Tuesday, January 27, 2009

I Heart Trader Joe's



When I contemplate the future and where I'm going to live, I can't help but think about the things that I would miss about California. I'm not talking about family and friends, because that's a given; rather, I'm talking about those things that I've taken for granted as my everyday part of life. Of course, there's always the weather. I love the snow and experiencing the different seasons, but would I want to live in the snow? Shovel myself out of my driveway every morning? Drive to work on a sheet of ice? (or maybe it would be more accurate to say 'slidding' to work on a sheet of ice) Probably not...it would get old really fast. Recently, while friends across the U.S. were experiencing weather that registered in the negative degrees, I was out and about in 80+ degree weather.

Aside, from those things, I'd have to say that one of the things that I would miss the most would be my Trader Joe's. Notice how I said 'my'? I'm very possessive of it. But, honestly, I don't think that I would ever miss it, simply because I could never move to a state that didn't have TJs. It ranks right up there with Target for me. I actually look forward to and get excited to go to TJs because they have so many different types of foods and there have been few, if any, things that I haven't liked. Everytime I go, there's something new to try.

Similar to Target, it's one of those places where I go in with a list of 3 items and I come out with 15 additional items, aside from what was on my list. Take today for example. I went to TJs to purchase eggs and Vanilla Bean Joe Joes. I came out with a plethera of items that included...

Vanilla Bean Joe Joes. One of the items I actually went to TJs for. If you haven't tried these, you really must. I could sit and eat an entire box in one sitting. They're even organic. Before eating these cookies I held the firm belief that organic should stay in the food groups it was made for- vegetables and fruit. To me, organic + cookies = tasteless cardboard.



Veggie Chips...again two words that don't really go together, but they are addicting. (and I can validate eating an entire bag because they have 'veggie' in their name)



And don't even get me started on their frozen Mac and Cheese. Y-U-M! There are 3-4 different cheeses and I just heat it up, add a little salt and I'm good to go!



One of the new items they had this week was the frozen Snickerdoodle Cookie Dough. Now, I absolutely LOVE to bake. If I could do it all day long, I would. But, when it's midnight and I have a cookie craving, I can just pop one of these out of the box and have warm, homemade-tasting cookies in 8-10 minutes. Can't wait to try them out!



Did I mention that I love Trader Joes???

I actually don't even go to the grocery store anymore unless I need something that TJs doesn't carry. I will drive 20 minutes to go to my local TJs vs. walking down the street to Ralph's... I love it that much! And, don't even try to distract me with those imitation Trader Joe's...you know... those stores you call "Whole Foods".

Please.

Next time I want to spend $5 on one apple, I'll go to Whole Foods. Until then, you can find me perusing the aisles of TJs; and, for those of you who don't live near a Trader Joe's, you have my condolences.

6 comments:

Aaron & Sara Warren said...

Don't rule out Henry's Market entirely. They have good prices and excellent produce!!! TJ's is still great though, don't get me wrong!

Anonymous said...

You can move here Julie! We have a TJ's right around the corner!

You know what I love there.....Organic White Corn Tortilla Chips and the Fresh Black Bean and Corn Salsa! That would be heaven for me it I could eat it every day.

I have heard that the Jo-Jo's are good too....but the Vanilla Bean look more my thing...I am not such a chocolate fan :-)

IF our roads weren't iced over today, I would make a trip over there (hahahaha)!

I.H.S. said...

My cousin in Indy has been raving about Trader Joe's. We don't have any here so can't really identify with it, but I can relate to the Target thing; of course it's Wal-Mart for me. I've been known to go at 1 am to get something that could have waited, but can't help it sometimes.

Julie said...

Thanks Rachael- now I know that I could move to the east coast and maintain my sanity :-)

Henry's is a good marketplace, but for me, there's no comparison to TJs :) I know that I knocked Whole Foods in my post, but I just read that they are one of the few companies who is still hiring. I should keep my mouth shut, I may need to apply there soon!

Case and Los said...

Oh how I miss TJ's, that is one of the worst things about TX. Never move here. Visit me, yes, it's sunny and warm here too. But don't move here, b/c you'll starve. Unless you want to shop at Whole Foods, which started in TX (ironic, considering most of the people that live in this state!)
I wrote a blog a while back about TJ's and my top 10 fave things, it's so fun to hear what other people love, and I used to love trying new stuff each time I'd go... I'd always ask the cashier their top 3 and pick one of those things the next trip around. My mom's visiting form CA in 2 weeks and I already have a TJ's list going for her to bring. Unfortunately I lot of the stuff I love is fresh/frozen, so those things can't make the flights:(

Julie said...

Casey- when I come to visit you, I'll be sure to get a grocery list from you :-) FYI, I've heard that one of the new items to try are their Meyer Lemon Thins (cookies).