Trader Joe’s

Jul
02

Treats found today at Trader Joe’s

I decided while I was out and about today to pop into Trader Joe’s. I thought I’d share a few yummy yummies I found while there!

Fresh Basil, 4 oz container
$2.49
(this is a really good price!)

Ears of Corn
$0.39 each

Bagged greens: Arugula, Champs Elysees, Baby Spinach, Lamb’s Lettuce, etc
$1.99

Artisan Lettuce
$1.99

Corn and Chile Salsa 
$2.49
(AKA the best salsa ever known to mankind….and here’s a great recipe idea for it, too)

Pineapple Salsa
$1.99
(Anyone try this before? Looks good!)

Organic Yellow Mustard
$1.99

Bagged Popcorn (several varieties, in the chip aisle)
$1.99

Seaweed Snacks
$0.99

Trader Joe’s Cereals
(O’s and Crisp Rice)
$1.99

Pizza Dough
$1.29 each

Hummus
(Regular, Tomato Basil, Eggplant, Roasted Garlic, Olive)
$1.99

Small packs of Genoa Salami & Provolone
$1.99
(Maybe a quick picnic idea?)

Light Coconut Milk Cans
$0.99

Coconut Oil, 16 oz jar
$5.99

Mango Ginger Chutney, 9 oz 
$2.29
(This is by far the best price on chutney I’ve found in town!)

Spicy Brown Mustard
$0.99

Thai Red or Yellow Curry Sauce, 11 oz
OR Peanut Satay Sauce, 9 oz
$2.79

Sea Salt in tall canister
$1.49
(I picked one of these up myself!)

Fancy Salt & Pepper Grinders
(such as Himalayan Pink Salt, etc)
$1.99 each

Organic, Free Range Chicken Broth, 32 oz
$1.99
(Pretty good price for this item, this time of year!)

Organic Vegetable Broth, 32 oz
$2.29
(Ditto!)

Toasted Sesame Oil, 5 oz
$2.29
(They have lots of other beautifully bottled vinegars and oils, too!)

Bath Tissue, 12 rolls
$4.49

2-pack Honey & Almond Soap
$1.69
(Pretty looking – would be nice for a gift)

Have you found anything fun lately at Trader Joe’s? Any recipe ideas using Trader Joe ingredients?

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Apr
23

My Ultra Big Shopping Trip: Trader Joe’s, Fred Meyer, WinCo

I hadn’t gone shopping in two weeks given that I was out for the count last week becoming Bionic woman. (An aside here – thank you to my dear friends Carmen, Cassandra, and Kerifor supplying my family with beautiful meals delivered to my home while I was recovering – you guys rock!)

Terry and I recently upped our grocery budget to $400 a month as we’re making an effort to eat more organic produce, whole foods, and reduce our eating out costs. So far, this seems to be working well for our family of four. I took $100 cash out today and started my trip at WinCo:

I spent $10.21 on everything pictured above – just bulk items! I refill our Quaker Oats bin about twice a month with the old-fashioned oats from bulk at WinCo ($1.32 to refill it!). A few other notables:

  • Pinenuts for a pesto: $1.23! Buy in bulk, buy just what you need and pine nuts will not break the bank!
  • Forbidden rice for $2.06! I’ve seen this for some time and have been curious to try it. I’ll be using it in this Forbidden Rice Salad recipe I pinned. (It’s vegan and GF for my specialty diet followers.)
  • Raw Sugar for $1.74! Another inexpensive way to save on a specialty item.

I then proceeded to hit up Trader Joe’s and Fred Meyer for the remainder of my whirlwind shopping:

It’s hard to see everything here, but I’d guess a good 60-70% of what I bought today was produce, and at least half of that was organic. I also purchased some organic meat for my family (though I won’t be eating it), along with tons of greens, pizza dough from Trader Joe’s, cereal, stuff for my son’s lunch, and a few treats to boot.

