Hello!!!  So so so sorry I've been m.i.a. the last couple of days...  Monday night I was at work late trying to prepare for my project meeting in Raleigh on Tuesday, and Tuesday I drove 4 hours each way to Raleigh and back so was completely exhausted by the time I got home at 9pm.  I have LOTS of catch-up to do, but before I get into my eats I wanted to report about My First Trader Joe's Experience!!! I stopped at a brand new store in Richmond on my way home from Raleigh.  I'm excited because this store is right next to a huge shopping area that we visit every now and then only about 50 minutes from our house, so I think we'll be able to make Trader Joe's stops every couple of months at least!  The store was a lot smaller than I expected, and I didn't realize that they carry mostly Trader Joe's brand, which explains the smaller store. You all gave me such GREAT suggestions and I was able to get most of them!  I didn't get any frozen stuff because I had a bit of a drive ahead of me and knew it would probably thaw, but I did stock up on wine and non-perishables, and a couple of cold things 'cause I bought a TJ's cold bag!  Here's my loot...

• brown rice pasta
• canned beans
• canned soup (organic split pea, veggie chili and lentil veggie)
• cranberry apple butter
• pumpking butter (!!!)
• edamame hummus (!!!)
• fat free balsamic dressing
• multigrain tortilla chips
• dark chocolate covered candy cane joe joe's (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
• soyaki sauce
• sweet chile sauce
• twigs, flakes and clusters cereal
• pomegranate and blueberry flakes and clusters cereal (!!!)
• soy sauce
• crunchy peanut butter
• harvest grains mix
• pumpkin spice granola (!!!)
• korma simmer sauce
• masala simmer sauce

Not pictured:

• pizza sauce
• vodka sauce
• active dry yeast
• cranberries
• hearts of palm
• vino!!!

I'm so excited to try out all of these new products!  Especially since I've been reading about most of them on your blogs for months now!  I broke into the dark chocolate covered candy cane joe joe's on my way home from Richmond...oh. my. goodness.  Those beauties are little pieces of heaven in cookie form.  I don't have a picture since I was driving and it was dark, but I'm sure I'll be featuring them in the next week!  :) Now to back track a little, all the way to Sunday night.  My hubb was kind enough to make an AWESOME meal while I was working on my BSI: GINGER round-up post. Sunday Dinner:  Homemade Chicken Veggie Soup with Homemade Veggie Broth...YUM!!!  I'll post the recipe in a separate post later today, this post will get way too long if I include all my recipes too!  I also made whole wheat bread for the very first time without a bread machine!!!  I'm quite proud because the loaves turned out beautifully. I made two loaves, so I sliced one and put it in the freezer for later. Sunday Dessert:  Becca's award-winning Ancho Ginger Applesauce!  :) Snacks:  I of course snacked on some of the baked goods I made throughout the day. I think I wound up eating two of VeggieGirl's Pear Pistachio Ginger Blondies and one of Jessica's Chocolate Gingerbread Bars.  No pics...sorry!  I need to get better about my baked good / snack consumption...I've been going a little overboard.  :( Monday Breakfast:  Toasted Ezekiel Cinn Raisin Muffin w/ 1 tbsp almond butter and sliced banana, the rest of the banana on the side. Monday Lunch:  1/2 a leftover enchi-rito and a spinach salad with yellow bell pepper, cucumber and lite ranch dressing. Snacks Monday:  My lunch calories were a little light (surprising I know, but the enchirito really isn't bad for you!) so I was hungry for this beautiful pear a couple of hours later.  I also grabbed one of the chocolate gingerbread bars that I brought into the office to share with my co-workers. And because I was in the office until about 8:30, I ate 1/2 of this Clif Builder's Bar at 6:30 to keep myself from eating more choco. gingerbread bars... (iphone pic, sorry!) Monday Dinner:  My hubb came to the rescue again with a fabulous quiche!!! I'll post this recipe later too...it was SO YUMMY!  And I was starving by the time I got home so I had 1/4 of it, along with a glass of chardonnay (no pic...). And for dessert a molasses clove cookie (see what I mean about the sweets!?!?!?) We're almost there!!!  Thanks for hangin' in there for this LONG post!  :) Tuesday Breakfast:  Toasted Ezekiel Cinn Raisin Muffin with 2 tbsp PB...I wanted to make sure I wouldn't get hungry on my drive and be tempted by a Starbucks baked goodie!  Also, a banana.   I managed to get PB all over myself while driving.  It was dark and I had no idea until the sun came up...pathetic.  :P Tuesday Morning Snack:  I stopped at Starbucks for a grande non-fat chai latte about halfway through my morning drive. Tuesday Lunch:  We all went out to a fantastic Vietnamese restaurant where I ordered grilled tofu on lemongrass vermicelli noodles.  It was AMAZING but I have no pictures because it was definitely not appropriate to pull out my iphone with the entire team of architects and engineers present.  It was sooooo good though... Tuesday Afternoon Snack:  My hubb was so sweet and made me a very special trail mix to snack on during my long drive...he even took the pictures for me so that the note stayed a surprise.  He's the best!!!  :)  I had a handful of the mix on my way home. Tuesday Evening Snack:  One glorious dark chocolate covered joe joe... Tuesday Dinner:  Leftover quiche and a spinach salad with hearts of palm, red bell pepper, cucumber and lite ranch dressing.  And a much-needed glass of cabernet after my long day. Whew!!!  Thanks for sticking with me!  I'll be back later tonight to post today's eats and the two dinner recipes I promised.  I feel so out of the blog loop because I haven't read any since Sunday!!!  I hope to get caught up tonight...  Have a great day!  :)