Trader Joes Favorites?

[gandycat]

Seeing the Aldi threads got me thinking....I'm always looking for fun new products to try at TJ's. What are your favorites?

 

[gandycat]

Some of my favorites:

I love the already cooked grilled chicken strips. I get the chili lime or plain and make fajitas from them, or make chicken salads.

Fresh Salsa- so good. It's in the dairy case usually.

Irish Breakfast tea bags

Boxed chicken broth- much lower sodium than what I can get at the grocery store

Cream of Tomato Soup- this is the fresh stuff. So good, but it's really high in fat, it's a treat when I get it.

I love all of their snack foods, especially the organic tortilla chips

Bagels and mascarpone cheese.

I like their curry/Indian simmer sauces. You just pan fry chicken breasts and then add the sauce.

 

[NeverlandClub23]

*Any of their hummus
*Lime popsicles
*Banana frozen waffles
*Olive Oil popcorn (already popped in a bag)
*Something called I think Peppermint Clouds? I don't know I just know where they are and pick them up . They're like small York Peppermint patties.
*Fire Roasted frozen corn
*The little cubes of frozen fresh herbs
*Organic Chai Tea mix (I have 2 TJ's near me, one carries this in powder the other in liquid, I prefer the powder)

Obviously there's a lot I like at TJ's One thing I've never been crazy about is any of the cookies in the bakery section. I know other people must like them but they all have a weird taste to me.

 

[Harters2WDW]

Our staples:

Naan
Chicken Chow Mein
Thai Red Curry Sauce
Thai Rice Noodles
Dried Mango
Organic Sweet Corn
Salsa Authentica
Orange Chicken
Chocolate crossiants (in frozen section)
Tomato Basil spaghetti sauce

 

[dex08]

TJ's Truffle Brownie Mix !! YUm!

 

[java]

Corn bread mix!

 

[casjen]

It's seasonal but so so yummy. I look forward to it every Fall. Also:

Vegetable egg rolls
Mini chicken tacos
All tortilla chips
Reduced fat "cheetos" and cheese puffs
Semi sweet chocolate chips (lactose free!)
soy cheese cheddar cheese blend
Breaded tilapia (so good)
Meatless meatballs
cornbread mix
Their version of "Pam"
All their peanut butter
Almond butter
pumpkin butter


There's more but I can't think of it all.

 

[dis-happy]

Hansen's Diet Soda (love, love, love the gingerale flavor)

Lava Cakes (found in the freezer section)

 

[Dizneydaz]

Frozen garlic in little cubes. Just discovered these a few months back. Very convenient.

Meringue cookies.
Lavash bread -makes great flatbread anything.

 

[jodim]

There are only 3 things I always buy from there, no matter what.

Olive Oil (Can't beat it for the price/quality)
Orange Chicken
Cereal (Whatever the Panda & Ape ones are)

We always buy a ton of orange chicken and cereal. We live far from there so we get enough to last us for a while.

 

[prncess674]

Chicken Tikka Masala frozen dinner
frozen chicken egg rolls
english muffins
Charles Shaw Chardonnay
Contadino sparkling wine

 

[RitaE]

Chicken Gorgonzola in the freezer section.

 

[NJGirl]

Frozen breaded cod fillets (way better than mrs pauls!)
Cinnamon and sugar pita chips
Organic breakfast blend coffee
Probiotic organic yogurt strawberry or vanilla (it comes in a lil pack of 4)
garlic hummus
Vanilla Jo Jo cookies
Pastry Pups (weenies in a blanket)
Pastry bites (gruyere and carmelized onions in a pastry shell)
Organic frozen pizza
Beehive apple pie (in the bakery section)

 

[funnygarcia]

mmmmmmmmmmmmm

Orange Chicken
JoJos
frozen herbs/garlic cubes
edamame in frozen section
tortilla chips
green bean snacks - chip aisle
chili spiced dried mangoes
dry roasted plain cashews
boxed chicken broth- cheaper than grocery store.
Greek yogurt, TJ brand
honey in the very nice squeeze bottle- total non messy drip less!
Sea salt
big bottles of juice or flavored lemonade.. can't remember what kinds exactly, we usually get whatever is up for sampling.

mmmmmmmmm now I want to go there, bit of a drive for us.

