Trader Joe’s Haul: April 2019

Are you a fan of Trader Joe’s?  My guess is that if you’ve ever been shopping at Trader Joe’s you fall into one of two camps – you either love it and have your own Trader Joe’s must-have staples or you feel a little overwhelmed and not totally sure what to buy or where to find it.

Or maybe you fall somewhere in the middle; that’s fair.

Shopping at Trader Joe’s is new-ish to me.  I had never visited Trader Joe’s until I was in college and even still don’t live super close.  But, after asking for recommendations and looking at others’ Trader Joes’ must-haves, I found myself browsing the aisles in search of some of the most popular Trader Joe’s finds maybe a year ago.

And now, I’m happy to report that we have our own Trader Joe’s staples.

So today, I thought it would be fun to share our most recent Trader Joe’s grocery haul full of some of our favorite things, some new things, and some things we skipped this month.

If you shop at Trader Joe’s often, I’d love to know your favorite things to grab.  And if you don’t, perhaps this will give you some ideas of things to look for the next time you happen to be at Trader Joe’s.

Shopping at Trader Joe’s

Since we don’t live next door to Trader Joe’s, I try to spread our trips out to once per month of every month and a half – so that’s why there are so many duplicates in this haul.

And we didn’t get everything we might usually get depending on what was available in stock, what was on our meal plan, and what we already had in our pantry.

Frozen Veggies

Organic Riced Cauliflower – for me.  I like to use this instead of rice when we have tacos – and other times as a healthier alternative to rice as a side for our meals.

Grilled Cauliflower – to be totally fair, it would be cheaper to grill your own, fresh cauliflower, but these florets are perfect for something different with dinner and the littlest and I like them a lot.

Organic Sweet Peas – perfect to toss in a small bowl in the microwave for a side to the boys’ lunches

Frozen Broccoli Florets – I don’t usually buy these at Trader Joe’s since I buy them in bulk elsewhere, but we were out and I didn’t want to make a separate trip.

Whole Green Beans – just nice to keep in the freezer

Brussels Sprouts – a first time buy for us, but I want to try a new recipe with them, but not quite sure when I will, so I grabbed some frozen brussels sprouts for when I’m ready to make them.

Frozen Bell Peppers – another favorite.  I love these because they don’t also have onions in them.  A lot of time I find these in other stores, it’s peppers and onions, which I LIKE, but if I can’t brush my teeth after, I like having these without onions.

More Frozen/Refrigerated Foods

Yogurt cups – Little loves these.  The bigger, Greek yogurt cups are a hit around here, too, but Little likes to eat them and doesn’t finish them so these are less wasteful around here.

Cinnamon Rolls – for a Saturday morning treat.  They don’t have eggs so they’re safe for the Littlest, too, which is a major plus for me.

Multi-grain frozen waffles – they’re multi-grain, so they must be healthy, right?  They’re at least a good and quick breakfast for Little and they’re just $1.99/box so a good deal.  I don’t give these to the littlest though because of his egg allergy.

Farfalle 4 cheese & spinach freezer meals – these were new to us this month and we just tried them last week.  I like them.  We might not get them every time, but they are an easy lunch option for something different every now and then.  The boys like them and it’s big enough for them to share, or for one of them to eat and save left overs.

Tandoor Naan Bread – this is a FAVORITE for everyone in our family.  Cooks in just 2 minutes once the oven is at 400 – so we stick it in at the end of our meal’s cooking and it makes a different, easy side we can share.  I like that it’s frozen so I don’t have to worry about eating it right away or it losing its freshness.

Butter – just because it’s a staple.  I compared it with my Wal-Mart grocery app and it was $0.01 more expensive at Trader Joe’s, so we grabbed it there to mark it off our list.

Sun-dried Tomato Chicken Sausages – are fully cooked and heat in the microwave in just 35 seconds.  We dip them in pasta sauce for EASY lunches during the week.  I always buy two or three packages and keep one out and toss the others in the freezer for later.

Vegetable Masala Burgers – my FAVORITE veggie burgers from Trader Joe’s.  I also like the Cowboy Quinoa burgers, but these are my fave.  So flavorful and the littlest likes them, too.  It’s another easy to prep lunch for us to have during the week.

Cheese Tortellini – favorited by my somewhat picky three year old.  We usually cook some and save some in the freezer for later.

Avocado Tzatziki Dip, Chunky Guacamole w/ Greek Yogurt – our FAVORITE dips.  We usually dip a whole grain flat bread, but also great alone or with other sides.

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus – This was our first time trying this hummus and I like it, but I wish it didn’t have added sugar (it’s not a lot, but I just wish it didn’t have it at all)

Fresh Produce

We didn’t buy a lot of fresh produce this month – and I usually don’t since I go so infrequently.  I had already bought lots of fruit and I was specifically looking for a spaghetti squash that they didn’t have.  We ended up with squash and zucchini, a few bananas since we were out at home. And raspberries that kept the boys happily snacking while we shopped.

Pantry Foods

Organic Cheese & Peanut Butter Crackers – a BIG hit around here for snack cups!

Organic Joe’s O’s – basically spaghetti-o’s, but without the high fructose corn syrup.  Little loves these – and the littlest wishes they didn’t contain eggs so he could love them, too.  A go-to quick lunch around here.

Are you seeing a trend here?  I’m always on the lookout for ways to make lunchtime quick, easy, and somewhat healthy around here.  And lots of the time, I find those options at Trader Joe’s, stock up and use them throughout the month.

All the pasta – I just let Little choose which “flavor” of pasta he wants each time we go shopping.  Trader Joe’s pasta is made without eggs and it costs $0.99/lb bag so it’s what we always get.  I never mind which noodles the boys choose since it’s all the same anyway in terms of taste.

Fruit & cereal bars – granted not health food, but without some of the other junk in other brand bars and they make a fast breakfast if we sleep in or are in a rush to get somewhere.

Favorite Trader Joe’s Snacks

And lastly, some of our favorite snacks.  There are SO many good snacks at Trader Joe’s and we definitely like to try new things from sometimes.  This month, we opted just to restock some of our favorites.

Candy-Coated Chocolate Drops – think M&M’s without the artificial coloring.

Organic Lollipops  – another without artificial coloring and flavors.  They give these out to kids at the cash registers and we keep them on hand and put away here for special treats!

Cinnamon Schoolbook Cookies – aka ABC cookies around here.  Not too sweet and both boys enjoy them for snacks.

Chocolatey Cats Cookies for People – chocolate cookies shapes like tigers that they boys like.  Also, not too sweet, which I like.  But sweet enough to be a treat.

And that’s what we grabbed this month.  Other things on our list that we skipped this month are milk, frozen corn (we forgot this by total mistake!), cookie butter – it’s DELICIOUS, but I know we will have an influx of sweets coming in at Easter.

What are your favorite Trader Joe’s staples?  Let me know so I can add them to our list!