About all I get there is a bag (or two) of the Crunchy Curls lentil snacks. And maybe a bottle of Two Buck Chuck, which ain’t two bucks any more.
Yes, TJ’s natural peanut butter is our go to here.
We also really like their cheese puffs. They’re like Pirate’s Booty but usually have a cheesier flavor. Their caramelized French onion dip is very good, too.
This is brilliant!
I made this today. Because I’m me and can never leave well enough alone, I added the juice of one lemon, two chopped garlic cloves, a dash of honey to offset the sourness of the lemon juice and about a tablespoon of olive oil. I also added salt and a pinch of red pepper flakes.
It’s great! And I think it will be even better after it sits in the refrigerator overnight. I also bought two of trader Joe’s Demi baguettes to eat with the spread.
And of course I bought a bag of these. And have already eaten about half the bag. They are soooo good.
Definitely take a look at their cheese selection - I suspect cheese is stupid expensive in Hawaii, and any aged cheese will do fine in transit. Butter would too.
I like their freeze-dried raspberries and strawberries for baking.
Tinned fish has been mentioned.
Personally I probably wouldn’t bother with chips, cookies, crackers, etc. unless you really want that kind of stuff and/or the price point on it is really high in Hawaii. Addictive junk food is available pretty much everywhere, and it takes up a fair amount of space.
You sound exactly like me in the kitchen. We’d probably have a blast cooking together.
I came here to post this! Also the dried green mango slices, dried mango, and dried apple slices. I have all of them in my desk drawer at work.
My nephews love the dried mango with chili powder too.
Of course, you can get fresh mandarins and mangoes in Hawaii, but the dried are yummy too.
So true. They are delicious in completely different ways - it’s like grapes and raisins.
My guess is that @CairoCarol can buy dried fruit in Hawaii, so it’s probably not worth going to any trouble to bring it from Trader Joe’s.
Hehe. 
You’re not wrong, but brands make a difference. There are dried mangoes, and then there are dried mangoes. I would not be averse to grabbing a package of TJ brand dried mangoes, and evaluating whether they’re superior to locally available ones. Possibly not, as we have some startlingly good options for local stuff here … if anyone comes to Hawai’i and wants a snack, I highly recommend Maika’i Brand goodies from Foodland.
But hey, what’s the worst that happens? We end up with some yummy dried mangoes that I think we’ll manage to eat no matter what.
I think Trader Joe’s flower displays make the store bounce but don’t believe one can take little bouquets on a plane.
Trader Joe’s has 6 kinds of dried mangoes, all of them reasonably priced. The first 3 have sugar and additives: Green, Soft and Juicy, Chile Spice. Then there are 3 unsulfured and no sugar added: organic, organic Ataulfo, and Just mango.
They also have freeze-dried, which I’ve never tried.
Dunkers.
https://www.traderjoes.com/home/products/pdp/chocolatey-coated-chocolate-chip-cookie-dunkers-040978
Maple Leaf Cookies.
https://www.traderjoes.com/home/products/pdp/maple-leaf-cookies-098740
Triple Ginger Snaps. They are to regular ginger snaps as your best barista coffee is to the swill at Dennys. I love to put one in my mouth, let it soften, then filter out the cookie leaving behind the little bits of crystalized ginger. Those I crunch one at a time.
CheeseSticks. It’s a layered pastry that’s been cut into strips then given a couple turns before it’s baked. There’s a bit of cayenne in it for some bite and a delicious cheese flavor. They are substantial – one stick at a time does well for a snack.
Oh, really…?
YMMV
(goddam Discourse)
Yeah, sigh. Mine is likely to vary…