Trader Joes

There is an AMAZING healthy, organic, fair-trade, food store in Rochester, MN called Trader Joe's.
Everyone must go to one!!!

Last weekend, Matt and I drove to my parent's house for the weekend with plans to visit Cabela's in Owatonna.  When we drove through Rochester Saturday night, my parents took us to their new favorite store that just opened...
And is it was wonderful!  I wish we had one over here, because I would be in there EVERY night!

What it is, is a health(ier) grocery store with a lot of organic things - at a cheap price.  Normally, specialty food stores are incredibly expensive, but not this one.
For instance, we were able to get a large bottle or Extra-Virgin Olive Oil, made in Italy, for less than $6.  This is a LARGE bottle, normally $15-$17 at any other grocery store.

So, anyway, we found some amazing foods and great prices - but couldn't buy any produce since we had the drive back home - but, from Dad's suggestion, we did check out their noodle selection and I found Gnocchi!
Whole wheat Gnocchi - not something you can find at any Walmart or HyVee.  I was thrilled!  I've always wanted to try some Gnocchi recipes.
We also bought a large jar of pesto and garlic marinara sauce. 
And here is what followed...

Gnocchi
Not many people have had this potato noodle - or know what it is.  So here's some pictures.

It really is a noodle made from potatoes, like the package said.  They taste GREAT homemade, but I don't think I can do anything like that - so packaged ones work too!

So, we cooked the Gnocchi according the package - put into bowling water and let bowl just until the Gnocchi floats to the top of the pan - about 2 minutes.

Then we tossed it in the heated garlic marinara - simple as that.  I also tossed some in Pesto - which was OK.

We also made some great Italian break with a little pesto and mozzarella in the oven.

Delicious!

Something I'm going to try next time - after you quickly boil the Gnocchi you can toss it into a heated skillet pan - a VERY hot skillet with a little olive oil for just a few seconds.  This will "fry" the outside of the noodle just a little, to give it some texture.  Then toss in sauce.