I love their frozen macaroons. A pretty-good imitation of actual Parisian macaroons. And all you have to do is thaw them, no baking needed.
How could I forget the olive oil! Cheaper than Crisco olive oil on sale at the grocery store, and, needless to say, sooo much better.
As for tortillas, their whole grain ones (the kind with visible flaxseeds) are the only whole grain tortillas I’ve found edible.
The frozen garlic naan is absolutely the bee’s knees, but I agree, their sliced breads tend to be a bit dry, and go moldy fast.
About favorites disappearing - it’s always worth talking to the manager and saying you love X and want it back. The worst they can do is say no.
My nearest TJ’s is about 30 miles away, so I don’t go there often. I will, however, make a special trip at Christmas-time, for Chocolate mint Jo Jo’s. My "Christmas Crack’. Addictive, they are.
Their mayonnaise is the best.
I buy Osem Falafel Mix in the international section of my local supermarket. (Note: The amazon link is for a 12-pack – about $2 package, plus shipping. Single packets at the market are about $2.50.) They’re quite good. Sometimes I’ll buy some tzatziki from the deli section and just eat them with the sauce. I’ve never tried to make my own. But the way I really like to eat them is in the pocket of a pita with lettuce, tomato, and tzatziki.
I don’t know if TJ’s carries Osem, as I haven’t looked.
They’ve recently introduced “popped” potato chips, which have fried flavor without actually being fried.
Their tuscan bread is my favorite thing in the store.
Great stuff I buy often:
TJ’s brand Greek yogurt: is a staple for me. Usually I buy the fat free, but the 2% and whole milk are great, too. Also, I don’t buy it all the time, but I really like the European style yogurt, too.
goat’s milk cheddar is good - a nice sharp cheddary flavor, with that goatmilk tang. Really great melted in an omlette w/ some roasted peppers.
fresh ricotta: it’s drier and more crumbly than other brands, but that’s why I like it
chili spiced pineapples and mangos - sweet and spicy and awesome
Tom Yum Cashews - crispy, chewy, a little bit spicy and sweet - the only problem is the small bags! Otherwise I’d buy them for parties and stuff instead of just for myself
Olive Oil Popcorn - mmmmmmm
also, any of their peanut butters. I miss the cashew-macadamia nut butter, though.
Good stuff, but I don’t buy it much:
The whole wheat bagels and moral fiber muffins are good, but I rarely buy them since they mold so fast - you can freeze them of course, but they don’t taste quite the same so I just don’t bother.
Whole wheat naan: tasty, but gets stale fast, and it has a lot more calories in a single piece than I’d like (and half a piece just doesn’t cut it!).
Lucky pup. Ours is 60-70 miles away. We go about every six months. We’d both kill for one actually in or around Lancaster.
Pennsylvania, or California?
Pennsylvania. Our closest is just outside King-of-Prussia, with another one a bit farther but in another direction, just outside Baltimore.
Loves:
coffee
frozen biryani, frozen naan, box of palak paneer (Indian dinner in 5 minutes)
preserves
non-trans fat margarine
vegetarian corn dogs
frozen asparagus risotto
frozen lemonade
extra-firm tofu
‘pop-tart’-like pastries
mehs:
fried rice with mushrooms
frozen pad thai
fruit smoothies
dislikes:
any breakfast cereal. they all taste WRONG.
any soda
And I dislike too what several other posters have mentioned - all of a sudden your favorite product will disappear forever.
Yep. I recently discovered the Fat-Free Brownie Mix (which you mix with fat-free vanilla yogurt) and I love that I can get my chocolate fix without the fat. I’ve also been eating the yogurt with granola every morning and it’s helped me lose 5 lbs so far.
The Pomegranate Limeade is delicious. So is the Sparkling Clementine Juice, which tastes similar to a mimosa without the champagne.
Soyaki is the greatest thing ever.
Boooooo. Have you tried their new probiotic whole grain flakes cereal? It has a ton of dried berries and these cute little yogurt drops. Also, the organic honey nut cheerios are only $3 here - the next cheapest being the whole food’s house brand at $4 a pop.
Also, the organic tomato sauce is cheaper than anything else at either Whole Foods are the regular grocery store. Ditto organic diced tomatoes. Cheapest Almond Butter I’ve found.
When I go to my parents’ house, I always bring my brother 1-2 dozen cans of their canned boneless skinless salmon. You’d be surprised, but the local grocery doesn’t carry any boneless skinless salmon, and the boy’s not about to touch anything with itty bitty bones in it.
Oh, a new one I just tried but forgot to add: the fat free plain frozen yogurt!
It’s not completely unsweetened like regular plain yogurt, but has less sugar than flavored types. It’s creamy enough that I wouldn’t guess it was fat free, and still retains the tartness I like in regular yogurt. Really good with some nice, sweet fresh fruit.
I have learned to avoid cakes, muffins, and other pastries, because they inevitably have fungus already growing on them.
The Triple Ginger Snaps are a staple in our household, as well as steel-cut oats.
Try Barbara’s oat squares. They are thick little pellets, so they get soft on the outside, and stay crispy on the inside. It’s like eating a bowl of grubs.
I’ve stopped buying the McCann’s Steel-Cut Oats from Trader Joe’s. It’s cheaper and more convenient for me to get them out of the bulk bin at the supermarket. Still, I get the fruit from TJ’s. Cook them with the dried cranberries. For breakfast today I had oats with TJ’s dried berry mix.
These days I just go there to buy plain kefir, greek yoghurt and walnuts.
I used to buy produce from them when I lived in CA, but Market Basket/Demoula’s beats them in price in Boston and I’ve heard Detroit’s Eastern Market is supposed to be amazing and that AA has good farmer’s markets as well.
I didn’t care for their seafood, but they used to sell organic free-range chicken that I really liked (before I quit eating chicken).
Other things I pick up now and then for parties:
The frozen desserts: because I don’t really cook desserts
Stuff for Appetizers: the mini samosas, chicken lemongrass stix, nice mushroom caps, cheeses, the premade dolmas in lemony oil
Their pre-made food is great, but I feel like it’s just high-end junk food, so I limited myself from buying it when I used them as my grocery store. Mostly I shopped there for veggies/chicken/milk/kefir/yoghurt and avoided the middle eyes (full of delicious delicious stuff).
Thank you! I’ll look for them, but I’m thinking I would have seen them before in the refrigerated section. But maybe I was just looking past it. It sounds so yummy! It would be really great if they carried it.
Thanks, but if this requires any kind of cooking, I’m out. I was hoping for frozen or already prepared.