Trader Giotto's Bambino Pizza - Frozen Mini Pizzas!

I like all the frozen pizzas that I've tried from TJ, but I don't love any of them. And my kids really haven't liked any of them.

So, I was excited to see this product, new to my TJ location. And I love them! First of all, they are really cute. I wold say they are smaller than a traditional mini pizza, but it is just right for me to eat at lunch, with some fruit and carrot sticks. I was also pleased to see each box has 4 pizzas. A feasible dinner option for my family.

I bought the cheese and the pepperoni, thinking I would like the pepperoni better - more fat and flavor, right?  WELL, I like the cheese better! It has tasty seasoning on it that I don't believe is on the pepperoni version.

Complete Meal Tomato Turkey Pasta & Broccoli

Here is a very simple and very healthy recipe I made up tonight, after tweaking and combining a few other recipes that I found on Pinterest.  You can find all the ingredients at TJ.

Tomato Turkey Pasta & Broccoli




 

Ingredients

2 tbsp EVOO
1 package ground turkey breast
2 cloves garlic
Italian Seasoning
Garlic Powder
1 can tomato sauce
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
ground pepper to tast
1 package of your favorite pasta
frozen broccoli florettes
1 tbsp. butter
1/4 cup grated parmesan

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the turkey and garlic and cook for about 3-4 minutes.  Add several shakes of Italian seasoning and garlic powder fennel seed, and continue to cook until browned, about another 3 to 5 minutes; add tomato sauce and season with ½ teaspoon salt and ground pepper and turn down to simmer.
2. Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to the package directions, adding the broccoli during the last 3 minutes. Drain and add 1 tbsp. butter to pasta pan.  Return the pasta and broccoli to the pot.  Mix with butter and the parmesan cheese. 
3. Toss the turkey mixture with the pasta and broccoli and serve.

Chicken and Rice Soup in the Slow Cooker

I love soup in the winter. I want to eat it every day. But, I really only like it from restaurants. I have tried organic box soups, cans, etc. And I have tried to make soup many, many times. This recipe was the first one that I will make again! It is a little healthier than most creamy soups, and definitely healthier than restaurant varieties, and it is easy to make. I found it on a blog called Little Spice Jar. Thanks LSJ! (Recipe is at the bottom of this blog.)

Creamy Chicken Wild Rice Soup {Slow Cooker}

Author: Little Spice Jar

Serves: 8-10 servings

A warm and cozy chicken wild rice soup made right in the slow cooker. This soup is loaded with carrots, celery, boneless chicken and of course, wild rice! It's the perfect slow cooker meal for a chilly winter night! The best part is, you've probably got most of these ingredients at home already!

Ingredients

• 1 cup uncooked wild rice blend (NOT parboiled)
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast
• 1 cup onions, chopped
• ¾ cup celery, chopped (or mushrooms)
• ¾ cup carrots, chopped
• 4-5 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 bay leaves
• 6 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 2 cups water (or additional chicken broth)
• 2 tablespoons salt-free seasoning blend (such as Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute) and salt and pepper to taste
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons olive oil (or substitute more butter)
• ½ cup all purpose flour
• 2 cups milk (1 cup half and half, 1 cup 1% milk)
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Rinse the rice under running water. Place the uncooked rice, chicken breast, onions, celery, carrots, garlic, bay leaves, chicken broth, water, poultry seasoning and salt and pepper in a slow cooker. Cover and cook on the high setting for 3-4 hours or on the low setting for 7-8. In the last ½ hour of cooking, remove the chicken from the slow cooker. Allow to cool slightly before shredding using two forks.
2. Melt the butter and oil in a saucepan. Add the flour and let the mixture cook for 1 minute. Whisk the mixture slowly while adding in the milk. Continue to whisk until all lumps have dissolved. Allow the mixture to thicken and become creamy (about 10 minutes)
3. Add this creamy mixture to the slow cooker along with the shredded chicken. Stir to combine. Add additional water or milk to your preference if the consistency is too thick. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

One-Pan Balsamic Chicken - TJ Complete Dinner

Full disclosure. I got this recipe from Tip Hero. I can't NOT watch those videos when they pop up on my FB feed. I thought this one would be a good one to try using all TJ items.

