Let's go shopping at Trader Joe's

When I mentioned that I took my friend to Trader Joe's, a few of you asked for a typical shopping list for us.     Your wish being my command, let's go shopping at TJ's!

I love this organic brown basmati rice because it doesn't taste like brown rice.  I can't stand brown rice but this makes some awesome homemade Chinese food.

Better'n Peanut Butter.  You either love it or not so much.  The best way I can describe it is it tastes like liquid Bit O' Honey candy.  We use it for the occasional "Better" peanut butter sandwich but more often I use it in my oatmeal.  Yum!

Our bag o' Brussels sprouts.  They do have some that are pre-chopped and seasoned but you need to use them asap and you don't get as much.  I love to dress these babies up and my cousin who adamantly denied he would ever like them was convinced when I made them with bacon and asiago cheese sprinkled on top!

Oh broccoli slaw, how I love thee.  I love to use this in stir fry or fish tacos.  You can use it to top your salad and oh yeah, slaw!

A twofer!  I get this peanut butter with sea salt on occasion and cookie butter which is the equivalent of Biscoff spread.  I use the cookie butter in my oatmeal, push pops and desserts.

We LOVE this bag o' frozen chicken tenderloins.  They cook up super quick so when I want to do bbq chicken pizza or shredded chicken sandwiches I can just boil 'em up real quick and they're good to go.  If I'm not super lazy, I can actually thaw them and grill them up in a snap to top some yummy pasta or brown rice.

Chipotle Pepper Hummus is a staple.  I mean if we ever forgot it, I would turn around and drive all the way back for it.  It's that good.  I would steep in a tub of this.  I might be orange when I'm done but so are most people who spray tan so it wouldn't look too weird.  This stuff is used on our BBQ naan pizza, a side for tortilla chips, fish tacos, chicken tacos (as a substitute for cheese...seriously, you'll never miss it!).  Love this stuff long time.

Speaking of chipotle, we tried these cheddar chipotle potato bites and they were a-may-zing!  They aren't insane on sodium either which is a major plus for us.  I totally got my cousin hooked on these things.  They are like the best potato skins you've ever had that you can fit into your calories.

The Fiberful Peanut Butter Chocolate Granola Bars and the Peanut Butter Oat Bars are sooo good.  The fiberfuls are 9g of fiber and it almost tastes like dessert.  The peanut butter oat is like the most chewy, decadent peanut butter cookie you've ever had.

This Lite Kettle Corn 6 pack is a life saver for movie night...or movie theaters.  Lightly salted and sweet and the bag feels like it never ends.  Only 110 calories!  Pop on!

Is there anything we don't use this lacey cheese for?  Nope.  From egg white omelets to sandwiches to pizzas and everything in between this stuff is awesome.  Most of the time I use half a slice which is about 18mg of sodium and 50 cals but even for a full slice I don't have to sacrifice the rich, stringy goodness that is cheese.

This is one of the Mr's staples.  He absolutely loves this low cal lemonade.

We love the Mahi Mahi in the frozen food section.  It's a great price and makes for some delicious fish tacos or a good protein kick over a bed of lemon pepper pasta.

Whole wheat naan is a great base for pizzas.  Whether it's a regular pizza or my BBQ chicken naan pizza, it's so tasty.

Quinoa Duo is one of those frozen sides that is super quick to make (6 minutes in the microwave) and tastes wonderful.  I love the squash and zucchini in there for a little extra kick of veggies.

When doing up a full salmon fillet isn't in the cards, I pop two of these salmon burgers in the oven and I can still get in my omega 3's without a ton of prep work.

Sprouted grain bread has significantly less carbs than regular bread and I don't taste a big difference so we tend to buy this more now.  You can also make egg white french toast with this ahead of time and freeze it and reheat when you're pressed for time.

Yet another thing I got my cousin hooked on.  This crab meat stuffed pacific flounder tastes just like that popular seafood restaurant back in the 80's when it was still good.  I don't think I need to say which one.  I usually put a hit of Mrs Dash Chipotle or Fiesta Lime on top for an extra kick o' flavor.

I use this low sodium veggie broth to boil up some rice, orzo, barley or any grain that needs an infusion of flavor without going crazy on sodium.

This marinara sauce is a little weak on it's own but the Mr grew up on this hideously high sodium meat sauce so I take one serving of the hard stuff (920mg!) and 1 serving of this stuff (35mg) and make a sauce mixture that we can fit in without bloating up like a Macy's balloon.

We love this lemon pepper pasta with a bit of alfredo sauce.  I usually put a little bit of fish on top.  If I'm not feeling alfredo-y then a little olive oil does the trick because the pasta is so flavorful on its own.

These taco shells are awesome because there's no sodium in them, they taste corny and they make the perfect chicken taco.

This isn't every single thing we buy there but it gives you a good idea.  We don't get our produce there because honestly, it rarely lasts.  Lots of TJ tip blogs out there tell you to avoid produce there so it's not just us.  But everything else, go nuts baby!  If there's not one near you, see where the nearest one is and load up the trunk with coolers and plan a road trip!

If you have a TJ's close to you, what's you're favorite thing they sell?  If you don't, which product above appeals to you?

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