We were invited to Karen’s tonight to have dinner with her friend Rose Marie, who works at Davidson, and with Dr. Vasquez, who is a Spanish professor, Matt’s fraternity advisor and teacher and one of Larbs’s professors as well.
But first, Matt had a mandatory bakery staff meeting at 5:30, so I played in Trader Joe’s for an hour next door. FINALLY I got to spend a ton of time in there! There were tons of products I wanted to try, but I knew I shouldn’t buy most of them (think cookies, cereals, cheeses). I found what appears to be cooked wheatberries in the grains section. I snuck out my camera for you all!
I kept myself from buying most of the products, but I did come across a new Valencia Peanut + Flax PB and knowing TJ’s opens products to taste, I decided “what the heck” and went to customer service to see if they would let me taste it. Not only did he open the jar for me, we also opened a jar of TJ’s regular peanut butter and did a side-by-side tasting! While the Valencia was good, I actually preferred the saltier and bolder TJ’s regular salted crunchy PB. And at $1.79 a jar – unbeatable! We’re actually low on PB in this household, only having a tsp of Honey Cinnamon from Naturally Nutty and 1/3 a jar of Barney Butter left. So I put it in the cart. My peanut butter tastes have evolved so much over the past year. I used to only like Harris Teeter brand, and not the saltier and more roasted, the better! (I blame Barney!)
We arrived at Karen’s at 6:30 and I poured a small glass of red wine. My intention tonight was to stick with one (and only one) glass. I had two smaller sized ones and am very pleased with the portoin! This Atteca was amazing!
For dinner Karen served her Best Vegetable Lasagna –
She served our plates, and I only ended up eating about half of this huge bowl!
Plus a side salad in Caesar dressing with almonds and bell pepper
And of course GH bread –
And my second small glass of wine
The husband Matt happily ate the rest of my portion
And I had seconds on salad
For dessert, Karen made Hello Dollies! These were way better than the Hello Dollies I made in December – probably because hers weren’t the “light” version! I had this guy plus another equiv. when I packaged up the leftovers for us to bring home for our freezer. You’ll be seeing these again!
I’m proud of myself for eating intuitively tonight. And yes, I totally owe you guys a review of that book! I wrote down some of my thoughts during a Foodservice lecture last week and just have to type them up. Soon enough, I promise.
Three cheers for a happy weekend.
Steph says
I’m so glad you like TJ’s PB! Their salted crunchy kind is my absolute favorite!!
Maggie says
Can’t wait for the book review 😀
Haha, mothers are always putting so much food on your plate – Bobby’s parents are ALWAYS feeding us when we go visit them. It’s cute though.
theoddbod says
beauty dessert. excellent portion control 😉
Natalie says
Cute mirror pics!
Dessert looks great to. 🙂
Sharon says
Oh my gosh, everything looks great!
Emily says
I didn’t know TJ’s had an open food policy. I will definitely keep that in mind. And I didn’t know their PB was such a great price, either! Thanks for sharing!
Diana says
Ooh, I saw that Valencia PB with flax in the TJ newsletter and thought it sounded really interesting! I made a mental note to check it out next time I’m at TJs, so maybe I’ll see if they can give me a sample, too! 🙂
Dinner looks like lots of fun and lots of good food! Yum!
Elizabeth (thelongweigh) says
Cute self portraits! All the food looks delicious..its been forever since I have had that dessert! I have always called it 7 layer bar though. Fun night!
Sarah (lovINmytummy) says
Still working on a reread of Intuitive Eating, but its making me happy. And my intuition is telling me to make some Hello Dollies!
amanda (Two Boos Who Eat) says
Hello Dollies look fantastic! YUM!!
I want to check out that wine. Yum!
foodsthatfit says
I had no idea Trader Joe’s had that policy! I’ll have to test that out! They have a bunch of products I would love to try, but do not buy b/c I am not sure if I will like it or not and don’t want to waste the money! That is def. the sign of a good company!
Jill says
I loved Atteca! You should try Atrea as well, it’s pretty divine!
Anne P says
TJ’s has an open food policy?!?!? No way! That’s awesome!
