Today was a very relaxing Sunday.
Took Pepsi to on a great little hike. My legs are so sore from my race yesterday. Ouch 
That I only managed to walk with her for about 30 minutes. She still loved it though 
Then instead of doing my normal TJ run I ventured to a new store.
I have to be honest I LOVE Trader Joe’s but the store in my town is ALWAYS so busy. It makes me crazy.
Sometimes I just can’t fathom the idea of grocery shopping there while fighting the crowds.
So I tried this place today:
Have you tried Fresh and Easy yet?
You know it was not so bad.
- It was NOT crowded.
- It had some fun “new to me” products.
However, there was not a lot of organic produce and you have to self checkout.
Other than that, I think I would go again.
Tonight featured some of those new items.
First we had to try a bit of this gem. How do you pass up wine that has a bicycle on it?
Two loves merged into one!
It is real good. If you like a light Pinot this is for you
Then I made another great salad.
I actually could not decide if I wanted pasta or salad so I decided to go with Pasta Salad!
Started with organic spring mix:
Added lots of love:
Including these fun new nuts:
And a fun new sauce/dressing
:
Altogether with the pasta (yes there is salad under there!):
And my bowl:
It was delicious!
What is your favorite grocery store?
Hope you had a wonderful weekend and don’t forget to enter my giveaway for a cute Thermal Hoodie!
You can enter more than once…….Just comment on the post again
Have a great night lovelies!
My favorite place to go for “groceries” is our local farmers’ market on Sundays and today seemed like a very special day. It doubled in size! I always get excited about Sunday lunch and dinner because I can look forward to enjoying my locally grown and organic produce.
Lunch consisted of a basket of beautiful Camarosa strawberries, agave nectar and two heaping tablespoons of non-fat Greek yogurt sprinkled with raw cashews (and I mean raw, straight out of the shell raw).
Then, dinner was a rather hefty salad. First, the organic spring mix with edible flowers, then, broccoli sprouts, fenugreek sprouts, Persian cucumber, strawberry tomatoes, fresh basil, olives, artichokes, arugula, and hummus with a side of Dr. Praeger’s spinach cakes. I do love me some pepitas, too.
We’re cleaning out the cupboards and freezer this week. Just couldn’t go without my locally grown, in-season, fresh fruits and veggies.
Guess what I had for dessert? A beautiful bowl of Gaviota strawberries. Yum!
fresh and easy is just okay to me – they do have a lot of super cheap items but not enough unprocessed, organic, and sustainable choices. i also ALWAYS have problems checking out!!! i prefer trader joe’s….
I agree with Lynn on this one. I like Fresh & Easy for some things, but my Sprouts and TJs combo works too well to deviate (well, with some Costco thrown in for good measure)
unfortunately where I live we don’t have any of those great stores near by,, so i have to hit up a trader joe’s when ever near it and LOAD up.. Literally fill my car. (the closest is about 2 hours away)
My other favorite store is healthy living.. vermont’s version of whole foods.. again, 1.5 hours away… 250.00 later… I loaded up on friday! YIKES!!!
I have such a love/hate relationship with grocery stores. I never know what to buy. Plus I’m not crazy about the ones in my neighborhood. There is a Trader Joe’s but I would have to take a subway to get there. I also LOVE Whole Foods but again I need a bus or a subway and then have to lug my groceries home. We do have an online store that’s great, but what to do if you are feeling creative and want to make something on a whim. Your blog is so inspiring to eat healthy! I love it!
YUM! that looks so good! my favorite grocery store would be whole foods and TJ’s as I am sure most others here would agree LOL up in ithaca, NY whre I went to college they had this great little organic, co-op called “greenstar’ which was AMAZING! I miss it so much!
I’m always envious of the seemingly better variety of whole food type stores you have in the US. We have a few health/organic stores in the city here where I buy certain items I can’t get in the regular grocery store but I just can’t afford to buy all of my food there. So I can’t say I really have a fave.
In the summer the local farmer’s market is a great place and this year I have a large allotment for growing my veggies on!
Love love love that salad! It’s my kind of meal, for sure! And you are so creative!
Fresh and easy looks like a great store. I love smaller, lesser known places. They tend to have some really great finds and sometimes good prices. Plus I just love exploring. But I generally go to TJ’s.
Have a fantastic day love!
Your salad with the pepitas looks awesome!
I love TJ’s but you’re right they’re always jam packed! Unfortunately there isn’t one near me (3 hrs away! Yikes!) I do most of my shopping at Earthfare (for most stuff) and Kroger (mostly for organic produce).
Never heard of fresh and easy but it looks like you’ve gotten some good stuff there!
Your dinner looks fantastic! I love combining salad with pasta, it’s so fresh and scrumptious
.
. Can’t wait to go to TJs when I’m in the states!
Well I usually go to organic health food stores which aren’t known in the US though
Never tried Fresh & Easy, they have a ton of stores planned for my area including one right near my house in the near future, so I may have too! Our local TJ’s is always a zoo too, it got better when a new Whole Foods was built near it though
Mmmm, raw pumpkin seeds, I just ordered a bunch from Amazon.
Dinner looks amazing.
Mmmm…pumpkin seeds! Delicious!
I love Trader Joe’s. Whole Foods is up there too, but they’re so much more pricey. It’s still fun to ‘window shop” though.
I’m jealous! I tried to go to a Fresh n Easy just yesterday. Alas, it doesn’t open till April. Have a great week.
nice pasta salad! nice combining them! made me smile!
I actually do have a Fresh and Easy near me and I go there weekly. Great for staples. of course it’s NOT TJ’s or Sprouts so I go there for those things but you’d be surprised at how much organic things you can find (like organic apple juice for my JJ) the dairy is hormone free, the eggs are cage free…that kind of thing. if they have what you use and want it’s way cheaper and I need that right now. each week I find they are carrying more and more useful products. and raw nuts too which surprised me (raw cashews)
I am really good at the self check out and most of the time staff bags for you (which I even have the re-usable bags now) so i feel really good about it. I LOVE that it’s a quiet, no nonsense store without all the extra crap that normally distracts me.
can’t wait to see what new things you found! I love thier lemon/cilantro hummus. MMM
I like the look of the artichoke antipasto. I bet it would be perfect on pizza or how about making it into a hot dip?
As for grocery stores, I don’t have a favorite. Really wish we had a Trader Joes or Whole Foods around here but we don’t so I settle for regular Hannafords.
Ooh my parents have Fresh & Easy and took me there last time I went home, it was awesome! I love Whole Foods but never get there b/c there isn’t one anywhere close to me in the city.
you always make the best salads!!
I have a couple of Fresh n Easy stores by me and have been twice… I wasn’t that impressed. It felt cold and un welcoming and the only thing I bought was Hummus… I love TJ’s and Sprouts!!
Have a great day!!
xoxo
There is not a Fresh & Easy near me, but being a curious food freak I actually drove over to the one in Oak Park to check it out. (I live on the eastern edge of Calabasas.) I was pretty underwhelmed. But I did buy a bag of trail mix that was AWESOME. And I don’t even like trail mix that much.
I live walking distance from a Gelsons, which I like. But you can find me at Ralphs or Vons or Whole Foods or TJs or Smart & Final or Henry’s. I am not loyal to any particular store.
I love the crunch that those pumpkin seeds give this gorgeous salad! Fresh and Easy sounds like a great store. Checking out new places (and foods!) is so much fun!
I totally have to try that wine! I’ve never heard of Fresh and Easy. I guess it’s lame to say it out loud, but Whole Foods is my fav. I missed your race recap so I’m off to read it now. =)