Hi!

Seems, like I'm getting something of a reputation here for shopping at Whole Foods Market. Well, surprise! I also shop at Trader Joe's (and a couple of local chain markets, too)!

As I was shopping at Trader this morning, it got me thinking of all the recent convenience food qns here. Thought I'd share some of my favorites from Trader Joe's. These are the ones I bought this week, all TJ's brand, Zone friendly, and most of them are convenience foods.

OG Plain Non Fat Yogurt
OG Mint Tea Melange
Chipotle Lime Grilled Chicken Breast Strips
frozen avocado halves (vaccuum sealed in a box)
frozen Asian Vegetable Stir-Fry mix
frozen Fire Roasted Peppers and Onions
frozen broth glazed chicken tenders
frozen marinated steamers (clams)
frozen ahi tuna
frozen medium sized tiger shrimp
frozen Berry Medley
refrigerated Caesar Salad Dressing
refrigerated Low Fat Parmesan Ranch
refrigerated Champagne Pear Vinaigrette with Gorgonzola
Egg White Salad With Chives
Extra Firm Tofu
Crunchy Almond Butter
Enchilada Sauce
Chunky Salted Peanut Butter
refrigerated Steamed Lentils
Guacamole Topped With Spicy Pico de Gallo
Turkey Kielbasa
goat cheese (not TJ's brand, but one with more protien then than most brands)
Marinated Mozzarella
Chicken Marsala (prepared meal entree)
Sweet Italian Style Chicken Sausage (fully cooked)
Roasted Garlic Chicken Sausage (fully cooked)
Smoked, Apple Chardonnay Chicken Sausage (fully cooked)
Mozzarella Flavor soy cheese

All that food sounds wonderful! Now if we could only get TJ's to move to Idaho, I'd be happy. I used to shop there when I lived in California. They had such interesting foods. I couldn't wait to go and see what was new. The nearest TJ's is in Seattle, about 500 miles away... :-( We were supposed to get a Whole Foods, but then the economy tanked and I guess they lost the contract or whatever, since I haven't heard anymore about it

Sue, why you don't post your recipe cooking on youtube? Its much better to see how to do it than just look at your pictures.

Hey Sue,
Love all your meal ideas! Have always wanted to try the Turkey Kielbasa at Trader Joe's,any recipe ideas?

Hi jannetta! That's an idea, though I don't know the there would be much to see. It's all pretty basic. :-)

Thanks trixie!

It's good with saurkraut, and some applesauce on the side. Grillling also works.

Thanks Sue, great idea!
BTW: Trying to find your recipe for the portabella mushroom pizza..

You're welcome trixie!

Basically alll I do is place the toppings on and bake. I've just added the recipe tp my recipe thread here: http://www.zonediet.com/Community/F...fault.aspx

Thanks Sue!
BTW: Was inspired by your recipe for TJ's Chicken Chardonnay Apple sausages, & lentils! This is going to be a such a quick an easy meal to prepare for dinner one night this week!! I ended up picking up their Balela Middle Eastern chickpea salad. Very tasty! Added it to a bed of mixed greens and had it with some grilled salmon and watermelon for dessert!

You're welcome!

Thanks for chick pea salad meal tip!

Also, you can change the lentil meal by switching the flavor of sausage you use. I like it with TJ's Roasted Garlic Chicken Sausage and a little sauteed onion and celery mixed in,, adn also make it with TJ's Italian Chicken Sausage with Sweet Peppers. I like TJ's premade foods because they're simple and delicious, and many have Zone friendly ingredients (but you have to look closely at the ingredient labels). Today I'm having TJ's Chicken Marsala prepared meal and adding yellow squash with fresh apricots for dessert.

Hey Sue,
Glad you got an idea from me (for a change)..lol...
Hmm,I've been thinking of making something with the Mango chicken sausages...maybe something tropical and light. Any thoughts??
BTW: Just received my first shipment of Zone Bars. Since it was really ho today,they seemed a bit soft when they arrived. Popped them in the fridge,hope they'll be okay. Do you ever freeze them?

:-)

IDK on the TJ's Mango Chicken Sausage. I haven't ever bought them becasuse, If I'm remembering right, they contain too many carbs (unfavorabel at that!). I wouldn't put tropical fruit with them because that would be adding even more unfav carb. You'd have no chance fo staying in the Zone then.

The bars, I froze one once...too hard to bite into!

Thanks for your thoughts regarding the Mango Chicken sausage.

As for the Bars,they seemed fine once refrigerated since they were soft upon delivery. Purchased the sample pack. Do you have a favorite flavor?

Hard question. I started to type in my favorites and listed almost all of them, lol. My top 3 favorites are Sweet and Salty Nut Curnch, Cocoa Crisp, and Chocolate Fudge, but I like them all!

Which sample pack did you purchase?

I purchased both the sample packs,so I think I got every flavor. I have tried 2 so far. The Cocoa Crisp and Sweet and Salty Nut Crunch,both great! Just was curious you opinion.
BTW: Made the lentil salad recipe last night w/ the Trader Joe’s Chardonnay & Apple Chicken Sausage. So easy and delicious..perfect for no cook dinner! I had a black plum for dessert! Any other ideas like this?

Sure, lots more ideas in my meal photos (link in my signature)! Yesterday I made a quick meal with minimal cooking, a scramble of browned Soyrizo (soy choriso), TJ's Soy mozzarella, egg whites, kidney beans and olive oil (took 5 min), and with it had some sliced tomatoes and a sliced plum. I'm going to add a photo of it to my album.

I love the idea!
Can you list out the amounts of the ingredients? Can't wait to see a photo..thank you Sue!

For a 3 block meal: use 1 block each of Soyrizo, cheese and egg whites, plus 1/2 block of kidney beans, and cook it in a couple blocks of olive oil; serve with tomatoes and plums enough to equal 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 more blocks. My adjusted balance is 2 C blocks in a 3 block meal, so I use 1 whole tomato (1/2 C block)and 1 plum (1 C block). Enjoy!

Thanks for breaking down the blocks (it really helps),I look forward to seeing the picture of the meal!

Hi Sue, I always use recommendations from your mails, but taste of your food is not good, also I bought some food from Trader Joe's and I don't like it. Frozen avocado - taste as boiled. Sausages are sweet and taste is not real, except garlic sausages, turkey kelbasa is too salty. I use and like this store long time ago,soy mozzarella cheese is really good...from what you recommended.

Hey Sue,
I have always wanted to take some "pre-marinaded" baked tofu and add to a salad. Figured it would make a nice and easy lunch for work. I noticed the ones at Trader Joe's are a bit high in carbs..have nay suggestions/recipe for how to make this work?

Hi trixie,

I don't know. I don't purchase marinated tofu because of the additional carb. Most of the carb in my diet comes from veggies and fruit.

Hi trixie!

I actually have a "pre-marinated" baked tofu by West Soy that has only 1carb per serving. I bought the Thai flavor. It has 5g fat and 9g protein per serving! I'm not sure if they sell that at Trader Joes. I don't have one near by. I just bought it at Woodmans...not sure if you have one of those.

Thanks for the tip Sarah! I'll have to keep an eye out for it. Two of those servings with some veggies added would be about a 3 block meal. Sounds good.

Yeah,thank you Sarah..I'll have to keep an eye out for that brand. BTW: What is a good dressing that doesn't have much fat? (since I have the fat in the tofu)