What I Buy At Trader Joe's

Why I Buy at Trader Joe's

So when I started making my son's baby food about 4 years ago, I decided I wanted to only use organic ingredients. My parents had been on the hippie bandwagon for years so I was pretty accustomed to hearing them talk about only eating organically but I wasn't on board yet (and neither was my wallet). I figured I could afford to buy organic for the small amount of fruits and veggies I was buying for baby food though and although I wasn't totally convinced that organic was better, I decided it was worth it to know there wouldn't be any chemicals in his food. Over the years, I've gotten even more hippie-ish. We switched to organic pest control and organic gardening because I didn't want my kids and pets tracking in chemicals--the idea of my baby (or, at the time, my older son) sticking his hands in his mouth after touching carpet that had been recently sprayed with cockroach-killing chemicals bothered me. Same goes for coming inside with chemicals on the shoes that would track on the floor. So I slowly moved to the organic side...and now I am pretty careful about making sure that most of the food we eat is GMO free. All of Trader Joe's branded foods (including Trader Ming's, Trader Jose's, Trader Jacques, etc.) are all GMO-free. Since Trader Joe's brand foods are usually cheaper than most name-brand items in a grocery store AND they are GMO free, I feel like I am getting a good deal on foods I would spend much more for at a store like Whole Foods or even the organics section of HEB. Plus, their food is way fun--I mean, lemon butter popcorn? Heck yes! So that's some background on why I am so loyal to Trader Joe's.

What I Buy at Trader Joe's

Every week:

The staples: fruit, milk, eggs, butter. Nothing of note here--we buy an assortment of fruit for breakfasts and then eggs, milk, and butter every week for cooking and whatnot. 

The TJ originals: 

1. Jalapeño hummus. My husband eats this with carrots for his work lunch.

2. Crumpets. These are the best quick breakfast ever and I either eat them plain or do a light slather of almond butter. 

3. Yogurt squishers. These are for my son's breakfast and we also freeze some as they get closer to the expiration date so that we have an "ice cream" treat on hand. 

4. Some sort of seasoned meat (bulgolgi, Hawaiian short ribs, Carne asada).

5. Bacon. This stuff is pretty pricey ($4.99 a package) but its better than me buying bacon and us never using it because I'm too lazy to cook it. My son LOVES bacon so I like to have it on hand.

6. Cheese slices. Basically just those individually wrapped kraft-type slices that are great for sandwiches and whatnot.

7. Carrot/applesauce packets. We always buy the Apple Carrot ones and they have a little twist off cap so they are perfect to throw in my diaper bag for a snack.

8. Three buck chuck. Shiraz is my favorite--sauvingnon blanc tastes like rotting apples. But everything in between is pretty great and for $2.99, I am sold. (update: I actually don't love this anymore but they have a great $4.99 La Finca Malbec that I am all about these days)

9. Breakfast stuff (Danish pancakes, Croissants, mini pancakes, French toast). My son eats some sort of frozen breakfast item every single morning so I would be lost without this stuff.

10. Breakfast potatoes. Get them. Just get them.

11. Sicilian pizza. We actually buy a lot of their pizzas because we usually have frozen pizza once a week but I think the sicilian is my favorite.

12. Frozen lunch meals. Their black bean and vegetable enchiladas are the EXACT same as Amy's organic. I am convinced they are made at the same place. Most of TJs foods are made by various vendors and repackaged as TJs brand. I'd put money on my belief that Amy's makes a lot of the TJs-branded stuff.

Always in our pantry:

1. Nonstick olive oil spray. I tried the coconut oil spray but didn't dig it.

2. Coconut oil. For use in baking and oil pulling.

3. Pastas (lemon pepper pasta is my favorite--I make it and just drizzle a bit of lemon juice and garlic salt for an easy dinner).

4. Breadsticks. I freeze them and pull them out as needed for pasta night. 

5. Ciabatta rolls. I freeze these too and pull them out for sandwiches. 

6. Organic pop tarts. We don't buy these often but they are my son's favorite "treat" breakfast.

7. Cereal. Trader Joe's version of Cheerios, granola, Puffins cereal are the usual suspects for us.

8. Almond milk. Nothing of note here. I like their refrigerated "Almond Beverage" but I have started buying the smaller shelf-stable ones because I don't get through the big jug fast enough and you have to toss it after 7 days of opening.

Also: coconut milk. One of our kids has MSPI and so Coconut EVERYTHING has been our godsend. 

