West Michigan is a wonderful place to live but we are lacking one thing – a Trader Joe’s! The closest one is about 2 hours away. So while we were on the east side of Michigan we had to stock up on some of our TJ favorites.

I love stores like Trader Joe’s but you still have to shop smart. I think that sometimes so-called ‘health food’ stores give off an appearance that everything they sell is healthy. But there is such a thing as “healthy” junk food. A cookie is still a cookie even though it is non-GMO and has no high fructose corn syrup. While it might be a better choice than a Oreo, it is still most likely high in sugar and calories.

With that said, I tried to avoid the lure of the healthy junk foods calling my name and found many great pantry staples.

Some of the things we bought:

-Pizza and pasta sauce

-Oil (grape seed and olive)

-Ezekiel bread

-Body and face wash

-Specialty sauces (I think this something TJ excels at!)

-Canned tuna and salmon

Here are a couple of the things that are the favorite of my favorites:

These quick cooking grains are so convenient for a quick dinner or to pack for lunch.

-This cilantro salad dressing is so good!  I love to make my own dressings but you can’t beat the easy factor of premade dressings.  This one herby, garlicky, and delicious.  I love it on pretty much any type of salad.

-Balsamic glaze is one of my last meal foods.  I love the sweet sour flavor and it always makes something that was bland so good.  I drizzle it on salads, roasted veggies, meats, or really anything that needs a little pick me up.  Also one bottle lasts forever!

-I really like this light coconut milk to add to soups or curry dishes.

Oh my!  These things are addictive.  I had never tried them before but now I’m hooked.  They are crunchy, sweet, and have the perfect amount of coconuttiness.   I’m thinking when I run out I will have to try to recreate these at home.

 

So hopefully this will last us until our next TJ trip!