There is not much I love more than a grocery store trip. I like walking the aisles, seeing if anything new has snuck into my favorite sections, and finding the seasonal items. When little man was first born, my husband would watch him on Sundays and let me have our weekly grocery shopping trip all to myself. I know its weird, but the aisles of a grocery store are just where my heart soar.

If I’m with my mom and we are on vacation, we always find time to check out a local market. Even when my sister and I went to Italy, we took time in each new city to shop with the locals and grab what we could while we were there.

Because I live in a small town, I don’t get to shop at specialty grocery stores very often, so I’ve been coveting a trip to Trader Joe’s when I visited my parents. As a matter of fact I made a trip to Dallas recently with 2 main goals. Returning something to the mall and strolling the aisles of Trader Joe’s.

Both were accomplished

We are at a new stage with Little Man and his eating regimen. We are completely off the bottle (hallelujah!) and he is all about the table food and snacks. He comes by that snacking thing pretty honestly, but I’m trying really hard to make sure he has whole foods in those snacks and they are not just a bunch of empty junk that he is filling his belly with.

Since this trip was during a traveling stint where I was not going straight back home, we had to stick to things that did not require being frozen or refrigerated, but I did find some things that would keep me coming back.

Toddler Food Finds at Trader Joe’s

–Fruit and nut bars – we have been eating a lot of LARA bars and Beech-Nut oat bars for an afternoon snack, but I loved when I picked up the apple mango bar and it had 2 ingredients – apple + mango. He gobbled one of these up while we were in the store!

–freeze dried fruit – I get a lot of this at my local store, but it was fun to find variety like mango and pineapple. The “freeze-dried” variety gives little man the crunch and its really just the fruit as the 1 ingredient.

–dried fruit – I’m still on the fence on this one, but I wanted to try it. Trader Joe’s had darn near every fruit known to man – figs, apricots in all varieties, white peaches, pineapple, etc. There were just so many options and I think if I tear or cut them small enough, he should be good. We may have to wait a little more on these, but I think he will be all over them. And again, we are talking 1 ingredient – fruit.

–fruit leather and fruit leather buttons – this is probably where I’ll start with the chewy texture. They had many flavors and cuts of fruit leather. But, I liked that they had “buttons”. These little treats will act as a form of entertainment as well while he eats them. They will be great while we are out to dinner or “in-store” snacks when I need them.

–apple sauce crushers – we finally figured out how to eat pouches. I’m pretty sure it was my fault in the way I was opening (or not fully opening) the pouches, but while my mom was at my house over Spring Break, we learned how to suck on the fruit pouches. This opened back up the option to get lots of fruits and veggies in our meals. These apple sauce pouches are mixed with a variety of fruits. I got the apple + carrot option, but I’d be back to get the mango ones soon.

–vegetables chips – and straws – this was one of the 3 things I came to get. My little guy loves chips and he is pretty good about eating his veggies. There were so many options including things like beets and sweet potatoes that many places don’t offer. We can get some of these at our local grocery store, but it was nice to mix it up with some “fun” options too.

–puffins cereal – my dad buys this for my niece at Whole Foods, so I just picked up some while we were here. This is a square shaped cereal that is pretty much just a cleaner alternative to Oatmeal Squares that mommy eats. I try to keep a little tub of snacks in the bottom of his bag that are helpful in the church nursery, at a restaurant and while we are out shopping. The square shape is easy for him to hold on his own and while our favorite snack is Gerber Graduates bitty bites, I cannot find them anywhere. So the crunch keeps him busy and he can hold one in each hand.

-white cheddar puffs – these may be more of a treat for mommy, but my little cruncher muncher loves this stuff and its cheaper than “pirate’s booty” than we normally buy.

Snacks for Mommy at Trader Joe’s

–all the veggie hacks – ribbons, chunks, noodles, etc – I would go nuts having this many options for ways to sneak in fresh veggies in place of many of the foods we eat all the time. Mr. McKinney loves spaghetti squash over noodles, but having more options than we could get locally would be so much fun!

–prepped meals for mommy and daddy – we usually try to give little man bits of what we are eating, but if he eats before us, he stays with his standard meal of turkey lunch meat, peas and carrots, strawberries, and baby crunchy snacks like puffs, wheels, or baby cheetos. Trader Joe’s has a variety of prepared meals that would be perfect for two. They range from lasagna and enchiladas to Greek and Indian food…again, I’d be going nuts!

–cookie butter – one of three things I knew I wanted to walk out the door with. It’s not healthy, but it is a fun decadent treat. And some days, mommies just need a treat for keeping her kids alive. I love this stuff smeared on a graham cracker. But, its really yummy spread on a crescent roll before you twirl it up and cook it. I’m pretty sure I found out daddy enjoyed the last tub we had and snuck in a spoonful here and there.

-another find was brown rice and lentil pasta – I’ve been wanting to try these alternative options, but have just not had anything local for me. I love pasta and we love pasta dishes, but I know those added carbs are just not best for us often so I snagged a couple of options to see if the texture and such is something we could alternate with more often.

–yogurt – greek yogurt and non-greek, whole milk and low fat the flavor varieties were ridiculous – coconut creme, passion fruit and guava, honey and almond butter. Little Man and I could start sharing our afternoon snacks!

–seasoning– so, I’ll admit that seasoning and sauces are the main reasons I want to go in new, to me, grocery stores. One of the 3 things I came to get was the “everything bagel” seasoning that is great on…well, everything. But while I was there, I discovered their 21 Seasoning Salute. I love a good “Season all” option and this had darn near everything in it for an ethnic food variety as well as souther cuisine. I cannot wait to get this home and work it into my savory dishes like freezer meals, soups, and chicken pot pie

-all the frozen veggies and varieties – I’m telling you I would go nuts with meal planning if I had these options in my life every week. Anything from Thai side dishes, to Mexican cauliflower rice, to rainbow cauliflower and greek sides.

I’ve got to figure out how to work a Trader Joe’s visit into every Dallas visit and maybe next time I can bring my ice chest. This, of course, will all be after we eat down our pantry and freezer so our cupboards are bare and ready for new treasures!

Oh, and here are a few other tips for life and raising toddlers:

• Table Food Hacks for Toddler Meals
• Summer Fun with Littles
• Activities for Parents and Kids while under Shelter – aka, Covid-19 self-quarantine
• Branson at Christmas with a Toddler
• Must-Have Dollar Store Items for Disney
• 12 things I wish someone had told me about Disney
• Breakfast Omelet Muffins
• Family Beach Trip Toddler-Friendly Meal plan
• Circus Snack Mix
• Ocean Water Sensory Bottle