In March, I got this crazy idea to try and follow a Mediterranean Diet as best as we could to help promote heart health. So, overall, this Trader Joe’s haul was actually quite healthy! I focused a lot on vegetables, seafood, grains, and lower fat dairy products to try and kickstart this way of eating for a bit. We are always interested in trying new ways of eating. Sometimes it sticks, sometimes it doesn’t! But, I do love the thought of a Mediterranean-style diet and try to eat that way a lot of the time without even really trying.
This haul was a also little lighter since I had plans to head to Maui for several days to visit my family! I left my husband stocked with a few items to cook up for himself.
Haul Date: March 20, 2021
Haul Cost: $183.14 (Woohoo! Under $200!)
NEW ITEMS
NEW items are marked accordingly in my post, and I’ll be reviewing them in a separate monthly recap post. This goes for new items to the store, and new-to-me items that I will be trying for the first time!
Meal Plans
I do keep other ingredients on hand to incorporate with these meals, which I detail in the sections below. Some ingredients are also leftover from my previous haul(s), so I try to make good use of the rest of my items to eliminate as much food waste as I can.
Here’s what I planned for this haul:
BREAKFASTS
- Pizza Egg Bites w/ Mushrooms & Chicken Sausage
- Frittata with Veggies & Goat Cheese
- Yogurt, Berries & Almonds
LUNCHES
- Chicken Caesar Flatbread Sandwiches
- Italian Salad with Beans
- Black Bean & Couscous Salad with Lime Chicken
DINNERS
We do cook three meals a week with Blue Apron and tend to order takeout at least once a week, so these meals are meant to be in addition to those.
- Chicken Shawarma Rice Bowls
- Jalapeno Popper Chicken Bake
Beverages
Keepin’ it simple with the drinks this haul! But I’m always grabbing something sparkling. It makes life more exciting!
- Sparkling Yerba Mate (basically sparkling tea of my favorite variety – not sweet)
- Lemon & Ginger Seltzer Water
Pizza Egg Bites
I had some leftover pizza sauce from the last round of egg bites, so I thought I’d change it up with different additions to the pizza egg bites.
Ingredients Bought: Mushrooms, bell pepper, and cream cheese
Ingredients on Hand: Farm fresh eggs, mozarella cheese, pizza sauce, and sundried tomato chicken sausage
Spoiler: These were not as good as the pepperoni bites! The combo of the mushrooms and the bell pepper made them too watery. Oops!
Goat Cheese & Veggie Frittata
I like making frittatas ahead of time to heat up for breakfasts throughout the week. Just cut a slice, and zap in the microwave for a minute and you’re good to go! For my frittatas, I caramelize the onions, sauté the mushrooms and asparagus, and wilt the spinach before mixing it all together with the eggs and cheese. I’ve found goat cheese adds a nice richness and pop of flavor. Feta would also be great too!
Ingredients Bought: Yellow onion, asparagus, spinach, mushrooms, and goat cheese
Ingredients on Hand: Farm fresh eggs
Bean Salads
A Mediterranean diet focuses a lot on veggies and whole grains, including beans (legumes). For some of my husband’s lunches, I bought these types of ingredients to throw together some hearty bean salads!
For some extra protein, you could easily add some canned tuna or grilled chicken breast!
Ingredients Bought: Romaine lettuce, tomatoes, black olives, kidney beans, garbanzo beans, marinated artichoke hearts, and balsamic vinaigrette dressing.
Ingredients on Hand: Red onion
Chicken Caesar Flatbread Sandwiches
Chicken Caesar flatbread “sandwiches” are one of my favorite tasty new lunches to throw together. With these simple ingredients from Trader Joe’s, this makes for one easy lunch!
Ingredients Bought: Whole wheat Middle Eastern flatbread (the regular flatbread is also amazing), grilled chicken breast strips, parmesan cheese blend, and Romaine lettuce
Ingredients on Hand: Trader Joe’s Caesar dressing
Black Bean & Couscous Salad w/ Chicken
One of my all-time favorite salads to make is Black Bean & Couscous Salad. I found it on the internet years ago and have modified it a bit over time to adjust to my liking! There are so many flavors going on with fresh lime juice and cumin, and a nice crunch from fresh veggies. It’s great to make ahead for lunches (and even a hit at potlucks!).
Ingredients Bought: Chicken breast, couscous, black beans, cilantro, bell peppers, red onion, jalapeno, and limes
Ingredients on Hand: Olive oil, cumin, salt and pepper (for the dressing)
Chicken Shawarma Bowls
For one of our dinners, I planned for Chicken Shawarma Bowls with Brown Rice since I had an extra pack of the marinated thighs in the freezer. These bowls are filling and healthy, and combine a lot of really great Mediterranean and Middle Eastern flavors!
Ingredients Bought: Hummus, Vegan Tzatziki Dip (NEW to store!), feta cheese, red onion, cucumber, and tomatoes
Ingredients on Hand: Chicken Shawarma thighs (frozen) & brown rice
Jalapeno Popper Chicken
Jalapeno popper chicken is one of my husband’s favorite meals from when he was on the keto diet. Since neither he nor I are doing any type of keto eating, I decided to get some low fat cream cheese and shredded cheese (instead of the high fat regular dairy items).
This is a relatively simple dish where the chicken is baked with the cream cheese, cheese, and sliced jalapenos. He usually puts riced broccoli down as a base underneath the chicken to soak up all the flavors too.
Ingredients Bought: Chicken breast, shredded cheese, cream cheese, jalapenos and broccoli (for a side dish)
Frozen Seafood
A Mediterranean diet really focuses a lot on fresh seafood for protein, so while I didn’t have anything specific planned for the seafood I bought, I stocked up for future meals just in case:
- Langostino Tails (these make really great “lobster” rolls, or taste amazing sautéed in garlic butter and served over mashed cauliflower for a low carb meal)
- Wild Caught Mahi Mahi fillets
- Wild Caught Alaskan Cod fillets
Yogurt & Berries
Yogurt with berries and almond slivers has become a great go-to breakfast for me to prep for my husband. I am generally not a huge yogurt fan, but we both really like the Vanilla Greek Yogurt from Trader Joe’s. It does have a bit of added sugar in it, so if you’re super concerned about sugar intake, stick with the plain yogurt.
Blackberries (or any berries for that matter) are some of our favorite fruits and make a great yogurt topping!
Items Bought:
- Nonfat Greek Vanilla Yogurt
- Fresh blackberries
- Raw sliced almonds
Healthy Snacks
In trying to keep the snacks on the healthier side, here’s what I got for this haul:
- Vegan Tzatziki Dip (NEW to store!) to eat with sliced cucumber
- Hummus to eat with sliced cucumber
- Dried apricots
- Dill pickles (anyone else a big fan of snacking on dill pickles?!)
- Salsa for snacking with blue corn tortilla chips
- Almond butter for snacking with rice cakes that I got from Sprouts
Treats for Family
Since I was heading to Hawaii shortly after this haul, I thought I would pick up some treats to take home to my family since there are no Trader Joe’s stores there. I grabbed the EBTB nuts for my mom, and the Spicy Mochi Rice Nuggets and Scandinavian Swimmers for my brother. The Swimmers are one of my favorite sugary treats from Trader Joe’s, and my brother loves them too!
All Purpose Cleaner
Last up in this haul was a nice new bottle of my go-to cleaning spray. Love this stuff to clean everything in my house!
And that’s it for this Mediterranean-inspired Trader Joe’s haul! Any ideas or suggestions for Mediterranean-focused meals you could send my way? Drop me a comment below!
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