Anyone shop at Trader Joe's?
 

A Trader Joe's just went up down the street and I went there, but I am totally out of my element! I'm used to my old standby brands.

Of course the fresh produce and proteins are easy, but does anyone have any good go-to snacks, dressings, frozen lunches ect.?

Thanks!

I do!

As far the package stuff goes, my number one favorite thing at TDs is probably their frozen baguettes. They are 100 calories each, and are great after about 5 minutes in the oven. They have a nice crunch on the outside and are soft on the inside. They are my standby starch, and really go well with a lot of different meals.

Other things I buy often are their frozen quesadillas (320 cal each, enough for a light meal), frozen butter chicken (405 cal), packaged curry tuna (not frozen, and great on brown rice), and their frozen veggies and potato wedges. The potato wedges are nice, since I get a very satisfying amount out of a serving (maybe 130 cal).

Hmm...other things I can think of are: their plain vanilla yogurt in the cups is probably my favorite yogurt (and I'm not generally a big fan), the frozen fish nuggets are good when I'm feeling like having something 'fried' and can easily fit them into my meal calorie budget.

Wow, that went on for a while :o I would just give a few things a try, and ask the people who work there. Most of the ones at mine eat the food, and will give recommendations.

I love Trader Joes. My TJ favorites: (But be warned much of it is not low calorie, low fat. I eat small amounts of the foods I love.)
Frozen Reduced Guilt Mac and Cheese
Chicken Egg Rolls
Frozen brown rice
Reduced Guilt potato chips
Any of their nuts/trail mixes. One of my favorites is the cranberry/cashew/almond, but sometimes I get one that has either chocolate pieces or mini PB cups.
Dark chocolate and cherry KIND bars
Fresh mozzarella
Goat cheese
Laughing cow cheese wedges
String cheese
Sprouted bread
Everything bagels
Wheat pizza dough/pizza sauce
Natural PB
Quick steel cut oats
The dry microwave packets of mac and cheese.
I always pick up a couple boxes of the potato pancakes for my grandpa.
I liked the poppyseed dressing, but my store just discontinued it.
I have an unopened container of dark chocolate covered almonds dusted with turbinado sugar that I haven't tried yet but look devine.
Maple cookies and JoJo cookies for my kids.
Honey Greek Style Yogurt.
Frozen croissants.
Frozen brussel sprouts.
Frozen pearl onions.
I think that is enough for now......LOL If you want more ideas, there is another thread on TJ if you dig back a page or two.

Thanks Flash and Aimee! Those sound great, making shopping list for tomorrow right now!

Trader Joe's <3
My shopping list there usually consists of:

Pasta sauces
Dried fruits
Tomato & Roasted Red Pepper Soup
Indian Fare
Frozen Gyoza...there's pork, chicken, thai shrimp, thai vegetable...
Chicken sausages of various flavors

For dessert I really enjoy their Raspberry & Cream bars or Coffee & Cream bars. They're small and portioned just right for a little after dinner treat. They used to have Mango & Cream which I adored, but I don't see it around as much.

I have to be very careful there. In moderation a lot of the food is delicious and perfectly healthy... but some of it is so delicious it's easy to go overboard.

I love TD's extra firm tofu, and they have an excellent variety of pasta. Check out the fresh flower bouquets. I bought one a while back that had 4 huge yellow roses,3 smaller white ones and some filler flowers and greenery. It lasted over a week and I paid a whopping $3.99! Great way to pat yourself on the back for a good week!

They have the best price for natural, unsalted peanut butter and almond butter. I always buy maybe four to six jars when I go there.

They have the best frozen textured & flavorful French string beans -- haricots vert -- that I've ever run across. These beans take frozen food to a whole new category, for someone like me who was traumatized by flavorless lima bean & carrot coin & corn mixes of her childhood.

I like their French Roast decaffeinated whole-bean coffee.

And they're my go-to for most nuts, dried fruit & trail mixes. Now & then can find these on sale elsewhere temporarily cheaper, but not very often.

I think I've enumerated these & other favorites on the many Trader Joe's threads we've had posted in this forum, where people are looking for lists of favorites.

Oh, and my friend John who's not particularly into calorie-counting or losing weight calls Trader Joe's the greatest snack food store in the Universe, because it has its aura of healthiness & social responsibility, and yet about half the store is full of stuff for noshing on, like chips & candy & cookies & etc. He buys all his "junk" food there & says it makes him feel okay for buying that stuff because it's sanctified by the Cult of Trader Joe & the Fearless Flyer.

Their chipotle hummus is the best hummus I've EVER eaten.

My favorites
1) Frozen ****ake mushroom in pepper sauce -- good for lunch once a week
2) Mocha and chocolate yogurt - 130 calories, yummy
3) Cilantro hummus - yum
4) whole wheat mini bagels
5) whole wheat tortiallas
6) organic marinara sauce
7) Plaintain chips
8) Wheat thins
9) Masala Burgers
10) Mediterranian yogurt dip

I always get:
unsalted, unsweetened peanut butters
they have the best price for ezekiel bread
dark chocolate with salted peanuts
low sodium broth (they have only 70mg per serving!)
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
canned tomatoes
frozen and fresh veggie mixes
nitrate free turkey bacon
canned beans
Mixed nuts with dried hibiscus

Snacks for the kid:
Olive oil popcorn
Cheddar cheese popcorn
Their brand of pirate's booty
gummy penguins and rabbits

I'm in love with their turkey bacon and sweet apple chicken sausage. But I'm absolutely addicted to the vanilla meringue cookies. 110 calories for 4, and they're sooooo delicious. I buy multiple boxes to get me through the week.

Yesterday, I ate the most delicious 210 calories I have eaten in awhile. TJs Dark Chocolate Almonds covered in turbinado sugar and sea salt. Oh my!

i miss trader joes!! i lived in AZ for awhile before coming back to tx and mannn i miss it :( that was 5 yrs ago and i cant even remember my fave things from there

The low sodium tomato red pepper soup is great
Marinara sauce (canned)
Avocado Salsa
Whole Grain pita crackers
Low fat microwave popcorn
Low fat ginger kitty cat cookies.

Stuff I love but don't get because I can't control myself are the peanut butter cups and the triple ginger gingersnaps. Yum!

I haven't gone yet, but this summer, hubby and I are planning a trip to Madison (nearest Trader Joe's - and Whole Foods), and I've been preparing for the trip by checking out Trader Joes and Whole Food hauls on You Tube.

I found "hauls" by accident when looking for a review of a brand of mineral makeup I wanted to try, and discovered this weird, but rather addictive YouTube phenomenon. People go shopping and show you what they bought (and often which products they like best and why, and sometimes even the prices).

I actually started compiling a list of products to look for.