Trader Joe's Challenge: Day Three!

Oh you guys, how in the world did I forget to take pictures of dinner tonight?  This Trader Joe's Challenge is a big deal! (Well, to ME.) You'd think I would remember to snap at least a picture or two. 

Since I forgot, I'll just be sure to make up for it with several random cat photos later on in this post..........................

So tonight Noah was invited over to my parent's house for steak.  Because, he is a prince. They love indulging Noah in his favorite meal, and I image bask in the glory that they are able to get him to eat, unlike me.

That meant it was just Jon and I for dinner.  Because of this, I didn't start dinner right away, and instead did a bit of on-line work. By the time Jon got home, I still hadn't started dinner, but it was ok, because both the Strawberry Gorgonzola Salad, and the Grilled Veggie Sandwich With Lemon Garlic Sauce only had a five minute prep time. No cooking needed! 

I know that five minutes and no cooking sounds a bit suspect, but really, for a super-fast dinner, it wasn't half-bad! Everything was quite fresh, except for the frozen, pre-grilled  eggplant and zucchini. But, I could certainly think of a thousand worse pre-packed foods.

(This is sort of....what our sandwiches looked like.)

 ADD A PHOTO | 1 of 1 PHOTOS

The sandwiches were so easy to put together, and fast! Basically you thaw or defrost the veggies in the microwave. Personally, Next time I am going to find a way to crisp them up. Maybe in the oven.
While that's going on, you make a WONDERFUL sauce to spread on the dinner rolls, made from a little bit of mayo, lemon juice and crushed garlic. It was fantastic! I used a gluten-free English muffin for my sandwich, and it was great.

When the veggies and sauce are done, you layer sauce, some arugula, veggies, and feta cheese. SO delicious, and reasonably healthy!

(And here is the salad.....)

The Strawberry and Gorgonzola Salad was your typical berry/nut/cheese salad. I just love the sweetness of the strawberries, mixed with the salty Gorgonzola. You can choose to go as light or as heavy as you want with the ingredients. We also made our own dressing, per the recipe. Simply two-parts olive oil to one-part balsamic. It was just TOO easy!

One of the best things about this meal, besides be super quick and easy, is the fact that we have tons of leftovers for lunch tomorrow. You really get at least four meals/ servings out of this one. I highly recommend. 

Oh! And just so you know, the homemade hummus WAS better the next day. I really like it a lot!

And now for some random cat pics.......

(Willow, after eating some food. While wait for more food.)

(Willow taking a nap, after eating some food. And some more food.)

For your viewing pleasure, I give thee...............THE UNDERSIDE OF A CAT!

Thank you Buzzfeed, for your article: 21 Pictures of Cats On Glass.

Well, that's all that I have for you for right now. Oh! except for the new FlyLady daily newsletter format.  DON'T LAUGH YOU GUYS.  I wanted to share something with you that has really been a great help to me.  If you don't already know the FlyLady, (Marla Cilley), you might want to check out her site. The Flylady takes your home and your life, and teaches you how to most effectively manage all of  your tasks. She makes it fun, and breaks the endless "to do's" into little, manageable chunks.

I've never had a big problem with keeping the house nice and tidy, but certainly there are a few areas prone to clutter, and believe me, cleaning is not one of my most favorite activities.  I love how each day of the FlyLady's newsletter and daily plan, includes "tasks" and "zones" to tackle. I love the FlyLady's website and I listen to her different series on podcast all the time while I clean or work at home.

Oh, and get this, FlyLady TV has BOTH Noah and I cracking up. The Flylady is really funny! You should check the videos out for yourself.

This is today's daily newsletter below. It's just a nice way to stay on track.

Thanks for stopping by, see you next time!

xoxoxoxoxo,

Lauren

FlyLady.net   Website |  Shop |  Get Started |  FlyLady TV |  Contact Us     Flight Plan for Thursday, January 31, 2013 Have you signed up for your FREE FlyLady Online Calendar? If not go check it out - it is nothing short of amazing from the dream team atCozi. Today is Thursday: Errand Day Zone 5 - Living/Family Room (Monday - Thursday) Zone 1 - The Front Porch, Dining Room and Entrance (Friday) This month's Habit - Shine Your Sink Next month's Habit - Declutter 15 Minutes a Day * Morning Routine: -Get Dressed to Shoes including Hair/Face, Brush Teeth - Make Bed -Swish & Swipe -Empty Dishwasher -Reboot Laundry (a Load a Day Keeps CHAOS Away) -Check Your Calendar -Check Your Control Journal * What's For Dinner? * Drink Your Water * Declutter for 15 Minutes * 15 Minutes of Loving Movement (exercise) * Before Bed Routine: -Lay out Your Clothes for tomorrow  -Check Your Calendar -Put things needed for tomorrow at the Launch Pad -Where are your Keys? -Spend Two Minutes Clearing off a Hot Spot -Shine Your Sink - Wash face/Brush Teeth -Go to Bed at a Decent Hour Zone 5: Mission #4 Thursday Dear Friends: Today is our last day in the Living Room! Let's have a detailed vacuuming session. This means to vacuum the room, making sure to get up against the baseboards and to get under the furniture. Please be careful that you don't hurt yourself trying to move furniture. If it is too difficult to get under the couch or chairs then just try to get as close to the base of the furniture as you can. Have fun and don't get sidetracked! Kelly You are not behind! I don't want you to try to catch up; I just want you to jump in where we are. O.K.? Words can be KIND or MEAN; the CHOICE is yours in 2013!  Join Our Mailing List! Forward to a Friend Stay Connected           FlyLady Company Inc | flylady@flylady.net | http://www.flylady.net 132 Commerce Street Brevard, NC 28712 Copyright 2001-2013 FlyLady and Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Trader Joe's Challenge: Day One!

