I'm heading to Trader Joes this weekend - what should I put on my list?

Sweet potato gnocchi!

I find their frozen chicken tenderloins a must have for my freezer!

Their cookie butter is KILLER. Lower cals than Peanut butter and goes on everything.
If you can not eat the whole pack at one, get their frozen macarons.
They have awesome veggie pasta and cauliflower rice and amazing microwaveable selections.

Corn and wheat blend tortillas--80 calories each, good compromise for us as I prefer corn tortillas and my husband likes flour. We both like these.
Oh Yeah One bars--the TJ's here has the birthday cake flavor (highly recommend) and the maple (meh).
Sparkling mineral water if you're into that. I like the cranberry orange flavor.
If you're interested in meatless protein, the vegan crispy chicken tenders are really good, as is the vegan tikka masala.
The chocolate "lovers" bars, especially the dark chocolate. They come two bars to a box and are easily broken into smaller pieces.
Frozen yellow jackfruit curry, though this may not be everyone's cup of tea: https://www.traderjoes.com/digin/post/yellow-jackfruit-curry-with-jasmine-rice
Bamba! Like Cheetos Puffs, but peanut butter. You can have a big portion for 120 calories. https://www.traderjoes.com/digin/post/bamba-peanut-snacks
Bollywood popcorn (do they still have that?)
The chocolate passport if they still have any from the holidays--8 or 10 small single-origin chocolate bars so you can sample chocolate from different parts of the world. 230 calories per bar; my husband and I share each bar for a 115 calorie dessert.
Cornbread crisps are tasty but not nearly as calorie-friendly as the Bamba is.
Dark chocolate peanut butter cups. Tasty but high calorie (200 calories for 3 pieces) and addictive, hence why I only buy the tiny bag at the checkout stand and not the full size box.
Frozen spinach artichoke dip. Surprisingly low in calories for a spinach artichoke dip (45 calories for 1/8 of the package; I'll admit to having eaten an entire box for dinner by myself more than once, but it's probably good to share it.)

Stir fry sauces are great for a quick dinner. I particularly like their General Tao's sauce and green curry simmer sauce.

Black bean pasta!

Good cheap coffee
Marinated chicken strips
Cheap cheese ravioli
Good veggie burgers

Wine
Orange Chicken (in the frozen section)
Veggie fried rice (in the frozen section)
reduced guilt spinach and kale dip
reduced guilt mac and cheese
everything seasoning
Ravioli
Fresh flowers (cheapest place I can find them $3-4)

Frozen riced cauliflower, salsa (honestly any variety I've had from there has been good), frozen salmon burgers, frozen chile lime chicken burgers, and chile lime seasoning mix.

banana chocolate chip protein muffins
inside out carrot cakes (definitely a treat, but super delicious)
everything but the bagel seasoning
bread (love their breads! tastes way better than other stores)
hummus
pre-packaged salads (if you like those. they are a lot less expensive at TJs)
tea bags

Make sure you do a full walk around the store though. They might have things that you love that no one else has mentioned. I've never had a bad item from TJs so it's worth taking the risk to try something you haven't had before.

The frozen stuff that’s lite! (That’s how they spell it on the packaging). String cheese, apples, a ton of their stuff is pretty healthy and relatively cheap. A lot of their almond / etc milk is good on cereal, Greek yogurt

Cookie thins - lemon and gingersnap are crispy and sweet, and very low calorie (a serving is 9, I usually have 4 with tea for ~ 80 calories).

Frozen prepared meals - we like them on gym nights because they're fast, pretty tasty, and help us avoid take-out. Mandarin Orange Chicken or Shiitake Chicken over broccoli slaw and a few of their potstickers is a nice sub if you're trying not to order Chinese takeout. Or mushroom ravioli with leftover pork tenderloin and steamed veggies.

Salted Caramel Hot Cocoa mix. I think it's seasonal, so might not always be available. Whatever, it's fast and yummy, as far as cocoa mix goes.

Marinades and sauces- tikka masala simmer sauce and red curry are standards at our house. Flavorful, and a little goes a long way to liven up lean meat and veggies or reheat leftovers. We make curry pizza abominations on their naan too.

Pita crackers - whole wheat and flax. Nothing especially healthy about these, they just taste really good. Nice with hummus or a tiny bit of fancy cheese (speaking of cheese, I just had a lovely tasting selection of Trader Joe's Spanish cheeses - tiny portions of a few cheeses with tiny prices).

Marinara #99. I like the flavor for a jarred sauce - basic and simple, and lots of garlic.

Cheese. Definitely a better deal for your "fancy" cheese needs, at least where I am.

This list is getting intense. Anyway, TJs is our closest store, and the prices are usually better for fresh produce and dairy than our local chain market (I had a bok choy snafu and discovered that a bag of TJs baby bok choy was $6.50 less than the regular supermarket - I wanted to die).

Tried30UserNames wrote: »

How come people always think TJ's has healthy food? It's just a lower priced grocery store, isn't it?

I shop at TJ's occasionally but I'd hardly call it a "lower priced grocery store."

There are some lower priced items at TJs (which are generally the only things I buy there) but many things are as high or higher than at other stores, especially the prices on meat and prepared products.

The appeal of TJs seems to be the different (from other stores) variety of food products that they carry. I give them that and always find it interesting to see what's there but I seldom buy any of them because of the price.

Trader Joe's has a frozen seafood blend (shrimp, scallops, calamari) that I really like for things like paella, risotto and curries. I usually buy a few bags to keep in my freezer so I can make a quick meal if I don't have time to go to the grocery store. I also second the frozen spinach and artichoke dip. Again, I like to keep it on hand in case I have unexpected guest or have to take something to a get together last minute. It's microwave ready in less than 5 minutes. They also have great wines for the price and good prices on fresh cut flowers, which is usually the only time I splurge on them other than at a farmer's market.

JoRocka wrote: »

new wheels for your far w/ how messed up your tires will be.

honestly I don't think there is anything special about TJ's other than their 4.99$ bottles of wine- which is the only thing I shop for in there.

Everyone's opinion is different and obviously yours is.
I love the quality of their food along with wholefoods. And there don't give you any crap if you have to return something.