Food Talk And Fabulous Finds - post your favorite Trader Joe's finds!

I love Trader Joes!

Just curious who goes there and what your favs are?

Fresh corn tortillas
Shrimp gyoza
Enchilada Sauce - love it love it love it
Peanut Satay Sauce
Fresh Salsa & salt free tortilla chips
Greek yogurt
Trek mix bars
A lot of the nut mixes, "Just Cashews, Almonds & Cherries" is my fave
Dried hibiscus flowers

So many more things, I just can't think of them off the top of my head... I always come out with several bags...

I go every week on my home from work

Fresh Veggies - fresh and almsot always cheaper than my regular grocery store
Soy cheeses - no saturated fat
Canadian bacon cheaper than grocery store
Cottage cheese cheaper than grocery store
Roasted red pepper and eggplant spread - cant function without it
Frozen edamame
Morning star farms veggie burgers
Veggie potsticker
Veggie Egg rolls
Egg white in a carton - cheaper than grocery store
Fiber cakes - small cake. 80 calories, 13 g fiber
Canned beans - cheaper than grocery store
Mineral water - cheaper than grocery store
Ancho chil dark chocolate wedge - just disconitnued, but if you find any.. grab them!
Haricot Vert frozen beans
Salmon burger patties - 100 calories each

This is what comes to mind now.. always more

Shannon, how do you use your enchilada sauce?

Dehydrated Bananas- Think of bananas sliced and semi dehydrated! They taste like Bananas Foster!

TJ's version of Soy Vay Teriyaki Sauce
Figs
FF Plain Greek Yogurt
TJ's version of Oreo's (they have specks of vanilla bean and my girls love that!)
Seafood
Coffee Beans-cool cans with many varieties!
10oz water bottles- My kids waste water bottles...they never finish one-- with these I know they will finish them!
Raw Almonds
Dark Chocolate

Such a small store but you could spend a good hour or so in there!

Toasted Oat Bran Hot Cereal
TJ crunchy almond butter
TJ fat free Greek yogurt
And for a special treat - their ice cream sandwiches with chocolate chip cookies are to die for. :devil:

TJ's Greek 0% plain yogurt
Jalapeno chicken sausages (medium spicy, and the lowest sodium of those they carry)
Organic Chicken
Cuban-style black beans
cooked beets
cooked lentils
Joe's O's cereal
TJ's low sodium chicken broth (only 70 mg sodium/cup!)
salsas
some veggies--cauliflower, cubed butternut squash, shredded carrots, sliced portobello mushrooms
Veggie Masala Burgers
Tomato sauce
olive tapenade (great brushed on grilled chicken or fish)
lowfat mayo
frozen chicken potstickers

Trader Mings Mandarin Orange Chicken!!!

having it tonight...one of my favorites!

I'm a fan of the 0% fat Greek Yogurt. I mix in about a teaspoon or two of all natural peanut butter (I like the one they have with the flax seeds in it) and a couple packs of splenda and then use it as an apple dip.

I also tend to grab their frozen green beans, sliced meunster cheese, snack-sized Jazz apples, Masala sauce (which I simmer with Garbanzo beans), and their Graham crackers (okay, so there's still a good bit of sugar, but at least they're whole wheat)

I love the plaintain chips and the 100 calorie dark chocolate bars.

goat cheese!
Ahi fillets!
Chocolate covered raisins!
Macaroons!

exciting :)

Just bought the salmon burgers (110 cals!) and sweet potato gnocchi (240 cals a serving) for dinner. I'm ready to eat!

Has anyone tried the butternut squash soup? Is it good/would it be good with cinnamon for a sweet fall soup?

I also want to try the macaroons! 2 for 90 cal!

RUN to TJs right now and in the refrigerated section they have spinach pizza flats. Each is 140 cals, I weighed it and it came to more like 158 calories but topped it with a tiny bit of cheese and mushrooms and some pizza sauce and it was better than any frozen meal pizza, besides Lean Cuisines Garlic Chicken one. Soooo good!

