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Your favorite Trader Joe's items

T_R_Oglodyte

T_R_Oglodyte

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With the end of year holidays arriving, I thought this would be a good time to start a new Trader Joe's thread. Every time we have a Trader Joe's thread there are always lots of good ideas for items to try.

So, to get started, DD hosted Thanksgiving dinner and she put out root chips for people to snack on. They're not fancy, just a variation on the plain old potato chip, but they are addicting!!! When I bring home a couple of bags they are gone within two days.

We also like the potstickers (gyoza). Throw two or three in with ramen and convert ramen from boring noodles to a great soup. (I also add some hot oriental chili sauce to put a more kick into the ramen).

The TJs simmer sauces make great, easy meals. Last week I put some chicken breasts in a baking dish, added a jar of Thai Yellow Curry sauce, and slow baked for three hours. With rice and stir fry it was simple and great.

The frozen stuffed salmon is a great dinner for two.

The mandarin orange chicken is also a big favorite with us. We prepare the chicken in the oven per directions. But while the chicken is heating up we stir fry vegetables in a wok (often Trader Joe's Asian stir fry). We drain a can of mandarin oranges, saving the oranges and using the juice as the liquid in a simple sweet and sour sauce (add rice vinegar, sugar, some mild sweet chili sauce, and a bit of ketchup or banana sauce, and heat. We also add in the sauce that comes with the mandarin chicken. When hot we add a bit of corn starch to thicken, and add the sauce and chicken to the vegetable in the wok. Then put the mandarin orange slices on top. Serve with rice.

So what are your TJ's favorites??
 
We buy couscous, snap pea crisps, edamame, gorgonzola gnocchi, lemon stix, gyoza...
 
Favorite Delicacies From T.J.'s

Medjool dates.

Yum.

Also, The Chief Of Staff prefers TJ's semi-sweet tollhouse cookie chocolate chips over Nestle's & Hershey's & any of the other store brands.

I'm also partial to TJ's "Irish style" steel cut oats.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​
 
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I buy alot of their frozen fish. I really like the Silver Coho salmon but also buy catfish, tilapia, mahi mahi and others.

I also buy:
garden veggie lasagna (individual servings frozen)
berry medley (dried fruit)
lemon crisp cookies for my mom
pumpkin granola (only available in the fall)
Les Plats french onion soup

Deb
 
help for the uninitiated

ok, I guess I'm not in on this - what or where is Trader Joe's?

And will it fit in with Weight Watchers?
 
Trader Joes is a specialty type grocery store and they sell a lot of products under their own name. They also sell a lot of organic food. There prices are great.

We like:

lemongrass chicken stix (frozen)
Trader Joes Barbeque chips (excellent chips)
We like their stir fry sauces too.
Flowers (great price)
Herbs (fresh in pots-also great price)
 
pjrose said:
ok, I guess I'm not in on this - what or where is Trader Joe's?

And will it fit in with Weight Watchers?
Click to expand...

Don't know if there are any in your area. You can go to the Trader Joe's website to find out. And yes, the definitely fit in with Weight Watchers. There are always posts on the Weight Watchers website with folks asking about their favorite TJ items. :D

Mine are:

Cabot 75% cheddar cheese
Humuus
Morningstar breakfast patties
Sesame crisp crackers
Sushi
Lowfat sesame ginger dressing

There are tons of other items that work well also.
 
I do most of my shopping there, but some favs:

Triple Ginger cookies
Morningstar Farms Sausage Patties (vegetarian)
BBQ potato chips
White cheddar popcorn
Mainated tri-tip
Mini crispy chocolate chip cookies
Veggie corn dogs
Honey oats cereal
 
I should also add that dh and dds love the German chocolate (Rittersport), truffles and frozen cheesecake. :rolleyes:
 
TJ 70% chocolate in the 1 lb bar. Eat 1 square at a time.

TJ Reduced Guilt Woven Wheat Wafers, like low-fat Triscuits, but consistently less expensive.

Gimme Lean Soy Sausage - vegan Jimmy Dean, also available in regular supermarkets and Whole Foods, but cheapest at TJ. I break it up into crumbles & brown before adding to egg white omelets (Costco Egg Starts), I don't care for it sliced into patties, like real Jimmy Dean.

Nuts & Dried Fruits.

The Irish Oats are good, but cheaper at Whole Foods in the bulk bin. I also like WF 7 Grain cereal in the bulk bins. The Bulk Bin items are the only things reasonably priced at WF!

TJ 100% Rye Bread - really dark, sliced thin, excellent toast. Go Whole Grains! :cheer:

They also have real* whole wheat Hamburger Buns and Pita. *Most "Whole Wheat" products are regular wheat with some whole wheat added, I prefer to get all whole grain bread products.
 
Waaaah! No Trader Joe's anywhere around here, but Rejoice! We're going to Redmond (WA) to check out the DS. DiL & Grandurchins' new digs over the Thanksgiving week. Will be taking a pickup load of junk we've been storing for them so will have an empty pickup to come home with.

