I have no idea how many calories are required to maintain my weight. I've never counted them, but I do look at how many calories are contained in packaged food. Back in the day there was this stuff called Metrecal, a diet shake drink that was the rage with all my high school friends. 300 calories/meal = 900 day for weight loss. I never used it because my weight was always okay, but felt like I was missing out on all the fun. That 300-calorie amount stuck with me. So I always think that a meal around 300 calories is okay. Probably defective thinking.

Organic roasted tomato and red pepper soup.

Cinnamon Roll Bread.

Made Harvest Grains Blend tonight adding dried cranberries as I took it off the heat. Was a good compliment to maple chili glazed chicken paillards and steamed broccoli.

I bought some TJ candied spiced pecans for my salad, and ended up serving them in a bowl along side the yams. Oh boy are they good.

I also picked up a Margherita pizza. No. Just like the frozen pizza they had when we were kids. My one DD says "I can't quite put my finger on what's wrong with it." "Oh," I said, "it's awful."

I'll be so glad when these are gone from the shelves! Dh picks up a box every time he shops.

Dark Chocolate Covered Peppermint Joe Joe's. They are especially good cold. They should be banned however. :-)

CindyMac, I think I've passed by the Mint Stars not realizing what they were. I think I am in trouble now.

Do yourself a favor and don't buy the can of english toffee covered with chocolate and ground nuts. You will not be able to stop eating them and the can is really really big. Thank goodness they are seasonal. YUM

I knew to avoid cookies and candies, and have done pretty wall at that (the kids like Dunkers but they pose no threat to me). but I did not know how addictively dangerous the "savory thin" crackers are.

Funny this thread was reprised just a few minutes ago. I tried to start a new one, but put it in Home Deco by accident.

Anyway, just had the TJ's Panettone French Toast with a big glass of Fairlife ultra filtered milk, 2%. Sooooooooo delicious (Fairlife milks is not at TJ's). The French Toast is surprisingly awesome. Highly recommend.

I can pretty much ignore the candy and cookies except in November when those wicked little stars magically appear.

Savory Thin crackers with everything!

Beet hummus.

we are coming full circle! I was hawking the beet hummus here back on Aug 27!

Won't even try the beet hummus, but I love the white bean hummus.

Love beets, but not in hummus. I tried it once. That was enough.

Eat Well Embrace Life Beet Hummus

I picked up a number of new items last I was at TJ's.. so far havent tried many. I did try the seasonal fried onions. I am not sure I appreciate the difference from the ones available in the grocery store but I really appreciated them in the TJs portabello soup.

I really liked the vegetarian tamales. I can't remember the last time I had a tamale so I am not sure I have anything to compare them to but I really enjoyed them.

I am not often tempted by the cookies and sweets. Bf likes the mini stroopwafels and if there's an open bag, I'll grab a few but they don't generally "call to me". The can of english toffee would be another story. I made a very conscious decision not to buy it.

I haven't had the savory crackers but the raisin/rosemary crackers are pretty addictive.. as are the extremely thin salted olive oil crackers (forget the name)!

I picked up a package of Porcini Mushroom & Truffle Triangoli yesterday to make for dinner. If you love the taste of truffles, I can't recommend this enough. It was delicious. My guest and I swooned over the flavor. I sauteed some fresh mushrooms with some onion in oil, added a bit of red wine, cooked them down and finished with a little bit of cream, some thyme, and a dab of butter. Served with the pasta. My oh my.

During the holidays, they carry a 3-pack of lotion that I love. It's three little tubes that I read on another site last year that is possibly made by L'Occitane. Not sure about that, but it seems to be good quality and has no parabens. Each contains shea butter, and the three scents are olive oil, kukui nut oil, and argan oil. The 3-pack sells for less than $8.

Btw, a note of caution: A couple of months ago, there was an article out about the 5 or ten, or whatever ,most popular items from TJ's. Of course the triple-ginger cookies were on the list.

So true to form, for reasons I do not understand, as soon as something is deemed awesome and fabulous and consumers love it...the companies have to go and ruin them.

I bought a bin of the cookies last week - I like them this time of year - and they are HORRIBLE now. The flavor is the same, but the texture is like flaky cardboard.

Save yourself the calories and don't bother.

Tibbrix, I noticed the same thing about the triple ginger snaps. I thought it was just me. So disappointing.

Reading the latest Fearless Flyer. Any reviews on the (fresh) Handmade Tortillas, (frozen) Shrimp & Grits Bites or Bacon Wrapped Dates Stuffed with Goat Cheese?

