Trader Joe’s Tuesday

If you’re new, this a series I started last week where I’m going to post a new Trader Joe’s product every Tuesday. If you like TJ’s a product, and want to guest post, PLEASE, by all means, email me!

So, I’ve been Gluten Free for about 2.5 years now, and TJ’s actually has a number of gluten free products I buy on the regular, mainly because they carry Rudi’s bread. I get all my hamburger buns, hot dog buns, regular sliced bread, and bagels from TJ’s. They don’t keep it frozen, but if you’re gluten free, you know is rare in most grocery stores. To me, this rocks.

Another gluten free product I get from TJ’s is their gluten free granola. It’s not a traditional granola, like it doesn’t have oats in it, but it’s close enough and super tasty.

It’s more like a cereal with nuts and dried fruit… and I know calling something out as gluten free can turn a lot of people away from a product because they don’t think it will taste as good as the ‘real thing’ with gluten, but that is just not the case with this.

My new favorite thing to make with this granola is to mix it with fat free cottage cheese, also from TJ’s, obvi, and fresh cut strawberries… I also add a dash of cinnamon and ginger, because I’ll take any excuse I can to add cinnamon and ginger to ANYTHING.

Trader Joe's Tuesdays

Okay, yeah I know, I've been gone for almost a year. I needed a break, apparently a long break, but a break. I've been looking for a reason to get back into blogging and yesterday two on my lovely Weddingbee friends, suggested someone do a blog post with Trader Joe's recommendations. Since, Hubs and I do most our grocery shopping at TJ's (and the other TJ shopping buddy only has a Tmblr account) I volunteered in hopes of kicking my butt back into blogging.

Anyway, the point of this is to say that I'm back and I have a new post series I'm going to call "Trader Joe's Tuesdays", where I'll post about a item at Trader Joe's we like, or another TJ's shopper will guest post.

I figured for the first post I'd go with an obvious choice - Two Buck Chuck aka Charles Shaw Wine. You guys, this wine has been $2 since I was in high school! Seriously, the first time I remember someone talking about Two Buck Chuck was out our family friend Super Bowl XXIX party in 1995! And, I'm sure it was around before then. What can you buy now that you could buy for the same price in 1995?

Now, I'm not going to sit here and tell you this is the best wine you've ever had... but, I will say it's probably the best wine you've ever had for $2. AND, the Syrah is pretty good.

Also, you can get a case for $24. One time Hubs and I bought a case of Sauvignon Blanc and the handle on the box broke when we pulled it out of the car. We lost 4 bottles of wine, it was sad, but we still had 8 bottles of wine for $24! That's still $3 a bottle people!

The moral of this story is: If you're a Trader Joe's newbie, know this: Buy some Two Buck Chuck, it's great weekday wine.

Have you ever tried Two Buck Chuck? Do you think it's worth the $2?

Are you interested in guest posting on this series? If so, please contact me with your item.

Pictures (1) (2)

A Friday Find

About 3 years ago I discovered Sauvignon Blanc. You guys I was 27 and I finally discovered sauvignon blanc! Now, it's my favorite type of wine. I love reds, especially spicy ones, and a good chardonnay, but sauvignon blanc is my favorite.

The first SB I tried was Kim Crawford, I loved the acidity and the grassiness. However, Kim isn’t always cheap enough for me to buy all the time… you know when you’re paying $300 for presentation boards at school, it adds up. Well, Memorial Day I discovered Cupcake Sauvignon Blanc.

I honestly felt silly buying a bottle of wine with the word “Cupcake” on it, like it was saying, “Hahaha SUCKER! You’re such a girl, buying a bottle of wine because it has a cupcake on it.” I kinda wanted to defend myself to the bottle, “No, that’s not it! It was you or the Two Buck Chuck, and I was trying to not bring cheap wine to my friends house.” Well, this wine with the little cupcake on it surprised me! It is as good as the Kim Crawford and a few bucks cheaper. I have another bottle sitting in the fridge right now for Wine Friday :)

What is your favorite wine?

Wine picture found here.

Product Review: Gluten Free Bisquick

*Bisquick isn't giving me anything for this review. I purchased the box of Gluten Free Bisquick all by myself and decided to tell you all about, all by myself… I’m independent like that ;-)


After entering roughly 10 giveaways for Gluten Free Bisquick, I decided last week to break down and purchase a box myself. I don’t normally eat a lot of pancakes or waffles, but I was really excited about all the other things I could make with Bisquick… Shortcake, Biscuits, dumplings etc.

However, since I’d never cooked with Gluten Free Bisquick (and to be honest, I haven’t cooked with regular Bisquick in quite awhile) I thought it would be best to make pancakes or waffles the first time. This way I could compare them to something I know and I would know how the batter tastes without much added to it.


I dusted off the waffle maker my mother gave me for Valentine’s Day and made Belgian waffles for dinner last night. Hubs and I LOVE breakfast for dinner.


They didn’t turn out as perfect squares because it was my first time making waffles, but I think I like them better this way… more homemade.

Verdict: Delicious! The middles are fluffy and the outside have a great crispy crunch. I was pleasantly surprised how fluffy they turned out because most of the Gluten Free breads I’ve tried are really heavy and dense. Hubs forgot I’d made GF waffle until I reminded him halfway threw the second waffle. I’ll definitely be making these again, as well as attempted the other recipes they suggest!