trader joe's | Imamother

sbs

Wed, Nov 23 2011, 2:22 pm

I don't live in the immediate area of trader joes, it's about 45 minutes away, but I do sometimes go to that area
I keep hearing about things that are really good and cheap and can't be gotten other places, namely, things that are trader joes's brand
could people give me ideas of things you get there, only non dairy (we're makpid on chalav yisroel) and maybe it would be worth a trip every so often
so far I've heard about cherry choc chip ice cream, which I've tried and it's really good
another posted mentioned in a different post pizza dough for $1, is that dairy, and what size is it and how does it come (frozen, balls, rolled like a pie crust, etc...)
looking for more ideas, please....
thanx

bigsis144

Wed, Nov 23 2011, 2:49 pm

I second the chocolate chips! BEST. PAREVE. CHOCOLATE. CHIPS. EVAR.

They also have
- a vanilla ice cream mixed with mango sorbet that is among the best pareve desserts I've ever had
- their Joe Joe (oreo-type) cookies (which are marked Chof K dairy, but I asked and was told are pareve/milchig keilim, so I eat them) are yummy, and my favorite are the Xmas-time peppermint Joe Joes with crushed peppermint candy in the vanilla cream
- their brand of soy, almond and coconut milk are even cheaper than the Shoprite brand, and I like that they have unsweetened versions
- their "Identity Crisis" chips are yummy -- chips made out of corn, potato and brown rice.
- ginger lemonade! sooo refreshing on a hot day.

DovDov

Wed, Nov 23 2011, 2:55 pm

The pizza dough is parve and comes in a ball in a bag; enough for one medium pie.

What we buy there that's parve:
Bread (some of the hechsherim look weird but almost all of them are fine per CRC) -- I particularly like the mini whole wheat bagels for kids' lunches; also mini pitot and regular breads
Marinara sauce (at $1.69/jar, it's less painful to substitute for canned tomato products for health reasons than normal jarred sauces)
chocolate chips
cereals
chickenless nuggets -- one of the only general market parve soy products
chumus
depending on price, produce
olive oil
brown sugar
rice vinegar (including flavored for sushi)
some snack foods (chips, pretzels)
polenta
quinoa (very occasionally)
edamame
Orange juice
dried fruit/nuts combos

Re: Cholov Yisrael, I have a bunch of family members who are shomer cholov Yisrael but will eat products that have an O-U(d) if the packaging states something like "processed in a facility that processes milk products" because those products are not treated as truly dairy. If that's the case for you, then a whole lot of their crackers and cookies are okay as well.

DovDov

Wed, Nov 23 2011, 2:57 pm

bigsis144 wrote:

Re: Soy milk, Dollar Tree has West Soy organic unflavored soy milk for $1. Not even TJ can beat that price.

Kumphort

Wed, Nov 23 2011, 3:35 pm

we just had a trader joe's open up near us, so I was only there once, and it was crowded, because it had recently opened, I went in search of their chocolate chips, cause I heard such great reviews about them, I was a little skeptical, as to just how good they could be, but let me tell u those things ROCK!!

amother

Wed, Nov 23 2011, 3:48 pm

My permanent list: choc chips, almonds, walnuts, organic whole wheat pasta, dried cranberries. Occasionally an herbal tea. No perishables b/c I only pass by occasionally in the corse of my fieldwork, and I can carry only a little none of it perishable, since I'm both on my lunch break and not driving. wish wish wish they had a store near me though the lines are horrendous they move pretty fast.

imasinger

Wed, Nov 23 2011, 3:49 pm

We buy:

Chocolate chips
Tomato sauce
Brown rice
Crackers (woven wheat, and the corn crackers are 2 favorites in our house)
Toasted sesame oil (for chinese cooking)
Rice vinegar
Sara Bee wine (TJ's house brand with O-U hechsher, similar to the Bartenura blue bottle but literally half the price)
Bread products, especially flat breads and english muffins
Frozen fruit bars, in a variety of flavors
Tea tree oil (for deodorizing or for hair washing as a lice deterrent)

There's probably more, but that's what comes to mind at the moment.

