Gotta Love Costco!

Oh yes, we ventured out to Costco today. It was our last stop after our yummy breakfast, jog at the park and a visit to see my friends and colleagues at the school where I used to teach PE. Oh, how I miss them (and having a full-time secure job and consistent paycheck), but nothing beats waking up to the sound of my boys laughing and talking across the room at each other and the joy of knowing that I get to spend the day with them. I LOVE walking into their room and seeing their smiling faces in the morning. And yeah, the three of us have a dance party pretty much every morning. It was a really hard decision for me to take a leave of absence from teaching full-time, but I really feel like everyday at home with my boys is such a blessing!!!!! I am soooo lucky!

This morning I didn’t just feel lucky, I was HUNGRY!!!!!! Last night’s dinner  (Progresso chicken vegetable rotini soup with added chicken, spinach and crushed red pepper)

and Golden Spoon (yes, there are 4 flavors in there)

left me wanting (needing) a serious breakfast. I went for a variation of Peanut Butter Banana French Toast Bake. Instead of using peanut butter, I used some of this

and holy cow it was DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!!!

SunButter Banana French Toast

• 2 slices whole grain bread
• 1/2 cup egg substitute
• a little vanilla soymilk
• 1 splenda packet
• cinnamon to taste
• a little vanilla
• 1 banana- thinly sliced
• about a tbsp. sunflower butter

Beat together egg substitute, soymilk, splenda, cinnamon and vanilla. Dip one piece of bread in mixture and place in a ramekin sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Top with sunflower butter and 1/2 the banana slices. Soak the other piece of bread in leftover egg mixture and place on top. Pour any remaining mixture over both pieces of bread. Top with the other half of the banana slices. Cook at 375 for 20 minutes or until the top starts to brown. Oh man this is YUM-MY!

One for the boys

and one for me.

Sooooo good drizzled with a little sugar free maple syrup (the boys just eat theirs plain and if you use really ripe bananas you don’t even need syrup).

Mmmm……

Costco was…… um…….

fun? This was BEFORE we went in and yeah, that about sums up how it went inside too. The boys had one major meltdown after the smoothie samples spilled all over (shirts, cart, etc.). Why in the heck did I think they would be able to drink out of those cheap Dixie cups? I am NOT the sharpest tool in the shed sometimes.

Anyway….. thought I’d share some Costco favorites. There really are so many things that I buy on a regular basis, but here are the frequent stops:

Oops- a quick return first. Long line to return a box of Bisquick for $5. I have problems. Okay, on to the shopping….

Romaine- cut it, spin it, store it in the fridge like I posted for my Best Ever Ginger Wasabi Green Salad.

Spinach- add it to smoothies, pastas, egg whites, soups, etc. LOVE it!!

Broccoli- Steam it, use it in smoothies, add it to salads, etc.

Egg substitute- we always have this on hand. EASY eggs for any recipe, scrambled eggs, egg mugs, French toast,  Quick and Easy Scrambled Oatmeal,  you name it!!!!!

I actually prefer Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze or Trader Joe’s Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk, but you just can’t beat the price.

We go through bananas like CRAZY!!!!!! Eat them plain, use in recipes: Biggie Banana Bread Bake, overnight oats, etc., banana soft serve, slice and freeze for smoothies, and more.

Of course we needed….

The boys were starting to lose it so that was the last picture I took (except for just a few more).

I had to buy those applesauce packets after the smoothie meltdown. I opened that box of those things so fast. ha! Look, the cart was so full I couldn’t fit the diapers. Ha!

Hmmm….. how did I fit it all in the car?

Piece of cake!

Everything (and everyone) was all packed up and of course I couldn’t find my keys. Grrr….. Oh wait….

Nice.

I did NOT have fun unloading everything. I had to have a little protein fix to keep me going.

This stuff is awesome. Just pour in a bottle and shake it up. I’m pretty picky about protein powders, but this Designer Whey Protein passed the STUFT test!

I’ll leave you with a couple of other favorites I always get from Costco (but couldn’t get pictures of):

• Morning Star Farms Veggie Burgers
• rotisserie chicken (both the fresh ones and the breast meat that is already cut up in the refrigerated sections- I separate into single servings and freeze it)
• Teriyaki chicken breasts (frozen)
• Kahlua Pulled Pork (Andrew’s favorite- it’s in the frozen section)
• Mini Babybel Light Cheese and Laughing Cow Light Cheese Wedges
• Fuji apples
• Flatout wraps
• Coke Zero
• FAGE 0% Greek Yogurt
• Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches
• Alpine Valley Organic Whole Grain Bread- Seriously, the BEST Bread ever!!!!! Love it!!!!! Moist, hearty, lots of grains, a few sunflower seeds, just DELICIOUS!!!!!! Click to check out their website: my favorite bread. I recently got my mom hooked on it (and probably the lady I was chatting up in the bread aisle today too).

Until tomorrow……..