Trader Joe's?

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  • SyntonicGarden
    SyntonicGarden Posts: 944 Member
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    As far as their pricing, I disagree with the other poster who said save your money. Not everyone has better alternatives and TJ's often beats the prices for similar items at my local grocery store.

    Rice pasta - Their rice pasta is cheaper than the Tinkyada brand at the health food store.
    Yellow Thai Sauce - I add it to steamed veggies and the flat rice noodles from the local asian grocery store
    Decaf Irish Breakfast Tea - Much stronger in taste than other decaf teas
    Pieces and Ends (or something like that) - The end pieces from fruit leather. Good for when you just want a small bit of fruit leather
    Corn tortilla enchiladas - Yum!
    Grilled eggplant parm - no breading. Pretty good. :)
    Flourless Chocolate Cake - Decent and much less expensive that a lot of other gluten-free alternatives
    Liquid dish soap - It's nice and does a good job
  • ccburn5
    ccburn5 Posts: 473 Member
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    Agreed magerum. I went and was less than thrilled. WAAAAY to busy when I went as well.
  • hairjunkie
    hairjunkie Posts: 74 Member
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    everything!- I'm obsessed with that place!
  • LoosingMyLast15
    LoosingMyLast15 Posts: 1,457 Member
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    As far as their pricing, I disagree with the other poster who said save your money. Not everyone has better alternatives and TJ's often beats the prices for similar items at my local grocery store.

    Agree 100% with this.

    at my local TJs i can get
    whole wheat english muffins for $1.79 (vs non name brand at my local grocery store - $2.29)
    fresh mozzarella cheese $3.99 (local grocery store - $4.99)
    big container of garlic hummus $3.99 (local grocery store - $3.99 for small container of hummus)
    32 fluid oz of extra virgin olive oil $5.99 (local grocery store - $8.99 ON SALE)
    32 oz low sodium chicken stock $1.99 (local grocery store - $2.99)

    and since i prefer the red wine at TJs (not $3 buck chuck - not a fan) i'm going there anyway so it's not an "extra trip" (ie not wasting the savings on gas)
  • Djproulx
    Djproulx Posts: 3,084 Member
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    frozen organic brown rice - 3 microwavable bags/box...tastes good and very convenient
    chicken sausage - 100cal/link - either grilled or added to sauce and served with whole wheat pasta
    baked blue corn tortilla chips
    TJ's authentic style salsa - either red or green.
    Blueberry Wheat bran muffins = 80 cal. each. great in toaster oven.
  • erg2013
    erg2013 Posts: 84 Member
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    Tandori Naan... yum!
  • ImperfektAngel
    ImperfektAngel Posts: 811 Member
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    I just tried their nacho flavor kale chips, yum! I just wish the bag was bigger
  • eowynmn
    eowynmn Posts: 165 Member
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    The number one thing that saves my edibles at trader joes is

    "21 spice salute" I go through a bottle about every three weeks. It's sodium and calorie free basically. I roast veggies with that and olive oil. I marinate tilapia in it with a little bit of soy sauce and lemon juice. I throw it on my chicken. On potatoes. etc.

    Hummus is pretty good, it's not holy land, but nothing is.
    Sushi is fun once in a while.
    The Butter Lettuce is great.
    Their dressings are great.
    Frozen Wonton soup.
    Definitely don't even look at their frozen deserts, except they have these mini ice cream cones that give you a little bit of a sweet taste. I never actually eat them, but I buy them for my kids.
    Dried, freeze dried fruits and nuts.
    Stevia containers are nice.
    Flavored Chicken Sausages
    Organic Peanut butter
    Frozen veggies
    Frozen Sweet Potato Tots
  • NHoughton13
    NHoughton13 Posts: 303
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    I love the frozen steel cut oats for breakfast. I had to get used to the texture, but now I LOVE them. A 150 calorie serving keeps me full a long time. I could wander in this store forever!
  • firstsip
    firstsip Posts: 8,399 Member
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    Their $3 wine is pretty good!:wink:

    This. My fiance and I are pretty big wine/beer snobs, and we have tried and enjoyed some of their stuff. Granted, some of the WORST wine we've ever tried came from there (never, ever, get the Uncle Jebediah's something or other), but otherwise, they have surprisingly good wine super cheap. They have a few craft beers they've made that aren't that bad, either.

    Otherwise: omg, their pink lemonade is amazing. IDGI.
  • TwiistedTwiin
    TwiistedTwiin Posts: 32 Member
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    I live at Trader Joes. I'm not sure why some people have the opinion that it's "expensive" because it isn't. They cut out the middle man on a lot of products and repackage them so they are cheaper. I save money shopping there.

    Things I love:

    Roasted Vegetable Pizza (dairy free)
    Thai Vegetable Pot Stickers
    Masala Simmer Sauce
    Tofu Edamame Nuggets
    Quina duo with Vegetable Malange
    Spicy Lentil Wrap
    Baked Tofu - Savory
    Minestone Soup
    Black Bean Soup
    Paneer Tikka Masala
    Wasabi Seaweed Snacks

    I could go on forever.

