When I lived back in Cambridge, I visited TJ's 2-3 times a week. But it's been almost two years since I moved to a Trader Joe-less wasteland.

My sainted mother is visiting next week, and she's asked for my TJ's wishlist. I've already requested my favorite salad dressing and the chocolate-covered peanut butter-filled pretzels. But for some reason, I'm drawing a blank on all the other delightful staples I used to stock up on.

That's where you come in. Remind me of all the wonders my mother should fill her suitcase with. Shelf-stable stuff only.

Thank you in advance!

Anxy, recommend some sauces!

CalhounSq, recommend some snacks!

Salsas! (I'm partial to the corn one)

Cookies too!



I prefer the cashew caramel ones though

Thanks, thekidsgirl!

I'm also interested in staples that they have for cheaper than grocery stores (nuts, flours, etc)

Any specific things in that area that you guys can think of?

Lemon Ginger Echinacea Juice

thekidsgirl said:

They have this Sweet and Salty nut mix that is to die for

If you drink soymilk, their storebrand chocolate soy milk is the best stuff I've ever drank, and I usually dont like soy milk too much to drink it alone

thekidsgirl said:

oh my god, YES, the corn salsa. that stuff is x 1,000,000

and if they still stock them, get a bag of the identity crisis chips to go with the corn salsa. (i'm just sayin')

oh, and of course, my precious simmer sauces:

my favorite (and i think the one that goes the farthest) is the thai green curry. the punjab spinach and the regular ol' curry simmer sauces are good, too. i usually try to have two jars of each in our cupboard cuz it makes for a simple and uber-yummy meal (though i have to confess, i'm not mad at the indian/thai curry sauces at target, either - TJs has some competition)

i'm also a big fan of their general tso's stir fry sauce. it tastes just as good as chinese take-out.

their sweet and sour is awesome, too. it's probably my favorite store-bought sweet and sour sauce...sometimes as a snack, i love to just make a half cup of white rice and slap a dollop of the stuff on top with a little bit of black pepper. yum.

if you're pulling out all the stops, you better ask for a container of the oatmeal cranberry white chocolate dunker cookies, too. those things are crack.

ThirdandFinal said:

Anxiety said:

That's what I'm talking about!

I shopped there today. Mostly get staple foods like Pink lady and Fuji apples, bananas, whole wheat mini-bagels, frozen broccoli, and apple fruit bars. Last week I bought a spinach salad with bleu cheese, sweetened walnuts, and cranberries with rapsberry vinaigrette.

ThirdandFinal said:

fabulous placement.

Traders Alfredo sauce and organic marinara are fantastic.....

I love my Trader Joe's snacks!

*100 Calorie Milk or Dark Chocolate Bars
*Fiberful ends & pieces
*Vanilla Almond Crunch Granola Bars
*Organic Popcorn with Olive Oil






[Edited 8/6/09 17:20pm]

i love their little jars of stuffed grape leaves in olive oil with lemon wedges, though it's hardly a bargain.

still, it's one of my favorite snacks to keep in the cupboard when i've had a really crappy day and need to spoil myself.

Bread pudding muffins.


Them things 'bout make me want to change my name to Pookie.

dont forget your barefoot hippie dude with his long dirty toe nails digging and scraping into the dirty floor..in fact you better get two.
one for now and another for later.

Dirty hippies, long toenails and two references to crack cocaine. Now this is starting to look like an Org thread!

My favorite thing to buy there is challah for French toast.

Triple Ginger Ginger Snaps are amazing.

I love some of their oatmeals and I buy bags of walnuts, almonds, organic raisins, apricots, dried cranberries and blueberries, dried pineapple and anything else that looks good ~ mix it all together and you'll have enough to share.

At Christmas, they have the best Cranberry Walnut Tart I've ever tasted ~ except it's always sold out.

MoonSongs said:

@ all of the above, especially the dried fruit mix

A must for sammiches, or spread on grilled/baked chikkunz breastuhses then topped with fresh mozarella.

There's a TJ's about a mile from our house. Hundallisilliah! Praise be to the highest Jehovah and Cher!

johnart said:

GAWD YES! Why did I not mention this stuff!?

It's like part red pepper, part eggplant, part crack

oh and i loooove TJ's dried mango with hot chili seasoning. i will buy two or three packages of that stuff and gobble it all right up as soon as i get it home.

thekidsgirl said:

It's that damn crack keeps me goin back for more. BOBAAAY!

They have fabulous soups in those bean pot shaped cans. They are completely yummy ~ especially the vegetable barley. They're very rich and hearty.