Trader Joe's Favorites!!

I don't get the chance to go to Trader Joe's often, but I will be near one this weekend.  I love that place.  Anyway, what are some of your favorite LC Trader Joes items?  In the past, I've always picked up the "pirate booty" but that won't be on my list this trip!!

The frozen veggie burger

calabacita and cheese quesadillas, goat cheese crumbles, red pepper or chipotle hummus, whole wheat pita pockets, olympiad pizza, pasta italiano, gnocchi w/tomato sauce and mozzrella, gorgonzola ravioli, any of their frozen veggie selections, marinara sauce, dark chocolate covered pretzels.  There are others, but that's what I got recently.

Wow!  That's a lot of stuff!  I hesitate to buy frozen stuff - maybe I'll have to pack a cooler with me on this trip!

Heh, the wine section.  Barbera d'Alba, various Chiantis, great prices.

They also have some really good baked tofu and some mighty tasty European style dark bread.

Ugh I love their frozen stuff since I'm lazy/a horrible cook but it's so high in sodium! :( That being said, all these Trader Joe's  branded things rule:

-Smoky Peach salsa

-Pretzel slims (for some reason these have way less calories than pretzel slims found at the regular grocery store, yet they seem so similar...hmm...)

-Gorgonzola walnut tortellini (they were out last time I was there....boo)

-Frozen berry medley

-Greek yogurt (all flavors, so much cheaper than fage)

-Apple Cranberry Muffin (80 calories and packed with fiber)

-Meatless meatballs

-Gnocchi w/ tomato sauce and mozz

-King Prigh string beans

-Tofu (cheap!)

-Tilapia Citronette

-Fat free balsamic vineagrette (AMAZING)

I was there a couple of days ago and bought a lot of stuff I have yet to try, including the pre-packaged shelf-stable Indian dishes, masala indian cooking sauce (going to try it with tofu and chick peas), frozen grilled eggplant & zucchini (I think this is new, I've never seen it before), garlic naan, and ummm...that's all I can remember. :)

Trader Joe's Garlic Hummus is the greatest thing to grace a pita chip EVER

I love their almonds - sea salt, rosemary and regular. Yum!

Trader Joe's usually carries a freezer bag for about $5.99, so if you forget, just get one of those.

• Bananas
• Ginger root (makes killer tea and is great in stir fries)
• Milk/eggs/kefir milk (the strawberry is great)
• vanilla almond milk, chocolate almond milk
• flax noodles
• BBQ chicken pizza
• frozen broccoli/green beans/artichoke hearts
• Thai pasta salad (add a bag of shredded carrots & cabbage)
• Thai Lime and Chili cashews (higher calorie, but truly wonderful)

I always take a cooler so I can stock up on frozen items. 

My favs are:

Boneless skinless COOKED chicken breast strips (these are in the refrigerated section- I freeze them myself)  These are great for salads, stirfry, alfredo, whatever! 

Whole grain baking mix (boxed)  This is similar to bisquick in that you can use it for pancakes, buscuits, waffles etc....  but it has fiber and is SO GOOD!!!!!  My four year old loves the whole grain pancakes.  We make a huge batch and freeze them.

I also love the roasted red pepper tomato soup (also comes in low sodium) it has about 100 cals per serving, and is very filling.  This comes in a  four serving box. 

My absolute fav item is the Granny Smith apple granola cereal.  LOVE it.  Comes in a green box.  The mango is good too.

happy shopping!

I love the Oriential Rice Crackers.  They have no fat, although they get like a C+ on here.

I just hope that everything will stay good on the 4 hour trip home.  I'll maybe get a couple of those freezer bags, then pack in my cooler w/ ice. 

I'm interested in trying a lot of these things.  Thanks so much for your ideas -- I'll print this out before I go.  I'll have my teenaged boys w/ me, so I won't get to "browse" much! 

Toasted Sesame Ginger fat free dressing by "trader mings" :)

Also a fan of their frozen vegetable lasagna.. YUMMM

Breaded eggplant rounds.


Ughhh - SO good with tomato sauce!

Chocolate Cat Cookies!

Basil Pesto. Yum Yum.

And also their blue potato chips and their graham crackers!

Alot of my fave's are already listed, but if you eat yogurt you have to try their greek style yogurt. I absolutely love it, the nonfat honey & blueberry are my favorite, not too tangy, and they definately do not have the overly sweet & chemical taste of other  yogurts, plus 12 - 13 grms of protein in one 6 oz container!

If you like crackers try the lowfat Ak-Mak crackers. They are 100% whole wheat, stone ground sesame crackers.  Really great flavor, one entire sheet (5 large pieces) are only 115 calories. 

TJ brand of Sundried tomatoes in olive oil and herbs, raw almonds (low salt version or plain), pignoli's, fresh mozzeralla, fresh basil . . .tropical fruit  flo's (popsicle), depending on the flavor the calories vary but the mango is around 80 cal and it's a full size popsicle with chunks of fruit.  They are great and satisfy my sweet tooth. 

Hmm we go there at least once a month and stock up on things.. here's what we tend to get...

- Various fresh fruits and veggies, though you'll need to use them quickly as I've found Trader Joes' stock tends to go bad quicker than larger chain store's
- Romaine hearts
- Hummus (plain or garlic is good)
- Heavenly Light reduced fat sliced Swiss Cheese
- Most of their block cheeses are good.. the smoked gouda in particular.  **Hint- for dinner parties or if you feel like being fancy with your own snack- pair the gouda with TJ's cranberry crisp crackers.  Very yummy.  Add a small glass of red wine and then you're really good to go!
- Meditteranian seasoned feta crumbles
- Goat cheese crumbles
- Their meats are good... We've gotten their stuffed pork chops and chicken breasts before, and there's a packet of beef medallions called Maui Meat or something like that that is delicious, especially off the grill!  Definitely more of a treat food, though.. it's not low in fat at all!
- Orange chicken (bagged, in the frozen section)
- Tereyaki chicken (frozen)
- Chicken fried rice
- Balsamic Butter veggies (frozen-- SO GOOD)
- Boneless, skinless chicken tenders or breasts (frozen... and much cheaper than larger grocery stores)
- Red pepper & Eggplant spread
- some of their Indian Faire boxed meals
- their dry pastas are good, and inexpensive
- the honey sesame sticks are good.. but not very low cal.  I haven't gotten them in a long time.  your boys might like them, though.
- milk
- the organic yogurts are really good, though are higher in calories than some other brands.  it's a dilemma of taste vs. calories, then.
- the Goddess brand salad dressing.  Also their Pear Gorgonzola, Cilantro, and Rasberry Vinnaigrette dressings are all good.  Ooh and their Ranch dressing in a jar (green lid) is great with baby carrots!
- i second the suggestion for the red pepper/tomato soup in a box.  Really tasty.
- the salted and/or cinnamon-sugar pita chips
- the peach or pineapple salsa

That and the wine selection and you should be set!

Can't believe that nobody else has mentioned them, but my favorite thing is the box of 100 calorie Belgian Chocolate bars.  Excellent quality and a great "treat" on a small scale.  I would also recommend the potstickers-especially the Thai shrimp.  Paired with the chicken fried rice mentioned above, they're a fairly low cal meal.

chocolate mini meringues... slash any meringues actually =)