Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Can you hear it? That RETAIL BEAT?!

It's been far too long since I've offered a new edition of The Retail Beat. Given that these endless days of April rain don't make for happy blog fodder (unless you like whining), I've opted to share some recent favorite products we are enjoying Casa MEP. It may be wet at the playground, but it's generally dry inside the grocery store.
Here goes:
Hot and Sweet Mustard from Trader Joe's: It's hot. It's sweet. I find it adds a pleasant zing to my sandwiches. And if a pretzel happened to fall into some of this mustard, well, I'd be happy to rescue that pretzel.
Breakstone's Zesty Blends Roasted Garlic & Herb Sour Cream: First, roast some potatoes. Then, dip them in this sour cream. Repeat. Potato chips would do in a pinch. This "zesty blend" was a recent and pleasant discovery at the Jewel. I also noted that there was a Chipotle blend, and I think I remember seeing a Jalapeno one as well. Was BOGO the day I was there, NTB, so I bought one of the roasted garlic and one plain reduced-fat.
Method Wood for Good: If you are lucky enough to have a dining room table that is used daily for meals and snacks and doubles as a "home office" for two adults, you might find yourself needing to wipe that table down multiple times a day. That chore is a pleasure with Method Wood for Good. Feels more cleaning-ish than typical, foamy dusting spray and has the most awesome almond scent that even my husband has favorably commented upon. I buy mine at Target, but I think other stores carry Method as well.
WARNING!!!! I am a big fan of Method cleaning products, but I recently tried two different varieties of the Antibac cleaner. I'm usually in the "if you can't say anything nice ..." camp, but in case any of you go hunting down Wood for Good, I want to suggest you skip the Antibac. It probably gets things very clean and sanitizes well and all, but it does NOT smell good. I like cleaning products to smell good.
Let's get back to food now.
Trader Joe's Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Spread: A facebook friend mentioned her love for this product in a status update, and I knew I'd have to track it down. Lucky for me, Trader Joe's is five minutes from my house and one minute from Bub's school. This peanut butter cream cheese is delicious. Dip some pretzel twists in it, and you have an ideal sweet and salty snack. I made some brownies last week and covered them with chocolate frosting. When, as I was falling asleep that night, I realized that I could have covered them in a layer of peanut butter cream cheese and then the frosting, I wanted to kick myself. Next time.
Ben and Jerry's Late Night Snack: I don't watch late-night television so I missed the announcement of this Jimmy Fallon-inspired ice cream. I heard about it at the hair salon, checked for it every grocery store trip for five weeks, and finally found it this past weekend. Let me walk you through it: vanilla bean ice cream, salted caramel swirls, and chunks of chocolate-covered potato chip. Get. Right. Out. Of. Town.
On a semi-related topic, I'm curious to know if anyone has a "healthy lifestyle" plan that is working for them these days?* And, of course, any favorite things in your house? Please share in the comments.



*Moderation does not tend to work for me. I need some rules.

DISCLAIMER: I paid for all of these products with my own money and am writing about them because I thought you might be interested. I was not asked to write about them or compensated in any way to endorse them.

10 comments:

Stacia said...

You had me at the mustard. And chocolate-covered potato chips? Hello! As for moderation, let me know if you figure it out. I bought half-off Easter candy at Target today, and I will not tell you how much is left. At least my stomach is back in working order. I deserved a treat after my weekend, right?? Yes, yes, I did.

Michelle said...

I was dying to try Late Night Snack. The husband ran out to get it for me one night, it was to be THE perfect pregnancy ice cream salty, sweet, chocolate, potato chips... but somewhere it went a little wrong in the salt department in my opinion. And this is coming from a salt lover. I was disappointed!

E... said...

The mustard looks delish. Wish Trader Joes was closer to me, and that they didn't have a "processed with nuts" disclaimer on most of their products. I have been dipping into a similar mustard product -- Horlacher's brand. Love it with my honey wheat pretzel braids.

I also recently discovered the Tostito's Artisan tortilla chips, and have abandoned moderation with the black bean garlic flavor on multiple occasions.

Heather said...

Just started the Abs Diet (get the book, it works, I promise). I did it four years ago and had great results, but somewhere with going back to college and working tons of night shifts, those pounds just crept right back on. Anyway, I don't think any of the foods listed here (except the mustard) would be on this diet...sorry to say. Big emphasis on protein and exercises, notsomuch ice cream and cream cheese :)

PITA said...

i have heard other positive feedback about the peanut butter cream cheese. if only we had a trader joe's. i am going to try the Method wood cleaner though.

Steph said...

Might have to try that ice cream!

Unknown said...

It all looks amazing, but too bad it's only a temptation and not a possibility. ;-(

Teachinfourth said...

Trader Joe's?

You don't need to say another word...

Anonymous said...

LOVE!!!! the method wood cleaner. thanks for the introduction. m

Honeybee said...

Late night snack? Yummy, but they are not available here =(
P/s: Four Superfoods That Make You Lose Weight Fast

 
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