On our recent trip to California, we stopped at a Fresh & Easy neighborhood market to pick up a couple bottles of wine to bring to dinner.  We emerged with two bottles of wine, a twelve-pack of beer, a one-pound package of grapes, a bag of spinach artichoke tortilla chips, and an apple that CJ and Oliver fought over shared on the way to Hollywood.  All for about $20.

But Fresh & Easy has so much going for it that the prices are only a small part of the appeal.  Before our trip, I chatted with a couple friends here in Denver who’ve heard about Fresh & Easy from friends and family in LA, and I was surprised to hear that low prices didn’t top the list of reasons why they like to shop there.  Instead, it was the accessibility of the stores, Fresh & Easy’s community involvement, and the quality and simplicity of the selection that they cited.

Hear that, megastore-that-shall-remain-nameless?  Low prices aren’t everything.

The Fresh & Easy we visited in Glassell Park was austere, but well-stocked and immaculate.  It wasn’t large, but the aisles were wide, the shelves didn’t tower over me (I always hated how Manhattan groceries were jam-packed floor to ceiling), and I’ll reiterate how clean it was.  Cleanliness always makes a favorable impression on me.

The selection was very basic: a few name brands, plus the Fresh & Easy brand, for each type of item.  But here’s what struck me - I gravitated to the Fresh & Easy brands.  Simple packaging, with appealing descriptions and visible contents.  Plus, the prices were outstanding.  There were so many items I wanted to try, I wished I were shopping for my own pantry and refrigerator.

Did we like what we bought?  Definitely.  The wine was good - I chose a couple bottles bearing the “selected especially for Fresh & Easy” sticker, along with a $4 price tag - and the chips and grapes kept the kids happily satisfied and out of the minibar.  Kyle grumbled that the beer was bland, but the man drinks Natty Light every night - when did he get so picky?

I also noticed the diversity among our fellow shoppers.  Unlike some specialty groceries that seem to be populated exclusively by young white couples, I saw a wide variety of ages and ethnicities at Fresh & Easy.  Which made me smile, because eating healthfully should be important to everyone.

Fresh & Easy markets are currently located only in southern California, Phoenix, and Las Vegas, with planned expansion to northern California.  I realize that they’re working to get the model down pat before opening stores in other locations, but I can’t help being a bit impatient for them to get to Colorado.  Yes, I was that impressed.

Have you visited Fresh & Easy?  What did you think?

…well, you know.  It rhymes with “grass”.

I looove peanut butter.  I’ve always loved it in combination with chocolate, or in a PB&J sandwich - strawberry jam and soft white bread for me, please.  It’s good on crackers, and it helped me gag down celery sticks, forced upon me by my father who never believed my claims that celery makes my tongue numb.

Dad, I get at least ten Google search hits a day for “celery makes my tongue numb”.  It’s true!

Similar to my feelings for whipping cream and soft cheese, my love for peanut butter has only grown as I’ve gotten older, just like my posterior.  Now I like it in sauces and spreads and even straight from the jar.  At a time when my derriere can least afford my love for peanut butter, that love has reached an all time high, thanks to Maranatha peanut butter.

Regular peanut butter, the kind you find in mass quantities on the grocery shelves, is delicious, no doubt.  But Maranatha’s organic no-stir peanut butter blows the old stuff away.

It’s not nearly as sugary, which makes it ideal for cooking.  My kids still dig the Skippy, but their taste buds are unsophisticated, so they can’t appreciate taste variations the way that Kyle and I do.  When I tried the Maranatha, I could immediate taste the difference.

Not all foods that go by the same name are created equal.  For example, anything from 80/20 beef (or worse, those frozen JTM hockey pucks) to ground sirloin can be called a hamburger.  The same is true for peanut butter, and Maranatha is definitely at the ground sirloin end of the spectrum.

It’s expensive - I’ll get that out of the way right now.  A 16-ounce jar at Target cost me $4.99.  So unless the kids want to pay for it out of their allowance, I’m going to hoard my Maranatha for my own PB&J sandwiches, sharing it only with Kyle if he feels like cooking something with peanut butter.

Who am I kidding?  It doesn’t matter whether or not he feels like it; I’ve already started bookmarking recipes for him to try, because this peanut butter’s taste is so pure that it’s ideal for cooking.  Oh, and eating it straight from the jar too.

Want to try Maranatha peanut butter for yourself? I’ve got five coupons, each for a free jar (up to $4.99 value).  Get it at Whole Foods or Kroger or Target or wherever else you’ve already seen it - it’s popping up more and more.

Before midnight Sunday, leave a comment to tell me how you like your peanut butter - in cookies, on crackers, slathered on a celery stalk, smothering your chicken satay.  I’ll choose five commenters at random (US only, please).

I recently wrote about the Beaba Babycook over at Cool Mom Picks - it’s completely converted me to making my own baby food, something I never expected to do on more than an occasional basis. Now I steam and puree at least one batch every day.

Problem is, if Oliver doesn’t eat it all within the next 24 hours, I have to pitch the leftovers. Without all of those impossible-to-pronounce preservatives, the shelf life of baby food is pretty brief.

