I love Trader Joe’s. It’s a great store with quality products from small companies instead of big corporations. It’s also relatively affordable. However, I do NOT buy fresh vegetables or meat at Trader Joe’s. There’s not enough selection or variety for me. I save my fresh vegetables, meat and noodles for Asian supermarkets, Costco or Food 4 Less. My dairy products and random tidbits, like uncooked black beans and pretzels, are from Ralph’s, Von’s or Albertson’s. And I always use my Preferred Customer card. What can I say? I like to save money yet still eat fresh and in massive quantities. I also refuse to shop at Whole Foods. Overpriced and overrated.
But back to Trader Joe’s. I picked up quite a haul today, including my usual go-to items as well as some new ones.
I have a slight obsession with cheese. I love every kind of cheese. Goat, Gruyere, Brie, Swiss, I’ll take them all! Brie with some crackers will make for a delicious snack. Gorgonzola is perfect for cheese fries and worth experimenting with for new pizza ideas.
I finally restocked my precious lavash. I haven’t had the whole wheat kind yet, but it’s worth a try. I’ve got some ideas for pizza and wraps brewing. Can’t wait! As for the flatbread, it will be perfect for pizza as well, but I want to eat them with some homemade hummus. Perhaps use them for gyros? Plenty of options!
I like Better ‘n Peanut Butter, but I think it’s a hit or miss. Some people, like me, love it. Others hate it. The awesome part about Trader Joe’s is that if you dislike one of their products, you can return it, even after you’ve opened and tried it. No questions asked.
Chocolate chip cookies and chocolate-covered raspberry sticks! I had not tried either product prior to purchasing, but it’s never too late to experiment. I ate two chocolate-covered raspberry sticks the second I got into the car, and it was heavenly. Chocolate, you are amazing. I am so glad you are in my life.
All of this was only $24.24. There’s enough flatbread and lavash to last me two weeks, and that’s if I eat it for one meal every day. It takes me about 3 to 4 weeks to go through a jar of peanut butter. The cheese? Well, we’ll see how long that lasts. As for my decadent snacks, I was perfectly satisfied after two chocolate-covered raspberry sticks, and one serving size is actually four. I’m assuming they’ll last awhile, too.
Have you ever been to a Trader Joe’s?
If so, what are your favorite products?
If not, where do you grocery shop?
Consumption: 1711 calories, 19.3g of fat. (pedometer not worn)
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Workout: Five mile walk. Biceps. Triceps. Stretch.
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Female. 25 years old. Chinese. Cook. Foodie. UCLA grad. Traveler. Musician. Scuba diver. GWU Law. Runner.
I really didn’t need to see pictures of cookies at 8 in the morning…THANKS!
jk lol.
I love trader joes! It’s like the most awesome hipster grocery store ever! My favorite thing to get there is their brand name greek yogurt.
So good.
I find that Lavash doesn’t keep well at all! Especially here… It kind of turns moldy after 3 days of opening, even after storing in a dry cool area… Sometimes even in the fridge! So I never buy it because I can never eat it all… Also: so many of your recipes have cheese! What about us kids who have severe allergies to dairy?! I want recipes with no cheese!
We don’t have a Trader Joe’s near us, or we’d probably frequent it. It looks like they have a great selection of unique goods.
BTW, thanks again for my sign for the 5K. Your support is immeasurably appreciated!
When we were in St. Louis, I wasn’t bitten by the TJ bug, but do like what they have to offer. I guess we are a bit shopping lazy and simply stick to what we can mostly get at our usual mega-grocery store. Now that we are in the desert for the rest of the summer and nowhere near a TJ’s, we are grateful to get whatever we can from the local markets!
Ah cheese…sigh.
Goodness, I wish we had a Trader Joe’s nearby. I’ve heard so many great things about them! We do have a store called the Grain Train which is a co-op and I’ve started loving going there.
.-= Anonymous Fat Girl´s last blog “Life is really simple…” + shepherd’s pie recipe =-.
I love Trader Joe’s but agree that their produce and meat department is pretty lame – and expensive!
I love TJ’s chicken egg rolls – only 2 points for a pretty good size egg roll!
And cheese – don’t get me started on my love of cheese! I just found a Cabot cheese – hot habanero that is amazing!!
Oh, man, all you people with your Trader Joe’s just make me jealous! All I ever hear about is how great this store is, but we don’t have one up here
We usually end up buying most of our stuff from Costco, just because of the price – we like to save money too 
Maybe someday we’ll get a Trader Joe’s in Alaska…
.-= Brandon´s last blog We are William Wallace! =-.
i always seem to be in a rush when i go there. i see a lot of things i would like to try but never do. the staple i DO always get from there is there frozen turkey meatballs. they are delish.
wow! Looks Like a bunch of great food. We don’t have a Trader Joes here, but now I wish we did.
We do a great deal of our shopping at Costco also. With a family of 5 we HAVE to buy in bulk, or we’ll spend a small fortune.
My boys, the hubby too, are peanut butter fans! If I don’t keep peanut butter on hand at AL times I could be in for an extreme meltdown in my boys. I like it as well but can do with or with out it.
Sounds like you had a great workout!
Thanks again for the kind comment and concern on my blog.
*amber*
I LOVE Trader Joes! Whole Foods can suck it! Lol. I always manage to spend less and buy more at Trader Joes then at other grocery stores! I bought coffee there for the first time last week it was less then $4 for a huge can and it was amazing! Also we love, dark chocolate covered everything, raisins, edamame (sp?) pomegranite seeds. Yum yum yum…I could go on for days but I won’t! Thank God for Trader Joe’s – spread the word!
We have the same grocery mentality: I also love shopping at the Asian market (although I don’t get treated very nicely, I get Chinese grandmas hip checking the white girl to get the best pineapple, it’s pretty funny, actually) and the Costco for bags of chicken breasts, shrimp and eggs.
There’s a Whole Foods near where I work and I see the snootiest people walking about with the stupid brown whole foods bags, I’m not convinced it’s not just the same stuff everyone else sells, just pricier.
And I can’t buy Brie, I would eat that whole slab in one sitting, LOVE Brie.
.-= Mallory´s last blog Help Solve a Mystery =-.
I LOVE TJ’s!!! I get most of my stuff there, but usually have to go to a few other places. I try to avoid the Whole Foods (the money pit) as much as I can because I just end up spending way too much, but it is like a candy store in there for me lol Looks like some great TJ’s finds. We had the flatbreads with dinner tonight actually with a lentil-tomato mixture
I am so jealous of everyone who has a trader joes! From what I’ve seen, I think I would LOVE it. And I really love cheese too. I’ve found a good variety of cheese for cheap at the Aldi here. They had brie, feta and gorgonzola for really cheap, even though they mostly have basics and “off brand” processed crap.
II’m with zenlizzie — don’t have a Trader Joe’s nearby…send one my way if you get a chance! Trader Joe’s that is.
.-= seth@fitwithapurpose´s last blog Awake. Energetic. Definition. =-.
My favorite part of your whole experience? The PRICE – only $24.24 for all that amazing stuff!!!!! I love TJ’s!!!
.-= Chad´s last blog The Weekend =-.
The produce at Trader Joes is total crap. It usually is bad upon purchase or quickly goes in a few days. Blerg. You should find a farmers market in San Diego for fresh, cheap produce. I love going to the Silver Lake one on Saturday mornings when I’m not too lazy to wake up before noon.