Happy Monday y’all…can you tell I just returned from TN? My Grammy was from the south and lived in NY for a long time, but never lost her southern accent. I always wanted one!
Monday’s are my days off, so we are often at the grocery store and for the last few months, we have been hitting up Trader Joe’s during our Monday run arounds. Since I am always looking for new things to try and like to know everyone staples, I thought it would be fun to share, and then in the comments, let me know what you like to get at Trader Joes, so I can add it to my list!
OF COURSE, we should start with the flowers. They are a must and you can’t beat the price.
There is always plenty to choose from too. So you never have to worry about leaving empty handed.
There fruit is alway so fresh, and not sure where they get it from, but even when it isn’t in season here in New York, it always has flavor, unlike our other grocery stores, and also cheaper then our local and big chain G-stores.
This week we bought, banana’s (which are 19 cents a pound), a cantaloupe, pineapple and some raspberries. My little grocery shopping helper may have started eating the berries before we got home.
We like to make smoothies, so we needed some frozen fruit and my daughter uses their orange, strawberry, banana juice in hers! I will also use that juice to make our 3 year old smoothies as a treat. He loves them!
A lunch staple for us is their frozen cheese pizza with cauliflower crust. Which is Gluten Free. We don’t need that, but my hips can use a break from all the carbs sometimes. I LOVE CARBS…bread, bagels, bread, bread, all of it, did I mention bread? haha, seriously though, this is a great alternative and it doesn’t taste any different.
Some quick dinner options we usually get is the Orange Chicken, which we have with their brown rice, and sweet and sour chicken with the jasmine rice.
This week we got the Shrimp Stir Fry. These are perfect for nights we have lessons, practice, games, concerts, all the kid things going on. Or when I have had one of those days and just want to make something quick and relax after work for a minute before starting dinner.
Another favorite of ours (which is alway very fast) is their Balsamic Rosemary Beef Steak Tips. You make them right on the stove, and they are DELISH!
And we always come home with frozen veggies. Roasted corn, sweet white corn, grilled asparagus, green beans and beets are some of our favs.
This Mexican corn is great for taco Tuesdays! The kids love it so much they even like it when we aren’t having Mexican (we had with steak and cheese wraps in the picture above, haha!) not my first choice, but whatever, as long as they are eating, right… Pick your battles, haha!
We also get their frozen spinach for smoothies, and frozen cut up peppers. Perfect to add to sauce, have with sausage, snack on, or put on salads.
Also picture above (from another trip to Trader Joes) is the cauliflower gnocchi, frozen french fries, oatmeal, cereal bars, and the kids FAVORITE, the chocolate cookie dish. It is frozen, you just cover in foil, and bake and serve in slices like a pie. Add a scoop of vanilla icecream and WOW it is so good!!!
Also pictured from that trip to TJ’s is the Chicken Sausage, Sweet Apple and Sweet Italian are our go to’s. We often get the Beef Pot Roast, and I put it in the crock pot with some potatoes, celery and carrots and let it do it’s thing!
Some salad staples on our list:
Let’s move on to some Not As Healthy favs of ours:
The boys LOVE their blueberry muffins (why wouldn’t anyone), the caramel popcorn is a nice treat. This week we got the chocolate covered almonds with coconut, and they have not disappointed. Lucca likes the animal crackers, and the cinnamon schoolbook cookies (ABC’s) and the chocolate cat cookies. My daughter LOVES the pretzels filled with Peanut Butter. OUR FAVORITE non-healthy item from Trader Joe’s is the Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups. Hands down a must every trip! Even give them out as gifts sometimes.
They are so good, that they never get to the bag, always pulled out and ride in the front, so we can snack on them on the way home 🙊
We usually get the chocolate covered strawberries, and the chocolate covered banana’s too! So Yummy! (Frozen)
Some other favs that I don’t have a picture of is the Everything but the Bagel seasoning. We love to add to our avocado toast. And we always get the bag of avocados too.
Some tips:
Bring a cutie with you…
Ask for stickers for your helper at the register, they will gladly give you a strip!
Put the flowers on the top of your bag and put in the front seat, I swear it will put you in a good mood. Flowers do that, They really do!
I will add to this post as we get new items on our next trips to Trader Joe’s.
Some new Favs:
Their brand of pirate bootie. They are only $1.99 for a huge bag. We have been getting the white cheddar (like pirate bootie) and the sour cream, sooo good!
Their fruit has been so fresh all winter long, I will make the half hour drive just to get their fruit!
Thanks for stopping by the blog! I would love to add some of your favs to my list, leave them in the comments! Have a great day, Friends!
Leandra
XOXOX