Products We Love

I was at Costco over the weekend and happened about these tasty little treats. 

FiggyPops

They are so, so delicious, contain no refined sugar and are made from 100% all natural ingredients. Next time you are in Costco, you should definitely pick up a bag (or two) and try them!

Loving Lately

Recently I've come across some food items that I just can't get enough of, and when I find something good, I like to share.

Trader Joe's Super Seed Blends- I have been putting these on oatmeal, yogurt and fruit, salads, in smoothies and in banana bread. 

Kit's Organic Fruit and Seed Bar- I recently decided to reduce the amount of nuts I am eating. It's really hard to find a nut-free bar. These are delicious.

Hope Spicy Avocado Hummus- This hummus has become a staple in our refrigerator. You can buy it in bulk at Costco. It has the perfect amour of spice and is tasty on chips, crackers, veggies, sandwiches and just about anything else you want to eat it with.

Instacart

I have been so giddy about sharing this post since Friday night when my friend Margueritte made a life changing introduction to Instacart.

It went like this, "I used this today for the first time and it was fantastic! I rarely ever post these types of things, so I promise it's the real deal."

So, I clicked on the link to learn more...and I have been doing a happy dance ever since. Here's the long story short:

You can have groceries from Costco and Whole Foods (as well as other stores that are city specific) delivered to your home, in less than 2 hours for only $3.99!

Say What???? I don't have to drive to Costco anymore?

You mean to say I can have a Pixie Raw Pudding Cup delivered to my door without stepping a foot in Whole Foods?

As I said, this site is LIFE CHANGING! I have no doubt that many of you will be joining me in the Instacart movement. Did you just have a baby and run out of diapers? No problem, they can be delivered to your door in less than 2 hours. How about you just had a meeting scheduled and it's eating into your grocery shopping time after work? No big deal, just have your groceries delivered! You can even make special requests. This service is so crazy good I can't stand it.

The prices are "their own" which clearly means they are slightly higher, but I think I would still save money by not stepping foot in the store. My purchases will be need based and not impulse buys.

Currently Instacart is available in Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, Portland, San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, and Washington, D.C, and they are expanding rapidly!

C & C in the Kitchen with Costco

Who's a Costco shopper? Last year I shared some of my favorite products from Trader Joe's, and I thought I'd do the same with some of my go-to Costco products. So let's get to it. 

Regan has blogged about this salad before, and I was so excited when they started carrying it at our Costco. I'm not normally a dressing-in-the-bag person, but this one is awesome! I'll eat just the ingredients in the bag or add my own too.

Warning: You will become addicted to this. We buy two bags at a time. Enough said. 

I love beets in my salad, and with Costco's addition of more organic products these are a no-brainer. 

My friend Lesley introduced me to Marcy's Gone Crackers and I also recently picked up these brown rice and quinoa crackers. You can't go wrong with either for those carb cravings. 

Who says gummy vitamins are just for kids! In our house, the only way vitamins are a sure thing is if they taste like candy.

And last, but not least, with the kind of smoothie making that happens in this house, we'd be lost without Costco. Whether in a smoothie or just right out of the bag frozen (it sounds weird, but it's one of my favorite desserts), it's a good thing these mangoes are sold in bulk!  

What are your favorite Costco products?

Splurge vs. Save

Today's "Splurge vs. Save" isn't a traditional post in that I'm not going to compare to different items. Instead, I am going to show you how you can get the same item at nearly half the retail price. 

How could you not like that kind of proposition?

We all love Hunter boots. The Mini Fashionista has a pair, but I actually don't. That might change soon. The Original Tall Hunter Boot sells for $140…kind of a lot for a rubber boot! 

Here's where the big SAVE comes in…if you are a Costco member, you can get the same boots for only $79.99 on Costco.com! 

All you need to do is go online, register with your Costco member number and a pair of Hunter boots can be yours for a fraction of the retail price.

Not a bad deal!

C&C in the Kitchen

A few weeks ago I posted a photo of my lunch on instagram (sorry for any C&C followers who I have declined...I like to keep my instagram a bit more private). But, make sure to follow Katie on Instagram as Cardicouture!

And since I received so many "recipe requests",  I figured this was the perfect platform to share! Here is what my lunch looked like. Sorry for the poor quality of the photo!

The salad is composed of four parts. Let me break them down for you from the top down. 

1) The cilantro dressing from Trader Joe's that Katie recently blogged about (here). This is also a staple in our house!

2) Lentil cakes using the Trader Joe's pre-cooked Lentils, which Katie also shared in her recent post. Apparently as twins we share the same tastes, go figure! 

