Sleepy Bedtime Blessings
Sleepy Bedtime Blessings
Angelic Whispers and Trader Joe's Fearless Flyer February 2025
💜Hi Beautiful Friends - It is lovely to gather with you for this sweet and soothing broadcast. 😇💤
In this episode, there is lots of angel love for you and I'll share with you a bit about our first-ever meeting of my new crafting circle, Crafting in the Light.
For Storytime, we'll pay a virtual visit to Trader Joe's as we flip through the pages of their Fearless Flyer for February 2025. I'll share with you my new unexpected favorite treat from them as well as other snippets of deliciousness. It will be rambling, fun and slightly entertaining so you can rest, relax and enjoy companionship for the next hour.
Storytime begins at 21:20
And may I ask a favor? If you are enjoying the podcast, please consider leaving a review on iTunes or your favorite podcast app. Thank you!
I invite you to visit my web site www.illuminatingsouls.com to sign up for my mailing list and learn about my current offerings. 😴🌠
Wishing you a blessed night and sweet dreams until we meet again!
Thank you!
Hello, my beautiful friends, I am Laurel Bleeden-Maffei, with Illuminating Souls, welcoming you to this episode of Sleepy Bedtime Blessings, a podcast designed to help you rest, relax and fall asleep, all while deepening in your connection with your beautiful team of angels who love you. So If we're meeting for the first time, welcome and allow me to introduce myself. And allow me to introduce myself. I am an angelic practitioner, a spiritual teacher and an encourager of souls. One of the perks of having my own business is I get to give myself my own job title. So that is what I came up with Because, if you know me at all, I am a very wordy girl, and why use one word if five can be used instead? So in the work that I do with Illuminating Souls, I love the name of my company as well, because it aptly describes what we do. I teach classes over Zoom and they're wonderful. It's not all linear learning. It's very much community building and bringing lightworkers together in community where we can have conversation and explore and spend time in the angelic energy which is so powerful and uplifting and inspiring. And then I also offer one-on-one services. So there's the one-off angel sessions and then a longer form of support, soul mentoring, which begins with a 12-week package, and we meet every week and I support and mentor you and bring in the angels and help create a beautiful sanctuary for you as you move through a time of growth or transformation, and so there's lots of ways we can work together, and you can learn more at my website, illuminatingsoulscom, where you can also sign up for my mailing list and you will be apprised of everything that I have going on, and then I also publish semi-regularly these days on my Facebook page, so all kinds of ways we can connect out in the ethers. But for now, the angels and I are coming together to create a beautiful, sweet, comforting space where you can replenish, where you can rest and, if this is your bedtime, where you can fall asleep.
Speaker 1:The reason I created a sleep podcast is because I listen to one every night myself and I have for many years and I love the genre. As most of you who listen know. When I was growing up, my bedroom was on the second floor. I shared a room with my sister when I was a little girl, and I have such warm memories of going up to bed and being tucked in for bed and then hearing my parents downstairs, whether I was hearing the TV or the murmurs of their conversation that there's always been something very comforting for me about hearing mumbles, rambles, a soft, loving voice in the background. That has helped put me to sleep. And so when I found sleep podcasts, the first one I ever found is Sleep With Me by Drew Ackerman, and that was the only one I listened to for several years and I loved it so much.
Speaker 1:My favorite episodes that he would do were the personal journal episodes that's what he called them, whether it was his reviews of the Trader Joe's flyers, or telling a story from his life, or doing what he called real-time recipes, where he would invite us over and he would just act out the making of a meal together, and it felt so beautifully intimate, like I was spending time with a friend. It wasn't the kind of podcast where I had to learn something and pay attention. It was rambles, like beautiful, wonderful rambles, the kinds that we experience when we go out to lunch with a friend or we're sitting in conversation with a group of people we love, and we wander in and out of various topics, and so I knew that that's what I wanted this podcast to be, and then also I knew that I had to weave in the angels, because that's what I do, that's my jam, and so Sleepy Bedtime Blessings was born. So the way each episode is structured is we start with the opening that we're in right now. It runs about 15 to 20 minutes, and I'll be bringing in the angels they're already here, but I love sharing them with you and then after that we move on into story time, and each episode runs about an hour.
