Happy Foodie Monday!

Today, instead of a recipe, I wanted to talk to y’all about one of my favorite stores in the whole wide world Trader Joe’s.

Never heard of Trader Joe’s? Wow… I almost feel sorry for you because it’s the most amazing food store in the country. I’ll take Trader Joe’s over Whole Foods any day.

 It all started in the 50s… Would you believe we started out as a small chain of convenience stores? It’s true. Way back in 1958. We were called Pronto Markets. In ‘67, our founder, the original Trader Joe, changed our name (yes, to Trader Joe’s) and the way we do business.

We made the stores bigger (if you can imagine), decked the walls with cedar planks and donned our crew in cool Hawaiian shirts. Most importantly, we started packaging innovative, hard-to-find, great-tasting foods under the “Trader Joe’s” name. That cut our costs and saved you money. Still does. And that’s important, because “Value” is a concept we take very se… read on

You find the best items at Trade Joe’s. A good portion of items are organic, free-range, gluten-free, and/or fair trade. And the best thing is, everything is affordable. I walk in with $40 USD and leave with two bags FILLED with groceries. Something you can’t achieve at a regular supermarket.

So today, I am going to share with you my top ten must-haves. I never leave the store without these items. If I don’t have them at home, I feel like I don’t have enough food. I need to buy two at a time.

• Charles Shaw Wine: Or better known as a Two Buck Chuck. Yes it’s $2.99 USD now, but when I first started drinking it, it was $1.99 USD. So, I will forever call it Two Buck Chuck. For a super inexpensive wine, it’s pretty tasty.
• Wild Blueberry & Vanilla Goat Cheese: The weirdest most amazing cheese you’ll ever eat. No party is complete without it. Trust me, it’ll be a hit. I serve this with their Multigrain & Flaxseed Water Crackers.
• Organic Superfood Pilaf: Cook it in some stock, and it’s the best side dish you’ll ever have.
• Tarte au Brie et aux Tomates: One of the best at home pizzas I’ve ever had. It’s light and thin. It’s delicious.
• Meatless Meatballs: I put them in everything. They taste so good!
• Multigrain Baking & Pancake Mix: One box of this and you’re set for weeks. So good and delicious.
• Broth/Stock: I can’t cook anything without these. They just make everything taste better.
• Turkish Honey: I don’t use regular sugar, so to sweeten stuff, this is what I use. I even put it on my multi-grain pancakes.
• Reduced Guilt Chunky Guacamole: OK let’s face it, nothing beats real guac and I have no guilt in eating pounds of it. But this is pretty amazing! Especially paired with their Sweet Potato Tortilla Chips.
• 21 Seasoning Salute: Recently started using it, and I have no idea how I went cooking without it for so long.

Ok so now it’s your turn, what are your favorite Trader Joe’s items? Tag us on instagram as well.

Hold the presses! Just a few hours left to enter out EM Cosmetics Tokyo Palette giveaway. To enter click HERE or press the image below.

Good luck!

XOXOXO!
Dee