Happy Tuesday! I’m a little embarrassed to tell you that I just went to Trader Joe’s for the first time this weekend. Gasp! I know! I have no idea why I waited so long to check the place out, but I’m glad I finally did.
A Trader Joe’s opened in McKinney probably a year ago.
I’m not a fan of grocery store trips. I try to go once a week and remember everything so I don’t have to go back. I’ve heard that you can’t get everything at Trader Joe’s and well…the thought of making two grocery store trips in one week makes me want to gag. I think that’s why I’ve waited so long.
I was crazy impressed! It was a cute little store that wasn’t a typical over twenty-aisle type place. It was small and cute and I could be in and out of that place in less than thirty. That’s my kind of store.
I had NO clue where to start!! I grabbed a handful of goodies and am sharing my favorites, but I want to hear yours. What do YOU like from Trader Joe’s? What are your favorites?
On a whim, I threw (well, placed it gently-it’s glass) this bottle of Cilantro Salad Dressing in my cart. If you like cilantro, this is your dressing! It is YUMMY!
I was gifted the Cookie Butter one time and oh my word! SO good! The ENTIRE Trader Joe’s store right now is dedicated to anything pumpkin, so I thought I’d give the Pumpkin Pie Spice Cookie Butter a try. You guys…imagine pumpkin deliciousness with a crunch of cookie. I want to eat it by the spoonful!
I’m a huge sweets fan, but if I had to choose, I’d choose salty anyday. Give me a bag of chips and I’m a happy girl. 🙂 So…I took a risk and grabbed these Cripsy, Crunchy Broccoli Florets. They’re the perfect little salty snack. Not as tasty as a good ol’ potato chip, but a very close second.
Okay, I need your help! What is your Trade Joe FAVORITE? I can’t wait to hear them and make another trip! Thanks, girls!! XOXO
Their cornbread mix is the BEST! I refuse to make any other kind! We also like their frozen chinese dinners (orange chicken) for nights when we need a quick meal. Their mini quiches are delicious also and their soft organic wheat and white bread – THE BEST. I could go on forever about my love affair with that place 🙂
Thank you for sharing! Now I need to go back today to try it all!!
The chocolate croissants. They are in the freezer section. Soo good!
Sound delish!! Thank you for sharing!!
Corn Salsa, pot stickers, General Gaus, Gluten Free bread, gluten free pizza, oatmeal cranberry dipper cookies, fried rice
Thank you!!! This is just what I was hoping for. Now I need to go back and try all these goodies!
I am going to go TODAY just for that pumpkin butter. Seriously, I'm going.
I thought of you as I was eating it. So good!!
We love their version of Pirate's Booty! They also have some vanilla sandwich cookies that Chris and I die over (like vanilla oreos). And I LOVE the dried mangoes. YUM!
Their pumpkin macarons! They're in the freezer aisle
We have a jar of that pumpkin butter in our fridge right now!! It's delicious on toast in the morning! 🙂
You can't go wrong at Trader Joe's, everything is worth a try. We love their granola and cereal bars (so much better than anything at the grocery store), peanut butters, JoJo cookies (way tastier than Oreos), all of their lemonade and juices…so yum, and their ice cream is seriously some of the best ice cream I've tasted. And seasonally, I love the pumpkin cranberry crisp crackers. And wait till you see that place at Christmas, peppermint chocolate covered marshmallows…lets just say I stocked up one year and purchased…10? They go fast and aren't restocked, so try them early! I heart TJ's!
Ok, you got the most important thing – cookie butter! I'm trying to get my family off the cookie butter, they are absolutely addicted 🙂 Also, random list but I love the following :: their fresh hunks of cheese, mediterranean hummus, sweet apple chicken sausage {seriously, get that asap!}, their frozen meals are shockingly good, also frozen brown rice, and the pumpkin bread/muffin mix. I may or may not pick up their wine, too. Oh, and flowers!!! Girl, I could go on and on, ha!
Their fresh pizza dough is awesome, nuts and trail mix, chocolate covered frozen banana slices, macaroni and cheese bites in freezer, brown rice quinoa pasta is really good! Their flowers are always beautiful and priced well too!
