Mad love for Trader Joe's stuff

Hello, world!

It's Friday and I have ZERO complaints. The week seemed long but it's OVER and it's going to be an awesome weekend!

Earlier this week, I went on a shopping raid at Trader Joe's. So a heads up, you're going to see a lot of products acquired from there in this post - thus, the title is fair warning :-)

1. Tonight - made a great dinner (more on that later). Possibly headed out to a retro bowling lounge with friends!

2. Tomorrow - our real estate agent is showing us four houses, and there is something exciting about each one. Afterwards, Zak is taking me to dinner and then we're off to the Pabst for a show from Jamey Johnson! He's kind of a badass on the country music circuit, and should put on a great show. Zak and I are not so much mainstream country fans as we enjoy alt-country music like Drive-By Truckers and The Old 97s.

3. Sunday - an early horseback riding lesson, then a friend's Super Bowl party!

Back to today's events. I hit up Trader Joe's the other night and discovered a new favorite treat - TJ's Pecan Praline Granola.

Doesn't it just sound delicious? I love that the serving size is close to "normal" for me - 1/2 cup. It's calorie dense, but packs a nutritional wallop with 3g of fiber, 5g of protein and 6.5g of heart-healthy unsaturated fats. It's pretty low in sugar, too - just 10g per serving.

I tried the granola as a snack today at the office - atop some Dannon 'toasted coconut vanilla' yogurt.

GASM.

This. Was. So. GOOD. I don't usually go for the fake sugar yogurts, however the flavor of this one is to die for! So rich tasting and decadent.

Also at work, I got into some 'Lovey Gummy Tummies' that were also acquired at TJ's.

THESE ARE GREAT! A perfect gummy candy with a cherry flavor. As a big fan of red gummy candy, I highly recommend these.

After work, I decided to make the star of dinner a new-to-me vegetable - Brussels sprouts!

Can you believe I had never worked with these babies prior to tonight? I sliced them in half, tossed with some e.v.o.o and seasoning, and roasted in a 375 degree oven for about 20 minutes. I made some quick Barilla Plus rotini, grabbed some red sauce and topped it with the roasted sprouts.

Gorgeous!

Zak started to eat it, and then began to groan with pleasure. I asked him what he thought, and he said - "Ohhhhh... these are like BACON! So good!"

Friends, Zak has been meat-free for several years now, so I take this as a high compliment :-)

I thought this dish tasted excellent. Can't wait to try it out again!

A little while later, I wanted something sweet. I topped about 1/3 cup of plain organic yogurt with 1/2 chopped TJ's fat-free brownie, and about 1/3 cup of TJ's granola.

So good!

I am off to primp for my retro bowling outing. Have a great Friday night!