trader joes

I love to cook. Ok... duh. That is why I write a food blog. But seriously, if I had my way I would spend my days shopping open air markets searching for new and exciting ingredients and then go home to spend all evening cooking them. I have never felt more of a purpose then I do when I'm cooking for people.

However, like most people, I am very short on time. But, I have found a great solution. Trader Joe's. I mean, I've known about the grocery chain for years, but have just recently starting expanding my Trader Joe's frozen food horizons. It's like cooking a full meal with out the time consuming preparation. They have everything. EVERYTHING. From Mahi Mahi with a flavor to die for...

... and polenta in a spicy tomato sauce with spinach and peas.

And the best part, aside from the fact that you can add whatever you want and it will still be delicious, is that you still feel like you are actually making something! By cooking it in the oven, on the stove or grilling on the barbecue you still get the satisfaction of cooking something even though you are essentially just defrosting it.

So, I really love Trader Joe's and all their frozen, fresh and boxed goodies, but this guy really really loves Trader Joe's. Check out some more reasons to love Trader Joe's.

Love and Beer Floats

Angela

Favorites

Many moons ago.... long before new food tuesdayz... ok... who am I kidding. A couple months ago, before I really started getting into this whole cooking thing, Lish and believed a panini and some quick roasted potatoes was seriously gourmet dinner. Well guess what. I still think a panini and some quick roasted potatoes are amazingly delicious.

I know so far I've made it seem like making all these crazy meals is easy. And, I really believe that if you have time and you can follow simple directions, it can be. But the truth is, cooking is time consuming. And tiring. And a workout! And I can't get crazy every night.

So tonight Lish and I busted out some of our favorites. Although we did spice it up a little considering Trader Joe's was out of our favorite turkey. If we wanted a panini, we had to do it ourselves.

grilled turkey breast sliced thin for panini

with our absolute favorite spread/dip/I really want to take a bath in this... Trader Joe's sun dried tomato pesto

and we had to use Lish's mixed potatoes and my brussels sprouts

Oh, and if I haven't mentioned it yet... Lish is obsessed with pepper. So much so that our friend Mckenna gave her a pack of pepper for her birthday. Pepper. For her birthday. Yah. Well... our pepper mill was almost out so she was stoked to fill ours back up with Mckenna's pepper pack. It was too pretty to not capture. Great job Lishy!!!!

Love and Beer Floats

Angela

Garlic Grilled Turkey Breast

4 turkey breasts

6 cloves garlic

salt and pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

Using a meat mallet (or if you don't have a meat mallet like me, use something heavy or your hands) pound out the turkey breasts still they are no more then 1/2 inch thick. Season both sides with salt and pepper. Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Roughly chop the garlic and add to the oil. Let cook for 30 seconds then add turkey breasts on top of the garlic and oil. Cook about 6 minutes a side.

This is great for salads, sandwiches or by itself.