Monday, October 06, 2008

Trader Joe's



I learned about this great place when I was out visiting friends in California. One friend works there. I was impressed. I visited a Whole Foods when we were in New Jersey doing our IVF. I was impressed.

So I looked Trader Joe's up last night, to see if there was one near me. Closest is Columbus and then near my BIL/SIL in Michigan. Well, I'm going to Michigan in a couple weeks. The nearest one is 10 minutes from them. I plan to go. I plan to stock up on some good stuff. In April, I'll be going to Columbus for the weekend. So I plan to go then also.

Now my question is to all the Trader Joe's lovers out there, what should I absolutely get? What should I skip? Help a girl out.

http://www.traderjoes.com/index.html

13 comments:

loren said...

You're EVIL!!!!

I had no idea what Trader Joe's was until Michele S started yappin' about it and now I'm SO JEALOUS! Why couldn't she just keep her happiness and Trader Joe's to herself?!? :P

I'm gonna cry now... *sob*sob*

Triplethefunplus2 said...

I'm sorry. lol

I discovered it this past spring and have wished and hoped for one around here. No such luck. I emailed them and said they needed one around here. Try it.

Amy said...

Be patient grasshopper! We just started expanding into Ohio.

Lets see....
Olive Hummus (deli case)
Carnitas (deli casee)
Raspeberry Brie dessert thingys(Frozen)
Tempura shrimp (frozen)
Pretzel slims
TJ's booty
Mango passion granola cereal
Flat bread(fresh)
crumpets (original or blueberry)
Carrot cake muffins(fresh)
frozen quieche
Mushroom & Asparagus rostto(frozen)
Dried Chile Mango
Chile Lime pistachios AKA Hot nuts! LOL!

Want me to keep going?? Or just e-mail you? LOL!

Amy said...

BTW!!! WholeFood sucks!!! LOL!

You may feel like the prices are a bit higher at TJ's then the regular store but they really aren't.

What your getting is free of all the crap, dyes, perservites, etc

Bell Family said...

Love, love, love T.J.'s!

Their own brand of shave cream is great.
Their own brand of flax seed oil supplements are also wonderful.

The dixie peach juice and blueberry juice is quite good. The bottles of sparkling pomegranite juice are super. I use those at parties as the non-alcoholic drink.

The kids love the "Cat's cookies for people", both the ginger and the vanilla variety. Also, the mini vanilla mereingue cookies are great snacks.

I second the crumpets, they are great. The gingersnaps in the bread section are also tasty.

If you are taking an ice chest:

The individual servings of espresso mousse in the reezer section are a real treat (and I save the plastic containers they come in for inidividual crayon/pencil/etc holders for the kids).

I love the frozen bags of rice (jasmine and brown). They pop in the microwave and 3 minutes later they are ready to eat. I pair them with the Trader Joe's Orange Chicken for a quick meal, or I throw some chicken and Trader Joe's Curry sauces (found in bottles in the shelf) together and serve ont he rice.

Very few things I've tried have been duds. I will say that some of the T.J. breakfast cereals are a bit too crunchy for our tastes, though.

Hope that helps!
-Sheila (from triplet connection)

Michele S said...

Funny you should mention it. I go at least twice a week and we were there this morning. Okay, you have to try my favorite bread. It's French Village 8 plus 1. Do you have a freezer? It has no preservatives, so it has to be frozen, but I'd get a couple dozen loaves! :)

The cereal bars. They are the best. Seriously, all other cereal bars are garbage. I'd get about 40 boxes!

The soups are fantastic. Our favorite is creamy organic tomato and the organic lentil. I always have several boxes of chicken broth on hand too.

We love the frozen banana waffles, the Kefir, hand-made tortillas, and we also love their organic jelly.

I love all their trail mix and salad dressings, wheat crackers, potato chips, pretzels. You have to get the peanut butter filled chocolate covered pretzels. Oh and the peanut butter cups. Only get one box of those or you will gain 20 pounds!

And don't forget the Two Buck Chuck! (Wine!)

Helene Eichenwald Slutsky said...

We do most of the gluten free products:

Gluten Free ginger snaps
Gluten Free pancakes (frozen)
Gluten free brown rice penne
Pirate Booty
Organic Lolly pops (no dyes)
Dorot Frozen herbs and garlic cubes
Mini Peanut butter cups = the size of chocolate chips but like reeses
Freeze dried pineapple and mangos
Flaxseed Tortilla chips

the must haves are listed above

Christa @ Quintooples said...

<---JEALOUS

we don't have one! BOOHOO!!! We DO have a Wegman's though, which is awesome.

Anyway, love the new bag too. :)

Meluch+3 said...

saw your post on TC-

my recs-
lavender dryer sheets (they're actually pouches) you can re-use them and they make everything smell so wonderful! Also, the 1-lb chocolate bars are great. I also love the dunkers cookies.

have fun!

Mel
meluch.blogspot.com

Momma-of-5 said...

WAIT...you were in NJ for your IVF? We ARE meant to be AR teammates! I LIVE in NJ!

Triplethefunplus2 said...

momma-of-5 - Yep we did our IVF at Cooper. Hey I may be coming to NJ in the spring! Should meet up! I'll be sans children, though! lol

AR here we come!

ginas333 said...

I'm from Medina and try to get the one in Westlake (Crocker Park) at least once a month. You could spend a whole day just enjoying the shops also so it's a fun trip. Is that any closer to you than Columbus? Rumor has it there's one opening in Strongsville where the old JoAnn Fabrics was. Anything there is GREAT... but I have to add dark chocolate espresson beans to my list of favorites. And for wine... the TJ Fume Blanc is delicious if you like a white wine.

Anonymous said...

Love the chicken fried rice, TJ brand Cheetos, mini PB cups, peach mango juice, carrot juice (tastes like fruit somehow?), I am drinking Chuck right now - yum, their flowers are beautiful also. I just started going there 3 weeks ago and absolutely love it. Such a unique store.

Cheryl (triplet connection)