Trader Joe's Tuesday: Chicken Gorgonzola

Most of you know that I used to be a vegetarian. I still refrain from most meats (i.e. red meat, pork, and fish) and now only eat chicken and turkey sparingly. I don't really like to prepare the chicken or turkey (raw meat really grosses me out), so anytime I don't have to touch it, the better.

Enter Trader Joe's Chicken Gorgonzola.


This is a new frozen entree that came out about 6 months ago. They were giving it away as a sample (another great thing about Trader Joe's--the samples!) and it was so good I immediately went over to the frozen section to pick one up for dinner.

Funny story about the first time I made this. Sam had been not so thrilled with my cooking for the week and I was getting annoyed. I decided to cook this and then pretend like I had made it and see what he said. He devoured it and asked for seconds. I refused, saying that since he hadn't liked anything I made that week, I had only made a small serving of this in case he hated this too. (Actually, the package only included 2 chicken breasts, so there wasn't anymore). He kept telling me how good this was, and that it tasted like it was from a restaurant. So a few days later I made it again. Again he raved and raved about it. I said "you really like it?" "You ACTUALLY like my cooking?" He gave me a resounding yes. Then I told him that it was a frozen entree from Trader Joe's. He didn't believe me. I actually had to show him the box. I mean seriously, did he actually think that I could cook that well? It's a nice thought.

So, this dish is not your typical frozen food entree. It has 5 star cuisine written all over it, from it's delish cocoa-carribe pesto sauce to the sauteed mushrooms and fresh tomatoes on the top. Despite the gorgonzola in the name, it does not taste cheesy, it's more of a slight hint of gorgonzola. And not a stinky hint at that. You could really pass this off as you being a really good cook (as I did).

I would recommend pairing this with Trader Joe's Wild & Basmati Rice Pilaf along with some spears of TJ's Frozen Aspargus--they compliment this entree nicely.

Introducing Trader Joe's Tuesday

My sister asked me the other day about what I liked at Trader Joe's. I didn't even know where to begin. I told her I did 90% of my grocery shopping there (the other 5% at Von's and 5% at Target). She asked me what makes it so great. Is everything there Organic? (No) Is it all super healthy? (no, but even the not so healthy foods, e.g. truffle brownies, are better for you than most traditional brand name treats because they don't use preservatives, artificial colors, or hydrogenated oils, etc.).

A few weeks ago I was at a girls night out with a few gals from the ward (church congregation in LDS terms) and one of them suggested that we have a Trader Joe's night and bring our favorite thing from Trader Joe's to share. Apparently, whenever she goes there, she never knows what is good to buy, so she never shops there. Huh? Ummmm, pretty much everything there is good. Really.

And if you don't like it--just take it back. Regardless if you ate some. They will give you a refund with no questions asked. Even if it's something you cooked like a lasagna and you don't want to carry it back in, just tell the cashier you bought it and didn't like it. I've never had a problem--and it really gets me to try new things that I may not have purchased otherwise.

All that being said (whew!) I am going to start a Trader Joe's Tuesday to highlight one of my favorite things from Trader Joe's each week. Hopefully it will introduce my sister to a whole new world of culinary delights.

Water Fountains and Souplantation

Sammy's school was canceled today due to the fires in the local foothills. I considered spending the day doing laundry and cleaning up, but decided that wasn't very fun for the kids. So we went to one of our local parks that we like to go to, but couldn't find any parking (only street parking is available there, so we usually walk but not when it's already 88 degrees at 11am!) We drove to another local park, but the fires and smoke were quite visible and I was concerned about the kids breathing the air, even though it didn't smell smokey. So, we ended up a tiny little park that is actually just a few blocks from our house, but we have never been there before--I always forget it's even there.

We stayed about an hour, then got some lunch at El Pollo Loco and headed home. I tried to get Hannah down for a nap, but she would have nothing to do with it.