Speaker 1:So story time is usually somewhere around 40 to 45 minutes and it is nothing important that you need to stay awake for. But I will endeavor to be good company for you. I might share with you stories from my own life, flip through the pages of an old community cookbook or TV guide, or read to you something that's in the public domain and there are no loud noises. So I do my best to modulate my voice so that I'm kind of rambly, a little boring, maybe sometimes a little bit monotone, and that is with purpose, so that your consciousness has something to gently focus upon, so that you can transition from your waking consciousness into that beautiful mystery of sleep, and I've heard from many of you that you typically fall asleep during this segment. So, however you use the podcast. You are welcome, because I also know that many of you listen during your waking hours, while you are going about your day, so I'm just grateful to get to keep you company, however, and whenever you choose to listen.
Speaker 1:So as I record this episode, I just really would like to celebrate myself. I don't mean that egoically, but I am recording this and it is early morning. My husband just left for work early morning. My husband just left for work, and even though I was inclined to go sit on the couch and watch TV and crochet and use my old excuse of oh, I'll record that later. Does later ever work for anybody If you're procrastinating on something? If you're procrastinating on something, I'm a terrible I'll do it later person because I never do.
Speaker 1:I love recording this podcast, just so you know it's not something I resist. But my early mornings lately have taken on a different rhythm and I love recording these episodes in the early morning because the world is quiet. I'm quiet, you know my mind has not had a chance to wake up and engage with the news of the day and you know that kind of worldly rhythm. I'm still in my pajamas, it's still dark out, I can't hear a lot of noise in my periphery and it's a wonderful time to record these episodes. So I'm just so happy I am sitting here right now with you and the angels, creating this beautiful bubble of love where we can connect. So I invite you to get comfortable in whatever way works best for you To get cozy, to snuggle up, to maybe take a few deep breaths in and out, to maybe take a few deep breaths in and out, just allowing yourself to come present to this moment and to know that this moment is filled with so much love for you.
Speaker 1:I don't think we have enough of an opportunity on a regular basis to pivot towards the presence of love, because in the human experience, love can feel more elusive. One of the things I love so much about connecting with the angels is love is ever-present. It's like the sun. You've heard me say that before it comes, it flows without prejudice. It flows for you because you are precious in this world and the universe is grateful for the gift of you.
Speaker 1:So, again, just take a breath in, and I'm going to ask the angels to join us. They are already here, but I love sharing this ritual with you. So, beautiful angels on high, I invite you to join us here and I ask that you infuse this broadcast with waves of love and grace and healing and light and service to each of our beloveds who are listening to this broadcast. I ask that you lift from us anything that is not ours, any burdens we need not carry, and infuse us instead with goodness and joy and love and inspiration. So, dear ones, just take a nice deep breath in and if you have prayers or intentions you wish to share with the angels, we invite you to bring them into your heart now. Take all the time you need with this. Even if I am speaking, you just keep going with your prayers and intentions, and everything you bring into this circle of light will be amplified by your angels and by God of light, will be amplified by your angels and by God. And while we are doing this, we are also generating beautiful prayers for you, because the angels know what is going on in your life. They know all that you are navigating and all that is in your heart, that you are navigating and all that is in your heart, and they pray with you and for you as well. I don't know about you, but I melt.
Speaker 1:I love when people pray for me. I mean, what an incredible concept that somebody might pray for us. It's so intimate, and I don't know if you've ever experienced affirmative prayer. It's a form of prayer that is done in the Centers for Spiritual Living and Agape Spiritual Center, which is in Los Angeles and Dr Reverend Michael Beckwith is the founder, and they do a form of affirmative prayer that is so incredibly powerful. It usually begins with something like right now, where we are, god is, and as I speak these words, I know that God is present in every breath and that God is present as me and God is present as you, and the light of God is streaming through in this moment, and it goes on and on meaning.
Speaker 1:The prayer does, as does God. It's like speaking truth into consciousness in a way that is profoundly meaningful. And, just as an aside, if you ever want to experience it, agape Spiritual Center has a prayer ministry and you can call them and one of their licensed practitioners will pray with you. It's really incredible, will pray with you. It's really incredible. I have called them on occasion and it has really helped to shift things for me.
Speaker 1:So here's to the power of prayer. You know, I guess I always kind of grew up thinking prayer was please, god, please help. And those are fine prayers. I'm not judging the quality of anybody's prayer, but this concept of affirmative, positive prayer is also incredible, right? So I'm affirming that in this moment, god is with us and the light is streaming in, and I am affirming that blessings are flowing, that miracles are happening, that grace is present. And so we speak. These vibrations and the throat chakra is very, very powerful, and there is something about speaking our prayers aloud. Having them travel through our consciousness, through our spoken word seems to crystallize our intentions and creates movement.
