IIRC, they discontinue the slowest-selling 15% of items periodically- that’s how I was deprived of the orgasmic food joy that was the hazelnut cream-filled Belgian chocolate seashells…
A quick glance into my kitchen finds the following TJ’s items-
Pantry-
Cooking sauces- cacciatore and picatta
Roasted garlic salsa
Marinated artichoke crowns, artichoke hearts, kosher dills
Ginger spread
Balsalmic reduction glaze
Green olive tapenade
Gummy vitamins
Microwaveable Pasta with meatballs (shelf-stable forever, it seems)
Clam chowder
Israeli (big) and whole wheat (small) cous cous
Wild & basmati rice pilaf
Fridge-
Pickles, jalapeno-stuffed olives
Wasabi mayo, tarter sauce
Orangina, sparkling pomegranate juice
Various bagged salads and salad veggies
Stir fry veggie mix in a bag
Small artichokes
Try their Cannels de Bordeaux. They are frozen little custard cake things that are really good sidled up next to Trader Joe’s French vanilla ice cream.
TJ granola cereals are really good too. I’m partial to the maple pecan and vanilla almond ones.
For frozen food, Prelude to a Quiche is pretty good. So are the Escargots en Brioche, though the could do with less bread and more snail. (The Escargots can be hard to find sometimes. I picked some up last month, but previously I’d been told they’re seasonal.)
Any of their multitude of hummus varieties - roast garlic hummus and cilantro jalapeno hummus are my favorites. Tip: hummus is tasty with carrots!
Their Trader Joe’s brand extra virgin olive oil is an awesome deal, something like $3.50 for a good-size bottle.
Cheese. Brie with strawberries!
I’m a pretty big pasta sauce snob and usually make from scratch, but their Quattro Formaggio jarred sauce won me over.
Greek yogurt, honey flavor, with some of their frozen fruit.
If you find any, send me a PM. I am dying for them…
I just picked up an item tonight that I hadn’t noticed before- little buttermilk biscuits, 6 to a box, cook from frozen. Mmmmmmmmmm, can’t wait to try 'em.
One thing I miss about CA is the ability to go into a TJ’s for some inexpensive sauce. Even at regular supermarkets the hard alcohol was cheaper than it is here – and you could just go in and buy it, instead of having to buy it from the State at an official store.
If you have a cats, the double-wide scratching boxes are highly recommended by 50% of the creatures living in my house. Please do not buy the cat tuna.
For humans, I recommend the Mushroom Pasties. Box o’those and salad is a nice dinner on a warm evening.
I like skinny asparagus, which TJ’s tends to have; as opposed to my local supermarketmarket, which tends to have thick ones.
TJ’s really does have good meat. But since I got my new cookware, and with Spring giving me the urge to cook more (than usual), I’ve been eating less beef. It turns out the corner market (yeah, small village here – one supermarket four or five miles away, and one ‘corner market’ down the street) gets is meat from CostCo. Really good rib eye, and I don’t have a 40-mile round trip to TJ’s.
Garlic and Blue Cheese stuffed Olives. Awsome alone or with anything and pretty nicely priced, too. My wife likes the dried mangos. But then again, she married me, didn’t she?
I’ve never been to a Trader Joe’s because the closest one is in Cambridge, and I’ve had no other reason to go there since it opened (I’m sure it’s nice, but sane people don’t drive over 3 hours round trip for groceries), but a coworker who’d been brought in some of their sunflower seed butter. It’s interesting. You should try it.
