trader joe's liquid laundry detergent

i am in love with trader joe's laundry detergent! (liquid)  you could use it in an HE machine, it smells fabulous with lavender essential oil, and it works pretty well, too!  i'm routinely impressed with what washes out of our clothes without any added effort.  plus, perhaps one of the key selling points, its cheap!  we're talking less than $10 for 64 loads of laundry.

i belong to a cloth diaper group, and every single time somebody asks for opinions about detergents, i always pipe up about trader joe's laundry detergent.  i have the powder, too, as i've heard it suggested that the powder is better for cloth, but really i haven't noticed any specific difference.  so i just switch them off, depending on my mood, and how dirty the diapers are that particular load.  (heheheh load heheheheh)  so far so good on both accounts, but the powder is unscented! where's the fun in that!?

i don't care if i become a millionaire and can afford any kind of washer and detergent that i want, i will still use trader joe's.

shiny happy hair

i have never been a brand-loyal hair product user for any length of time.  i switch back and forth, use new products, fall in love, find something new, fall in love with that, and on and on.  for the past few years, i've been experimenting with trader joe's and whole foods shampoos and conditioners.  both are eco-friendly, no animal testing, contain organic ingredients, no SLS, parabens, all the goods.  so whats the difference?

trader joe's tea tree tingle shampoo and conditioner

this is our go-to shampoo and conditioner.  its refreshing, its organic, and it leaves our hair soft, shiny, and clean.

whole foods mint conditioner

last year, i bought the lavender shampoo and conditioner, and i was not pleased.  the shampoo SUCKED!  so i didn't buy either again.  but i did remember the conditioner being ok, so i tried it again, as its fairly inexpensive, plus this time i noticed that they have multiple formulas.  maybe this is new?  either way, i got the normal to dry hair conditioner this time.  i'm pleasantly surprised.  my hair is shiny and super soft.  eric, however, has been a bit greasier than usual.  perhaps he needs to stick with the trader joe's.

happy snackie time

so, last night i made myself something delightful!

1 banana, sliced into roughly1/2 inch pieces
1/4 cup rolled oats (uncooked oatmeal)
chocolate syrup
ice cream

toss the banana pieces in the oats.  top ice cream with oat-y bananas.  top both with chocolate syrup.  nom.  nom. and nom some more.

eric and i have come to the conclusion that trader joe's dishwasher powder is the best stuff ever.  it works better than every other dishwasher liquid or powder we've tried in the 3 years we've been here.  of course, all are combined with lemi-shine since we've got crazy hard water, but all others still left spots or cloudiness.  no more, my friends, no more!  plus this stuff is 'green' so i don't have to worry about what kind of crap is on my daughter's bottles, bowls, and spoons, as well as out in the environment.  

trader joe's liquid laundry detergent is also fabulous.  it smells amazing, because of the lavender oil, and its rated very highly for use on cloth diapers.  w00t!  no expensive detergent for us, we got this all under control on the cheap!  we've become very good at that.  

now, i realize neither of those things are food, but both are bought in a food store, and both are used on things that in some form or another interact with food.  to make things matchy matchy though, i'll post about food, too.

TRADER JOE'S COOKIE BUTTER!  GO GET SOME!  NOW!!!!  

another round at trader joe's

well... we tried trader joe's polenta provencal.  it wasn't bad.  but i don't think i would buy it again.  the little polenta balls didn't really taste like anything,  and there wasn't nearly enough spinach.  the cream sauce was also a little strange.  all in all, not a waste, but not a repeat buy, either.

trader ming's spicy szechuan style beef & broccoli, however, is bangin'.  that i highly recommend.

what a twist!

tonight i write from my kitchen.  that's right.  lizzy is in the kitchen, and not just to get something from the fridge.

lizzy made dinner.

don't get scared, now, the house is still standing.

in the oven as we speak is ina garten's mac and cheese.  fancy, no?

i'm pretty sure i screwed up somewhere along the way, as the cheese sauce was not as cheesy as it was saucy with pieces of cheese in it, but i mixed it in with the pasta, and put more cheese on top before adding the tomatoes and breadcrumbs. (yes, i made them myself.  aw snap!)  hopefully it won't kill us.  better still, it might just taste good.

but i will have to get back to you on that one.

don jose

a friend of my mom and russell said don jose was their favorite mexican restaurant.  so, the other night, we decided to go there instead of driving all the way to tinga.  i had been there once before and was not impressed, but i thought perhaps it was worth a second try.

i was definitely underwhelmed.

everything was just... alright.  except the refried beans.  they were really tasty.  everything else just kind of fell flat.  my beef enchiladas were good, but lacking in flavor besides salt and cheese.  i expected the red sauce to taste like more.  eric got one of the platters, a chicken tamale, a chili relleno, and a cheese enchilada.  he liked the cheese enchilada the best out of the 3.  i tried a bite of the chicken tamale, it was better than my beef enchiladas.

in the end, we were full, but not satisfied.  next time, we will just make the trip to tinga.