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Trader Joe's Mahi Mahi Burgers

What to get:
Trader Joe's Mahi Mahi Burgers

Where to get it:
Trader Joe's

Why we approve: Fish is good for you.  It has no nasty ingredients and lots of good-quality protein. Has the coveted Omega 3's we all need, albeit a pretty small quantity as this is a fairly low-fat fish.


Preparation:
Heat oil of your choice in pan. I used coconut oil, but olive oil would be fine. Pan fry until lightly browned on each side--be careful not to overcook.  Easy! Add any vegetable of your choice and you have a great lunch or dinner.  I had two for dinner and was very happy; the picture shows the burger atop a pile of sauteed "broccoslaw". 

Variations: Try with broccoslaw: saute broccoslaw in some coconut oil, add salt and pepper.  Dill seeds or other spices would be nice.
On that note, adding a touch of fish seasoning such as Old Bay seasoning is very tasty. 
If you're a guy, on maintenance, or if this is a post-workout meal, try adding a potato or rice.  Putting the patty on top of Ezekiel Bread, adding tomato and lettuce, is a great meal as well.
One time, I added Trader Joe's frozen Kale along with some other leftover veggies I had in the fridge and ended up chopping up the fish with my spatula since I was kind of in a hurry. Add some soy sauce and you have instant stir fry!

Pros: Nice slug of protein (15 grams per patty), easy to prepare, tasty, gets your servings of fish in.  The Mahi  Mahi is mild and has a good texture, even my fish-hating teenage boy liked this one.

Cons: None really.  Not great for lunch unless you like cold fish or a microwave.

Cashew Kale Chips - a new snack from Trader Joes

What to get: A bag of Kale chips from the packaged snack isle, close to the toasted seaweed
Where to get it: Trader Joe's

Why we approve: we must admit veggie chips are a disappointment 99% of the time, but not this time. The recipe kicks ^$$!. This bag gives you two servings of delicious kale and dried veggies, some cashews and no nasty ingredients. There are not too many calories (150) and plenty of satiating fiber.

Preparation: Open the bag and try not to eat the whole thing. Someone with a sense of humor put a zipper on top to keep it fresh assuming the one who tries this stuff actually has self control. It's crunchy, it's delicious and you won't be sealing the bag so find someone to share it with.

Variations: You can eat this as a snack alongside some blander foods like string cheese or some Greek yogurt, or tuna for that matter. Other than eating it straight from the bag, you can use the chips to top some green salad or as a way to top an appetizer, such as goat cheese bites or roasted stuffed mushrooms. As a meal survivor item, I would pair this with a convenient source of protein: cottage cheese, hard boiled egg, fish...


Pros: This snack saves you a lot of time - just imagine cleaning, drying, and roasting the kale chips, let alone coating them in delicious salty-sour nutty mixture like TJ's have done! No way! This is a great way to get dried veggies in and add crunch to your lunch, snack or salad.

Cons: Most people would frown at the price of 3 + dollars since this bag only has 2 servings. May I kindly remind them that buying kale and adding the other ingredients + time would definitely come up to more than 3 dollars. Yet price is a limiting factor when it's only 2 oz of food. Another negative is that it's hard to stop at just one serving ;) No cons indeed.

Let us know what you think and enjoy!

Trader Joe's Marinated Chipotle Chicken Skewers

A brief note on the label of "paleo" that I added to this one. Yes, it contains canola oil, which isn't "approved" for paleos, but there's only 1g of total fat per skewer, so how much could there really be? The sugar in your paleo-approved dark chocolate or the omega-6s in your almond meal is a bigger health concern than this tiny drip of canola oil... think about that, before you quibble.

Trader Joe's Marinated Chipotle Chicken Skewers

What to get: Trader Joe's Marinated Chipotle Chicken Skewers

Where to get it: Trader Joe's

Why we approve: Easy to cook, versatile, and high in protein. Very few bad guys, and what little there is (canola oil) is very little (only 1g of fat per skewer, which means hardly any oil at all). It doesn't really taste a lot like chipotle, so you can eat it with almost any style of cuisine.

Preparation: It's right on the box; roast them for under 20 minutes at 400 degrees. I also pan fried them in a non-stick skillet (after thawing) and they came out pretty good!

Variations: I ate it with a simple chopped salad and a packet of Wholly Guacamole, from Target.

          Simple Chopped Salad Recipe

          4 small, ripe tomatoes (TJ's Kumatos pictured), chopped

          4 Persian cucumbers, chopped

          1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

          salt to taste 

          Stir all ingredients together before eating.



