Trader Joe's FAVORITES!

Hi friends!!!

Happy Tuesday!!

How was your weekend???

It was a beautiful weekend for me as we had our annual women's retreat at our church and it was AMAZING. God was present in every detail and it was an incredible weekend of worship, vulnerability and encouragement.

It was also emotionally and physically exhausting. In a good way!! 

You know what I mean :)

Aaron and the kids were amazing and cleaned the whole house for me Saturday morning and then came and helped us after the retreat was over, to clean up, break down tables and bring LOTS of supplies back to our church. 

I was SO proud of my family for showing up BIG time to serve and help out!

Sunday morning I WELCOMED the idea of staying in bed a little bit longer (I am normally an extremely early riser) and one by one the kids joined us in bed. 

We had to document the fact that all SEVEN of us fit in our bed!! :)

I spent yesterday organizing my life and put together our meal plan for the week. While I was doing that, I realized that I have acquired quite a few FAVORITE items from Trader Joe's...and thought I would share them with you today! 

I know many people have their "must have" items to get from Trader Joe's- so this post might not be very exciting for some of you! HA! 

But since I don't have a TJ's in my town- I wanted to give the perspective of what I buy as a non-regular TJ's shopper :) There is a TJ's in Raleigh- which is 90 minutes from us. 

The items I am going to share with you are things that I look forward to stocking up on every couple of months, when we go to Raleigh to visit my brother. It's definitely worth the extra 30 minutes to me to swing by TJ's and get these items!

This list, by NO MEANS, even begins to scratch the surface of all the yummy and amazing things Trader Joe's has...it's just a few of my GO-TO tried and true favorite items that I like to have on hand!

First up- their frozen bell peppers!
I have yet to find JUST frozen bell peppers at my regular grocery store. They have an onion and pepper mix...and I will get that if I need to- but I really just prefer only peppers. I tolerate onions..but they aren't my favorite. I will buy several bags of these frozen peppers to have on hand for various Mexican style dinners and they are also awesome in eggs or frittatas!

The next three items are my kids FAVORITES!

Cat cookies!! These are delicious and the perfect little treat when your kids want something sweet but you don't want to give them a big cookie or dessert. I will give them 5-7 of these cookies with some pretzels and a yogurt and it's the perfect after school snack!

 Schoolbook cookies! Not only are these cookies SO good- they are only slightly sweet and have the yummiest hint of cinnamon...they are SO fun! The kids love it when I give them all the letters in their names, so they can spell them out. Again- perfect for just a little treat..I love to include a few of these in their lunches!

 White cheddar corn puffs. My kids are OBSESSED with these. They can easily eat a whole bag in one sitting if we let them! HA!

 I found this Simply Roast Chicken Breast in the refrigerated section (kind of by the salads) on my last trip to Trader Joe's and I LOVED it. It is exactly what it say: simple roast chicken breast. PERFECT for making a quick chicken salad, putting on top of a big tossed salad or throwing in a veggie stir fry. I loved having this on hand for nights when Aaron was working late and the kids were having chicken nuggets for dinner. 

The one thing I have to say about this chicken is be sure to check the expiration date. I found that it really only kept fresh in the refrigerator for 2 days after I opened the container. 

It's on the pricier side at $5.99 per container, so you definitely don't want it to spoil and have to waste it!

 If you haven't tried TJ's Everything but the Bagel Seasoning you are missing out!

I love it on veggies, in my eggs, as a seasoning for my salad...it is SO good!!

 My other favorite seasoning from TJ's is this Chile Lime seasoning. It has this perfect mix of heat, sweet and tangy. I LOVE using this seasoning when I make cauliflower rice for burrito bowls and I will use it to season chicken and beef! If you have never tried this seasoning- definitely pick it up the next time you are at TJ's!

 This riced cauliflower stir-fry is DELICIOUS, easy to make and very low in WW points.

I love making a couple cups of it and then adding some steamed broccoli and chicken to it for a perfect, healthy stir fry! I try to always have several bags of this on hand!

 If you love shrimp stir fry- then you must try this out! It is SO good!

And for my WW friends...this entire bag is 6 points!!

Another staple I love having on hand for dinner when my husband is working late or I just feel like having a light, fresh dinner- but don't want to spend the time making anything! HA!

 This family style lasagna gets the stamp of approval from my kiddos AND my husband which is saying A LOT. I did not eat this lasagna since it has dairy in it- so one lasagna fed 4 people, with leftovers for Aaron for lunch.

I would say if everyone in your family likes lasagna and eats fairly large portions you should plan on making 2 of these, maybe even 3 if you want leftovers. 

I love having a few of these on hand for nights when I don't feel like cooking!

 And finally- chicken cilantro mini wontons!!

These are tiny little wontons that are such a fun addition to stir fry or fried rice. 

For my WW friends- you can have 4 of these for 1 point (on the green plan)!

If your kiddos are adventurous eaters- these are the perfect size for kids! They are tiny and I bet they would even work great in lunches!

So those are my Trader Joe's staples! As I mentioned, I know this list is fairly small in comparison to other people who shop regularly at TJ's- but they are items we love and really like to have stocked in our pantry!

And before I sign off- I thought I would share the meals we're having this week!!

Since it is Tuesday- I am just going to share our menu without days assigned to them!

Hopefully if you need some inspiration for dinner this week- one of these meals might be something you can add to your menu!

Turkey kielbasa, mashed potatoes (I am pushing the easy button and using Bob Evans homestyle mashed potatoes!) and steamed green beans

Chicken tenders (these are our FAVORITE chicken tenders!) over big tossed salads for the grown ups

Chicken tenders, Pioneer Woman's Easy Shells and Cheese and steamed broccoli for kiddos

Ground beef Crunchy Shell Tacos with steamed corn and applesauce

Taco salads for grown ups

Lettuce Wraps and roasted broccoli for the grown ups

Cheesy baked hot dogs for the kids

**I rarely make 2 separate meals for the kids and adults- but sometimes I just want to make a "grown up" meal for Aaron and I- and don't feel like fighting to have the kids eat it. HA!

They get a "favorite" meal- which is super easy for me to make and Aaron and I get to have something special we love but don't normally have!

Pizza Night!

At home Chick-Fil-A sandwiches (I love to use these chicken patties!) and carrots with ranch for dipping for the kiddos

Date night for A + J 

4 Ingredient Chili and Texas Toast (I get mine from Aldi!)

Okay- so two questions to leave you with:

1) If you shop at Trader Joe's- what are some of your FAVORITES from there?

2) What's one meal on your menu plan this week that you are extra excited about?

Hope you have the BEST day!!

Linking up (one day late) Heather, Johannah, Tanya and Lindsay!