Their basic marinara is a huge thing for me, because I cook meals in 4-serving quantities, and they have a 4-serving jar! Plus it's only 50 cals a serving, which is on the low-end for bottled marinaras, and tasty (oh, and cheap! Where I live its 99 cents a jar).

I love the Lowfat Parmesan Ranch dressing, and put it in tuna or chicken salad, dip veggies in it, and of course use it as salad dressing.

Pumpkin butter is delicious. Seriously, seriously delicious.

I love the frozen berries because they are so inexpensive. Makes smoothies much cheaper. And frozen pineapple tidbits are a tasty addition!

The carton soups (Corn and Roasted Red Pepper and the black bean one) are great to have with a simple sandwich for lunch.

Pre-made salads, esp. the Low Fat Shrimp Louie salad. A go-to meal for us when I don't feel like cooking.

Veggie masala burgers--another go-to meal when I don't feel like cooking.
Greek yogurt
Pre-cooked polenta in tubes
Frozen brown rice
Eggplant hummus
Lean beef stew meat
Cat cookies (for people)
Pre-cooked chicken sausage--yet another meal for when I don't feel like cooking
Egg-white salad
Fat-free balsamic vinaigrette dressing
Cinnamon almonds
tart frozen yogurt (although it is a little dangerous for me to have a carton of ice cream in the house)


According to the Trader Joe's Fearless Flyer, they also sell hard-boiled eggs. I know it is the ultimate laziness, but I think that would be so cool. I haven't been able to find them in the store yet, however.

Vegan, organic split pea soup! 150 calories per can! SOOO good and filling. It is a really great purchase. Very thick! It's $1.99 a can but I feel like it was so worth it and will be great to take to work for lunch. Today I had it with a salad and also made a sandwhich using Trader Joe's southwestern egg salad. I wasnt a huge fan of the egg salad, it seemed to be mostly egg whites and very little of anything else, but still, good for quick lunches or taking to work for lunch.

I also bought white balsamic vinegar today at Trader Joe's. I had never had white balsamic but made a salad with a gala apple, sweet onion, and lettuce topped with this white balsamic and sprinkled with Sweet N Low. I loved it. Im very simple though when it comes to my salad dressings.

Recently I bought:
TJ's italian sausages, 100 calories each I think and loved them.

Mahi burgers, pretty awesome and quick, although taste kinda like hot dogs, which is weird, but these are 110 calories for a pretty good size.

Salmon patties, 90 calories each I believe, are great and I usually eat them with everything. Come frozen and dont take long to make.

Pineapple salsa, 10 calories for 2 tbsp. AMAZING. My favorite salsa ever.

Butternut squash soup in a carton, mix this with some almond milk, chicken broth, and pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon for a good soup.

Black bean dip, 30 calories for 2 tbsp, very good and I usually use it on my breakfast sandwhichs with eggbeaters.

I could go on for days. Im such a huge TJ's fan!

OH HOW COULD I FORGET! The premade Niscoise salad! 150 calories using the mustard vinegarette that it comes with (which is so amazing I wish they'd bottle it for sale!) The salad is greens with green beans, capers, half an egg, a few grape tomatoes and chopped tuna. GREAT salad, perfect for on the go, and very low in calories.

I love this thread! Trader Joes has so many great finds!

Some of my faves:

"just mango" dried mango - it's almost impossible to find dried mango that's not coated in sugar

extra firm tofu - their brand is a lot firmer than some of the others I've found

olive oil - cheaper than the other grocery stores around here

wild mushroom flat bread pizza - amazing

raspberry/cream or coffee/cream ice cream bars - no sticks= weird, but less than 100 cals each and they taste great

carton soups - I really like the carrot and butternut squash ones, but I don't think I've tried the others

high fiber O's cereal - I actually stopped buying it because I'll eat the whole box!

individually packaged goat cheese medallions - these are the perfect size for a salad and since I'm the only one who eats cheese in my house, a whole package of goat cheese used to just go bad after 1-2 servings were taken out. These are a godsend.

