Summertime.. and the grillin' is easy!

Phew, it's HOT. And what's the last thing you wanna do when it's hot out? Cook. Bleh. I have been using my grill nearly everyday for the last couple weeks...  And, my favorite go-to grilling meal? Grilled pork chops with mango salsa and grilled veggies.. mmmmm..

Serves 2

2 boneless pork chops
Trader Joe's Island Soyaki sauce, or any sesame ginger marinade works too

(this makes enough salsa for 3-4 people)
Mango Salsa
1 large ripened mango, peeled and diced into small pieces
1/2 small jalapeno, seeded and diced extra fine
1/4 medium red onion, diced fine
1/4 large red bell pepper, seeded and diced fine
Fresh cilantro, chopped fine (as much or as little as you want)
juice of 1 lime
pinch of salt, pepper

(note: You can sub out for dried cilantro and crushed pepper flakes if you don't have jalapeno or cilantro. Sometimes I do that. Don't tell anyone.)

For the grilled veggies:
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 small onion, sliced
Trader Joe's Island Soyaki Sauce

Marinade the sliced veggies and the pork (separately) in the soyaki sauce. Combine all of the ingredients for the salsa. Taste. Faint from how incredibly simple, fresh and delicious it is. Grab a tortilla chip and eat it "just to make sure."  Let the flavors combine while you're grilling.
On a hot grill, place the veg in a grill pan (not a stovetop grill pan, the pan you put on the grill, what's that called? a grill pan, right?). I like to put a grill-safe lid over the grill pan, so that it cooks faster. Grill chops until cooked through. Do not overcook - I repeat - do not overcook!
 Here I served this with some steamfresh rice w/ veggies. Easy peasy. A great meal when it's too hot to cook inside.

My favorite Saturday mornings.

Wow. It's been such a long time since my last post. I've certainly been eating a lot, so that's not an excuse. I'm not sure why I haven't kept up with it. Work kinda gets in the way I guess.

This past Saturday my husband decided to break in his new golf clubs and I was excited for a couple reasons. As much as I love spending time with him, everyone needs a little "me" time. He has golf, and I have, well, time to myself to do things that I enjoy. I use this time to watch chick flicks, clean/house chores (ok, not fun), shop, and two of my most favorite things - breakfast at Panera, and grocery shopping at Trader Joe's.

You see, when I was single I had nothing but time to myself. I watched all the chick flicks I wanted, shopped, ate breakfast at Panera every Saturday, and went to Trader Joe's after kickboxing class. It didn't hurt that Panera was 1.5 miles from my house then. Aahhhh....

So back to my story. Can we just talk about Panera Bread for a minute? There are two things on the breakfast menu that I absolutely adore. The bacon & spinach souffle, and the cinnamon crunch bagel with hazelnut cream cheese.

I can't tell you how much I love these two items, though I usually go for the souffle. The sweet,  flaky pastry outside, and the savory, smoky bacony cheesy inside. It should not even be legal. I mean, look at this thing. Nowhere else can you go and get a delicious, decadent treat like this and pay $3 and change.

You must get to Panera before 10 a.m. - lest they sell out of the souffles! There was a time when I would get them multiple times a week (I was skinny, working out regularly - I could never do this now) and the cashier said, "They should make souffle cards (similar to the coffee cards they had then) - because you get them all the time." This is when I realized that maybe I needed to back off the souffles for a bit.  So then I went with the cinnamon crunch bagel with hazelnut cream cheese. My mom would make me bring a whole box of them when I would go home to visit. They are divine. Just amazing. It's like a cinnamon bun with cream cheese frosting. Here's a photo of it without the cream cheese - see that crunchy, sugary top? It's the best part. LOVE. AAHHHHH.

 Oh Lord. Now I'm hungry.

So this Saturday I opted for that spinach and bacon souffle with a coffee. After savoring every last morsel, I walked the two stores down to my other favorite place in the world - Trader Joe's. If you've been to Trader Joe's, then you understand how I feel. Shopping is not a chore here. It is something I look forward to. If you haven't been to Trader Joe's, then you may be confused about my adoration for a grocery store. But let me share with you the experience that is Trader Joe's.

First of all, it's not big and overwhelming. It's cozy and welcoming. It's affordable. Everything is awesome. The staff are really friendly and just "cool." And give it up for their awesome paper bags with the handles, right? That's if you don't bring your own bags and they give you a raffle ticket for helping to save the environment.

They always have something cooking up with free samples. One day it was thanksgiving turkey. Another it was bool kogi (asian beef) and stirfry. Another it was Edamame Hummus. And always free coffee samples.
I tend to try new things just because I think, "Well, Trader Joe's only has awesome products. It must be awesome," and because everything is so affordable, it's not a waste if you don't enjoy it (but you always do).

Let's talk about their hummus, for example. I mean, I enjoy hummus. I buy it regularly. But never did I experience hummus like their mediterranean hummus. It is out of this world. You open the container, and it greets you with olive oil and pine nuts, and you dip down inside, and you find the smoothest, creamiest, most delicious hummus ever. And a big tub (16 oz) is $3.99. Thank you TJ's.

And let's talk about some of my other favorite TJ's products:

• Chicken gyoza potstickers. Delicious. $2.99. You must have them with their sweet chili dipping sauce. $1 something. mmmmmm
• Vegetable stirfry. It's seriously the best combination of veggies ever.
• Island Soyaki - it's a great soy-sauce based marinade with pineapple flavor. Great for grilling or stirfrys.
• Their cheeses. I mean, wow. And affordable. Brie. Gruyere. Feta. Fresh Mozzarella. You had me at Parmigiano Reggiano. 
• Their bread selection. Can we say freshly baked sliced sourdough? Ciabatta anyone? Hello?! Is this thing on?
• Their coffee selection - whole beans! Yay! I am a coffee snob with a programmable grind & brew so I love my beans. Cheap cheap and great. French roast is my go-to.
• And probably my most bought item - their soups in a carton. Tomato. Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato. Roasted Corn & Red Pepper. Latin Black Bean. Yum, healthy and cheap. A carton is around $2.29, and you can get 4 nice sized bowls. That's four lunches at 100 calories a pop for $2 ish. Yes!

If you live within a 25 mile radius of a Trader Joe's, run, don't walk! You will not regret it. If you go to the one on route 202 in Wilmington, stop at Panera Bread for breakfast or lunch. It is my favorite way to spend a Saturday morning. :)