As students we know how hard it is to grocery shop effectively and healthy while staying on budget. Whole foods a.k.a. our “dining hall” can get you burritos, pizzas, sushi and overpriced snacks. However, if you take the trek 3 blocks off campus and stray away from swiping you GWorld card, you can get so much more for your $!
Here are some TJ favorites that every college student needs in their dorm/apartment:
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Cauliflower Gnocchi: Do I say more? This frozen bag delicious “pasta” is sold out 99% of the time so when you find it, buy it! This takes about 8 minutes to make and tastes great with tomato sauce or pesto!
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Everything But The Bagel Seasoning: This is a Trader Joe’s staple! This seasoning makes eating any piece of toast taste like the best New York everything bagel you have ever had. The seasoning also tastes amazing on avocado toast & eggs!
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Brown Rice Pasta: This pasta is great for so many reasons. First off it is very inexpensive – around 3 dollars for about 4-5 servings. Being someone who eats gluten free this pasta is a great option because it actually tastes like pasta and its not $8 a box like some brands at Whole Foods.
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Greek Yogurt With Honey: This healthy breakfast option tastes so good and saves you a step of manually mixing greek yogurt with honey. It is great paired with granola or fresh fruit and is a quick meal to make in the morning before class.
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Pizza Dough: Making pizzas sounds difficult especially if you live in a dorm but TJ makes it so easy with their premade dough that only takes about 7 minutes to bake. Top off the dough with anything you want and you have “homemade” pizza!
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Savory crisps: These are my absolute weakness. These crisps mock “Nut-Thins” crackers from Whole Foods that cost about $5 dollars a box for not many at all. The TJ crisps are around 3 dollars but contain much more and are bursting with flavor at every bite. Top off these crackers with cheese or honey or both and you won’t snack on anything else again.
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Peanut Butter Cups: Last but certainly one of the most important items on this list are the dark chocolate peanut butter cups. First, these are extremely inexpensive for how many you are get and compared to the fancy organic ones you will find at Whole Foods. Second, they are a delicious way to mend a sweet tooth. Lastly, they are great to have around your room for anyone to snack on and they even taste better if you keep them in the fridge to cool.
There are so many more items to highlight here, but moral of the story is taking that extra 10 minute walk to Trader Joe’s is extremely worth it!