Bluebell, I gave them to the guy who installed my floor.

Months ago I bought some mini frozen chicken tacos. I heated them on a cookie sheet in the oven and they were OK, not awful and not very good. On par with those frozen Mexican style roll ups that I can't remember the name of- I bought them eons ago but they are still available at the grocery.

.However, the TJ mini tacos left some kind of oil on the cookie sheet that I cannot remove, it's actually stained the sheet. Anyway, it horrifies me and I won't ever buy them again.

I've also never bought coffee at TJ's that I like...until now. I was too lazy one day to also have to stop at the grocery store just to get coffee, so I decided to try TJ's Organic Sumatra coffee. It's fantastic.

South African Smoke Seasoning Blend (paprika flakes, sea salt, garlic, basil). It comes in a pepper-mill type dispenser. Adds a divine shot of smoke to whatever you fancy.

Last night I had some of TJ's frozen white corn with a twist or two of the Smoke seasoning and it was so yummy.

Today's store sample was Handmade Chicken & Green Chile Tamales with Green Dragon Hot Sauce. Yummmm!! I ate two samples and bought one of each.

Linelle, I forgot to look for the handmade tamales last visit. Putting 'em on the list....

Almost forgot: Peppermint Pretzel Slims, and I don't even like pretzels by themselves. They teamed these up with the tamales today. An unlikely pairing, but quite sublime.

Stay away from the dark chocolate covered peppermint Joe Joe's. Seriously. BACK AWAY.

I am making my shopping list from the "back away" warnings!

My hands get very dry in winter and I've tried just about every hand cream out there. Most effective ones leave my hands too greasy to apply during the day, so I keep going back to L'Occitane's original formula which is pricey.

Trader's offered a trio in a variety of scents last year in a gift pack. They were good but IMHO not L'Occitane good.

They have a new one this year. It comes in plain packaging and while it has a light scent, it's nothing memorable. I gave one a try and went back the next day and bought 5 more. I'll give some to my DD & DIL as stocking stuffers, put one in a gift basket I'm making up as a thank you gift & keep a couple spares.

This is as comparable to L'Occitane's quality as anything I've found and a tube is only $4.99. I hope they'll continue to stock it after the holidays.

I picked up a jar of the Morello cherries awhile ago with the intention of making cherry pie. I decided I needed two jars, so I picked up another one this week and made my pie yesterday. It was excellent. I got 5 cups of cherries from two jars. Not bad for a total of $6. They're German cherries and I don't know how they even export them at that price. They're canned in a light syrup so they retain their color and flavor.

I wasn't sure if I should drain them thoroughly but yes, you do need to do that. I used a cup of sugar and three tablespoons of tapioca flour, but maybe it needs a half tbsp. more as it was runny at room temperature. Looks perfect after being refrigerated overnight though. They would also be great in cobbler or as cheesecake topping.

I don't have a picture of the pie, but trust me, it did happen. It even happened for breakfast. ;)

Eating some Unexpected Cheddar with a glass of wine. Pretty good. Someone told me it was voted a fan favorite in recent balloting.

Unexpected Cheddar

Funky, where is the closest TJ's to us?

Baltimore-- well, actually, Pikesville, Md!

It's a little less than an hour for me-- would be much less for you! (I am in CH)

amck2 I just bought that hand cream today and would be happy to send you my tube - it 's far too perfumed for me and unfortunately I neglected to check before purchase.

This turned up in my Facebook feed.TJ's Best Items

I may have to try that Cookie Butter.

I like Trader Joes for fast complete dinners. Fish Casserole... 3/4 cup of cooked rice ( or part of microwave rice bag), 1 1/2 lb frozen Tilapia (partially thawed), 1 celery stalk chopped, 1 tea onion powder, 1 bag of Trader Joes frozen vegetable Melange in seasoned butter sauce ( frozen), 3/4 cup of mayo , 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup of sour cream, s & p , couple dashes of Worcestershire . Topping... 1/4 cup of bread crumbs , tablespoons of parm cheese and a bit of red pepper. Preheat oven to 375. Mix all ingredients except fish, bread crumbs, cheese and red pepper. Layer in greased casserole dish, mixture on bottom, fish in middle , mixture on top. Bake for 35 min. Take out and add breadcrumbs, parm cheese and red pepper. Bake for another 15 min. Easy and yum.

