Talk to me about Trader Joe's

[klpmommy]

I have never been. There is one not too far from me, but I tend to do what I am familiar with over trying something new. :O So if I go, what can I expect & what should I look for?

[Katigre]

It is awesome!!!! Lots of good food, low prices, good wine selection.

[something glorious]

it is very good, but the wine selection bit depends on where you live....here in NJ grocery stores can't sell alcoholic beverages :no :/

we get soooo many of our staples there, and it is inexpensive. we get (frozen) alaskan sockeye salmon there (the least contaminated version available) for $5.99 a pound. to buy it fresh at whole foods would be $28 a pound :hunh

we buy organic chicken there, and YUMMY natural/organic chicken sausages and all beef hot dogs, as well as froze buffalo burgers, lamb, etc., etc.. we buy organic bananas there, cereal, peanut butter, avocadoes, onions, bagged baby carrots, yobaby organic yogurt, spelt pasta, organic fair trade whole bean coffee, organic 100% juice, ezekial bread, whole wheat tortillas, string cheese, non-toxic dishwasher detergent....the list goes on and on! organic tends to be less expensive here!

the one thing that suprised me the first time i went was how *tiny* it was inside, compared to other grocery stores :jawdrop everyone had raved about it for years, but never mentioned how little and quaint it was :no

any more questions???

[klpmommy]

DH & I don't drink (even when not preg) so the wine doesn't matter to me. But now that I know they have buffalo burgers I will *have* to go. DH will be soooooooo thrilled!!! We still have plenty of salmon & walleye that dh caught (and I can't eat) but $5.99/lb for salmon is a great price! Thank you!

[Havilah]

subbing...

There's a TJ's near our church, which is an hour away from our house. We've toyed with the notion of stocking up after church once a month, but we're usually so wiped out and ready to get home that we've never been there. I'm interested to see what people like to buy there. DH would be so psyched about the salmon... he's a total fish-head.

[Cheyenne]

I remember the first few times I went there, I thought they only sold specialty foods and didn't have time to really look at the shelves. Then when we had to go on the Feingold diet and needed to find food that didn't have certain ingredients, I saw TJ's listed in the book so I decided to check there. I was amazed at all the normal foods I found that weren't strange at all, just healthier more natural versions of what I was already used to. We love going there. At least at the store we go to the people who work there are so friendly and helpful. It has that corner grocery store feel with people who remember you and are happy to see you and say hi to the kids. I am still finding new things all the time. We do the bulk of our shopping there without breaking the bank. We easily spend 150.00 or more a week there, but not because it is expensive, but because we buy soooo much. I never want to live further than 3 miles from a Trader Joe's again. I love it!!! :yes

[Katigre]

Here is my big long list of all the things I love at TJ's (some of this is stuff i can't currently have being soy-free/dairy-free):

plantain chips
dried fruit and nut snack packs
bread, bagels, pitas
hummus
guacamole
salsa
frozen rice
frozen naan
dried fruit
organic free range eggs
Pumpkin spice granola
frozen organic jasmine and brown rice
frozen waffles
instant indian food (in boxes near the soups) - especially Punjab Eggplant
all their fruit sauces - especially Pear Sauce and Apricot Sauce
Jarred soups/stews like the Indian Sambhar Lentil and Spanish Chicken
Pita chips with hummus
Mocci ice cream balls
macaroni and cheese
dried fruit
organic jams/preserves
jarred bruschetta topping
Orange Mandarin Chicken
Southwest Turkey Burgers
Mochi Chocolate Ice Cream Balls (oh these are soooooooo good!!!! I want to try the strawberry and mango ones too)
Pizza dough (both whole wheat and garlic-herb)
Gold n Kracle Oregano/Cheese crispy flatbread
A bunch of frozen burritos
Gyoza potstickers (both chicken and vegetable)
A bunch of Tasty Bites Indian food
A dozen fruit leather
Biryani rice stir fry mix
A few different kinds of lasagna
Eggplant Parmesan (frozen)
Mango-sauce
Apple-raspberry sauce
Apricot-sauce
Pear sauce
Assorted egg rolls
Assorted frozen thai and indian bowl meals
Luna bars
Fresh Cranberry-orange relish
Cuban Mojito marinade
Moroccan Tangine marinade
Indian Punjab Spinach sauce/marinade
frozen pizzas

(There is redundancy b/c icombined my 'tj favorites' lists from a few different locations)

[something glorious]

mmmm....katigre mentioned some of my favorites that i had forgotten :yum

[Cheyenne]

My usual shopping list includes

Yogurt Squeeze tubes
Sour Cream,
Milk
Fresh fruits or Vegetables
Joe's O's (like cheerios)
Honey Nut O's (like Honey nut cheerios)
Cinnamon sugar instant oatmeal packets
Peanut Butter Granola Bars
They also have things like pop tarts, but I don't buy those since they are mostly fruits my dd can't have.
Mac & Cheese
Midnight Moo chocolate syrup
Juice boxes
frozen veggies (corn and peas)
Cookies (Joe Joe's are kind of like Oreo's but way better)
100 Calorie multi grain cracker snack bags shaped like toucans
100 calorie snack bags of cookies
coffee
And much much more.

