Happy Wednesday everyone! Halfway through the week and staring straight ahead at a long weekend. Nothing better than that unless you are staring at a long vacation instead. If so, you win!

I have seen other bloggers share their Trader Joe’s purchases and I have to admit, prior to the last year, I never really frequented my local store often at all. I viewed it as an additional stop during my weekend errands that I just didn’t have time for. These days, some of our favorite items come from there so it’s easy to justify a quick stop or supplementing groceries we already have on hand to get through the week.

While I know sharing Trader Joe’s favorites is hardly groundbreaking or different, I decided to finally write a post for one reason. I have discovered some of my favorite things by watching other blogger’s recommendations. I used to wander this store aimlessly trying to figure out what to try but having it simplified by some of the best bloggers out there has made this a very easy shopping excursion now. So I figured I would share some of my favorites in hopes that maybe I can help other moms out too.

The very first thing I walk into in my store are the gorgeous flowers. If you haven’t discovered the flowers at Trader Joe’s you need to grab some next time you are near one. The prices are amazing and the flowers are so fresh and beautiful. I never used to be a big believer in having fresh flowers in my house but now it’s just a small touch that brightens up the room.

From there, I start in the produce section. If we are in need of any sort of produce, I tend to always get it from Trader Joe’s and steer towards the organic fruits and veggies as much as possible. Don’t get me wrong. We are not that fanatical about our food but I figure every little bit helps, right? A typical week of fruits and veggies include lots of bananas, strawberries, blueberries, apples, broccoli, cucumber and avocados. For some reason, I can always find the best avocados here rather than the grocery store.

I always snag a few salads to start the lunch week off as well. My favorite is just the basic caesar salad. I like to add my own fresh chicken from my leftover dinners. I also love the almond butter turmeric salad dressing. I use it as the marinade for my salmon or over a simple protein bowl for added flavor.

From there, I typically head over to the frozen section and grab a few items such as cauliflower gnocchi (bake for best results), mac and cheese for the kids, zucchini spirals, whole grain waffles, sorbet and anything else that looks interesting that week.

For snacks, we love the rice crackers, lime and salt tortilla chips, trail mix and organic chocolate chip granola bars for my daughter. We also regularly pick up a jar of both the salsa verde for chicken tacos and the corn dip for an easy appetizer.

If salmon is on the dinner menu, I always get it from Trader Joe’s along with any other meats I need, including hamburgers, salame or ground turkey. I also just picked up the pre-cooked lemon pepper chicken as an easy meal option.

And, of course, I can’t forget our two biggest guilty pleasures, the dark chocolate chips and dark chocolate peanut butter cups. Unfortunately, these used to be my two guilty pleasures until my family fell in love with them too. Now I have to buy extra and stash them. Shhh!

I’m always on the hunt for new items to try. Comment and let me know what your go to products are that you would recommend to a friend. Hope everyone has a great week!