One more: Marinated grilled artichoke halves. Very authentic grilled flavor. I'm sick of winter food and crave salads for lunch. These go well with chick peas, cukes, kalamatas, feta, whatever you like. With just a plain vinaigrette.

Linelle, yes! I tried them a couple of months ago. They're great!

Tibb, I know, right? I'm a sucker for roasted/grilled anything, and these really deliver.

Tried the Sriracha hummus. It has a nice little kick.

Sriracha Hummus

Yesterday I finally made it up to Trader Joe's. I went armed with a list compiled from the huge thread here of TJ favorites. Of the five or six "must haves" on my list, they were out of three---Rosemary ham, cooked lentils and scallion pancakes. I did get a tarte d'alsace for DH, organic tomato and roasted red pepper soup, and orange champagne vinegar from my list. I also purchased chicken and apple sausages, which we will have for dinner tonight with pasta, various crackers and other items. I forgot my cold food carrier so I bought one of their zippered, insulated totes which I will definitely use a lot for other purposes. When the checker asked why I was buying it and I told her I lived pretty far away and had never been there before, I became an instant celebrity. She rang a bell, welcomed me to the store, gave me a beachy patterned carryall for my groceries, a bag of plantain chips which she said was her favorite TJ snack, and a bouquet of flowers!

We've tried the plantain chips and have sampled the roast beef, olive and fig crackers, some other kind of round pale yellow seasoned cracker., hummus and various other foods. They were all good except for the "organic vine ripened tomatoes," which were as hard as rocks, mealy, and did not taste anything like a tomato, and the plantain chips, which taste like I imagine chicken feed would taste. We've yet to try most of the things I bought, but except from the lovely warm welcome I was underwhelmed by the experience.

On the up side, I now feel a bit less like I am missing out on a great culinary treasure trove living so far from civilization and I see that nothing can touch the home grown produce I am so lucky to be able to buy from pickup trucks that park around the courthouse on Saturdays. If anything we've bought proves a must have for me I will enlist my daughter to pick it up and bring it down, but I won't be making any more special trips.

Right now our local TJ has Pink Lady apples and they are excellent. Who knows how long they will have them but we went back for a second bag (and it's a quite big bag).

I bought steaks there for the first time. We don't eat much steak but I wanted something quick and easy to grill. Ny strip, $18lb. Pricey but they were very good.

My kids wanted to try some of the frozen desserts. Mango mochis were a bust, they did not like the doughy outside and "don't see any reason to try to develop a taste for another dessert". The mini tiny ice cream cones with chocolate were awful. We did like the little rectangles of raspberry and vanilla ice cream. Small portion (about half the size of a standard popsicle) but that's a good thing and they are quite tasty.

http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/image_content_width/hash/c0/67/c067c1b3a6bf8a960ce1b772c3eca8d3.jpg?itok=eNgr4zv5

My daughters also liked the tea samples in test tubes.

Oh, I forgot--- I bought a container of the dark chocolates with soft peppermint centers and they taste exactly like York Peppermint Patties. They may be cheaper than York's because they are a bulk purchase, but now that I consider it that is not necessarily good :-)

We tried the Ricotta & Lemon Zest Ravioli tonight with a smashed Sun Gold cherry tomato sauce. Nice and lemony without any heaviness.

Found out today the ricotta and lemon zest ravioli is a seasonal item. Have no idea why, but I'll be grabbing a few more for a freezer stash.

Is it fresh ravioli? There's a cheese variety that's the best fresh ravioli I've ever had. The pasta is very thin and tender. I've been reluctant to try their other varieties.

Just looked it up and it's the Four Cheese Jumbo ravioli.

Yes, it's fresh. I saw the Jumbo Cheese. Will have to try it too. For some reason I never paid attention to their fresh pastas in the past. Dh was grabbing salami and they caught my eye.

Adding a few recent purchases to the list.

Hot & Sweet Jalapenos. When the peppers are gone save the juice and add thinly sliced carrots for more yummy goodness.

http://www.traderjoes.com/digin/post/hot-sweet-jalapeos-2

Pistachio & Pomegranate Crisps paired with Baked Lemon Ricotta. (both seasonal)

http://www.traderjoes.com/fearless-flyer/article/3355

http://www.traderjoes.com/fearless-flyer/article/3292

Have had this in the freezer forever. Finally tried it tonight with fresh baked naan. Delish!

Palak Paneer

http://www.traderjoes.com/fearless-flyer/article/1580