lollygirl

Wed, Nov 23 2011, 3:54 pm

I stock up on the pizza dough (WW, herbed and regular) and keep them in the freezer.
I also buy their chumus, latkes, frozen fruit, ice cream, wild rice and basmati rice (both delicious) and tons of cookies, chips, cakes for the kids. Their WW bread and bagels are yum, nuts and trail mix, TJ brand Cheerios, cereal bars (not sure if they are dairy), organic apple juice..I can't even name everything, but I never walk out of there spending less than $100 - the good news? I get TONS, and TONS of stuff for that money. Definitely worth the trip IMHO!

sbs

Wed, Nov 23 2011, 4:02 pm

lollygirl wrote:

is the pizza dough sold in the freezer section?
are their cookies, cakes, breads and bagels all parve?
what kind of latkes, their own brand? and hummus, also their own brand?

is everything their own brand, I thought it was a regular supermarket like pathmark or shop rite?

MamaBear

Wed, Nov 23 2011, 4:18 pm

Most of it is their own brand but some of it is name brand stuff, not a lot though. The prices are really great and the empire chicken and turkey is over a dollar cheaper per pound than my local supermarket. They even have amazing feta cheese, ou-d. It's my favorite place to shop!

Kugglegirl

Wed, Nov 23 2011, 4:34 pm

Organic Empire chickens- whole
(also cutlets- expensive)
sunflower seed butter (for school that is peanut free)
jelly
jarred pasta sauce- regular & organic
nuts- roasted, unsalted
dried fruits
different kinds of chips
frozen mango & other frozen fruits

Bags of apples & pears have been a good buy the last few weeks
produce in general- some is a good buy, some is a good buy for organic or specialty

frozen Israeli spice cubes- garlic, cilantro, basil

Sometimes available- frozen avacado

can get (they are good, but I try not to get too much)
lolly pops w. natural food color & flavor
jelli candy
licorice candy

chatouli

Wed, Nov 23 2011, 5:42 pm

sbs wrote:

The pizza dough is in the refrigerated section. It comes in plain and herb flavor.

A lot of the cookies and cakes are not kosher. It depends on the facility where it was made. I believe their Massachusetts facility is kosher but their California one isn't. So look carefully at the baked goods. The cookies that are kosher are for the most part marked dairy but may in some cases be dairy equipment. You have to look carefully. They have had meringues that are parve and really good.

I don't know the latkes - but the hummus is their own brand. Almost everything is their own brand, it is not at all like a Pathmark. It's more of a specialty store. I wouldn't go there to buy Saran wrap for example, they (likely) don't have it. But for random things they are fantastic. Everyone else has good lists. I'd also add some boxed soups, similar to the Imagine Organics you can get at the store, but their brand and much cheaper. The black bean one is pretty good.

If you're going to the one in Brooklyn, don't go on a Sunday Smile

it is jam-packed and there's nowhere to park.

Mimisinger

Wed, Nov 23 2011, 5:50 pm

CHATOULI is right - the NY area stores have a ton of kosher hechsherim, but when we went on vacation to San Francisco, we thought we would get some food there, but the stuff wasn't kosher there.

You have to check. But if you're in the NY/NJ area, you're fine.

greeneyes

Wed, Nov 23 2011, 8:16 pm

Here are some of the non dairy items I buy there:

Ezekiel sesame & cinnamon raisin bread
almonds, sunflower seeds
whole wheat pasta
vanilla extract
natural peanut butter (love their peanut butter!)
quinoa
olive oil
sesame oil
marinara sauce
frozen chickenless nuggets
chocolate chips
cereal

That's all I can think of now. It's a fun store!

chavamom

Thu, Nov 24 2011, 12:14 am

Lowest price in town for Earth Balance margarine (non-hydrogenated) unless it is on sale at Whole foods.
White whole wheat flour - it's what I make my challah out of
Great price on maple syrup.
Dorot garlic and basil cubes (how could you ladies forget those???)
Some of their frozen fruits and veggies are fine without a hechsher.
Israeli (chalav yisrael) feta
Tillamook vegetarian kosher cheddar (non-chalav yisrael)
Our store gets a whole assortment of kosher meats
Lots of nuts/dried fruits with a hechsher
Flavored soda water

At this point, I do a huge amount of my shopping at TJ's. My favorite place to shop.

greeneyes

Thu, Nov 24 2011, 8:51 am

chavamom wrote:

Chavamom, which of their frozen fruits and veggies are ok without a hechsher?