My Trader Joe's Receipt — operation happiness.

I feel like every blogger and their mother has done a review of their favorite foods from Trader Joe’s, so here I am, doing exactly that.

I’m fairly new to the whole TJ game, so I haven’t had the chance to try as many things as all of you seasoned Joes have. While I don’t do my FULL grocery shop there, I do get plenty of goods. So, here are some of my favorites and some great deals!

THINGS THAT ARE INEXPENSIVE THAT I AM NOT GOING TO BE WRITING ABOUT BECAUSE THEY ARE BORING BUT ARE STRAIGHT-UP BARGAINS:

Whole Wheat English Muffins - $1.69
Vanilla Unsweetened Almond Milk - $1.79
Salad Organic Baby Spinach - $2.29
Broccoli Cauliflower Duet - $2.29
Multigrain Sourdough Bread - $2.99

Now, let’s get to the good stuff.

Dill Pickle Hummus - $1.99

Now, I don’t really like eating pickles by themselves, but I love pickle flavored things. And I don’t really like eating plain hummus, but I love flavored hummuses. So naturally when I saw pickle flavored hummus I had to pick it up. If pickle Lay’s chips had a dip form, this would be it. It’s tangy and refreshing and cold and pickley. Throw a carrot in there, a water cracker, a pita chip, whatever pickles your fancy (see what I did there). Get this to put on your charcuterie board that you will post a picture of on your Instagram story and I promise it’ll be a huge hit.

Scandinavian Swimmers - $2.99

These Scandinavian suckers are literally Swedish Fish on steroids. Dolphins and lobsters and seahorses, oh my! This is about as close as I’ve gotten to a beach in a while. If you are a candy person like I am, go buy yourself these. I will never be eating a Swedish Fish ever again. These are so much more fun!

Speculoos Cookie Butter Spread - $3.69

I mean, do I even need to say anything else? I eat this stuff by the spoonful. The consistency is like a thick creamy peanut butter and it tastes like Christmas in a jar. It’s warm and has a teeny tiny HINT of spice. I pair this stuff with a spoon and my mouth or I put it on a date with some chocolate chips. Don’t knock it till you try it.

Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread and Muffin Baking Mix - $3.99

I thought I knew what pumpkin bread was supposed to taste like, until I tried this mix. Sorry mom, your bread is good but this is just better. First of all, it’s gluten free. That means I can eat the whole box and still feel bad, but not AS bad, right? Second of all, it’s light and airy but dense at the same time. Are you confused? Me too. I don’t know how Joe does it but man, he really does it well. Kudos.

Fully Cooked Falafel - $3.99

I recently became a big falafel girl. But, I’m picky about my falafel. I’ve had some falaf that has way too much going on and some falaf that just misses the mark. I decided to pick up a bag of the frozen balls and see what all the hype was about. To my surprise these were just seasoned enough to the point of bland perfection, my favorite. This is a great way to get protein in if you don’t have a bag full of frozen chicken breasts on standby like I do. Make a little rice, some veggies, a nice dipping sauce and BAM.

Carrot Ginger Miso Dressings - $3.99

I love salad just as much as the next person, but it really depends on what the dressing is. I am a huge HUGE fan of Thousand Island dressing which is just so terribly awful for you. I can’t help it; it’s my weakness. I’m trying to wean off of it however so I picked up this ginger miso dressing. It reminds me of the dressing that would come on the salads at Hibachi restaurants. It’s good. It’s no Thousand Island, but it’s good.

Breaded Chicken Tenderloin Breasts - $7.99

Okay so this is probably the most expensive item I have purchased from there so far. It’s a huge bag of frozen breaded chicken strips and it really comes in handy. Who has the time to bread and cook their own kitchen? I barely have time to watch Netflix. What’s great about these is their versatility. One night I will make one and cut it up on top of a salad and another night I will make pasta with red sauce and put the rest of the sauce on the chicken. When you have a bag of frozen chicken, the options are endless. Go crazy.

So there you have it. For under $50 you can get all of the things I mentioned. That’s pretty fricking good. Here are some dishes you can make with these items!