The one thing I hate about shopping at Trader Joes... - 3 Fat Chicks on a Diet Weight Loss Community

spixiet · 12-20-2010, 02:05 PM

Is the smell of the Popeye's next door

Well, that, and the fact that most of their produce is prepackaged so you can't pick exactly what you'd like, and the packaging is wasteful~

nationalparker · 12-20-2010, 02:23 PM

When i saw your post title, I was like WHAT?

since I LOVE shopping there and had, about two minutes earlier, said to my fiance to let me know if he gets over there today because I need a few more things! ha. Ours doesn't have much produce pre-packaged - maybe this one is a smaller market. We have a Panera's next door to ours, so I love stopping in for a bowl of black bean soup as part of the marketing run...

Too funny on your timing of this post!

I LOVE their peanut butter - it's the best I've ever had and I keep trying to turn others onto it

lazylioness · 12-20-2010, 03:07 PM

What I hate about shopping at Trader Joes...

Is the fact that I want to buy EVERYTHING! HAHA

nelie · 12-20-2010, 03:38 PM

I don't buy produce at Trader Joe's as it tends to go bad faster than other produce. Also, until recently, they didn't carry many organic products and I try to go organic or farmer's market.

I like Trader Joe's but it isn't part of my regular grocery shopping especially since Whole Foods dropped their prices on a lot more stuff recently.

Teresa66 · 12-20-2010, 04:30 PM

I LOVE my Trader Joe's that just opened up two months ago! I don't buy much of their produce since I think our Kroger, which is right across the street has a much better and cheaper selection.

Peanut butter you say? I will have to give that a try, since I do love peanut butter.

nationalparker · 12-20-2010, 04:40 PM

I pour off a little of the oil on the top of the peanut butter and then stir it up and it's plenty smooth ... otherwise it's almost too runny for my taste ... But I NEVER put it in the fridge - it turns into paste. And it stays fine on the pantry shelf. Or the counter top

if I don't ever leave it long enough to put away... Hm... maybe this is why I'm back to where I started... hmmm.... ha!

My brother was telling me they liked another healthy brand of pb but I checked and it has added molasses along with the vitamins, etc., but I don't want added sugar in mine. Just peanuts and salt.

saef · 12-20-2010, 04:42 PM

And their natural peanut butter is really inexpensive. Best prices of the stuff I've seen. I don't mind having to stir it & store it upside down, at those prices.

Actually, the two Trader Joes stores that I frequent are indeed kind of annoying.

The one in Scarsdale hasn't got enough parking.

The one on Union Square in the city reminds me of stories about stores in Soviet Russia. It has lines that wrap & wrap around the inside of the store. Many people go in pairs, get one person to stand in line & hold their place while the other one actually gets the stuff. The lines at that Trader Joe's squelch any of my one-item impulse-buying when I'm in that neighborhood. Whole Foods has a much more rational line system.

spixiet · 12-20-2010, 04:45 PM

They've got some holiday teas that I love - Candy Cane Green Tea and Vanilla Cinnamon Black tea (I think they're the same as Celestial Seasoning holiday teas actually, but they're cheaper), and their Mango Black tea is one of my regular faves -

I also buy baby spinach there - bigger bags and better price than any of my local stores - even when they've got baby spinach on sale -

Their tapioca pudding is awesome...although not on my regular rotation because of the sugar (although it's not super sweet)

I like the peanut butter they have with flax seeds mixed in, frozen veggies, Almond breeze (typically the best price in the area), the lower salt pistachios, candied pecans (used in small quantities in salads - yum!), cottage cheese (I don't have luck with other brands - sometimes the curds are too hard or it's too runny, theirs is always perfect IMO), dried cherries or blueberries with no sugar added - sometimes I sub these for dried cranberries in recipes, and their indian simmer sauces (I haven't gotten those recently though, can't remember how they fare when you read the labels) -

There are plenty of things I love going to Trader Joe's for, but the smell from Popeye's permeates the entire shopping center! I swear, I going to start running to and from my car while holding my breath

ubergirl · 12-20-2010, 06:47 PM

What I hate about Trader Joe's is that there are a lot of the kind of "fake healthy" foods that I tend to fall for-- stuff that is super high in calories and yet "looks so good for you." I have to be super careful with that kind of stuff.

On the other hand, they sell a lot of terrific stuff with good prices. I love the almond butter.

WebRover · 12-20-2010, 07:10 PM

What I hate about Trader Joe's is that everyone raves about them and the closest one is in/near Atlanta Georgia. That's at least 10 hours away.

KenzideRhae · 12-20-2010, 07:56 PM

The one thing I hate is that at my local Trader Joe's, there's Belgian chocolate right by the cash register haha. I always fill up my basket with nice veggies and grains, etc., and then that chocolate gets me every single time.

spixiet · 12-20-2010, 08:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KenzideRhae

The one thing I hate is that at my local Trader Joe's, there's Belgian chocolate right by the cash register haha. I always fill up my basket with nice veggies and grains, etc., and then that chocolate gets me every single time.

Lol, they almost got me last time with one of their holiday offerings...dark chocolate covered minty marshmallows

KenzideRhae · 12-20-2010, 08:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spixiet

Lol, they almost got me last time with one of their holiday offerings...dark chocolate covered minty marshmallows

I have not seen those yet, but I am a sucker for holiday offerings XD I usually just get their pumpkin butter, though.

shannonmb · 12-21-2010, 06:19 AM

I do love Trader Joes, but I agree that their produce goes bad way faster than anywhere else I buy from. I didn't realize that Whole Foods was starting to drop prices, I don't go often because I always spend a ton of money there. Might have to go back and check into it. I have a TJs and Whole Foods on opposite corners and both within a mile of my house.

What I really hate about shopping at TJs is that they have the most divine (and fattening) frozen food stuff. Like this absolutely SINFUL truffle and mushroom flatbread thing. It's hard to say no to it as I'm perusing the frozen aisle for fish fillets and veggies. But they do have really good frozen vegetable mixes and all sorts of different seafood that fits in perfectly with my plan!