Our Favorites at Trader Joes

People have always told me that Trader Joe's as some great priced, tasty products. I never really thought much of it but I started to see some other people's favorites on snapchat (whatsgabycooking) and Jake and I wanted to give some of these things a try. We been a few times now, here are the things we things we've repurchased and recommend checking out. Most of these are snacks or frozen foods for when you are lazy, but I wanted to point out products you can't get at normal stores (so I didn't list chicken breast, rice, fruits, and vegetables - which we did buy for the record haha)

I put servings in parenthesis (not what the Nutrition Facts calls servings, what I call servings).

1. Mandarin Orange Chicken $4.99 (3 adult servings)

If you go to TJ's you have to get this. It's their number one selling product for a reason. It taste just like Chinese takeout. Since I can't eat at Chinese restaurants safely because of a nut and sesame allergy, this bag of food is all that I have. I was very skeptical that "frozen chicken" would be good, but it's not the processed style chicken you first think of, it's exactly like the dark chicken they give you in Chinese restaurants. I can't say it enough, it tastes exactly the same as a restaurant's takeout. 

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 2. TJ's Kettle Corn $1.95

When I open this bag, Jake and I eat an entire bag at one time usually. It's extremely addicting and has the perfect amount of sweet and salty. I picked up three bags the last time I was there.

3. Spinach Tortellini $1.99 (2-3 adult servings)
This is just a good quality at a good price. That's all I have to say.

4. Burrata, prosciutto, and Arugula flatbread (Also the Margherita flatbread!!!)

Ignore the burritos in the photo above, we didn't like those very much. But behind the burritos is the flatbread and it was very tasty and full of flavor. The Margherita flatbread (not pictured) has really great quality of cheeses and the tomato sauce tasted so fresh, I was shocked. With both of the flatbreads I felt like I was in Italy. It's nice to have restaurant quality food in your freezer. Pull out the Chandon and it's a date night!

5. Cheeses

We like to snack on cheese, and TJ's has flavorful cheeses at a way cheaper price than Hy-Vee. So for your next cheese tray, head there. We've tried more then just the two shown in the picture below and we've been satisfied.

6.  Joe's Diner Mac 'n Cheese $2.99
Speaking of cheese, their frozen Mac n' Cheese is a BIG win. I only bought it because it was one of their top sellers and I wondered why. I was not disappointed. I will rebuy this every time I go into the store. The gouda, swiss, sharp cheddar, and Havarti make it taste so cheesy and rich. If you buy anything go get this. It's nothing like any other packaged or even homemade mac 'n cheese.

7. Apriums

Apricots + Plums = apriums. Jake likes apricots okay, but he loves apriums. We've repurchased these a couple times. I haven't tried them.

8. Salsa and Guacamole

The guac is not as good as our homemade kind in our opinion (recipe here) but if you are in a hurry this isn't bad at all. The salsa taste very tomato-y but very much like the kind served at Mexican restaurants. For the price, and the time you saved not making them both homemade, these are good buys because they taste homemade! 

9. Nut Free snacks

These are perfect snacks for my lunch box! The Chocolate chip cookies actually taste good and not like weird gluten free bland cookies. The soft-baked snicker doodles taste very dough-y and the fruit bars are also full of flavor. (Although I'm not sure if every box of those is nut-free 100%, I don't eat them)

10. Chile Lime Seasoning
Last but not least, is this seasoning. I heard about this from multiple bloggers and it's perfect on chicken or vegetables or anything. It's pretty simple, but makes a big impact.

TJ's also has great priced Filet Mignon's, 2 for under $8-9 and they are pretty good. They have good priced olive oil too.

I've also read their Spinach artichoke frozen dip is to die for but I can't eat it because of the chance of nuts being in it, check those out too! Friends have told me their pizza crust is delicious too, I haven't tried that yet.