<p>Dear All,</p>
<p>Due to Happydad’s new job, we are empty-nesting in the north central plains. We’re something like 6 hours from the closest Trader Joe’s. The local supermarket chain is decent, but I haven’t bought standard US brand foods for years, and the ingredient lists (and fat and salt contents) are dismaying. I loved Trader Joe’s because of all the great main dishes that I only had to heat up because I really hate cooking. So, if any of you can think of some national brands that might work, or can suggest recipes for an I-hate-to-get-my-hands-sticky-when-I-cook person like me to try, please let me know.</p>
<p>Thanking you in advance!</p>
<p>All I can say is I’m sorry for you loss. :(</p>
<p>learn to cook, it can be fun and relaxing. Buy fresh food. The north central plains have a great deal of fresh food, especially this time of year.</p>
<p>We are getting Trader Joe’s down here. Seems expensive for what you get.</p>
<p>What about Costco and BJ’s?</p>
<p>I believe Amy’s Kitchen frozen foods is a national brand of natural and organic frozen foods.<br>
you can look for a store in your area by zip code. <a href=“http://www.amys.com/buy/store-locator”>http://www.amys.com/buy/store-locator</a></p>
<p>This is a great resource for finding recipes when you cannot decide what to make out of whatever you have on hand or wonder if anything tasty can be made out of it:</p>
<p><a href=“Recipes | PCC Community Markets”>Recipes | PCC Community Markets;
(Searchable by ingredient - most recipes are easy).</p>
<p>Try some Pinterest recipes for inspiration. Cooking doesn’t have to be difficult</p>
<p>I agree it can be a pita though when you are making something and have to continually wash your hands because you cut up the chicken, but now are chopping up veggies.
What kind of things did you like at TJ?</p>
<p>One thing I do is use a fork and knife when chopping raw poultry/fish/meat. Sounds wierd but minimizes hand washing.</p>
<p>When I first joined CC there was a member whose wife had just published a Trader Joes cookbook. The recipes used some Trader Joe products but many ingredients could be subbed in with another brand item - maybe ge the cookbook and see if it inspires you and somehow makes you feel close to TJS???</p>
<p>I also wonder what you use to buy at TJ that you miss - that would help to know.</p>
<p>Our family uses Trader Joe’s, but I also shop at quite a number of the other local grocery stores. In general we are not a prepared-foods family. I have gathered recipes that include ingredients I usually have on-hand in the pantry/frig/freezer.</p>
<p>When I buy chicken, I do all of my trimming and cutting at that time, wrap it up, label it, and put it in a freezer Ziploc bag before putting in the freezer. Messy chicken hands at one time and that is it (for the most part).</p>
<p>We are nearing the empty-nest time and I have found that I can be a lot more flexible in my dinner preparations/timing that I used to be. It is the rare night that dinner must be ready by a certain time. Hubby enjoys cooking/grilling too and is more than happy to step in if he has advance warning.</p>
<p>No Costco or BJs, just Sam’s Club. </p>
<p>Thanks for reminding me about Amy’s - I’ve seen some of those products at the local supermarkets and at Target. </p>
<p>What we liked best at Trader Joe’s were the prepared main dishes (Greek Chicken, Chicken Marsala, Frozen Vegetarian Lasagne, and the like) - add a salad and a veggie, and dinner is on. Cheaper than eating out, and really fast on days when everyone had too many other things to do. I’m also looking for a replacement for Trader Joe’s Decaf French Roast ground coffee. All the supermarkets here have Bustelo, but not in Decaf, and I don’t like Bustelo all that much anyway. I may go back to just drinking tea.</p>
<p>Happykid is still squarely in Trader Joe’s turf, and has promised care packages when we’re truly miserable. </p>
<p>Any of us could send you the coffee, 
I just finished off a batch of their Kenyan. Since many companies do ship frozen foods in dry ice, I wonder if your D could pull that off. Maybe a trial shipment, first. </p>
<p>Oh. Decaf. <a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Packs-Trader-Joes-Organic-French/dp/B00EW49NU8”>http://www.amazon.com/Packs-Trader-Joes-Organic-French/dp/B00EW49NU8</a> at first pass, that looks like the expensive way to go and seems stock gets limited. </p>
<p>I recently switched to decaf coffee and I’ve tried many brands looking for one that I like. My favorites so far have been Peets and Illy. You can get both of them in some grocery stores. I’ve noticed that it’s sometimes harder to get decaf, even if the store carries the regular coffee. You can buy both Peets and Illy decaf online–either ground or the beans.</p>
<p>We order coffee from World Market. The prices are pretty good and they have Illy as well as their own beans. Do you have an Aldi nearby? You might find similar items. </p>
<p>Trader Joes came to this town and we saw it once. Not worth it to us, didn’t see anything we liked that we couldn’t find elsewhere. </p>
<p>An empty nest is a great time to get H to start cooking. Mine, almost hopeless at being taught, has figured out cooking his loved peas (my gag food) with other veggies and cans of beans can be easily spiced. I don’t cook 1/4 as much as I used to- but will make Indian legume dishes for four and freeze portions. I like Lean Cuisine for my comfort foods. We also don’t get hung up on additives (physicians) - at our ages we add more pollutants to the environment with our meds and those additives got us to this age instead of dying young. You can be too careful. PS- for me this move has meant being very close to Indian grocery stores instead of stocking up trips.</p>
<p>Be casual about meals. break some rules- no kids to train. Think, protein, carbs, fat and fiber instead of traditional meals. Get your variety of nutrients without being conventional. Dinner(supper) no yolk omelets. Cut up salad fixings with spinach for each to make as the mood strikes. I like to cook but the freedom of not needing to is wonderful. become less fussy- as H says “it’s only food”.</p>
<p>We never had Trader Joes, but we did live in an area (Texas) where it was cheap and convenient to eat out quite often. I got very spoiled. Now we live in the UK, and it is very expensive to eat out and, in general, while the food is great quality, it’s not really what I crave. I love spicy foods and, Indian food notwithstanding, there’s not much flavour here. So, I have stocked up on spices and started growing herbs on my balcony (cilantro, chives, parsley, basil and mint). I’m having great fun coming up with new flavour combinations. Even a simple chicken breast or piece of fish can be jazzed up with spices and herbs. I’ve also expanded my starch options. My kids always liked potatoes or rice, but now H and I have discovered quinoa, couscous, bulgur, etc. </p>
<p>My biggest “miss from home” is Tex-Mex, but I purchased the Homesick Texan’s Cookbook and I’m having fun scouring London for various dried and fresh chiles. I’d still kill for a plate of El Fenix’s cheese enchiladas, but at least I’m learning to cook.</p>
<p>I miss cheese enchiladas. Honestly, there is no reason that I can’t learn to make my own this weekend. Thanks for the idea, Megmom.</p>