Speaker 1:You know, sometimes I wake up in the morning and I'm feeling bleh, and if I will just speak my intentions, my prayers, my visions, my affirmations into the space, something shifts in me. Formations into the space, something shifts in me and especially, listen, the world's a bit crazy right now. That's all I'll say about it. I promise I will not say anything more. And I find that it is so helpful to remember to pivot, to pivot towards the light, to pivot towards that we can name. That is good, like in this moment, I am in my home, my beautiful home that is filled with love.
Speaker 1:In this moment, I am in front of a microphone that is plugged into my computer and I am speaking to people I know and people who my soul knows. But I have never met and we are connecting in the heart of the divine, and what an incredible miracle that is. Because what you don't know is that I prayed for you, meaning I prayed that we would meet. I prayed for you, meaning I prayed that we would meet. I prayed that I would find people who felt like soul family, that I would find others who would share this journey with me. You know, I don't know that I ever shared this with you before, but when I was first going through my awakening, I realized I had this fear that if I kept ascending I really don't mean that to sound so egoist, it's not what I mean but as I kept shifting in consciousness, as I kept reorienting within myself into the world, that I would wind up being alone on a mountain. Because in the beginning this kind of journey can feel scary, because the present experience of our lives may not be in vibrational alignment with that which we are becoming. Okay, that's a lot of words, but I think you understand what I mean.
Speaker 1:And I remember having a reading with a woman I knew who was very gifted, and I shared this with her and her guides came through and they said oh no, dear ones. They said, but there are birds that fly at every altitude. But there are birds that fly at every altitude and your job is to fly to the altitude where you are meant to soar, and you will have other birds there. There was something about the poetry of that invitation that really spoke to me, and what I discovered was, as I made the journey as I made the journey, I actually did not leave anyone behind that our capacity to connect at the heart is so much more robust and resilient than we might imagine and that, even if we are going through a spiritual awakening where we might feel like we're making a left turn and in listen, sometimes that really happens in a not so good way, but but in.
Speaker 1:What I'm talking about here is what I discovered is the people who loved me just wanted me to be happy, like it is the simplest expression. The people in my life just wanted me to be happy, and this journey allowed me to feel much more settled in who I was, to feel more authentically present, and so, even though in the beginning it felt like I was pulling myself back from my life. It allowed me to become much more immersive in life, and so I don't even know how I got here. Wow See, I told you we would be rambling. So there's space in the world for your authentic self and your people who truly love you. Whether they understand this journey or not, they will respond to your happiness and your fulfillment, and if they don't, then there's their own stuff happening. But to trust your path and to trust your spirit, to trust the beauty of all that you are you are a beautiful, bright soul, you are a blessing here on earth and I am so deeply, deeply grateful for the opportunity to spend this time with you. And so, my friends, I invite you to cozy on up and snuggle on in, and if this is your bedtime, I wish you the sweetest of dreams and just drift off whenever sleep comes for you, and if you are operating heavy machinery, please stay focused, and I will do my best to keep you somewhat amused as we head on into story time.
Speaker 1:So this story time was inspired by my journey to Trader Joe's yesterday, because they have a new fearless flyer and since one of my very favorite episodes that Drew Ackerman would do on the Sleep With Me podcast is to go through the fearless flyer. He inspired me to do the same. He doesn't publish those episodes very much anymore, those episodes very much anymore, and I don't know what it is that I'm mesmerized by what other people buy at grocery stores. So okay, wait, I'm going to do a little segue here. Hold on a little interlude.
Speaker 1:So I have just started facilitating the most wonderful, magical group called Crafting in the Light, which is inspired because I was sharing with some of the women in one of my other groups that I love to crochet prayer shawls for people and prayer blankets. Now here's the thing I used to think that prayer shawls were made for prayer, and then I learned they're made in prayer, with prayer, that as you crochet or knit or weave, we're weaving our love into these shawls and blankets. And that was just right up my alley, and so I have been making them ever since, and so when I was sharing this, one of the women in the circle said oh, will you do a knitting circle for us? I would love that. And I really didn't know what that would look like. And a few weeks ago it formed and I thought, oh, we're going to get together to craft and there's going to be angels, and we're going to do this to soothe ourselves, to be in community, to be in joy, to be in creativity, to be in mindfulness, like all of those good juicy juicy things. And so we had our first meeting this week of Crafting in the Light.
