Whole foods/Trader Joes must haves

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Justjamie0418
Justjamie0418 Posts: 1,065 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I am going to be making a trip to one of these two stores soon. Which one do you prefer? What are some must haves on your shopping list? I have been to Whole Foods before and just randomly bought stuff, but I am on a stricter budget now, and it's an hour drive from me. So, lemme have it...
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  • janimei
    janimei Posts: 105 Member
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    Trader Joe's is way cheaper overall. Whole Foods has more organic, nonpackaged fruits and vegetables, and a wonderful loose tea selection (not available at all stores).
    At TJ's, I get condiments, spices, tea-bag red chai tea, organic light string cheese, milk products, boxed soups, canned tomatoes, kitchen cloths, etc. They have the best price for Ak-Mak, a whole wheat/sesame seed cracker. And of course, really cheap wines.
    At WF, I get loose jasmine tea, to-go salads, and about once a month a great brie burger at their burger bar (hold the bun).
  • elmo0901
    elmo0901 Posts: 7
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    Best quality, least processed foods you can get no matter where it is :-)
  • Pandemium
    Pandemium Posts: 3
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    Trader joes-peanut butter,tea,frozen fruit,rice cakes & trail mix

    Whole foods-coconut water,green veggies & bulk oatmeal.
    :)
    Hope this helps!
  • Justjamie0418
    Justjamie0418 Posts: 1,065 Member
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    I have been looking at thier sites, and it looks like TJs has Chai seeds, which I would like to try. The food in my town is pretty limited at the chain grocery stores we have, I am looking foreward to branching out some and getting things I dont normally buy.
  • katy_trail
    katy_trail Posts: 1,992 Member
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    just look through the produce section for sale and in season stuff, there's bound to be some deals.
    if needed, its easy to google what's in season now.
    lots of spring stuff still like asparagus. green veggies.
    with may sometimes you can start seeing good melon,
    but ohio's won't be ready yet.
  • DalekBrittany
    DalekBrittany Posts: 1,748 Member
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    My TJ's has very good quality veggies, and I buy my chicken drumsticks there too because they are 1.79 a pound for about 6 organic drumsticks, nice and meaty. Their almond butter is great, and I haven't tried it but I hear they have really good ezekiel(?) bread. They have a big selection of pre-portioned nuts and dried fruits, but they can be pricey because most nuts are. They have lots of healthy options for pre-packaged or frozen meals for a pretty good price, but it might be easier for you to get fresh stuff 'cause of how many kiddos you have. For a treat now and then, I buy their speculoos filled dark chocolate bar at the register...it's so good. And every now and again, I get their pad thai that come in a box...not exactly healthy, but so good.

    They also have lots of options for soups, my favorite being the roasted red pepper and tomato soup. And they don't sell some traditional things as far as bread goes, but what they do have there is all really high quality stuff for a low quality price, lol. Hope I helped a little!
  • keepongoingnmw
    keepongoingnmw Posts: 371 Member
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    I am a Trader Joe's fan.
    I get frozen Indian meals for my husband.
    I just discovered their balsamic vinaigrette (not in the refidgerated section) and love it. It is not "light" but only 80 cal for 2 TBL.
    The frozen fish section is good.
    I got some spicy jalapeno chicken sausages the other week and really enjoyed them.
    Frozen flatbreads, I think it was carmelized onion with ham and gruyere.
    mini beef tacos
    Lots of good salsas......
  • lithezebra
    lithezebra Posts: 3,670 Member
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    Get Whole Foods peanut butter. They test for aflatoxin, which can occur naturally in peanut butter, if even one moldy peanut gets into a batch, and is a truly horrendous carcinogen even in small amounts. I'm not normally a fan of Whole Foods.
  • schaskes
    schaskes Posts: 103 Member
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    Trader Joe's - Plain Greek fat-free yogurt, Kashi Go-Lean cereal, Lite shredded mozzarella cheese, oven roasted turkey breast, broccoli slaw, packaged salads for lunch (citrus chicken, lemon arugula chicken, low-cal chinese chicken ---without dressing all around 200 cal or less), lentil curl chips ( new favorite in my house), and so much more. I also buy all my meat there - organic chicken breasts, mostly and ground turkey.