I can't tell you how DELICIOUS this was and sooooo easy!  Recipe appears below.

RECIPE:


One-Pan Balsamic Chicken
Ingredients:
1/4 cup Italian salad dressing
3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp honey
1 1/4 lbs chicken breast tenderloins
2 Tbsp olive oil
½ tsp Kosher salt and pinch freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 lb fresh green beans, trimmed of tough ends, chopped into 2-inch pieces
8 oz sliced mushrooms
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved

Instructions:
1. Mix together dressing, balsamic vinegar and honey in a measuring cup.
2. Heat 1 Tbsp of the oil and sauté the mushrooms for 4 minutes until they have started to brown, then add the green beans and cook for another 4 minutes or until the green beans are crisp-tender.
3. Remove the vegetables from the pan, add the remaining oil and the chicken tenders. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and sauté until brown on each side. 4. Remove from the pan. Add in the sauce and stir for a couple minutes until thickened into a glaze consistency. Add the chicken, green beans, and mushrooms back into the pan and add the tomatoes. Stir to coat everything evenly with the sauce.
***I actually marinated the chicken overnight, per one comment-er's suggestion. Chicken can be so bland if it isn't marinated. And I used more olive oil than it called for.

Trader Joe's Tandoori Naan... Pizza!

I heard about this from a friend who highly recommended it for "make your own pizza" night.  I was so surprised at how tasty it was.  The Naan tasted like perfectly cooked, flaky pizza dough.

Ingredients to purchase at TJ:
Tandoori Naan - keep in mind that each packet has 4 individual naan pieces
Pizza Sauce - we used almost an entire package from TJ for the 4 pieces of Naan
One bag Mozzarella cheese - we used almost the entire bag of cheese
Toppings - black olives, pepperoni, leftover chicken (I hid tiny pieces on my kids pizzas)

Cook at 375 for 12-15 minutes.  Enjoy!

Homemade "Weeknight" Chili

Chili is really one of the easiest things to make, and it almost always tastes good.  But it is time consuming.  Here is a very basic chili recipe, made from all Trader Joe items.  It's faster, with slightly less simmering time... I like to call it "Weeknight Chili."

Weeknight Chili

Ingredients

• 1 package Ground Beef (I like the 94/6 at TJ)
• 3 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 14-28 ounces Tomato Sauce  (if you like it thick, just use 14, for thinner, use more!)
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 1 teaspoon Ground Oregano
• 1 Tablespoon Ground Cumin
• 2 Tablespoons Chili Powder (more To Taste)
• 1 can (14-ounce) Kidney Beans, Drained And Rinsed
• 1/4 cup Masa (corn Flour) Or Regular Corn Meal
• 1/2 cup Warm Water
• Blue corn chips (optional)
• Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese (optional)
• Sour cream (optional)

Preparation Instructions

Brown ground beef with garlic in a pot over medium-high heat. Add tomato sauce, salt, oregano, cumin, and chili powder. Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 20 minutes.

Add drained and rinsed beans, stir.  Then add the Masa mixed with the warm water.. Stir to combine, then cover and simmer for another 20 minutes.

If you have time, simmer uncovered for 25 more minutes.Serve in individual bowls.  Pile on chips, cheese, and sour cream if using.

Organic Frozen Pizza Crust - Set of 2

These were tasty and easy to work with.  It was nice to have a quick meal.  BUT, there is a fundamental error for someone kitchen-klutzy like myself.

The directions require that you leave these frozen crusts out until they come to room temperature.  This only took about 20 minutes.  Then, you put them on an upside-down cookie sheet.  Great idea.  You then cover with pizza sauce (I love Trader Joe's refrigerated sauce) and all your fave toppings.  The idea is that the crust will slide off from the cookie sheet directly onto the oven rack.

