Trader Joe's Top Ten

I have been waiting for this day for most of my life. Okay, maybe that is a slight exaggeration. But I am hardly joking when I say I have been in honest anticipation for quite some time. Our city is finally, yes finally, getting a Trader Joes. Grand opening date? FRIDAY!

No, I will not be in town to wait in line and be the first customer in the door. And I'm not exactly sure I'd choose to be, even if I were in town. In fact, I'll probably strategize about the best day/hour to frequent the place since it's likely to be crazy for a long time. But I will be there and often because I just love it. LOVE it. I could go on and on, but that might detract from my purpose in this post: to highlight just ten of my favorite items (or combinations - slightly cheating, I know).

In no particular order, here are just TEN of my favorite things from Trader Joes:

1. Trail Mix. They just have the best combinations. My favorite ones have changed throughout the years but two that have remained at the top: Salty Sweet & Nutty Trek Mix and Tempting Trail Mix.

2. Some basics: olive oil & coconut milk.

You just can't beat TJs prices when it comes to EVOO and coconut milk. We go through massive amounts, mostly because of green smoothies and curries.

3. Vino. I am no wine connoisseur, I just know that TJs has awesome, cheap wine. Two buck chuck is not bad at all ($3 chuck is more like it since it's 2.99), and they have a great variety of wines and brews too.

4. Roasted red peppers + Tuscan Italian dressing = easiest "go to" meal of all time.

Place chicken breasts (4 or how ever many) in a baking dish. Dice roasted peppers and sprinkle generously on chicken. Pour over dressing (and half a bottle). Cover with foil and bake at 375 for 35 min or until chicken is done. Serve over couscous. Yum. One of our favorite meals! And almost embarrassingly easy.

5. Curries and other sauces.

Some favorites include: Thai yellow curry, Marsala sauce & Soyaki. I have four bottles of the Soyaki because it is the BEST with stir fried veggies. The marsala is great - we often have it with chicken and Na'an and sometimes another fun Indian side. And the Thai yellow curry is the base in one of my favorite recipes from my cousin's wife...

Yellow Curry Chicken (feeds 8-10)

*1/4 c. olive oil

*3 large skinless chicken breasts, chopped

*3 small white onions, diced

*4 lg. cloves garlic, minced

*1/3 c. brown sugar

*2 cans coconut milk

*3 medium potatoes, chopped

*2 c. frozen peas

* 1 1/2 c. carrots, diced

*3 pinches garlic salt

*1 T. curry powder

*1 t. chili powder

*2 Thai Yellow Curry Jars (from Trader Joes)

*Fresh basil to taste

*Salt & pepper to taste

1. Heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic. Allow to cook until onions are soft.

2. Add chicken and cook for 10 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through

3. Add all other ingredients and allow to cook for at least 30 minutes (the longer the better) for flavors to mix. Stir occasionally so the bottom doesn't burn.

4. Serve over warm basmati rice. Enjoy :).

6. Chocolaty treats.

Good luck trying to find the very best TJs treat. It's just too hard. They have chocolate covered EVERYTHING. Dark or milk chocolate. You choose. My current favorite: dark chocolate covered pretzels. But then again the almonds are amazing. And I just tried these fantastic chocolate covered soft peanut butter peanut brittle bites. Trouble.

7. Gorgonzola crackers/Flaxseed Chips.

There are so many great crackers and chips. My two favs = these gorgonzola ones and the flax seed chips. Yum.

8. Hummus. They have SO many different kinds of delicious hummus. You could try a different one each week and never have the same one for months. My very favorite: Tuscan white bean. Did I remember to take a picture of ours before devouring it last time? No. Sorry.

9. Roasted seaweed snack.

This would near the top of Clara's list, at least. She devours this stuff - and it's full of vitamins (and just a touch of salt ;)). Just a bit messy, but not bad for $.99.

10. Salsas.

Need a little pineapple salsa for some fish tacos? A nice alternative to a tomato salsa to enjoy with chips? Here are just a few of TJs salsas we enjoy...

So I didn't even touch on the cold stuff (with the exception of hummus). We've actually brought a cooler along on a few road trips to try some refrigerated and frozen items, many of which are great. But alas, I have reached ten already. How great it'll be to venture into these departments without thinking about how they might all fit in the car!

And I'm really hoping that the presence of Trader Joes in the neighborhood doesn't have too adverse an effect on our grocery budget. It might at first. But hopefully I'll find some balance - and purchase some of the great deals and not just the novelties, like chocolate ;).

