grocery shopping (a trader joe's love story)

oh hey

don't worry, i'm not talking about my arm pits again

at least not today.

did everyone have a restful weekend?

did you make it out to your local farmer's market?

i HAD to get back over to the beargrass christian church farmer's market saturday

i had been without a tomato for 2 weeks.

and i was having a strong craving for a tomato and mayo sandwich (basically all i want to eat all summer - plus ice cream)

unfortunately, tomatoes were all i walked away with - strawberries and blueberries were ridiculously expensive.  i don't mind paying a LITTLE extra.  but strawberries were $5 a pint - i can get certified organic berries for less than that.

but since it was still early in the morning, the st matthews area was blissfully uncrowded

and i hit up trader joes

i love trader joes.

but every tj's i've ever been to has been in THE WORST areas to try and get in and out of.

and the louisville store is no exception.

but early am is the time to hit them up (don't steal my strategy)

i was actually able to walk up and down the aisles and check out everything without feeling in the way

i loved it.

i also love grocery shopping.  i typically go to krogers, which i love - i also love their fuel points

love love love (do ya feel me?)

but honestly - bill and i don't spend enough on groceries to really get a ton of savings.

i'm also very conscious of the food choices we make, and a lot of times coupons don't help us - at least not the sunday paper variety

a "big" grocery hall for me is about $60 worth of food and paper goods - which happens about every other week.

so with a less than full capacity trader joe's - i was able to accidentally buy all my groceries

i say accidentally

because it started with some bananas here, then some mint (for tea)

and then i decided to go ahead and get lunch meat...and before i knew it

bam!

we got groceries! (i spent about $60, one item of dr bronner's soap was $10 alone, so i really feel like i only spent $50 since that's not an item i have to buy every haul)

and after sampling  a few of my finds - wholly molly - i'm going to have to make this a weekly or bi-monthly stop

with dinner saturday night (grilled chicken) i heated up their sweet potato tater tots

devine.

mangoes were on sale for $1.50 each  - which i cut up for dessert - perfectly ripe and sweet!

and because i couldn't leave woodford out

which, while i was checking out, the lady - and seriously, the people have to be drugged working there - they are always ridiculously super nice and helpful - gushed on and on....and on...and on about her dog loving these cookies

and when i got home, i gave one to woodford

he loves any treats, but he knew these were special.

when i went to get him another one later in the evening.  he flipped out

well actually, he's never behaved SO well, to the point it was abnormal behavior.

he did all his tricks with such certainty and determination

it was like he was possessed.

all for the love of a cookie.

as for the ingredients list they are as close to homemade and natural as you can get without making them yourself (which i've done here)  and actually all the products i purchased had short, simple ingredients

basically, what i'm getting at - is that i've always avoided trader joes since it was

A) crowded as heck

and

2) i perceived buying a larger haul of groceries as being much more expensive there

so in reality, i spent the same amount and actually came away with products i like better

the only caveat is having to make it there before 11 am so as not to be ran over.

christmas for the dogs

i baked last night

but i was able to restrain from licking the bowl

even though these are completely edible for humans

i had four legged friends in mind while baking

if you have doggy loved ones in your life, consider making them a special treat this holiday season

they're easy to whip up

the contain basic ingredients - no funny by products like store bought treats

and if you mess up the recipe - your recipients, if they're like woodford, will still probably eat your creation.

this recipe is from thekitchn.com

preheat oven to 350 degrees

combine
1 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour
1/2 cups wheat germ  (i used a flax cereal blend i already had on hand - ground flax, oats, etc will
                                   work too- but you may need to adjust your moisture levels)
1/2 cups melted bacon fat  (go ahead...make some bacon for breakfast this morning and make dog treats tonight!)
1 egg
1/2 cups cold water

knead by hand to really get everything mixed well

roll out on a floured surface to just about 1/2" thickness

then you can slice these in square shapes or use a cookie cutter - i found my bone shaped cookie cutter at meijers in the small kitchen appliances section

i poked my cookies with a fork to give them more of a bakery look

bake for 20 minutes until light brown

turn off oven and flip cookies - let cool in oven to help crisp them up

I was able to make 19 bones and one weird shape (woodford's taste tester)

and since these were meant for my work friends' doggies

i made some gift tags with some cardstock and ribbon

and let everyone know woodford helped

 

then packaged them in some clear/cellophaney tissue paper i found at the dollar general store.

merry roughmes!