Trader Joe's Inspired Meals

I think I first started shopping at Trader Joe's when I was still in college. I use to think that they were such a great market...I still do. I love the low prices and unique items that you can sometimes only find at Trader Joe's. I've been spending more time in the kitchen lately and love how I can turn out some respectable meals with a little help from Trader Joe's. For example, I picked up this box of Gluten-free Toaster Waffles recently because I have a bad suspicion that I may be mildly gluten intolerant. I don't eat too much bread or pasta so it's hard for me to tell but the last couple of times that I ate bread or pasta, I've noticed some discomfort. So for the time being, I'm going to avoid eating gluten stuff when possible. Again I am not sure so I am still going to continue to eat bread and pasta until I am sure.

I served this up this morning and no one was the wiser about them being gluten-free.

Then for dinner I discovered that I had a bunch of groceries from Trader Joe's so I decided to throw them all together and see what happens. I'm a crazy cook! I very rarely cook from recipes because I never seem to have all the ingredients. What I tend to do is buy stuff that I like and then I throw them together to see if they taste good. I know, I am so adventurous. :o)

Okay, let's see what we have today. Organic Broccoli Slaw...

...Satay Peanut Sauce...

...a couple of eggs...

...some Organic Red Quinoa, not sure why I originally purchased this but I'm using it.

Plus, I found a bunch of spinach in the crisper and a package of pork chops.

Here's the finish product.

1) I marinated the pork chops with some ranch powder, freshly ground pepper, and some Worcestershire sauce for a couple of hours and then just pan-seared it.
2) When the pork chops were done, I drained the pan of some of the oil but left some in and threw in some chopped garlic and sauteed for a few second and then threw in the spinach. That's it!
3) In another pan, I sauteed some chopped garlic and olive oil and threw in the broccoli slaw and cooked til soft (taste for doneness, may take a while) then I mixed in the peanut sauce and cooked quinoa and some pre-scrambled eggs (make sure not to over scramble the eggs as it will continue to cook once it gets thrown in with the other items of the stir-fry). I think I also added some fresh ground pepper and a couple dashes of Maggi soy sauce. Oh don't forget to let your meat rest after you remove it from the pan. If you cut into it right away, all the juices will come out and the meat will be dry. Also, try not to overcook the meat. Pork is terrible if it is overcooked.

It's not fancy but it did taste good so I'm happy with it. Tomorrow I'm making something Italian!