So I think pretty much everyone I know who has ever been to Trader Joe's has found a wonderful treat that can be found no where else. TJ's keeps you coming back for more and has you drive miles and miles to do so - unless you're one of the privileged people who live close to one of their stores. The closest store to us is about an hour and a half away, so when we happen to be up in Indy for another reason, we try to make a excuse to swing by.
I usually go in with very few specific recommendations and most things are not found in your regular grocery store, so it's a bit of a guessing game as to what's going to be good. The great thing is, it's almost always wonderful. Pick something up in the store. If you think you might like it, you probably will! The added bonus is that everything in the store is chosen from manufacturers who use only organic or natural ingredients. So you can feel good about everything you buy. Of course, a lot of the things we bought have all-natural sugar and butter so you still have to use some moderation if at all possible in your consumption of their delectable goods. Oh wait, but there's more. Somehow, the prices at TJ's are not completely outrageous for the quality of food they provide. Our natural foods store here in town always seems so pricey that I hardly ever shop there. I know it's probably better for me, but my budget just doesn't allow for it.
This past week we went up to the Children's Museum in Indianapolis. We have a membership there this year, so try to make it up there often enough to make the membership worthwhile. It was a great time to go, a Thursday afternoon - we nearly had the place to ourselves. Just a smattering of other people. Compared to the Saturday of our original visit... which was packed. You can see my husband's blog post about the line ride here. Anyway, since we were in the middle of Indianapolis, it was only a few extra minutes north to the Trader Joe's. So we decided to go for it.
We found some gems this trip. My favorite turns out to be something Scott picked out. These beautiful and delectable Almond Windmill Cookies. I'm kind of a sucker for anything almond flavored. These taste a lot like the Spritz cookies my mom always makes/made at Christmas, but more crunchy. I prefer the softer spritz cookie, but these are so yummy and I don't have to make them myself or see how much butter actually went into them. Just the smell when you open the box is enough to make me swoon.
The other thing that I really liked even though it wasn't quite authentic was the Garlic Naan. It had really great flavor and was super soft and fluffy. Not soft and chewy like naan usually is. I'd say it's not bad for pre-prepared naan. It motivated me to make Chicken Tikka Masala and didn't add any pressure to make my own naan, so I was happy about that. Not that I've made my own naan very many times, but we always like to have some with this meal if we can.
We are also enjoying a pound plus bar of 72% dark chocolate, cereal bars, ginger candy, pistachio nutmeats and Scott is enjoying some Costa Rican peaberry coffee and black licorice (Scottie dog shaped). I also found some polenta. I had been wanting to try a new recipe - Polenta Lasagna, and thought I'd seen polenta at the store around here, but when I went to go look for it, I couldn't find any. Scored some at Trader Joe's. Hooray.
As you can tell, we don't end up eating very healthy as a result of visiting Trader Joe's since we buy candy and cookies, BUT if we lived closer and could go more often, they have a whole ethnic frozen food section that I'm dying to explore and other things I could work into my regular shopping rotation. So... if Trader Joe's would like to open here in Bloomington (if Bloomingfoods will allow it), I'd be one of their first and best customers.
I usually go in with very few specific recommendations and most things are not found in your regular grocery store, so it's a bit of a guessing game as to what's going to be good. The great thing is, it's almost always wonderful. Pick something up in the store. If you think you might like it, you probably will! The added bonus is that everything in the store is chosen from manufacturers who use only organic or natural ingredients. So you can feel good about everything you buy. Of course, a lot of the things we bought have all-natural sugar and butter so you still have to use some moderation if at all possible in your consumption of their delectable goods. Oh wait, but there's more. Somehow, the prices at TJ's are not completely outrageous for the quality of food they provide. Our natural foods store here in town always seems so pricey that I hardly ever shop there. I know it's probably better for me, but my budget just doesn't allow for it.
This past week we went up to the Children's Museum in Indianapolis. We have a membership there this year, so try to make it up there often enough to make the membership worthwhile. It was a great time to go, a Thursday afternoon - we nearly had the place to ourselves. Just a smattering of other people. Compared to the Saturday of our original visit... which was packed. You can see my husband's blog post about the line ride here. Anyway, since we were in the middle of Indianapolis, it was only a few extra minutes north to the Trader Joe's. So we decided to go for it.
We found some gems this trip. My favorite turns out to be something Scott picked out. These beautiful and delectable Almond Windmill Cookies. I'm kind of a sucker for anything almond flavored. These taste a lot like the Spritz cookies my mom always makes/made at Christmas, but more crunchy. I prefer the softer spritz cookie, but these are so yummy and I don't have to make them myself or see how much butter actually went into them. Just the smell when you open the box is enough to make me swoon.
The other thing that I really liked even though it wasn't quite authentic was the Garlic Naan. It had really great flavor and was super soft and fluffy. Not soft and chewy like naan usually is. I'd say it's not bad for pre-prepared naan. It motivated me to make Chicken Tikka Masala and didn't add any pressure to make my own naan, so I was happy about that. Not that I've made my own naan very many times, but we always like to have some with this meal if we can.
As you can tell, we don't end up eating very healthy as a result of visiting Trader Joe's since we buy candy and cookies, BUT if we lived closer and could go more often, they have a whole ethnic frozen food section that I'm dying to explore and other things I could work into my regular shopping rotation. So... if Trader Joe's would like to open here in Bloomington (if Bloomingfoods will allow it), I'd be one of their first and best customers.
3 comments:
We LOVE trader joes! Come to Atlanta, there's one right by the school derek teaches at! and yes, their garlic naan is awesome!
Lucky! :) When Scott was looking for jobs last year I would always check to see if there was one in the town he was applying in. Then IU decided they wanted to keep him, so no moving for us for now.
I know this is an old post... but we love trader joe's too! Just wanted to tell you that if you are ever at TJ's and don't know if you'll like something, if it's something that does not need to be prepared, they are perfectly fine with opening it up for you to try right there, no need to buy it! :)
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