[SPKarenO]

they have excellent cookies and treats...like peanut butter cups...usually on the shelves above the frozen items.

the produce is excellent.

they have fantastic ready made dips, including several flavors of hummus!! YUM!!

their eggs are .99 a dozen.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE thier frozen chicken chow mein and chicken and rice bowls.

They have excellent single size salads - lots and lots of choices of those.

And more nuts and dried fruit and mixes than I've seen.

AND I've never had anything bad from there. There are a few things that I don't particularly love (frozen chicken nuggets), but nothing bad.

[ShangriLewis]

We do most of our shopping there. The prices are wonderful. My two favorite items right now are the Jalapeno Cilantro Hummus and the jarred Thai Green Curry sauce.

[something glorious]

ooooh, heather, i want to try that hummus! we buy their garlic hummus on a regular basis...it is soooooo yummy :yum we also love their jarred Pineapple Salsa.....delish!

[ShangriLewis]

It's not super spicy either. Just a bite.

My son likes the cashews with the coconut. I can't remember what they are called, but they are sweet and yummy.

[musicmama]

The roasted garlic salsa is my FAVORITE! They have th best bbq chips ever, too!! We love the hummus and the bruschetta topping, too. Their chicken sausages are yummy, the marinated meats (like the carne asada, YUM!) are so easy to make! Their frozen burritos are deeeeeeeeeeelicious!

We drive 45 mins to go. THAT is how much we love it :)

[klpmommy]

OK- I'm ready to go!!!! But the kids are asleep, dh is at work. Tomorrow is going to be busy & I avoid grocery stores on weekends unless dh watches the kids (too crowded, I take them with me on weekdays,no problem!). So I guess I will have to wait until next week. I so want some good hummus. I usually get some at Costco which is quite tasty, but we haven't been to Costco recently & the grocery store brand isn't very good.

Thank you so much!!!

[Katigre]

Oh the bruscheta (jarred) topping is amazing. We ate that for dinner tonight on some of their ciabbatta rolls :P~

They have really cool little snack foods too - their coconut date rolls are delish.

And don't forget their samples! Each day they have samples of a drink and a food, i love tasting those :rockon. And the employees are all super nice and dress in hawaiian shirts.

[ShangriLewis]

OH that reminds me they have a Muffaloto....I can't remember, but it has a red label and a funny twist on the name. Anyhoo....another good yummy. We like to snack for dinner and they have the best little appetizer stuff.

[musicmama]

It seems like whenever they demo stuff, I always buy it! LOL!

We've only been a few times, but the demo lady always recognizes Sophia! Talks about how big she's getting and how she's much more awake now that she's older :) We seriously go every 3 weeks or so, so maybe we've gone 5 or 6 times? It's so cool!

mmmm, the only other storebought hummus I like is Costco hummus. You'll like TJ's!

[Jenjardin]

Stop STOP STOP STOP!!!!!! I miss Trader Joe's so badly. :cry2 The nearest one is over an hour and a half away. :hissyfit I'll be sort of near one this weekend, but I won't have enough time to go because of a family party and all that goes along with that. :cry2

[klpmommy]

I made it today!!! I got home after my dr appt & dh said we had no more bread, so I managed to fit in a trip. It was great!!! I still think I like the Costco hummus better, but dh is thrilled b/c I bought buffalo burgers (yum!) and I got him some root beer- one of his favorites. I bought several snacks that are healthier for the kids, so we will see how that goes. :) I was also excited to get lemonade, it is hard to find w/o hfcs in it. Does anything at that store have hfcs in it? It was great, I really was impressed with the prices & when we left I got my reusable bags (plus one insulated one) & the cashier gave P a balloon & E stickers (their choices). I would love to go w/o my helpers so I can really read labels, but the store was much smaller than I expected so I was able to look at everything, just not spend a lot of time reading a bunch of labels. The samples today included fresh strawberries so both kids were thrilled with that!

I am so thrilled! I am now a TJ convert. :giggle

[AdrienneQW]

Welcome to the dark side! ;) :tu :rockon

[ShangriLewis]

Check their website. I know they have some lists on their like for gluten-free items.

[tempus vernum]

I dunno - not to be a spoiler on such a positive thread but I have just not figured out the TJ's craze :shrug I go about once a month. It seems to me they don't have a lot of organics. 80% of their products at the store here in WI are "natural" not organic.

