our favorite Trader Joe’s items

Trader Joe’s is a magical place.

There wasn’t a Trader Joe’s near our house growing up, but I took fiddling lessons in the same shopping center as one of their stores in high school. After my lessons, my dad and I would pick up a fun snack for the 35-minute car ride home. It wasn’t until I began grocery shopping on my own that I realized Trader Joe’s is great for so many more items than just car snacks (though it is a mecca for those too). Now, Will and I stop by our local TJ’s as part of our weekly grocery shopping trip to pick up some of our favorite Trader Joe’s items. Some of these items are only sold at Trader Joe’s, but for those that are sold elsewhere, we find that Trader Joe’s has the best price or our favorite version of the product.

• Almond butter – we get the unsalted version and the only ingredient is almonds!
• Apples – we love the bags of Honeycrisps or individual Pink Lady apples (sometimes called Cripps Pink)
• Clementine cranberry sparkling water – the best sparkling water flavor they sell, in our opinion
• Pound plus dark chocolate bars – I chop these to use in cookies instead of, or in addition to, chocolate chips. The chocolate is delicious and melts better than chocolate chips.
• Raw nuts – typically almonds and pecans, but I love that they carry hard-to-find raw cashews and hazelnuts
• Brussels sprouts on the stalk (when in season)
• Flowers – they have great prices on cut flowers and plants!
• “Just Mango Slices” – dried mangos without any additional sweeteners
• Other dried fruits – we especially love the apricots
• Peanut butter filled pretzels – these were one of my favorite post-run snacks when I was training for my marathon
• Dried lentils – these make for a quick, filling dish!
• Cheese isn’t a staple on our list, but we like to pick up cheese from Trader Joe’s when we host people for dinner or when we make a special dish. Trader Joe’s has a pretty good selection and their cheeses are often less expensive than they are at other stores.

What are your favorite Trader Joe’s items? What should we add to our list?