What should I order from Trader Joes?

[sunnysandiegan]

A holiday treat in our house are the peppermint Joe-Joe's!!!! (like an oreo, but with real crushed peppermint mixed into the creamy filling....like someone else said, no HFCS and no transfat, not "healthy" healthy, but a bit better for a treat once a year...Oh, and did I mention they are YUMMY????!!!)

[EMS]

Dark chocolate! They have really good prices on chocolate. Some is organic, too.
Oh, I wish I could order some to be sent to Brazil!

[Virginia884]

This thread has reminded me how much I love TJ and how I need to go back there!

We get:
whole wheat 'british muffins' for bfast sandwiches
whole wheat tortilla chips (in the blue bag)
dark chocolate covered pretzel chips (so good and GONE fast)
nut butters
prepackaged turkey and ham for lunches
these really good chicken sausages that come in like 8 different flavors
prepackaged colby-jack cheese for sandwiches or snacks
blocks of really good sharp sharp cheddar
eggs
organic apples
frozen organic veggies- broccoli, green beans, corn
frozen spinach artichoke dip (OMG so good and cheap... like $2.99)
frozen quiches as a quick lunch for me at work
frozen chicken burritos (lunch)
frozen vegetable enchiladas (lunch)
the organic version of 'honey bunches of oats' cereal; orange box
luna bars

I know where I'm going this afternoon!!!

[sunnysandiegan]

Oh, yes! Organic dark chocolate..........MMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

We are headed to TJs in about a half-hour...

We need:
red wine vinegar
buttermilk
eggs
sour cream
yogurt
pasta
back-up jar of pasta sauce
and I want to check out the grass-fed meats and dairy products... We don't live super close to any of the TJs in our city, so we shop at whichever one is close to other places we need to go (conserve gas and time; park once and walk between stores/farmer's markets/libraries/beaches/etc). I do not recall seeing grass-fed meat or dairy products in the past. Some of you have mentioned purchasing these items, so I am going to look more closely and talk to employees/managers...

[Sativarain1]

I'm so excited we have a Trader Joes coming to our town soon, they are currently building now, which is awesome because I've always lived an hour away from one and had to visit only a few times a year.
I love
their all natural laundry soap. (best smelling/biodegradable soap ever)
dark chocolate pretzels
hummus/naan bread
any selection of their nuts

[jocelyndale]

Oh! I forgot our daily staple! Brown jasmine rice. The basmati is nice, too, but the brown jasmine is sooooo good.

[DashsMama]

Haven't seen these mentioned yet...

Israeli sheep milk feta cheese
Chocolate JoJo cookies (all flavors of JoJo's are better than Oreo's, but the chocolate filled ones are heavenly)
Canned Chicken Chili (make great burritos)
Canned Tongol Tuna (best quality canned tuna I've ever found)
Hummus
3 Layer Pesto Dip
Adult Chewable Multivitamin and Mineral
Chewable Vitamin C with Zinc and Slippery elm
Individual Sized Frozen Quiches (all flavors)
Wild Caught Frozen Salmon Fillets

In general their organic dairy items, dried fruit and nuts, frozen foods, and prepared foods are all top quality and delicious. Their fresh fruits and vegetables are convenient to pick up when in the store, but are not that great. I shop elsewhere for those.

The only thing I have tried there and been truly disappointed with are their jarred salsas. I've never found one there that I like.

[greenmansions]

this is some of the stuff we get there - I left out some produce since you can get that anywhere

Frozen stuff:
wild salmon burgers - yummy with wasabi mayo on the bun
buffalo burgers
turkey pesto parmesan burgers
tamales -chili/cheese or chicken/cheese
mango ice cream bars
pot stickers
organic 3 cheese pizza - my kids love this
truffle/mushroom focaccia
frozen organic berries
cheesecake


Other:
fresh mozzarella
marinated mozzarella - dice, toss w/a lg can tomatoes & pasta, spicy & good
white whole wheat bread - kids like this since it's not brown
organic flour tortillas
plaintain chips
just the clusters cereals
low sugar jams
org peanut butter
sunflower seed butter - great sub for peanut butter for school lunch
green olives stuffed with jalapenos
no hormone butter
organic butter
cheese sticks -cheddar and mozzarella
hansens' sodas - lowest price anywhere
all kinds of chips
organic lemonade
pure cranberry juice
soups in those boxes - tomato, squash, etc - best price, same as Pacific
wine - lots of wine...two-buck chuck chardonnay and cabernet for table wine
multi grain hamburger and hot dog buns
dark chocolate - my fave is the swiss in the bright green box
little dunkers cookies - chocolate chip
mini biscotti - choc hazelnut
Refrigerated pizza dough
Pizza sauce
no-nitrate lunch meats - turkey, ham, roast beef, rosemary ham
no-nitrate salami
bags of organic apples - the apples are on the small side, so good for the kids
midnight moo chocolate sauce
habanero lime salsa - dh's favorite
dried org cranberries
mild Italian chicken sausage


We get a ton of stuff there. And for better or worse, their inventory changes a lot.

For your first order, I'd get stuff that doesn't really have a good counterpart at your local stores - like some of their burgers, the sun butter, etc. Obviously you can get lettuce at home, right?

[Ahappymel]

UM...everything is good at TJ's!

This is what I buy weekly. I'll include refrigerated and frozen items too even if it doesn't seem like you'd have those shipped:

Fruits and veggies
Soy veggie cheeses and Tofurky slices
Fresh unpasteurized OJ
Organic Rice Milk
Barbara's cereals
Trader Joe's granola (we LOVE their vanilla almond clusters and maple pecan clusters varieties in the box. They have a great Mango one that has AMAZING pieces of ginger in it!).
Frozen fruits for smoothies, frozen peas and spinach
Baked good mixes (pumpkin bread, banana bread)-all good!
Tomato Marinara sauce (jar)...our favorite! AWESOME!
Sun-Dried tomato bruschetta
Kalamata olives
canned artichokes
jarred fire-roasted peppers
brown rice pastas
cooked, in bag thai lime rice (YUMMY!)
Canned organic black beans
Baked blue organic chips
Honey whole wheat pretzels
All of their bagged snacks/chips/nuts/dried fruits are great!

I don't know what I'd do if I lived too far from a TJ's!....

[KatWrangler]

Habenero and Lime Salsa.

[cristeen]

My basics at TJs are dairy, Kerrygold butter, cheeses, organic pasta, salsa verde, nuts, dry fruit, corn tortilla flatbread, kauai coffee, cat food, dishwashing detergent. Pineapple juice when they have it, gallon apple juice during the winter (hot cider).

Splurges would be sparkling blueberry juice, frozen mac & cheese, house brand ice cream, candied sunflower seeds, peppermint jo-jos (oreos - seasonal).

Seasonally, theur pumpkin butter or cranberry apple butter are both fantastic.