Cons: A little salty.The picture gives you the idea that you'll get some sort of sauce, but there's no sauce (just chicken skewers).

Pros: Tender and juicy chicken. Fast and easy to cook. Goes well with almost any veggies and starches. Doesn't come with any horrible, bad-guy laden sauce.

Enjoy!

Flat iron steak and veggies from New Seasons Market

What to get: A quart of steamed mixed veggies and flat iron steak with herb salsa verde
Where to get it: New Seasons Market, Portland and around

This is another guest post, and we thank our good friend, fitness trainer, Chris Bathke, for the contribution. Chris is a super busy guy, owner of the Elemental Fitness Lab, who has a super active lifestyle and has learned how to be a real meal survivor.
We love the freshly made organic food at New Seasons Market and we are glad that Chris keeps sharing delicious meals from there that are also fast and convenient.

Why we approve: Chris chose mixed steamed veggies and steak - a high protein, well balanced meal, with the carbs coming from veggies - that would be a great choice if you are on a fat loss diet.

Preparation: none is necessary, just open the package and enjoy :)

Variations: You can choose to add potatoes  or rice, or a corn tortilla, if you just had a hard workout and if you have space for carbs in your menu

Pros: quick, delicious and fast, rich in protein, 15$ for two people

Cons: I really cannot think of any :)

For anyone who lives in Oregon, know we are jealous you have New Seasons Market.  Enjoy!

Wholly Guacamole at Target

What to get: Wholly Guacamole, box of six 2oz packets (also available as one large family size packet)

Where to get it: Target Stores (and Fresh & Easy, too).

Each box contains six of these packets

Why we approve: Guacamole is almost pure avocado, and super healthy. Guacamole makes almost anything taste better, including leftover chicken and raw veggies!

Preparation: Just tear open a packet and squeeze the guac onto your food or plate.  

Variations: Great on meat, chicken, veggies, or eggs. It takes everything to the next level. Guacamole should be enjoyed with breakfast foods, lunch foods, snack foods, and dinner foods!

Pros: Avocado is a practically a superfood. A measured amount means controlling portions and calories is easy. Vacuum sealed packets keep it fresh and green. Just enough salt and peppery zing. 100 calories is more than you expect. As you can see in the above picture, it's quite a little blob of awesome.
Cons: More expensive than making your own, but still not bad. Garlicy...

Enjoy!

Bumble Bee Premium Wild Pink Salmon Packets

What to get: a packet of Bumble Bee Wild Pink Salmon
Where to get it: your local supermarket chain

Why we approve: It's ridiculously convenient to open a packet of salmon and eat it. This salmon is a name brand so it can be found virtually anywhere and for under 4 dollars you get a pretty good serving. The whole packet has almost 30 grams of protein and only 120 calories, which leaves you a lot of space to combine it with other things. 

Preparation: Just open the packet and place the meat on top of your salad, inside a wrap or on your plate. 

Variations: You can make a salad: choose your base: lettuce, spinach or arugula, add the salmon on top, and then finish with a handful of nuts, seeds, or some Parmesan cheese. In the picture below I mixed romaine hearts, one packet pink salmon, 1 oz cheddar cheese, topped it with sundried tomatoes and made a quick dressing from 1 tbsp mustard and 1 tbsp sour cream with a touch of lemon. You can also make a wrap, using some cheese slices and sprouts, or you can just enjoy the salmon with some baby carrots on the side. For paleo minded folk, salmon would be great with a handful of nuts.

Pros: very quick way to get protein, low in calories. Great if you are on a fat loss diet. Extremely satisfying for the calories it contains. Good source of Omega 3s.
Cons: you have to mix it with something to make a complete meal. It's fast if you just add nuts or string cheese, slower if you choose to do a salad or sandwich.

Let me know how you salmon :)

Trader Joe's Salmon Burgers

What to get: A box of Trader Joe's Frozen Salmon Burgers (box of 4)
Where to get it: Trader Joe's

 

Why we approve: The salmon burgers have a modest amount of ingredients and they provide a very good amount of protein and calories: two patties will give you 220 calories and 30 grams of protein. Two of these patties with a small side salad are surprisingly satisfying.

 

Preparation: Cook the patties from frozen. Heat the pan and gently coat it with either light olive oil or expeller pressed coconut oil (tasteless). Let them cook for 7-8 minutes per side.

Variations: You can serve these with a side salad, with steamed vegetables or with a dash of Parmesan cheese. Feel free to add extra lemon pepper as these are just fish, not seasoned with anything.

