I find Trader Joe's to be a great store if you're a lazy cook like myself. There's a lot of easy meal options there. They also have a sporadic collection of organic foods, so I kind of hunt around for good options.
The frozen orange chicken is a huge mainstay in my household -- combined with the organic brown rice; it's definitely better than ordering take-out which gets soggy by the time you get it home. You can eat it when it's still crispy. And yes, it's a huge guilty pleasure! I have a few of those ...
I really don't mind their meat there -- one thing I like is that they carry organic ground beef, which I have trouble finding, even at Whole Foods, sometimes, and it's slightly cheaper than when WF carries it. I also buy the seasoned pork loin, and seasoned lamb tips or lamb loin. All of these items can be thrown on the grill, steam or roast some vegetables, and voila! Dinner for Dummies.
Other random items I buy a lot --
- organic bananas
- grass-fed cheddar
- whole peppercorns
- fresh hot salsa
- prepared guacamole
- dried mango
- organic sugar
- No-Pudge Brownie Mix
- wasabi mayo
- frozen Chimichurri rice*
- Dr. Praeger's TexMex veggie burgers
- frozen Korean-style short ribs*
- Natalie's [organic] Orchid Island OJ
- organic blue corn tortilla chips
- chocolate-chip ice cream sandwiches**
- frozen chocolate lava cakes**
* Ridiculously easy to make
** These are so bad for you, it's not even funny
Then there's always the extra impulse buys I end up with. Some things look a lot better than they end up being, i.e., the garlic ranch fries, I think -- I hated those. And I recently bought buffalo-style wings that you bake in the oven. Those didn't end up working because the buffalo sauce was already on them and they came up soggy and not-so-great.
Still, I like Trader Joe's because I can go there and come out with at least 3-4 easy meals that don't cost me an arm-and-a-leg like Whole Foods does. I still prefer Whole Foods for my mainstay shopping and staples, but depending on what I'm looking for, TJ's often has it cheaper and organic, which is something that we buy a lot of in my household...
One thing I have noticed: their wine prices seem to have gone up. I used to go looking for pinot noir there because they usually had some good ones cheaper than what I could get anywhere else -- but now I can't get a decent one there for under $20. Eh? Maybe I'm just being cheap, but no thanks -- I'll just go to Sam's Club, or even WineStyles.
-- Nora --
"Great food is like great sex. The more you have the more you want." ~Gael Greene