5 Things Friday - Trader Joe's Edition

I've mentioned on here before that grocery shopping isn't my favorite thing to do here. Take that with a grain of salt - it's not like I'm trudging through a muddy market and can only pay in cash - they have normal groceries stores. Most are just smaller, with less of a selection than what my spoiled millennial self is used to, so that rarely am I able to just go to one and get everything that I want in one trip.

First world problems, I know, I know.

So like I've also said in the past, I try to shop online for a good majority of stuff - anything that isn't perishable. And then there are both of our wonderful mom's who love us so much that we semi-regularly get boxes full of food from them as well.

Typically their boxes are exclusively stuffed full of food from Trader Joes. Which even the dogs now get excited for, because they love Trader Joe's dog treats. So for my Five Things Friday today, I think I'll share our top five staples that we always ask for when offered a Trader Joe's shipment. (Keep in mind, I would pretty much have everything shipped if I could but anything that needs to be kept cold just ain't gonna make it across the ocean and arrive in edible condition, as shipping time averages 8-10 days.)

Beautiful.

You may find this topic incredibly dry and if so, feel free to close the window now. However if you also get riled up just by hearing the phrase 'let's go to Trader Joe's' read on - and also - please share with me some of your all-time favorite TJ's staples, so that I can have some new ideas next time I send my mom to the store for me.

#1 - Plantain chips. This one sits far above all the rest of the list. They have both salty and sweet, both are great, salty always wins though (we actually even make nachos with them sometimes).

I'm drooling

#2 - Bars. I have a bad habit (I think it's bad?) of eating two small lunches - one before and one after our mid-day workout. So typically the first half of lunch is a bar and some fruit. I used to exclusively stick with Larabars, but I'm also now also a fan of Quest Bars when I need a change up.  I ALSO just saw that Perfect Bars are now going to be carried at Trader Joe's as well - which are my ultimate favorite.

#3 - Jerky. Andrew might list this as his number 1, not sure, but he can finish off a bag in one sitting. Both beef and turkey are great, and while it's not the cheapest of snacks, it's some great quick protein.

#4 - Trail mix. Any kind really - but if it has chocolate in it, it's extra special :)

#5 - Any kind of treat. Andrew's mom recently sent us cowboy bark and I'm pretty sure I single-handedly finished off the bag over the course of last weekend (Andrew doesn't really like sweet things - confusing - but a win for me). However those dark chocolate pretzel thins are also pretty amazing... chocolate covered almonds... honestly, if it has chocolate, ship it.

Bonus: My sister made me aware of their Everything Bagel Seasoning last month. Since my mom has shipped it to us, I've been putting it on A TON of stuff - Andrew's daily scrambled eggs... sweet potatoes... and the best yet, pictured below.

Avo Toast and Eggs

That's all I've got. Tell me your top 5 - and then go out and have an awesome weekend.

Cheers - 

Kait

Five

Once upon a time when I thought I was a real blogger and tried to link up with other blogs and become internet famous (not really but kind of) I used to do a "Five Things Friday" post, every Friday.

Personally now that I write whenever I want, about whatever I want, I enjoy writing much more, but I do think a Five Things Friday post is in order for today. Sound good?

1. I almost constantly have sand in my running shoes.

As my long runs are slowly becoming longer, I have been seeking out different running routes. While I love running the boardwalk along the beach, it's a stone surface and honestly I'm so paranoid about stress fractures that sometimes I think I can feel my bones screaming at me when I run on it.

So, I've slowly transitioned to throwing a few miles along the actual beach in there, on the packed down sand, just close enough to the water to feel the danger of possibly soaking my shoes with a surprise wave...

Which is awesome, but I pretty much always end up with a pile of sand in my shoes by the time I get home.

2. I have an irrational fear that a cat is going to attack me.  They are everywhere, always. Sometimes I'll look up and there will be one sitting on a wall, glaring down at me.  I just have this ingrained image of a cat randomly jumping at my head and going apeshit.

There is absolutely no reason to be sharing this but I just had to put it out there.

3.  My Our car is here!  It arrived in Israel about ten days ago, but the process of actually getting it to Tel Aviv and getting it registered and all that crap is taking forever.  Fingers crossed we can drive her by next week...

4.  I'm less paleo than I used to be.

This is random, but I've realized over the last month or so that I need a little more grain in my life than I've allowed in the past. I used to be pretty aggressively paleo during the week, yet now I'm much more prone to adding brown rice/quinoa to dinner, having some oatmeal with my breakfast, eating five pitas while out to dinner etc.  I think it's a good balance that my body needs, especially as my running mileage continues to go up.

