5 items from Trader Joe's

[kristenk]

DH and I are making our first ever trip to TJ's tonight. I'm sure it will be a zoo (especially when you combine a relatively new store and a Saturday), but we're going for it! I'm looking for recommendations and thought this might be a fun way to get them!

If you could get ONLY 5 items from TJs, what would you get?

[SummerBaby]

I **love** the edamame hummus! There is also an apple granola cereal I really like. They are opening a store near me next month and I can't wait!

Val

[LD92599]

Virgils Root Beer
TJ's Chocolate Chips
TJ's version of pirate booty
Cereal Bars
any of their cereals

[Katigre]

DH and I are making our first ever trip to TJ's tonight. I'm sure it will be a zoo (especially when you combine a relatively new store and a Saturday), but we're going for it! I'm looking for recommendations and thought this might be a fun way to get them!

If you could get ONLY 5 items from TJs, what would you get?
1. Plantain Chips
2. Seaweed Snacks
3. Nuts - best quality and prices
4. Frozen asparagus - best price and quality I've seen
5. Chocolate coconut milk ice cream

ETA: Bonus items (though you can obviously do these from a regular grocery store with more prep time) are their bagged organic salads - the 'super greens' organic swiss chard/kale/baby spinach is a favorite as is their baby romaine and baby spinach. Plus it's so much less waste than Earthbound Organic (no plastic containers - just plastic bags) and they're less expensive :).

[SnuggleBuggles]

Dark chocolate covered pretzel thins
frozen mac and cheese
baking supplies (ha! cheating totally by saying get all your baking needs like nuts, chocolate, mixes... :))
precooked grilled chicken strips
the big bag of trail mix that contains individually portioned trail mix pouches (almonds, cashews, dried cranberries)

[Beth24]

Edamame hummus
Greek yogurt
Multigrain French toast
Roasted 1/2 salt almonds
Rosemary raisin crackers

[infomama]

Orange chicken
Veggie fried rice
Caramel sauce (has a touch if salt...yum)
Apple cereal bars (an apple walks in....)
Challah bread ( because it makes the most amazing french toast)

[geochick]

2 Buck Chuck.

[momtoonegirl]

Speculoos cookie butter
Multigrain French Toast
Greek yogurt 0%
Roasted plantain chips
Falafel chips

[urbanmommy]

Hard to limit it to 5 but here's my list

Quinoa duo - in freezer section (delicious added to salads or with a fried egg on top)
Breaded chicken tenderloins, also frozen, I put these on top of a salad or serve with sweet potato fries and a salad on the side
Wild soy ginger cod fillets - frozen, serve with brown rice medley
Rice pudding
Vanilla meringue cookies (I'm addicted to these)



Sent from my HTC_Amaze_4G using Tapatalk 2

[larig]

chicken tikka masala (in refrig section)
frozen gnocchi (the one with a red sauce)
lots of chips chocolate chip cookies
bacon cheddar ranch dip (OMG, this is sinful)
and frozen naan for the CTM mentioned above.

(oh and Kerrygold butter is a STEAL there).
eta: all their pastas (frozen) that we've tried have been great. the pasta is very al dente, and I think they did a better job with it than Newman's Own does

[Still-in-Shock]

One of the things I love about TJ's is that they have some of the same things you can get at specialty stores, but for much less money. Until last month, there were no stores near me, so I would only buy things that could go in a suitcase. Last time I got

Dried fruit, especially BLUEBERRIES (not always easy to find)
Sweet potato chips
BIG Chocolate bars for baking
and some other things I can't remember.

A new store opened 60 miles from here, so I am looking forward to shopping and not having to worry about what will survive a plane trip. But it's too far away to do a regular grocery run. :(

[MMMommy]

Frozen blueberry scones (NOT the already baked ones)
Premium dark chocolate covered vanilla ice cream bars
Herbs & Spices Popcorn
Frozen Indian items (Paratha, Naan, curried chicken, Garam Masala)
Variety of cheeses

[mom2224]

My faves are mostly for the kiddos

1. Ezekiel bread (cinnamon raisin makes great grilled cheese or french toast)
2. Frozen blueberry waffles
3. 6pk 4oz yogurt cups
4. Crackers:
12 grain mini snack crackers (great size for lunch boxes)
mini cheese or peanut butter sandwich crackers
5. Small pita rounds (perfect for little hands and fun to make mini sandwiches)

bonus- jalapeno/cilantro hummus (mix the dollop of jalapeno/cilantro with the hummus)

Take a cooler. You are gonna love it!