The grand total was $104.87, which is exactly $4.87 more than I wanted to spend this week. I’ll cut back a bit next week to even things out.

Here’s my meal plan this week:

I also bought plenty of smoothie fixins’ including some new greens I’m excited to try from Trader Joe’s. I’m also thinking of trying a strawberry-basil concoction later today.

I know some of you are thinking that $100 sounds like a lot of money, so let me explain how this is actually pretty affordable for my family:

  • We eat out less these days and made small cuts in other areas that add up.
  • I have worked to avoid those middle of the week shopping trips – this is SUCH a money zapper if you’re not careful. Seriously, folks. Try focusing your shopping to one day per week and be amazed by the savings.
  • Every item has a purpose. I always start with a meal plan these days and then break the meals down into ingredients. I still work to sort through ads/coupon deals to see what could be built around those items for cost savings. For instance – the chickpeas were $0.50 last week at Fred Meyer. Perfect, I just added chickpea tacos to the menu this week!

I will say that given how much fresh greens we now eat, I am all the more eager for our garden to start growing, growing, growing so we can start saving, saving, saving! For more on how and why I’m eating this way, check out my recent post on my diet.

Did you do any shopping today? Have you moved to more healthful eating and if so, how have you offset any jump in cost?

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Mar
22

Trader Joe Deals and Finds for 3/22

After running a quick poll on Facebook, I ended up making a trip out to Trader Joe’s to see what tasty finds and deals I could share with you!

Trader Joe’s is a store I love to shop at on occasion for special treats. They have stuff there that you just can’t find anywhere else. Plus I always enjoy trying their samples and my kids always end up with more than their fair share of stickers. For today’s post, I’m going to share some of my favorite Trader Joe items in addition to the deals!

Angela’s Tasty Trader Joe Recommendations

Tom Yam Soup (in frozen)
$2.69
One of these bags makes a serving and it’s delicious soup! It comes with a spice packet (Thai chilis, lemongrass) that you can make as spicy or mild as you please. A delicious and inexpensive alternative to heading to the Thai restaurant! I now have to pick up at least two of these whenever I pop into the store. It’s what I’ll be eating for lunch today!

Medjool Dates, 16 oz (in produce)
$3.69
I actually think this is fairly strong price for nice dates! They do have pits, but I find they are easily removed and these dates are just so juicy. Lately I’ve been using dates to sweeten my smoothies. I also love chomping on them as a snack.

Cinnamon Schoolhouse Cookies, 16 oz tub (on shelf above frozen foods)
$2.49
My kids love these cookies and I do think the price is right. They have other varieties too including ginger cats. A few letters may have gotten eaten on the way home….

Thai Lime & Chili Cashews, 16 oz (in the nut/dried fruit section)
$6.99
NOT cheap by any stretch, but just delicious. A super nice splurge to make.

Fig Butter (promotional)
$2.29
I tried this for the first time today in the store and just HAD to bring some home! It makes toast taste like a fig newton. So good. The gal at the sample station said it’s also good served with brie or goat cheese. I’ve seen fig jam at other grocery stores for about $5-6, so this is definitely a deal in my book. They also had apple butter for the same price.

Other Great Deals in the Store

Rainier Organic Sprouted Bread
$2.99
(This seems like a great price for sprouted bread!)

Eggplant
$1.29 each

Kumquats, 10 oz
$3.29

Asparagus
$1.99/lb

Organic Herbs – Mint, Sage, Oregano
$1.79
(At most stores, these are $1.99)

Romaine Hearts
$1.99

Organic Romaine Hearts
$2.49

Pear Vinaigrette with Gorgonzola (in produce)
$2.99

Organic Basil, 4 oz 
$2.79
(Same size $3.99 at Fred Meyer)

