My Ode To Trader Joe’s
Posted: March 23, 2011 at 7:00 pmOh Trader Joes how I love thee.
You give me all sorts of goods from pastas to coffee.
Roasted Garlic Sausage with Portabella Stuffed TJs Ravioli + Veggies
Your sausages always make an appearance
in our freezer for easy meal deliverance.
The Sweet Apple & Mango flavors are a breakfast delight.
Even if not the most beautiful sight.
Mango Sausage with Peanut Butter Waffles
Spicy Jalapeno & Roasted Garlic too.
Spicy Jalapeno Sausage + Veggie Jambalaya
Oh, Trader Joe’s how I love you.
We cannot forget that cereal aisle.
Or the dark chocolate that always makes me smile.
Speaking of dark chocolate, TJ’s you amaze me…
with all that you cover from almonds to pom seeds.
Then, of course, my favorite White Bean Basil hummus.
Perfect for spreading on a Roasted Eggplant Panini or for dipping veggies.
And your Mandarin Orange Chicken that makes you so famous.
Serious yum!
You have sauces and salsas of so many flavors.
They make any dish that much more worthy to savor.
I have searched high and low with no such luck
in finding a comparison to your 3-buck-chuck.
Even down to your breads, you make everything yum.
In fact, your multigrain thins are the only thing M deems worthy of her tum.
And though you suffer an identity crisis, Trader Joe/Jose/Ming,
I promise to still adore you. After all, you make my heart mouth sing.
Question of the Day – TJs fan? How often can you shop there or something like Whole Foods? We usually do our local Kroger, but will stock up on TJs when we can!
**Also, thank you all SO much for your comments and words of wisdom in my The Friend Break-Up post. It’s amazing how many of us have gone through similar situations. It seems there is a great split on whether or not to confront the issue head on or just allow things to move on naturally. I think I’m leaning towards the latter by not extending effort myself in the relationship anymore. I will openly discuss the situation, however, if the opportunity arises or becomes necessary. Once again, thank you for YOUR friendship!
we just got a trader joes and i am loving it. we have whole foods and i have wound up just doing all my shopping there. i hate going to 2 different places. trader is my new fav……
I’ve never been to a Trader Joe’s, we don’t have that here, but I so want to go there if I ever see one traveling. I shop at a store called Harris Teeter, though :). It’s pretty neat…
I have always heard good things about harris teeter. Never been to one though!
this just makes me SO hungry!
I LOVE Trader Joes so much, but we dont have them in Canada. Its so unfair.
ahhhhh! I love TJs! Josh’s Mom ships me what I really want. We’re FINALLY getting one in Charleston in July. I can’t wait
I would think Charleston would have one!
LOVE the trader joes LOVE! I wish I had one close! I love it, and I love their cereals!!!!!
🙁 —> no trader joe’s in Colorado!!!
Well I will just have to come bearing goodies the day we finally get to meet. 😉
hahahaha i LOVE this!! is it sad that the employees know me by name, in a TJ’s thats not even in my own state?!
I am a huge Trader Joe’s fan! Almost everything in my fridge and pantry are TJ brand. I am convinced that Trader Joe’s can do no wrong! I have a weekly quest on making TJ a little bit richer. Weekend cannot be soon enough, so I can stock up again 🙂 I have a huge desire for dark chocolate covered coffee beans..
I would love to eat in your kitchen. And help you polish off those coffee beans.
I love this, it’s so cute!
We don’t have a TJ’s near us, unfortunately. I wish!
Through blogging I’ve become a HUGE TJ’s fan even though we don’t have them in Canada. It started out trading products across the border with other bloggers…so fun!! Now that I live back on the West Coast we actually have one not tooooo far away just over the border in Washington State and while I haven’t been there myself yet many of my friends travel down and bring things back for me!
My favourite TJ’s addiction is the Roasted Flax Almond Butter. So amazing!
I’m hoping to make a trip there soon myself and I’m bringing a cooler so I can try some of the perishable items like those sausages!