So when I had a chance to check out Qubies, I jumped at it. Aussie mum Alexandra Wardle created these ingenious freezer trays when she was faced with similar storage problems after whipping up batches of purees for her then-baby boy.

What makes them different - and better! - than the old style ice cube trays?

I’ll start by describing how to use them. Pour the puree into the polycarbonate base*, leaving a little room at the top. Place the silicone lid (which has divider flaps that partition the puree into 30 ml “cubes”) on top of the base. Seal one end, then the other, and then seal along both edges of the base toward the middle (like a Tupperware lid). Pop the whole thing in the freezer.

Once the puree is solidly frozen, remove the Qubie from the freezer, grasp with both hands (you might want to use a towel to keep your hands from freezing) and twist - just like you would do to loosen the cubes in an ice cube tray. Then peel back the silicone lid.

The pictures show the individual portions remaining in the base, but mine always stay adhered to the lid and the divider flaps. But they pop right out when I bend the silicone lid, and I put them right into a freezer bag and stick them right back in the freezer.

So they’re different - and better! - because they’re user-friendly, conveniently sized, and completely contain the puree while it’s being frozen.

I’ve used Qubies for vegetable and fruit purees for Oliver, and I’ve used them for sauces and marinades that Kyle has made - which was especially useful as we often end up tossing the excess after a meal since they don’t keep well in the refrigerator for more than a day or two.

They’re the perfect complement to the Babycook, and I’d highly recommend them. Check out Qubies at their website - www.qubies.com.au - they may take a while to ship, but I assure you they’re well worth the wait!

*Polycarbonate plastic contains BPA (Bisphenol A).

BlogHer08 attendees may remember that while breakfast at the Westin included lots of pastries and fruit, protein was nowhere to be found - unless you count the pitchers of milk that were intended tea and coffee. None of us were expecting steak and eggs, but something to counteract the inevitable carb-crash would have been fantastic.

Likewise, now that Tacy has started playing soccer, the team’s post-game snacks are almost always carb-laden goodies that send her bouncing off the walls for a good forty-five minutes until she collapses on the sofa and claims she’s too exhausted to even walk upstairs.

So even though I rarely stock snacks in the house, I’ve got to admit that I love Quaker Chewy Granola Bars. I’ve brought them to the hospital with me for all three births. And now that they’ve got two new varieties that include a good dose of protein (5 grams), I’m an even bigger fan.

A couple of drawbacks that must be aired for safety’s sake: the two protein varieties are Nutty Peanut Butter and Peanut Butter and Chocolate. Now, for peanut butter addicts like me, this is a huge pro. But where it comes to kids who go to school with other kids who have peanut allergies, it’s a deal-breaker. So while I’ll keep these around the house for us, I won’t send them to school with Tacy.

Another drawback on the allergy side - they’ve got rice in them. Believe it or not, there’s a rice allergic child on Tacy’s soccer team. So although I would have gladly brought these bars to practice on our assigned snack date, I couldn’t do it.

But in spite of the allergen hurdles, I think these bars are a big winner for both kids and adults. So I’ll have them ready for Tacy after school and after soccer practice. Hopefully then she’ll have enough energy to haul herself upstairs without assistance.

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Did you see the cute bag over Tacy’s shoulder over at mothergoosemouse? Want to win one yourself? It’s not just a bag either; it’s got goodies inside - like a soccer ball, tennis balls, a water bottle, colored shoelaces, and a couple boxes of these Quaker Granola Bars with protein.

Congrats to Karianna, winner of the soccer bag filled with goodies!!

Updated with winner below!

When Tacy was in day care back in New Jersey, we had to send all of her meals with her. Lunch and two snacks. It doesn’t sound like much, but try packing five lunches and ten snacks each week for a two year old whose tastes change with the wind.

I’d steam vegetables and chop them up. I’d peel and slice fruit. I’d pour three sippie cups of milk. I’d make a sandwich that generally went uneaten. The one and only convenience I allowed myself was a cup of Yoplait Kids.

I could always count on her to eat her yogurt. And since Yoplait Kids has been so good to me for the past five-plus years, I’ve kept buying it.

CJ’s a little iffy where it comes to yogurt. She’ll ask for it, eat half the cup, and leave the rest of it on the counter. Even so, that’s better than if she ate a few fistfuls of crackers. Plus I can usually count on Tacy to eat what CJ’s left behind.

When we asked the PBN bloggers if they wanted to try Yoplait Kids, I joked that half of them probably had a six-pack or two in the refrigerator already. We moms are pretty good at figuring out what works, and then sticking to it.

But for those parents who haven’t yet figured out what a great snack yogurt is for kids, hopefully the results of the PBN campaign will convince them. Or maybe the $1.50 off coupon on the Yoplait Kids site. (Go ahead, click!)

Yoplait Kids also sent along some goodies for me to give away. I’ve got a Yoplait Kids cooler and a My First Brain Quest game (way cool - CJ and I have been playing it already), plus a coupon for a free six-pack of Yoplait Kids. You’ve probably seen these same goodies around the blogosphere - this giveaway has been making the rounds recently.

So if you want in, leave me a comment here between now and Sunday at midnight. I’ll announce the winner on Monday.

I’m late!  But I’ve got a winner, thanks to random.org - congratulations, Katie!