Trader Joe's Tuesday: Apple Blossoms

I just tried these on a whim last week. They looked really good and apple pie is something I really like, but never make and never buy because I usually only want a piece...not an entire pie (unlike Coconut Cream where I could seriously eat the entire thing).

Two come in a package, so it was perfect for Samuel and I. Yummy crust (which I normally don't eat, but this one was really good), my favorite crunchy cinnamon-oatmeal topping and lots of juicy apple slices. I, of course, added some vanilla ice cream to it and it was so good. The serving size was a little smaller than I would have liked, but I'm sure that may be a good thing weight-wise.

Definitely gets you in the mood for Autumn...if only the weather would cooperate. It's 103 today. sigh.

Is it autumn yet??

YAY!! We had some rain this morning and it actually stayed cool for most of the morning. It was so nice and autumn-like...I wish it had stuck around. The kids were so excited--especially when we heard a bit of thunder. They were thrilled! No rainbow for us though...

Now it's the afternoon and it's so hot and HUMID--my hair is NOT happy. I feel guilty turning on the a/c, but I'm seriously sweating as I type this. In my effort to keep the autumn feeling, I baked cookies this afternoon. Another reason to turn on the a/c...

The kids have totally taken over the computer by playing Starfall in the afternoon. I don't mind it because it's educational, but seriously, the second I leave the computer one (or both) of them jump in the chair and go to the website and play away. Are we really already fighting for computer time at this age? It's cute to see how computer literate they are at 2 and 4 years old. I think Hannah can do more on the computer than my mom can (no offense mom!), so that is amusing.

Heidi is coming into town, sans kids and husband, at the end of this week for her mom's birthday (her parents are on a mission here in LA). I am excited to see her and spend some time with all the family.

Nothing else too exciting to report. Sammy has Back-to-School night this week and I'm looking forward to the Pushing Daisies premiere on Wednesday. Oh, and I'm ready for it to cool down and have an end to these 90+ degree days. Yuck.

Trader Joe's Tuesday: Punjab Eggplant & Microwavable Organic Brown Rice

Trader Joe's has an Indian Fare line of about 8 different varieties of food and while I'm not a huge Indian food fan--it was another sample one day at Trader Joe's about 4 years ago...and I've been hooked on the Punjab Eggplant ever since. I really don't even like eggplant (I know that sounds terrible since I'm recommending it), but it doesn't taste like eggplant at all. Really. It's so flavorful and hearty with a great aroma. It is a bit spicy, so if you can't handle a little heat, try another variety.

Perfect for a quick lunch since it comes in a ready made package that you just warm up in a pot of boiling water.

I love it over brown or white rice. My problem with brown rice is that I don't usually have 45 minutes to wait for it to cook (especially at lunch time). I HATE that! Problem solved. Trader Joe's has a microwavable package of brown rice that is ready in 3 minutes. WHOO HOO!

This is a quick tasty meal that is a nice alternative from your traditional American fare.

Week in review...

It was a fairly quiet week last week--still trying to get back into the schedule of school and regular bedtimes...and not having much success with the latter.

Hannah is loving our Parent Ed classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays and it's fun to have so many other moms and kids from church in the same class as well. She is so excited to be going to "school" and asks me everyday if we are going to "Hannah's school" today.

Sammy seems happy to be back at school, although some of the enthusiasm from last year seems to be gone. Not sure if it's because pretty much all of his friends from last year went on to Kindergarten (it's a 2 year Pre-K program for 3 and 4 year olds) or he's already sick of getting up early (he's totally not a morning person). I'm sure he will get back into the groove of school soon.

No big outings this week. We spent one afternoon just drawing out front with sidewalk chalk and riding trikes/pushing babydoll strollers. They had a blast. I need to remind myself that they don't always need to be entertained and taken out. We CAN actually have fun at home!



We did head over to Kidspace with Dana one afternoon, and can I just say how nice it is to go there now that summer is over. There was hardly anyone there---a welcome change from the crazy summer crowds of kids and parents.

The kids have been talking about Halloween lately (thanks to Target), so we put up the Halloween decorations this week. It's so cute to see how excited they get over all the decorations (not that we have that many for Halloween) and they are so ready to go Trick-or-Treating. They talked me into buying $10 of Halloween candy while we were at Target. (Yeah, not THAT hard to do...getting the pregnant lady to buy chocolate).

Speaking of pregnant, the pregnancy is going well. I haven't blogged about it much...I guess because it's my third. This pregnancy is definitely different in several ways. I have had a hard time sleeping (that may be due to stress more than pregnancy) and am frequently awake from 2am-6am. I have that weird pregnancy congestion that comes on late at night and lasts for most of the morning. I think I went through an entire box of Kleenex this week. And I've only gained about 11 pounds so far, which is a miracle considering I gained 60 pounds while pregnant with Sammy and 50 with Hannah--AND I've definitely been hitting the chocolate lately. So YAY!

