Things I Love Thursday: Trader Joes

I love Trader Joes!

I truly fell deeply in love with TJs when Carter started eating solid foods and I began to make purees for him. I found that TJs had the cheapest organic fruits and veggies around my area ( check out a couple of those cost comparison posts: HERE and HERE). And very fortunate for me, it is less than a mile from my house – which is super convenient.

Our relationship ebbs and flows. Obviously due to having a grocery budget, I can’t buy all my groceries there, even though I would LOVE to. So I have to pick and choose wisely. Buying the kids snacks is usually at the top of the list along with Jeremy’s ALL TIME FAVORITE cereal (you’ll have to wait on what that cereal is until next week’s post ).

As I mentioned yesterday, my mom-guilt got the best of me and I have made it a priority to find easy, HEALTHY, on the go snacks for the boys, especially now that the weather is nice and pool season is around the corner.

So today’s post is dedicated to some of my kids’ favorite on-the-go snacks from Trader Joes!!

1. Fruity Flakes

These have taken the place of regular fruit snacks. Because as I mentioned yesterday, Evan LOVES fruit snacks and he loves these just as much! Here is a little comparison of ingredients in both but the very most important comparison is that the Fruity Flakes are 97% real fruit!!

Fruity Flakes:

Fruit (concentrated apple puree, apple juice concentrate, raspberry puree), wheat fiber, pectin, fruit and vegetable juice extracts, natural flavor

Fruit Snacks:

Fruit Juice blend from concentrate (apple and pear), Corn Syrup, Sugar, Modified Corn Starch, contains 2% or less of: pectin, citric acid, dextrose, sodium citrate, color (red40, blue1, yellow5 and other color addded) MailicAcid, Potassium Citrate, Vitamin C, Mineral Oil, Natural and Artifical Flavor, Camauba Wax, Sulfing Agents, Beeswax

Flavors include Apple Raspberry and Apple Watermelon

Cost: $3.49 (for 10 packs, I think)

2. Fruit Bars

Both boys love Nutri-grain bars (or the store brand equivalents). Right now, Carter would eat one for every meal and snack if I let me – ha! Not that these are bad. But here are a few things about the Trader Joe’s brand that stood out to me that makes them healthier.

Made with organic grains

No hydrogenated Oils

Good source of 6 B Vitamins

Contains Selenium

Flavors include: Apple, Blueberry, Strawberry and Fig

Cost:$1.69 (for 8 )

3. Apple Sauce

The one BIG thing that I love about these, and it isn’t even nutrition based I admit,  is how portable these are!! Hello, the kids LOVE apple sauce but I can barely remember my keys let along to bring spoons for the applesauce. And since it is squeezable and no spoons required that means less sticky drippy mess to think about! Which makes it completely worth the cost for me! Because as much as I love the boys being able to feed themselves, I really don’t like the applesauce down the shirt look and especially if we are away from the house and I don’t have extra clothes and a bath with me

Flavors: Apple, Apple Carrot

Cost: $2.99 (for 4)

4.  Whole Grain Chocolate Chip Cookies

Of course my kids love chocolate chip cookies and if I am going to let them have some without feeling guilt and without me having to make them homemade every time, these are perfect. These are made with whole wheat flour and only natural ingredients.

Cost: $2.99

5. Freeze dried fruit

These are great! They are easy to snack on when we are out and about and they don’t make the kids hands sticky the way fresh fruit does. So they are the perfect fruit snack options when we are running around at the park or soaking up the sun at the pool.Not that I am against cutting fruit up and taking it on the go, but someone *cough cough Carter* has decided he doesn’t like to pick up fruit with his hands. He has gotten really picky about how things feel and if they feel slimy or sticky, he won’t pick them up and he won’t eat them. And once again, I have a hard time remembering utensils.

These come in Strawberries and blueberries.

TJs has a wide variety of dried fruits also, but most that we have tried are too chewy for toddlers to chew. So I have tried to buy things that both boys can eat. Once they get a little older, I will try them again.

So that’s the first installment of Trader Joe finds. Come back next week, when I finish my first set of Trader Joe finds.

So…those are a few of my Trader Joe faves! Now it’s your turn…what are a few of your favorite things?

For more favorites, check out Things I Love Thursday at the Diaper Diaries.

** Disclosure: All views are my own personal opinion. I was not compensated for any of these reviews**