Pros: These are low calorie, high protein and taste good. These are great if you are the only fish eater when everyone else is eating burgers and you don't feel like beef.

Cons: I can't see how these are better in any way than just having fish. We really don't know what natural flavor is, so while these are very easy, maybe you can opt for fish instead. 

Trader Joe's Frozen Turkey Burgers (and green beans)

What to get: A box of Trader Joe's Frozen Turkey Patties (box of 4), a bag of Trader Joe's frozen green beans

Where to get it: Trader Joe's

Why we approve: The turkey burgers have few ingredients; just turkey and spices. The green beans are just green beans, already cut to a nice length, and cook up nice and crisp.

Green beans are green beans

Turkey burger ingredients

Turkey burger nutrition

Preparation: Both can be cooked from frozen. The turkey patties were cooked on a hot skillet and were still pretty juicy after cooking. The green beans were steamed, then tossed with Himalayan salt and lemon zest (dried lemon peel from Penzley's, in this case).

Variations: You can eat it just like a burger. I had two for dinner with some TJ's pesto, a salad, and steamed veggies. Awesome.

Pros: The turkey has lots of protein, low calorie, no bad guys, tastes good to me (Roland). The green beans are as good as fresh and better than canned. I will buy these again! Both are extremely cost effective. Quite a deal!

Cons: Galya didn't really like the turkey, but love the green beans. She claimed they had a weird aftertaste, but I just think they taste like turkey burgers. I will buy them again. Cons of the beans? None.

Note: I marked this as both paleo and vegetarian, but you'll have to think; the turkey is paleo and the green beans are vegetarian and paleo enough for me (green beans are mostly pod and hardly any bean).

Chub Rub Meatloaf

Chub Rub Meatloaf – A little play on words as I experiment with this super easy meatloaf.

chub rub meatloaf

What to get: One 3 pound chub of 80% or 85% lean beef, spice rub or dry rub


Where to get it: your close to home chain-type supermarket


Why we approve: This meatloaf takes very little hands on time to make days worth of leftovers.

You may notice that I'm about to, yet again, deviate from our standard Meal Survivor format. That's because this time I'm going to cook something. But, I'm going to cook it using the Meal Survivor methods of using things that you can easily purchase, making your healthy eating easy and convenient!

There's nothing less convenient to me than mixing ground meat in a bowl. As much as I love meatballs and meatloaf, I hate to squish the ground meat around with my fingers. Hate it. I pondered this fact as I held a full 3lb chub of ground beef in my hands at the supermarket. If I really bought something this big, I'd almost have to get my hands dirty.

Or would I?

Could I not apply the same dry rub principal that we often use for steaks and roasts to an entire, unadulterated chub of ground beef? Perhaps...

What's a chub?

What is a chub, anyway? It's this...

economical 85% and 80% lean beef chubs

They also come in 70% lean at one extreme and 90% and 97% at the other. I never buy the leaner ones because they are too expensive and dry out when cooking. The 70% one just sounds gross. I already get a lot of fat from the 85% lean beef!

I typically buy the 80% for burgers and meatloaf because it tends to stay more moist, but if the 85% is a better deal (on sale) I'll pick that one up, instead. In this case, I believe the 80% was $8.99 for 3lbs, while the 85% was $12.99.

Nutritionally, they aren't dramatically different, especially when you see how much of the 80% beef's fat renders out.

80% lean beef

85% lean beef

And remember, the slightly fattier beef tends to stay more moist during cooking.


What's a rub?

A rub or dry rub is a mixture of spices that you rub (of course) over the meat. You let it sit on the meat for several hours to "all day long" absorbing the flavor into the interior of the meat.

You can buy many ready to use rubs at the supermarket.

rubs, galore

BAM!

Just beware the use of MSG (monosodium glutamate) and other strange ingredients like "natural flavor" and Red Dye #40, neither of which are natural. I would say that 75% of the dry rubs in the supermarket were filled with this type of junk.

Emeril's Essence, while not actually labeled a rub, is a good choice, as are several of his bottled rubs.

granulated and powdered spices are still spices

Strangely, also decent were the high end "store" brand rubs, while the perceived high end rubs of the major labels were filled with fake stuff and artificial flavor enhancers.

A note about salt. Salt is not to be feared in these rubs, in fact if you don't get one with salt already in it, you're going to have to salt your meatloaf yourself. Salt is essential to keeping a meatloaf moist. Really! It's science! You didn't know that? Now you do, so use salt.


