What do Monsanto, Roundup herbicide, Used Books, and Trader Joe's have in common?...

absolutely nothing (except for Monsanto and Roundup, which we'll be saving for a later post.)

Just a quickie about the Roundup and where I'm going with this.

Yesterday I read an article: The Real Reason Wheat is Toxic (it's not the gluten) that made me sit back and go, Whoa! 

Daisy Luther, over at The Organic Prepper, followed up with Maybe You Aren't Actually Gluten Intolerant.  Maybe You're Poison Intolerant.

I'm a Master Gardener, courtesy of the state of Idaho (no big whoop), and have been gardening for over 60 years.  I was gobsmacked when I read that farmers are spraying their wheat, barley, and other crops with glyphosate (Roundup) just days prior to harvesting. 

At the beginning of my research, I discovered that the real problem may lie in the inert ingredients, and not the glyphosate itself.

More to follow after more research.

Trader Joe's

The good and the not so good. 

Yesterday was our first time at Trader Joe's.

Upon entering I was dazzled by the beautiful flowers set up like a French market.  Very lovely and rock bottom prices, but it was too cold to avail myself of a few bunches.

Next up was a long row of fancy pre-packaged salads and such, beautifully lighted, and very appealing.  That is, until you actually looked at the price and the amount in the package.  Um, no.  Don't think I'll be buying any of that today.

The cheeses followed.  Also a great selection, but nothing I can't get at Costco, of the same or higher quality, for a fraction of the cost.  No cheese for us.

I had read on reviews that the produce tended not to be the best.  The produce I saw was quite lovely, but readily available at our local grocery store.  Skip the veggies.

I'm starting to panic now because I really wanted to buy stuff.  I was in the mood for a bunch of cool foodie stuff. You know -  yuppie libtard trendy sort of stuff. 

Oh, wait.  Cool gourmet pizzas.  First one I see is Kale, Sweet Potato & Butternut Squash Pizza. Now, that's just wrong!  They were offering samples and I was right. It reminded me of the prepackaged butternut squash ravioli I had just seen.  Why would you do such a thing?

Around the corner was the "snacks that are good for you" aisle - except they're not.

By now I'm breaking out in a cold sweat as we head into the frozen aisle pushing an empty cart.

My careful research had sussed out an item that everyone seemed to agree was wonderful - the TJ's ice cream.  Their website said they had one called Coffee Bean Blast.  Since Starbucks pulled it's Java Chip ice cream from the shelves years ago, we have not found one single decent coffee ice cream since.

Not anymore!

We bought the only two Coffee Bean Blasts they had, and when we tasted them, oh my gosh, we were transported to coffee ice cream heaven. The flavor is so strong, there is no doubt that you are tasting and eating coffee ice cream!  Did I mention it is creamy, creamy, creamy?  Well, it is.

I also read superlative reviews on their frozen croissants.  You put them out at night to proof, and bake them in the morning.  We grabbed the chocolate and the almond.  Can't wait to try them.

Great!  I now have four things in my cute little cart, and the cold sweats have subsided somewhat.

Slipping around the corner, I spied some TJ's lemon curd.  Into the cart it went.

A yuppie type lady standing there said, "You must be from England."  Um, no. Not only do I not look English, but I sound like some weird hybrid Chicago type.  It's what happens when you mix a Minnesota with a Texas accent.  But, she was trying to be pleasant, and so I took it in the spirit intended - bless her heart.

Grabbed a bottle of grape seed oil.  It was the same price as Wal-Mart, but looked like it may be a better quality.  

Since I'm now a sardine aficionado, I grabbed up one of every sardine type they had.  Whoo-hoo!  My cart is now serious enough looking to actually check out.

The not so good.

I think the one thing that stood out for us was the attitude of the customers.  Most appeared to be of what we lump together as "yuppies", and for lack of a better word, snooty.  A whole damn store full of them, trying to navigate our way around them, saying; "Cuse me, 'cuse me" as we went.  We're used to customers in a store interacting and being very outgoing and friendly. For me, a trip to any grocery store, or to Costco, is a social event.  I didn't find that at TJ's which is certainly not the fault of TJ's.

Trust me on this; these people would sneer at Premium Saltines, French's mustard, and Heinz ketchup - all three of which are classics, and classically good.  And you can bet they're not eating fried Spam sandwiches, either. 

Would I go back again?

Yes, if for no other reason than to get that Coffee Bean Blast ice cream. 

Second Look Books

Just a few doors down is my favorite used book store.  I haven't been there in years and was excited to peruse the books. We're talking about two floors crammed floor to ceiling with well organized books at great prices.

I managed to find four books of interest, and upon returning home ran them through Amazon, and they all had good reviews.

• Inside the Third Reich Memoirs by Albert Speer
• Pretty Boy: The Life and Times of Charles Arthur Floyd by Michael Wallis
• The Days of the French Revolution  by Christopher Hibbert
• The Paleo Diet Revised: Lose Weight and Get Healthy by Eating the Foods You Were Designed to Eat   by Loren Cordain, Ph,D.

The Paleo book was actually the first edition, not the revised.  We try to follow ("try" being the key word) a Paleo/Primal way of eating and Dr. Cordain makes what I consider to be a lot of mistakes in his approach.  I purchased it mainly for the extensive recipe section.

Who's this Francis Porretto guy?

Speaking of reviews, I just added some reviews on Amazon for the Realm of Essences series by Francis Porretto.  Mr. Porretto blogs at Liberty's Torch and has quite a few listings of fiction on Amazon.   

Chosen One  is the first in the series, followed by On Broken Wings and Shadow Of A Sword.

They're all excellent!  Check them out.

Off to eat salted-in-the-shell peanuts washed down with a diet coke.  Neither is any way, shape, or form part of a Paleo/Primal diet.  Not at all...