Food Journal 2/23/11 – I <3 Trader Joe’s

The great thing about Costco is that you can get some fantastic deals, but it can also mean having huge amounts of just a few things on hand. With the Great Snowstorm of 2011 they were predicting, I knew I’d better get some more food or we’d be eating pretty much nothing but edamame, popcorn, sliced turkey and Cheerios for the next few days. That’s where Trader Joe’s comes in. If you don’t have one where you live, consider moving. You can get the best stuff there for such a great price and you can usually get in and out quickly. Besides most of the food we had for dinner, I picked up some frozen mango puree, among other things, which is a key ingredient in my favorite Greenberry Shakeology recipe. I’m sure you’ll be seeing it soon.

Breakfast – Chocolate Shakeology made with 8oz water, 4oz 1% milk (always organic by the way), a little vanilla extract and a bit of cinnamon

AM Snack – P90X Wildberry protein bar (decided to change things up a bit – usually leave this flavor for the kids because it’s their favorites)

Lunch – leftover 6in turkey sub from our Februany feast the night before – it was a delightful discovery as I really didn’t feel like making anything, 6c Smart Pop popcorn sprinkled with garlic granules and cayenne pepper

PM Snack/Post workout – running out the door to take the kids to karate I completely forgot my recovery drink (which I can feel today ) Grabbed a slice of whole grain white bread and 6 extra thin slices of turkey and ate it on the way to the car. I wasn’t going to have a repeat of the pizza and cake incident. Speaking of which, it seems I wasn’t the only one dealing with a frosting addiction. One of my best friends recently made a cake for a birthday party and had thrown the leftover frosting away (in a sealed container) which she later dug out of the trash and ate with a spoon. Yes, she did give me permission to disclose this information. 🙂

Dinner – 3oz seasoned turbot (one of Chef Ramsey’s favorites and I can see why), 1c broccoli, 1/2c zucchini, 1/4c yellow onion, 1tsp olive oil, 1/4 cube chicken boullion, 1 large slice cracked wheat sourdough bread, 1tsp Smart Balance original spread

Dessert – (also thanks to Trader Joe’s) 10 TJ’s multigrain pretzel sticks, 2Tbs Rondelle Cranberry Orange spread (only $.99 for an 8oz tub), 1 mandarin orange

Total Calories – 1735, Protein – 112 grams, Carbs – 220 grams, Fat – 52 grams, Fiber – 30 grams

Protein 24%, Carbs 49%, Fat 27%

Total calories burned – 3307, deficit of 1572

Always be prepared…and have a back-up plan

Boots…check. Sweater…check. Hooded jacket…check. Spandex…check. (This time, the pants were worn under another pair of regular pants, for warmth.) Camera…check. Fully charged batteries…um, check, I think. Turns out not so much. And on one of the few days I’d have a chance to photograph some snow. Good grief. My camera still works when the batteries are low, but does some funky things with the color. As I was taking pictures, I was thankful I had a back-up plan…Picasa.

My battery situation reminded me of a story my cousin told me about one of my half brothers who passed away a few years ago. It seems he wasn’t always good at checking batteries, either. He used to spend a lot of time on weekends with my cousin and her husband taking their remote control trucks out to the desert, gravel pits, etc. I think my cousin tells it best…

“We drove out to a gravel pit and he was ready to try out his relatively new gas truck with a body he had painted himself. The body was an El Camino painted maroon and he had worked pretty hard on it. My husband asked him if he had checked the batteries in his remote and got the normal of course! He also warned him not to get the truck out of range or he would have a long walk to it because the truck would just keep going until it ran out of gas…are you seeing where this story is going? : ) 

He started running the El Camino and it took off like a shot and headed to a big mound of sand. All of a sudden he said he had no control and that’s when he realized the batteries were dead in the remote control! For some reason, he decided he could go run after the truck (running out of control now and could go 35 mph) and get it. So he takes off after the little truck and we watch, the truck hit a bump spun around and now the truck is chasing him! We started laughing hysterically as he is sprinting towards us with the truck hot on his heels! The truck hit another bump and spun around and took off the other way…of course he turned around and took off after the truck again! Are you with me, do you know what happened next?

The truck hit a bump again and took after him again…my husbnd and I were laughing so hard it was all we could do and we wished for a video because I know it would have won money! Finally the truck hit a big bump and flipped over on its top, so he was able to go get it and shut it off. We all three laughed until we cried and asked him what he was thinking! All he could say was he wanted his truck back.”

Ok, now the pictures which I think turned out pretty well considering the low batteries. Thank you Picasa! Scroll over the images for more info.

Some people have suggested that I put some photos of me on here so here’s my foot.

As I made my way back home I was thinking that it was unnecessary to close the schools, but by the time I reached my destination I thought maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

Finally back in the warmth of home, I ventured out into the cold once more. This is the view from our deck.

I don’t have a lot to say today, especially since I’m distracted by my husband and kids who are home because of the snow.  Just remember, always be prepared and have a back-up plan or you may end up running in circles. 😉