Speaker 1:I think I have 16 or 17 women signed up for it, and maybe there were 12 of us on the Zoom, and so, as we were doing our introductions, I invited everyone to share something that they're freakishly good at. Now I have to give props to Alexandra Franzen for that question. She is a wonderful writer and she has all of these wonderful prompts that you can use in conversation or for journaling or self-exploration, and one of them is what are you freakishly good at? So this is not your resume, this is not I am really good at talking to angels, it's. It's more along the lines of the quirky things that we are.
Speaker 1:And so I shared that I am freakishly good at grocery shopping, because I love grocery shopping, because, as you all know, I'm very imprinted with food and I love food and I love grocery stores. I mean, they're huge, enormous buildings filled with a variety of food Like how can there be anything better than that? And it's organized and you go up and down aisles and see what appeals to you or appeals to me, because I'll make this about myself. So I shared that I am freakishly good at grocery shopping, that I am freakishly good at grocery shopping and every week I go to at least four different stores because each store has something unique that I have to get there and how. Even though I don't like leaving my house for much, I love going grocery shopping. So I'm freakishly good and quirky about that, because each store has its own personality and I know what I can get in each of the stores and I love I mean grocery stores. They're full of food and other stuff like shampoo and toilet paper. So that brings us back around to the Trader Joe's fearless flyer.
Speaker 1:I love seeing what other people are buying. I'm sort of a voyeur and I start imagining what's their story. Are they on a diet? Do they eat healthy? Are they having people over for dinner? Because you can tell a lot about somebody based on what's in their cart. I'm always mesmerized by people who I imagine are having people over for dinner, because there's the cheese and then there's the crackers and then there's the other I'm going to use a really fancy word crudités, you know, the vegetables and the dip and the loaf of French bread, and maybe it's just for them, but in my mind they're having people over for dinner. And they're having people over for dinner, it means they must have friends and family and they're the ones who are hosting. So.
Speaker 1:So one of my joys in this world is grocery stores and grocery shopping, and Trader Joe's, as with all of the stores I frequent, I have a special relationship with, and the thing about Trader Joe's is there are some staples that they always have, but they also always bring new stuff in and it might only be there for a month or two. Always bring new stuff in, and it might only be there for a month or two. So the challenge with Trader Joe's is, if you fall in love with something that they have, part of our relationship rules is you must make space for the fact that they might break your heart and remove that from the shelves. It's really it's a strange relationship, because if I go to just a regular grocery store, I know that I'll be finding saltine crackers. They're not going anywhere. These brands have been around for 50 years, or something like Cheerios. They are not going to remove those from the shelves. They're there.
Speaker 1:With Trader Joe's, almost everything I have really loved has eventually gone away. So so you know, it's that kind of relationship where you have to live in the moment with Trader Joe's, right Like you don't know what you're going to get when you go there. I mean you kind of do Some things are stable, like you know they're going to have great apples. You know that certain of their brands will always be there. They'll always have a wide assortment of nuts and dried fruit. Their spices are fantastic. They have their own spice blends and they're all unique. But you know I get so sad when things go away that I am not ready to release from my life. But that's Trader Joe's, because new stuff comes in. So I will share with you one of my new loves from Trader Joe's that I do not believe I have talked with you about before. So they have.
Speaker 1:Well, let me back up. Trader Joe's is the store that started the everything but the bagel seasoning trend. They brought it out several years ago Now. I don't know if you have ever had an everything bagel, but they're brilliant. So everything that goes on other bagels, poppy seeds, garlic, onion, sesame seeds, they mix it all together and then it would be an everything bagel, so you would not have to choose what kind of seasoning you wanted, you just have all of them. And so years ago, trader Joe's brought out everything but the bagel seasoning. It's brilliant, and now everybody else has it too. So probably wherever you are, even if you don't have a Trader Joe's, you can get everything but the bagel seasoning. So I love that. And now there's everything but the bagel, everything else, like everything but the bagel crackers, everything but the bagel chips. So it's now a seasoning that has become evergreen.
Speaker 1:So I was talking with a friend a few weeks ago maybe a month ago, I don't know and I was going into Trader Joe's and I asked her what is your favorite thing to get from Trader Joe's? I always love to ask people this question. And she said everything but the bagel crackers. She says I'm a savory person. And she said everything but the bagel crackers. She says I'm a savory person, so I love to get everything but the bagel seasoning, crackers with cheese. And I was like, oh, that sounds really good.
