I knew this weekend was going to be a busy one. As Matt rattled off our boys’ soccer game schedule late last week, and I decided that if we were going to eat well, I’d need to plan ahead. For each meal, we had a very small window of time before we’d need to leave the house again for another game. And so, I spent part of Friday getting ready.
This worked out perfectly. I made a Lasagna Casserole and a Hearty Green Bean Casserole to put into the oven as soon as we got home from games. I also made Chicken Salad for sandwiches or pitas on the run. I wish I was always able to make time to prep food ahead like this. It sure does make game days go more smoothly, as well as fill hungry soccer players who run several miles each day playing games!
I was excited that since we had to head to Lincoln for games on Saturday, and because we had a little bit of time to kill between games, I was able to run into Trader Joes for a few minutes. I spent a lot of time in the produce department, and as you can see, I had quite a bit of fun there!
I was able to get pears, plums, kiwi, sweet potatoes, mandarins, avocados, and sweet peppers. I love having such a yummy variety of fresh produce on hand. (We’ll see if this stash even lasts us one week…) :)
Here’s what our menu looks like for this week:
Sunday, April 14
Breakfast cake muffins, clementines
Hearty green bean casserole (recipe in my Oh, For Real cookbook), applesauce
High school huddle at our friend’s house
Monday, April 15
Almond flour muffins (recipe coming this week), apple slices
Calico Beans, tossed salad, plums
Chicken salad on whole wheat pitas, tomatoes, fresh pineapple
Tuesday, April 16
Quick mix pancakes, blueberries
Easy noodle stir fry with broccoli, carrots, peppers, and asparagus
Chicken fried steak strips, mashed potatoes, gravy, peas
Wednesday, April 17
Honey cinnamon muffins, kiwi
Pizza boats, pears
Easy chicken pot pie, tossed salad
Thursday, April 18
Scrambled eggs, oranges
Chicken and cheese burritos, fruit salad
Cheeseburger macaroni, steamed broccoli and carrots, tossed salad
Friday, April 19
Quick mix biscuits, fruit-kefir smoothies
Calzones, apples and/or plums
Crock pot barbecue chicken breasts, baked potatoes, green beans, asparagus
Saturday, April 20
Fried eggs on toast, oranges and pears
Leftovers
Lamb chops, sweet potato fries, steamed broccoli and carrots
Do you have a Trader Joes nearby? I wish ours was closer, but it sure is fun to hop in every few months!
Jesann says
Can I brag? ;-) I’m from California and have been shopping there since 1980, when they were still a specialty chain known for cheese, chocolate, nuts, and wine.
I’m very happy that they changed into more of a regular grocery. :-)
donnaj says
We like toshop at Trader Joe’s but there are none anywhere close to us….none in the state. We go there when we travel! We are getting a Whole Foods store in the fall and our local grocery has a good selection of organic produce.
Julie Hayes says
We finally got a TJ’s last summer…we love it! They always have the best lemons!
Jenn Walker says
I love Trader Joe’s. It is one my most favorite places to shop and where I buy a lot of my meats, cheese, eggs, and milk. It’s not close, but it’s not too far either…maybe 20 minutes. We are supposed to be getting a Whole Foods and I’m excited about that! I live very close two farmer’s markets and that’s where I get my produce.
Rachel E. says
No…no TJ Bummer, right.
Leah says
The closest Trader Joe’s is almost two hours away. However, they are looking for land for a new store about 30 minutes away and will hopefully open within two years. I can’t wait!!!!
Lana says
I have TJ’s 20 miles from me. I go every couple of months and stock up. I don’t have a grain mill so I buy my whole wheat flour there. It is incredibly fresh. I don’t usually buy produce there because I have cheaper organic produce options closer to home but we do have a long list of things we love from TJ’s. They have raisins without sulfates! So good! Don’s miss the chocolate next time you go!
Sara@AJoyfulMother says
I drive 40 minutes twice or three times a month to visit a TJ’s and Whole Foods. SO worth it!
Gina says
You live near Lincoln? I grew up not far from there in Modale,IA and to us that was the big city-well that and Omaha-ha! The zoo there is awesome don’t you think? That is so funny you mentioned TJ’s because I was there just today for my monthly run. It’s about 45 minutes from us.Lots of good stuff. I have to be really careful not to spend too much there though.
Laura says
We live about an hour away. Hoping to have a Meet and Greet in Lincoln sometime! :)
Melissa Hnosko says
Man, I bet my family just missed you, wish I would have known you were in Lincoln – would love to meet your family some time, you’re all welcome at our house anytime!
Laura says
It would be great to meet you some day! Hoping to have a Meet and Greet in Lincoln sometime in 2013. :)
obearlady says
Trader Joe’s ? not here in s.d. what is it?
Lyndsay says
Love Trader Joe’s- did your kids find Archie the stuffed mammoth? That’s my boys’ favorite part, when you find him you can tell them and you get a piece of salt water taffy :) My son was just asking yesterday if we could go to the store and find Archie!
Nikki says
A stuffed mammoth named Archie? That’s cute! We lived 5 minutes from Trader Joe’s in VA and they had a monkey named Little Joe. After he disappeared, there was a new monkey named Joe-Joe. Here in TX, they have an armadillo named Ban-Joe! My favorite treat is the Dark Chocolate Almonds with Sea Salt and Turbinado Sugar. Definitely in the treat category but so yummy!
Sarah B says
That sounds yummy!
Kristin says
Glad to hear other folks make TJ’s stock ups as well. Mine is based on the yogurt dates. We love their organic whole milk european style yogurt. It is yummy and SO affordable. My girls eat it for lunch every day, so I buy it in bulk and when it runs out (usually 4-6 weeks) I go back. Of course then I pick up a cart full of other staples while I’m at it. Laura, good luck on making that produce last a week! I figure I average $60 in fresh produce a week to feed my family of 5. This week at my local grocery store I bought broccoli, baby carrots, onions, green peppers, pea pods, cucumbers, mandarins, grapefruit, golden delicious and gala apples, bananas, cantaloupe, grapes , blackberries, raspberries, blueberries and strawberries. Then I went on to buy grape tomatoes and mini persian cucumbers from the farmers market. Mind you that doesn’t include the things we already had in the house like oranges, a lemon, sweet potatoes, potatoes, frozen peas, frozen spinach, frozen green beans and frozen fruit. Between lunch dinner and school snacks, we go through A LOT of produce! I love that the farmer’s market is starting to fresh produce again. When I came home Saturday my girls screamed, “tomatoes!” and tried to grab some out of the box before I even had a chance to rinse them off. You’d think I was bringing home doughnuts or something, ha, ha! Needless to say, they asked for seconds.
Casey says
LOVE Trader Joes! I have a list of essentials to get from them! I live in Omaha and would love it if you had a meet and greet in Lincoln or Omaha!
Jocelyn Skelly says
I need to remember how spoiled I am living less than a mile away from the nearest TJ’s. I do 75% of my shopping there filling in with Azure and farmer’s market :)
Shelley P. says
Trader Joes is the BEST place to buy organic fruits and veggies as their prices are the same as non-organic. They have such fun foods to try too. We LOVE our Trader Joes in Cali.
Susan Alexander says
Funny, I never get by Trader Joes, but I was able to run into ours on Sunday and picked up those exact same plums. :p