I love Trader Joe’s. We all know this. I might have put my foot down about moving to Washington if they didn’t have TJ’s up here. Well, probably not, though maybe my sun-deprived self would have been happy if I HAD done that. (Hehehe.) We just found out last weekend from a friendly craft store employee that a TJ’s is opening in REDMOND. Woo hoo! No more driving all the way to Bellevue or Kirkland! Not only that, it’ll be in the center with the craft store, which is the perfect walking distance from the library and post office… which means I can very easily and pleasantly get to many of my favorite places at once. Oh my oh my.
On to the point.
I’m planning on trekking it out to Bellevue in the next few days (okay, okay, it’s not really SO far, but it’s kind of something I have to plan in advance for with Morgan, who is still not a fan of the car… it’s really hard to drive with my arm going numb because I’m reaching around her seat to hold the pacifier in her mouth while my throat is getting a little hoarse from singing every song I can think of) for a little TJ trip and I’m wondering what products other people love. Somewhat intentionally I don’t keep snacky stuff on hand because (a) it’s more expensive and (b) it’s usually not as healthy as food you make yourself. The fact that we don’t have that kind of thing on hand, though, means that for lunch for me or for late-night “I’m still hungry” moments when we don’t feel like cooking anything we have nothing to grab and eat besides chocolate chips.
Not that I’m guilty of eating lots of bags of chocolate chips. For lunch. Ahem.
Now we’re out of chocolate chips, but luckily “pints” of Haagen-Dazs have been on sale at the grocery store lately so we have those for munchiness. Yes, yes, very healthy. Actually, have you tried the Haagen-Dazs “five” line? It’s made with only five ingredients, which of course makes me feel better because they’re all normal ingredients. So far, I’ve tried ginger and mint, and they are very very good. This could be a problem for me, because even if it does only contain pronounceable ingredients it can’t be good to eat so much of it.
Back to the point: One of the great things about Trader Joe’s is that it’s generally cheaper than grocery stores, and also generally healthier–though of course like anywhere you still have to be savvy. But I love that you can get organic food for the same price as regular food at the grocery store, butter is cheaper, etc. Our addictions often ebb and flow, but right now I’m still on the wheat and flaxseed crackers (was also a pregnancy staple). We’ve also been drinking this green food drink that’s pretty good, and of course I stock up on the frozen veggies but that’s not really a TJ-specific product (just a cheaper/better-than-grocery-store one). I love their hummus, but I started making it at home–with TJ’s canned garbanzo beans and TJ’s lemons, of course. I also buy the noodle boxes for Adrian to have on hand at work.
So, O Masses, please PLEASE tell me your favorite TJ’s products. Specifically, I’m looking for things we can have for “quick food”, but I would love to hear about whatever it is that you love and buy often from TJ’s. Not that I really need more inspiration to love it, but I would love to get some ideas for things I maybe haven’t tried. And we can all bask in the Trader Joe’s love together. Ahhhh.
You’re lucky to be getting a TJ’s so close. They have a few in this state, but they are all in Chicagoland, so we don’t get there too often. As far as sweets go, I adore their peanut butter cups and dark chocolate covered cranberries (craisins?). I don’t feel so bad about the latter because it’s dark chocolate and craisins–both fairly healthy things. I also love their roasted red pepper soup (that’s a good quick dinner–I just add some green onions to the soup and eat it with and buttered bread. Yum!). Oh–they have a really good mandarin orange sauce, too, that I also love to cook with chicken and green onions and serve over rice.
Last time I was visiting my parents my mom suggested trying TJ’s maple pecan cereal covered in maple yogurt instead of milk for breakfast. That was really, really good too.
Mmmmm – TJ’s. I’m a TOTAL addict!!! Here’s my list for you:
* Definitely try the Crunchy Curls – they’re made from lentil flour and potato starch, so they’re decently low in calories and high in fiber and protein for a chip-replacement snack.
* The “reduced-guilt” sea salt pita chips are a staple in my snack cupboard, too, to go with the hummus. (Mmmmm, hummus! I think I’ll start making my own like you – so much cheaper and better.
* The tomato and roasted red pepper soup (in a box) is another staple of mine, as are the chicken and salsa verde frozen enchiladas.
* The Lara Bars are great – they’re vegan, and despite being fruit, they’re low glycemic, thanks to the nuts in them (I loooove the cherry and apple ones).
* The five-seed almond bars are a fabulous breakfast/snack food as well. Sweet without being too sweet, and the pumpkin seeds and spices make them autumnal, if that makes sense. So delish!
Wow, and I could just keep going… but I’ll stop. Well… two more:
* The black licorice scotty dogs are fabulous if you like black licorice (Christina liked them, and she’s not a huge black licorice fan!).
* I also love the chocolate meringue crisps – they use cocoa, so you get the chocolatey flavor without all the fat and calories. Awesome stuff.