[lisams]

Danish Pancakes (in the frozen section, after heated roll them in powdered sugar and dribble a little raspberry sauce on top and it is so good!)
Frozen steel cut oatmeal (soooo easy and yummy!)
Orange chicken (kids love this)
cut flowers (any kind, they always have so many to choose from for a great price)
peanut butter filled pretzels (so bad but so good!)

[Drag0nflygirl]

1: chocolate covered peanut butter pretzels
2: breaded chicken tenderloin
3: fish nuggets
4: nourish shampoo & conditioner ( Perfect for the kids. No SLS and works great.)
5: real maple syrup

[misshollygolightly]

Beer & wine! Love their selection and prices. My go-to beer whenever I'm at a TJ's or World Market is Abita Purple Haze.

I also like to buy castile soap (liquid) at TJ's.

We don't have one near us, so I usually stick to things that transport easily and keep well. I usually get a couple of simmer sauces to experiment with.

[TwinFoxes]

These may be repeats:

Big bag of frozen skinless boneless chicken breast tenderloins
Pizza dough
Cheese, pretty much any kind you want, DDs especially like the sliced Havarti
All-natural dog treats
"A ___ walked into a bar" cereal bar. DDs like the strawberry and blueberry ones.
*Frozen sweet potato fries

*Bonus one in case you don't have dog

[eagle]

i have nothing worthwhile to post here since we dont have a tjs but OH GOOD LORD yall are making me so so so so jealous right now!

[flashy09]

One just opened up in local city too. My favorite things I can remember from my first trip were:

Lobster roll sushi
The traders joe version of a Chipwhich (chocolate chip cookie with ice cream and choc chips)
Blueberries/Apricots
Cookie butter

[mom3boys]

The lists are all so different--I guess bc TJ's has so many good finds. I'll have to look for some of these next time I go. I would put alcohol on my list but our local TJ's deosn't sell it.

My list:

1) Dark chocolate covered raisins (DH has been pestering me for days to get these-next time I'm just going to get 4 containers at a time)
2) Toscano pepper-covered parmesan cheese
3) Molasses Chews cookies
4) The refrigerated pizza with the pesto and sundried tomatoes on it
5) Any frozen Indian meal

[Simon]

2 Buck Chuck.
:yeahthat:
Plus chocolate covered bing cherries, cookie butter, nuts/trail mix, and one of their many bagged dinners.

[kwc]

Stuff we can't live without that is either unavailable elsewhere or prohibitively expensive:

Freeze-dried strawberries
Tea Tree Tingle with Peppermint and Eucalyptus shampoo & conditioner (no SLS!)
Frozen cooked brown rice (or jasmine rice)... 3 minutes in microwave to great rice
Thin crust Pizza Margherita from Italy
Chewable mint-flavored melatonin (500 mcg)

Also great and mentioned by others are the nuts and dried fruit.
I like their dishwasher powder detergent a lot, and it is cheaper, less eco-horrible.

[rin]

Frozen turkey meatballs
Frozen super-sweet cut corn
Chicken apple breakfast sausages
Wine (their selection is great and cheap!!)
Hummus

ETA: Agreed, their powdered dishwasher detergent is awesome! Their hand dish soap is not so great, though, IMO.

[wallawala]

Cheese- fresh mozzarella in water, goat,and Brie -cheap!!!
Frozen croissants- plain is my fav but all are good
Pizza dough (ball) and sauce in refrigerated case
Hummus - we like the jalapeño with dollop of cilantro in the center
Pie crusts in frozen section

[Tondi G]

Chicken Italian sausages (fresh not precooked)
Pizza dough
fresh spinach and ricotta ravioli (organic tomato basil marinara)
frozen Cheese and green chili tamales
Frozen turkey meatballs (make for an easy dinner)

snacks
Savory thin mini crackers (so yummy with tuna salad)
Dark Chocolate covered Caramels
turkey jerky (my kids love this)
TJ's version of pirates booty
organic yogurt (vanilla/banana flavor ... perfect for making smoothies)
cheese ... fresh mozzarella, Brie, Havarti, organic string cheese

[alexsmommy]

Really, it depends on what you like. I could do a top 5 desserts, top 5 chocolate, top 5 ethnic, top 5 healthy, top 5 kid staples, top 5 kid favorites, top 5 cheeses. I do 80% of our grocery shopping there.
My advice, first time going in treat it as a specialty store to get things you can't get or rarely find at a traditional store. I've said it before, TJ's is a slow love affair, but if you begin initially without looking to replace your regular grocery store, you will quickly learn how to shop TJ's quickly and it can become a huge sorce of your shopping.