We headed out for a walk to Trader Joe's to get a few things. I actually got a call from them this morning telling me that I actually I won their weekly raffle for $25 in free groceries! You get an entry every time you bring in your own bags for groceries--I NEVER win anything, so this was exciting.

When we got back, Dana called to see if we wanted to meet up at Paseo to play in the fountains. Since it was 100 degrees today it sounded like a great way for the kids to cool off. I wasn't sure how Sammy and Hannah would take to it. Although they LOVE water--they don't like getting their face or clothes wet unless it's a bath or a swimming pool.

They kind of stood back and watched Lucy play happily in the water getting soaked. Then they finally joined in and had a blast.


I don't know if you can see how wet Hannah is, but both kids were soaked. I was a total loser mom and didn't put them in their swimsuits and didn't bring a change of clothes--or even a towel. Fortunately, it was so hot they didn't mind getting totally soaked. They had a blast! Thanks for calling us Dana, we'll go back anytime!

When we got home, Samuel wanted to go to Souplantation for dinner (yes, Valerie, you read that right...I know I was just as shocked), so off we went. It's lemon month--one of my faves.

Hannah recently discovered ice cream, so she was excited for that. If you ask her if she wants ice cream, she'll tell you "ice cream good."

Sammy, of course, ate hardly anything and played with his cars. It will be a great day when I can get that boy to try a new food and realize that there are other foods in the world besides cereal and quesadillas.

All in all, a much more fun day than staying home and doing laundry.

I think she is scarred for life

I just have to include an addendum to this post.

Thursday night, Hannah woke up crying and saying over and over "scary, scary Dinosaurs scary." I comforted as best I could and she went back to sleep.

Tonight when I was getting her into bed and the lights were off, she was quiet for a moment and then told me again "mom, dinosaurs SCARY".

Great. Now we both need therapy--me for guilt, and her for the scary dinosaurs. Again, why don't people warn you BEFORE you have kids that motherhood is all about guilt and worry.

Happy Birthday Samuel!

Yesterday was Sam's birthday. I won't give out his true age... but he is getting close to retirement. heehee. Just kidding. He's in his 40s and that's all I'm saying.

As many of you know, he's been working a TON (80 hour work weeks), so we haven't seen him as much as we would like, but last night we were all able to go out to dinner as a family. And I am yet again reminded just WHY we don't do that. At all. I spent most of the time trying to get Hannah to stay seated in her highchair. After I gave up on that, I spent the rest of the time chasing her around the restaurant. Sammy at least sat still, but wouldn't stop declaring (loudly) how "yucky" everything was and that he didn't want to try anything.

I was a nice wife and made a cake. I actually made a cake from "scratch", not a mix, mind you, but actually measuring out all the ingredients. I have been trying to avoid cooking/baking with prepackaged, processed food and all the crap (i.e. preservatives, artificial colors) they put into EVERYTHING we eat.

The cake looked and tasted like cornbread.

I ran out to Von's and got a cake mix. sigh. I DID make the buttercream frosting from scratch and it was yummy, so at least something turned out right.

To prove that he is officially "old" (his words, not mine), he had to get reading glasses last week--I picked them up from the optometrist a few days ago, but this was the first chance he had to wear them.


The kids wanted to help blow out the candles. Yes, that is Sammy's Hot Wheels city there on the coffee table. He won't let me put it away. And yes, the guys are wearing matching shirts--they actually planned that.

Happy Birthday!!

Best invention EVER!!!

OK...maybe not the BEST, but it's definitely in the top ten.

See, I love chocolate. I love brownies. I love the edges of brownies, specifically the corner pieces, the best. They're a little chewy. A little crunchy. So good. Which is why this is one of the best inventions EVER!

Hmmmm, my birthday isn't soon enough...I may have to drop a few hints for Mother's Day. Or our anniversary.

slacking off...

So we've been slacking off a bit this week. We missed school on both Monday AND Thursday--and our only excuse is that neither I nor Sammy wanted to get up in the morning.

