Friday, April 11, 2014

Friday Favs - Trader Joe's Finds Part II

It's Friday!! Super exciting but also super scary because it means I'm only eight days away from the Santa Barbara Chardonnay 10-Miler! That's right, with all your support/peer pressure I actually pulled the trigger and bought a race registration. And three wine tasting tickets. Don't worry, they're not all for me. Unless the race goes REALLY badly. Or really well :)



Even thought it's scary I'm really excited to be running this first race in my new town. I've mentioned before how much more having such beautiful scenery and weather has made me like running, and the course is supposed to be super pretty so I'm excited to use picture taking as an excuse to take breaks share lots of race pics with you.

Something else I've been growing to like since my move is having Trader Joe's as my main grocery store. It's kind of annoying sometimes because I have to make multiple trips to find things like aluminum foil, dried chickpeas or turnips. But on the upside it has given me the chance to try a lot of cool new Trader Joe's foods. 

I shared a few favorite Trader Joe's products back in September, but since I've been trying a lot of new things lately I'm joining in the DC Trifecta's Friday Five linkup with five favorite recent Trader Joe's finds.

1. Cruciferous Crunch Collection


As you can probably tell if you've seen my Instagram lately, I'm OBSESSED with this new salad mix from Trader Joe's. The mix of kale, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, and green and red cabbage is so full of texture and makes for a great hearty salad or stir fry that keeps even me full.

2. Sparkling Mineral Water



I'm probably way late to the party, but I did not know that Trader Joe's sold delicious and cheap flavored mineral water. This is a great, healthy alternative to sugary sodas and it's my current non-water beverage of choice. The lemon and lime flavors are my favorite!

3. Organic Dark Chocolate




Trader Joe's has a lot of great chocolates but this is my current favorite. It's dark, rich, organic, and was only $1.99 a bar!

4. Dr. Praeger's California Veggie Burgers



I first saw these on this list of healthy veggie burgers made from ingredients you can recognize and looked for them the next time I was at Trader Joe's. I love that they are GMO free and made from mostly whole ingredients, and I love that you can taste the veggies. And they're pretty cheap for a veggie burger.

5. White Cheddar Corn Puffs



As you may have seen in my last WIAW post, these are my newest cheesy, salty, snacky obsession. I'm a huge fan of Pirate's Booty, but I may like these even more because this whole giant bag was only $1.99! Warning: extreme danger of eating the whole bag.

Q: Are you a Trader Joe's fan? Any favorite food finds lately?

20 comments:

  1. Oooh this is great- a Trader Joe's just opened across from my work and I was soo overwhelmed when I walked in. Putting all these on my grocery list this week!

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    1. Oh yay glad it was helpful and glad you have a Trader Joe's! It's great, but also kind of dangerous :)

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  2. I'm so excited for you for your race this weekend! Great goodies from TJ. I love the cheddar cheese puffs!

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    1. Thanks so much! They are soo good, just need to make the bag last longer lol.

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  3. I confess I just don't get Trader Joes, le sigh :( I've been a few times and always leave with good food but it's not enough to keep me going back..What am I missing? lol

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    1. Yea I used to go kind of infrequently when it was farther from me and not my main grocery store just to get a few things. Now that it's the closest best option I go a lot more because I don't have a choice lol.

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  4. Colorado just got their first Trader Joe's in February (I know, crazy, huh?), but as I am a California gal (prior to last May), I am totally familiar with Trader Joes. It is a great place for specialty foods and prepared items (like the salad mix)! Hopefully I'll make it to our new Colorado Trader Joes sometime soon.

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    1. Glad you have a TJs now! I'm a brand new California girl and while we had them back in DC, it's definitely different having it be the main "normal" grocery store for so many people! Thanks for stopping by :)

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  5. I.Must.Try.Them.All! :) I have a TJs literally 100 feet from my apartment. I've gone there 3x this week :)

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    1. Hahah awesome! Yea the one here is really close and I go multiple times a week. I used to live across from the one in Foggy Bottom. Luckily at the time I was in grad school and had zero money to spend, or it would have been super dangerous!

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  6. I love Trader Joes but don't get there as often as I like because of the multiple trips thing. I'm too lazy to make multiple stops for groceries and I usually can't get everything I need at Trader Joes.

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    1. Oh man I feel you on the multiple trips thing. I like within walking distance of THREE grocery stores, but none of them is a normal grocery store like I'm used to back East. Trader Joe's is the only affordable option where I can MAYBE do it in one trip, but I often have to make two trips now :(

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  7. So glad you signed up for the 10 miler! You are going to do great!
    I've only been to Trader Joe's once and it was so crowded I couldn't find anything I needed...it's also too far for me to go to regularly so I'll probably never go back. I do miss the chocolate covered pretzels I bought though :)

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    1. Thanks Jen! Yea Trader Joe's can get pretty crazy sometimes, especially if there aren't a lot of them around. That's another good thing about having it be people's regular grocery store--I've yet to see a line wrapping around the store, unlike in DC!

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  8. I like TJ's but the one near us isn't very close and is in an area that we never go to or go by unless we're specifically going to TJ's. I love their food!

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    1. Yea I went much less often when it wasn't my main grocery store. Mostly to get cheap but fancy cheese and wine for parties lol.

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  9. Oh and the 10 miler with wine tasting sounds SO fun!

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  10. I just moved as well and I have a Trader joes 2 miles away from me now. My favs are their coconut water, inner peas snack and their red quinoa and black bean chips. U will rock at the 10 miler this weekend, can't wait to hear how great it is.

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    1. Thanks so much! Love the coconut water and inner peas too! Will have to give the black bean chips a try soon, thanks for the recommendation :)

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