[jerigirl]

Kristen! I am jealous! The store over here is supposed to open in September! Can't wait!

[Mikey0709]

Am I the only one going to mention Jo jo's???????

I have to buy 3 boxes of vanilla Jo Jo cookies EVERYTIME I'm there!!!!

[Pepper]

Any of the sprouted wheat breads ( they cost an arm and a leg at Whole Foods)
Canned crabmeat, in the refrigerator section (best price I've found, even compared to Costco)
Soft goat cheese spread, near the cream cheese
Charlie Bear dog treats
liquid laundry detergent. The HE stuff ues a tiny amount per load. I didn't like the dishwasher det, though, maybe it's our water...

[santoki]

So difficult to pick just five, but here goes....

1. French Liquid Soap - Orange Blossom Honey (we put it out as a hand soap and get so many compliments from guests about the scent)
2. Banana bread mix (so easy to make, very moist but light)
3. Dried whole organic cranberries (plump and juicy, great on oatmeal)
4. Cornichons (our French friends say that the TJ's ones are very authentic)
5. Flowers/plants (I read somewhere that some professional florists go to TJ's for their flowers because they are cheaper and fresher than those at the wholesale market)

Enjoy your shopping trip!!

[kristenk]

Kristen! I am jealous! The store over here is supposed to open in September! Can't wait!

Don't be too jealous! The store is a 40 minute drive for me. At least yours will be closer to you when it's done!

Update: We're back! We got there around 6:30ish and the parking lot/crowd level wasn't too bad. We started off with a hand basket to go through all of the non-refrigerated aisles, but we needed to switch to a cart before we hit the refrigerated/frozen sections.

Thank you for all of the recommendations! We picked up a lot of things you all recommended and more. Off the top of my head, here are some of the many items we purchased:

peanut butter filled pretzels (tried these and they're great!)
frozen blueberry scones
frozen steel cut oatmeal
a couple of different simmer sauces
breaded chicken breast tenderloins
gnocchi in tomato sauce
freeze-dried grapes
vanilla cat cookies (DD will love the look of them at least!)
trail mix packs
triple berry o's cereal
edamame hummus
frozen naan
maple syrup
milk & dark chocolate covered almonds

I definitely think I'll be back! We took a cooler loaded up with lots of ice packs and all of the frozen/refrigerated food made it home without a problem.

Update to another thread: Earlier in the week I posted about chest freezer organization tips and our TJ's trip was the tipping point in us purchasing a freezer. We went to Home Depot when we got home and picked up a small chest freezer and then headed over to Container Store to pick up two plastic crates to go inside. The freezer is plugged in and cooling off, so I'll get to transfer and organize our TJ's stuff pretty soon!

[zukeypur]

Kristen, thanks for this thread!!!! A new store opened up about 25 minutes from me in Fort Worth and I finally made it there today. I got so many things that were recommended in this thread, and have made a list for next time. Here are some of the things I got....

Soy and coconut milk ice cream!!!!!! (I have lactose problems and haven't had ice cream in AGES)
Goat milk!!!!!!!!
Frozen scones
Orange chicken
Frozen fried rice
2 varieties of salad bags
Clementines
Black apricots
Edamame hummus
Blueberry waffles
Wine (merlot and cab)
Beer
Yogurt star cookies (for dd3)
Penguin gummies (for dd2 and surprisingly good)
Frozen sliced red, green, yellow bell peppers (only $1.69!!!)

[Jen841]

Apple Cereal Bars - kids still love and they don't stain like other flavors
Faux (soy) corn dogs - kids still love
Frozen corn - sweetest corn we have ever bought, guests ask where I get it
Honey wheat pretzels - I have my co-workers addicted
Dishwasher detergent - weird I know, but works the best in our washer

[arivecchi]

chocolate and mango mochi
milk chocolate raisins
pumpkin butter
unsulfured sweetened dried mango slices
microwave popcorn

[MommyofAmaya]

Dark chocolate covered frozen banana slices. We decimated these on the way home. I can't imagine that they would ever make it into the freezer.

[DrSally]

Yogurt star cookies (tart and yummy, no artificial colors/flavors)
corn tortillas
organic tofu
TJ's version of pirate booty
hummus (just tried the 3 layer and love it, red pepper is also great, as is the jalapeno)