I'm not sure why I just can't get these kids back on their normal sleep schedule. I know I blamed the time change, but that was over a month ago! I suppose it also has to do with Spring Break messing up bedtimes too. Who knows. All I know is that I CANNOT get Sammy to sleep before 9:00pm (I can get him in bed at his normal 7:30 or 8, but he just talks/sings/wiggles etc. for over an hour before passing out) and Hannah...don't even get me started. Her sleep time is all over the place. I could go on and on...but I won't. It's really not that interesting...I just needed to complain.

I've slacked off on the blog, partly because I'm lazy and partly because I didn't want to post new stuff until I went private (stupid stalker).

On a lighter note, my parents went to Europe for two weeks and left their mini-van here for me to use. Hurray!! I have already warned the kids, no eating or drinking in the van (if you've seen my car, you understand). And I LOVE the automatic EVERYTHING...dual sliding side doors (just push a button and they open), sunroof, mirrors that adjust for backing-up, the backing-up beeping thing if there is something behind you (yeah, I could have used THAT in my car to avoid backing into the brand new Lexus of my neighbor's right in front of my house...but that's another story), the 250 horsepower (versus my piddly 160hp), 6 drink holders (!), folding rear seats, automatic liftgate...I could go on and on, but I won't.

I think my favorite are the power side sliding doors...could I be anymore lazy? I just love that all I have to do is press a button and they open and the kids can jump in by themselves and get into their carseats.

I am so loving the commute to preschool every morning and so are the kids. They love being up high and able to see everything. Um...how many times did I just use the word love to describe the van? And what kind of a life am I living where having a mini-van for two weeks absolutely makes my day? No, week...no, month!

Ah, being a mom, driving a mini-van...good times.

Swimming lessons!

This past week was Sammy's spring break from school. It was nice to just sleep in...well, until 7:45am...if that's sleeping in (not in my book) and not stress about getting to school on time.

We signed Sammy up for a crash course in swimming/water safety--it was everyday from 10-10:30am. He loved it! His instructor was really sweet and so patient and good with the kids. While he still can't swim (we really didn't expect that he would after only five 25 minute group lessons), he is definitely much more confident and comfortable in the pool--and he had a great time!

By the way, don't his legs look so much better? I think they are really showing some improvement in that first picture!

Listening to the instructor

Time to try it out!

Thanks for not getting my face wet
(he hates that, but hated wearing the goggles even more!)

Kickboards are FUN!

Sammy and his swim instructor

10 things I hate about today...

1. Being 20 minutes late taking Sammy to school this morning because there is so much freaking road construction by my house.
2. Breaking my sunglasses while trying to grab Hannah before she walked in the vomit on the floor at the doctor's office.
3. Waiting 2 hours to see Hannah's doctor.
4. Spending no more than 7 minutes with said doctor after waiting the two hours.
5. Getting a $40 parking ticket because I missed the meter expiring by less than 2 minutes because I waited 2 hours at the doctor's office.
6. Sitting in traffic for 50 minutes to get home from the doctor's office.
7. Finding out that the voucher I purchased off Ebay for a free LA Clippers media guide (for Samuel), while still valid, is of no use if the Staples Center store doesn't have any left.
8. Having both kids fall asleep on the drive home resulting in kids not being sleepy when bedtime has arrived. Sammy fell asleep sometime after 9:30pm, and it's now past 10:00pm and Hannah is still awake.
9. Getting Hannah out of her carseat after finally arriving home from doctor's office, only to realize that she has peed through her diaper and jeans and completely soaked the carseat cover.
10. Going to make some fabulous (albeit fattening) Trader Joe's truffle brownies to make up for my crappy day, and realizing that my 8x8 pan is still at Samuel's work from when I made brownies for his office.

Seriously, time for me to go to bed.

ADDENDUM 4/2/08:
11. Hannah woke up this morning with a slight fever, a runny nose like a faucet and a cough. I HATE going to the doctor's office...