Mariano's

Grilled Fruits and Vegetables and an Easy Marinade Recipe

March 21, 2020 by Sandra 9 Comments

It’s springtime, and summer will be here before you know it. That can only mean one thing.

It’s time to fire up the grill!

We recently fired up our grill and had a full, delicious, healthy, satisfying meal with ONLY grilled fruits and vegetables. Is that really possible? Yes, it is possible when you can get a variety of fresh, quality, produce from a store like Mariano’s. Not only does Mariano’s have a huge variety of organic fruits and vegetables, but they also carry locally grown produce. I love that they support local farmers.

Mariano’s made it easy to create a nutritious meal of grilled fruits and veggies.

I simply…

Decided on a menu of foods to grill
Wrote out a grocery list
Headed to Mariano’s to pick up the fruits and vegetables on my list
Used my Mariano’s rewards card at checkout
Then came home and created a meal my doctor would be proud of 🙂

I thought that instead of explaining the dishes we made, I’d show you in pictures. This way, you can get ideas for yourself and see just how easy it is to create a full fruits and veggies meal.

Here’s the first drool-worthy dish.

You can put a variety a vegetables separately on skewers and grill that way. (Be sure to soak your skewers for 30 minutes before putting them on the grill.)

Then toss them together in a bowl to bring the veggies together. Grilling your vegetables separately is a good idea if you’re grilling tomatoes, because they cook so quickly.

You can grill your veggies huddled together on a skewer, sans tomatoes.

Grilled asparagus is so good on the grill. (It’s great in the oven, too.)

Portabella mushrooms are juicy and delicious. Wow!
We will definitely be grilling these again.

And finally, grilled mango makes a healthy dessert. Yum! (We also grilled watermelon with honey drizzled on top, but it was not a family favorite.)

We used an easy marinade recipe that was perfect for our grilled vegetables. Feel free to double or triple the recipe depending upon the amount of veggies you’re grilling. (A big thanks to my hubby for coming up with this recipe! He’s pretty great in the kitchen. :))

Here’s the recipe:

Vegetable Marinade

Ingredients

1/2 cup extra-virgen olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Instructions

Add all of the ingredients to a blender and blend for approximately 1 minute.

https://thesensiblemom.com/2020/03/grilled-fruits-and-vegetables-and-an-easy-marinade-recipe/

I’m looking forward to our next fruits and veggies cookout. I’m sure we’ll be enjoying a lot more of these cookouts for months to come!

Have you ever created an entire fruits and veggies meal on the grill? What’s your favorite veggie to grill?

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias® and Mariano’s. #MyMarianos #cbias #SocialFabric

This blog post was originally published in April 2013.

Tortilla Soup Recipe along with a Chocolate Cake Recipe from Scratch

November 12, 2019 by Sandra 9 Comments

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for Collective Bias and its advertiser. #MyMarianos #CollectiveBias

I invited someone special over for a meal last week.

My dad.

I haven’t been able to spend much time with my dad ever since David was diagnosed with severe aplastic anemia, and my world was turned upside down. But now that David’s had a successful bone marrow transplant and is doing well, I can start to focus on relationships that I wasn’t able to pay much attention to for quite some time.

How Mariano’s ( a grocery store in Chicago) is the Right Place for Diabetic-Friendly Ingredients

My dad is a lover of food. Who isn’t, right? But, oh, let me tell you! This man truly takes his passion for food to another level. Just ask any of his six kids.

We have stories. 😉

The only problem when it comes to my dad’s love for food is that he has diabetes. He was diagnosed with this disease around the age of 30 and has been living with it for 25 years. For a long time, he managed his blood sugar levels with diet and medication. But then after he nearly lost his life in a collision coming home from work one night, he basically moved from taking a pill a day to being dependent on insulin shots.

And trust me — it’s no fun injecting insulin into your dad’s arm or seeing him have to constantly prick his finger to monitor his blood sugar.