They have really great premade salads and give the calories both with and without the dressing. Their turkey and swiss sandwich on Pretzel bread is good, and although a little high - I thnk it's 400 calories, is really good.

Something else I love is their avocado salsa, yum and I think 20 or 30 calories for 2 Tablespoons.

I concur about the black bean soup, it is excellent.

I really like the TJ pita crackers too, but I can't buy them as I eat the whole box. They are 120 a serving but you're not supposed to eat the whole box. Instead I buy their version of sun chips. They have less calories and sodium and I think taste better, but I can limit myself to a single serving.

I love their packaged Indian meals, you just put the bag in boiling water and cook for a couple minutes, my fave is the Palak Paneer. I think it's 320 cal (8 WW pts) for the whole package and it is super filling.

I also really like their frozen spanakopita, about 60 cal per triangle.

I'd like to try the pizza flats a couple people mentioned.

Unfortunately there is only one Trader Joe's in my city, it's tiny and always extremely packed which makes for an unpleasant shopping experience, for me anyway. I usually try to be in and out as quickly as possible so don't get to browse as much as I'd like.

And how could I forget their WINE! :)

It's always remarkable to me how much I spend in this store, when I'm generally there for just a half-dozen items. I think my friend who says that Trader Joe's is like a cult thing is probably right. The food seems somehow sanctified, like it's got a little halo floating over it -- i.e., if you buy it at Trader Joe's, it's okay to eat. I really was awakened from that belief when a male friend of mine told me it's his junk food go-to. Because I could totally see that.

What I always buy, any time I'm near the store, like I'm some kind of hoarder:

- Almond butter, raw & not-raw, with no salt or sugar
- Peanut butter, same as above, at the best price around (for other brands, I pay extra to have that stuff left out)

Other things that I tend to buy there (which others upthread have mentioned):

- Chevre goat cheese
- Pre-cooked polenta logs
- Cumin, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice (and I wish they'd expand their spice section)
- Eggs are well-priced here for my area, unless the chain stores are having a sale
- Balsamic vinegar
- Bagged salad greens, again well-priced for my area unless on sale elsewhere
- Nuts, dried fruit (this is pretty much my go-to place for that stuff)
- Best frozen green beans I've ever had, but they don't always have them
- Precooked black lentils
- Whole-wheat couscous
- Enormous Swiss milk chocolate bar (for my mother, who loves theirs beyond all others)

Reduced Guilt Baked Zitti (sp?)- high sodium but soooo good. Today I had to run to the post office and I passed all these pizza places. I was craving the pizza so badly, but went back to the office and had my baked zitti. It totally hit the spot, I forgot about that pizza!

OMG I love Trader Joes!!!! Its an hour to the 2 nearest me so I go with a cooler. I especially love the fish - you can get 2 nice size tuna steaks for just over $4! Thats killer! I always buy my fish frozen because its actually fresher that way. I also love the fire roasted corn - I use it in my white chicken chili (I'll post the recipe sometime). Their salsa is yummy and cheap and they have great frozen vegetables. I don't know how they keep the prices so low for the quality of the food - I really wish there was one closer to me.

I love their organic reduced fat string cheese!!!! Best string cheese ever!

so...here is my list:

reduced fat string cheese
cilantro hummus
kalmata olive spread
garlic mustard - great to dip soy chicken nuggets in!
mock meatballs
a lot of their trail mixes, like the omega 3 mix and the temptation one with peanutbutter chips, chocolate chips, dried cranberries and almonds. rosemary almonds. Nuts are so much more afordable here, it's my go to place for buying macadamia nuts
indian lentil dal
pumpkin butter
greek yogurts
soy creamer
great prices on tofurky products - smoked slices and itallian sausages