Chub Rub Meatloaf

Makes 3 lbs of meatloaf, or 9-12 servings

Ingredients

3 pound chub of 80 or 85% lean ground beef
table salt (nothing fancy)
spice rub

Directions

Carefully unwrap the chub by slitting the package lengthwise and peeling it off. Sprinkle the chub with salt and the rub, using your hands to make sure it's covered evenly. Some of the rub will fall off onto the work surface, so don't be afraid to roll the chub around to pick up the those spices!

Loosely wrap the rubbed chub in some plastic wrap or foil, place it on a platter, and stick it in the fridge. Let it rest (and the rub do it's work) for several hours or all day.  This is important for both flavor and moistness. Time is of the essence! ...Emeril's Essensce, in this case! ;)

rubbed chub

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Place the unwrapped chub on a baking pan or cast iron skillet and bake for about 90 minutes. If a tube shaped meatloaf is weird to you, then feel free to flatten it a bit before cooking.

ready for the oven

I inserted a meat thermometer into one of the ends of the loaf and cooked it until it was about 140° F. After a few minutes out of the oven, the temp was up to 150°. It was certainly done, but still a bit pink inside, which kept it moist. If you like it more cooked, then give it more time.

By the way, never cut right into a meatloaf after pulling it from the oven. Always let meat "rest" for 15-20 minutes before cutting into it, otherwise the juices will flow out onto the cutting board and all your careful salting will have been in vain.

ready to eat

Variations: Eat it cold or reheat it in the microwave. If you're on a higher fat diet, please try pan frying the slices in a little bit of oil or fat. Try topping it with salsa or a tapenade instead of the typical ketchup.


Pros: high in meat and protein. Easy. Lots of leftovers. Meatloaf seems to be one of those foods that's even good cold.


Cons: if you don't salt it enough on the outside, the inside can be bland. Because you don't kneed the meat into a loaf, the inside texture can be a little crumbly in spots. Not bad, just inconsistent. It's a big tube of cooked meat, and might seem weird, although you can flatten it out a bit before cooking if you like.

Leftover salmon veggie scramble

What to get: frozen salmon fillets, onions, cherry tomatoes, baby carrots
Where to get it: Trader Joe's or your local grocery store
Why we approve: cooking salmon in bulk and having some leftover enables you to make a quick and nutrient rich meal in a matter of minutes

Preparation: to bulk cook your salmon, defrost by leaving it in the fridge for a day or outside in a bowl for a couple of hours. Take out, season with salt and pepper, and cook in a pan over medium heat for 15 minutes. You should have beautiful salmon to leave in the fridge to top salads, include in sandwiches and mixes. It should last for 3-4 days in an air tight container.

To make this recipe for 1 I used:

1 salmon fillet, precooked
1/2 white onion
1 cup baby carrots
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes
1 tbsp olive oil 
a few sprigs fresh thyme from our balcony

Use a cast iron pan to heat up the oil and cook the onions until translucent. Add the carrots and cherry tomatoes and cook for an additional 10 minutes. You can add some salt to taste and cover the vegetables for another 5 minutes. Once everything is soft and the onion looks like it's caramelized, you can add the salmon, cut in strips, and the thyme, and stir in. Turn off the heat and let everything cool off for a few minutes. Serve by itself or with a touch of guacamole or sour cream.

Variations: You can use any vegetable you like, such as zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower or green beans or snap peas. See what's in your refrigerator and use it without hesitation.

Pros: very easy to prepare, rich in protein and good fats, abundant in fresh vegetables and fiber
Cons: you still need to have precooked salmon. This may work with canned, but I haven't given it a try.

Let me know how you cook your left over salmon?

Stuffed Cucumbers

What to buy: Persian cucumbers, canned salmon, avocado, lemon pepper
Where to buy: Trader Joe's or get the cucumbers at your local farmers' market
Why we approve: This quick to make meal is packed with protein and healthy fat and provides a good amount of fiber.

Preparation:
Open the can and pour the excess liquid.  Depending on how big of a can you bought go for 2 servings (26 grams of protein) or 3 or 4 if your target weight is higher. Mix in half an avocado, season with lemon pepper and a touch of lime juice and you are ready with the stuffing. Cut two or more Persian cucumbers and gently core them to make space for the stuffing. Distribute stuffing and enjoy!

Variations:
You can get braver and add a touch of Tabasco sauce to hive heat to this meal. If you are eating it post workout and need some carbs it will be very nicely paired with a baked potato. You can also use the stuffing and cut up cucumbers inside and roll all of that up in a tortilla.