Speaker 1:I haven't had those crackers. I think I bought a box of them a few years ago and I never ate them, and so by the time they expired I just unfortunately had to throw them out. But I got them and because my friend had recommended them and I tried them and they're delicious Just so you know, delish so I loved them. And so next time I went to Trader Joe's I went to buy a couple of boxes, because I a stock the pantry kind of girl that if I like something and it is shelf stable, I buy a couple to put into the room that we have designated partially as our pantry, in addition to being where my treadmill is and other things, but we store our extra food there. So I was all excited and I bought other things there and I went to take down the box of my newly acquired crackers and opened them and realized wait a second, these are different. Second, these are different.
Speaker 1:So the everything but the bagel crackers are shaped like triscuits, not triscuits. Wheat thins Sorry, got my crackers confused like wheat thins. These were tiny little round cracker sandwiches filled with some sort of like cream cheesy filling. You know, like when you have the peanut butter crackers or the cheese crackers, you know the little sandwich cookie things, but they're crackers. And I was so mad I was like, oh, I got the wrong thing. Oh, all right, I guess I'll eat one. Okay, I ate one.
Speaker 1:It was a flavor revelation. It was so incredibly delicious and I thought, oh no, I'm in trouble Because if I don't know about a food, if I don't eat a food, it is not in my realm of possibility to eat. So I would have never bought those on purpose, I just wouldn't have. I'm mindful about what I bring into my sphere because I can get very obsessive about things. I know I know it's a huge surprise. Right, it really comes as no surprise. I know that.
Speaker 1:Okay, so back to these little morsels of deliciousness. I knew as soon as I ate the first one, I was in trouble. I was like like, okay, the everything but the bagel seasoning crackers were delish. These are off the charts. If you've not gotten them, try them, unless you get food obsessed and you're thinking you cannot know about them, in which case never eat one, because you will want them all the time.
Speaker 1:So they're teeny, tiny. They're about the size of a dime a US dime, maybe a nickel, maybe a US nickel and they're little round crackers. And the filling I don't know. They call it cream cheese. It's not. It's not like Philadelphia cream cheese. It's. It's, but it's some sort of creamy deliciousness and they're so good.
Speaker 1:So I had two boxes of those because I had bought extra boxes of my what I thought were the square crackers for our pantry. So eventually I ate those and I went to buy and they were out of stock yesterday and I was thinking please don't be discontinued. Trader Joe's, you cannot take another thing away from me. And the lovely Trader Joe crew member checked their computer system and they were going to be back in last night. So if I do pay a visit to Trader Joe's in the next few days, I should be able to secure more of the everything but the bagel little sandwich crackers. It's probably good.
Speaker 1:I don't have them, though. When I am looking for a snack, like a crunchy snack, I'm looking for something I enjoy but I'm not obsessed with. It's a weird gray area. I want to like it, but I don't want to have to drive across town for it. So Trader Joe's has these low fat kettle chips.
Speaker 1:They're in a blue bag. They're good, but they're not Dorito good Like. They're good and I do not have to have them. I can have them when I want them and they're lovely and they might not, you know, go through the whole bag in a week, but I have to try and find things that I like, but I don't like too much. I have to try and find things that I like, but I don't like too much. Weird, weird food, mind that I have, okay, which brings us to the fearless flyer which I did not know was out, which is for February 25. But we're almost at the end of February. I keep thinking it's March already.
Speaker 1:But let's go through some of these things. There's something called spaghetti triangoletti. I don't know what that is. I could read it to you, but I don't know that I care that deeply. I'm not a pasta girl, and that is because I am a bariatric patient and I have a tiny tummy and I also am on ozempic, and so noodles, pasta noodles, they fill me up very, very quickly and it's not a terribly delightful experience. So so we're going to skip over that, but then we will talk about their heart-shaped macarons. But then we will talk about their heart-shaped macarons.
Speaker 1:Now, when macarons came onto the scene, I found it confusing, because I'm Jewish and I grew up with macaroons, which are an entirely different kind of cookie. The macaroons are the things that we would eat over Passover and they were very dense, sweet, coconutty, like haystacky cookies. So those are macaroons. Macaroons are those delightfully French little almond flour meringue sandwich cookie things with delicious fillings that are very gourmet and are very expensive. When I had my first macaron it was again a revelation, and everyone is a different flavor. So thank goodness they were so expensive, because I didn't buy them very often and now of course I don't eat them because of the sugar issue. So these are Trader Joe's heart-shaped macarons for Valentine's Day and they are strawberry filling and raspberry filling. When I was eating macarons I much preferred the things like the pistachio flavored, the cafe au lait flavored, rather than the fruity flavors.