Happy grand opening, fellow Spokanites! Anyone have other favorites to add to the list? I don't doubt it. Do share!

Babymoon

Last weekend Jonathan and I escaped for about 32 hours together, just the two of us. We have only done it one other time (Jono's birthday surprise). Since Clara was nearly two before we left her together, we figured it could be a while before we take any solo trips and that we'd better have a final hurrah before baby #2 arrives.

So we went away. To Seattle, actually. Which was a nice getaway because we haven't been to Seattle in over three years. Jono surprised me with a nice little groupon getaway to a hotel in Bellevue. And our thirty-two hours, though short, was absolutely fabulous. Basically all we did was eat, shop (mostly window shop), and enjoy the sunshine. I'm pretty much certain that nothing beats Seattle on a sunny day!

On the way we stopped at one of our favorite restaurants from Jonos days at CWU (in Ellensburg), the Yellow Church. We didn't have time for a sit down meal, but enjoyed this fabulous cinnamon roll, to go...

And a few pictures from walking around downtown. Did we get one of the two of us together during our weekend away? Of course not. Oh well. We had a great time nonetheless ;).

The Bob, Take Two

On Friday Clara had her second haircut. This one was slightly more official since it was done by my hairdresser and not myself ;). For all the ridiculous, out of control thickness of both her mama and daddy's hair, Clara's hair is currently a) thin b) fine and c) slightly straggly looking. At least it's less straggly after this little cut.

Just like last time, she was very serious about the whole thing. She sat perfectly still the entire time (which wasn't too long, given the fact that she had but a few wispy strands to cut) and announced her new haircut to everyone she saw that day or the next. Maybe by this spring the front hair will meet the sides and it'll all be one length? Eventually it'll get there!

Christmas in October

It kind of felt like Christmas around here last weekend. Why exactly? Well, almost all of us in the Vaughn clan were together for the entire weekend (except Ethan, who was traveling with his tennis team). Travis was honored with an alumni award from our alma mater so Dev and Laris made the trek from Portland to join everyone in spending some quality time together.

Somehow we managed only to get some pictures from Greenbluff during the entire weekend together. It's okay. I think Jono did a lovely job capturing the morning spent there. As always, there are mostly Clara and Everett pictures. But who can resist? The two of them are so cute together. Clara as the bossy older sister type, ordering Everett around. And Everett, mostly wanting to be where Clara is but just doing his own thing.

Here was just a small slice of our time together...

Oh Greenbluff, how I love you. We will be back. And family, in just over two months we'll be together again. Hurrah for that!

Fall Train Ride

We have been wanting to take the fall train ride from Ione to Metaline Falls for a few years now. The first Sunday of October we did it! We drove the nearly two hour trip with the Pickerings and ate at a little breakfast spot along the way. The train ride lasted about an hour and a half, so I'd say a lot of the trip was just the beautiful drive. The day was perfect and the fall colors were beautiful - much more prevalent than they are in Spokane yet.

The actual ride was nice. Not thrilling by any means, but Clara loved it. We enjoyed it too. Here is our trip, in pictures...

Skydiving

On the first Saturday of October, Jono got to place a check mark next to an item on his bucket list: skydiving. Our friend Neal turns thirty in the next month and to celebrate, Carly surprised him with a trip skydiving. Even though it wasn't Jono's birthday, of course he had to join the action - along with Dan, Chris, and Kyle.

I must admit, I was a little nervous about the whole thing. My sister reminded me that it was more likely that Jono would get killed in the car driving to sky dive than jumping from a plane. But still. It was jumping from a plane, which is a bit scary sounding to say the least. And now would not be the most optimal time to lose a husband (as if there's a time what would be - now would be pretty darn bad, though). The boys opted for tandem rides so they were all strapped to instructors. That was somewhat comforting, at least.

And of course they all loved it. Jono says he wants to go again. My response? Ha! A bucket list item is a one time thing. That, or I said he must think of an equivalent for me. Like a spa weekend away. A shopping spree. A special trip to visit my sister. In other words, we probably won't be revisiting skydiving for a while ;).

But it was a blast - even for us "just watchers"! I'm so glad they all enjoyed it. Happy 30th Neal!

Enjoying our coffee as the boys went through training.

Watch out, world. Here goes Jono!

The plane...

It's Neal (can't you tell?)!

And Jono...

And all the boys. Victory!