Keep up the suggestions. I'm doing a list, starting with some cases of 2 buck Chuck. Ya never know when you might need a little weight to get over the snow covered passes.

Jim Ricks
 
Passepartout said:
Waaaah! No Trader Joe's anywhere around here, but Rejoice!
Click to expand...

Now I can understand that Twin wouldn't have a TJ's. But not Burley?? Are you serious???
 
Jim Ricks

I could be wrong, but I think "2-buck-Chuck" is "3-buck-Chuck" in Washington. Still a good price !!!

Tony
 
teepeeca said:
I could be wrong, but I think "2-buck-Chuck" is "3-buck-Chuck" in Washington. Still a good price !!!

Tony
Click to expand...

Yes it is. But at $3/bottle it provides weight over the rear axle every bit as effectively as two-buck-Chuck.
 
T_R_Oglodyte said:
Yes it is. But at $3/bottle it provides weight over the rear axle every bit as effectively as two-buck-Chuck.
Click to expand...

Yup, but don't anybody tell my bride about the pounders of 70% chocolate. She'll crowd out the Chuck. Woe is me!

And Steve, there's not even a TJ's in Boise (AKA The Big City hereabouts) I'm not even sure about SLC.

Jim Ricks
 
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Steve, you're making me hungry! Even thinking about TJ's makes me hungry. I agree about the stuffed salmon. It's one of our favorites. ..and of course the Two Buck Chuck. (in CA) A sauce I recently discovered, that is really good is Parmesan/Shitake Mushroom Sauce. I've only tried it with shrimp, cooked scampi-style, & penne pasta. It should be good with any seafood, chicken...or veggies. Of course, it's loaded with sodium, but what else is new?
Another favorite is their Wasabi Mayonnaise. It has a lot of zip, and besides on sandwiches, it's perfect as a dip for artichokes. I like spicy stuff, but I still add some regular mayo to it.
Thanks for starting this thread. Jean
 
Slab apricots (dried)
Crystallized ginger slices
Dried Granny Smith apple slices
Dried sour cherries
They used to have the BEST dried pears, but no more...:bawl: All the dried fruit is really good quality.

I like those triple ginger cookies, and there's another kind of cookie that's called something like Swiss toffee? They're so good I have to block out their exact name.:eek:

They have a frozen pizza with bechamel, ham, and cheese that has a very thin crust--really yummy. On the box it says it's three servings, but that would be three servings for three not-very-hungry people, because my kid could take out two whole pizzas in one sitting when she was 12. Makes an expensive little snack for her!

The mini-quiches are very good. The salsa is good, the Greek yogurt is great and very reasonably priced. I love the mango tea.

About the simmer sauces--we were disappointed in the korma sauce. It was watery and not very flavorful. The other thing we're constantly disappointed with is the baked goods. They always look so good, but then when we get them home they just don't taste that good. Anyone have suggestions there?
 
The frozen Alfredo pasta and many of the frozen desserts.
 
My new T.J. fav are their small frozen cheesecakes, has six slices, peppermint or blueberry blintz for $1.99!!!

Also love:

Dubliner Cheese
potstickers
frozen green beans
kalamata olives- one of the cheapest places I've found to buy
Mud pie
shrimp stuffed frozen slamon

I could go on and on.......

Gayle
 
The tiramasu that's flown in from Italy is good - under the name Trader Giotto's. (The tiramasu from Costco is also really good, and you get more for the $.) We also like the red Thai curry sauce for chicken. Sweet potato chips are good. The licorice Scotties used to be a favorite, but they changed the recipe.
 
I had a friend tell me their frozen green beans are the best. I just can't imagine. We have a garden every year and can green beans, and I have yet to find a frozen variety I like. Though I do like the $2-$3-Buck-Chuck Steve introduced us to! To my knowledge, not TJ in the Boise area, except for TJ Maxx, and only one of them.

Some time ago, Nordstroms was wasn't able to work it out to situate here, and I think that has stifled other great names from this location, though there are people here hungry for the better names.
 
Gingeroo cookies, oh, and Druid Circles too.

Darrell Lea licorice

and DW eats a ton of TJ's High Fiber Cereal. "Just as effective, half the price, and twice as tasty (twice nothing is nothing) as Fiber One!"
 
Our nearest store is 100 miles away, but fortunately my daughter goes to school in the same city. I make a special trip to get the

Honey sesame almonds
Wasabi tamari almonds
Soy ginger broth(great for asian dishes)
Sprouted grain bread
Non Food: Lavender laundry detergent

Going this weekend, so this thread is very timely!:) DawnB
 
Steve,

You just made me sooooooooo hungry!!!!!!!!

Your food ideas sound wonderful. Unfortunately, we don't have a trader Joe's in our area within an hours drive. The nearest one is at least 75 minutes away. I like the store, but come on, I'm not driving that far! Although I know plenty of people in my area who do exactly that!

Hope you all have happy tasting!

Janna
 
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