Speaker 1:When going for sweets I typically do not go for fruit-flavored things. They also have dark chocolate bonbon cookies which I saw somebody taste testing on TikTok and they look delicious, but but again I will not be getting them. And then and then we have a bunch of different pizza related things. We've got fresh pizza dough which I have zero desire to make my own pizza, but, but I do have a pizza tip for you in just a moment. They have pizza party.
Speaker 1:Potato chips does not sound good to me at all, so they're kettle chips. Let's see, wait, let's see. These are Trader Joe's pizza party potato chips contain a mix of three classic kettle style potato chips and three exciting, not-so-classic flavors Aromatic cheese and garlic, slightly spicy pepperoni and tangy, delicately sweet pizza sauce. That is not my flavor profile, but it might be yours, I do believe. I've heard that people really like them. They also have a pizza ranch salad kit, and that is, let's see, what does it have in it? So it has all the veg, right, all the good veg. And then pizza evoking toppings like herby flatbread, crisps, crispy four cheese crumbles and grated parmesan Again, not my flavor profile. If I'm getting bagged salad, almost always I'm getting the Mediterranean bagged salad with the balsamic vinaigrette. That is my favorite.
Speaker 1:Okay, here is my unexpected pizza tip for you. And so there are categories of pizza, right, there's the super delicious pizza that might come out of a wood-burning oven or the big pizza oven, and all they do is pizza and its wonderful ingredients and toppings, and it tends to be a little more expensive. So that's its own category. Then there is the fast food pizza, the Domino's Pizza Hut, little Caesar pizza, yes, and then there's the frozen pizza. So if we we take those three categories, I need to tell you about something that dwells between the frozen pizza and the fast food pizza, and that is 7-Eleven pizza. I know, I know it is surprisingly good for that category of pizza.
Speaker 1:You can either buy one slice or two slices here in California. Two slices is $4. Great price. A whole cheese pizza is $10. And what I love about it is it's simple, it's not terribly greasy. And what I love about it is it's simple, it's not terribly greasy, it's like I can have one piece and be completely satisfied and not feel heavy Like it doesn't feel like a grease ball in my stomach 24 hours a day and get a slice of pizza, because I do enjoy pizza and I don't. I don't want a whole pizza. I mean we get, we get whole pizza sometimes. Sometimes we have Lou Malnati's pizza from Chicago shipped, or my cousins do. Now that is pizza, lou Malnati's from Chicago, phenomenal pizza.
Speaker 1:But if you're looking for something that fits in the fast food thing and you don't need a whole pizza and you don't want a frozen pizza, I highly recommend that you give 7-Eleven pizza a try. It's it's not spicy, it's like so, it's just so middle of the road pizza, but in the best way possible, right, like sometimes you just want a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on really good bread, not sourdough bread. I just mean, like you know, some wheat bread, some white bread, and it's very satisfying. And that is how I feel about 7-Eleven pizza. You heard it here. First you have to tell me, if you tried the 7-Eleven pizza, what you think of it.
Speaker 1:Okay, let's see what else I can get from the Trader Joe's frequent flyer. All right, there's some sort of savory tart that is in French so I will not pronounce it because I'll do it badly, but it is topped with creme fraiche, caramelized onions, thinly sliced ham and Gruyere cheese. I don't know if I've mentioned this to you, but my husband does not like onions, like. So I typically don't buy things that feature onions unless I'm going to eat the whole thing myself and this doesn't appeal to me. All right, we've got some shredded cheese. We've got a Korean sauce, yangnyeom sauce I'm so sorry if I am mispronouncing it. Oh, yangnyeom. Oh, I did pretty good. Gochujang, which I think is their red pepper sauce, sugar and variations of savory spices. So again, not my flavor profile, because I can't do spicy things. So so far, I'm kind of striking out with this Trader Joe's frequent flyer, but you might be very excited about what I'm sharing with you Shredded pepper jack cheese Again, don't do pepper jack, so they have Peruvian 70% dark chocolate.
Speaker 1:The chocolate that I like is the one that is sweetened with coconut sugar. So who? Chocolate H-U? I don't know if you've ever tried their chocolate. I like it Also, dr Bronner's chocolate. The good thing about only eating chocolate that is coconut sugar sweetened is you can't buy it everywhere, so I'm sort of limited in my access to it, which is a good thing. I just have to share with you this funny thing. I was reading through this and this is the headline beef and sweet potato stuffies and I'm thinking that sounds delicious like a hand pie with beef and sweet potatoes, but it's for dogs. I was like finally, trader Joe's frequent flyer, you come up with something that sounds delicious to me and it is actually for the dogs. So if you have a dog, perhaps they will enjoy that, which I cannot have.
