Upon returning from Birmingham this week, I knew there were a few things that had to be done before the fall semester begins next week: a call to the vet’s office, a trip to the bank, a visit to campus for a parking permit…and a joyful flounce through the aisles of Trader Joe’s. Never one to procrastinate on grocery shopping, I hot-footed it over there yesterday afternoon.

Aside from the unique inventory and reasonable prices, I think my devotion to Trader Joe’s is due to convenience—their products make healthy eating easy. Allow me to illustrate with a few examples from yesterday’s haul:

Pre-Cooked Brown Rice

We all know the virtues of brown rice—it’s high in fiber, protein, B vitamins, and the latest trendy nutrient, selenium. However, when I arrive home from class at 7 PM ready to shovel just about anything in sight in my mouth, the last thing I want to do is wait around for 40 minutes while my brown rice cooks. Luckily, the folks at TJ’s have got your back when it comes to quick-cooking fibrous grains. Just store a box of their pre-cooked brown rice in your freezer and you’ve got a pretty much instantaneous side dish. I also like that there is nothing in the package other than brown rice—some varieties add salt and oil.

Organic Baked Beans

OK, so canned baked beans are not exactly health food…but they’re certainly not devoid of nutrients IF you choose wisely. Let’s take a look at the Bush’s Grillin Beans, “Smokehouse Tradition” flavor:

Now compare those stats with those of the Trader Joe’s version:

As indicated by the red circles, there are a few significant differences between the two brands. First, the sugar. The Trader Joe’s brand has 50% less sugar than the Bush’s version, and it all comes from (less refined) molasses rather than sugar. Also note the higher iron content; this difference is likely due to the use of mineral-rich molasses rather than straight-up sugar. Finally, there is a small reduction in sodium in the Trader Joe’s brand.

Low-Sodium Vegetable Broth

I know, I know—I hear it on the Food Network all the time: “Save your vegetable scraps to make your own broth!” Well, I’m sorry—my name is not Ina, and I do not relish the idea of spending my weekend watching vegetable-laden water boil. So I take a little help from the store. Vegetable broth is a a low-calorie and healthful way to add instant flavor to dishes. Just be sure to get the low-sodium variety—some brands can have close to 40% of the RDA for sodium in just one cup!

Other items I’m pretty psyched about:

For what foods do you “take a little help from the store?” Are there any foods that absolutely insist on making from scratch? I almost never buy pre-made sweet potato fries—I like adding my own flavorings!

Onto the meals!

Another Friday, another stack of pancakes! Berries, lemon, and coconut are one fine combination, my friends.

In case you haven’t noticed, I’m kind of on a sun-dried tomato kick these days. I thought a Greek salad sounded like the perfect vehicle for said jewels of deliciousness. I’ve been buying ricotta instead of cottage cheese these days due to the lower sodium levels…and I kind of missed cottage cheese in this instance. I like the salt! However, the tasty Sabra hummus made for a pretty tasty lunch.

Tonight, I made an improvised batch of fish tacos using bell peppers, chiles in adobo, and a mahi mahi burger. The end result was darn tasty.

I am off to enjoy my last weekend of summer! Good night all.

Filed under: Meals