Good morning. It’s a beautiful but cold morning in North Carolina. My morning started early with 5:30 and 6:30 a.m. clients and now I’m blogging from the back seat of my parent’s car. They drove up to Charlotte from Florida yesterday and spent the night with us. We are driving to West Virginia today for a memorial service for a family member.
I packed up a lot of Whole30-friendly snacks for the trip. Left to right…
- Trader Joe’s Plantain Chips, note: these contain sunflower oil which is technically allowed but not encouraged but I decided to go with the “splurge” after seeing them as a favorite snack for many other Whole30ers. The ingredients are plantains, sunflower oil and salt.
- Dried apples
- Pistachios
- Almond butter
- Coconut milk
- Dried apricots
- Apples
- Dried bananas
- Bananas
- Chia seeds mixed with cinnamon and a pinch of salt in case I have a fridge in my room and can make chia pudding tonight (also why I brought the coconut milk…and a can opener…ha)
The girls were super excited to see my parents. They haven’t seen them since the Christmas before last when Zoey was just three months old! She’s grown a bit but is still a puppy at heart.
Sweet Sullie. Pouting that we were packing up to leave.
I wanted to share the rest of what I bought at Trader Joe’s this week since you guys always seem to like grocery haul posts + this one is Whole30 approved!
Very heavy on the produce. Left to right…
- Potatoes (mix of purple, red and yukon)
- Eggplant
- Spinach
- Cherry tomatoes
- Butternut squash
- Brussels sprouts
- Baby portobello mushrooms
- Sweet potatoes
- Portobello mushroom caps
- Heirloom carrots
Fruits and more veggies. We are eating apples and bananas like crazy.
- Kabocha squash
- Acorn squash
- Pink lady apples
- Lemons
- Bananas
- Bone-in pork chops – I already had two from the farmers market but needed two more to feed my parents
- Smoked salmon (one of my all-time faves!)
- Eggs – running low on my farmers market eggs so needed to supplement before I can get back there
- Note on the meats: my freezer is still stocked well from my farmers market trip on day 1 of Whole30!
Pantry items…
- Freeze-dried banana slices
- Pine nuts (love on salads!)
- Dried apple rings
- Salsa verde
- 100% pure pomegranate juice (for adding to dressings, seltzer water, etc.)
- Almond butter
- Plantain chips (see above notes)
- Dried apricots
- Coconut water with aloe vera (going to try this for hot yoga as an electrolyte drink since I’m not using Ultima right now)
Feeling extra grateful today for my family, my fiance, my friends and my health. These are the things that are truly important in life. <3
What are you feeling grateful for today?
Whole 30ers…any TJ’s favorites to share?
not doing whole30, although i’ve been feeling inspired to try it since reading your blog posts about it! mostly interested to see if it would help me break my sugar addiction. i’m not exactly a crazy sugar fiend, but i WOULD like to be a bit more donut-resistant!
okay the real reason i’m commenting is that i just wanted to weigh in on those plantain chips… they are basically my favorite food in the world. i’m from the states but living in south africa currently, the plantain chips are the only item i consistently request when friends visit or send care packages. i try to savor them once they get here, but really, if i open a bag, they’ll be gone in a few hours. i seriously cannot resist them!!
You are a big fan! They are really good and it’s awesome that you have friends who ship them over to you! 🙂
TJ’s has riced cauliflower in the frozen section- life changing & great for our Whole30!!!!
I looked for it yesterday and couldn’t find it!
Dried banana chips and almond butter has to be one of my favorite treats! But man are they addicting!
Oh I will have to try that combo! Anything + almond butter = <3
I love TJ’s prepackaged handfuls of almonds! They are so easy for on-the-go snacking. When I did Whole30, I loved sautéing plantains in coconut oil and topping with cinnamon. Such a great side dish with dinner!
The almonds would be perfect to throw in my gym bag in the morning!
Dave is addicted to the plantain chips from Trader Joe’s and yes when a bag gets opened they only last a day or two. I’ve been loving freeze dried strawberries in my chia pudding lately. Have a safe trip!
Haha! I can relate. Thanks for the idea!
im sorry for your loss. but it does put things in perspective. i’m having a crappy 2 weeks at work but i am telling myself i am thankful for a good job and that i have no plans for this weekend and can get in some tv time and relax.
I’ll always be grateful for the fact that my family makes enough money to invest in our health. A lot of the time, many families can’t afford healthy food or the time to exercise and cook more!
I love seeing what other people buy at Trader Joes as it gives me inspiration for my next trip!
Me too! I always find things to try that I never would have thought to get.
Oh those plantain chips sounds delicious! I’ve only made home baked ones but I bet those have a nice crisp and crunch to them. Love the whole TJs haul!
They’re so good! I’ve never tried homemade.
I wish the UK and Australia had a TJs! It looks like the best supermarket for loads of fun health things and reasonably priced too.
Feeling super grateful for lots of thing mainly, my partner, living an adventure on the other side of the world, friends, family, life in general – list could go on ha 🙂
I just got back from Trader Joes and picked up some stuff for an amazingly yummy Whole 30 snack called “Monkey Salad”: 1 sliced banana+unsweetened coconut shreds+cashews. Delicious!