You guys, I'm not going to lie to you, it's been one of those days....

 I haven't been able to totally start my Trader Joe's cooking challenge yet. I'm like, 75% there... but not 100% to challenge plan.  It began when school called at FIVE FIFTY this morning, waking me from a deep sleep. I thought it was still the middle of the night when the phone rang, and went FLYING out of bed, nearly head-on into the humidifier. You know, that could have been bad you guys.

Today was a snow day, but not really. It was more like an ice morn. I'm down with snow days though, it's cool, (get it! get it!?) at least Noah was ELATED. Not just happy, ELATED. Like, out-of-control with happiness . He loves school, but you wouldn't have known it from the sight of him GOING COMPLETELY NUTS.

This is Noah after he stopped going completely nuts. I was like, go look out our windows, it's relaxing.

And by the way, this is the view from my bedroom window last night. Isn't it pretty? 

Anyway, last night I got all organized for my Trader Joe's challenge. First I went through Trader Joe's recipes from my Pinterest board "Dinner With Trader Joe's", and picked a bunch of recipes out. Then, I put them together, making meals for the week.

(Please ignore my late-night, un-spellchecked, scribbles.)

Once that was done, I transferred all of the ingredients from these meals, and any other basics that we needed, onto a master shopping list. It was divided by sections. (I know everything is misspelled. I kan't helpp it!!!)

I was READY TO GO!

(I didn't really look like this, but I WISH.)

My plan was to grocery shop first thing in the morning, once Noah left for school, but plans changed. I wasn't able to get my Trader Joe's shopping done until this evening. It didn't matter though, I was , ok, JON was, still able to whip up an all-Trader Joe's dinner tonight, with things that we already had in the house! 

(Trader Joe's Organic Creamy Tomato Soup with grilled cheese sandwiches made using Trader Joe's provolone cheese.) Ok, so not the fanciest of meals, but it's one of our 15-minute, fast and easy go-to dinners. You can add a quick side or veg. and fruit too. And can I just tell you how delicious that soup is? TRY IT!)

Noah, Jon and I ran over to Trader Joe's after dinner. We went to a location that just opened this month. It's faaaaaabulous! Wide, open aisles, never crowded. As much as I love my original Trader Joe's, the new location is much less of a traffic jam inside, and, it's literally 10 minutes from my front door.

Armed with our list, the aim was to make this a quick trip, and it was! Putting a little work into things ahead of time, really pays off. I was able to find everything on the list, except for a spaghetti squash (not in season?),  arugula (all out), stewed tomatoes (they have them, but I prefer to buy in a jar vs. can), and corn tortillas (because who the hell knows where corn tortillas are anyway?).

And by the way, last minute, I decided to add an additional recipe to my list, and it's so fantastic, I just had to share with you- the AMAZING cauliflower pizza crust. Honestly, I love it, it's incredible. Gluten-free, no flour, only riced cauliflower, cheese, an eggs and some seasoning. Just don't use a salty cheese!

 I digress.

For the record, I got all of the food for our meals, plus basics , plus a few fun extras, mostly organic and/or health conscious for the week, for a total of $150. Not too bad, right? The weekly budget that we try to stick with is $125, but it can fluctuate.

This is Noah after our shopping trip. He found Luau the stuffed animal monkey, hiding on top of the bananas today. They gave him some awesome, Valentine's Day Trader Joe's stickers. (See top of post.) He is happy.

You know what guys? Maybe in retrospect, it really wasn't "one of those days". Actually, it might have been kind of good. I mean, I got to spend most of the day with my sweet guy, and I am SO lucky to be able to buy food for our family. Yeah, you know, it WAS a good day. It really was. Thanks for the mental clarity internets! 

One more good day mention....a BIG "thank you" to one of THE MOST loving and giving people that I know, Theresa. She stopped by with a FANTASTIC gift for Noah. Some adorable Lego shaped erasers , and this amazing book by Klutz press, that comes with many many interlocking pieces that you use to build spaceships! It's adorable, some pieces have rockets printed on them, others have engine looking pictures. Noah loved his gift, and it was great to see him using his imagination. Thank you Theresa! Feeling so lucky to have such a truly thoughtful friend like you in our lives.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Well, that's the news from Lake How Bourgeois-be-gone. Tomorrow's plan is to whip up the first of the "official" Trader Joe's challenge recipes. I'll keep you posted on how the week goes.

Thank you so much for stopping by to read. I can't tell you how much it means to me. I've wanted to write and blog more for so many years, and have just never found the time until what I hope, is now! We started How Bourgeois when Noah was just a few months old, and now he's a big boy. Thank you for letting us share our little musings with you!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox,

Lauren