 

[SKWDW]

It's a drive for us too, TWO HOURS!!! It's worth it though. We always bring a big cooler and load up...even when we take the smartie!

As for our favorites, pretty much every receipt from TJ's has:

Fresh Tangerine Juice - best...juice...ever!

• TJ's String Cheese (regular, not lite)
• TJ's Salad Dressings - Romano Cesear, Cranberry Walnut Gorganzola, and more
• Chopped Italian Salad
• Roasted Beet Salad
• Chinese Chicken Salad
• Wine Country Chicken Salad
• Whatever fresh veggies are in season
• Curry Simmer Sauce
• Fresh Pizza Dough
• TJ's Yogurt
• Chicken Fried Rice (Frozen)
• Turkey Meatballs (Frozen)
• Diner Joe's Mac & Cheese (Frozen)
• Pasta sauces and pasta - both fresh & dried
• Bran & Berry Cereal with Probiotic Yogurt Drops
• Freeze Dried Fruits - Banana, Mango, Berries
• Peanut Butter Filled Pretzel Bites
• Kettle Corn
• Lemon Kitchen Hand Soap
• Cranberry Ricola

Seems clear now why we always need a BIG cooler.

 

[bumbershoot]

The hummus with the red label. Veggie chips.

They have the best price (by about 2 bucks) on Organic Earth Balance in the city.

They also have the best price on Clif brand MoJo bars (99 cents vs 10 for $10 or 3 for $4 which are the various sale prices that Safeway and Fred Meyer tends to have).

Best price on Tofurkey slices for sandwiches and Yves "deli" slices.

That's about it...we have to read labels VERY carefully there. They have rennet in places I don't expect it, and other "naughty" for our household ingredients where we feel they shouldn't be. So our list of NOs is bigger than our list of OK foods.


Oh, they also have a container of Organic lollipops that are not made with corn syrup AND are colored with vegetable-based colors instead of red#40 and yellow#whatever, etc etc. Safe safe and safe! That makes up for some of the "what the heck is THAT doing in this product" moments we've had there.

 

[lovesmurfs]

They have wonderful fruit salsas (my favs are peach salsa and pineapple salsa). It's wonderful on grilled chicken, fish or pork!

Sweet salty trek mix. Yum!

Christmas time -- Wintry blend whole bean coffee. I waited too late and missed it this year.

Vodka pasta sauce.

 

[singitalto]

I usually pick up:
frozen brown rice(so quick, 3 min)
orange chicken
frozen oatmeal
low sugar jelly
100 cal oatmeal chocolate chip cookie packs
fresh chopped veggies

Lets see what else you got!!

 

[Redpepperflakes14]

Lately:

White cheddar popcorn puffs
Organic frozen brown rice
Organic frozen jasmine rice
Balsamic Butter vegetable blend (I haven't tried them yet, but I'm sure they're great)
President's reserve olive oil
Sea Salt grinder
Red chile pepper flakes (Does it show how much I love them?)
Chocolate chips
Bourbon vanilla extract
Stuffed southwestern chicken breasts
Heart of Darkness Mango juice
Women's Formula vitamins/MSM vitamins
Dark chocolate/caramel/pecan clouds
Cashews
Chopped pecans

 

[CuteAndFluffy]

We have to drive over 2 hrs, too. I'm planning to drive up next week.

I ALWAYS get:
--Almond Butter (1/2 the price of the grocery store)
--Mango apricot (?) greek yogurt
--peeled garlic cloves
--freeze dried mango
--apple clusters (new and highly addictive)
--pine nuts
--almonds
--butternut squash soup
--chicken broth
--jo-jos
--vanilla wafers (unlike any you've ever had--amazing!)
--Brown rice krispy bars
--olive oil

This time I'm also going to look for:
--French Macarons (in the freezer section)
--Frozen mac & cheese
--Spinach Ricotta Ravioli


Lots of good product reviews here: http://www.traderjoesfan.com/