No more Greens with Envy? WHAT!?!?????

Saturdays after teaching my spin class are Trader Joe's grocery days. There's a huge, new TJ's by the gym and I swing by there after class. This morning was not different. Except that I couldn't find my favorite blend of frozen veggies anywhere. Greens with Envy is my favorite blend of frozen veggies ever. Large chunks of broccoli, asparagus spears, crunchy edamame, spinach and green beans. If I had time to mix fresh veggies for myself every day, that's what I'd mix up for sure. But, with a full time job, all of my boys and my family, it's hard to find time!

I asked the cute little TJ's hippie chick for help. In a bubbly, smiley voice she informed that Greens with Envy has been discontinued. I gasped out loud right in front of her and frightened her to bits. She was very concerned.

"What do you mean it's been discontinued? Are you sure? But I have to have some! I need it for my Annie Chun soups. What am I going to do!?"

"I'm so sorry. We're discontinuing all products that we receive from China, but the good news is that we're looking for another distributor so it will be back eventually," she reassures me in her sugar sweet voice.

"When?"

"I'm sorry?"

"When will it be back?"

"Ummm, you know, I'm not sure, but it will be back so that's good."

"But when? I need to know when. Can you find out?"

She's looking at me now as if I'd lost my mind. It's just veggies people, but you don't understand! Two $1.69 bags of those veggies got me through the whole work week with minimal work on my part.

"Well, let me go and check with our order manager. Umm, are you feeling alright? You look a little flushed."

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just finished teaching a spin class so my face is a bit red. I just need to know when, ok? Please? Can you just find out!?" I'm freaking out at this point.

"Ok, ok. I'll be back...," she gives me a concerned look and scurries off.

She disappears for what seems like forever and then comes back to tell the crazy, greens-obsessed lady (that would be ME) that no one knows when Greens with Envy will return since they haven't found a local company who will make it yet. That took the wind out of my sails. Poor little happy hippie chick then proceeds to tell me,

"Well, why don't you buy all those different frozen veggies individually and then mix them together in a Ziploc bag for your very own homemade bag of Greens with Envy?"

I am shocked. Was she serious?

"Well, that just defeats the whole purpose doesn't it?!"

"Huh?"

"Never mind. Thanks for your help."

I sulked off without the two bags of Greens with Envy I usually see in my cart. Boy that sucks! The rest of the shopping trip kind of sucked also since they were temporarily out of stock of my unsweetened soymilk as well as my favorite Pinot Grigio. Harumph.

Anyway, is Annie Chun's company public? If so, I should buy many shares of stock. Seriously! I fill my cart every Saturday with her soups for the work week. So delicious, so healthy and so quick. Perfect for busy days at work. Luckily TJ's was NOT out of Annie Chun's culinary delights today.

We have a fully stocked kitchen at work, so I boil water, add the contents of the soup packet, and then I "doctor" it up my way. I throw in a bunch of frozen veggies (which used to be Greens with Envy and now I don't know what the hell I'm going to do), a few cherry tomatoes, sometimes a few chunks of tofu, sometimes other fresh chopped veggies, and voila! Less than five minutes and lunch is served. The bowl of soup is large, hot, colorful,healthy, filling, and it is sooooo delicious in my tummy.

The sodium content is so low compared to other prepackaged soups, and the bowls are fully biodegradable because they're made of corn husks. At my TJ's they're $1.99 each, which means that I get an awesome lunch for less than $3 including all the other stuff I add to the soup, whereas when I order out for lunch I never spend less than $12 in downtown San Diego. The miso and udon are my favorite flavors. You should try it sometime. I love them.

Laura will appreciate my insatiable addiction to anything containing chocolate and peppermint. TJ's has peppermint chocolate cookies during the holidays and I snagged the LAST two boxes. That should last me a few weeks. If these cookies came around more than once a year I'd be bigger than Santa!
Guess what else I found this week? Andes peppermint crunch candy baking pieces on clearance for $.89 as opposed to $3.49. I bought four bags. Jeezaloo. I may need some psychological peppermint help, no? Anyone have any fabulous recipes? If not I'm eating these straight out of the bag.
I also found two bags of these bad boys on clearance, Hershey's Candy Cane Kisses!!! So creamy and delicious with a strong, spicy taste of peppermint. Ohmigod. Soooo good.
For me, peppermint and chocolate are to Christmas as Candy Corn is to Halloween. I don't know why I didn't make any peppermint desserts this year? Hmmm, maybe it's because I wouldn't have wanted to share them!

A rainy, windy day in San Diego. I loved it. The city just looks fabulous after a good soaking because all the dust is gone. It literally sparkles. People don't realize it, but Southern California is actually a desert and there is always sand and dust coating the buildings and trees.

I spent the day napping on and off, watching football and loading songs on my MP3 player. My Biggest Boy spent the day playing Assassin's Creed on Play Station 3. I snuck up on him and took this picture. Love you baby! :-)

Achilles spent some time roaming house looking for Auntie S. It made me cry. I was pretty emotional last night when she left for the airport. Achilles was beside himself and tried to run after her car as it disappeared down the street. The sight of him trying to catch her car reduced me to a sobbing mess. Poor thing. I wish there were some way we could talk to our dogs. I'd tell Achilles that she'll be back because I'm sure he thinks she's gone forever.

When he didn't find his beloved Auntie S, he decided he'd sleep in her room until she returned. I put down a blankie she used so he could be near her scent. I crawled on my hands and knees to get this shot without waking him. I miss my little sister as much as Achilles. The room feels empty without her.

This is the aerial shot of Achilles in S' room. That blankie has a history. It belongs to Ed from when he was six years old! Wow. It's got the names of all the NFL teams from that decade.
Today the boys were treated to juicy chicken breast that Ed cooked up for them. Achilles recovered enough from his melancholy to return to his favorite place in the house, the kitchen. Ed made my favorite dish, his secret recipe chicken enchilada casserole. He wooed me with this dish in our early months together. It is so damned delicious. I ate two helpings. Mmmm. He saved one of the gargantuan chicken breasts and is shredding it here for our golden babies:
They don't look too eager here, do they? Ha! This picure makes me laugh out loud. My sweet golden babies. Papa bear mixed in a generous amount of chicken with their dinner...
...which then lulled them into a warm, fuzzy food coma. Resting now after their lavish feast...
Today felt like the holiday season had finally come to an end. S returned to Chicago, we're beginning to put decorations away, we're back to work, and life is slowly returning to its quiet, predictable routine.

I had my Saturday spin class for the first time in 3 weeks. My kids in this class are the most outspoken (meaning LOUD) of the three classes I teach. I love that about them! My thighs were really sore from Thursday's spin class, but it felt great to ride again. It being a rainy Saturday in San Diego (gasp!), there were a lot of riders there who normally would have ridden their bikes outdoors. They're fun to have in class with their BRIGHT yellow Lance Armstrong jerseys.

After the dinner I just gobbled on I'm glad I'm back to my normal teaching and workout schedule. We're going to see the 10:20 showing of "Charlie Wilson's War" now. I've been looking forward to this movie. I always get a green tea at the Starbucks by the movie theater, and tonight I have lots of peppermint goodies to enjoy with my hot tea. Ed's calling for me to get ready, so gotta go now...