Road Trip: Trader Joe's

A couple of weeks ago, a generous friend invited me to a show at Caesars Windsor, near Detroit.  We decided to take the day off work and make a day of it. Instead of shopping for clothes, we went decided to go to Trader Joe's, since we don't have access to it in Canada.

This isn't a sponsored post or anything, I was just very excited to visit Trader Joe's in Grosse Pointe, Michigan and check out all the exciting products they have. Trader Joe's is famous for their store brand products.  They have a particularly great selection of nuts, grains and dried fruit at great prices.  They also have some awesome cookies and snacks.

I love dark chocolate almonds as a snack. Both of these versions are very delicious. Coconut, chocolate and almonds is a wonderful combination.

The Beer Baron - Roll Out the Barrel

Did you know that to be real bourbon, the barrels can only be used once? It’s true! The Clockwatching Tart and I recently took a little road trip to Kentucky and took a tour of the Buffalo Trace Distillery, where we learned that fun fact. 

So, what to do with all those used but still perfectly good – perhaps even better – barrels? Make Ontario craft beer, of course. Honestly, it does make perfect sense when you think about it. If you can put clear, relatively tasteless alcohol into a barrel and have it come out as something as wonderful as bourbon, what happens when you put something already wonderful like beer into a barrel for aging? Magic, that’s what.

Tart of the Month - Roasted Vegetable Tarte Tatin

Tarte Tatin is usually dessert.  Fruit, usually apples, is cooked in caramel and baked with pastry on top, then flipped over to serve, with the browned fruit dripping in caramel on top.  This recipe uses root vegetables and savory herbs instead of fruit.  It comes from Bon Appetit magazine and it tastes amazing!  

I even made the pastry from scratch!  And it wasn't hard at all.  I used the food processor and it was a breeze.

This tart is amazing warm from the oven, but it's great at room temperature the next day too.  It would make a fantastic vegetarian main dish.  Here's what you need:

Pork & Noodles in Mushroom Broth

I love noodle soups. In the wintertime, my favourite thing is some Japanese ramen or Vietnamese phở. Noodles and broth with some meat, veggies and spicy flavours make winter easier to bear.

The roasted pork and rice noodles are served in a bowl of mushroom broth with carrots for a warming meal.

Here's what you need for this quick and fabulous soup.

Gnocchi with Sausage & Spinach

I've made home made gnocchi and it's great, but you can buy shelf-stable gnocchi and keep it on hand in the pantry for a quick meal any time.  You can boil it, but in this recipe from Eating Well magazine, you fry it until tender instead of boiling to make a quick, easy meal. 

Here's what you need for this tasty, easy dinner.  

Meatball Stroganoff

Beef Stroganoff is so tasty.  I love the creamy, tangy sauce over rich beef and any excuse to eat egg noodles.  The Food Lab just posted a delicious-looking recipe for Stroganoff using beef tenderloin steak, cooked whole and sliced over the noodles and sauce.  It sounds delicious, but this version is a little less fancy.  It still tastes great though!

Bean and Shrimp Salad with Curried Yogurt

Here's a tasty dish on the lighter side for a fresh start to the new year.  I still have holiday leftovers so I'm not quite ready to start eating clean, but soon you should see plenty of lighter dishes here.  

This recipe uses crisp beans, which I love.  I used a mix of purple and yellow beans.  They look great raw, but the purple ones turn dark green when cooked.

I really should get back to cooking with shrimp more often.  They are satisfying but very healthy, and it's easy to always have some waiting in the freezer to quickly defrost.  

This recipe comes from Cooking Light.  Here's what you need: