1240 – Apple Cider Redo | TJ’s Shop & Cook 2

Episode 1240 – Apple Cider Redo | TJ's Shop & Cook 2

 

[START OF RECORDING]

 

SCOOTER: Friends beyond the binary, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, it’s time for a podcaster that’s here to take you shopping and…pondering shopping…not…is it a shopping list if it…if you’re…? Post-shopping…what could be sleepier than a post-shopping shopping list? Oh, I make a shopping list…no, I make them after I leave the store. A shopped list; I guess we’re doing a shopped list. I’ll be going through…pretty sure that’s what we’re talking about tonight, some shopping I did at Trader Joe's and pondering what comes next, so…or, I don't know, some reviews, some recipe ideas, and more. So, it’s time for Sleep With Me, the podcast…if you’re new, holy cow, welcome to Sleep With Me. It’s a podcast to keep you company and take your mind off of stuff so you could fall asleep, to be your friend in the deep, dark night, your companion, your bore-bud, your bore-friend.

 

So, I’m here to keep you company and take your mind off of stuff. This show is very different, so just see how it goes if you’re new. It takes a couple tries to get used to; for most people, three tries. So, see how it goes. What we got coming up…this show is ad-supported, free. There’s over 600 episodes ready to go if you become a regular listener, and that’s the way most people listen to the show. So, we got support coming up, then after the support — the support’s only a few minutes — there’s a long, meandering intro meant to ease you into bedtime, and the intro’s kinda here to help you get to know the podcast better and to ease you into bedtime as you get ready for bed or you wind down.

 

Then there will be a bedtime story about twenty, twenty-five minutes into the show, where I talk about grocery shopping. Holy cow, talk…you say, well, can't you get straight to the story? I say, really? Do you really want me to get to pondering my shop…post-shopped list? Mostly I’ll be…I don't even know what I’ll be talking about. Probably lentils. Top of my list — I’m just guessing —riced cauliflower and lentils. So, I mean, that’s a part you could sleep to. But I’m here to keep you company, too. So, I’m glad you’re here. It’s so fun to be able to do the show, to be honest. I’m so honored. If you’re new, I really can…hope this podcast can help you. So, thanks for checking it out, and thanks for making it possible, my bore-friends.

 

INTRO: [INTRO MUSIC] Hey, are you up all night tossing, turning, mind racing? Trouble getting to sleep? Trouble staying asleep? Well, welcome. It’s Sleep With Me, the podcast that puts you to sleep. We do it with a bedtime story. Alls you need to do is get in bed, turn out the lights, and press Play. I’m gonna do the rest. What I’m going to attempt to do is create a safe place where you could set aside whatever’s keeping you awake, whether it’s thoughts, things on your mind, thoughts about the past, the present, the future, thinking thoughts; that’s what…thoughts, it could be feelings, feelings related to those thoughts, feelings that are there, feelings that are appearing. They don’t…they kind of…they do make appearances. I say, I wish you’d disappear or dissipate. But they…how many…?

 

I wonder how many people that are listen…I don't know if I’ve ever had a feeling that said ‘ta-da’, but that’s the sense I get at bedtime as soon as my head hits the pillow. Here’s a couple things about me; I’m allergic to cats but I do have some cat-like features. My dog does this too, so…I guess they say, eventually you learn from your dog. Isn’t that a famous saying? Eventually you learn from your dog. I don't think that is, but for Sleep With Me…eventually you learn from your dog, who probably learned from a cat. But when I get in bed and then I’m…I’m going to sleep, like, it’s time…I’m like, okay, I’m ready to fall asleep, one thing I do is I get in this over-complicated position, positioning my pillows, checking…and then I’m in that position for about…somewhere between forty-five seconds and two minutes before my body says, okay…like, this is never intention…I never know I’m doing this.

 

I think I’m getting into the position to fall asleep in. Talk about thinking you’re in charge of your own life and realizing how little power I have. Between forty-five seconds and two minutes, then my body…my limbic system is really running the show. Who are we kidding here? Oh, then my body says, whoa, whoa, whoa, no way. This is never gonna work. We need to reposition into the proper…so, I guess that’s the preparatory bedtime position even though I never knew…it’s not like I get in that position and say, oh boy, can't wait to be in this position for two minutes or so. Then I’ll be in my proper bedtime position, and then I get in another position, and that may not be the final position. Then my limbic system just lets me know how long…how long are we gonna…?

 

It never lets me know how long we’re gonna do this for. It says, ta-da, buckle up for the ride, buddy. It doesn't say ‘ta-da’, but it feels like that, along with my thoughts, my feelings, my physical sensations, obviously. These are some physical things. It says, oh, no, no, no, hold the phone. There used to be a phrase, kids…they used to say ‘hold the phone’. Not exactly sure what it meant. I think it meant your reaction was so strong you wouldn’t be able to hold onto your phone. So, they say, hold the phone. Or they were gonna say something about the person on the line or make a explan…exclamation. I’m just picturing…this is the positive version of ‘hold the phone’. Okay, back in the old days when I was around, you had a phone that was attached to a wall or attached to a phone hub. They didn’t call it that.

 

They called it…it was just the phone. Receiver? I don't know. Headphone? Headset? I don't know. But so…but, okay, I just wanted to explain this thing. But I could say ‘hold the phone’ if you were…you got good news and you were doing one of those things where you dance in place and squeal with joy quietly. That’s a nice bedtime image. Maybe that’s what my limbic system’s doing. I always assumed it was much more emo, my limbic system. Emo with an edge, though. But maybe it’s not. Maybe it’s like dancing and squealing. I can't…it’s like, I just can't wait to get to sleep with you, so…I just want to reposition us once again. Anyway, thoughts, feelings, physical sensations, whatever’s keeping you awake, I’m here to take your mind off of it and keep you company so you could fall asleep.

 

‘Cause it could be a ton of different stuff; changes in time, temperature, routine, travel, work schedule, anticipation, getting over something, going through something. The only reason I list all that stuff is because it’s…I go through it all because I just want you to know you’re not alone whether you feel alone in the deep, dark night, you feel lonely, or you just feel like nobody gets it. That’s always been my experience with people that can sleep. We love them, but you tell them about it and they just look…they say, okay, why don’t you try not moving around in bed? You say, are you kidding me? I never would have thought of that. Why don’t you try getting in the position you’re gonna sleep in and then going to sleep? You say, holy cow, I would have never thought of that idea. Thank…I mean, I never react like that.

 

You say, okay, great. How come they don’t have that…? But that probably wouldn’t be good for speed-dating, huh? I mean, it would clarify things. You say, okay, opposites attract, so obviously we’re meant to be together. They’d say, what do you mean? I’d say, well, I actually have tried getting in the position I want to fall asleep in before. They say, okay, never mind. The speed…the time…luckily the timer’s up before you keep explaining. But so, I don't know if you’ve ever felt that way in some sense where you say, people just don’t get it. I want to…the only reason I bring this up is because there’s a lot of people listening right now that know how you feel. They’ve been through the same things, and I probably can relate to how you feel.

 

Even if I haven’t been through something similar, someone who’s listening right now has and they are leaning in right now or snuggling in. But they’re like…whatever the version…a sleep podcast version of making positive eye contact with you and smiling is, they’re doing it right now for you because they know how you feel. They say, oh yeah, I’m glad you’re here. I really hope this podcast can help you. They believe that for you and I believe that for you, and that goes to the second part of it, which is you deserve a bedtime where you could some rest. You deserve a bedtime you don’t have to dread or that doesn't feel like rigmarole. Or you deserve the rest you need to get through whatever’s going on right now so you could have the rest you need so your life is more manageable. You know what I mean. It’s important.

 

The goal of the show is just to be one part of you getting the rest you need and having the bedtime routine or the bedtime structure you need so you could be out there flourishing. That’s just…we’re just one tiny piece in that whole thing, but I hope to be a piece where you’re flourishing because that’s the world that’s better for everybody, even a world where you’re slightly in a better mood. I know…I mean, for me…you heard how I talked on that imaginary speed date. I wouldn’t have been capable of that if I didn’t have a decent amount of rest. I would have either side-eyed, roll-eyed, or been even…I would have been more direct with my…you know what I’m saying. I wouldn’t have been like, oh, thank you so…oh no, I haven’t tried that.

