Trader Joe's

evandmegsmom

We just got our very first area Trader Joe's. Yay! I went today and was overwhelmed....didn't even know where to start! Does anyone have suggestions for great healthy finds at Trader Joe's? I bought the Better N. Peanut Butter and a guacamole kit. I feel like I'm missing out not knowing what to look for! Thanks in advance!

GorillaNJ

I just load up on 2 buck chuck... but that is me.

Godsflower1789

their raw nuts are awesome, produce is super cheap.
stay away from packaged things...they are "healthier" than _____ fill in the blank, but you should stick to the freshest stuff you can find there.
have fun!

seemichellerun

I do all my grocery shopping at Trader Joe's. My food diary is open, so you can go ahead and take a peak at what I eat from there. =D

liscar

I love their mini blueberry fiber cakes --- like little muffins, tons of fiber and only 80 calories:bigsmile:

gina205

If you go into the food data base and typet in Trader Joes it will tell you all the nutrition info. Then you can decide what's healthy for you once you start clicking on all of them.

BigBoneSista

The hummus is good and the fresh salsa is yummy!! I also get their sweet potato chips for a snack. I get my berries from there and zucchini squash.

manymuses

TJ's is AWESOME for healthy eating- you're gonna love it.

I love their produce, fantastically-priced spices, frozen fish and veggies, gyoza potstickers, parmesan cheese, and fun condiments and sauces to jazz up your healthy cooking. Just try a few things each time and see what you like. Everything is so well-priced, it's hard to go wrong.

FitJoani

Basically use common sense....buy fresh as you can, read the ingredients if you cant recognize ingredients put it back on the shelf...

kimcat73

Love Trader Joe's! I stock up on frozen veggies (Harvest Hodgepodge and Soycutash), frozen rice (brown and jasmine), Frozen pops like Fruit Floes (Caribbean, Lime, and Strawberry). Great hummus and pita chips, deli meats, coffee, scones, and breads. Hmmm, let's see, anything else??? The cookies are yummy but not necessarily healthy, LOL. Have a great time with it!

hajjcomb

Their almond butter w/toasted flax seeds is amazing. It's the crack of nutty spreads.

flukes9

My favorite healthy things at Trader Joe's are: simply trek mix (cranberries, almonds, cashews), mini bambino pizzas (in frozen section...each tiny pizza is soooo good and only 250 calories), and Barbara's cinnamon puffins cereal. (TJ's also has a lot of delicious treats that aren't so good for you too...it took me awhile to get over the "I don't know any of these brands" thing and just look at the products...they always have samples somewhere in the store too.)

LoveMy3Boys

I love Trader Joes. I miss it. No help from me... just sayin'

ctheslayer

I think you'll love Trader Joe's.

Besides fresh produce, I always stock up on these:

TJ's brand hummus (lower cals than Athenos)
100% whole wheat flatbread
Spinach lentil dip
their lines of simmer sauces like masala sauces
they always stock up on their greek yogurt section (their own brand and other brands)
ready made salads

jmbender4

Trader Joe's is my favorite. I do most of my shopping there ! Too many things to name, but on my top list: Bran Flakes, Blister Pack peanuts, salted peanut butter, non fat yogurt .. the best part about TJ's is that their products are mostly free of what I call bibity bobity boo ( words I can not pronounce). Their frozen food section is great too !! The frozen asparagus tastes like it is fresh (once cooked). I do not know how that is, but it is great !! The only thing I have not cared for is the frozen fish fillets.

Have fun !!

jessieinblue

Trader Joe is my boyfriend.

Okay, but seriously, I love too many things from there to attempt a complete list, so I'll just try for my must-haves: frozen veggies (especially spinach, peas and green beans) and veggie mixes (Harvest Hodgepodge is amazing), raw nuts, olive oil, brown rice pasta, peanut butter and almond butter, crackers, lemon curd, tomato and roasted red pepper soup, cheeses, and a whole slew of little candies featuring dark chocolate.