Luckily, I usually lose it all about 6 months after having the baby, in fact, I lost 70 pounds after having Sammy so it was nice to end up skinnier than I started. I wasn't quite as lucky after Hannah, but I did lose all but about 5 pounds from my starting weight. I am thinking it's because I am past 30 now and the metabolism is slowing down, so I was a bit scared on how this one would go weight-gain wise. I don't want to have to lose 50 pounds with an even slower metabolism. So, yay again for only 11 pounds at almost 19 weeks.

So, there's my most-likely-boring-to-most-but-I-want-it-for-my-journal update.

Trader Joe's Tuesday: British Style Multigrain English Muffins

I know that this is another random Trader Joe's item to blog about, but I totally love these and actually went through a stage where I ate these every single morning for several months. They have an amazing flavor thanks to the whole wheat flour, oats, and honey--and are so healthy! Seriously, each muffin has 5 grams of dietary fiber and 7 grams of protein. SEVEN!! In a muffin!!! Totally crazy!

Now, before you write it off as cardboard because of the fiber content--try them! It's soooo yummy with some butter and blackberry jam.

As a side note, I made pizza again tonight. I'm telling you, we have it once a week now. I can't believe I didn't try it sooner.

First Day of School!!

Yeah, this post is a few days late...

Sammy started school on Monday. He has been looking forward to going back to school for the past few weeks, but when the actual morning arrived--he didn't want to get out of bed. We've been having sleep issues (again) and he's been going to bed late, so I knew he wouldn't get up willingly.

He is at the same school and the same class as last year since the Pre-K program is for 3 and 4 year-olds. He was excited to see his same teachers, but I know he was a little disappointed that most of his friends from last year went on to Kindergarten. It looks like there are only 2 girls from last year in the class again. We do have some friends from church who are in his class this year, so he is excited to see Mia and Sydney everyday. I am excited that Mia's mom Niki and I live just a few blocks away, so we can carpool--YAY! Just one more reason we needed the minivan, right?

After school on Monday, Niki and I took the kids to the park to play for a bit. It was hot, as usual, but the kids were excited to see this little guy.

The kids kept throwing leaves at him thinking that he would eat them, but he kept waiting for them to throw food. We didn't bring any snacks, so we had nothing to share.

We played for about and hour and then headed home for lunch and naps. It's nice to be back on schedule and getting back into a routine, I am hoping that it will help out with bedtimes. We'll see.

Trader Joe's Tuesday: Organic Reduced Sugar Preserves

I realize that this is kind of a random favorite TJs thing to blog about, but since I sliced open my hand this afternoon on my favorite (now obviously broken) Crate & Barrel vase--I went with what I had in my cupboard and this was what I had that I hadn't already blogged about.

I know, you're thinking jam/jelly/preserves--really is this one THAT different? It really is. I have been looking for a reduced sugar jam/jelly/preserve that tastes normal and doesn't use any artificial sweetener. I finally found it. (Have you realized how many grams of sugar are in your jam/jelly/preserves? Check it out sometime!)

This does not taste low sugar AT ALL. It spreads perfectly without any huge fruit lumps (I hate that about Smuckers, plus their low sugar is yucky).

It comes in 4 varieties: strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, and apricot. I have tried the strawberry and blackberry and they are both terrific. Plus it's organic--and added bonus. Check it out sometime.

Feeding time at the zoo

Since it's been quite some time since we went (and we have a membership), so we headed out to the zoo on Tuesday.

Since most schools started school that week, this was the first time I have ever been there without seeing 10+ school buses there. There were none. I couldn't believe it--even Sammy noticed! "Mom! Look! Where are all the school buses?" It's cute how observant he is getting.

Despite our arrival at 10am when the zoo opens, it was already hot. I made the kids get out of the stroller and walk up the ramp. There was no way I was pushing them in the double stroller in this heat, pregnant or not.

They were both totally preoccupied with the map.

This went on all morning...

She looks so grown up!

It was so weird to be there with hardly any other people there. There were no school groups to maneuver through and really just a handful of people randomly here or there. We don't usually get there right at opening time and it turns out that is right around feeding time.

The zebras were off toward the back eating, but one actually came over for a drink. It's the closest I've ever seen them at this zoo. Usually they are always hovering in the back.

There was the cutest little baby goat (I'm sure there is a fancier, more official name for him, but to me, he was a goat). He kept making his cute little baby baaaa noise (or whatever it is they make) and he and the older goat kept hanging out by the side door--I think they were waiting for the food.OK--this is seriously how hot it was. Poor bear! He just sat there in the water. In all the times I have been to the zoo, I have NEVER seen the bear. He is always hiding out in his fake cave. I felt sorry for him--it must be hot in that heavy coat. I know I was totally sweating and it was only 11am at this point.