 

Then if they don’t get it, you just roll with…you say, okay, no, no, never tried…have you tried getting in bed? Do you sleep in a bed? Can you tell me more about these bed things? No, I’ve been trying to stand up…I’ve been trying…I thought…I’ve been trying to do it like those flamingos do it, but…I tried to tuck my head under one arm, stand on the other leg…it’s been terribly…my whole life, it’s been terribly uncomfortable. Eventually…that would probably be how I’d deal with it in the past. You say, a bed? No, no, no, I’ve been doing it like…you’ve seen a…I’m trying the flamingo solution. By the way, don’t try it.

 

Even though I could attribute…I would probably make a bunch of money going on a speaking circuit and doing appearances, probably a podcast and a project, The Flamingo Solution, The Flamingo Sleep Solution. I’d prefer kissing…dipping my elbow…first, also dipping your elbows in milk; that’s another imaginary one we came up with. A real one is kissing your shoulders or your biceps or the back of your hand, depending…whatever’s easiest. Okay, so, what do I do with this podcast other than go off topic? I send my voice across the deep, dark night. I use lulling, soothing, creaky, dulcet tones, pointless meanders, and superfluous tangents, all to take your mind off of stuff and keep you company so you could fall asleep. As I said earlier, the podcast does take some getting used to, so give it a few tries.

 

You got nothing to lose. If you already loathe me…most people have already stopped listening and they’ve sent me something with nice…florid language? Is that a word? But you don’t need to. I have a website…if you already don’t like the show and you’re like, I’m never gonna listen to this again, that’s totally cool. You still deserve a good night's sleep. We still know how you feel. Particularly, we probably know how you feel 'cause none of us…all of us have been grouchy, too. So, go to sleepwithmepodcast.com/nothankyou. It has other sleepy stuff on there, sleep pod…other sleep podcasts and other sleepy stuff, and one of them might work for you, so try that. But for most of you, give it a few tries. See how it goes.

 

Most of the people who have listened to this show for a long time, who support the podcast, they…the show didn’t work for them right away, either. But also, once they started…on the second or third try, they said, oh yeah, this is what I’ve been looking for my whole life, or, hey, this worked as I got ready for this thing and got through it. So, just see how it goes. This is a pod…a couple reasons why; one, this is a podcast you don’t really listen to. It’s like you kinda barely listen and you can listen, but you don’t need to listen. Ideally, I’m just engaging enough to keep you company but not where you gotta pay attention to me. So, it’s kinda like a out-of-focus picture. Also, this show is not here to put you to sleep. It’s a show to keep you company and take your mind off of stuff so that you’re thinking about whatever I’m talking about.

 

It’ll be cool. If you need to listen to me, we’ll go through my Trader Joe's shopping list. Imagine that. Not many people…you say, do you really need to…? It’s real right? I say, well, mostly. I don't know. Yeah, mostly real. Oh yeah, I’m not here…the reason the show is over an hour is there’s no pressure to fall asleep. I’m here, there’s over 601 ad-supported shows you could listen to freely. You could create a playlist, you could listen all night if you need to, because there’s people who are listening who can't sleep at all and there’s people who are listening who need…who are having a tough break…a tough day and they need a break, or they listen while they’re doing work or schoolwork or labor. So, there’s no pressure to fall asleep.

 

I’m here to be your bore-friend, your bore-sib, your bore-bud, your bore-bestie, your neigh-bore, your bore-bor, your Borbie, your bores, your…I don't know, other stuff; bore-friend, your bore-bestie, your Borbie, your friend in the deep, dark night to keep you company. Just like if you had a phone and you called somebody and you said, hey, I’m gonna need you to barely keep me company, that’s what I’m here to do. I guess…yeah. So, yeah. What else do you need to know? Structure of the show also throws people off, but the show is structured in a very deliberate way, and you can adjust how you listen as you become a regular listener. There’s no wrong way to listen, but the majority of people listen in one way and then…but just…but that’s just…there’s a lot of people who adjust how they listen, too.

 

So, the show starts off with a greeting; friends beyond the binary, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, then I probably already go off topic even though it’s supposed to just be a greeting. But that way you feel seen and welcomed in and you get a sense of what the show is like. Then there’s support for the show so paying for it is optional. Most people like to listen to the ad-supported show linearly, but that’s just most people. It doesn’t mean you need to do it that way. So, paying for the show is optional. If you prefer a ad-supported show, you could do Sleep With Me+ or you could refer people to the show and get ad-free episodes free as you refer people to the show. But then there’s a long, meandering intro after that, and we’re like, whatever, fifteen to twenty minutes into that intro.

 

The intro introduces people to the podcast, it follows a familiar structure but it’s different every time, and it gives you time to wind down, to get ready for bed or to do some chill activity. It’s not really meant to put you to sleep, though it does put a small percentage of people to sleep. It’s just meant to be a familiar friend but talking about something new every time so you can't quite adjust, right? Because at least for me, that’s what worked…that’s why none of the other stuff ever worked. That’s why I started making a sleep podcast back in 2013. I said, none of this stuff is like a friend and unpredictable but in a predictable way. I don't know what I mean, but you know what I mean. If you’re new, you don’t, but you’ll eventually find out.

 

So, the intro is just part of people’s bedtime routine. Now, there is…like I said, some people fall asleep, a lot of people are in bed getting comfortable, but other people are relaxing, like doodling or the equivalent; stretching, foam-rolling, on and on and on, fluffing their pillows…they’re in their pre-bed position, pre-sleep position, as I just learned about myself. So, that’s what the intro does. There is two…percentage of people who start the show in some percentages at twenty, twenty-five, or thirty minutes, but there’s also people that pay just to listen to intro-only episodes, and there’s people that pay to listen to story-only episodes.

 

But again, that’s how you could adjust as you become a regular listener. Okay, after that is support, then there will be our bedtime story, a little Trader Joe's shopping coverage, and then there’s thank-yous at the end. So, that’s the structure of the show. That’s why I make the show. I’m so glad you’re here. A bunch of people work really hard because we yearn and we strive. We really want to help you fall asleep. So, thanks again for coming by, and here’s a couple ways we’re able to do it for you for free twice a week.

 

Alright everybody, Scoots here. Oh, hey, sorry; I was…sorry, I didn’t realize you were here. I was getting ready to record a podcast episode, but never mind. I would rather hang and go over my Trader Joe's receipt with you and talk about it. It’s been a little while and I know we changed up how we do these cooking episodes. So, yeah, we could do this…we’ll do a little shopping, reviewing, and talking about the cooking. I don't know if I remember any of the things…well, let me see from the last episode what I remember and then you could let me know what I forgot to review, even though I was just listening to it. So, the cracked pepper…cracked olive salad mixed with lentils, that was really good. I used a half pack of the pre-cooked, steamed lentils and a whole bottle of the cracked olive salad. That’s really good.

 

So, that’s a really good meal in and of its own, and helps me keep my commitment to having some sort of legume every day. Then the other one which was…I don't know what it was called, but it was chickpeas in some sort of seasonings and oil. That also makes a great side on its own, but then you can mix it…I don't know what I was positing I would mix it with on the episode. But you could mix it with sardines or tuna. Again, another really great meal. I guess you could throw…I don't know if the olive salad mix is…'cause these ones are already pre-seasoned, so I don't know if you need to do any seasoning with it. That’s the nice thing about these…those two, throwing those two together. So, those two combos came out on top. Not sure what else…I never got the s’more bars. They left my world.

 

So, we’ll have to wait ‘til…Snacky Clusters, I think I already reviewed those. I don't have that receipt or anything. So, I’m not sure what else I was looking at cooking, but I know those two things came out really good. Oh, you want to make them right now? Okay. Well, we’ll pick them up and then we’ll see while we go through Trader Joe's. So, let’s head over there and let’s start going through my list here and talk about some thoughts about it. Should we just run through it? I don't know what we should do here. I don't even know what some of these are. What is that one? Okay, well, we got…so, first up was expensive, but it was a large jug. I went on the wrong day, I’ll be honest with you, and the wrong time of day. It was the only time I could have gone. Well, that’s not true. So, maybe we should talk about this.

 

You’re here to help me; I’m here to help you, right? Sometimes just talking and listening…in my case talking on and on and on helps you fall asleep, right? You barely listening to me helps me make the show, so maybe that’ll work here. So, I have a little bit of a block, not just when it comes to grocery shopping which is relatable, right, but with other things. But we could talk about it with grocery shopping. So, with the podcast, I don't work…I work every day, basically, for the show, right, and…even though I’ve cut back a bit. So, on Saturdays and Sundays the pressure to work is less, but there’s still little things I have to do.

 

I still have to work a few hours and it’s really not possible to delegate, and some of the stuff like the writing…I could miss a day and I do from time to time, but it just serves everything much better if I do that every day. The reality of the situation is that I do kinda have to record anytime I’m at home no matter the day of the week, because during the school week I’m not gonna be at home certain days. But the days I’m definitely…well, almost definitely home are Sundays, Mondays, and Fridays, and then Saturdays, and then some Thursdays. I mean, I’m home on Monday…or Tuesday and Wednesday, but just not…I’m not working from home, right? Then every other…every Thursday I switch on driving to school.

 

Just to refresh you, because I know you’re sometimes…so, where my…where I drive to school is so…it’s actually not physically that far, and it go…when we go to school, it’s going against traffic. But in the Bay Area, low traffic would be high traffic in a lot of other small…medium-sized cities, even for Syracuse. This summer, we were caught in a traffic jam. My brother was driving and he said, oh boy, this is traffic. My daughter and I, we really did have a nice laugh at…that that was traffic, 'cause it was…for us, it was like, that’s…would be a mild situation. So, all that being said, what I discovered when my daughter started going to this high school — and it’s a cool public school, charter school, and it works for her — is that so, it takes about forty-five minutes to get there when things are moving normally.

 

So, it’s not a good use of…any kind of resources for me to drive her to school, come home, then drive back and pick her up, particularly 'cause once about 2:00 PM hits, that’s when the traffic really does start up. Heading back to school, then you’re caught in the regular commute instead of going reverse-commute. So, I tried to be…I did try to be open-minded about this. I said, well, what am I gonna do? Because…well, I tried a couple times doing…seeing what it would be like to drive back, but that’s an hour and a half. That’s just not good use of resources, any resources, the ones that have impact on the outside world, but also even my time. I don't really have a extra hour and a half in my day.

 

So, for…this was a few years ago now, but when she first started school, we did…we tried…I tried working at a Starbucks for a little while and then I said, okay, let’s try out co-working spaces. What I discovered is…and this is…we’re on…I’m on my second co-working space…is that they’re not really conducive to recording the show, even ones that kinda advertise or you can kinda work with them to record. You can't record a podcast there. Maybe a…not a sleep podcast, I guess is what I’m saying. You could probably record a business interview podcast or a round table discussion podcast, but not a sleep podcast, or probably not a storytelling podcast. You know, I don't want to bore you with all the details. Well, especially a podcast that’s recorded in segments. I don't…what was my point?

 

I thought I was making a point about grocery shopping. Oh, I was. Okay, so, this is getting deep. Holy cow. Talk about a biography, unexpected, lulling biography moment. Okay, so, once upon a time, even before that time where we were all working from home, I worked from home when…and so, that was very leisurely because I had five weekdays where I could record…where I would attempt to record 2.5 episodes of the podcast, because then if life came up one week when I could only record one episode of the podcast, those 2.5 episodes…'cause two episodes have to kinda get…over a year, if the year was going in a normal…you know, some sort of…what do they call that?

 

State where you’re…nothing’s changing — which I know is not true, but I’m just laying out the law of averages — you would record two episodes every single week and then about three months later, those episodes would come out after they go through all the post-production work that goes into it. Okay, so…but so, then…this is the third school year of us…where we changed it. So, then I started working in these co-working places. I realized, okay, I can't record in these co-working places. I can record bonus content because the bonus content is recorded a little bit differently and it’s distributed directly to the people who are willing to pay for the bonus content. So, it’s just a different type of recording. But so, that changed because the work schedule and co-parenting and making sure, hey, the distribution of labor is around as equal as we can make it means that, yeah, I drive half the schooldays a month, and it’s easier…I don't know, it’s just what we decided.

 

But it does make sense, 'cause then you’re only driving to school once and home from school once. So, having a co-working place really worked, and then it’s…it’s actually worked really well for everything but the recording. Even for my own wellbeing, it has worked really well because when I’m at the co-working place, I’m focused on work that…and not recording or doing chores, 'cause usually when I’m working from home, since I do work from home most days, I also say, well, it’s easier for me to spread my chores out and not do all my chores on the weekend because I’m working, you know? So, I use a timer and I call that my Sunday timer. Holy cow, I thought we were gonna talk about Trader Joe's and food.

 

But my Sunday timer is one minute of pause or meditation, then fifteen minutes of…this is…on Sundays is traditionally when I use it…fifteen minutes of work, then ten minutes of chores. So, what was my point in there? Oh, so, grocery shopping. How does grocery shopping fit into all this, Scoots? Okay, I have no idea why I went on that tangent. I guess I just wanted to share that with you. Okay, but so, the days I can go grocery shopping…I don't know what it is, but then I suddenly…the resources feel different. It would be easier for me to go grocery shopping on Friday lunchtime between 12:00 and 3:00 PM, or otherwise Monday between…I have something…a standing meeting, so I can't…I could go at like, 3:00 PM.

 

But it never ends up…I don't…emotionally, that feels different for me than going on a Sunday or a Saturday, and I don't quite understand why. So, it’s an emotional block where I just say, I can't emotionally go to the grocery store right now. I’d rather go for a run. I mean, part of it is prioritizing, but come on, it’s just time. It’s malleable, right? So, this trip, I ended up going on a Friday…or a Sunday at 4:00, and that was…it wasn’t…I’ve definitely grown, so I was able to make the best of it. But one, they were short on a lot of items. That’s what the first item on my list reminded me of, that I had to go on a ten-minute tangent about.

 

Two, it was like, when sporting games, Sunday sporting games let out…so, there was a lot of families stopping there in addition to the families that were going there to make sure they had enough food for the school week, right? So, it was jamming there, which was kinda good and I guess I kinda like it, so I don't know what I’m…oh, it was just 'cause they were low-stocked. So, let’s get to it, then. Holy mackerel. So, the first thing I got…so, I needed…it was…and I had it on my phone…ongoing shopping list, and this happened again later. But so, I had it on my phone, ongoing shopping list; hey, we need maple syrup, because…like, I don't use…I probably use maple syrup once every other month. Maybe…more than six times a year, but not more than twelve times a year.

 

Maple syrup seems to last a long time, and usually Trader Joe's has a varying selection. They also had…they had something called maple butter, which I still have in my fridge now. Maple butter might be good on something flat, but it’s not good on waffles. So, what happened this weekend…I didn’t realize I was out of maple syrup. I had made waffles for my daughter and I. Then I realized, wait a second, I can't even put…I can spread this maple butter on there, but it doesn’t really spread because of the crannies. ‘Cause it doesn’t have butter in it; it’s just some sort…I don't know what it is but it’s good, but not for that situation. So, I said to myself, you’re laughing now because, yeah, ten minutes from…ten minutes in or more…I said, I need maple syrup. So, I went to the maple syrup section.

 

It wasn’t my first stop but it was my first…it’s the first thing on the list here because it was a big jug, $16-jug of maple syrup. That was…I really did experience pricing surprise. But at the same time, I said, well, it’s…the jug is not glass but it is…so, probably…but no sunlight will get in 'cause it’s obscured. It looks like a jug you’d have maple syrup in, so it has some sort of…I mean, I didn’t think that was an appeal. The price wasn’t what almost stopped me from buying it; it was the size of the jug. Not humungous by any means but for someone like me, I said, I don't even know if I have space in my fridge for it. But so, that was my main thing. I said, well, I don't know where we’re gonna put this, man. But I said to myself, okay, it’s just easier to buy it now when you know you need it. You know you’re here. It’s on your list.

 

It looks like it’ll be good. Do you even need to refrigerate it? Then I looked on there; refrigerate after opening. Then I said to myself, you haven’t opened it yet, so…and so, then I went for it, to give a short answer. So, there you go. That was my first thing on there. What will I use it for? Probably the same things. I guess probably the other thing I’ll use it for moving forward is I have a full jar of my golden milk powder, which I make golden milk paste…and I don't have the recipe or my basic outline of how to make it in front of me, so I can't…we can't go through it right now. Plus, it would involve trips to other stores. But I will…you do want to sweeten your golden milk paste, and the two best sweeteners to use are honey or maple syrup. So, moving forward, I’ll probably use maple syrup to flavor that.

 

Maybe I’ll put some in my smoothie or something. I don't know. So, yeah, there you go, maple syrup. That won't be the last we hear of maple syrup today. Next up…this says HOL Bun Apple Morning. So, HOL stands for holiday bun…Apple Morning. This is actually a danish. I kinda…this was another one where I was walking back and forth with a very jerky motion in front of it and probably making a bit of a display and saying, should I do it? Should I do it? You need to know…you know me, but let me reiterate my love of crumbles. I do like a good danish, but anything with that coffee-cake type crumble…what do they call that? Streusel? Is…or is streusel the frosting? Or is that when they combine the two? So, this is kinda like a coffee apple danish, a coffee cake meets an apple danish. I haven’t eaten it yet.

 

As a matter of fact, I looked at it and I said…and I thirsted for it, so I put it in the freezer 'cause I said, well, you can have this on the weekend, bud. So, yeah, that’s in my freezer and I’ll be having it someday soon. Hopefully it’ll defrost in a way that makes it good. I do have new confidence in that happening because of something else on this list. But that could also be a dessert, I would think, with some vanilla ice cream, even though…'cause it could be an apple…whatever. It could be a dessert. Okay, next up…and this I think I talked about…maybe not. This was big on some of the algorithms. I think it was in the Fearless Flyer from August, so if you’re a patron and you support the show directly, you heard it there. But it’s these mini-cheeseburgers. Now, I gotta be honest with you; so, there’s three to a box. $4.49.

 

I don't know how much the sliders of…at the regular grocery store the White Castle sliders are, and I didn’t open these to look at them. But the thing people were saying is they’re kinda like the White Castle sliders you can get in the frozen section of a normal grocery store or like White Castle sliders. So, I’m looking forward to having those. I can't remember what they were…if the serving is one or two when I was looking at it, but they’ll be handy for…especially for…let’s say it’s a Saturday or a Sunday, lunch or dinnertime. I’m home, I’m flying solo, and it’s between going out and…I don't want to cook. Those are perfect. I could have two of those, maybe, some beans on the side. So, that’s something to looking forward to. Next up is butter, unsalted butter. Now, which…oh, butter, let me count the ways.

 

A couple of my favorite butters…I just want to throw it out there 'cause we haven’t talked about butter in a while. I got top two butters, the song Butter 'cause Bernie loves boy bands and so do I. Let me just talk about…a little bit more. So, it’s a BTS song, just in case you haven’t listened to it. It might be BTS with somebody or somebody with BTS. I can't remember. But I really like the fact…I know I’ve talked about…maybe I’ve talked to you about this. It kinda captures this…it’s not an imitation so it definitely adds some BTS flair, but it has this Will Smith feel to it, almost like it’s an homage to Will Smith…not French…not French Prince. Not Fresh Prince, either. I’m talking Will Smith after Fresh…I mean, Will Smith was probably still on Fresh Prince, but I’m talking Get Jiggy With It or Summertime.

 

It definitely has a Get Jiggy With It feel to it. Maybe it’s even sampling the song? I don't know, but I just…but even if it’s not just sampling the song, it just kinda has…it has a BTS and a Will Smith kinda structure. So, I don't know. I really enjoy it. What better than when that song was on the charts at the same time as a Willow Smith song? Then you’re saying, I gotta double my Smiths, you know? Then you could listen to The Smiths later and triple it. Oh, my second…my other favorite butter…you’ll have to look this up on YouTube. I don't know how many years ago this was, but we cover the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. I gotta say it was probably 2019 if I’m guessing, maybe even 2018.

 

Al Roker was walking the parade route and a person dressed as a stick of butter that was working on the parade and had permission to be there but was also interacting with Al in an incredibly humorous way…not at Al’s expense, though. Maybe they got the butter back for the second year, or once Butter was…will live forever in my mind, like Butter and Al. So, it was the kinda thing where it’s like, where’s Butter? I would have preferred…maybe this…and again, I don't know…this is where I can't separate truth from the fiction in my mind, that one year they replaced the call to the president or from the president with Butter. They said, we’ve got Butter on the line. So, I don't know. So, that’s Butter. I got the butter 'cause I was running low on butter, and I’ll probably be baking something or something coming up.

 

Okay, next up is sundried tomatoes in oil. Now, Trader Joe's does have two kinds of sundried tomatoes, which is great news if you’re a sundried tomato fan. I wish I…this was part of my goal; have a few more sundried tomatoes. They have ones in a bag and then they have these ones in oil. Now, I did have a issue with the ones in the bag recently, and it was not Trader Joe's fault. It was my fault. The ones on oil are good in pizza if you’re making your own pizza. The ones in the bag, they don’t have any oil, so they tend to burn if you’re placing them on top of the pizza. If you’re gonna put them on pizza, you gotta put them under the cheese. Then they’ll still be good and they’ll give that punch and zest. I think that’s an umami — it makes me say ‘umami’ — flavor.

 

Now, the only issue with the ones in the oil — but there is a bonus to this — is that the ones in the oil…the oil does solidify in the fridge, so if…and I’m not good at realizing…like, I won't realize I have a hankering for sundried tomatoes until I’m like, oh boy, now I gotta try to figure out how to get…how long in room temperature ‘til this oil clears up? So, the bag one…and the bag one is good for putting on top of salad, but here’s the thing; as you run low on those ones in oil, what you can do…once you only have a few left and your oil is down, then you could put vinegar in that jar, shake the jar up, maybe squirt some mustard or something in there, a couple herbs, and then you have your own jar of sundried tomato oil salad…oil and vinegar salad dressing. So, that’s…I mean, talk about a two-for-one special.

 

So, there’s Trader Joe's sundried tomatoes three ways. Well, on salad, on pizza, and as a dressing within…and that’s different than being on salad, by the way. Or a salad two ways. I don't know. Okay, so, there we go. Oh, next up…wow, they even call it EVOO, one litre. So, they were really…this is extra-virgin olive oil. Now, usually…now, here…this is something I’m honestly…I’m not embarrassed about it. I’m more dismayed at myself. I ran out of olive oil and I don't know how…I still don’t know how this is even possible. I mean, it happens to everybody, of course. But so, I had bought a large tin of olive oil where it was an investment at another grocery store. I know, Trader Joe. Don’t cry. But it was a big tin and it had a spout and everything.

 

Then I had a Trader Joe's bottle that has this pouring spout, and what I would do is use a funnel and top that bottle off. So, I always had olive oil. I guess I was under the mistaken impression that that tin was gonna last forever. Now, it could be I placed the tin somewhere, but I usually keep my olive oil always in the same place, and my extra olive oil. Now, on top of that, what happened was the other day when I was prepping dinners and I…I’m trying to think…I guess I would assume I was making roasted Brussels sprouts. I dropped my bottle…the Trader Joe's bottle of olive oil. Now, it was such a strong bottle that it actually didn’t break, or maybe it just…I don't know what happened, but the top…the pouring spout broke, which is made of plastic.

 

But also, when I dropped it, it didn’t make a big mess 'cause there was…I said, oh my gosh, I’m almost out of olive oil anyway. I gotta top this off. But I didn’t top it off immediately 'cause I had already used enough for what I needed it for at that time. Then on Friday when I went to make pizza, I looked…I said, holy cow…oh no, I had enough to make the dough because you need I think two or four grams of olive oil. So, I definitely had four grams of olive oil, 'cause I remember adding it…'cause I always go over and put six to eight by accident. But so, when it came time to make the pizza, I like to put some olive oil on the pan not just for not sticking, but it just adds some flavor, I believe. So, that’s when I realized I was out of olive oil. I couldn’t top this bottle back off.

