Check out my favorite affordable, healthy snacks and condiments at TJ's!
TJ's offers so many affordable items to help you make healthy choices. I wanted to pull together a list of my favorites to help you revamp your weekly grocery list. But there were so many that I had to break it up into two posts! Below are my must-have snacks, oils and sauces, and dry goods.
If you do not live near a Trader Joe's, maybe it's time to consider moving? Just kidding 😉. Do bookmark or keep this post in mind if you are going to be traveling close to one in the near future!
*I linked to each item to help you associate the name with the face. But keep in mind that the prices in the links are not the same as the prices at Trader Joe's.*
At Trader's, you will find an entire wall dedicated to a variety of nuts and trail mixes of different roasting styles. Quality nuts can cost you an arm and a leg, but I always find great prices at TJ's. You can pick out the pre-packages portions of the Omega Trek Mix to throw in your purse or a choose a big bag of raw, unsalted almonds for a pure, guiltless bite.
I love adding nut butters to smoothies and sauces, pairing it with fruit, or just shamelessly scooping a spoonful into my mouth for a quick, mid-afternoon snack. While it's perfect to have on hand, shopping for a nut butter with the right ingredients (only the nut and maybe some salt) can get pricey. It's crazy how the tiniest of nut butter jars can skim over the teens and cost over $20! The TJ's unsalted crunchy almond butter, however, has yet to disappoint and always costs about $8. You can't beat its price or its taste.
Need something to hold you over until dinner? Or are you craving something slightly salty, a little savory, or maybe even a tad spicy? These pre-portioned seaweed snacks will satisfy! You can purchase the traditional flavor or the wasabi one—but do remember that the wasabi spice will build as you snack!
When you want something crunchy, but you don't want to reach for the bag of empty calories, look to these dehydrated beet snacks. You can dip and munch to your crunching pleasure while consuming food with a purpose. The ingredients list is short—it's really just beets. But they are super crunchy and provide you with an excellent source of fiber, folate, and iron in exchange for minimal calories. Beets have also been known to improve athletic performance by improving you oxygen and blood flow.
If you want something to dip your beet chips in, this mediterranean hummus is my go-to. It's packed with flavor and fills you up with fiber and protein. You can also dip carrots, almonds, or pita chips into this well-priced hummus or spoon it on top of your buddha bowl. It's so versatile!
I don't know how often you try cooking with different oils, but I love switching my oil preferences based on the cooking heat and flavor I am going for. Just like with nuts and nut butters, though, the price of oils can really add up. At Trader's, you can find an affordable price for quality coconut oil in a jar, in single serving packets, or in a cooking spray!
I always buy my bottled avocado oil and avocado oil cooking spray at TJ's. The oil boasts a slight nutty flavor and is filled with healthy fats and antioxidants. You may have heard of oils with a high smoke point. A "smoke point" is the point when an oil stops simmering and starts smoking, which leaves your food tasting burnt. Avocado oil has a high smoke point and is, therefore, the perfect oil to pull out when a recipe has you cooking in high temperatures.
Soy sauce—even the reduced-sodium version—contains oodles of sodium and barely any nutritional value. Coconut aminos, on the other hand, serves as a delicious alternative to the salty, gluten-y soy sauce. Since the coconut does provide a little more sweetness than soy sauce, you can also try swapping the teriyaki sauce in a recipe for aminos 1:1. Add this healthy alternative to your sautés, marinades, dipping sauces, etc.
Making overnight oats? Have been wanting to blend your own oat flour or flour blend? Especially if you are gluten-intolerant, it can be difficult to find affordable rolled-oats that are certifiably gluten-free. These gluten-free rolled oats give the gluten intolerants full confidence to eat with abandon and they come in a big bag that only costs about $3.
Both flax seed meal and chia seeds serve as nutrient-dense options to add on top of a million different recipes—smoothies, salads, energy bites, oatmeal—the list goes on. I love to buy them both at a budget-friendly price since I pull them out almost daily.