Trader Joe's trip!

Mostly all I've had in my fridge lately is lettuce, veggies that need to be cooked, and frozen chicken/fish that needs to be thawed then cooked, so I needed more foods that require quick prep and some healthy snacks. Of course, that means a Trader Joe's trip! Here's what I bought (and why):

- sugar snap peas: yummy, healthy snack with a satisfying crunch; probably one of my favorite veggies to dip into hummus
- hummus: for a snack with the sugar snap peas, of course =P ; also sometimes I will mix this with a little lemon juice and olive oil to thin it out and use as a protein-rich salad dressing
- kale: an awesome superfood!! for soups, sautees, massaged kale salads, and KALE CHIPS (my boyfriend's fav right now haha)! I like to buy it in the pre-chopped in the bag like this, so we can quickly toss it in olive oil and salt then throw it on a baking pan to quickly make some kale chips
- brussel sprouts: have lots of fiber and vitamins and taste AMAZING when roasted
- canned marinara sauce: just to have on hand to add to veggies, fish, or other meats I may be cooking
- sundried tomatoes: pretty much same as above... just to have on hand to add flavor to something I might be already cooking... it's important to me that my food still tastes really good or I wouldn't be able to keep this up!
- goat cheese with kalamata olives: definitely broke my rules on buying this.... because it's not reduced-fat.... but I LOVE goat cheese and I LOVE kalamata olives, so I thought I'd give it a try. I just need to make sure to eat very little at a time. I'll probably throw little chunks of this in to my salads.
- chicken sausages (I bought a pack each of spicy italian and andouille): this is just to add flavor and some lean protein to something I may already be cooking. I'm planning to stick to only using half a sausage chopped up per serving of whatever food I add it to
- steamed lentils: already cooked and ready to go! I love these lentils because of their texture - they stay more in whole pieces compared to when you cook them yourself. plus they are rich in protein, fiber, and vitamins. one of my favorite ways to eat this is to sautee it with garlic, onion, cumin, and cayenne then top with fresh cilantro - tastes kind of like ground taco meat!
- plain non-fat greek yogurt: I use this in place of mayo for tuna, egg, chicken salads, etc. or I just eat it plain (sometimes with a little splenda) for breakfast or a snack. I bought a few of the smaller sizes with added fiber, so I can take it to work and feel satisfied for longer.
- lemon pepper grinder: just because that stuff is awesome
- artichokes: one of my weaknesses... LOVE anything with artichokes.
- red wine vinegar: for salads
- peanut butter: all natural with no added sugar or weird ingredients... be careful when buying peanut butter!! most have a bunch of sugar in it!!! I honestly bought this JUST for making flourless peanut butter cookies... lol. I still need something to satisfy my sweet tooth! when I get to phase 2 and reintroduce fruits, I like to mix a little bit of peanut butter with some plain nonfat yogurt, vanilla extract, and a little splenda to make a peanut butter dipping sauce for apples. you still get lots of yummy peanut butter flavor, but not as much fat and calories compared to apples with straight peanut butter.
- pork florentine (frozen): bought this for nights when I don't feel like doing too much cooking. it's pork tenderloin stuffed with spinach, tomatoes, and a little cheese. it's not THE BEST thing to eat, but it's something that's still decent that I can leave in my freezer until I have a night where I want a meal with little effort. you pretty much just throw it in the oven - I think I remember it takes about 45 minutes to cook.
- canned salmon: bought this so I have some protein that I can easily just open up and throw on salads. I was also thinking of making a salmon salad type of thing (by adding plain greek yogurt, lemon zest, capers, and dill) then using that in lettuce wraps.
- low carb dark chocolate with almonds: to satisfy my serious chocolate cravings! this is still probably not the best thing to buy, but I know myself... and if I can't have at least a little bit of chocolate when I have a craving, I'm doomed... instead of sugar, it's sweetened with sugar alcohols - which are OK for South Beach Diet as long as you limit yourself to 75-100 calories per day. the biggest problem I have with these is limiting myself to just 2 little squares of chocolate (there's 12 squares per bar).
2 squares have 73 calories, 6 g of fat, and less than 2 g of net impact carbs.
- seaweed snacks!!!: in wasabi and plain flavor. LOVE these for when I just crave something salty with a satisfying crunch. there are 2 servings per pack and each serving is only 30 calories.

So that's it!! I usually go to Trader Joe's for more snacks or food that's fast to prepare. I get most of my produce from Sprout's and most of my fish and meat from Costco. I pretty much do all of my grocery shopping at these three places - I LOVE all three of them and luckily they are all close to or on my way home from work. Anyways, I just thought I'd post some yummy and South-Beach-Diet-phase-1-friendly foods that are good ideas to buy. Thanks for reading! :D