Another month, another haul! I love bidding adieu to winter (even though I love all the winter Trader Joe’s products) and saying hello to spring. In California, spring comes early. So while the actual First Day of Spring hadn’t arrived as of the date of this haul, I still counted it!
This haul was kind of a mish mash of different products in terms of healthy vs. treats. I did get a few things to work on low carb eating, but also wasn’t afraid to grab myself a couple of sweet treats and savory goodies. You only live once right?
Haul Date: March 6, 2021
Haul Cost: $238.13
New Items
NEW items are marked accordingly in my post, and I’ll be reviewing them in a separate monthly recap post. This goes for new items to the store, and new-to-me items that I will be trying for the first time!
Meal Plans
I do keep other ingredients on hand to incorporate with these meals, which I detail in the sections below. Some ingredients are also leftover from my previous haul(s), so I try to make good use of the rest of my items to eliminate as much food waste as I can.
Here’s what I planned for this haul:
Breakfasts
- Pepperoni Pizza Egg Bites
- English Muffins with Strawberry Jelly & Almond Butter
Lunches
- Cobb Salads
- Turkey Cheese Wraps
- Lemon Ricotta Ravioli
- Carnitas & Cauli Rice Bowls (also a potential dinner option)
Dinners
We do cook three meals a week with Blue Apron and tend to order takeout at least once a week, so these meals are meant to be in addition to those.
- Greek Chicken Salads
- Italian Sausage, Veggies & Orzo
- Mexican Chicken Stuffed Baked Potatoes (two nights’ worth)
Beverages
Sparkling beverages are always a must! In this haul, there were no new sparkling beverages for me to try but I did pickup a few of my favorites.
- Sparkling Blueberry Lemonade Water – I’m so glad these are a regular item now!
- Sparkling Apple Cider Vinegar Beverage (Lemon & Strawberry) – These are soooo good! But they sell out a lot and are hardly ever in stock. When I see them, I snag them.
- Lemon & Ginger Seltzer – Another regular favorite of mine. These are especially good when you are not feeling so well, thanks to the lemon and ginger flavors.
Pizza Egg Bites
We usually stick with ham and cheese or sausage egg bites for a quick breakfast, but a friend of mine inspired me to change it up a little and do some pizza egg bites with pepperoni and mozzarella!
Ingredients Bought: Volpi Gourmet Pepperoni, fresh basil, cream cheese, and shredded mozzarella cheese.
Ingredients already on hand: Farm fresh eggs from our local egg farm and Rao’s pizza sauce that I picked up at another grocery store (TJ’s also has a decent pizza sauce).
English Muffins & Jelly
Sometimes, you just crave some bread. And sometimes, you crave an English muffin! These are a great and easy breakfast item when you don’t have a lot of time to throw something together (and aren’t super concerned about your carb intake).
I also picked up a jar of Mr. Bridges Strawberry Preserve from the New Item shelf to try with the English muffins and some almond butter.
Coffee & Creamer
Weekday essentials = coffee! The creamer selection isn’t huge at Trader Joe’s, but we like the vanilla-flavored creamer just fine. My husband is also a fan of the flavored coffees, so I picked up the French Vanilla Coffee as well.
Cobb Salads
We’ve got Cobb salads on repeat! Trader Joe’s has everything you need to pre-make some of these salads for weekday lunches.
Items Bought: Romaine hearts, chicken thighs, bacon, red onion, heirloom tomatoes, blue cheese dressing & crumbled blue cheese:
Items on Hand: Pasture-raised eggs from our local ranch.
Turkey Cheese Wraps
Another item on repeat! Nothing says “easy low carb lunch” like some turkey cheese wraps. You’ve definitely got to be a cheese lover to scarf these down!
Items Bought: Folios Parmesan Cheese Wraps, peppered turkey breast slices, green onion, chive cream cheese, and shredded cheese blend for extra cheesiness.
Lemon Ricotta Ravioli
Every time I walk by the pasta containers, I am so tempted to grab one of everything. It’s a weakness! I usually resist, but I hadn’t yet tried the Ricotta & Lemon Zest Raviolis (NEW to me item) yet so I decided to treat myself.
