Resources: Trader Joe's

Trader Joe's is a grocery store I became accustomed to when I lived in California.  So, when I was visiting these last couple weeks I stopped into many a location to stock up on food for my travels.  Luckily for us Trader Joe's is not just limited to SoCal anymore but unfortunately for myself, Colorado is not yet a future site for one.  For all of you fortunate primal eaters with a location near you, here is a mini-review of some of the products they have in stock that suit our needs.

These are just the items I saw at the Southern California location I was near.  There may be more available at the location near you.  Please share with us what you find!

*organic chicken
*Applegate Farms grass-fed beef hot dogs
*organic leafy greens, herbs, and various fruits/veggies
*wild salmon
*Kerrygold butters and cheeses
*raw milk cheese and/or grassfed milk cheese
*raw milk (yes, lucky Californians can buy it at the store)
*organic condiments
*nut and seed butters
*stevia (only the extract has no other added ingredients)
*raw nuts (the roasted have rice-bran oil or other undesirable ingredients)
*73% chocolate bars that contain no soy  (only $1.99! YAY!)

Beware the dried berries- I made the mistake of buying them before reading that they have added sugar...

I had a major sugar-crash after.  Yikes!  Always READ THE LABELS to make sure!

If you don't have a location near you send an email to the company or keep them in mind when you are traveling.  To download a list of all there locations click here.

Almond Flour

Almond flour is practically in everything primal and it doesn't come cheap in your local health food store.  I vaguely remember it being as much as $12 for a pound of Bob's Red Mill brand.  Well I am going to share with you an incredible money saver for almond flour.  I get mine through my workplace (a bakery/candy shop) that orders their candy from a candy/nut supplier.  Those of you who live in Denver might be completely unaware of Jerry's Nut House.  It is not listed on their website but they do have almond meal, blanched and un-blanched.  I made the mistake of getting un-blanched one time and got yelled at because it is a tiny bit more bitter with the skin on.  However, I still use it and the only difference is it's just more nutty in the recipes.  Since it is not necessarily a publicly available product, I can't predict what they will charge for their minimum order of 20 lbs.  If you are lucky, it could be as little as $100.  You do the math, that is dirt cheap and our 20 lbs lasts us about 4-6 months with frequent baking.
For those who do not live in Denver, do a little internet research and see if you can find a candy/nut supplier near you.  If they don't sell to the public, see what kind of arrangement you can come to.  Maybe if a couple people get together and want to buy a couple of boxes, they could be persuaded.  And don't forget, get the blanched!

Mexican seasoning

Combine:

1 tbs chili powder

2 tbsp cumin

2 tbsp coriander

2 tbsp ground dry oregano leaves

1 tbsp ground dry thyme leaves

1 tbsp garlic powder 
3/4 tsp cayenne

*The majority of these spices are the Organic Spices available at our local health food store, Natural Grocers.

Coffee

There are 3 coffee roasters that I am a huge fan of and I consider myself something of a coffee snob. Coffee is not only something I drink everyday but something I definitely think should be in the pantry for all kinds of cooking. It brings out the flavor of chocolate, deepens the flavors of chili and stews and is the perfect primal cooking substitute for Worcestershire. The brand of coffee I use only matters because I am drinking it and don't like the cheap stuff. If you are not drinking it and just cooking with it, you can use whatever kind you want. Brew up a pot, put it in a bottle with a stopper and save it for cooking in the fridge. I am particular to the espresso blends because I would rather brew espresso and judge my coffee from these. On a side note, for those of you who have never been a barista, you can brew the same beans for coffee, espresso, Turkish coffee, toddy, etc... The only difference is how the bean is ground and the coffee is extracted.

My favorite Colorado brand is the NOVO espresso blend.

My favorite California brand comes from a roaster whom I worked with, KEAN.

Of course, if you ever get to Portland you will be referred to Stumptown Roasters. It is well worth the hype. You can order their espresso blend online, called Hairbender. You can even sign up for a monthly subscription to their beans.

Blackening seasoning

This is definitely a staple in my pantry and runs out pretty quickly when it is out on the counter. Several of my recipes will use this because it is great on everything. I generally just eyeball the amounts of each spice, but here are the specifics:

Blackening Seasoning

1 tbs paprika

2 tsp sea salt

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

2 tsp black pepper

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp ground oregano

*The majority of these are the organic spices offered at our local health food store, Natural Grocers.

Crème fraiche

I generally don't follow recipes exactly when I am experimenting in the kitchen which causes problems if I want to recreate something again later. It also makes it a little more difficult for me to get things written down to share with others. Then again, that is another purpose for this blog. Needless to say, I can't exactly remember where I read about making your own Crème fraiche. But between a magazine article and some different recipes found online I gathered that if I just put 4 tablespoons of high quality organic cultured buttermilk into a mason jar with a pint of organic heavy cream, let it sit covered (with a paper towel) on a countertop until the same time the next day, lo and behold... I have crème fraiche.
I told a friend of mine that I made my own hollandaise with my homemade crème fraiche and she asked "What is crème fraiche?" I said "fresh cream." This made her feel a little stupid because she thought it was something more elaborate and fancy than that. I told her that it is fancy and that's all there is to it because I don't really know what all the hubbub is about, except that it is expensive, hard to find and tastes amazingly fancy!