But when I did that, the first two inches of the crust flopped off the pan and the cheese all slid down into the 425 oven.  And man did it burn.  I still just cooked the pizza with the cheese sizzling below, and my entire house FILLED with smoke.  My upstairs smoke detector went off!  Lesson learned - my first floor smoke detector is broken.

I'm on the fence if I will buy these again.  My husband suggested that maybe I should have put flour on the cookie sheet first?  Gee thanks.

What's for Dinner? Indian!

I love good Indian food, even though I don't get to an actual Indian restaurant very often.  I love it even more if I can make it with one jar - at home.

So far, here are the sauces I have tried from Trader Joe's and how they fare.  I have always used chicken with any Indian sauce that I buy.

NAY!
Masala Simmer Sauce - somehow this was a little spicy and a lot bland.

 

YAY!

This one was delicious, although very spicy.  My kids wouldn't eat it (we rinsed off the sauce and forced them to eat the chicken!)

Check back as I try each TJ Indian sauce.

The fastest prepared dinner at TJ's - BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches

I picked my older son up from camp and had to run a few errands.  And make it home by dinner time, with dinner.

I grabbed this BBQ Pulled Pork, which can be microwaved.  I heated it up in a saute pan.  My husband loved it and I liked it.  And my kids ate it.  While I tend to dislike anything spicy, and prefer sweet (especially with BBQ sauce), I thought this was a little TOO sweet.  Go figure.

I served the pork on these bagel thins.  (I forgot about the hole.)

Then, we had these (new to me) Quinoa and Black Bean Tortilla Chips with Pineapple Salsa.  Both were delicious.  The Pineapple Salsa was restaurant quality!

 And finally, some Persian cucumbers on the side.  In hopes that my kids will eat a vegetable once in a while.

Seasoned Brussel Sprouts - Good, for Brussel Sprouts

I love brussel sprouts, when they are super seasoned and therefore super tasty.  I've never tried to make them myself, I've always bought them prepared.

The TJ sprouts are tasty.  I added Parmesan cheese at the end, as the directions suggested.  I also sauteed them in olive oil. 

The one issue I had was that the really large pieces didn't cook in the allotted time.  They were very hard and difficult to eat.  I loved the little pieces that had flaked off and were covered in seasoning.

I'll buy them again.

Trader Joe's Appetizer Night II

As I mentioned not long ago, every once in a while, we have appy night.  It's really just a fun way to say that we have nothing in the house to cook from scratch!

Here is my latest appy night... and my candid review.

I bought this French Flat Bread because my mom went wild over it.  I also QUITE enjoyed.  It is decadent and delicious.  It is a little small, but perfect if you are cooking several things.  My mom ate it by herself for lunch.

 My older son loves mozzarella sticks, so I thought I would give these a whirl.  They are tasty, but explode a bit in the oven.  I expected this!  You also need to purchase your own marinara sauce - don't forget!

 

We all love these Shrimp Nuggets.  They are dee-lish!  And again, don't forget the cocktail sauce.  (TJ has a fantastic cocktail sauce!)

Sloppy Joe's from Scratch, Served on Pretzel Rolls

Always a family favorite, and an easy prep meal, SLOPPY JOE'S.

I am really picky when it comes to meat purchasing, and I only like one of the ground beef options that Trader Joe's has.

 

And if I am feeling healthy, I buy the TJ wheat buns.  If not, I buy the pretzel buns.

 

Here is my version of Sloppy Joe's.  Adapted from many, many different recipes.  And honestly, I never quite make it the same, because I almost never have all of these ingredients at once!

1 lb. lean ground beef

1 tbsp. dried minced onion

4 oz. tomato sauce

1/4 cup ketchup

2 tsp. white vinegar

2 tbsp. packed brown sugar

2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

Place ground beef in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook until evenly browned, stirring to crumble. Drain off any grease.

Stir in the onions, tomato sauce, ketchup, vinegar, brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce into the beef mixture. Season with salt and garlic powder. Heat to a simmer over low heat, and cook until thoroughly heated and onions are tender, stirring frequently to prevent it from burning on the bottom. Adjust seasoning to taste.

Spoon the hot beef mixture onto buns and serve.

 

ENJOY!!