The flowers at TJ are AMAZING (and affordable)! When it's Peonie's season you can get maybe 4 or 5 stems for $7.99. They are so big that they can make a statement in a vase for less than $10.00!! 🙂 P.S. I'm going to need you to check the broccoli chip label for corn…this no chip thing is for the birds. 🙂
Love Trader Joes! They have the best greeting cards and they are only .99
I love their flowers oh and food😉
Chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches, fruit/veggie smoothies, salsa, my kids love their Apple sticks snack…
They usually give out samples of something they're making and it's usually tasty! So many treats there!
Their frozen orange chicken and fried rice is amazing!!!
I still haven't gotten my Trader Joe groove BUT they have really cute gingerbread houses at Xmas time.
Their frozen food is actually amazing. They have these frozen chicken fajitas that taste incredibly fresh and delicious! Plus they have olive oil popcorn that is to die for – salty heaven!
Their sunflower butter is the best! We use it in our kids' school lunches, since PB isn't an option. My husband swears it tastes just like real peanut butter. We also love the enchilada sauce and corn salsa!
Pumpkin pancake mix, frozen French macarons, frozen chocolate covered banana slices, their jarred organic unsweetened applesauce is the best I've ever had next to homemade.
Oh the peach mango juice (in the refrigerated section) is so good too! I like making their mango tea (box of tea bags) as iced tea, then pour in some of the peach mango juice. It is delicious!
All of their granola and trail mixes are amazing! Perfect for snacking!
Their frozen fried rice and mandarin orange chicken is to die for! We eat it at least once a week. Get it, try it, you will LOVE it! And the frozen Mac and cheese is some of the best I have ever had !
Gotta love TJ's. Try their pizza dough – all of the kinds are great. A favorite of mine is the "Crunchy Curls" in the chips section, made from potatoes and lentils (which I don't even like!). Those things are addictive. If you haven't tried the Belgian Butter Waffle Cookies, you need to. Those are divine. Then when they stock for Christmas, get the Peppermint Jo Jos. The cream is pepperminty with tiny pieces of peppermint in them for a little bit of texture. Tasty!
Pretzel buns!!!
We don't have a Trader Joe's but a friend brought me some pita bread and olive tapenade from there once and it was so darn good that every time I headed to Fort Worth for baseball I stopped to grab some.
I am not sure if this is just at Christmas, or what, but their sea salt dark chocolate caramels are AMAZING.
The mahi mahi burgers and cookies and creme cookie butter are my favorites from there!
My closest TJ's is an hour and half away. I need a road trip ASAP with all of these suggestions.
The Crunchy Cookie Butter is amazing.
Also, their spaghetti sauce is really good. 🙂
Girl…Trader Joes is my fav! They've got a premade ball of pizza dough ready to roll out and make homemade pizza (it's in the deli section on the wall). They also have some yummy ready-to-go foods in that section that look yummy, but I haven't tried a lot of them. I like their frozen section, but it's hit or miss with some of the stuff. I like the turkey corn dogs, meatballs, and meatless sausage patties (breakfast patties)…all from frozen section. Frozen fried rice is good too. And their sprouted bread (similar to Ezekial bread) is good too. I got the cinnamon-raisin bread which I like as toast with peanut butter (kids too). I get eggs there too…organic cage free because the price is good…and whole milk for the boys. Overall, I like to get convenient frozen food for those times I'm in a hurry…you know like every day 🙂 You've got the cookie butter covered…that stuff is scary good!
PLEASE CAN WE GET A TRADER JOE'S?!?! I hate that we don't have one here and I'm so jealous of anyone who has one!
Pot stickers, frozen brown rice that you can microwave, frozen macaroni, pesto Gouda, croissants, shelled edememe, dark chocolate covered almonds, salted Carmel sauce and artichoke antipasto. We don't go every week but go about once a month and stock up.
My kids love the Trader Joe's version of Jelly Belly jelly beans!
Ok… So I believe I'm a TJ expert after my 3 years of experience. I started going a little over three years ago for produce, when we cut out processed foods, and would still go to my neighborhood store for essentials. But I've learned to make one big trip a month to get everything we need, toilet paper, etc. But everything else, besides meats, I get at TJ's. Start small. Replace a few items- pasta and sauce, cheeses, etc. Ease into it and make a list. You can get everything you need there. I even love their shampoo and conditioner. Get some Pub Cheese, Powerberries, New Zealand Grass Fed Cheese, Orange Chicken and Veggie Fried Rice. And try the Jumbles, refrigerate them, you'll thank me later.
