Tag Archives: trader joes

Moving and Pumpkin Spice Tea

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If you recall this post from a few weeks back, I alluded to the fact that the Englishman and I were moving this fall.  Well, we ended up closing escrow on our condo a couple of weeks ago and this weekend moved in to our new digs in Costa Mesa.  Our weekend was spent doing “grown-up” things like buying a new bed and bedding, cleaning the condo from top to bottom, and having our massive space-age looking fridge delivered.

Our internet doesn’t get installed until Tuesday, and since I am tethering via a slow iphone connection, I’ll keep it short and sweet and leave you with my latest Trader Joe’s discovery –  Pumpkin Spice Tea!

Yes, pumpkin season is in full swing in SoCal and I am loving every minute of it.  Pumpkin tea, pumpkin butter, pumpkin beer, pumpkin bread…bring it on.

Quick and Easy Summer Salad

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One of the things I love doing in the summertime is making light, refreshing salads, usually with some sort of grain, fresh produce, cheese and a protein.  It’s the perfect meal when you don’t feel like putting something elaborate together, or even turning on the oven.

Your quick and easy summer salad can be assembled in 3 easy steps:

Step 1:  Gather ingredients for salad.  In my case the *ingredients included fresh burrata cheese, salami, cucumber, carrots, avocado, tomatoes, micro greens and quinoa.  Glass of wine not needed but recommended.

Step 2:  Prep ingredients.  I also boiled the quinoa and some pasta for the Englishman’s salad while I was prepping.

Step 3:  Combine ingredients on plate.  Add a slice of homemade bread.  Devour.  Repeat.

And that my friends, is how you do a summer salad.

*Many thanks to Trader Joe’s and Grower’s Direct for making this fabulous salad possible.

Shrimp Scampi with Lemon Pappardelle Pasta

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A few weeks back, I bought a package of Trader Joe’s Lemon Pappardelle Pasta after hearing rave reviews from friends/family/other food blogs.  I’m pretty much a fan of all things Trader Joe’s, so I had a feeling this pasta would be quite tasty.

image source – thekitchn.com

Now that I had my new pasta find, it was time to find the perfect recipe to test it out.  After much important deliberation, I came to the conclusion that Shrimp Scampi would most likely be the perfect complement to the Lemon Pappardelle Pasta (spoiler alert – it was).

I decided to go with a “lightened” version of Shrimp Scampi and adapted a recipe from Cooking Light.  The end result was delicious, and  I highly recommend that you go buy a package of this pasta right away!

Shrimp Scampi with Lemon Pappardelle Pasta (adapted from Cooking Light)

Ingredients:

1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 large shallot

1 teaspoon minced garlic (I used Trader Joe’s minced garlic)

2 tablespoons capers

1/3 cup white wine (I just used wine I had in the fridge, any type should do)

1/4 cup chopped parsley

1/3 cup lemon juice

salt and pepper to taste

cheese for garnish (optional)

Directions:

Cook the Lemon Pappardelle Pasta according to directions.  While pasta is boiling, rise shrimp and pat dry.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet.  Chop up your shallot and toss in the skillet.  Cook shallot until it is golden brown.  Add in the minced garlic.

Add your shrimp and sautee for one minute.  Pour in the wine, season with salt and pepper  and sautee for an additional 1-2 minutes.

Add the parsley, lemon juice and capers and mix well to coat.  Continue to cook shrimp for roughly one more minute or until done.

Top your pasta with shrimp, garnish with a little cheese (I chose goat cheese), add some vegetables if you choose, dig in, and enjoy!