That’s what we do. Bring a coller when we go and stock up. It works well. LOL
I love TJ’s — everything I have tried there is so cheap and tastes amazing.
This is a great post! You should send it to them!
I only WISH they had a TJs in Dallas, or anywhere in Texas for that matter! I shop at Whole Foods about once a week and we go to Sunflower Market, which has great deals. I’d say it’s the closest thing to a TJs. We also have a place called Natural Grocers and they have bargain prices on some Whole Foods brands which is always nice!
Tina this is SO fantastic!! 😀 I love TJ’s – I used to go to one by the clinic a lot – sometimes multiple visits in a week – the employees recognized me! It’s not my “every day” store anymore, there’s a natural foods that’s closer, but I still get there a lot…
TJ’s is my FAVORITE!!! I just downed a container or white bean basil hummus too!
It is seriously SO good!!! I made my sister bring some up special because she lives closer to one. I may have to make it her weekly payment for feeding her dinner every Tuesday. Her love is no longer enough! 😉
hahaha omg I love this post! I love reading what other people get at TJs becauase there are so many delicious products that I want to just try them all! I can live vicariously through you for now 🙂
that no salt added salsa is SO good! I always have at least 2 jars in my cabinets at all times!
I go to the regular grocery store every week, Whole Foods once every two weeks, and Trader Joe’s every once in a while. I’ll admit, I don’t like the layout of the store and can never seem to find anything on my own. 🙁 For example, where do they keep their chocolate chips?! This is important information that I need to know! 🙂
Yea. The layout is weird. And come to think of it…I wouldn’t know where to tell you to find the choc chips either! LOL
Amen to that sister! I love TJ’s too!
LOVE Trader Joe’s! I’m a huge fan and I’ve loved everything I’ve eaten from there. I love their frozen Indian food for lunches. I buy a lot of interesting wines from TJ too.
The closest Trader Joe’s to me is about 20 minutes away (midtown) so I’ll go whenever I’m in the neighborhood. I usually shop at Kroger though. Sometimes I go to Whole Foods on my lunch break but I general just get lunch there and a few speciality items but not my entire grocery haul.
That’s me. Ours is 20 mins away in Roswell so we go only every once in a while and stock up on favorites. Kroger for regular groceries. thank goodness it has a large variety of quality stuff!
I wish I had a Trader Joe’s around me 🙁
The closest one if over an hour away, and I don’t have any extra freezer space. I really need to invest in an upright freezer, chest freezers are terrible!
is, not if.
I love Trader Joe’s – I would prefer to do all my shopping there and at Whole Foods.
Trader Joe’s has the best prices on good produce, although the selection is sometimes iffy. I would say I go to TJ’s and WF’s about every other week or once a week – depending on the month.
Love TJ’s!!! Which one do you go to? I normally hit the one in Norcross, but that doesn’t look like the one I go to.
Either Norcross or Roswell depending on what else we are doing. Roswell usually bec its closer to where Peter’s family lives.
I’m a definite fan. Really… they should put my picture up in their store or something. it’s semi-out of control
That was too cute! We don’t have a Trader Joes in Texas but when Keith and I were in Arizona we made several stops in. We were AMAZED at how much cheaper everything was!! It was crazy…it made us angry at how much Whole Foods charges! But rumor on the street is that we are getting one in like 2015…or some time realllly far away! 🙁
Crazy thing is that 2015 will be here before we know it though. Which creeps me out bec then M will be 6 or 7!
I’m at TJ’s at least once a week. We love to shop there and it’s so affordable. As for Whole Foods, it’s about 35-40 min. drive so we don’t go often but any time we are close we stop in. There are items there that TJ’s doesn’t have that I like so it’s nice to get them. We also have The Fresh Market here and I will only buy their sushi, it’s so fresh and made daily.
I love Trader Joe’s but we only go every once in a while. But I think I will shopping there more often now that I am eating healthy, good-for-you food!
This post is just so cute! I love Trader Joe’s 🙂 I decided the other day that I could never live far away from a TJ’s!