We love their flowers, cards, most frozen things, chocolate covered almonds, toffee, cheese, guacamole salsa, all of their dried fruits, spaghetti sauce — anything!
I love their Sipping Chocolate, which is their hot chocolate mix. It usually comes out seasonally between Oct-Dec. I seriously buy 12 cans of it when it comes out because it's a seasonal item. Super rich and chocolatey and not too sweet. I use it to make mochas.
Great post! Love Trader Joes! I also posted my favorite items to purchase! Here is the link-
http://rothseri.com/2015/06/24/my-favorite-things-to-get-at-trader-joes/
I'm going to have to go now!
Since you loved the cookie butter, you NEED the cookie butter ice cream! It's better than any other ice cream I've tried. Refreshing vanilla ice cream with sweet cookie bits and smears of cookie butter. Delish! Now I must go get myself some of the pumpkin butter 🙂
Frozen brown rice, salsa especial in refrigerator section, regular 1.99 salsa, yogurt and chive dip, multigrain crackers , small sesame crackers, chocolate covered marshmallow to make s'mores, havarti dill cheese Popsicles, mint choc chip ice cream, mocha chocolate yogurt
Cinnamon dusted toscano cheese- it's a limited edition seasonal item. Really yummy with the rosemary crisps or pumpkin cranberry crisps. I also love their other interesting cheeses to keep on hand for a last minute cheese tray, nuts, dried fruits (especially mango and cherries), nut butters and coconut oil- all reasonablly priced there. Chocolate coconut covered almonds and chocolate pistachio covered toffee/buttercrunch from the candy section. Last, the pumpkin and chocolate filled croissants from the freezer are amazing. Perfect to keep on hand to have with eggs and fruit for a nice, but easy house guest breakfast. Oh and cilantro jalapeno hummus and quinoa tortilla chips and…and clearly I could go on and on…:)
The bruchetta is SOO good! Perfect for a quick appetizer to bring to a party or we also use it to make bruchetta chicken (chicken grilled on tin foil with the bruchetta mix poured on top) that is delish. Some of our other favs are their low fat granola, marinara sauce, natural PB, enchilada sauce, sparkling juices, and the pepermint jo jo's.
My kids love to go there, but my favorite thing is their fresh flowers. They are gorgeous and very affordable:)
Truffle cheese, peppermint tea, and I just discovered pumpkin butter =)
They have really good ginger snap cookies. So yummy. They have a black bean quinoa chip that would make your lil heart happy!! Austin loves the peanut butter filled pretzels. And my favorite is the sea salt caramels. Soooooooooo good. Now I wish I had a trader joes close. Maybe I should just come visit!!!!
I love TJ's!!! I was just there today and bought the 100 calorie mini belgian milk chocolate bars (near the cash register). OMG, they are amazing!!! My kids, husband, and I also adore the white cheddar corn puffs. Seriously addicting. We love lots of their snacks. Our latest find is the raisin and rosemary crackers smeared with their honey chevre goat cheese. We also love the chianti salami! Also, try the crispy crunchy chocolate chip cookies in the clear plastic tub. Sooooo good! They have a hint of coconut in them which just makes them so good. Anyway, I could also go on and on!!
Maple nut granola, vanilla bean cookies, breaded chicken tenders! Oh.my.so.good. The chicken tenders aren't fattening either and so good on a wrap. At Christmas time they have peppermint cookies…..so yummy!!
I live in Southern California where they started, so I have been shopping there for about 10 years now and have one at the end of my street.
The Pop Rocks Chocolate Bars with chile powder in them are to die for. Trust me.
The dark chocolate covered star cookies that they have at Christmas time are the best.
My weekly staples: Gluten free rice pasta, mini wheat crackers, orange chicken (frozen), fried rice (frozen), brown rice (frozen), sparkling french berry lemonade, salt and pepper rice chips, fresh mozzarella sticks, and of course flowers are the best there.
Now, lots of people think the wine is the best there, but by comparison, when you catch the wine on sale, Kroger/Ralphs has way better prices for the exact same brands.