I am not really getting it unless it's the meat that's the draw and that would make sense as we do almost entirely farm bought meat direct from the farmer.

I do love that I can get 100% fruit jelly and the organic peanut butter is well priced as well as turkey lunch meat which dh likes for work lunches but. . .. I dunno. I was super excited TJ's was coming cuz I heard so much good about it but I still can't figure out what I'm missing. i mean, if they aren't out of it the frozen food seems well priced but again is often "natural" not organic.

I am wondering if it's because we can't have rice and SO many of their treats are rice syrup sweetened or contain rice flour :think And maybe also because I am a "from scratch" kind of girl. I bake or cook the majority of our treats from scratch and don't buy a lot of the things listed in this thread. I also didn't know they had buffalo burgers. maybe I am too quick of a shopper :scratch

:idea I just had a thought- maybe because everything is natural (without HFCS and colors/flavors??) is that the draw??

Sorry to be a downer :blush But I am truly wondering what I am missing?????

[klpmommy]

Well, I liked the frozen food section (I am not a from scratch kind of girl) and finding so much stuff w/o hfcs, esp snacks for the kids. I am not "into" organics (yet?) so that didn't matter to me all that much. :shrug

[Katigre]

I think the draw of TJ's is that you can buy pre-prepared/processed foods that don't have all the junk in them - like their frozen burritos have all normal ingredients, whereas the ones at the regular grocery store have all sorts of chemicals, additives, and preservativves.

it's definitely not a store for people who cook mostly from scratch - i love it for healthier convenience foods that also taste better than the ones from the conventional grocery store.

[RealLifeMama]

Yeah, i didn't really see the draw either, Jodi, but then things got crazy here and I needed more convenience stuff, so I went there a few times, or when it was 5pm and I had no idea what to make for dinner. It is nice for that.
The prices are not all that great here- honestly, Whole Foods is better or the same priced for basics and produce here, and has larger selection.

[liamum]

Yeah, i didn't really see the draw either, Jodi, but then things got crazy here and I needed more convenience stuff, so I went there a few times, or when it was 5pm and I had no idea what to make for dinner. It is nice for that.
The prices are not all that great here- honestly, Whole Foods is better or the same priced for basics and produce here, and has larger selection.

I was so excited to try it when it first opened near us. But this is my general feeling about it too. It doesn't have a wide enough selection for me, personally. But their frozen pizza that I tried was excellent.

[musicmama]

TJ's is definitely cheaper than WF here.

I knowtheir chicken teriyaki rice bowl has HFCS in it :shrug I didn't care for it.

Their meat really is good. They have a seasoned pork roast that is fantaaaaaaaaastic and like I said the carne and pollo asada are good and well priced. $4.99 for already seasoned flank steak? It's $5.49 a pound at walmart NOT seasoned. It's good for me because I don't have a lot of time for prep right now since Sophia's so "i need mommy now now!" right now. Their nuts are really well priced, too! I like their burritos for dh's lunch because it's the same price as like a Lean Cuisine meal, but he's getting spicy veggie burritos without all the junk in it.

I lean more toward natural than organic, though, so that might be the difference :)

[RealLifeMama]

Oh, I did not answer the OP question

I really like their guacamole and the guacamole+salsa. It is the first guac that doesn't make me sick after I eat it.
I also like their chicken strips in the prepared food/produce section- great when it is 5pm and don't know what is for dinner-
and the breads are good and dairy free, but they do not refrigerate the Ezekiel bread, which is strange and I would not buy it there even though it is cheaper.
I bought olive oil there and it was awful!! Very bitter.
The flour tortillas are yummy, taste and texture similar to my homemade.
The roasted veggie pizza is just like Amy's.
Somehow, last time I went, I spent like 40 bucks but had very litle to show for it after maybe 2 days. :shrug

[tempus vernum]

:idea Aha. Convenience foods.... .Well, that would explain about everything as I have only found one "convenience" food we like so far at TJ's that doesn't have rice syrup or rice flour in it (rice allergy). even when we are feeling "lazy" we can't eat most healthy crackers or cookies or granola bars. We can eat salsa potato chips, pretzels and tortilla chips - that's about it.

That would pretty much explain it for me. I also think the main drawback for us is the small produce department with very little organics selection :think We eat a ton of variety in our produce and often when I go to Trader Joe's I still have to go to WF or to our local grocer :shrug

I do buy somemeats there during the winter when we don't have as much access to farm raised meats. That does sound like a good steak price but we get our from the farm for cheaper (we bought a 1/2 cow and split it with Mama Mansa's family :D ) I'll remember their meat department when we run out of meat :)