Even the chimpanzee was lounging on the rocks getting some of the mist from the waterfall.Again, I've never seen this many chimpanzees just hanging out. There are more to the side that I couldn't get in the picture.

Yep, feeding time. I guess they were just waiting for the oranges.My kids were more interested in gathering leaves than looking at the animals. Can you tell Sammy is in the goofy face stage?Hannah can be goofy too...when she wants.
Lounging on the hippo

Hannah wanted a turn

I think we spent as much time at the playground as we did walking around the zoo grounds. When we got there, there was only 2 other kids playing. Seriously? That place is ALWAYS packed with kids!!! The kids had a great time and we left around 12:30 when it started to get a little more crowded...plus I was ready for some real food and some a/c in the car.

Yep...they were still reading the maps on the way out.

It was so nice to be there without a mob of people in the way and it was great to see the animals more animated than they usually are. We'll have to head back when it's a bit cooler.

I guess it was inevitable...

It's just one of those things. I remember always promising myself that I would never drive one...and making fun of those who did. But now that we have a third child on the way--this was our best and most practical option.

We bought a mini-van yesterday.

It took me three weeks of bargaining, one totally lame dealership that almost ruined the entire experience for me (too long of a story to write, ask me), and one totally awesome dealership that made it all worth while. We got a fabulous deal since no one is buying cars right now, so we decided to take the plunge and get it.

I LOVE the color and the power sliding doors--that was the one thing that I absolutely HAD to have after using my parents van for two weeks. The kids love all the space and being up high. Of course, we have implemented the no food or drink rule...we'll see how long that lasts.



So, if you are single or married without kids, go ahead and laugh. I probably would have back then too. But I have to admit that I totally love it!

Mommy and Me classes

The local college here offers free "Parent Education" classes for parents with infants and toddlers--which is basically free Mommy-and-Me classes.

These classes are so great because it's great way to have your kids interact with others their age and learn to play together--plus the facility provides EVERYTHING: toys, crafts, painting, singing time, story time and more. There are tons of outdoor toys like trikes and cars, educational indoor toys, they always have a craft set up for the kids to do, and they have easels set up so the kids can paint if they want.

I love it because its all the things I would love to do at home without worrying about the mess and the clean up. Each of the moms take turns bringing in snack for the kids and adults--and that is really the only obligation.

I did these with Sammy when he was 2 and we loved the teacher and the class so much! I tried an 12-18 month class with Hannah last year, but the teacher drove me nuts and I didn't like the location as well, so I couldn't wait for Hannah to turn 2 so we could return to Sammy's old class.

Classes started this week, so Thursday was our first day. Since Sammy's preschool doesn't start until Monday, he got to come along. He was so excited to go back to his "old school" as he calls it, and Hannah thought she was such a big girl going to "Hannah's school".

It was so good to see Heather and Donna (the teacher and TA) and they were excited to see Sammy so grown up (and his legs much improved) and to see Hannah all grown up as well since she was 2-10 months when we were in the class with Sammy.

This location has lots of outdoor space and outdoor toys, so the kids really have room to ride the bikes and cars.

Hannah LOVED the car!

Lots of room to ride around with Michael!

This is so cute of the kids and Michael. I love how Hannah is just lounging in the wagon.

Concentrating hard on the pieces.Totally preoccupied!!

It was fun to see Danielle and Yolanda with their boys in the class (sorry no picture). I am hoping to enlist some more moms of 2 year-olds to join us!!

Trader Joe's Tuesday: Pizza Sauce & Plain Pizza Dough

How pathetic that I have no posts between my weekly TJ's posts. Apparently, I've not been into blogging lately...or I have nothing exciting to share. Probably both.


OK, so this week's recommendation is one of my new favorites--we've made it three times in the past week. I've had friends rave about Trader Joe's Pizza Dough for quite some time, but it still has taken me years to try it out. Not sure why that is, but I'm so mad I didn't try it sooner.

It's in the refrigerated section and comes in three varieties: plain, garlic & herb, and whole wheat. I've tried the plain and the garlic & herb. My family HATED the garlic & herb dough (I didn't think it was that great either), but the plain is so simply yummy that there is no need for any extra flavoring. I haven't tried the whole wheat and probably won't because no one in my house will eat it besides me.

I'm super picky about my pizza sauce (well, my marinara sauce too), so I was a little hesitant to try this one out because I have yet to find a bottled marinara that I like. The Trader Joe's pizza sauce is so perfectly and lightly seasoned--it truly is the perfect sauce.

It's so easy (and cheap) for a quick dinner--the dough is $1.29 and the sauce is $1.89 (and you'll get three pizzas out of a jar), then just add cheese and any other toppings you want. So easy and so good--even my husband asked for seconds and he's not a pizza fan at all.

By the way, aren't the pictures way better? YAY for my new camera!!