Having My Dad Over for Dinner

I knew that having my dad over for a meal meant that I needed to be wise about what I chose to make. I finally decided on tortilla soup and a healthier-for-you chocolate cake for dessert.

I went to my favorite grocery store, Mariano’s, to pick up the necessary ingredients, and in the end, my dad loved both recipes!

Besides that, we spent a wonderful time together in my home. We talked and laughed and chatted about the many changes going on in our lives since David’s transplant.

I also spent time showing my dad the different places on the Mariano’s website where he can find nutritious recipes to make on his own.

Because in addition to eating, my dad also enjoys cooking.

Tortilla Soup Recipe

Below is the tortilla soup recipe that I made for dinner. I love that you can really play with the extra add-ins to the soup after it’s finished. We topped our soup with avocado, diced tomatoes, rice, and a splash of lemon juice. You can simply place the extra add-ins in bowls, so that each person can create the type of soup that delights their tastebuds.

Tortilla Soup

Ingredients

1 32-ounce container unsalted vegetable broth
1 medium onion, quartered (you can dice it if everyone in your family likes onion)
1 green bell pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno chile, seeds removed and finely diced
1 14.5-ounce can fire roasted crushed tomatoes
1 14.5-ounce can fire roasted diced tomatoes
1 ½ cups frozen corn kernels
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 ½ cups black beans (or 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed)
2 teaspoons chili powder
tortilla strips chips
1 to 2 avocados, chopped
fresh lemon juice
freshly diced tomatoes (optional)
precooked rice (optional)

Instructions

Pour 3/4 cup of the vegetable broth into a large pot and cook over medium-high heat. Add onion, green pepper and garlic. Stir ingredients together and continue to cook for 5 minutes.
Add the rest of the vegetable broth, jalapeno chile, crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, corn, and sea salt to the pan. Stir ingredients and bring pan to a boil.
Once soup is boiling, stir in black beans and chili powder. Then cook soup on low heat for about 15 minutes.
To serve, put a handful of tortilla strips in the bottom of a bowl. Ladle the soup over the tortilla strips, squeeze a bit of lemon juice over the soup, then top with fresh avocado, diced tomatoes (optional), and rice (optional).

https://thesensiblemom.com/2019/11/tortilla-soup-recipe-chocolate-cake-recipe-grocery-store-in-chicago/

Easy Chocolate Cake Recipe

Alright, this cake was a big hit with my dad, husband, and kids! 🙂

In addition to being diabetic-friendly, this chocolate cake recipe is also dairy-free, egg-free, and vegan-friendly. If you feel like you need to add a little more sweetness to the cake, frost it with your favorite chocolate frosting.

Easy Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

1 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
¾ cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 ¼ cups dark chocolate almond milk
1 6-ounce container soy vanilla yogurt
1 tablespoon applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Lightly grease an 8-inch square baking pan or 9-inch round cake pan and set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, and baking soda.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the dark chocolate almond milk, yogurt, applesauce, and vanilla extract.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix well.
Scrape the batter into the prepared 8-inch square baking pan or 9-inch round cake pan and bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick or long wooden skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out with only a few crumbs on it.
Allow the cake to cool for at least one hour. Then sprinkle with powdered sugar or frost with your favorite chocolate frosting and enjoy!

https://thesensiblemom.com/2019/11/tortilla-soup-recipe-chocolate-cake-recipe-grocery-store-in-chicago/

Life Can Still Taste Great Even When You Have Diabetes

For my dad, living with diabetes isn’t easy. But with a little extra effort, he still gets to enjoy terrific tasting food, especially when he comes to my house. 😉

What’s your favorite soup recipe? Have your tried making chocolate cake from scratch?

This blog post was originally published in 2014.

Large Family Grocery Haul Shop with Me: Trader Joe’s Grocery Haul Plus a Meijer Haul and the Fabulous Ekster Wallet

June 20, 2019 by Sandra Leave a Comment

Thanks to the folks from Ekster for sending me their beautiful Ekster Parliament Classic Brown wallet
to share about in this video.