 

Now, a normal person…but I cook a lot of food at home and olive oil is one of the primary parts of my cooking process. Now, I do…I did have some avocado oil, but whatever. I said to myself, I’m…I said, we’re really out of olive oil? Holy mackerel. Then I said, well, I don't think Trader Joe's sells cans of olive oil, so I have to get some…a temporary thing. Or also, I have to go to another store and get a can of it. But what…I was like…I just ended up in a place where I was like, I gotta get some olive oil. But that was the other thing other than…there was a run on olive oil and maple syrup at Trader Joe's, or they’re just running behind the shipments.

 

So, I had got olive oil…so, they did have the regular Trader Joe's extra virgin olive oil, which I haven’t used in a while, 'cause usually I go for a little bit more…they have a bunch of different ones to choose from. I’m always getting a big bottle, but they even have a bunch of different big bottles to choose from. I can’t think of the names of them right now. But this time I just said, okay, let’s get the standard bottle 'cause that’s what they have. So, we’ll see. I think I used…did I use it already? Yeah, I used it last night. Oh, last night? So, it’s…Hello Fresh is back sponsoring the show, so I was making Hello Fresh taquitos. So, I sauteed some onions and then some ground beef and…yeah. Okay, so, that’s the olive oil. Oh boy, so this is the closest thing you’re gonna get to a retraction.

 

It’s not a full retraction, but this one is HOL, so holiday, which just means seasonal. I guess that’s…yeah, they go…HOL stands for seasonal. Interesting. So, holiday donuts, apple cider…and I know years ago I had nothing good to say about Trader Joe's donuts and particularly these apple cider donuts. Now, I will claim that my part was…I had unrealistic expectations of that because R&R One Stop in Plask…or Port Ontario, New York, they make not apple cider donuts but regular donuts with cinnamon sugar. If you time it right and you get them while they’re fresh, they’re a transcendent-type thing. I guess when I first got these, my expectation was that they would at least be similar to those donuts.

 

That’s just not a fair comparison because, one, they’re making those donuts fresh right there not to order, but they’re making them…and they have expanded and they do make them in batch and you can get them in a bag, and those aren’t quite as good. So, I’m talking about the ones when I’m on vacation. But I don't know, I said to myself…I think probably when I was reviewing…I said, maybe I should give it one more try. So, I looked and I saw them and I took a look at them. I said, well, you look pretty good, donuts. Maybe I could give you one more try and temper my expectations. So, I was willing to do that. Now, I also said to myself, when am I gonna eat these donuts? Because again, just like the previous danish, during the week I’m not gonna have something this tasty for breakfast. But I said, well, it’s Sunday.

 

You’re still on…this is your treat day, so why don’t you have a donut after you leave the grocery store as your treat for the day, then you could put the rest of the donuts in the freezer and eat them on the weekend? I said, okay, that sounds good. So, then I had made an agreement with myself. Then later…it wasn’t actually when I left the store, 'cause I didn’t have anything to drink. They say, what are you gonna drink with the apple cider donut, right? But it was when I was getting…starting prep to make dinner that I said, let’s have one of these donuts and then we’ll put them in the freezer. I could tell you, the donut was good. Now, it’s a little bit denser cake donut, but again, this donut is going through a process where it’s made somewhere, frozen, shipped somewhere, shipped to the store, thawed, then put on the shelf, and then it comes to my house.

 

I believe it’s not a donut like some of the ones at a regular grocery store that’s made to be there for forty years or whatever. So, with all that, it was…the only thing I’ll say is it was a little denser than a freshly-cooked one, but it was still really good. I’m not…it didn’t change my life but I said, it had the right amount of cinnamon sugar, a little bit of a crunch to it…I mean, not in the donut, but the cinnamon sugar way. It was good. So, that was great. Next up is all-for-one liquid soap. I think I talked about this before. I guess this was another retraction, but not anymore 'cause now I’m a regular user. Whatever this formulation of soap is, I love it. Now, I don’t clean myself with it every day because sometimes I use a bar soap. I don't know why. Don’t ask me why. These are strange quirks I have.

 

I say, well, one…it’s not based on anything, either. It’s like, well, I’m kinda in a hurry; I’ll use bar soap. It’ll be quicker. Or I need a little jolt of good smelly stuff; I’ll use this body wash. But this is a body wash and shampoo, I believe, and conditioner. It comes in a big pump bottle and it’s really nice. It really feels to me like luxurious, like I’m at a fancy hotel. Okay, after that was tortilla-rolled chilli lime things like taquitos, basically. These were for my daughter, and she was under the weather. I said, tell me some stuff you want, and this was one of the things she wanted right away to help her feel better. So, that was for her. Now, we do have a case of missing…a bag of missing taquitos from about nine months ago. I think it was last school year, towards the end of the school year.

 

I bought a bag of these and we’ve never seen it since then. But I’m pretty sure I left the store with the bag. Usually you say, well, I probably left it at the store. I guess there’s a chance of that because I did do that recently at another supermarket where I bought flavor-enhancer for water with caffeine so I could do that before my morning run. I’m pretty sure that fell out of the cart 'cause I didn’t want to…I didn’t need any bags. But I didn’t have any bags, either, so it fell out of the bottom of the cart. But this bag of taquitos or Trader Joe's rolled chilli lime tortillas, is still missing somewhere. I don't know if Pillow…maybe Pillow Pet…if you listen to that Pillow Pet episode, Pillow Pet’s eaten them, probably. Alright, next up is another HOL maple fudge. This I bought because it looks like maple syrup candy.

 

You see that when you visit anywhere associated with Canada, and it’s delicious. This is not…this is fudge, so it’s not maple syrup candy, but I couldn’t…honestly, I couldn’t separate myself from those two things. I said to myself, you don’t need this. I said, yeah, no…so, I passed on it. Then I re-encountered it two more times, so nice job, Trader Joe's. On the third time I said, but it looks so much like maple syrup candy. It’s probably gonna be good. Now, I also have a fudge issue. Not eating fudge, but that was something I learned how to do over the holidays last year when we gave out tins of holiday cookies to our neighbors, and fudge, and I made three kinds of fudge. But then I realized I still have a two or three-year supply of eggnog fudge, gingerbread fudge, and chocolate mint fudge.

 

The chocolate mint fudge is more of a softer…that was the first one I made. I didn’t have it down yet. So, I still…I’ll probably have those for the rest of my life, 'cause they say, a little fudge will do you. They don’t say that, but that’s probably the best thing. But when I was making it, I said, well, let me double up these batches if I’m giving them away. So, I keep giving away that fudge. That’s holiday maple fudge. Then pasta sauce, the vodka cream pasta sauce, we use that for pizza. That was what we used for pizza topping, but in a pinch you can make…yeah, you can make it. Then star fruit sparkling water back in stock. I don't know how long. I only bought a eight-pack. But two…my two favorite sparkling waters that they still produce are Star Fruit and Winter Sangria.

 

They used to have some sort of other one that was called Tropical Sunshine, or, I don't know, Coconut On the Beach. Now, I’ve never seen that in six years and I never thought I would see Star Fruit or Winter Sangria again. They used to come in the one-litre bottles. But a year or two ago, suddenly there they were. I mean, not…in different order, and two of my favorite…definitely my favorite two Trader Joe's water flavors, and I highly recommend either one. Winter Sangria is kind of a grapey-type taste and the Star Fruit…I don't know, it’s kinda like a Smartie, Sweet Tart type, barely. Like, not overpowering, and I love it. I’ve not found any other place…any other water in the comparable sparkling water world that has those two flavors.

 

Now, I have shifted most of my water…my sparkling water consumption over to not…because the prices have gone up so much. I used to be locked into safe…I’d only get it when it was on special. But now I just cut back on my water and I say, well, these are the flavors I like. Let me just get those. If they’re on special, I’ll get them. If not, I’ll either drink something else or…but I don't just buy…I’m not just gonna buy any old lime because it’s on sale anymore. That’s what I used to do. I say, I don't know, I’m not sure about whatever this flavor is, but it’s hit that price. Because it used to be you try to get under…right now if you hit thirty cents an ounce, you’re doing really good. But you used to try to get…you used to try to shoot for like, twenty-four cents an ounce. Okay, next up…this one looks really good.