9. Cereal bars. My son's favorite snack.

10. Salsa verde. I love this stuff.

11. Soyrizo. If you haven't had eggs and soy chorizo, you are missing out. Breakfast tacos are our love language so a quick dinner or breakfast of this stuff mixed with eggs and scooped on tortillas with cheddar = perfection.

12. Balsamic glaze. I love this stuff on burgers and steaks. Oh! And it's so good drizzled over pizza. We buy TJ's frozen pizza crusts and do a pizza with this stuff, onions, roasted red peppers (jarred), and goat cheese.

13. Frozen party meatballs. For a quick pasta dinner or meatball sandwiches.

14.Mariana sauce 

15. Puff pastry. We use this when I make Steak and Ale pie.

16. Mac and Cheese ("Easy Mac"). For easy weekend lunches or when I make something I know my son won't eat.

17. Peanut Butter

18. Jelly 

19. Soy sauce

20. Balsamic vinegar

21. Olive oil 

22. Apple sticks. These are crunchy little apple cinnamon straws that are perfect for a snack.

23. Dried fruit. Another family favorite snack. It's super crunchy but not chewy. They've achieved quite the neat texture with these little treats.

24. Oatmeal 

25. Baking mixes. I buy 12 of the pumpkin bread mixes every fall because they are seasonal and I LOVE having them on hand throughout the year. They have the most incredible texture of crunchy outside, soft inside.

26. Chips and crackers

27. Condiments/Sauces. We use the soyaki all the time--to throw on meat, to make stir fry, to throw together a lo mein. These are just the condiments I found on a quick persual of the fridge but we also buy pickles, jarred bell peppers, etc.

28. Salad dressings. They have tons--some in the refrigerated section and some on the shelf. My favorite is the caesar, my husband's is the cilantro something or other, and my son's is the parmesan ranch.

29. Beer. I don't drink beer so I can't comment on this one but we usually have some sort of TJs six pack in our fridge at any given time.

30. Mashed potatoes. I hate those boxed mashed potatoes but these are basically just legit mashed potatoes that are then frozen in small little balls that you microwave and that become delish and easy mashed potatoes. We use these for pot roast or other meals where we need ourselves some comfort carbs.

Occasional buys;

1. Pizza dough. We bought this a lot before we discovered the pre-rolled frozen pizza crusts. These are still great for making calzones or other things where you need more flexibility with the dough.

2. Fancy cheeses. TJ's does AWESOME with cheese. They are not only really good quality, they are really cheap compared to what you'd get at any other grocery store. Our favorites are the stilton, any of the bries (double creme for the win!), and the goat cheeses. My husband also likes so weird chocolate cheddar they have but I couldn't get behind that.

3. Healthy vegetable blend. This is a mix of a bunch of different veggies (celery, jicama, cabbage, carrots, bell peppers, broccoli, and a few other things) that we use for coleslaw. It has a great flavor and holds up better than just cabbage.

4. Soda. We don't drink soda because I am a hippie and hate all the chemicals and crap in it. But TJ's sodas are all natural so I don't feel so bad having one every once in awhile (though now that my pregnancy sweet tooth is gone, I don't really like soda anymore). Just a heads up, there's no caffeine in TJs soda so it's for flavor only.

Non-food items

1. Hand soap. I buy the lemon kitchen soap for the kitchen and the lemongrass soap for all the bathrooms. They smell great!

2. Tea tree tingle shampoo and conditioner. I used to use Aveda Rosemary Mint shampoo and conditioner and I really think this is every bit as good. And for that price, I'd use it even if it wasn't quite as good.

3. Nourish face wash. I think we all know my issues with acne. I was buying this specialty face wash that a friend recommended to me but then I found this. When I compared the ingredients, I could not believe how similar they were! Now this is all I buy and it's a third of the cost and double the size of what I used to buy.

4. Dog treats. Our pup likes them so I do too.

5. Vitamins. We buy children's vitamins for my son and I buy the prenatals. When this bottle runs out, I plan to switch to their regular woman's vitamin since I don't need prenatals anymore for the first time in YEARS since this baby factory has closed up shop.

So there ya have it. I know there are many more products we buy at Trader Joe's but this post is already RIDICULOUSLY long and it would only get longer if I added my thoughts on every single TJs product. We buy tortillas and horseradish and tea and cookie butter and frozen dinners and french fries and trader tots (clever!) and all sorts of other delicious things but for now, this is enough to give an idea of why and how I do all my shopping at TJs and why I really feel no need to shop at any other store.