Pros: high protein, healthy fats
Cons: the fish comes from a can, but at least it's wild salmon, fishy aftertaste which some people may not enjoy but is easily remedied with an apple or other crisp fruit or vegetable

Tuna in red panang curry sauce

What to buy: Tuna in red panang curry sauce
Where to buy: Trader Joe's
Why we approve: 26g protein, coconut milk is a healthy fat, delicious, only 240 calories per package
Preparation: Cut open the pouch, pour into a bowl, and microwave OR do the "boil in bag" thing with the pouch. Alternately, eat it at room temperature (my favorite temperature)
Variations: Stir in an addition can of tuna (drained, please) when you need more protein. Add in chopped summer squash or zucchini for a one dish meal. Garnish with coconut milk or coconut cream when you're looking to add some extra healthy fats. Need carbs, looks like the box suggests some rice, but I'll take some tropical fruit after lunch. Mango, anyone?

Like the Green Curry version, this packaged meal from Trader Joe's can be found in their boxed meal isle, close to tapenades, olives and some sauces. This is the red curry version, with plenty of coconut milk flavor, a little heat, and a nice dose of ginger. It's got enough tuna to make me happy, too.

For some strange reason, the red is supposed to be spicier than the green, but we don't find that to be the case. The type of hot is different, but the green actually burns more. However, neither is particularly spicy by my standards, and I can eat either one and train immediately. That's not hot in my book!

I love this red curry, and keep boxes in my cupboard at all times, going through at least 2-3 per week! Love it!

pros

• Only 240 calories
• 26g protein
• delicious
• coconut milk = tasty
• good eaten at room temperature
• you can put it on the dashboard and heated up in the sun on a hot day
• spicy, but not too spicy

cons

• the mere presence of mung bean may make the paleos avoid this, which is a shame. What's a little legume between friends?
• tearing open the packet can get a little messy, so careful not to splash red on your lily white shirt
• a little hot. Not to me, but your mileage may vary

Sparkling ice tea

What to buy: tea in bags, sparkling water
Where to buy: your closest grocery store
Why we approve: it has zero calories and is more refreshing than regular ice tea

On a hot day, we all want to reach for some soda. For a lot of us, even the diet varieties are off the list as they trigger unwanted sugar cravings. At a restaurant, I will often order unsweetened ice tea or sparkling water, but I recently discovered, that making my own ice tea at home was easy and convenient.

Preparation:
To make ice tea, I normally boil 4 cups of water and then soak 4 tea bags for about 10 minutes. I take them out and then keep the thick tea in the fridge. When I feel like it, I just use a few cubes of ice in a glass and fill it up with the tea - there you have it - delicious and refreshing.

This weekend I thought, why not add just a bit of ice tea and fill up the rest with sparkling water? The result was amazing - bubbly, touching your tongue with coolness and very very satisfying. I used cinnamon spice tea, so it was even slightly exotic. For those of you who need sweetener - honey, maple syrup or Stevia (leaves or powder) will all do just fine! If your goal is fat loss, stick to Stevia, if you are maintaining you can be a little bit more liberal and spend your calories on some of the other sweet flavorings.

Enjoy your hot summer days with a glass of sparkling ice tea and let us know what you think!

Variations: Feel free to add lemon. lime, orange or graperfuit, as well as vanilla extract, honey, maple syrup or Stevia 

Pros: refreshing, easy to make and zero calories, unless you add sweetener
Cons: you might like your sparkling drinks a lot sweeter, it works for me

Chicken sausage

What to buy: misc chicken sausages
Where to buy: Trader Joe's

Up on the top shelf in the meat section, Trader Joe's has ten or so sausage choices. They are all precooked, and I think they are all chicken-based sausages. But, even those who don't dig chicken should dig these, as they are more sausage tasting than chicken tasting.


My family has tried most of them, but these two are our favorites, but there's also a tasty basil version that you should try. I really like the apple ones, but my son thought it was weird to find pieces of apple in the sausage. However, if that's your thing, eat up.


The packs of sausages are 4 or 5 to a package, and are each 12oz, which is about 2-3 servings. Grab a few and mix and match to make the family happy. There are sweet, fruity, garlicy, and spicy ones to try, so have a field day!

Sweet Italian

Sun-Dried Tomato

These sausages are all pre-cooked, so you only need to reheat them on the grill or in a pan, but they do grill up nicely!


I like to serve sausage with simple cut up veggies, like Persian cucumbers, bell peppers, and grape tomatoes, but you can also go for a simple chopped veggie salad, if you like.


All of these sausages are pretty low in fat, so you may have to serve with some avocado to get what you need in that department.

Serve sausages with mustard. I prefer yellow.