angela’s best of Trader Joes list, it’s finally here!

Trader Joes is my favourite place to cross border shop right now for delicious natural and preservative free groceries.  I decided to compile a list of my favourite products at TJs for you to sample for yourself.   Here are my recommendations if you make it down there.  Trader Joes is located at 2410 James Street, Bellingham Washington in the U.S.A.  Happy shopping and eating!

Best of Tasty Spreads for your breads:

Lemon Curd.  It's great stuff if you're into lemony tartness
Sunflower Seed Butter.  I don't like it but my daughter loves it so I’m posting on Sophia's behalf.

Artichoke Antipasto Spread.  LOVE IT!  This would go soo nicely in an Italian style sandwich

Bruschetta.  LOVE IT!

Best of CHOCOLATE goodness:

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups in Dark and Milk Chocolate.  "Winning"!

Milk Chocolate Malted Milk Eggs.  Delicious.

Best of Salty Sensations:

Roasted Seaweed Snack.  I’m addicted!

Lightly Salted Crunchy Green Beans.  OMG!

Best of Pickled or Jarred

Marinated Mushrooms With Garlic.  Yes, I drank the juice!

Best of From the Freezer to the Table:

Mandarin Orange Chicken.  Who needs Chinese takeout when you got this stuff.  This is outstanding!

Chicken Gyoza.  These were fantastic! Better than restaurant gyoza. 

Best Breakfast Bet

Danish Pancake Balls.  Delicious pancakes without the mess that goes along with making pancakes.

Best finds for $2.99

Regenerating Antioxidant Moisturizing Face Lotion.  Wow this stuff is dirt cheap and makes my skin feel like a million bucks! All my dryness due to weather was gone in days.

Nourish Spa Shampoo and Conditioner.  This stuff makes my hair feel like I’ve just stepped out of a salon, seriously comparable to salon quality.  All my tangles were gone and i loved the consistency of this stuff, you get a nice soft lather and a creamy condition.  Your hair will feel soft and not "weighed down". Seriously $2.99 for a good shampoo is unheard of here in Vancouver.

I still have many more items to try, these are the ones that definitely stand out and that I will purchase again regularly or stockpile, my new staples.  What are your favourites? Please share.



decorating your home with food...some tips

An inexpensive way to decorate, set a mood or stage your home rather than buy too many nick-knacks that will eventually be dated and go out of style, is to use food.  That's right, food!  Also, you don't need to worry about storing it when you want to change your decor, because once your done with your temporary displays you can just eat them ha ha!  Change them up every so often and definitely before they perish.  Use nice classic bowls, vases, trays and even cake stands that you can re-use in your scenes.  These small vignettes create a mood and portray a lifestyle.  They work for home staging, if your having guests over, or for yourself to enjoy and it beats looking at toasters and blenders, put those away in your cupboards.  Here are some examples of what I did in our home before an open house.  A tip, grab a cookbook with pictures, open it to your favorite simple recipe and grab a few of those non-perishable ingredients and place them on a tray.  Try to go with a recipe that requires pretty vegetables or fruits and go with a grouping of those in your display.  Hope I gave you some cool ideas to try at home.

in the kitchen, I set a scene for prepping an artichoke dish.  just put out a few ingredients on a tray along with some roasted Gorgonzola crackers from Trader Joes.  I thought the packaging was pretty.

the counter with a few different vignettes

on the opposite counter I set up 3 tall glass water bottles and a bunch of lemons, tip...the more fruits or veggies you use, the better your display, the look you want to go for is "abundance"

Cookbooks are great for kitchen displays, took off the cover of the Wolfgang Puck cookbook and discovered this pretty yellow hardcover.  Found this inexpensive cake stand at Target and these pretty meringues at Trader Joes...stacked some small plates and you've got a display.  Notice the triangle shape from the top of the book to the 2 items in front...a good design tip...

Wanted to make this upstairs little media room fun so I went with purple as the accent color.  Notice the pretty pink striped bag of Trader Joes Kettle corn.  Purple Hersheys kisses and a 4 pack of purple beers.. perfect for a movie night...snuggle up with your honey with that cozy lavender throw, you've got your popcorn, candy, beverages... see I just set a scene for you.

Purple pillow Homsense find.. LOVE LOVE LOVE Homesense

Chocolate Beer!!! Can't wait to crack one open after the viewings are all done and our home is sold.  Bought these puppies at Trader Joes (my favorite Grocery store of all time)

I even decorated INSIDE the cupboards... hey people looking at homes open your cupboards...this is my husbands stash of his favorite chocolate from TJ's

Set a little scene on the patio with some lemonade and outdoor pitcher and goblets added some lemons for some color pop-age



spotlight on a very talented artist...shelley a.

For the past few weeks we've been very busy staging our home to sell.  Our white walls needed more art, so I contacted a lovely young artist by the name of Shelley Ainsworth that I heard of through a friend.  She is an amazing make-up artist and portrait artist.  Her work is incredible, please check out her website http://www.artistrybyshell.com/.  The portrait work she has done is so detailed and precise that you'd think it's a photograph rather than a painting.  I needed some modern abstract art, described what I was looking for, what colors I required for the space and she delivered.  It was great working with Shelley, such a great upbeat personality and a perfectionist.  We chatted back and forth during the process, she was so open to suggestions.  I'm loving our new paintings and looking forward to getting some portrait work done with her in the future.  Thanks Shelley!  You're awesome!

my absolute favorite piece

i love the colors...this is the second in the series of 2

love the yellow!!



cake bites...an idea for easter

This morning while at Starbucks, I came accross these adorable little munchkin size cake bites on a stick.  Gave me an idea for Easter, make these little cake balls and decorate them to look like little mini Easter eggs.  So I got on google and searched these little suckers and came up with an abundance of recipes.  My favorite results and not to mention most gorgeous blog was http://www.bakerella.com/. 

Here's a recipe for cake bites from Bakerella.  You can use any cake mix and frosting you desire.  Check out the site as they have many many recipes and instructions to make all sorts of yummy festive balls.

Cake Balls

1 box red velvet cake mix (cook as directed on box for 13 X 9 cake)
1 can cream cheese frosting (16 oz.)
1 package chocolate bark (regular or white chocolate) or you can use those colored chocolate melts
wax paper

Directions

1. After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl.
2. Mix thoroughly with 1 can cream cheese frosting. (It may be easier to use fingers to mix together, but be warned it will get messy.)
3. Roll mixture into quarter size balls and lay on cookie sheet. (Should make 45-50. You can get even more if you use a mini ice cream scooper, but I like to hand roll them.)
4. Chill for several hours. (You can speed this up by putting in the freezer.)
5. Melt chocolate in microwave per directions on package.
6. Roll balls in chocolate and lay on wax paper until firm. (Use a spoon to dip and roll in chocolate and then tap off extra.)