 

It’s a holiday baking mix. It’s like a cinnamon blondie bar, so kinda like a coffee cake bar mix. Looking forward to that. Oh, then this was Sunday night’s dinner for me. My daughter had soup 'cause she wasn’t feeling good and I made…this was a ciabatta demi baguette that I made French red pizza with. At some point we’ll do a cooking episode where we talk about all the ways you can do pizza at Trader Joe's, 'cause there’s probably gonna be, I don't know, easily five to seven ways we could do it. Okay, then another holiday baking cookie pumpkin chunk mix. This is another good one, not as good as the one…of course they didn’t make it last season, which was a peppermint chunk mix. But I do remember we’ve liked these cookies.

 

The thing with the pumpkin spice, if my brother’s listening…I mean, spoiler, but I do buy different pumpkin things in pumpkin season to give him his Christmas gifts because he loves pumpkin-pie-spice-flavored stuff. Okay, then we got unsweetened almond milk and then grass-fed…what, 2% milk, organic. Oh boy, this one I couldn’t get last year, so I scored it; a caramel apple dipping kit. They also had the one…what is it called? Make your own gingerbread house for trick-or-treating season. That was what Koa ate when we moved to this place in 2018 and we were having a holiday…we were gonna have a trick-or-treating…my daughter and her friends over to trick-or-treat. I came home and Koa had eaten this entire gingerbread house.

 

Then we had to call and we found out that there was very little…even though it was…there was not any real chocolate in there. I mean, or a tiny, tiny amount that was not…so, that was good. I say, Koa, man…so, I’ve never bought that again 'cause I just don’t want her to say, oh, you bought that for me? Why don’t you put it together? I’ll eat it later. Okay, so, a caramel apple dipping kit, though, I didn’t get to buy last year and I wished I did. Then organic strawberry kombucha lemonade; that was for my daughter. Oh, then my daughter requested the Sublime Trader Joe's ice cream sandwiches that are a bit like the Nestle Toll House sandwiches, but they’re better.

 

They’re really one of the best things you could buy at Trader Joe's as long as you can…as long as you have a daughter to eat them or you’re like me and you say, okay, I’ll enjoy my sugar-free root beer while you eat this ice cream sandwich. But I am able to do that just 'cause I can’t…I’m not…I can't have dessert during the week. It’s just a reality. I actually can with some of the smaller Trader Joe's…it’s easier for me just not to, but the Hold a Cone, you could have one of those, for sure. But so…but they didn’t have those cookie sandwiches. I think they were called Sublime ice cream cookie sandwiches. So, we bought…I bought these Figo ice cream sandwiches which are two kinds of ice cream sandwiches.

 

One is a bit like a Klondike bar on one half, so vanilla ice cream dipped in chocolate, and then the other half is a ice cream sandwich, a traditional, old-school ice cream sandwich. Again, those are in the reasonable range. I think one of them is a reasonable amount of stuff. It’s not that big, and you could enjoy that during the week if you like to have a small treat at the end of the day. They were good. They tasted good. Okay, then…oh boy, this one, though, this is for the weekend. One of the…again, I don't think I hyped this last time. Maybe I had bought it last time. I had seen it on the algorithms. Thank god for the algorithms. Sometimes you say, I don't need to know all the stuff that’s hyped by people going to these stores to hype stuff. But I remember I saw this on of the things.

 

The algorithm presented it to me; ice cream celebration cake gelato. No, celebration cake gelato. I said, well, I’ve been let down before with cake-flavored ice creams. So, I’ll try it. I tried it and I said, holy cow, this is really, really, really good. Nailed it. I said, please don’t go to the grocery store and buy four pints. So, I didn’t do that. Then my daughter had the other half of the pint, and she had even more, and she’s not one to become totally over the…she was like, this is unbelievable. This is so…the biggest…one of my strongest buys, along with…when they have it, the horchatta one is unbelievable, too. But if you like cake…celebrate…confetti-cake-type thing, it’s unbelievable. Okay, then…wow, we really used our time wisely. We’re still going through here. So, we got a bag of limes, one pound, and they were out of lemons.

 

So far, two weeks straight…no, three weeks straight, maybe? Yeah, I think three weeks in a row we’ve made lemonade, and we do fifty-fifty when we make the simple syrup. So, half sugar, half imaginary sugar, whatever they call it. We’ll use what we have on hand. So, last night, actually, we used some of these limes and the lemons we had left from last week and made some lemon limeade. The week before, it was straight lemonade. The week before that, it was lemon-limeade. Sometimes we’ll use one of those…but, you know, sugar or whatever that one’s called? Or whatever. Mix it up. But always nice to have. Then we had shredded cheese and Pepperjack cheese and smoked turkey. So, again, I can have some turkey and Pepperjack sandwiches for lunch, and the shredded cheese is for dinner coming up.

 

Probably tacos. What else do we have here? What do we got? Oh, how do you say this? Acai, right? I always say it wrong and my daughter makes fun of me 'cause she likes to get the bowls. But I have moved to a new…and again, we’ll talk about this in another cooking episode down the road, but I have a pretty standard breakfast drink I’m making that is kinda like…what do you call that stuff that people…? Cold…what do they call that? Cold oats? Overnight oats. It’s a smoothie and overnight oats combined, which is not…I mean, that’s not groundbreaking, anyway. But I said, let’s get some of this acai to put in there, and I think that’ll be cool. I don't know, it’s a superfood. It tastes good. So, we’ll see. I haven’t tried it yet. Maybe tomorrow.

 

Oh, and then I bought also more frozen…'cause they…oh, the other thing they were out of was berries. So, they had strawberries which we’ll get to on the list. So, I had to buy frozen berries which is not…except my freezer’s pretty packed, so that was…I would prefer fresh berries. Then whole milk mozzarella; that was for my French bread pizza, then cut Brussels sprouts…oh, Trader Joe's chunky guacamole with Greek yogurt; that’s gonna go with tacos whenever I make those. Oh, then a couple bars…is that how much they cost? That’s gonna…well, that’s gonna…so, that’ll reassess things. Different…what do you call them? A bar I’ll have instead of a dessert if after…so, this kinda goes back to this driving-to-school thing.

 

If there’s a situation that comes up with traffic or whatever, I like to have some type bars…these ones are Barbel bars. They’re really tasty but they…I didn’t realize how much they cost, either. So, then my daughter and I can split one of those if we’re in the car and then the traffic’s longer and it’s like, man, we’re not gonna make it. It’s gonna be…dinner’s gonna be later than we thought, and they taste really good. It hasn’t come up where I’m like, ah, I could use a dessert, but I want something that’s not as desserty. Okay, then heirloom mini tomatoes; can’t go wrong with those. Oh, then a succulent in a nice little seasonal planter, which is super cute.

 

They had dogs or cats. Then French Roast Trader Joe's ground coffee; like I said, that’s one of my go-tos for making coffee. Then mini sweet peppers; those are good. I’ve kinda sup…replaced bell peppers with these because you can chop them up for salad or you could use them in place of what you would use bell peppers for. I usually get two weeks out of them, though sometimes some of the bags, they go earlier than that before I can use them all. Then Ready Veggies I talked about in the last show. We had half a bag of Ready Veggies with dinner last night. That one was heavy on kale.

 

Then I also got a bag of kale which I use with my smoothies, then strawberries; that was another request from my daughter for helping her feel better, and then cucumbers, and then two paper bags. That was everything from that trip. So, not a lot of…we’ll cover the…kinda the pizza nine ways or something one day and then the smoothies, maybe how I make my coffee. I think there was something else. But yeah, thanks so much for joining me in another looking at my receipt…checking my receipts and checking what I’m cooking. So good to see you. I thought I had something else I said I was gonna talk about, but now I already forgot, so I’ll see you soon. Goodnight.

