Clean-eating food at Trader Joe's

I LOVE the Cioppino. I take the stew as a base, add additional low fat seafood (ie shrimp or scallops), and stretch the number of servings I get from a package. Suggestion: remove the seafood, heat the gravy, then add the seafood, shrimp & scallops last, to perfectly cook each.


Cioppino Fish Stew Serving Size: 1 cup, Calories: 170, Fat: 6g, Carbs: 8g, Protein: 22g

I also love the frozen vegetables. The Romanesco Cauliflower has 25 calories, the Eggplant Zucchini Melange is 70 calories and DELICIOUS.

Clean foods are largely wholefoods not branded, processed stuff with ingredients lists, you are sort of asking for an oxymoron. Just buy nuts, seeds, dried fruit, wholegrains, beans, lentils, fish and so on.
http://www.traderjoes.com/

I like to eat as many whole foods as possible, but many of the items at Trader Joes have only "real" ingredients - no chemicals that you can't pronouce, no high-fructose corn syrup, etc. Check the labels and you will find many items that have good wholesome ingredients only. I am sensitive to food additives, but I find many many items that I can eat there. (For example, I watch for the caramel coloring in the deli meats and tea - the Tea Java (regular, unsweetened) doesn't have it, but another brand does. (Why add brown coloring to brown liquid anyway?) But the Tea Java green tea has a food additive also.) I probably spend longer checking out the labels than most people, but it's worth it! Most of the non-whole foods that I do eat come from Trader Joes. It is so much cheaper than health food stores.

I haven't tried the hummus as I make my own, but I have tried the salsa. I didn't like the cheapest one in the small bottle, which I think is called Salsa Authentica, as it was very watery. I tried the other one that has roasted corn in it is pretty good - I can't remember the name. I like to stick to organic when possible, so it is probably the other organic choice.

Thanks for the advice everyone. Has anyone tried their salsa or hummus?

Salsa Especial and Pico de Gallo are my faves, any of their hummuses are great. I use hummus in place of mayo on sandwiches!

I've been addicted to their edamame hummus lately. I like to buy nuts, seeds, oats, dried fruit, and frozen vegetables at trader joes. Their almond milk is also almost half the price of that at the regular grocery store here and they have a pretty good reasonably priced cheese selection.

Love:

Reduced Guilt guacamole (LOVE! esp in an egg white omelet!)
Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
Cage free egg whites (I admit it, I'm lazy)
99% fat free ground turkey breast, mirepoix, egg whites, oatmeal, and seasonings to make "meatloaf muffins"
Low Carb tortillas
mediterranean hummus
hardboiled eggs (I remove yolks and add in the hummus
Turkey Jerky
various nut butters
roasted red pepper and tomato soup
cheeses
cooked lentils
steamed baby beets (with goat cheese and some balsamic vinegar- yum!
fage greek yogurt
possibly not "clean:
Turkey Meatballs fully cooked
chicken tikka masala with frozen prawns for extra protein (thaw in warm water)
chicken and vegetable wonton soup-frozen
meatless corndogs- frozen

I honestly don't think there are many"clean foods" at TJ's. Most of the frozen items are loaded with salt and fat. Unless you're just buying fruits and veggies. I expressed my opinion to one of the employees about all the items loaded with salt. She told me they are not known as a "health food store." She was nice enough to provide me with a list of saltfree and gluten free items.

My fav item is the brown rice medley.

Their salsa is AMAZING but plan on eating it in the next few days because it only stays good for a couple days

Thanks for the advice everyone. Has anyone tried their salsa or hummus?

The hummus is THE BEST. Buy lots! My favorite is the "spicy" and the "red pepper". The salsa is pretty good, too! But if I was clean eating, I would just make my own salsa! They also have edamame that I love (frozen). It's a good and healthy snack!

Go look on their website, and it will list what they have. That’s the way to go.

Honestly not the biggest fan of TJ's. Lots of tasty processed & canned junk masquerading as "healthy." Lots of their less-processed stuff is still super high in calories and sodium. IMHO their more about convenience foods than health. When they first started it was really novel to get organic anything at a semi-reasonable price. Times have changed.

Where I am TJ's fresh produce section is usually small and unremarkable. But they have lots of pre prepped fruit, veggies, lentils, etc. which is nice if you need the shortcut. Their pre-made soups and salads in the refrigerated section are pretty good. Their nuts and dried seaweed snack are OK. But mostly I get indulgences there I don't particularly consider "clean."

they also sell a california protein bread in their store. it reminds me a lot of the ezekian bread but there's like 5-10 g of protein a slice

i usually get
- frozen chicken thighs
- reduced sugar rasberry(blueberry or strawberry) preserves
- tub of greek yogurt
- cheap fruit and frozen fruit to add to protein smoothies
- uncured apple smoked bacon
- canned trout

roasted garlic hummus
albacore tuna in water
organic frozen broccoli florets
ezekiel bread low sodium
raw nuts
steel cut frozen oatmeal

I'm about 90% clean as well. Besides the normal fruits and veggies, I just went today and I bought dried unsweetened mango slices, coconut oil, Ezekiel bread, green tea and corn tortillas. It was a little tough because the place is soooo busy. I suggest going pretty early that way people aren't waiting for you to pick out whatever you're looking for. Next time I go I'll go earlier and take more time to read labels. Let us know what you end up finding!