    Okay silly question.....are the wasabi seaweed snacks fishy tasting at all? Sounds interesting. Actually all your choices sound amazing. :flowerforyou:
  • 1brokegal44
    1brokegal44 Posts: 562 Member
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    I live at Trader Joes. I'm not sure why some people have the opinion that it's "expensive" because it isn't. They cut out the middle man on a lot of products and repackage them so they are cheaper. I save money shopping there.

    Things I love:

    Roasted Vegetable Pizza (dairy free)
    Thai Vegetable Pot Stickers
    Masala Simmer Sauce
    Tofu Edamame Nuggets
    Quina duo with Vegetable Malange
    Spicy Lentil Wrap
    Baked Tofu - Savory
    Minestone Soup
    Black Bean Soup
    Paneer Tikka Masala
    Wasabi Seaweed Snacks

    I could go on forever.

    Agreed! I also like some of the ready made salads--some are very low in calories. Love their cheese selection! Tandoori Style Butter Chicken is delish--but it's really a dish for 2 people. Milk and OJ are about 1/3 the cost as major grocery stores like Safeway. For snacking, try the Plantain Chips.
  • eowynmn
    eowynmn Posts: 165 Member
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    I live at Trader Joes. I'm not sure why some people have the opinion that it's "expensive" because it isn't. They cut out the middle man on a lot of products and repackage them so they are cheaper. I save money shopping there.

    Things I love:

    Roasted Vegetable Pizza (dairy free)
    Thai Vegetable Pot Stickers
    Masala Simmer Sauce
    Tofu Edamame Nuggets
    Quina duo with Vegetable Malange
    Spicy Lentil Wrap
    Baked Tofu - Savory
    Minestone Soup
    Black Bean Soup
    Paneer Tikka Masala
    Wasabi Seaweed Snacks

    I could go on forever.

    Okay silly question.....are the wasabi seaweed snacks fishy tasting at all? Sounds interesting. Actually all your choices sound amazing. :flowerforyou:

    I'm butting in to answer -they are very fishy tasting IMO. I, nor my very clean eating children will touch the seaweed snacks. blech!
  • Justkeepswimmin
    Justkeepswimmin Posts: 777 Member
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    I would suggest saving the money and going somewhere else. Just my opinion.

    Hehe yeahhhh I only go there for a rare special occasion like when i needed heirloom small tomatoes and Sprouts was out.
  • kingkoopaluv
    kingkoopaluv Posts: 147 Member
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    TRADER JOES IS AWESOME! The problem is people think a lot of the pre-fixed salads and meals are healthy and they are far from. Make sure you check labels first.
  • HIITMe
    HIITMe Posts: 921 Member
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    Their $3 wine is pretty good!:wink:

    aka 2 buck chuck!! it rocks!!
  • DarkFlutter
    DarkFlutter Posts: 408 Member
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    I live at Trader Joes. I'm not sure why some people have the opinion that it's "expensive" because it isn't. They cut out the middle man on a lot of products and repackage them so they are cheaper. I save money shopping there.

    Things I love:

    Roasted Vegetable Pizza (dairy free)
    Thai Vegetable Pot Stickers
    Masala Simmer Sauce
    Tofu Edamame Nuggets
    Quina duo with Vegetable Malange
    Spicy Lentil Wrap
    Baked Tofu - Savory
    Minestone Soup
    Black Bean Soup
    Paneer Tikka Masala
    Wasabi Seaweed Snacks

    I could go on forever.
    Wisconsin Cheddar mac & cheese
    Greek Yogurt - specifically Vanilla Bean and Mango
    Mac & Cheese Balls
    Parmesan Chicken Lollipops
    "A low-fat ...walked into a bar" (cereal bar)
    Cherry Pomegranate pop tarts
    Blue Agave syrup instead of sugar
    Mild light cheddar cheese sticks (square ones)
    Kettle Cooked Potato Chips (indivdual bags - only ingredients are potato and sea salt)
    Cinnamon Pita Chips
    Silver Dollar Pancakes
    Low Fat French Toast - my new obsession
    Hashbrowns
    Roasted Red Pepper Tomato Soup - fantastic!

    LOVE THIS STORE!
    Better ingredients, better prices!
  • ChangingTami
    ChangingTami Posts: 109 Member
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    LOVE Trader Joe's, we get 95% of our groceries there! We buy mostly fresh organic fruit, organic veggies, organic dairy and organic meats......we are not much for the frozen foods other then organic fruit, organic veggies and some wild caught seafood.
  • ladynocturne
    ladynocturne Posts: 865 Member
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    @Twiisted -

    I don't know what you think "fishy" is... my parents tend to describe anything with iodine as "fishy" smelling/tasting. If you frequently don't like seafood/seaweed type products then I would skip purchasing them. They are $1 so... it wouldn't be the end of things if you hated them lol.

    @Clean eating children - I'm not aware of what "clean eating" is, but your phrasing was mildly insulting to me for liking what I think is a perfectly reasonable food.

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