 

[END OF RECORDING]

(Transcription performed by LeahTranscribes)

Trader Joe’s / Real Time Recipe

 

Ideal Sleep Positions

https://www.sleepfoundation.org/sleeping-positions

https://www.healthline.com/health/best-sleeping-position

https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/mayo-clinic-minute-what-is-the-best-sleeping-position/

 

Ranking Butter

https://www.thepioneerwoman.com/food-cooking/cooking-tips-tutorials/g41714894/best-butter-brands/

https://www.tastingtable.com/791277/fancy-butter-brands-ranked-from-worst-to-best/

https://sporked.com/article/best-butter/

 

Luxury Olive Oil

https://www.barrons.com/articles/the-latest-craze-in-luxury-food-products-olive-oil-01666629049

https://www.eater.com/23475200/cool-olive-oil-brands-trend-brightland-graza-fat-gold

https://www.realsimple.com/olive-oil-prices-surging-7974058

 

Takis

https://thetakeout.com/popular-hispanic-snacks-takis-marinela-gamesa-top-sales-1849699680

https://www.houstonpress.com/restaurants/rise-of-the-takis-6411512

https://www.snackhistory.com/takis/

 

DOWN TO BUSINESS

Pondering Shopping

Post-Shopping Shopping List

Pondering my post-shopped list

I’ll definitely talk lentils and riced cauliflower

 

Deep Dark Night United

Jeri (Testimonial)

 

PLUGS

Hand in Hand; The Midnight Mission; The Trevor Project; Sleep With Me Plus; SleepPhones; Rusty Biscuit Links; Emily Tat Artwork; NAPAWF; Anti-Racism Resources; Ukraine Relief; Crisis Textline

 

SPONSORS

AquaTru; Helix Sleep; Wild Health; Polysleep; Odoo; Air Doctor Pro; Zocdoc; Progressive

 

INTRO

Feelings that are appearing

I’ve never had a feeling that says “TaDaa!”

I have some cat-like features

Eventually you learn from your dog

My limbic system is really running the show

Proper Bedtime Position

Buckle up for the ride, buddy

What does “Hold the Phone” really mean?

A positive example of holding the phone

My Emo Limbic System

I suppose my limbic system would be helpful in speed dating

Someone else listening can relate to how you feel right now

The sleep podcast version of making positive eye contact and smiling at you

Can you tell me more about this … bed? Bed, you say?

I’ve been sleeping like a flamingo

The Flamingo Sleep Solution

I guarantee some people have already stopped and send me some nice, florid language

I’ll be your friend on the other end of the phone line

A pleasantly unpredictable friend

 

STORY

I’d rather hang with you and talk through an old TJ’s receipt than record a podcast

Shopping, reviewing, and talking about cooking

Cracked Olive Salad with Lentils – that was great

My commitment to having a legume every day

Chickpeas with seasonings and oil

These olives are pre-seasoned so I’m not sure how to properly season them

The s’more bars left my world before I could get them

Let’s run through the list, I guess

I went on the wrong day at the wrong time, to be honest

Let’s talk, that can’t hurt

I normally don’t miss a day ever

When I drive my daughter to school, I tend to stay out of home for the whole day

Low traffic in the Bay Area is high traffic everywhere else

Syracuse Traffic is nothing to me

The traffic will really start around 2pm

Coworking spaces aren’t conducive to recording a sleep podcast

What was my point again?

Unexpected Lulling Biography Moment

I used to try to record 2.5 episodes per week

But I’ve learned I can record bonus content at the coworking space 

The coworking space has been really helpful for my work and wellbeing

Explaining my Sunday Timer

1 minute of pause, 15 minutes of work, 10 minutes of chores, rinse, repeat

How does grocery shopping fit into this, Scoots?

It would be easiest for me to do grocery shopping on Fridays between 12 – 3pm

But emotionally, it’s hard for me to go on Fridays

Time is malleable, right?

This trip was Sunday at 4pm

They were short on a lot of items

A log of families were stopping by post-Sunday sporting games

Ok, let’s get to the list finally

Maple Syrup – I use this maybe once every other month

I still have the maple butter – it’s not good on waffles

It wasn’t my first stop, but it’s first on the list

A $16 jug of maple syrup – what a surprise

No sunlight will enter this jug

The size of the jug gave me pause

A full jar of my golden milk powder

You do want to sweeten your golden milk paste

Hol Bun Apple Morning

Should I buy this or no?

Let me reiterate my love of crumbles

Coffee cake meets apple danish

That’s in my freezer now

Mini Cheeseburgers

They’re kind of like White Castle sliders

I haven’t had them yet but they’ll be handy in a pinch

Next up – unsalted butter

“Butter” – BTS

A love of butter

An homage to post-Fresh Prince Will Smith

My other favorite butter

The Butter Guy from the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade

Butter and Al will live forever in my mind

TJ’s does have 2 kinds of sun dried tomatoes

I had an issue with the SDTs in the bag

The oiled ones are great for pizza

I think that’s Umami

My issue with the oiled ones is that the oil will solidify in the fridge

I can’t plan my SDT consumption ahead of time

Maybe throw some vinegar in there and then make a SDT salad dressing

EVOO, one liter

How on earth did I run out of olive oil??

I was under the impression that that giant tin of olive oil would last forever

The other day, I dropped my TJ’s olive oil bottle

I realized I was out of olive oil IN THE MIDDLE OF MAKING PIZZA

I made due with avocado oil but it’s just not the same

There was a run on olive oil and maple syrup at TJ’s

I used this new olive oil to make Hello Fresh taquitos

Our first retraction

Holiday Donuts – Apple Cider

In the past, I had nothing nice to say about these apple cider donuts

But I had unrealistic expectations, comaparing them to fresh donuts from Syracuse

I gave the donuts another try

I wouldn’t eat these during the week

I ate one as a Sunday treat

The donut was good, especially considering it’s not fresh

All-For-One Liquid Soap

I’m a regular user of this latest formulation

It really does feel luxurious

TJ’s knockoff Takis for my daughter

The case of the missing Taquitos (Takis)

Maybe the missing Takis are with that missing Pillow Pet

Maple Fudge

I assumed I would enjoy like maple syrup candy

Last year I made 3 kinds of fudge

The chocolate mint fudge I’m still working through

A Little Fudge Will Do You

Vodka Cream Pasta Sauce – I used that for a pizza topping

Starfruit Sparkling Water Pack

I like Starfruit and Winter Sangria sparkling water the best

I haven’t found a comparable flavor anywhere else in the sparkling water world

I had to cut back my sparkling water consumption because of high prices and a lack of interest in most flavors

Holiday Baking Mix – Cinnamon Blondie Bar

Ciabatta Demi-Baguette, used for French Bread Pizza

I’ll have to do a special TJ’s pizza episode

Cookie Pumpkin Chunk Mix – not as good as peppermint chunk mix

I do buy pumpkin flavored stuff for my brother

2% Organic Milk

Caramel Apple Dipping Kit – total score

I remember when Koa ate an entire gingerbread house

Organic Strawberry Kombucha Lemonade

My daughter requested the sublime little ice cream sandwiches

Fego Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches

The traditional old school ice cream sandwich

I got this next one thanks to the algorithm

Ice Cream Celebration Cake Gelato – this was actually really good!

Even my daughter loved it!

