I’ve always wondered about the economics of Trader Joe’s, and I don’t know much about the fuel consumption in ocean travel. Maybe it isn’t too bad. I assumed a lot of the imported fresh fruits and veggies had to be flown in, or they would go bad in the time it would take to bring them in by sea…
Latest food report (maybe this should go to MPSIMS?):
My boyfriend has fallen off the wagon. Sort of, anyway. He ate some ice cream last night, and bought a loaf of bread and some peanut butter and jelly so he can have something for breakfast other than eggs and potatoes. I’m still sticking with it, apart from the coffee. 
**Dinner, May 2:
**Sweet potato “fries,” skin on, roasted in the toaster oven in some olive oil. I ate these with a little bit of ketchup from Trader Joe’s–all I can say is that at least it was organic.
Stir-fried pea sprouts with garlic
Scrambled eggs with onions and chili paste
Refried beans: I made this by dumping the last of my leftover beans into a cast-iron skillet with some water and mashing them up as they heated. At the end, I added some chopped cilantro from the garden and some minced red onion. They were not as flavorful as I would have liked–they would have been better with some cumin, I think, and maybe some oregano or lime juice.
**Breakfast, May 3: **I made a locally grown version of an old favorite dish of mine: toasted some almonds in the toaster oven while getting ready for work, then stirred them into a bowl of plain nonfat Straus Family Creamery yogurt along with a spoonful of honey. It’s really delicious, and I recommend it to anyone who hasn’t tried it before.
**Lunch, May 3: **I had some leftover risotto made with Lundberg Farms rice, carrots, and olives (not sure what else was in there). Right now I’m eating the artichoke I prepared this morning: I steamed it by putting it in a covered glass dish with 2 Tbsp. of water and microwaving for 8 minutes. I made a yummy dipping sauce to replace the mustard-mayonnaise combo or lemon butter I usually eat with artichokes. Into a few Tbsp of plain nonfat yogurt, I stirred some chopped parsley, oregano, and sage from the garden, the juice of half a lemon from the neighbor’s yard, chopped shallots, and some salt and pepper. I have an apple, a hard-boiled egg, and a little dish of nuts with me for snacks.
Tonight, we’ll be trying to make some ice cream from scratch, flavored with (unfortunately non-local) honey and some lavender from my garden or lemon from the neighbor’s tree.