I wish TJ’s would make its way up to Canada!! I ADORE Whole Foods but unfortunately for me (and luckily for my wallet) the nearest one is an hour away. However, whenever I’m in that general area I always make a point of going!
I wish we had a Trader Joe’s or even a Whole Foods- so when we’re visiting a city that does I was stock up on fun new things. So I guess you can say last month I went as far as SanFrancisco to get a Trader Joe’s fix, and I needed an extra bag to fly it home!
That is dedication! 😉
Wow, it’s weird that you posted this tonight. My husband and I just got back from a HUGE TJ’s trip. We went a little nuts w/our tax return money, and made a special trip to the nearest Trader Joe’s to us- 45 miles away, in another state. Ha!
Haha, love it 🙂 On your recommendation, we tried the Mandarin Orange Chicken, can we say amazing!?
This is so cute, I love it! I tried TJ’s for the first time about 6 months ago, and I’ve been hooked ever since… there are so many things I can only find there that I have to go every week!
Have you ever tried their spinach, fontina, and roasted garlic chicken sausage? That’s my fav!
Yep! Love it. We actually had some for dinner one night this week. 🙂
I LOVE TJ’s but there isn’t any of them near me! Boooo! Although I do love me some Publix! 😉
OMG LOVE Trader Joes!! For all of those reasons. Have you tried the cilantro lime salad dressing? SO good. And I just tried the basil pesto chicken sausage. De-lish!
OH man, I am so jealous of your Trader Joes!! We had one in Ann Arbor and I never took advantage of it’s deliciousness. Now here we are in Dallas, TJ-less. Sad day 🙁
I looooooove Trader Joe’s! I go there and to Whole Foods about 2-3 times a month because neither one is too far from me. I’m a total bargain shopper and you just can’t beat the prices for the quality at TJs!
Agreed. Their prices are so good for what you are getting. probably the biggest reason I love them!
Le sigh!! I miss trader joes so much!!
I live in Iowa and we just got our first Trader Joe’s in Des Moines…unfortunately I live about 2.5 hrs from Des Moines, so have yet to visit it, but I can’t wait!
Unfortunately I do not have a TJ’s anywhere close to me. We have Whole Foods that I go to every couple of months. Not only because of the prices, but also because of the distance. It is a minimum 30 minute drive without traffic.
Haha! This is cute! I so want to visit a Trader Joes now! 🙂
I can’t wait until I can have TJ’s in my life. All of those things look amazing!
oh I miss TJ’s! I need to fly somewhere just so I can go to TJ’s. Wine is the best!
I don’t shop there that often, mainly because they are kind of far from me and their parking lots are horrendous. Also, it would help if they opened at 6 AM instead of 9. I actually do a lot of grocery shopping before 8 AM. Yes, I’m weird.
i LOVE trader joe’s! that’s where i do most of my shopping now – it’s sooooo close to my apartment! after i move next month it’ll be about a half hour drive away, though. so i’ll probably only make one stock-up trip per month-ish then!
I don’t have a Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods in my area, but I hear TJ’s is phenomenal!
I can’t discriminate. I love TJs, Whole Foods, and the Farmer’s Market. I’ve been known to hit all 3 in a weekend… and then wonder how I can spend so much $$ on food for one… LOL!
TJ’s is near and dear to my heart. And whether it’s Joe, Jose or Ming lending a hand with dinner, the end product is always delicious! (Loved the identity crisis call out! haha).
I’ve actually been shopping at Trader Joe’s since I was a baby. I grew up in southern California, which is where the original store is located. I most remember loving the canned corn…For some reason my mom always bought it from TJ’s! To this day, I consider it comfort food.
I’ve never seen the white bean basil hummus…Next time I go, I’ll be on the lookout!
How cool you grew up with TJs. Wonder what TJs food will be M’s comfort…besides their thins of course. LOL
And yes. You must find that hummus. So smooth and delicious.
No Trader Joe’s here in Central PA. I am hoping to make a trip to one not that far away in MD soon. I have a running list of all the cool things I want to try. I just added those sausages to my list : )