The horchata one is also unbelievable

Bag of Limes – 1 pound

3 weeks straight, we’ve made lemonade

But no lemons this week

We threw some limes in this past week, and it was a good compromise

Shredded Cheese and Pepperjack and Smoked Turkey

My daughter makes fun of how I pronounce Acai

My Standard Breakfast Drink

It’s a smoothie combined with overnight oats

TJ’s was out of berries, but they did have strawberries

Whole Milk Mozzarella for my french bread pizza

Chunky Guac with Greek Yogurt – for taco night

I like to have bars on hand in case traffic is awful

Heirloom mini tomatoes

A succulent in a nice little seasonal planter

TJ’s French Roast Coffee

Mini Sweet Peppers – these have replaced bell peppers for me

Ready Veggies

A bag of kale for smoothies

Strawberries, at my daughter’s request

Cucumbers

2 paper bags

Thanks for joining me

 

SWM+ THANKS

Kristin, Ruth, Good, Carla, Leslie, Lisa, Emily, Darlene, Erin, Zach, Colin, Heidi, Allison, Kirsten, Elizabeth

 

SUMMARY:

Episode: 1240

Title: Apple Cider Redo | TJ's Shop & Cook 2

Deep Dark Night United: Jeri (Testimonial)

Plugs: Hand in Hand; The Midnight Mission; The Trevor Project; Sleep With Me Plus; SleepPhones; Rusty Biscuit Links; Emily Tat Artwork; NAPAWF; Anti-Racism Resources; Ukraine Relief; Crisis Textline

Sponsors: AquaTru; Helix Sleep; Wild Health; Polysleep; Odoo; Air Doctor Pro; Zocdoc; Progressive

SWM+ Thanks: Kristin, Ruth, Good, Carla, Leslie, Lisa, Emily, Darlene, Erin, Zach, Colin, Heidi, Allison, Kirsten, Elizabeth

Notable Language:

• Post-Shopping Shopping List
• TaDaa
• Cat-Like Features
• Hold the Phone
• The Flamingo Sleep Solution
• Nice, Florid Language
• Pre-Sleep Position
• Unexpected Lulling Biography Moment
• A Little Fudge Will Do You
• Grapey-Type Taste
• The traditional old school ice cream sandwich
• Standard Breakfast Drink

 

Notable Culture:

• Trader Joe’s
• Emo
• The Flamingo Sleep Solution
• Golden Milk
• Streussel
• White Castle
• “Butter” – BTS
• Will Smith
• “Fresh Prince”
• Willow Smith
• The Smiths
• Macy’ s Thanksgiving Parade
• Al Roker
• Hello Fresh
• Takis

 

Notable Talking Points:

• Feelings that are appearing
• I’ve never had a feeling that says “TaDaa!”
• I have some cat-like features
• Eventually you learn from your dog
• My limbic system is really running the show
• Proper Bedtime Position
• Buckle up for the ride, buddy
• What does “Hold the Phone” really mean?
• A positive example of holding the phone
• My Emo Limbic System
• I suppose my limbic system would be helpful in speed dating
• Someone else listening can relate to how you feel right now
• The sleep podcast version of making positive eye contact and smiling at you
• Can you tell me more about this … bed? Bed, you say?
• I’ve been sleeping like a flamingo
• The Flamingo Sleep Solution
• I guarantee some people have already stopped and send me some nice, florid language
• I’ll be your friend on the other end of the phone line
• A pleasantly unpredictable friend
• I’d rather hang with you and talk through an old TJ’s receipt than record a podcast
• Shopping, reviewing, and talking about cooking
• Cracked Olive Salad with Lentils – that was great
• My commitment to having a legume every day
• Chickpeas with seasonings and oil
• These olives are pre-seasoned so I’m not sure how to properly season them
• The s’more bars left my world before I could get them
• Let’s run through the list, I guess
• I went on the wrong day at the wrong time, to be honest
• Let’s talk, that can’t hurt
• I normally don’t miss a day ever
• When I drive my daughter to school, I tend to stay out of home for the whole day
• Low traffic in the Bay Area is high traffic everywhere else
• Syracuse Traffic is nothing to me
• The traffic will really start around 2pm
• Coworking spaces aren’t conducive to recording a sleep podcast
• What was my point again?
• Unexpected Lulling Biography Moment
• I used to try to record 2.5 episodes per week
• But I’ve learned I can record bonus content at the coworking space 
• The coworking space has been really helpful for my work and wellbeing
• Explaining my Sunday Timer
• 1 minute of pause, 15 minutes of work, 10 minutes of chores, rinse, repeat
• How does grocery shopping fit into this, Scoots?
• It would be easiest for me to do grocery shopping on Fridays between 12 – 3pm
• But emotionally, it’s hard for me to go on Fridays
• Time is malleable, right?
• This trip was Sunday at 4pm
• They were short on a lot of items
• A log of families were stopping by post-Sunday sporting games
• Ok, let’s get to the list finally
• Maple Syrup – I use this maybe once every other month
• I still have the maple butter – it’s not good on waffles
• It wasn’t my first stop, but it’s first on the list
• A $16 jug of maple syrup – what a surprise
• No sunlight will enter this jug
• The size of the jug gave me pause
• A full jar of my golden milk powder
• You do want to sweeten your golden milk paste
• Hol Bun Apple Morning
• Should I buy this or no?
• Let me reiterate my love of crumbles
• Coffee cake meets apple danish
• That’s in my freezer now
• Mini Cheeseburgers
• They’re kind of like White Castle sliders
• I haven’t had them yet but they’ll be handy in a pinch
• Next up – unsalted butter
• “Butter” – BTS
• A love of butter
• An homage to post-Fresh Prince Will Smith
• My other favorite butter
• The Butter Guy from the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade
• Butter and Al will live forever in my mind
• TJ’s does have 2 kinds of sun dried tomatoes
• I had an issue with the SDTs in the bag
• The oiled ones are great for pizza
• I think that’s Umami
• My issue with the oiled ones is that the oil will solidify in the fridge
• I can’t plan my SDT consumption ahead of time
• Maybe throw some vinegar in there and then make a SDT salad dressing
• EVOO, one liter
• How on earth did I run out of olive oil??
• I was under the impression that that giant tin of olive oil would last forever
• The other day, I dropped my TJ’s olive oil bottle
• I realized I was out of olive oil IN THE MIDDLE OF MAKING PIZZA
• I made due with avocado oil but it’s just not the same
• There was a run on olive oil and maple syrup at TJ’s
• I used this new olive oil to make Hello Fresh taquitos
• Our first retraction
• Holiday Donuts – Apple Cider
• In the past, I had nothing nice to say about these apple cider donuts
• But I had unrealistic expectations, comaparing them to fresh donuts from Syracuse
• I gave the donuts another try
• I wouldn’t eat these during the week
• I ate one as a Sunday treat
• The donut was good, especially considering it’s not fresh
• All-For-One Liquid Soap
• I’m a regular user of this latest formulation
• It really does feel luxurious
• TJ’s knockoff Takis for my daughter
• The case of the missing Taquitos (Takis)
• Maybe the missing Takis are with that missing Pillow Pet
• Maple Fudge
• I assumed I would enjoy like maple syrup candy
• Last year I made 3 kinds of fudge
• The chocolate mint fudge I’m still working through
• A Little Fudge Will Do You
• Vodka Cream Pasta Sauce – I used that for a pizza topping
• Starfruit Sparkling Water Pack
• I like Starfruit and Winter Sangria sparkling water the best
• I haven’t found a comparable flavor anywhere else in the sparkling water world
• I had to cut back my sparkling water consumption because of high prices and a lack of interest in most flavors
• Holiday Baking Mix – Cinnamon Blondie Bar
• Ciabatta Demi-Baguette, used for French Bread Pizza
• I’ll have to do a special TJ’s pizza episode
• Cookie Pumpkin Chunk Mix – not as good as peppermint chunk mix
• I do buy pumpkin flavored stuff for my brother
• 2% Organic Milk
• Caramel Apple Dipping Kit – total score
• I remember when Koa ate an entire gingerbread house
• Organic Strawberry Kombucha Lemonade
• My daughter requested the sublime little ice cream sandwiches
• Fego Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches
• The traditional old school ice cream sandwich
• I got this next one thanks to the algorithm
• Ice Cream Celebration Cake Gelato – this was actually really good!
• Even my daughter loved it!
• The horchata one is also unbelievable
• Bag of Limes – 1 pound
• 3 weeks straight, we’ve made lemonade
• But no lemons this week
• We threw some limes in this past week, and it was a good compromise
• Shredded Cheese and Pepperjack and Smoked Turkey
• My daughter makes fun of how I pronounce Acai
• My Standard Breakfast Drink
• It’s a smoothie combined with overnight oats
• TJ’s was out of berries, but they did have strawberries
• Whole Milk Mozzarella for my french bread pizza
• Chunky Guac with Greek Yogurt – for taco night
• I like to have bars on hand in case traffic is awful
• Heirloom mini tomatoes
• A succulent in a nice little seasonal planter
• TJ’s French Roast Coffee
• Mini Sweet Peppers – these have replaced bell peppers for me
• Ready Veggies
• A bag of kale for smoothies
• Strawberries, at my daughter’s request
• Cucumbers
• 2 paper bags
• Thanks for joining me