Recipe/Meal Planner Help please! Trader Joes!

akb2006

I want to ditch walmart and start shopping at trader joes for grocercies but if it doesn't come out of a box i dont know what to make out of it! I need ideas/opinions for dinners. My hubby is a meat and potato type of person but he will eat a few veggies. I love everything but fish or sushi

jadedone

I love trader joes, but watch out, the packed food can be high in sodium.

My go to items at TJs: dairy, bagged salads, cheese (the 75% reduced fat cheddar is excellent), nuts, dried fruit, frozen seafood, frozen chicken, some meats, olive oil, condiments, roasted peppers, capers, bread, frozen fruits and veggies.

You need to find another source for most produce. I find it to be hit and miss -- especially the fruits

Here are some quick and easy ideas. A typical meal has protein, starch, veggies and sauce.

Here is an easy sauce, it only requires your blender:
Red Pepper Pesto
4 roasted red peppers (these are jarred at trader joes)
juice of one lemon or 1/4 c of balsamic vinegar or any other other vinegar
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup of loosely packed italian parsley
salt and pepper to taste

Take all of these ingredients and put it in the blender. You may need a little bit of water to help it blend.

Serve this sauce with meat, lentils or even on pasta.
Turn it into a salad dressing by adding a tablespoon of mustard, triple the vinegar and add 1/4 cup of olive oil. Add pine nuts or walnuts for a pesto. Make it an iranian sauce by blending walnuts and pomegranate syrup (reduce pomegranate juice by 2/3s) and serve it with pitas, chicken, arugula.

Here is a meal with that sauce:
sautee chicken breast or salmon filets seasoned with trader joes everyday seasoning
roast or boil new potatoes
sautee spinach or the southern greens with olive oil, chopped garlic and/onion/shallot and crushed red pepper
use the sauce for the protein and the potatoes


Make a pan sauce:
Cook chicken in a pan, sautee it -- this works with any sauteed chicken as long as the marinade or spice mix isn't full of sugar. When the chicken is cooked through, remove it from the pan. Add about 1/2 cup of chicken broth and turn up the heat high. Scrape up all of the "brown bits." Optional: add a spoon of dijon mustard, balsamic vinegar, capers, olives or lemon juice. Reduce it into a thicker liquid. If there are herbs, you can added a few of those too. Add a tablespoon of butter or earth balance to the sauce. Season with salt and pepper as needed Pour this on top the chicken and your sides.

Have you ever made a balsamic reduction? You can easily do this in the microwave or the stovetop. In the microwave, take about 1/2 cup of balsamic vinegar. Microwave it for about 2 minutes until it thickens. Pour this on chicken, steak or fish.


For some good ideas: try wholeliving.com or eatingwell.com