Green Pears, 5 lb bag
$3.99

Pizza Dough (includes Whole Wheat and Garlic & Herb)
$1.99 each

Almond Breeze, Shelf Stable $1.99
$0.55/1 coupon from 3/18 SmartSource
Bottom line: $1.44

Nature’s Path Organic Cereal $2.99
$1/1 printable coupon
Bottom line: $1.99

McCann Quick Cook Oatmeal $3.29
$1/1 printable coupon
Bottom line: $2.29

McCann Steel Cut Oats $5.99
$1/1 printable coupon
Bottom line: $4.99

Joe’s Brand Cereal – O’s, Crisp Rice, Frosted Flakes
$1.99

Whole Fryer Chicken – Free Range
$1.69/lb

Whole Fryer Chicken – Organic, Free Range
$2.69/lb

Spanish Tapas Sampler (three cheese)
$3.99
(This looked like a nice option for a party!)

Kozy Shack No Added Sugar Pudding Packs $2.99
$1/2 coupon from 3/4 SmartSource
Bottom line: $2.49 each

Zico Coconut Water, 11 oz
$1.49

Almond Meal, 16 oz (package reads “great for baking and breading!”) 
$3.99

Plantain Chips
$1.69

Seaweed Snacks (in chip aisle)
$0.99

Dorot Frozen Spice Cubes, 20 cubes per pack
$1.99
These looked SO interesting – they had garlic, cilantro, and basil. You just pop out one of the cubes when you need it for your cooking!

Frozen Chicken Breast, 40 oz
$6.99

Green Vegetable Curry, 14 oz container
$1.99
Looks like an individual microwavable serving. Anyone tried this?

Organic Tempeh
$1.69

Organic Firm Tofu
$1.29

Spanish Saffron, 0.02 oz
$5.99
As an added bonus, it comes in a cute bottle with a cork lid. (Yeah, sometimes I’m a sucker for marketing tactics…)

Organic Oregano (in spices)
$1.99

Olive Tapenade
$2.99

 

Trader Joe’s Macaroni and Cheese
$0.99

Trader Joe’s Spaghetti & Other Select Pasta
$0.99

Toasted Sesame Oil, 5 oz
$2.29

I also found wines starting at $3.99. Looks like some good values there, if you’re interested.

You might be interested in this corn salsa & black bean pasta recipe I made last August using ingredients found at Trader Joe’s. It’s cheap and yummy.

I’d love to know what you enjoy most about Trader Joe’s – either tips about shopping there or your favorite treats! Do you shop there regularly?

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Aug
11

Perfect summer pasta a la Trader Joe’s

I have a love/hate relationship with Trader Joe’s.

They always have the best samples in the back of their store. And I always taste them. Then I find these items I “have to buy” every time I come in their store! That’s how I discovered their frozen Tom Yam soup and now I have to buy it every time I visit. This is marketing wizardry at its finest, my friends.

Last week, they were selling this amazing-looking corn & chile salsa and serving up a delicious pasta salad highlighting it as a key ingredient. Of course it was so good I had to buy a jar of the salsa (don’t worry, it was just $2.29) and recreate the pasta dish for you today.

The ingredients are few, simple, and frugal:

One jar Trader Joe’s Corn & Chile Salsa ($2.29 last week)
One can black beans (I already had on hand; I’d paid $0.50 for mine)
Cilantro (Free, from my garden)
Pasta (Free, from past sale)
Total cost: $2.79!

The corn salsa makes this dish. It’s got a nice sweetness to it from the corn, and the chile adds the right amount of “kick.”

You simply mix the corn, beans, and chopped cilantro together while the pasta cooks.

Drain the pasta and rinse with cold water, mix in the corn and black bean mixture. Serve chilled. Viola! It’s that simple!

I think there many other uses for that corn and black bean mixture, too. I couldn’t resist…and I used some of it to make quesadillas. Delicious!

Have you tried/seen this salsa before at Trader Joe’s? What are some of your favorite treats there? Any tips for shopping there on a budget?

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