10 Things You MUST Try at Trader Joe's

Today is post #21 of my 30 Days of Blogging Challenge.  You can click here to read more about this crazy challenge I gave myself to blog 30 days in a row!
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I love shopping at Trader Joe’s!  When my husband had his accident  and we had to live in a hotel for a month, Trader Joe’s was my lifeline!  They have a lot of healthy foods that are quick and easy to prepare and their prices are great!  Unfortunately, now that we live in Beaumont, TX the closest Trader Joe’s is two hours away in Houston.  I flew out of Houston when I went to the Olympia this past weekend and used that opportunity to stop by Trader Joe’s after I flew back!

Trader Joe's

Brown Rice Medley – This combo of long grain brown rice, black barley, and Daikon radish seeds tastes so good!  It gives a different texture and consistency than plain brown rice. I make one bag 1-2x per week so it is ready in the fridge and easy to serve with dinner/lunch.

Taco Seasoning – I love that their taco seasoning doesn’t have any MSG or ingredients I can’t pronounce in it.  I use this to spice up my chicken breasts all the time!  Plus, you can’t beat $.79 a packet.  *oops, the ingredients in the packets is shown at :39 in the video**
Uncured Hot Dogs – yes, I know these aren’t very healthy.  But, I have a 4-year old little boy who loves hot dogs, and I feel better giving him these knowing they are all-beef and nitrate free.

Nitrate Free Turkey Bacon – same as above, like that this is nitrate free.  I eat turkey bacon (either Trader Joe’s brand or Applegate Farms brand) basically every day for breakfast with 1 egg/1 egg white and avocado.

Bali Blue Moon Coffee – this is one of the best kinds of coffee I have ever had.  It has a really strong, dark, rich flavor to it.  I actually also picked up their Pumpkin Spice coffee this time and love it!

Turkey Deli Meat – Again, nitrate free, not too high in sodium, and you can’t beat that price!  Hubs uses this when he makes sandwiches for work, and I use this a lot when I make grilled cheese & turkey sandwiches for my little man.

Grilled Chicken Strips/Balsamic Chicken Strips – this is a little pricey to buy all the time, but when we were living in the hotel I lived off these pre-cooked chicken breasts.  They taste to fresh and flavorful!

Chili Lime Chicken Burgers – You can’t see this very well in the picture I took, but these are in the frozen section and are really yummy chicken burgers.  Super easy to make when you are in a pinch for dinner!  No preservatives or weird ingredients either and they end up being only $.87 per patty.

Coconut Oil and Coconut Oil Spray – I use these nearly every day when I cook!

Seasonings – I get almost all my seasonings at Trader Joe’s or Costco – best prices and awesome selection!

Organic Raw Honey – I’ve been using this a lot lately and mixing it in with cream of wheat after my workouts. Mmmmmm so good.

Pumpkin Pancake and Waffle Mix – this is definitely more of a treat, but I’ve been making these post workout and they are delish!

Peanut Butter – Love Trader Joe’s all natural peanut butter, price is awesome, and ingredient list is short: just peanuts.  They also have an amazingly addictive cookie butter but I can’t ever buy it because I would eat the whole thing in one day.  No, seriously.

Roasted Wasabi Seaweed – this flavor isn’t for everyone but I LOVE these as a crunchy/salty snack during the day.

Trader Jose’s Salsa – (love the play on the name).  This is a thinner salsa with awesome flavor.  I like making breakfast burritos with TJ’s corn tortillas, egg whites, feta cheese, and this salsa.

Corn Tortillas – see above comment ^^  What I like about these tortillas is that the ingredients are limited.  Most corn tortillas have a bunch of stuff in them and I have no clue what it is.

Chia Seeds – Super food!  I love adding 1 Tbsp to my protein shakes or smoothies in morning.

Ground Flaxseed Mill – Another superfood.  I like mixing this with egg whites to make ‘crepes’ in the morning.  You can find this brand at other stores, but I think TJ’s usually has the best price.

Of course, I always stock up on their fresh veggies and meats too, these are just some of the normal pantry items I like to get each time I go.  What am I missing from my list?  What are your favorite Trader Joe’s items?