Jessica says
Speaking of Karen’s delish pasta dishes…I made a lighter version of her French Beef Casserole! Andy and I loved it! I halved the recipe and then assembled the “halved” portion into two seperate smaller dishes. We are 3 servings yesterday and then froze enough for another four.
haya (living and learning) says
freekeh is kind of completely different from the wheatberries you know. they harvest the kernels when they’re still green and soft. after some sun drying, they burn the straw and chaff (but not the actual kernels because they’re still too wet to burn) to give the wheat kind of a smokey taste.
they will not be tasty in your oatmeal, and they are not exactly “cooked” but they do cook much quicker than regular wheatberries. they would be much better in a savoury application.
depending on how you feel about smokiness, you might enjoy them. the texture is good and chewy.
(you can read up a bit more on wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freekeh)
Maureen says
That lasagna is soooo drool-worthy!
Courtney (The Hungry Yogini) says
Delish! You are Matt are too cute.
Isn’t that book amazing! The principles are so simple yet so difficult sometimes!
Nicole says
Fun! I did not know Trader Joe’s did that. I’ve also never heard of the flax PB! I need to take a trip to TJ’s.
Your dinner party looks like fun. Those cookie bars look ammmmaaaazzzzing!
Lauren says
Were the wheatberries pre-seasoned? I better run down to my Trader Joes and see if they have them if not!!!
The lasagna looks AMAZING!
Marisa (trim the fat) says
Loving that lasagna! I made a zucchini lasagna this week(no noodles) and I really liked it!
I just picked up the intuitive eating book at my library. I haven’t had a chance to peak yet, but I am looking forward to seeing your review and how it has helped you. I’m hoping to get some good advice with the intuitive eating, especially to help with those moments when I want to “throw all caution to the wind” 🙂
Beadie @ What i Ate Yesterday says
Looks like a lovely evening.
Good for you for eating intuitively, I look forward to your review of the book!
Meg says
What a lovely evening! That lasagna looks incredible.
Diana says
can’t wait for the book review! dinner looks great! you guys are cute in the mirror! hehe.
Mara @ What's For Dinner? says
It looks like you had a great night!! I love the picture of you and Matt!
Shelby says
Love the mirror pics =)
Mmm, veggie lasagne
skinnyrunner says
looks like a delicious meal. good job on intuitive eating! sometimes thats the hardest thing
Jim Purdy says
Delicious looking pictures, as always! Good thing I can’t get fat just by looking at the photos.
K says
What a fun dinner! I SO didn’t know that TJs would do that – PB taste test session, can’t get much better!!
Oh She Glows says
Wow what a lovely night. Love the mirror pics…hehe Eric and I always do that.
Great job on eating intuitively- it can be very hard to do, especially when there is such a wonderful spread of food. That veggie lasagna looks DEVINE!
melissa (fitnessnyc) says
great job! looks yummy
Biz319 says
I love being able to have time looking through TJ’s without my kids or husband – they just don’t understand there is so much to look at!
Karen’s lasagna looks amazing!
Tyler (Raspberry Runner) says
I did not know about TJ’s jar opening policy…that’s so nice!
Anna says
I bought that Valencia and flax PB at TJ’s a couple weeks ago… it’s really good! the Valencia’s really are sweeter than most peanuts. I like it a LOT better than the regular TJ’s PB, which I think is sort of bitter and almost burnt-tasting
BethT says
TJ’s PB is all I eat. It’s the best.
Vince says
Hello Dolly’s are a family favorite every year at Christmas. One thing that I do is cook them at a lower oven temperature for a longer period of time. This let the condensed milk caramelize without burning the bars. It makes for a yummy texture and flavor.
Also, I think Matt should keep the facial hair. A close cropped beard looks good on him.
Red Heady, Yellow Dog says
I love TJ’s peanut butter! The price + taste+ minimal ingredients is hard to beat!
casinosmoney says
just great, I love to come everyday to this blog
Kate says
What an awesome night! The lasagna does look amazing. HAHA and I love the self- mirror photos!
Kareen Latour says
Hi Kath!
I love your blog, I read it everyday.
Does Karen have a blog? I would love to get her lasagna recipe, it looks delicious.
samantha says
you and matt are soooo cute 🙂 i love your picture together.
Kati says
that hello dolly is calling my name!!!
Kath says
haya (living and learning) ,
Thanks for the info!
Lauren ,
I don’t think they were seasoned.
Kareen Latour,
Karen is my mother-in-law and she doesn’t have a blog, but the recipe is on my sidebar and I linked to it in the post.
Kath