Friday, May 13, 2016

#1669 foodie Friday: for love of Trader Joe's

My mom texted me yesterday and said she'd been to Trader Joe's and picked up a raspberry Kringle. I had been thinking about going to TJ since I was out of half-salt tuna, and the lure of the Kringle sealed the deal. It is unwise to pass up the Kringle.

Today was a gorgeous, Chamber of Commerce type day here in Salt Lake. I happily rolled down the windows and headed to my downtown Trader Joe's. I really don't like to go to the grocery store, but TJ seems like so much more than just a grocery store. It's a place where you can find foods you didn't even know you liked. I almost always come out of there with something new to try. Today was no exception.

In addition to the two raspberry Kringles I brought home (hey! I have family coming in a couple of weeks and Kringles freeze beautifully), I also picked up a box of butter chicken. Butter chicken is an Indian dish, I guess, because it was by the Indian foods. I actually made butter chicken a few months ago and thought it was delicious. I'm interested to find out how the TJ version tastes. I also got some chicken samosas. I've never had those before, but they look delicious. Another new thing I got was the bacon cheddar ranch dip. I've made bacon cheddar ranch dip and it rocks. I'm pretty sure having the dip already made and ready to go onto the ridged sea salt potato chip will be just fine.

There are some items I get every time I'm at TJ. The aforementioned tuna is a must. I also always get the Mandarin orange chicken, even if I already have some in the freezer because it's simple to make and we all like it. I like to get the frozen, pre-cooked brown rice. Three minutes in the microwave and you have perfect rice. (Remember I talked about my troubles with rice cooking last week? The TJ rice makes me happy.) I never leave without a couple of bottles of the red salsa. I have a bit of a stockpile now but we use it a lot. Lately I also always get a package of the homemade flour tortillas. I also always pick up a chocolate treat for MT. He really likes the chocolate peanut butter salted caramel truffle. It's a bit much for me, but he loves them. Another must have: mac and cheese. I am partial to the mac and cheese with the green chilis in it, but T likes the plain version which is dang yummy too. My dog also gets treats from TJ. She really loves the dried chicken for dogs. (One ingredient: chicken. I love that!) Today there was no chicken, so she got rawhide bones wrapped in chicken. She likes those a lot too.

I like going to TJ during my lunch break. It's close enough to the office that I can get over there, shop and get back to the office in an hour. During the week at lunchtime the store is usually not as busy (except during the holidays when it's always crazy busy). It's a pleasant break and it's fun to try new things and stock up on the tried-and-true favorites.

Viva Trader Joe's!!