i love trader joes. their edamame hummus is holywowamazingness.
while i prefer whole foods. trader joes is more affordable and closer to me. as a vegan i will drive an hour to whole foods once every couples months but its a lot of gad and they call it "whole paycheck" for a reason
other trader joes yumminess is their lentil wrap... i think it packs a lot of calories but its freaking delicious.
this has inspired me to take a trader joes trip on thursday when i get my paycheck. so easy to eat cheap and so fun to shop there.
I live 0.6 miles away from a TJs and walk there for food about 4 times a week (my brother works there, so that's an added incentive for me).
Anyway, my faves are...
Tjs coffee a cocoa. It's coffee with a subtle chocolate flavor (from real cocoa, no sugar added)
Lemon chicken salad. It's 2 servings per container, but even if you eat the whole thing it's 400 cal. Skip the dressing and it goes down to 360. I also usually toss the two apple slices as well.
Chicken tikka masala with rice (300 cal) it's one of my favorite frozen meals
Tjs reduced fat Greek salad. The container is one serving and under 200 cal even with the dressing.
I also just had their pizza primavera which was super yummy. The whole pizza is 250 cal and has bell peppers, yellow squash, eggplant and zucchini on it (which I am not usually a big fan of). I did add a little bit of onion and a tiny bit of pineapple to it and it was delish. And only two dollars!
It's over an hour drive to the nearest Trader Joe's from here, but when I do make the trip I make sure to stock up on their Pineapple Salsa. It's soooo delicious!
I dug this thread up before I went to TJ's yesterday. I don't go to TJ that often, maybe 6 times a year, but it always makes my day when I go. From this list I added sprouted bread and pineapple salsa. I looked for the coconut sorbet, but had no luck, and I considered the seaweed snacks, but chickened out LOL Now, what do you do with the pineapple salsa?
The hard part is that I want to try all the yummy things I bought all in one day LOL I bought all my usual favorites, (pizza dough, fresh mozzarella, goat cheese with honey, trail mix, dark chocolate and cherry KIND bars, chicken eggrolls, Reduced guilt chips, Fage) and some new things to try too, dark chocolate covered ginger, sugar-free apricot preserves, brussel sprouts, pearl onions, and the reduced-guilt macaroni and cheese. Well.....I guess I did try almost all the new stuff yesterday, brussels, pearl onions, the ginger, the sprouted bread LOL At least I managed to stay in my calorie budget! BTW I had been really wanting to try the mac and cheese, but is was always sold out when I go on the weekend. It was very yummy, only wished there were MORE!
I am OBSESSED with Trader Joes! My only complaint is that when I weigh their foods, they tend to be muccccch more than noted on the package (thus more calories!!!!!!! so be careful) That said, my favorites?
Pineapple salsa, lite kettle corn in individual bags (110 calories!), 100 calorie bags of cookies, produce, frozen puff pastry pizza (not too low calorie, especially when weighed, but a gooooooood treat!), premade southwest salad (so amazing, about 170 cals with dressing. I leave off the dressing sometimes, add more lettuce to make it a more filling meal, and top with pineapple salsa!), mochi, and I just bought chocolate covered frozen banana slices (20 cals each slice!)
The frozen artichoke hearts are great to have in the freezer. They are IQF so you can shake out as many as you need. I often take some out and either just nuke them or nuke a bit, toss with tad of olive oil, roast till almost crunchy on edges. The nuked ones I dip in Dijon or honey mustard. The baked ones I toss when still hot with a touch of asiago cheese which melts and adheres. A great snack when you really need to fill up with something tasty but lo cal. Plus you get in a big vegetable serving.
I just bought chocolate covered frozen banana slices (20 cals each slice!) >>>>
I bought those last time I went, but I still haven't tried them. Still in my freezer untouched. Probably because when I get a chocolate craving, I want pure unadulterated dark chocolate.
I liked the dark chocolate covered ginger, but really I'd rather have just plain chocolate, so I am thinking of making my kids cookies out of them.
The frozen artichoke hearts are great to have in the freezer. They are IQF so you can shake out as many as you need. I often take some out and either just nuke them or nuke a bit, toss with tad of olive oil, roast till almost crunchy on edges. The nuked ones I dip in Dijon or honey mustard. The baked ones I toss when still hot with a touch of asiago cheese which melts and adheres. A great snack when you really need to fill up with something tasty but lo cal. Plus you get in a big vegetable serving.
I have never had an artichoke, but you made them sound yummy. I will try them out next time.
i never had artichoke either you are seriously making me want to try it lol
also i want to try the tikka masala never had that either but it looks good.
oh also I got the seaweed snacks from the recommendation here and wow I love them wasn't sure if I would I am going back tomorrow going to buy tons of them they are a really good chip substitute I think.
Last edited by going2bskinny; 04-04-2011 at 08:58 PM.
I am going tomorrow, and will do a grocery haul of what I bought on the 20-something forum. YUM! Thanks for all the ideas! I am looking forward to trying the artichokes!
My personal favorite snack item is the plantain chips! But be careful they are tooo good!
Some of their refrigerated dinner entrees, like the chicken marsala and the Greek-style chicken with orzo and feta.
Probably more I'm forgetting. I used to get some nice fish taco frozen bags there, but haven't seen them in ages. Oh, and I tried their lime salsa but didn't like it. Should've brought it back as I think they offer refunds if you try something and don't like it. Sounds like I'll need to look up the pineapple to see if that suits me better. I'm also not a fan of their pizzas, but that might be because I'm addicted to California Pizza Kitchen frozen ones.
One thing I do wonder about is sodium. My sister's about to have a baby and I was trying to convince her to use some of the convenience foods there. Problem is the sodium content, as her husband is watching her sodium. Anyone know any good and healthy, low (or at least reasonable) sodium convenience foods there?
Oh, and I love fish, and can cook fresh fish (well, tilapia), but their frozen fish scares me for some reason. Just not sure how to approach frozen fish.
The 4 items I go Trader Joe's for are raw pumpkin seeds (Pepitas), crystallized ginger, roasted almonds, and canned red tuna for my cats.
* My cats love the tuna.
* I eat 2 tablespoons of the pumpkin seeds every day to give me energy, thick hair, and they keep my bowels regular. And they chase away wrinkles.
* The crystallized ginger helps with the stomach ailments I get occassionally, as I eat out often.
* I eat 4 roasted almonds after every meal as they prevent acid indigestion...Then I don't have to take chemicals like Tums.
I used to get my blueberry juice, pear juice and cranberry juice there also, but I grow all my own fruit now and make my own juice. Saves me a lot of money. Fruit is going to double in price, so I am putting in more berry bushes and fruit trees this spring.