Can you tell that I do 80 percent of my shopping at Trader’s? (Well… since discovering Henry’s, it’s a little less, but I buy 80 percent of my stuff between the two. So much cheaper, healthier and better than mainstream grocery stores!)
Oh, and their Kansas City BBQ sauce is out of this world. I’d heard it was to die for – and it lived up to its reputation. Impressive for bottled sauce.
Oh, and you HAVE to try the shrimp and lemongrass potstickers. They’re a great quick-meal.
Seriously. I’ll stop now.
I loooove all their ready-to-go indian curry sauces. Seriously, it’s not even worth making them from scratch, they’re so good. Pair them with some homemade naan, some basmati rice, gingery/lemon grassy veggies and maaan that’s a good meal.
mmmm I’m drooling just thinking about it. Why the heck don’t we have them in Utah?
Oh how I love TJ’s.
try their:
potstickers
prenatal vitamins
gnocchi
pita chips
pretzel crisps
bran muffins
trader joe’s o’s (like spaghetti-o)
quick steel cut oats
yum.
I really miss having a Trader Joe’s. I seriously don’t think I’d have made it through grad school without a Trader Joe’s within walking distance of my house. My favorite “quick” snack was their frozen naan bread (just heat in an oven for 2 minutes) or their fruit leather. But I also loved their latke, gnocchi, stir fry, rice bowls, and chili. I also really loved their cubes of frozen basil and garlic. Made cooking so much easier. I really hate chopping up garlic cloves.
Pretty much everything is wonderful at TJs. Now I’m more disappointed than ever that I am so far removed from one. Oh well.
Wow, guys, lots of good stuff. Maybe I need to go and just go through each aisle slowly and see what there is to check out.
Kiersten- I love love chocolate covered raisins, so I’d probably like the craisin kind, too. The mandarin orange sauce sounds intriguing. I think I need to try that.
Christa- You’re hilarious. I love your list. I can’t believe I hadn’t thought of the pita chips for the hummus. I usually heat up a tortilla, so those would be great! Making hummus at home started because I felt like we’d buy it and not eat it. It was hard to predict when we’d be craving it. So now I just keep cans on hand, and we usually have tahini around anyway for these veggie burgers I make, so that way I can have hummus in 5 minutes if I want it. I will also have to hunt town these crunchy curls. Sounds good.
Lesley- I tried to make homemade naan once in college and it didn’t come out right. I have a long history of failing with yeasted goods. Maybe you could put up a tutorial for it when you’re back in Utah.
I did try one of the Indian sauces before and I agree they are great. I keep meaning to get some again, so now I definitely have to! Oh, and even the frozen naan that they sell at TJ’s is pretty good, and much better than I could make, so I even double cheat and buy both parts of the Indian meal there. Hehe.
Morgan- First of all, it surprised me to see your name because of course when I think of Morgan now I think of my kiddo, and I was like, “wuh…?” for a second when I saw you commented. I’m brilliant, right, wondering how a four month old could have left a comment.
Now that you’ve mentioned it, I have a bizarr-o craving for spaghetti o’s Odd. I’ll have to try them, too, TJ style.
Liz- I think you’ll have some more exciting culinary experiences to tell us all about. TJ’s is wonderful, but yours will be a little more… unique. Hehe. I may have to get the stir fry, though. Hmmm.
So sad, not a single one in Texas. Or the whole middle part of the country. But whatever.
My parents have one not even ten minutes from their house, like that does me any good…
Oooh how I love TJs!!!
Peanut butter pretzels
Almond cashew cranberry trail mix
Kettle corn
Organic melody of frozen veggies… works well when tossed in brown rice
If you like enchiladas they have a sauce in a bottle that is really good
The marinara sauce in the green can is my favorite… under 2 bucks and I can spice it up
I agree the frozen garlic is wonderful
Shepherds pie in the freezer section is good for a quick meal
My list can span the rest of the day!
Pita crisps
Quinoa and wheat couscous are excellent to make a quick salads
And of course veggies!!
Have fun!
PS…If you want to indulge the chocolate bon bons and chocolate cupcakes are to die for!
Me too! Love ‘em! Mike’s had scouts taking up most Wednesday nights so to save time we have Trader Joe’s Wednesdays…meaning I buy their pre-made anything and we call it a night! Some things I’ve tried and love:
Chimichuri rice in the freezer section- Full of veggies, peruvian rice
Frozen minced garlic, basil, and cilantro. Great for backup!
They have these individual pizzas that were really cheap. Look for the 5 inch kind
Their wheat pizza dough is tastey on the grill. We’ve also done the garlic as breadsticks
Canned Roast Beef is great with gravy over rice or even on nachos!
Have you tried their 3 layer hummas? I LOVE it with the rice crackers!
Frozen Eclairs- probably not so healthy, but yummy!
I’m glad to see what everyone else has fell in love with. New ideas for me!
p.s. the prenatal vitamins are like horse pills! Giant!