Today, I’m sharing a new large family grocery haul video! It’s a large family grocery haul shop with me video where I take you along with me to Trader Joe’s, Meijer, and Mariano’s grocery store. I think I brought home some good deals. I love shopping the sales!

I also show you what we’re having for dinner and a fabulous slim leather wallet made by Ekster that would make a birthday gift or “just because” gift for the man or dad in your life!

I hope you enjoy this video and thanks for watching! 🙂

P.S. You can find more grocery hauls here.

Also, please feel free to subscribe to my YouTube channel as I publish videos there before they make it on the blog. Oh, and I share a lot about food, family, and more in my Instagram Stories, so you may want to follow me there as well.

Do you shop at multiple stores for your groceries?

Chicagoland: We have a NEW Mariano’s Store

November 2, 2013 by Sandra 8 Comments

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias® and their client. #MyMarianos

I’ve talked a lot about how much I love shopping at Mariano’s, so you can imagine how excited I was to find out that there was a new store being built closer to my home than any of the other locations.

I know. I know. It might sound a little crazy to want to smile wide and high-five the person closest to you when you hear that there’s a new grocery storing being built near your home, but Mariano’s is unlike any other grocery store. Just ask the people that shop there. They. love. it.

Why do we gush about a grocery store?
Because when you visit Mariano’s, it’s so much more than just your average, mundane trip to the grocery store. It’s an experience. You can literally stop in to get a few items on your grocery list, whip out your rewards card, check out, and leave…or you can bring your entire family, enjoy a delicious hot meal, grab a latte while the kids enjoy gelato, and then while the kids make a craft, you can finish your shopping.

Some customers spend 3 or more hours at Mariano’s.

Yeah…it’s that awesome.

The New Location
The latest Mariano’s is located in Wheaton, Illinois. And while I could write all about what’s featured in the store, I think it’s best to show you. I was there on opening day and had the opportunity to snap lots of pictures of the different areas that make this store special.

To begin, there’s a smoothie bar that serves up nutritious and delicious smoothies.

Then there’s a Trail Mix Bar that offers a large variety of options to create a trail mix that’s just right for you and your family.

I have to say that the trail mix bar is one of my favorite areas of the new Wheaton Mariano’s.

Along with the gelato…

And the lattes…I just tried their pumpkin spice latte. So good!

The sitting area is like nothing I’ve ever seen inside of a grocery store. I love it. It’s green and beautiful.

There’s a beloved Todd’s BBQ that serves up hot, tummy tempting barbecue. If you don’t live in Illinois but come here to visit someday — definitely try to make it to a Mariano’s store that serves up Todd’s BBQ.

Oh, and one of my absolute favorite things about this store (besides the other favorite things I mentioned) is their labeling system. With the labeling system at Mariano’s, you know when a food item is gluten-free, organic, vegan, etc…

I really love the labels. It makes shopping for certain categories of food even easier. It’s also a huge help to families with food allergies.

More about the Wheaton Mariano’s
This location also has a huge assortment of organic produce, a sushi bar, an amazing assortment of hot and cold at-the-ready foods, a bakery you must see to believe, caramel apples made while you watch, and so much more. I feel blessed to have a Mariano’s “in my backyard.”

And I can’t wait to go back. 🙂

Have you ever been to a Mariano’s store? What’s your favorite area in the grocery store?

Did you know? You can find great recipes and ideas from the Mariano’s Community. And you can follow Mariano’s on Facebook and Twitter for their latest updates.

Mariano's

How Mariano’s ( a grocery store in Chicago) is the Right Place for Diabetic-Friendly Ingredients

Having My Dad Over for Dinner

Tortilla Soup Recipe

Easy Chocolate Cake Recipe

Life Can Still Taste Great Even When You Have Diabetes

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