I Heart Trader Joes

[mamabot]

Even though it is 40 minutes round trip, I make my weekly grocery pilgrimage to Trader Joes. The food is fresh, yummy, healthy and always seems to taste better than the stuff I buy at Ralphs.

We have to buy things we cannot purchase at TJs at other stores. Our goal is to stop relying on Ralphs as much as we do. The Ralphs near our house is convenient, but hit and miss with freshness.

What are your favorite items to buy at TJs? What have you tried that was not worth the money? What is your favorite TJs inspired dinner?

[Cuzco-topia]

I love TJ's, but I never seem to go as often as i should. I love their Tamarin Almonds and Chile con Limon pistachios....oh, now i'll have to make a stop there on the way home...considering it's 2 miles from my house!

[Morrigoon]

Love love love TJ's.
Food is better, fresher, cheap.
I shop there a lot.

[Disguy]

[mamabot]

I am still shocked by how much we save on our grocery bill by shopping there.

The kids don't even complain about brown rice wheat pasta and organic food. They prefer it to other pasta. They think that Fruit Leather is the biggest treat on the planet. That and peanut butter filled pretzels.

Our favorite easy dinner is the frozen Madarin Orange Chicken with 3 minute Jasmine Rice. We pair it with potstickers from Costco or side from the Chinese restaurant near our house. Yummy!

Edited to add: I picked up a bottle of the Two Buck Chuck Chardonnay yesterday. Can't wait to try it!

[desertdweller]

Don't get me started on TJ's. But here goes:

Two Buck Chuck was an unbelievable hit for them a few years ago. Wedding receptions, BBQs, dinner parties were all buying it by the case from Newport Beach to La Puente.

I've been a fan since the '70s and have watched them grow and expand to a what they are today. Kinda offbeat, reasonably priced and over the decades -- an adventure in shopping.

Currently, I love their dairy products, the Greek style yoghurt is so good. Unsalted butter. Washed, bagged salad greens, cheeses at some of the best prices you'll find anywhere, baguettes, specialty breads, fresh flowers, wines and liquors, cereals, olives, olive oil, pastas, nuts, frozen fish, racks of lamb, green beans, ice creams, key lime pie, appetizers, rice varieties, health products, vitamins, chips, pretzels, vegetables, Jelly Bellies, MOCHI ice cream bon bons, sorbets, jarred cherries, olives, canned corn, tuna, crab, ginger beer, imported beers, tartar sauce, mustards....and on and on it goes.

I just mentally went up and down the aisles and picked out some of our staples.

[Ortizmo2000]

Anyone had "2buckchuck" wine? It's not bad.

Enjoying a glass of Two-Buck Chuck merlot right now. Great stuff.

TJ's is fantastic. Dunno what I'd do without it. The guacamole tortilla chips that cost about 3 times less than Doritos and taste better, the meatballs, potstickers, and those damn chocolate almonds.....the place is great, and cheap!

[tabacco]

I rely on their artichoke and mushroom calzones for lunch at work many days

[Disguy]

I rely on their artichoke and mushroom calzones for lunch at work many days

I can't say I've tried that before but artichokes and mushrooms are my love. Might be a good time to head to TJ's

[Hector]

I would just love to say that please buy the TJ brand Orange juice. My dad actually works for Naked Juice (Extremely good juice by the way) and they make the OJ for TJ (we get free gallons out the ...fridge... so so so so yummy)

I love the store anyway, Anyone else addicted to the Pita Bread chips?

[Ortizmo2000]

Polishing off this bottle of 2 buck Chuck and munching on guac chips......I love TJ's man!

[MegarooFifi]

You guys are lucky! The nearest one is an hour away (in a direction I never go), so I get there about once every three months.

I splurge and go for the three dollar wine. The last one was absolutely amazing... It was from Argentina. I kept the bottle so next time I can go down there I can load up. (That's if they still have it!) I LOVE their wines... they're so good!

I really like their pasta sauces, chile lime pistachios, cheese, dips (you can't really go wrong with any of them), simmer sauces (I like the Picadillo and Marsala), curries and spinach sauces. We really like ethnic foods, so it's really nice to be able to go in and get ingredients you usually can't get at a regular supermarket.

[tabacco]

I really like their pasta sauces, chile lime pistachios, cheese, dips (you can't really go wrong with any of them), simmer sauces (I like the Picadillo and Marsala), curries and spinach sauces. We really like ethnic foods, so it's really nice to be able to go in and get ingredients you usually can't get at a regular supermarket.

I highly recommend the Mango Coconut one

[TinkPink]

You guys are lucky! The nearest one is an hour away (in a direction I never go), so I get there about once every three months.

HA!!! Try being over 1000 miles away! I love TJ's! My last trip to CA, that was one of the first places I went. I miss 2buckchuck, I always used to keep it by the stove and put it in almost everything I cooked!

My son also loved the fruit leather, and I loved all the healthy, oaty cereals that were so cheap! In grocery stores, those cereals cost like 4 or 5 bucks!

[Alchimedes]

I love TJ'S. The chips, hummus, Salsa selection, Chucks' I love it all. Oh and don't forget the Austrailian Licorice Yummy. I get all my soy protein products from them. Nice!!

[UvaGirl]

Trader Joe's chocolate covered raspberries are the best!

[stinkerbell]

I live ten minutes from about three Trader Joe's and do about 90% of my shopping there. The only things I don't buy there are milk and cheddar cheese (we buy it in 2 pound chunks...the girls go through it like crazy, plus I make a TON of enchiladas every week....adds up at TJ) and fruit (the apple prices are stupid high) and some cereal. Everything else is from TJ. Even my daughter's shampoo and conditioner.

We stopped buying Two Buck Chuck a while back.....it started tasting oogie to me. :o I think I've developed a taste for good wine, and Two Buck actually Three Bucks here anyway.

I can't imagine NOT shopping at TJ.....pretty much every meal comes from there in some form or other!

[Morrigoon]

Yeah, 2-buck Chuck is $3 in Nevada too, I remember being surprised by that.

[baileykat]

Oh my goodness! I would be sooo lost without my TJ's! It's the ONLY grocery store my kids actually want to shop in!

("I'm going to the store, who's going?" "Are you going to Trader Joe's?" "No" "Then we're not going!")

Love the cheese isle...the prices CAN not be beat! The snack's, condiments, love the Mandarin Chicken (soo good!), love the pastas and sauces...the pre-made pizza dough is wonderful! I buy the herb one and make breaksticks with a little parm cheese sprinkled on them!

I don't buy any veggies that arent' bagged there...and the fruit is over priced here...and the other complaint I have is the bread. Nothing with a preservative..so unless you put it in the freezer, you'll have moldy bread in a day or so!

And the wine selection...prices and selection CAN'T be beat!!!

[tabacco]

Love the cheese isle...the prices CAN not be beat! The snack's, condiments, love the Mandarin Chicken (soo good!), love the pastas and sauces...the pre-made pizza dough is wonderful! I buy the herb one and make breaksticks with a little parm cheese sprinkled on them!

Is the mandarin chicken a frozen thing? I don't remember seeing it, but it sounds good.