2) Lentil Cakes- to prepare the lentil cakes I put the following ingredients into my Vitamix: 

- 1/2 the package of TJ's lentils

- 1/2 sliced red onion

- 1 red pepper

- 1/2 cup cilantro

- 1/2 cup parsley

- 1 tsp of curry powder and cumin

- about 2 tbs olive oil. 

After blending, I transfer to a bowl, add the remaining lentils, 1 beaten egg, and bread crumbs until the consistency is enough for the mixture to be made into "cakes". To cook, I fry in a pan with a little bit of oil (coconut or olive oil). These can be made ahead of time and refrigerated for a few days. I also serve these for dinner with greens and the cilantro dressing in Trader Joe's Middle Eastern flat bread. The leftovers are usually what find their way onto my salads! 

3) Quinoa Salad- This can also be eaten on its own. I usually add chicken and avocado when eating it as a salad. 

- 1 cup uncooked quinoa (cooked and cooled)

- 1 red, yellow and orange pepper diced

- 1 can black beans

- 1-2 ears of corn

- 1/2 cup cilantro

- garlic salt and salt and pepper to taste

- 1 tbs olive oil

4) The "base" Salad- Sweet kale salad straight out of the bag from Costco! 

This salad can be purchased in the produce refrigerator and includes broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, kale, chicory, dried cranberries, roasted pumpkin seeds and poppyseed dressing. I buy this salad regularly and add chicken, avocado, tomatoes and whatever other veggies I have. It's a great base salad and can be used with any type of dressing and toppings. Although, what comes in the bag is pretty tasty!

Products We Love

About a month ago my mother-in-law was at Coscto where two University of Oregon alumni were selling their almond butter. She bought me a jar, and it was love at first bite!

Meet Keeley and Erika, the founders of Wild Friends Nut Butter!

These ladies found themselves in their college apartment scraping the bottom of a peanut butter jar with a spoon. In a quest to extend the life of the jar,  they emptied their cabinets of all their favorite things, like cinnamon, chocolate chips and coconut, into a food processor to create their first nut butter. 

And as they say...the rest is history. Wild Friends Nut Butter now sells six flavors of nut butters including the first jar I received, the Chocolate Sunflower Seed Almond Butter! A-MAZING!

The other flavors include Sesame Cranberry Peanut Butter, Vanilla Espresso Almond Butter, Cinnamon Raisin Peanut Butter, Honey Pretzel Peanut Butter and Chocolate Coconut Peanut Butter! 

You really can't go wrong with any of the flavors. And, they sell them in individual servings which are great for your a snack in the car, on an airplane, for hiking or for a late night snack! 

Wild Friends Nut Butters are sold at Coscto and other stores all over Portland! If you don't live in Portland, you can buy the products on the Wild Friends website and on Amazon, and it's PRIME eligible!

If you want to follow along with the adventures of these "Wild Friends" check out their blog!  

Splurge vs. Save

Today's splurge vs. save is for all my Portland peeps!

We still have at least a month of summer left, so there are still plenty of opportunities to wear flip flops, and one of my favorite brands is Havaianas.

This Slim pair comes in a variety of colors and sells for $26.00 on Zappos...not super expensive, but I found you a better price! Earlier this week I found the exact pair (offered in pink, gold, turquoise and black) for only $13.00 at Costco!

For anyone interested, I got mine at the Costco by Nike in Beaverton, but I would imagine they are offering them at all stores, maybe even outside Portland!

Here are my new flip flops and freshly painted toes!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Splurge vs. Save

A denim jacket is a necessary staple in every women's closet. It can be worn in any season, and with a variety of outfits. The denim "tuxedo" is currently on trend, so for the time being you can even wear a denim jacket with jeans (gasp)! I had a J Crew denim jacket a number of years ago, but for some reason I never replaced it. There are lots of options out there....Gap, Levi's, premium denim brands, etc, but here is no jacket more traditional in denim than Levi's, so their Trucker Jacket is a perfect choice.

Levi's Authentic Trucker Jacket $78

That said, I didn't have to go to the Levi's store to get my new denim jacket. Instead, a friend tipped me off to Levi's denim jackets at Costco for $24.99! Score! I wore it earlier this week to barre3. Thanks Heather for taking this photo so I could show you what the jacket looks like, and don't mind the Mini behind me. P.S. I think I need an orange wall like that in my house for "what i wore" photos. It's a perfect background!

If you live in Portland, they have the jackets in two colors at the Costco in Beaverton and in Tigard!   Hurry before you miss out on this fantastic deal!