It’s not secret that my second home is Trader Joe’s. I avoid shopping anywhere else if I can.
My latest and long overdue discovery is their Proof & Bake Chocolate Croissants. OMG!!!! I “made” these the other morning for my daughter’s birthday. It being on a week day, I was looking for a little special something to serve and to still have her out the door at 7:40am. The frozen chocolate croissant answered the call for this occasion. I simply took them out of the package, laid the frozen little sticks of dough on a parchment paper covered baking sheet and [...]

I’m seriously addicted to the Trader Joe’s Fruit Floes and don’t understand that it did not occur to me, until today, to share about them. Actually, it’s only upon watching a Tivo-ed Oprah episode where she shares about her favorite 100 calorie snack (The Skinny Cow Fudge Bars – these are good too!) that I went “duh” and knew that I had to write this blog post.
The addiction officially set in over the past summer, where I could easily go through two or three boxes (4 popsicles to a box) of these – to myself!!! – per week. Sure, there [...]

Hahaha. I knew it!!! Just saw this story and had to share, for all the people who look at me funny when I say that I buy – and drink!- this wine, please note that Charles Shaw‘s Three Buck Chuck ($3.99 here in NV) Chardonnay is an award winner!!!
Here’s a sweet excerpt. You can read the whole story on ABC.com:
Charles Shaw Chardonnay, beat hundreds of other wines and was named the top prize in a prestigious tasting competition in California… The characteristics that we look for in our gold medal winner … a nice creamy butter, fruity … it was [...]

My kids and husband clamor for this. And it’s sooooooooo easy to make. I buy a pack of fresh mint leaves at Trader Joe’s (you know, my second home). It’s packed full of mint leaves, 2 ounces worth at a whopping $1.39. All that one needs to do is to remove the stems, place the leaves in a teapot, add boiling water and steep for about 5 minutes. I actually steep the same leaves a second time and since my teapot is small, I go through two rounds of this. I add Stevia to sweeten. It complements the mint flavor [...]

I just hosted a ladies night at my home and served this and got the regular oooohhhhs and ahhhhs when the guests saw this dessert presentation. I serve this chocolate platter as the accompaniment to a lighter dessert. So easy, you’ll get it done in 90 seconds. OK, maybe 120 seconds if you count the time to pull out your platter and cheese knives (yep, cheese knives). All I do is get 2 or 3 kinds of chunk chocolate, usually found in the bulk bins. These Ghirardelli pieces are from Trader Joe’s but Whole Foods also has some good choices [...]

Since most of the people that I mention it to have never heard about it, I thought it was time to share about the herb Stevia that I use as a sweetener. You probably have not heard about it for a good reason. It was not available here in the US until a few years ago.
Stevia is actually is South American plant that has been used by the Guarani Indians of Paraguay for hundreds of years. The Japanese started cultivating Stevia in the 1970’s as an alternative to artificial sweeteners, aka suspected carcinogens. But here in the US, the herb [...]