Shop for me at Trader Joe’s!
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Anonymous
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We don’t have a TJ convenient to us, so i haven’t been in years. Have to drop kids at an event today that is near a TJ and would love some suggestions on must-buys that don’t involve the freezer section (bc we’ll be gone a little too long for that… refrigerated should be fine).
We eat everything and have no food allergies. Kids happily eat veggies and ethnic food, and enjoy trying new things Kids (one tween, one teen) are now out of school and could use easy lunch options. Teen in particular is good the kitchen and can do actual cooking. Adults are trying to cut back on junk food snacking, so yummy snacks that are not completely nutritionally devoid would be great. We get tired of just fruit lol. I am always jealous of the threads of “buy this great thing from TJs” so would love to take advantage! |
Anonymous
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Yummy.
Find the threads that say "buy this great thing from TJs" and buy that. |
Anonymous
| Teen and I would also happily try out any body/beauty “dupes” worth buying! |
Anonymous
Locations are all based on my Trader Joe’s. So assuming you can find them 
In the produce section there’s a small section of refrigerated dressings. The Thai peanut dressing is fantastic on tofu or chicken or salads. The vegan Cesare dressing we use on pasta salad and add things like chicken and kale Near the meat section there’s a section of premade food and refrigerated pastas. My teens love the different refrigerated raviolis and tortellinis for lunch options. The nut section has a lot of great trail mixes and things like honey roasted peanuts. My kids love the Brie bites in the dairy section. Expensive as you only get 5 little bries, but good for lunchboxes. If you like Mediterranean foods, near the canned tuna is canned dolmas and and canned chickpeas. Add the chickpeas to pasta or a salad and have dolmas on the side and you have a nice Mediterranean meal (pick up feta, hummus, tzatziki, and garlic dip near the dairy and you’ve got more to add to your meal). In dry goods we get the canned chick peas and canned black beans for a lot of meals. Also near there a lot of international sauces—there’s a curry sauce that’s great. In the baking section the chocolate chips are a good price and really tasty. My kids like the blueberry muffin mix. Our favorite spices are: chili lime, everything but the elote, everything but the bagel, and the salmon rub is so good on salmon (but you have to use a lot of it—worth it). Also good on salmon is the garlic dip i mentioned earlier. Slather on top and air fry. A ton of baked goods, we don’t get as much of those because I’m low gluten, but a lot of people like the mini cakes—the newest one is strawberry. Near the coffee they have these single instant packs that I keep at work and they’re good for camping. Instant coffee plus a little sugar and a little dry cream. Add to hot water. There’s also a few different cold brews and chai tea. The brown sugar creamer in the dairy section is tasty on coffee. The graham crackers are really good-the one in the plastic not the cardboard box (cookies are often in the freezer section above the frozen stuff) Enjoy! |
Anonymous
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Eggplant garlic spread with sweet red peppers
Furikake seasoning Refrigerated sauerkraut Refrigerated bruschetta |
Anonymous
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For beauty dupes I’d try the new mineral sunscreen and watermelon lip mask. The Brazil nut body butter feels nice but the scent is very strong so make sure you like the smell. Great hand cream as well (more of. Winter item for me) - the aluminum tube in a blue box.
Pizza salad in a bag is surprisingly good. The lentil potato curls in the chip aisle are a good snack especially with hummus or another dip. The brown sugar oatmilk creamer is good if that’s your speed. I don’t have teens (I have picky younger kids) so my meal advice from there wouldn’t be as helpful. They do like the refrigerated bean burrito and lentil wrap. The adults like the shredded Gruyère-Swiss cheese. |
Anonymous
| If you have a dog, browse their pet treats. Our dog likes all of them. I like to give him the retriever rolls in the blue plastic pouch. They feel like a substantial treat, but are only 28 calories and have a satisfying crunchy factor. |
Anonymous
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Get the chocolate coffee granola. It’s so good. We also like the mini everything bagel sandwich crackers. They’re next to the mini peanut butter sandwich crackers.
Their refrigerated chicken piccata, meatloaf, and balsamic rosemary steak tips are all surprisingly good. |
Anonymous
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Chili rubbed dried mango
Jerk spiced plantain chip Knock off taquitos Freeze dried strawberries Mini ritz crackers with cheese Corn salsa Salsa verde Hand made tortillas Kringle (in bakery section) Bake at home ciabatta rolls Everything but the elote spice Everything but the bagel slice Chili lime soice Sriracha sauce Can you do fridge items? I love their roasted garlic humus. The zhoug sauce is good but very spicy. Refrigerated precooked French lentils Soyriz9 (soy based chorizo — so good) |
Anonymous
The salmon sweet potato treats are my dogs favorites and the Charlie bears are great training tool. |
Anonymous
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Refrigerated pesto
Hummus Whipped Feta Brown Sugar Oat Milk Creamer Bagged nuts, whatever you like Near the refrigerated pastas (also a love for us), there are pulled pork and pulled chicken. We use with the Carolina bbq sauce for sandwiches. Whole Wheat Sourdough bread plants fresh flowers Strawberry Pancake mix is seasonal and my kids look forward to it every year Agree with dog treats Any beauty products that catch your eye, they usually have a sample open |
Anonymous
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Anything from their cheese department but I personally love the triple cream brie
Vegan dill dressing They have really inexpensive bag of 2 pounds of brussels sprouts Szechuan green beans in the frozen food section Corn salsa Their frozen dumplings are good Their Indian food in the frozen section is good. I like the spinach one. Their goddess dressing They have some really good crackers and I can’t even remember what they’re called. Sorry I’m obviously on auto pilot when I’m there. |
Anonymous
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Super firm tofu.
Dough balls for pizza/bread. Dark chocolate peanut butter cups. Frozen battered non cream stuff is fine to thaw and re-freeze. |
Anonymous
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We mainly buy frozen food at TJs.
The two things that are shelf-stable are: California slab apricots (dried fruit) I only like tart dried apricots. I do not like the mushy, sweet circular "Turkish" or "Mediterranean" dried apricots that are more commonly sold by national brands and also imported as generic dried apricots. Apple Cider - TJ's has mulling spices and a hint of lemon. Their recipe is delicious. This is a perennial bur seasonal product. Note: some people bring cooler chests when they want to do a unique shop somewhere far from home. That is an option. |
Anonymous
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Seasonings - everything but the elote, chili lime, ranch
Canned dolmas Canned hearts of palm Packaged nuts - Marcona almonds and everything but the bagel cashews are favorites in our house Crackers - naan, multi cracker pack in the black and white box Sauces - Thai ginger, sweet chili, gyoza dipping sauce Salsas - we like all of them |