The chunks of cookie are so good!” We still have a good laugh about this from time to time.
Dips, Snacks & Things
Chili Onion Crunch
I recently saw another blogger talk about this one. We love onion and Brad loves red chili pepper flakes so I figured we should give it a try. We haven’t had it yet but the label recommends putting in on your favorite protein, drizzling it over pasta or using it as a dip for bread.
Spinach & Artichoke Dip
Bought this in case we needed an afternoon snack for guests who came to Laney’s birthday party. Haven’t busted it out yet but looking forward to trying it!
Multiseed Rice Crackers with Tamari Soy Sauce
These came as another blogger recommendation. Great flavor and great crunch. I like them by themselves but paired with the right dip they would be great too. I bet I would like them with the pine nut hummus we usually eat with carrots.
Neopolitan Puff Cereal
Laney has recently gotten into eating a bowl of cereal with milk. Fruit Loops are her current favorite but I’m trying to find something a little healthier she likes with less sugar. This cereal is actually made from garbanzo beans. Laney wasn’t a fan but I don’t think it’s that bad (since I’ll be the one eating it) for a better cereal option.
Lime Sparkling Water
Brad enjoys sparkling water from time to time to mix up his drink choices; however, he is particular about the lime flavor. So far his favorite is Walmart’s Key Lime Sparkling Water. I’m not a fan of shopping there, so it’s special treat for him to get those on the rare occasion I have to go in there for something. Unfortunately, the Trader Joe’s version got 2 thumbs down.
Crispy Crunchy Okra
If you’ve never tried dehydrated okra, you are missing out. Even if you don’t like cooked okra, I bet you would like these. They are super light and provide a great crunch. Then you get the pleasure of a slightly salty snack without all of the calories as it just kind of melts in your mouth. I originally tried dehydrated okra when my father-in-law was on a kick and would get them from The Fresh Market, which as you can imagine isn’t cheap. We went through of phase of going and getting some from our local store as a treat so when I saw these I excited, especially for the price point. I can’t remember exactly what it was but it was super reasonable. My in-laws were also coming into to town so I thought this would be a nice snack to have in the house for my father-in-law, These were just as good as The Fresh Market!
Sweet Treats
Chocolate Lava Gnocchi
These are still in the freezer as I haven’t found the right opportunity to make them but now I’m thinking of making them for Valentine’s Day since we usually don’t go out. The Outside In Gnocchi was so good I’m expecting these to be delicious.
Dark Chocolate Covered Power Berries
I started out as a fan of Dove’s chocolate covered blueberries that you can find at a regular grocery store. But at Aldi, they only have a version of these power berries so I’ve since been eating those as a special treat. When I saw them at Trader Joe’s I knew I had to try them. I think I actually like them better. I love the blueberry and açaí flavors!
Milk Chocolate covered Peanut Butter Pretzels
I bought these for Brad because he loves chocolate covered pretzels, so when I saw them with peanut butter on the inside I couldn’t resist. I maybe got to have 2 or 3 of them and never saw the bag again until it was in the trashcan. They maybe lasted about 24 hours in the house. Two thumbs up! They also have a dark chocolate version.
Gluten Free Joe Joe’s
I bought these to have as a sweet treat option for Morgan. We had actually never tried the regular Joe Joe’s before. Well, one night Brad and I were having a sweet tooth craving and this was our only option. I’m embarrassed to say that poor Morgan never even got to try one of these. Oops! During meal times, I always forgot to give her one and they became my evening sweet tooth snack. I’ll be sure to get more next time we go, don’t you worry.
Are you a Trader Joe’s shopper? What are you favorites?
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