Speaker 1:They have come out with a whipped feta cheese that the people who do hauls and taste things on TikTok have enjoyed quite a lot. I don't know that I would get that, but I do love their feta crumbles, which I use to augment the feta crumbles in the Mediterranean bagged salad, because you can never have too much feta in your salad, because I am my mother's daughter. She loved feta cheese in her salad. They have brie Again. I don't buy brie because I'm the only one who eats that kind of cheese in my house and I do not need that.
Speaker 1:Chili crackers again. If it says chili on it, I'm not getting it, unless it is actual chili con carne, like with beans or something, but not if it is chili flavored, because it usually indicates it's spicy and I don't do spicy. Well, they have come out with the hold the mini strawberry ice cream cones. I don't know, have you ever had the hold the cones? So? So if you are not within the vicinity of Trader Joe's, what they are is they're these teeny, tiny little ice cream cones like almost in a mousse, mousse bouche. Is that how you say it? A mousse bouche? I think like a little tiny, a little tiny notch of an ice cream cone. And so you've got the ice cream cone and the little ice cream and then the chocolate covering, and I did have one back in the day and they're delicious.
Speaker 1:And this one has strawberry ice cream, which I would not get excited about, because why? Why would I choose strawberry ice cream when there's the opportunity to have chocolate? Is my personal philosophy, but you might be a strawberry person. Is my personal philosophy, but you might be a strawberry person, so I do not mean to tarnish your love of strawberry things, but for me, I would much prefer a different flavor. They have raspberry mousse cakes. Again, wouldn't get excited about that. Ooh, okay, this would be my thing.
Speaker 1:Butter cookies exclamation point from France. Exclamation point dipped in dark chocolate. Exclamation point. That's how the headline is written. So there you go. What's not to love? I can't eat them, but I'm going to just dream about them for a moment. So they are from France, so of course they're better right? They have French butter 13% of the recipe is French butter, lovely Dipped in dark chocolate 40% of the recipe. So we're at 53% of the recipe is French butter and dark chocolate.
Speaker 1:Okay, see, it's good that I've never had them, because I will not obsess about them, I will never nibble on one, because then it will become a part of my repertoire, and that would be bad. But I share the delight, the potential delight, with you. Then they have peanut butter, protein granola I don't know if I've had that. I am presently obsessed with the purely Elizabeth granola because they have the tiniest of chocolate chips in them and it's delicious. I don't eat a lot of it, just you know a little bit, but they don't sell it at Trader Joe's so you have to get that elsewhere. They have freeze-dried raspberries which I would imagine would be good in granola or in cereal or something. They're saying um, let's see, what should we eat it with? They say great for mixing into muffin, pancake or waffle batter.
Speaker 1:I love that Trader Joe's assumes that I make such things. Let me see Do I make muffins, mm-mm. Do I make pancakes, nope, or waffles, uh-uh. But thank you, trader Joe's, for giving me the benefit of the doubt that I would actually make such things. They then have teeny, tiny tomatoes for a great big value.
Speaker 1:So if you've been listening long enough, you know that in the summer my husband Wes goes to town in terms of growing tomatoes for me and then all of our neighbors. They are the most delicious tomatoes. We have different varieties that ripen at different times of the summer and they're just delectable morsels of goodness. And so if you can only imagine what it is like to go to a supermarket tomato after that. But alas, it is the winter. So I did buy two Trader Joe's Roma tomatoes yesterday to put on sandwiches and I already know they will not have good flavor but they will just have the slightest hint of acidity, of tomato-y-ness, the hint of tomato for my sandwich. So I can't get excited about anybody's tomatoes other than my husband's. And to my cousin who listens, my cousin Kathy, because I have two cousins who listen, my cousin Susie in Los Angeles and my cousin Kathy in Campbell. So my cousin Kathy has had Wes's tomatoes because we always share them with her when we see her, so she can attest that all other tomatoes pale in comparison to Wes's tomatoes.
Speaker 1:Okay, they also have sliced seedy multigrain bread. I saw that yesterday. It looked good. Again, our bread of choice in this I don't know again, I haven't shared anyways. Okay, our bread of choice in this house is sourdough.