5.  I think our dog is getting more Christmas gifts than me.

Which is fine, because some of her gifts benefit me :)  At the top of the list that Amazon is throwing our way is a running leash that will go around my waist. I've heard running further distances with dogs while holding onto a leash can mess up your gait (probably doesn't help if your dog psychotically chases pigeons) and so I'm interested to see if this leash helps us become better running buddies.

For the record, this is not Kai.  This is a random meme.

I'll report back on that one.

Anyways, there's your mindless Friday read if you were looking for one.  Have a fabulous weekend.

Cheers - 

Kait

Five Things Friday

BEFORE we go any further, I have an announcement. Last night, at my third Blue Crab Crossfit class ever, I did my first double unders! 45 total, strung together about 10 in a row. The coach, Ben, was awesome, and sorry I'm not sorry, I'm a little bit proud of myself.

Moving on.

For Five Things Friday, I’m going to name one thing under each of the five categories that I’ve selected. This has been done mainly to cover the random assortment of things that I want to discuss.

1 (one) thing I loved this week – My run on Wednesday after work. Temperatures were hovering right around 55, and I was able to pull on shorts and a long sleeve t-shirt. It was magical. I did a couple laps around Patterson Park and then a short jaunt down by the water, totaling just over seven miles for this girl.

1 (one) thing (I realized) I dislike this week – The fact that Starbucks doesn’t offer almond milk. Am I being outrageous here with this expectation? I guess I just figured that enough people across the country now drink almond milk almost exclusively… it would just be an awesome option to have. Is anyone else with me here? Hello Starbs, are you listening to me??

1 (one) thing I (oddly) miss – I never in a million years thought I would say this. But while I was in the office kitchen earlier this week, another dept. was setting up for their team breakfast, and a woman was setting up one of those electric griddle things. See below.

It flashed me back to my time working in the Sunflower Deli back in good ole’ Fort Collins, CO (which is now apparently a Sprouts). Once a month we had a senior breakfast, and would set up about five of those griddles at 6 AM to cook up a plethora of pancakes, sausages, etc. At the time one of my favorite hobbies was b*tching about that job, but looking back, it was a job that kept me incredibly active, I worked with very caring people, and got to interact with a ton of (mostly) happy customers on a daily basis. I mean we were in Colorado after all – everyone is pretty much always happy there.

me, in Colorado, being very happy.

1 (one) thing that makes me sad – My leg still hurts. My right hamstring to be exact, right up under my butt. The thing is, it isn’t sharp or jabbing or anything that is super restrictive (hence why I still allow two runs per week) but my sadness comes from the fact that it has been lingering since late September. If I had to wager (I’ve been doing some reading) it’s an obnoxious case of high hamstring tendon apathy – you can readthis post on it, or this article, and then shake your head and agree with me.

I’ve started implementing some of the mentioned exercises and should probably get a little more aggressive with them. Any other suggestions or comments on this matter is more than appreciated.

Last but not least –

1 (one) thing that makes me excited – USA men’s hockey vs. Canada, today at noon EST. A win puts us in the finals – fingers crossed!

Zach Parise

Linking up with #Backthatazzup Friday – enjoy the below jam!

Cheers to ‘Merica!!

And last, but not least - an extra Friday thing. This late V-day gift - a giraffe named Sphincter - showed up on my porch last night. I love him like he's my own son.

Tell me some things you love/hate/miss/are confused by/pumped for this week. Ready go-

Kait

Crow

It's that time of week again - when the sun shines a little brighter, and the commute seems just a little bit shorter...

Hopefully?

Happy Friday! This morning I decided to link up with one of my fellow Baltimore Bloggers, Kerry, and participate in Five Things Friday...

from The Adventures of Z & K

Ready?

1. I'm very excited about this. Yesterday at yoga, for the first time ever, I managed to hold crow pose!

Oops - wrong picture...

Unfortunately, it wasn't in a cool shirt like hers....

For any of you who know what my flexibility is like as well as my general yoga abilities, this is a big deal. Feel free to leave gushing praise in the comments below.

2. I'm seeking running shoe advice. I'm serious - brands, models, anything. Help me out runner friends, give me some thoughts.

3. My girl Beth and I have been doing a lot of rides together the past few weeks. One of our favorite things to do lately is to head down to Fells Point for yoga a couple times a week. I've found that since I don't have to worry about parking with her, it actually takes less time than if I were to drive.

Beth's parking spot in my room.

4. Last night I was craving a treat after my tilapia dinner, so I threw together this bad boy:

A banana, fried in coconut oil, with a dash of unsweetened cocoa powder mixed in. Coconut sprinkled on top, 100% 21-Day Detox approved.

It was good - seriously, try it.

5. This weekend I'm pup-sitting one of my coworker's furry friends.

We have plans for long walks, movies of her choice, and cooking meals that she can smell and I can enjoy.

That's all over here folks, I'm off to work. Hope your day is marvelous-

Cheers!