hey all - just got back from shopping at trader joes and was surprised at all the food they had for me on my lower cal diet! if anyone has one near them i would suggest headign there if you don't already.

got an 8 pc california roll that was 280 ish (with brown rice, some avo and the fake crab stuff.) im so full!
mini pizzas that were 180 (good to have with a big salad and glass of vino ;-))
kung pao chicken lunch microwavable (280)
edemame (120 for 1/3 of a bag)
breast chicken meat cooked and in peices (only $5.99 and its SO much chicekn! im going to use for lunches...) normal chicken calories


etc etc etc its a lot of stuff that i can have in the freezer or cupboard and prepare asap... plus they're pretty good on their use of stabilizers etc.

jus thought i'd share!

Oh I agree. I love Trader Joes! I've been surprised about the types of healthy foods they have. They have some more exotic things that I might never find in a regular supermarket, too.

I'm also a trader joe's fan. Lot's of options. Less junk food.

trader joe's is awesome every time i go i find something i didn't think about trying the trip before, its great because it has a lot of healthy options and doesn't have as much of the junk food temptations of the big chain grocery stores

I actually just recently purchased and had the microwavable Kung Pao Chicken bowl, but the calories were 390......maybe they were different? Either way, I wouldn't repurchase. WAY to much rice and I couldn't find any chicken Though the sauce was good and the serving was large. I love most things at TJ!

Thier Red Pepper soup is pretty much the best thing ever -its in a tetra pack so reusable, and only 100 calories a serving! I always keep two or three on hand for when I just don't want to cook.

You just have to be extremely careful with their prepackaged lunches on the go. I stopped by there one day on my lunch hour and had a hard time finding something low in calories. A lot of things were about 250 calories per serving but their prepackaged lunches were ~3 servings!!! So, you REALLY have to watch the serving sizes.

First thing I ever lookat is how many servings are in a package. They have this BBQ chicken in the frozen food section that has 3.5 servings in the bag, but each is only like 160 calories. I still stick to 1 serving because I dont believe the entire bag is only 560 calories.....it just tastes too good. Besides, 1 is still a LOT!

I wish I had a Trader Joes nearby. The only thing I have in town in a Stop and Shop (it's a Northeast chain). I've heard so many good things about Trader Joes and Whole Foods--but alas, none nearby.

hmm going t5o check on the kung pao bowls tonight... haha. also forgot to add that i bought the tjs brand of pirates booty. its not quite as salty but is YUMMY and is a great snack food at 2.5 cups for 140 cals.

Shopping at Whole Foods and Traders Joe's for their pre-made meals (carrot soup, tabbouleh, cous cous) is suuuuch a pleasurable way to eat healthy...it's just too bad my wallet cannot support this

trader joes tends to be cheaper for me! i spend 77 bucks on food for about 2-3 weeks. but i did check the kung pao bowls and they are 390... still ok for a big lunch and to satisfy a junk craving... IF they have a decent amount of chicken... ill keep you updated!

Ahhh! It's a grocery store! We are having a Trader Joes built near my work and this was the thought process: Trader Joes (sounds like) GI Joes (reminds me of) Camouflage Clothes (brought to mind) Outdoors Equipment= Outdoors Store. Though an outdoor store sounded great, an excellent grocery store sounds even better!

Yeah its definitely at least worth a try!

I also find it cheaper shopping at TJ. I spend about $25 and it'll last me a week of dinners. I think because TJ has less to choose from, I end up getting things I actually need and will use than at the grocery store where there is SO much, I buy things I dont use.

TJ has Balade butter that I LOVE! It's not yucky fakey margarine, it's real butter, only it's made partially with water instead of all the oils and fats. So tasty!!!

Hi new here but I love Trader Joe's too. As soon as I moved it was the first place I looked up! Everything said here is true; if you look hard enough you can find healthy food cheap. No one mentioned it yet but it's also great for single people (like me!). Individual servings etc. And can't forget the great wine selection.