Next time you go, give yourself a decent amount of time to walk around the whole store and look at everything.

njgirly

AHHHHHH! I am addicted to Trader Joes!!! I love their cheeses, black bean soup, spinach pizza, granola bars, nuts....I can go on and on!

zbstngrl

This is a copy from some other post that I replied about food shopping list.
Some food items depends on the planned recipes but the ones that normally make their way to our cart are:

From Trader Joe's

Organic chicken breast
Uncured Turkey bacon (30 cal per one link and there are total of 8 links per package)
Smoked Salmon (the one that is 4oz and 250 sodium per serving instead of 500+ sodium)
Uncured Turkey Hot dogs
Organic Ground Beef (1lb 85% lean)
Lean Ground Turkey Breast

Organic Brown Rice (They also have a frozen organic brown rice which is very handy)
Organic Whole Wheat spaghetti

Organic Fate Free milk
Organic Greek Yogurt (Honey and Vanilla ones are my favorite)
Organic Free Range Eggs

Low calorie whole wheat bread (there are all kind of breads but the one i get is 40 cal per piece)

Frozen cooked plain Artichokes (1 bag is total 100cal and i find them very good as side veggie dish, you can add your spices and its very filling)
I also buy cooking Canola oil spray to help with controlling oil calories
Green beans
Broccoli
Baby Carrots
Scallions
Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Baby Spinach
Roasted Seaweed Snack (60 cal for whole bag and its good way for me to substitute potato chips cravings )
Multiseed with Soy sauce (great with hummus)
Organic original hummus
Raw Creamy Almond Butter
Unsalted Crunchy Peanut Butter
White wine: Gewurztraminer by Fetzer (110 cal per 5oz

Crystals422

I was just there today. I got a few tj greek yogurt in a few flavors, whole wheat pitas, and some hummus.

1southernchick

I love Trader Joes! I like to try something new every time I go. One of my favs though is the rice noodles. Noodles made from rice. Better for you than regular pasta.

nickscutie

I love their cereal bars - my favorite is the "this apple walked into a bar". Get it. The fig flavor is also yummy.

I also like their precooked brown rice (frozen or from the shelf) and some of their tomato sauces and salsas are tasty as well.

BlkOnyx488

I love the wild caught salmon. and their strawberry jam with of course NO HFCS.
They also sell pre-slice organic apples. they are soooo good. I can't even eat non-organic apples any more.

their Organic fruit juices are good too but of course very high in sugar. however if you have little ones, they are a much better option than national chain juices.

their pasta is great I usally get the whole wheat pasta. and their hormone free bag of chicken is a favorite in our house.

evandmegsmom

WOW! Thank you sooo much, everyone! Now I am overwhelmed with ideas instead of just being overwhelmed by the store. Really, really grateful for everyone's input. Thanks so much again!

Purplegal

Oh how I wish we had a Trader Joes closer...I drive to one 45 min away every couple months...I second the frozen veggies, love them all! One thing no one has mentioned yet, they have Brown Rice Tortillas that are SO good and only 130 calories each.

lyndsloo

EDAMAME!!!!! TRY IT....AMAZING!!!!

c7eat2live

Im obsessed with Trader Joes. we have two close to me in my city and I honestly go there more than Whole Foods, Vitamin cottage and sunflower combined.

my list ALWAYS includes:

apples
bananas
oranges
broccoli
baby carrots
cauliflower
spinach
pineapple (a big fresh raw one

organic nonfat greek yogurt (the BEST greek yogurt around in my opinion)
Pizza Olympiad (in the frozen section)
laughing cow cheese
whole wheat pita
chunky olive hummus
frozen fruits and veggies (organic when possible)
ezekiel bread
earth balance spread
chocolate milk (special after workout treat
tofu
Fetzer Reisling
organic canned beans
read quinoa
organic brown rice (frozen)
eggs
rice drink
almond drink
aria women's protein powder.
green drink mix


seriously. that place rocks. BUT. be careful to steer clear of most of the processed food in the isles and frozen area. anything pre-cooked for the most part is mega high in sodium and fat and cals. I like to shop the perimeter for the most part

flukes9

Ok, my new favorite thing from Trader Joe's is the "nutty chocolate" granola bars....Oh my goodness, it's a peanut butter chewy granola bar drizzed with chocolate and it's soooooo good. Tastes like a candy bar. (I also love the pretzel slims-everything flavor)

Hixie15

I love Trader Joe's also. I love their light string cheese, mini whole wheat pita bread, chocolate cat cookies for people, 100 cal pack of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, and many more things!

heyitsmekatie

i'm sad... we don't have one!