These are super easy to make – just boil for a few mins and voila! You don’t even need any sauce. My sauce plan for this ravioli: drizzle in some olive oil, lemon juice/lemon zest, and sprinkle a little salt & pepper.
Carnitas Bowls
One of my plans for lunches (or maybe a quick dinner) was to create some carnitas bowls, and serve everything over the frozen Mexican Cauliflower rice (that stuff is so good!). I really love Mexican-inspired dishes because you get to have so many different vibrant flavors in one meal.
Items Bought: Carnitas (these are already cooked – just heat in oven), Green Goddess dressing, limes, cilantro, jalapenos, heirloom tomatoes, sour cream & cotija cheese (this is the best cheese for Mexican food!)
Items on Hand: Frozen Mexican Cauliflower Rice
Greek Chicken Salads
In trying to keep things as healthy as possible, I planned for Greek Chicken Salads for dinner one night, along with a side of my favorite canned dolmas from Trader Joe’s!.
Items Bought: Chicken breast, Romaine lettuce, cucumber, feta cheese, kalamata olives, heirloom tomatoes, and canned dolmas.
Items on Hand: Balsamic vinegar dressing and lemon & garlic to marinate and bake the chicken breasts in.
Sausage & Veggies
My plan for the sausage and veggies dish: cook the sausage and sauté all the veggies and toss them with tomato sauce. Next, boil up some orzo (love me some orzo!) and mix in some mascarpone for creaminess (crème fraiche also works great for that). Serve the sausage and veggies over the orzo!
Items Bought: Hot Italian Sausage, red bell peppers, zucchini, yellow onion, and mascarpone cheese.
Items on Hand: Orzo (bought from Sprouts) and jarred tomato sauce (from a much earlier shopping trip to Trader Joe’s).
Mexican Chicken Baked Potatoes
We are changing things up with stuffed baked potatoes! Instead of doing a chicken taco Tuesday, I thought it would be great to use baked potatoes as the vessel for all the toppings (spoiler – it was a GREAT idea!). Just bake the potatoes and throw a mountain of toppings over it. Easy peasy!
Items Bought: Chicken thighs, shredded cheese, sour cream, salsa, red onion, russet potatoes, cilantro, black olives, and jalapenos.
Assorted Non-Perishables
I also had to grab an assortment of items from the New Item shelf, as well as some pantry staples:
- Garlic Sauce & Red Curry Thai Noodles (NEW items!)
- McDougall’s Organic Chili Bean Soup (NEW to store!) – but I’ve actually tried this before as I’ve purchased it from other stores in the past. It’s yummy.
- Hot & Sweet Jalapenos – These are always good to have on hand to throw into some mac and cheese, or to use as a topping for hot dogs/sausages.
- EVOO – We go through this stuff like crazy when we cook a lot!
Sweet Treats
I did not get too crazy with the sweet treats this shopping trip (got to keep that balance going!). I got a few items for my husband to snack on for lunch, and a repeat new favorite:
- Aussie-Style Sandwich Cookies – I reviewed these in my February New Item recap and am definitely in love!
- Peanut Butter Granola Bars
- Dried Mango – Definitely a favorite of both my husband and myself. We go through bags of these regularly.
- French Vanilla Ice Cream (not pictured – woops!)
Savory Snacks
In terms of savory snacks, I grabbed a couple new items and some recurring favorites:
- Spicy Mochi Rice Nuggets (NEW to store!) – I grabbed two bags because I had a feeling they were gonna be good…
- Garlic Naan Crackers (NEW to me! – Can’t believe I haven’t tried these yet)
- Roasted Garlic Hummus – For dipping with the garlic naan crackers
- Smoked Almonds – A perfect addition to a lunch box.
Household & Beauty
Lastly, I do like to stock up on household and beauty products at Trader Joe’s!
- Dish Soap – Citrus Scent
- Rose Hand Cream (This is my favorite hand cream!!! It’s seasonal, so I made sure to buy two to last me a little longer this time)
- Coconut Oil Hair Mask – This works nice for a deeper condition in between my regular conditioner to keep my hair soft. I honestly wish I could just use this as my regular conditioner!
- I also had to sneak in a cheeky new Pepperomia plant (in the background). Plants are just too hard for me to resist!
Thanks for checking out my first haul of March 2021! Did you see any of your favorites in there?
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