Trader Joe's Groupie

I absolutely LOVE Trader Joe's! I strive to one day do all of my grocery shopping there, but at this point, I have a very definite list of things I ONLY go to TJ's for. I plan to share those things with you in this post :)





The first thing that really drew me in was Trader Ming's's Orange Chicken. They were giving out samples (yes, the daily samples are a wonderful perk), and Josh and I were immediately hooked! This stuff is super yummy and super easy. Those are both requirements in my meal-planning! I bake the frozen goods and toss it on to some rice. We get a whole dinner for $4 + rice!

I have branched out on our Orange Chicken nights and now make Trader Ming's Chicken Shu-Mai as an accompaniment. I think I like these more than Josh, but they are so good! I think I even like them better the day after...
When Jackson began eating yogurt, I winced at the price of YoBaby, and was thrilled when I found Trader Joe's Fruit and Cream yogurts! They have the same high fat value that is important at this point, and are cheaper :)
Jackson goes back and forth about his love of Trader Joe's Dried Fruit Strips. These are so easy to just keep in my bag for a simple snack on the go. When he loves them, he might eat two at a time!
A friend gave me a bottle of red wine and said that it went great with dark chocolate. YUM! I was debating what kind of dark chocolate to get while I was browsing TJ's one day. This bag of dark chocolate covered pretzels looked yummy, so I gave them a try. Well, they were delicious with the wine...and with pretty much everything else during the day :)

The next two things on my list to purchase are Joe's Diner's Mac 'n' Cheese and Thai Joe's Coconut Curry Chicken Stix. The mac 'n' cheese was a sample last week and was delicious! The coconut curry stix just sound yummy!


I always go to Trader Joe's for my wine and flower needs :) I don't think I've ever tried a bottle of wine over $5 and they have all been yummy! The flowers are always gorgeous and you can usually get a bunch of seasonal flowers for $4 or $5!


I have tried out several other products including lunch meat, produce, milk, cereal, and baked goods. There is always something yummy in the baked good section! I buy their frozen berries in the winter--great for defrosting and feeding to Jackson, or for making smoothies with. The only thing I wish was better was their baking section. There aren't very many options for baking mixes. I feel like that would open a whole new world!

The employees at TJ's really add to the great atmosphere. They are all genuinely friendly and have great opinions to offer about their products. The Trader Joe's ad is called The Fearless Flyer. It is a great booklet with lots of details about new and featured products. You can sign up here to have it delivered via snail-mail or e-mail :)

For more Things I Love Thursday, check out The Diaper Diaries :)