<p>For those of us who don’t have a Trader Joe’s nearby and only get to one occasionally, what are your top 10 must have items there?</p>
<p>Pre-cooked lentils are good. French and Indian btw.</p>
<p>their frozen orange chicken is quite good.
their frozen chocolate croissants are excellent although you have to let them rise overnight; great treat for a Sunday morning</p>
<p>In no particular order:</p>
<ol>
<li>Tzatziki</li>
<li>Raspberry & chocolate trail mix</li>
<li>Villa Italia flavored sodas (real sugar, no HFCS)</li>
<li>Chocolate Orange sticks</li>
<li>Cilantro yogurt dip</li>
<li>Various flash-frozen fish</li>
<li>Fire-roasted veggies with balsamic sauce (frozen)</li>
<li>Sesame pita chips</li>
<li>Smoked salmon (of course you can get this elsewhere, but TJ’s prices are unbeatable)</li>
<li>Alsatian ham, cheese & onion tart (frozen)</li>
</ol>
<p>Those shortbread cookies with the chocolate drop on top
Prepared tapioca in the refrigerator case
Frozen Kung Pao chicken
TJs mayonnaise
TJs cocktail sauce has a great kick and it is very low in sodium
Blue corn tortilla chips
TJs pirate booty
Whole wheat English muffins
Fresh bruschetta
Smoked salmon</p>
<p>Simmer sauces - so flexible and fast for dinner. Just add your favorite veggies and protein, heat and serve over rice or pasta.</p>
<p>Guacamole and a great variety of tortilla chips.</p>
<p>Frozen garden vegetable lasagna and single-serve pizzas.</p>
<p>Dried fruit and nuts, peanut butter, maple syrup, vanilla extract, etc. - like Booklady said above, you can get these staples anywhere, but you won’t find them cheaper.</p>
<p>Two Buck Chuck</p>
<p>[Charles</a> Shaw wine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Shaw_wine]Charles”>Charles Shaw wine - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>Alas, in Pennsylvania we have state liquor stores, and TJ is not allowed to sell wine.</p>
<p>LOVE Trader Joes!!
- trail mix, nuts
2)frozen green beans - they are the best!!! (haricot vert quality)
3)goat cheese (best prices you can find) - mini pitas
- olive tapenade
- chocolate covered caramels ( they’re huge and awesome)
- chocolate covered espresso beans
- simmer sauces
- bagged salads ( they have one with the dressing, bleu cheese, candied nuts and dried cranberries all included - delicious!)
10)dried chile mango ( yumm)</p>
<p>I am so happy we have Trader Joes- my mom stocks up when she visits because she doesn’t have one. My daughter is very happy that there is one at her college town - big plus for her!</p>
<p>The little tiny miny peanut butter cups in a plastic container. Killer.</p>
<p>I’ll 2nd the orange chicken. Yum.</p>
<p>Sourdough bread. Delicous.</p>
<p>In random order…
1- marcona almonds with rosemary
2- spicy hummus
3- sun dried tomato pesto
4-roasted beets
5-candied ginger chunks
6-frozen chicken shu mai
7-blue corn tortilla chips
8-spicy spinach fresh pizzas
9-ready to eat cooked wild rice
10- muffaletta olive spread
spicy guacamole, multigrain crackers & sticks, bruschetta, fresh salsa…</p>
<p>Gosdaughter disappointed that closest TJ at college is two hours away. So, many TJ items going in care packages!</p>
<p>I can’t find the thai peanuts anymore 
</p>
<p>Some of my favorites are the chocolate croissants
the bryrani ( sp?) frozen rice
Ginger granola
greek yogurt with honey ( they have it at reg grocery for $.80 more)
lavender salt scrub
cedarwood & sage multi purpose cleaner ( it smells so good that I could use it for scent)
Birra moretti la rossa beer
olive oil/balsamic vinegar- salsas- masala
\and Coffee!
oh I miss trader joes- there was one within walking distance of Reed, ( only a couple blocks & a great farmer markety herbal shop Limbo was next door),there isn’t one close by to me now- but supposedly one is going in on the ground level of one of these condos that they are building every week)</p>
<p>Oh, the peanut butter cups! I don’t buy them too often because I’ll eat too many. They’re unbelievably good.</p>
<p>We drive about 25 miles to visit Trader Joes. The main thing we go for is chocolate dipped -chocolate chip dunkers. We pick up a few other things while there, but it’s the cookies we really drive the distance for.</p>
<p>I am so far away from any that I cannot get any perishables, but here are my musts…</p>
<p>1) Oatmeal Cranberry Cookie Dunkers (just polished off my last batch from the Labor Day trip)
2) Trader Jose’s Salsa Verde, making pork enchiladas tomorrow night!
3) Any “trail mix” - their cranberry one is great
4) Dry Roasted Edamame
5) Gravenstein applesauce and juice
6) Eggplant Garlic spread (YUMMO - just put some in a Moroccan stew I made)
7) Olive Tapenade
8) Bruschetta toppings
9) CHOCOLATE COVERED ESPRESSO BEANS - my husband’s staple working all nighters on the Star Wars project in the 80’s
10) The shortbread cookies with fruit or chocolate on the top - was a big hit for the movers over Labor Day…
Plus my daughter loves the Organic peanut butter puff cereal, a lot healthier that the Capn Crunch brand I had as a kid!</p>
<p>So many others…maybe I WILL bring a cooler next time!!</p>
<p>Why don’t we have a Trader Joe’s?!</p>
<p>I am soooooooooooooooo jealous!</p>
<p>I like the way you phrased the question. Curious at first, why you wanted those who didn’t go easily to respond. Not sure what it means, but I like the answers. Interesngly, mine is maybe 15 minutes away, and as much as I love it, I go rarely. Hey…! Maybe that’s why! I have mixed feelings about prepared foods. I would never buy them elswhere, but at TJ’s it seems alright. Everything seems so tempting, I over-buy. I will try to use this list to go with a plan and control myself…</p>
<p>Is the gravenstein stuff seasonal?</p>
<p>This is making me hungry.I love this thread, and will try the items all of you mentioned. May I add:
1)White bean hummus
2)Almond thins cookies
3)Thai vegetable dumplings
4)blood orange soda
5)vanilla cake mix
6)chocolate truffle mix (actually, it’s brownies)
7)granola- low fat
8)General Tso’s stir fry sauce
9) frozen steel cut oatmeal
10) Garlic fries</p>
<p>“General Tso’s stir fry sauce”</p>
<p>Oooooooo!</p>