Any Trader Joe’s fans out there? What’s not to love about employees in Hawaiian shirts, free samples every day, and people literally carrying giant signs that say, “Here to Help!”?
We are fortunate to have one about 20 minutes from our house (right near my husband’s work), but, sadly, I have not shopped there as frequently as I would like. Until now! — That’s about to change!
On a rare kid-free Saturday, I took my TWO Trader Joe’s gift cards (that we had won at two different Christmas parties this year!), and leisurely strolled through the store. Oh my! Love!
I’ll be very transparent here – I’ve never been very diligent about buying organic or non-GMO (genetically modified organism) products. I’ve watched all of the documentaries and read lots of information on the topic, but my frugal nature has always won out.
(Side note: I became a little bit addicted to the couponing craze last year and the myriad other ways you can save money on groceries like Ibotta, Checkout51, SavingStar, etc. It was definitely a form of entertainment for me, but I’m hoping to change that soon!)
I’m such a detail person that I often miss the big picture. So those few dollars that I was saving often trumped our overall health and safety — and it absolutely should not! As sad as this is, I would say in my head, “when one of us gets cancer, then we will…” Seriously!?! I realize how ridiculous that sounds! I would rather be proactive here. So this is my opportunity for a little bit of accountability from you all! 🙂
Anyway, I was elated to find that when I compared my Trader Joe’s shopping trip with my usual grocery store purchases, there wasn’t that much of a difference after all!
All products with the Trader Joe’s label are guaranteed to be non-GMO, and they offer such an awesome selection of organic and “real-ingredient” foods. (And, no, I’m not being compensated by Trader Joe’s for this in any way.) You still have to read the labels as not everything there is “healthy”, but compared to your average grocery mart, this one has its benefits!
Produce
The produce section is obviously one of the top reasons to shop Trader Joe’s. My favorites are the 5 pound bag of organic bags of apples, cauliflower, and their salad selections – most notably, the Cruciferous Crunch Collection (an amazing combination of kale, broccoli, red cabbage, and Brussels sprouts shredded fairly fine). Plus, as you might have seen last week on my Facebook page, the rainbow carrots are a fun addition, as well as the frozen Parisian carrots (better known as “carrot balls” to my boys.)
Meat
I didn’t spend a whole lot of time investigating and comparing the meat section – mostly because I have been purchasing 40 pounds of chicken at a time from Zaycon, and my husband is a deer hunter. Plus, we try to eat at least one vegetarian meal per week as well. Obviously this area is one of the more substantial cost differences between conventional and organic, but I do believe our health may be worth the cost. (I believe it – but now I have to put my money where my mouth is!)
I was pleased with the nitrate-free sliced turkey lunch meat option as well as the frozen meat selections I went with as well. The turkey meatballs were great. The orange chicken was delicious. And the chicken lime burgers…mmm. mmm. mmm.
Refrigerated/Frozen
Yogurts are not a steal there by any means (my usual store’s best special is 37c per cup and 90c for Greek), but the ingredient comparison was interesting for sure. I love how they use ingredients like “red radish extract” for color. (No worries – still tasted just like strawberry!)
And, while I try to make big batches of homemade waffles and freeze them, their toaster waffle ingredients get a thumbs up from me and are cheaper than name brand ones at other stores too!
The “Reduced-Guilt” Spinach and Kale Dip was worth the trip itself! Holy moly. Delicious and made with real ingredients. Love it!
As well as the Garlic and Herb Pizza Dough. If it’s a Sunday at the Miles’ household, you’ll likely find us eating pizza. Except, it’s usually DiGiornio, or on a good night, Dominos. I’ve always wanted to start the tradition of making our own pizza instead, but the idea of cleaning up the mess after making pizza dough has always changed my mind. Who knew, that for $1.30 I could buy an amazingly delicious crust without any gross or fake ingredients?! Sunday night pizza tradition, it’s on!
Shelf-Stable
Again, the selection of granola/cereal/protein bars are comparably priced to other stores, but definitely not the deal of the day there. I was pleased with the ingredients on the store-brand cereal bars (similar to Nutri-Grain bars), but not as impressed with the ingredients in the Fiber Bars.
Huge selection of breads – again, most with “real ingredients,” but with a little higher cost for these.
Nuts and dried fruit, however, are some of the go-to deals at Trader Joe’s in my opinion. Walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, cashews, and more in every style and combination you can imagine at your fingertips – and at a very reasonable price (around $6.99 for a 1-pound bag). And, the dried cranberries are cheaper here than even the generic brand sale price at my other stores.
Must-Haves
With all of that being said, there are a few extra items that are must-haves if you ever find your way into a Trader Joe’s store.
First, the biggest splurge of all my Trader Joe’s favorites …
Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Caramels. I can’t think of anything more delicious in the world. Seriously. (I never would have bought them myself, but they were included with one of the gift cards we won at the Christmas party.) SO. GOOD. But definitely a splurge!
Chocolate Chips – cheaper than Nestle, and if you’re dairy-free, a great option. (**They no longer claim to be dairy free because they are processed with other dairy products, but from what I have read, the ingredients themselves are still dairy-free.) Thankfully my afternoon Shakeology has helped me break my chocolate chip addiction to these babies!
Apple Cider – a great deal at $3. Apple juice is comparable to other stores, but not a rock-bottom price.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil – definitely a steal at $6.50 for 33 oz (and tastes good too. I’ve suffered through some nasty cheap olive oil before!)
Chia Seeds – 1 T of these little puppies has 6g fiber and 3 g protein! $5 at TJ’s compared to $8 at other stores.
If you want a comprehensive cost comparison of this shopping trip with the equivalents at my usual store, you can find the full report here. (I figured this post was already long enough, but if you are interested to see the actual dollars and cents, it was really quite eye-opening for me. Most prices rounded up slightly and compared to my usual store’s regular price, not sales).
And, as if you needed a few more reasons to love the store, they also donate their nearly expired food to local shelters and the flowers to nursing home and hospice services. Seriously? Don’t you just want to find Joe and hug him?
I know not everyone is lucky enough to have a Trader Joe’s in their area. Maybe there’s a way to petition online for store expansion?
If nothing else, hopefully this gave you something to consider in terms of organic, non-GMO, “real-ingredient” foods. Selfishly, this has been my personal wake-up call to follow through on my desire to feed my family well instead of saving a few pennies. Thank you, in advance, for holding me accountable!
(And a quick little P.S. — I took my pictures as I was putting groceries away and then wrote the blog post a couple days later, obviously grouping them a little differently. Hope the pictures not matching the items in each paragraph exactly didn’t frustrate too many people. Just me…)
Do you have any favorite Trader Joe’s finds? Or other organic/non-GMO deals at other stores that you love? Let’s share!
Everyday Faith + Fitness 