my very first trip to trader joe’s
A few weeks ago, I made the crazy confession on Facebook that I had never been to Trader Joe’s. I know, I know, just let me try to explain. We don’t have one in town and I was only told very recently by my friend Michelle that there was a TJ’s just a mere 45 minutes north, in Ann Arbor. Um…how did I not know this? I am clearly living under some sort of large, dense rock.After my confession, all of my incredible Facebook peeps shared with me their favorite Trader Joe’s finds. I was armed with all sorts of ‘must check out’ items – and check them out I did.
Because of all of the help I received in planning our trip, I didn’t want to leave you all hanging with how it went; so I have rounded up a few of the iPhone pics and favorite finds from my first trip to Trader Joe’s.
Now, for those of you that live by their freezer/refrigerator goods and suggested some items to me, we (sadly) didn’t get any on this first run because we decided to make a date night of it and get some sushi and catch a movie (The Silver Linings Playbook) while we were out (that’s right, our date night involved grocery shopping and I’m not at all ashamed) and therefore couldn’t safely get the items home in in a timely manner. But I have a whole list of items, including some sort of goat cheese bite, that I insist on trying. Soon. 
I have to say that the thing I was surprised most with, was the size of the store. It wasn’t actually all that large, but every inch of the place was packed full of interesting and unique finds. Take the teas you see above, for example. I totally bought both of those and love them equally. I wasn’t sure how green tea and peppermint would blend, but it is pleasantly smooth and delish. 
We got ourselves a few bottles of the “Two Buck Chuck” because it seemed like a highly recommended purchase. So far, I am enjoying both bottles – especially for the price. I mean, $2.99 for wine? Come on.
My only complaint about these caramels was the package was excessively undersized. I needed about quadruple the amount.
Several items that we brought home did not have the chance to have their picture taken simply because we tore into them to quickly. For example, the dried sopressata salami. Oh. My. Goodness. A slice of that on a Gorgonzola Cracker (also not pictured…) with a dab of the hot & sweet mustard. A snack made for a king. Or a hungry girl standing at her counter. Either one.
I will stop my TJ’s ranting (I feel now that I am an official shopper, I can call it TJ’s, like we’re besties or something and we call each other at night to talk about our feelings. I have problems.)
If I missed your favorite selections and there is something that I just need to try (twist my arm, right?) please oh please let me know. You’re the best like that!
I LOVE the cranberry oatmeal bars. Awesome dipped in milk!! YUMMY!
I hope I didn’t miss the window on those! I went with the kettle corn cookies this time instead (I have a weird thing with kettle corn). I am seeking them out next time for sure!
Love it! If I could shop exclusively at Trader Joe’s, Dean & Deluca and my farmer’s markets, I’d be a happy girl! It’s probably a good thing mine are a good 45 minutes away, too!
It does force some self control 🙂 Thanks so much for stopping by, Erin!
So I want to try the Vanilla Cinnamon tea, I almost bought some, can I just steal one from you? Aside from the goat cheese bites, you have to peruse the frozen aisle. We bought some roasted corn, some falafel, and the kids are all about the frozen mac n cheese, it tastes like homemade. Oh, and I bought the face wash last time too and I like it!
Definitely! We need to get together soon, anyway, and I’ll bring you a few. I really jazzed to go up and get some freezer stuff and I didn’t even begin to look at the beauty products (soaps, etc). Lots to look at still! Have you ever tried the body butters?
OMG…you didn’t get any of their ‘Cookie Butter’?! It’s an amazing dip/spread made from their Speculoos cookies – a little cinnamony…a little gingery, a lot of yummy!! I love dipping pretzels sticks in it 🙂
Rob
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