Speaker 1:There's a specific brand of sourdough bread that is here in the North Bay, in the San Francisco area, and and if I look through all the loaves I can it's sliced so it's packaged. So I don't mean like I'm touching every loaf of sourdough with my hands, but when they stack all of the sourdough sliced loaves on the shelf. I go through all of them to find the one that has the lightest color and is the softest, because even if they're all cooked in the same oven, there will always be one or two loaves that somehow are not as well done. And the amazing thing about the softer, lighter loaves is they make the most delicious sandwiches and the bread stays soft for like the whole week. So I am that crazy person. When I go into the grocery store to buy my sourdough bread, I go through all the loaves and I look for the one that is the lightest. So I scan the shelf, I look for the lightest loaf and then I just give it a little squeeze, not obnoxious, just like a little, a little firmness test, and I get so excited when I get a good loaf. So another little quirky thing, and I guess I could say something I'm freakishly good at picking out the best loaf of the sliced sourdough sandwich bread Very good at that. So I would never do Instacart, because nobody else would ever do that for me. This is why I love grocery shopping.
Speaker 1:Okay, and they have caracara oranges, which are delicious. I don't do very well with citrus, but I did get a couple from the farmer's market that were delish. They have some miso ginger broth which I'm sure is delicious. I just cannot get excited about it. Cookies and cream pretzel slims that sounds lovely. I do love a Pretzel Slim. I get the everything Pretzel Slims like the everything but the bagel Pretzel Slims, and they are delicious dipped in peanut butter as a snack. Just thought I would tell you that they have two different dips gu Guaca salsa, which I'm assuming is a blend between guacamole and salsa, and white queso. I'm not a queso person. I've had it. It's fine. I don't crave it and I typically do not like store-bought guacamole, so I would not get either one of those. All right.
Speaker 1:And then we've got some beauty stuff Rose oil, hand cream. I do not do well with anything that is rose scented. If it's a rose in the garden, I'm fine, but I mean rose scented soap, rose scented shampoo I don't do well with that. I'm very scent sensitive. And they have a leave-in conditioner that people are saying is really good, although I did not buy it.
Speaker 1:And then we have the Trader Joe's crossword puzzle, which I don't ever do. Do any of you do that? Okay, but here's one. Let's do this one together. One Down is the 1988 film starring Tom Hanks. It's three letters, it has to be big right. That was a sweet movie, although kind of weird. I'm not going to get into it, but there was a certain part of the storyline that I found very problematic. But that's just me. Again won't talk about that and I'm not finding anything else that I'm excited to explore on this crossword puzzle. But I do like a good, easy crossword puzzle because then I get to feel very smart. Okay. And then this is a great name the rainbow connection.
Speaker 1:When we first introduced Trader Joe's rainbows and trail mix to our shelves, back in mix of peanuts, almonds, raisins and candy-coated milk chocolate gems, I thought trail mix was healthy. Anybody else that old Like. It's good. It has raisins and peanuts and almonds and maybe some chocolate. And. And then we reached the stage of life where things had calories on it and discovered just a handful of trail mix could be 250 calories.
Speaker 1:And but I'm that old. I am that old that I believed that things like French onion soup were good for you, because it's soup, that a salad drenched in blue cheese dressing good for you. It's a salad and trail mix good for you. Now, I don't mean to say that they're bad for you. So I'm not making food bad. I just mean, for a girl that was perpetually dieting, I did not understand the choices I was making back in the day. So I still love trail mix. You know different kinds of trail mix. It's a bite of deliciousness because you know it's all mixed up and that, my friends, brings us to the end of this exploration of the Trader Joe's fearless flyer from February. I do not know if they will have one in March, which feels like we're already in, but it is February still.
Speaker 1:So in the hour that I've been recording this with you, the sun has come up on a new day and you might be already sleeping and having lovely dreams, or maybe you're going for a walk with your dog. Oh, and one other little observation I can make is my neighbor's orange tree, or lemon tree, is filled with fruit. How lovely to look out my window and see that. So, so, life is good, life is life, and in this moment the sky is beautiful and I am with you and I acknowledge the blessing of this moment. So, my sweet friends, thank you so much for listening to this episode of Sleepy Bedtime Blessings, and I'll be back again soon with another episode for you In the meanwhile. Thank you for listening and I wish you the sweetest of dreams. I wish you love and miracles and goodness and serendipity All of the magical, awesome things that life has to offer. So thank you again and we'll be back together soon. I love you.
