In order to survive a professional career and be domestic, I have become a “Trader Joe’s chef”. Which means, I buy stuff at Trader Joe’s that I can throw together in rando combinations and somehow make it delish. It’s a skill I developed after years of shopping at the Trader Joe’s in my neighborhood (the West End, in Washington, DC) on Friday nights when I was single. I’d leave work around 7 or 8pm (#consulting life) and take advantage of the fact that the Trader Joe’s would be empty so that I could do my shopping and explore the aisles with no lines. Week after week spent poring over ingredients and chatting with the staff who knew me on a first name basis resulted in building up a repertoie of Trader Joe’s meals to put on my menu.
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