Your Friend,
Natalie

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19 Comments

  • It looks like the prices are a lot cheaper than you would find for those things at a normal grocery store. What are your thoughts here? I wish we had one close to us too! There isnt one for about 2.5 hours here either 🙁

  • We love Trader Joes our favorites, to name a few….
    Organic seedless grapes
    Barbara’s peanut butter puffins cereal (best price in town)
    Nature’s Path Organic hemp granola
    Dr. Praeger’s Organic Non GMO california veggie burgers
    Trader Joe’s Organic tortilla chips (weakness of mine)
    Organic quinoa/brown rice pasta

  • Some of the same items you posted as well as:
    Salted chocolate caramels balls
    Frozen turkey meatballs
    Red curry sauce
    Honey wheat pretzels
    Hummus
    Naan- whole wheat
    Cracked wheat sourdough
    Cinnamon cheese
    Harvest grains- dry grain blend

  • My mom works there so I always get the good suggestions! I love everything you said except the honey, I think it’s from Mexico and you never know what kind of honey and if any of the goo stuff is it. I stick to local, raw honey. More good items are the frozen green beans, I mix with mushroom, coconut oil and onion, Greek yogurt and organic milk are great prices.

  • We only have a few Trader Joes in my north Texas area, but when I do go I have the urge to go bonkers in the place… usually the prices are decent, and it’s filled with SO MANY neat things! My mom still doesn’t get why I love grocery shopping so much… haha, Whole Foods and Trader Joes always gets me !

  • We just moved to where we have TJ’s. We also love the Bali blue moon coffee and the horseradish hummus is good. Also, I like the spiced cider. and, their little yogurt cups!

  • You have to try the speculoos cookie butter. It’s amazing on toast!

  • Thank you !!! I would love to see more blogs like this !!! So helpful!!!

  • Haha! My mom AND husband have never understood why I love grocery shopping so much either. My husband will do it when he needs to but just goes to your typical grocery store, Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, and a Northern California only store called Nugget, are three of the reasons why I could grocery shop every single day!

  • As a special treat I love their coconut milk chocolate ice cream! I am not a huge fan of coconut but I sure do love that ice cream! I too love their brown rice medley, their cheese selection is fantastic, Dr Praeger’s organic non-GMO veggie burgers, and their KALE AND SPINACH GREEK YOGURT DIP is amazing! I used to love it with their falafel chips but it seems those have been discontinued. Hmmm…I don’t even know where to begin. Their corn tortillas, whole wheat tortillas, cracked wheat sourdough, the dark chocolate covered espresso beans, dark chocolate covered power berries, their oat bran berry muffins, their pb filled pretzels with no salt on the pretzel, dried mango, I loved buying their frozen stir fry veggies and other veggies to always have on hand. Like you mentioned, they make convenience meals easy and a bit healthier for those days/nights we need something in a pinch. The roasted red pepper and tomato soup is my favorite. The unsweetened vanilla almond milk (in the pink box). They make eating healthy easy and affordable. I used to work across the street so I could walk over and get stuff as needed (dangerous!) I could go on for days and days and I know I have forgotten so much but I love that place!

  • I love a lot of the items listed above, but my favorite is their chimichurri rice in the frozen section. It’s quick and easy and tastes so good! Not too spicy either, just enough kick. You can also throw some protein in there for a complete meal.

  • Husband loves the Better Than Peanut Butter and it’s lower in fat than regular.
    TJ mini meatballs. This is the first meatball I’ve ever liked that’s pre-made. (Growing up with a family owned Italian restaurant made me very picky; )
    Organic vegetarian chili(great flavor and I mix it with ground beef or turkey)
    My baby’s favorite food is TJ’s Greek strawberry vanilla yogurt. Comes in an 8oz container and sge eats the whole thing!
    TJ’s Maple Pecan Granola is amazing.
    TJ’s sweet potato fries are yummy.
    Double Cream brie cheese….mmmmmm
    And you named a few of the other really good ones : )

  • My husband and I went in to Trader Joe’s a while back expecting to find super high prices, but we were in for a shock! We both left with a bag full of yum and money in our wallet. I now go here at least once a week!

    Also, now that he is deployed I like going to find neat novelty items to send him in care packages!

  • Raw pizza dough, quattro formaggio cheese blend, pizza sauce, butter lettuce, veggie fried rice, veggie pot stickers, Quinoa/steel cut oatmeal, Silver Dollar pancakes….I could go on forever…!

  • I went and got almost everything that you suggested. 🙂 The pumpkin pancake mix was AWESOME! The whole family loved it and the turkey bacon. I’ll be buying those again for sure. Thank you for the tips.

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I’m Natalie

ONLINE BUSINESS COACH WITH A FOCUS ON DIGITAL PRODUCTS​
Ten years ago I started out in the online world in the fitness space. I started blogging, sharing at-home exercises, and offering easy recipes. This turned into writing eBooks — one of which blew up in a way I could never imagine!

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