Things have been a little crazy these days. foodgawker is growing each month and is keeping me really busy. To add to the insanity, I launched craftgawker last week. It's identical to foodgawker, but focused on arts and crafts. So that's the reason why it's been quiet around here.

But then I got slapped on the hand by BlogHer (our ad provider) for not posting in over a week. I felt like a kid in high school who got in trouble and is being sent to the principle's office. BlogHer's "reprimand" is actually a good thing, otherwise I would have neglected SND even longer.

Anyway, we have a really simple dish of roasted vegetables for you. We made this after a trip to a local farmers' market. It came together by picking up the best looking vegetables at the time. Hungry Bear wanted to prepare them simply to highlight the freshness of the vegetables.

The roasted vegetables are a great side dish and can be served hot or cold. We had them for lunch with some artichoke garlic herb bread and sunny side up eggs. It was simple but really good. Regarding the bread, if you are ever cruising Route 1, definitely stop at Norm's Market in Pescadero and pick up a loaf or three of freshly baked artichoke garlic herb bread. It's fantastic!

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We love Trader Joe's. It's our favorite place to pick up staples for the pantry. While the quality of the produce and meat isn't as good as Whole Foods Paycheck or our neighborhood supermarket, the remaining items are just as good or better. And it's definitely the best value among our local grocery stores.

Besides saving us money, we go to TJ's for their unique and interesting products. We loved the Emperor's New Cloves garlic, but sadly they don't carry it anymore because the garlic was grown in China. Anyway, there's always something new to discover at Trader Joe's and I'm constantly on the lookout for them.

My one complaint with TJ's is the overabundance of cookies, chocolate and candies in the aisles. It's so hard not to grab a box of treats with each visit. Damn you TJ, for constantly pushing your sweet crack on me!

Most of the time, I'm strong enough to resist picking up a box of cookies. But there are a few items I never leave without. So, here are a few five of my favorite things...

• Organic Clusters Cereal - a good combination of textures and flavors. Our three favorite cluster cereals are the raisin bran, vanilla almond and maple pecan. The raisin bran is the healthiest one.
• Organic Peanut Butter - by far the best store bought natural peanut butter. You won't go wrong with creamy or crunchy.
• Tempting Trail Mix - it has several types of nuts, dried cherries, peanut butter chips and chocolate chips! Salty, crunchy, chewy and sweet... yum!
• Cinnamon Swirl Bread - a thick wheat bread full of cinnamon. You can make a great open face peanut butter, banana and honey sandwich with it.
• Cheap, Interesting Wine - we can always find inexpensive, but good, wine at TJ's. From the slideshow, the question mark wine is a 2005 red table wine from Oreana Winery. The happy face wine is a 2005 syrah from Project Happiness. We have no idea if the wines are good, but we couldn't pass up the labels.

That's my top 5 list. If you shop at Trader Joe's, what are your favorite things? I would love to know.

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I'm a big fan of peanut butter and honey sandwiches (PB&H). Forget about the jelly, it's better with honey. With peanut butter, I prefer the simple sweetness of honey over fruity jams and jellies.

One of my favorite breakfast items is an open-faced peanut butter, banana and honey sandwich, a PBB&H if you will. It's open-faced because I use a thick cinnamon swirl bread from Trader Joe's. It's a hearty wheat bread with a great cinnamon flavor. For breakfast, I usually toast a piece of bread, spread it with creamy peanut butter, slice a banana and drizzle a little bit of honey on top. Two open-face PBB&H sandwiches are very filling and keep me fueled up during long bike rides.

The funny thing is, I refused to eat peanut butter for almost fifteen years. My disdain for peanut butter started during nursery school. My family and I just immigrated to the States and I was literally fresh off the boat. Well, we took a boat from Saigon to Hong Kong, and flew the rest of the way to a small Pennsylvania town, New Cumberland.

Each day after nursery school let out, I would go to a classmate's home, whose mother baby-sat us until my mom finished work. This is were I was first introduced to peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I recall it wasn't too bad initially, but I was used to savory banh mi, pho and rice plates.

Unfortunately, every day for the rest of the school year, my classmate's mom would ask her daughter what she wanted for lunch. Her answer was always a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I was a shy 4 year old, who barely spoke English (I'm the kid holding the flag in the picture below). Her mom would ask me what I wanted and I would respond timidly with "uh, same." I didn't know what to say and I knew she didn't know how to make bánh xèo, a Vietnamese sizzling crepe.

PB&J, ugh! It was always PB&J on white bread with the crust cut off. It was a cruel Groundhog Day scenario for a foreign-born, food loving four year old! Over and over for four or five months, it was a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch. Man, oh man, did I wish my classmate would answer with anything but PB&J! Every blue moon she would ask for something different, but the only thing I can remember eating at her house was PB&J.

On the last day of nursery school, my mom picked me up and asked me what I had for lunch. I answered simply with "peanut butter and jelly." Of course, I had told my mom that I didn't like peanut butter, but I didn't tell her why. Surprised by my response, my mom asked me, "I thought you didn't like peanut butter?" And I answered, "Yes."

Learning for the first time that I didn't like peanut butter, my classmate's mom was horrified. She asked me why I didn't say anything. I shrugged my shoulders and responded with "don't know", thinking to myself, I don't know how to tell you that I hate peanut butter!

From that day onward, I refused to eat anything with peanut butter. Reese's peanut butter cups... no. Peanut sauces... no way. PB&J... hell no! Fifteen years later, I rediscovered peanut butter as a starving college kid at Penn State. At that time, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich suddenly tasted so good!

As you can see, I've had a love-hate relationship with peanut butter. I love it now, and really enjoy PB&H sandwiches, peanut sauces and peanut butter frosted cupcakes. Currently, Trader Joe's organic peanut butter is my preferred brand. I go back and forth between creamy and crunchy. I'm on a creamy kick right now.

So, that's my peanut butter saga. Do you love peanut butter? What's your favorite food with peanut butter? What's your favorite brand?

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