Check out my progress on One-on-One with TJ
Ever since I received the latest Fearless Flyer in the mail last week, I’ve been itching to make a trip to Trader Joe’s. I skipped on over to the store this afternoon, giddy with the opportunity to linger in the aisles, examine any product that may strike my fancy, and feast on free samples—this time I would have some alone time with dear TJ.
While Seth enjoys the occasional trip to Trader Joe’s, I suspect that he finds it far less fascinating than I do. After all, I’ve met only two individuals in my lifetime who similarly delight in lengthy Trader Joe’s trips: Alanna and Allie. So today I seized the opportunity to explore the aisles of the quirky, budget-friendly grocery store. Here are today’s finds:
Although I could have bought twice as much, I opted to buy only the truly nutritious items for which I had a specific use.
Mahi Mahi burgers
I’ve been searching for a good fish burger for a while now but have discovered that many of them contain unnecessary additives and ridiculous amounts of sodium. These burgers were pricey ($4.99 for 4 patties), but I figured their quality ingredients and awesome nutrition stats were worth the extra cost.
Crab meat
I’ve never tried crab before (I know, crazy, right?), and I have my eye on a recipe for crab salad, so I figured that I should snap up this reasonably priced tin of crab meat. At some point, I’ll splurge for the fancy stuff.
Unsalted creamy peanut butter
As I’ve mentioned before, I am very conscious of my salt intake, and peanut butter is one of those sneaky sources of sodium. I was delighted to see this inexpensive ($1.79 for 16 oz) natural version being sold at TJ’s.
Organic pea shoots
I just read an article in the ADA Times this morning about the myriad benefits of shoots and sprouts. Did you know that broccoli sprouts have up to a hundred times more of the antioxidant sulforaphane than is present in matured broccoli? Amazing! Shoots and sprouts are also a great source of protein and fiber.
Sprouted 7 grain bread
This Trader Joe’s brand of sprouted bread was a reasonable $2.99 per loaf—quite a bargain considering the hefty price tags on Ezekiel products at Whole Foods. I am already dreaming of toast with avo-nana spread.
Do you have any recent grocery store finds? Anything I should try for myself? Please share!
Yikes, this is fast becoming a novel! Let’s get onto the food already!
I was so infatuated by the flavor combination of the those biscotti I made last night, that I used them as inspiration for this morning’s bowl of oat bran.
For lunch, I made a batch of edamummus.
Tonight’s meal was an Ellie recipe, Roasted Salmon with Shallot-Grapefruit Sauce.
This dish was so refreshing and easy! Judging by the recipe title, I anticipated it being a time-consuming dish, but dinner was served in less than 20 minutes. The sauce presented a perfect balance of sweet, sour, and spicy. Loved it. I bet Seth would like it too, so don’t be surprised if you see this dish again in the future!
With that I bid you good night! Be back tomorrow!
Filed under: Meals
Caroline Yoder, dietitian-to-be and all-around foodie.
Whole Foods is still number one in my heart
hi, i’m keturah and i’ve been subscribed to your blog for a while. you can add me to your list of people who look forward to wandering around trader joe’s. i just got done loading up on goodies. i decided to try a new almond butter this time: roasted almond & flaxseed butter. sounds gooood
WF is my store of choice as well!
I want to try that mahi mahi burger, sounds interesting!
I need to make that edammus! Looks so good. Oh, I am SO with you- I’m TJs obsessed! I think I’ve told you this 20 times, but ours opens in July. Whenever we go to visit Josh’s parents, I insist on going to TJs. I make huge lists and dance around the aisles. I actually just sent her my last ship to me list prior to our TJs opening. I included:
A protein bar from TJs that Josh loves
Flat Breads (multi seed)
Kettle corn lite
Fajita Marinade
Trader Joe’s Dried Bing Cherries
Sesame Soy ginger Dressing
Crab is awesome- you will love it! I just made a super easy crab salad: http://www.itzyskitchen.com/2011/04/e-easy-crab-salad.html
Have a good weekend
hi there! kinda new to the blog..love it! i just moved to cleveland where there’s finally a trader joe’s!!! those mahi mahi bugers sound great! the sprouted bread sounds good too! you’re getting me really excited for TJ’s hah
We don’t have a Trader Joe’s near us, so last fall when my boyfriend and I were in Philly we stopped inside one so I can get some peanut flour (when they still sold it). My boyfriend bought that same peanut butter for himself. He tried it once, dubbed it yucky, and gave it to me. I thought it was quite tasty.
I love grocery shopping, I really mean it! I will choose shopping for groceries or visiting a new grocery/specialty store any day over shopping for clothes or shoes.
I also like to walk the aisles of Trader Joes and Whole Foods and just browse, look over the different products, read labels, love it! I just seem to forget about the time and the world when I am at a nice grocery store
Even though I know where all the things are and most of the products I still like to spend time looking around Trader Joes, especially since I always find something new and different in there. Cool finding the pea shoots, I will keep an eye open for that next time I am there.
At TJ’s I like to buy their frozen mango chunks (best frozen mangoes ever!), frozen organic brown rice, frozen garlic (those in little cubes, they are a life saver, and since I love garlic they are easy to add to everything!), I also like their creamy unsalted almond butter ($1 cheaper than WF’s), my son likes their Organic Ketchup and their Raisin Bran cereal (no yucky stuff on this one, none of that corn syrup nastiness and all natural ingredients), and I like their Fiber O’s, yum. There are other things I like to get there too, but this comment will get too long if I keep adding to it
Have you been to the new WF in North Raleigh already Caroline? I haven’t but am planning a trip this next week, can’t wait to go as everyone is saying it is super nice. The one here in Cary is small – but I still love it!
Ana