    Whole Foods is only for things I can't get anywhere else (Bob's Red Mill Quick Cooking Oats, Amy's Light and Lean frozen meals)...and fresh fish
  • endureandpersist
    endureandpersist Posts: 59 Member
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    A must have is Trader Joe's ketchup. None, and I mean NONE compares...
  • JoyousRen
    JoyousRen Posts: 3,823 Member
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    I love TJ. I'm with everyone else on their frozen Indian meals. I buy light coconut milk there because I use it in cooking a lot, their honey greek yogurt is the best I've found, their red bean and quinoa chips are fabulous, they have a to dye for sparking sake, and the honey goat cheese is so good.
  • chellec23
    chellec23 Posts: 147 Member
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    We don't have Trader Joe's where I live. I go to Whole Foods.......I mostly get bulk quinoa and wild rice.
  • sgrubby
    sgrubby Posts: 103 Member
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    Here in Phoenix, AZ we have Sprout's Farmers Market. The prices, quality and selection are incredible. I buy all my fresh and organic produce there. They also have bulk grains, nuts granolas, etc.
  • CM9178
    CM9178 Posts: 1,265 Member
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    Trader Joe's has some good stuff.. but it is NOT CHEAP by any standards, compared to shopping in a regular grocery store. Unless there is something specific that you can only get at Trader Joe's, I wouldn't bother. They do have some good stuff though - I get Better n Peanut Butter there, and I like their mini oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.
  • nolachick
    nolachick Posts: 3,278 Member
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    oooh bump! no TJ yet but we do have Whole foods which I love <3
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
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    TJ's for sure!
    A must have is Trader Joe's ketchup. None, and I mean NONE compares...
    YES!

    Plain Greek Yogurt (the 2% has more protein than the full fat for some reason)
    Low sodium tuna
    Peanut butter
    BBQ "Pop Chips" (taste just like the name brand!)
    Multi-Grain Oatmeal
    Quick Steel Cut Oats
    Rustic Sourdough Bread
    Dark chocolate bars
    Salsa Verde
    Tahini Sauce (for making your own hummus!)
    Jo-Jo's - like Oreos, but without the hydrogenated junk - if you're gonna eat cookies, might as well go for these! My kid loves 'em.
    Lots of frozen goodies - their Chinese and Indian foods are pretty good for a quick dinner or lunch.
    Love their pickle relish, and no high fructose corn syrup!
    Cornichons - little pickles from heaven! Well, France, but SO tasty!

    That's all I can think of at the moment!
  • DalekBrittany
    DalekBrittany Posts: 1,748 Member
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    Trader Joe's has some good stuff.. but it is NOT CHEAP by any standards, compared to shopping in a regular grocery store. Unless there is something specific that you can only get at Trader Joe's, I wouldn't bother. They do have some good stuff though - I get Better n Peanut Butter there, and I like their mini oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

    Where do you live? Here, it's so much cheaper than our grocery stores, with the exception of Walmart, but we call it "ghetto Walmart" for a reason and tend to not go there...
  • keepongoingnmw
    keepongoingnmw Posts: 371 Member
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    I like the eggplant cutlets in the frozen section at TJ's I put it into my salads.
  • dukesangel
    dukesangel Posts: 45 Member
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    Trader Joe's:

    Soy Chorizo
    Cheddar rockets (best toddler snack ever)
    Wine.... I always buy 2 cases there
    Their version of GoGurt
    Cherry Tomatoes
    Basil
    Mini dried cheese ravioli's (best toddler lunch! ha!)
    Maple Syrup
    And all of their frozen foods are awesome
  • BrennLinn
    BrennLinn Posts: 178 Member
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    Trader Joe's naan, wine, vegetarian orange chicken, basil, and apples are my favorite. And Whole Foods has AMAZING mushroom gravy, and chick pea patties that are to die for!!

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