(upbeat hip hop music)
- Hey munchies, welcome to the channel if you're new,
or if you're not new, I'm Alyssia
and I am so happy you're here either way.
Today, I have got a haul for you but we're switching it up.
So I have done Trader Joe's general favorite items hauls,
I've done holiday hauls, I've done meal prep videos
and I wanted to change the format
so I thought why not a favorite items under $2 haul?
Because Trader Joe's has some pretty cool stuff
for pretty low prices.
Now, I don't buy everything at Trader Joe's.
There are some things that I think aren't worth it.
Usually when it comes to produce,
I don't get my produce there often
because it's pre-packaged, it's in a lot of plastic
and it's often sold per individual piece
or per three pack of zucchini,
what if I don't want three zucchinis
and I just want one zucchini?
Whatever, so I shop elsewhere for produce
but they do have some great, unique things
that you can't get anywhere else.
So these were all under $2.
I'm not saying that any of these are the cheapest,
that you couldn't find
some of these things cheaper elsewhere
but I like these items specifically
and I'll explain why as I go through the haul.
So first, now that I just told you
that I don't buy produce at Trader Joe's,
let me tell you the two produce items
I do tend to get at Trader Joe's.
So the first is bananas.
Bananas at Trader Joe's, at my Trader Joe's,
again I don't know if these prices are the same everywhere.
My Trader Joe's in Santa Monica, California,
this is what it is, they're 19 cents each.
Now if I only want one or two bananas, it's worth it.
Sometimes I don't want a whole bunch
from the grocery store and pay for a pound,
so sometimes I will just buy
a couple of bananas from Trader Joe's.
Also, diced onions.
Okay, I know the plastic, I'm sorry.
I hear Trader Joe's is working on the plastic issue
because it is a ridiculous amount of plastic.
Last time I did a Trader Joe's video,
everyone was like, "oh my god, look at all that plastic!"
And apparently after, there was some petition
that I don't know, came through
where Trader Joe's committed to lowering their plastic.
I don't know what's happened with it,
but diced onions are a compromise I'm willing to make
because when I have them available, my food tastes better,
I like the flavor that having chopped onion
in cooked food adds
and I don't want to chop an onion.
It's not pleasant, it makes me cry and I just won't do it
but I'll enjoy my food a lot more
and I'm more likely to cook if it's there.
If I buy diced onion at my other local grocery stores,
it will cost twice as much.
This was 1.69, so for me that's worth it.
One move that I know Trader Joe's has made
is on their produce they've started giving you these,
or at least in my location,
biodegradable or compostable vegetable bags, produce bags.
I try to bring my own when I remember
but I forget to bring them sometimes, I'm sorry, I'm human.
Let's move onto refrigerator items.
So, two items that I like, I will lump together,
are the Trader Joe's organic coconut water
and the organic coconut smoothie.
Do you see how they're pink?
Okay, so my favorite coconut water before this
was the Harmless brand, it's a green label I think.
I have no affiliation with either of these brands,
this is not a sponsored video, although I wish.
So it is pink because it is
as minimally processed as possible,
it's not refined and pasteurized.
I just think that pink coconut water tastes better.
Does it really taste better or is it just in my mind?
I don't know the answer, but I'm more likely to drink it
and it tastes really, really good.
The problem is the other brands,
that you get at Wholefoods and stuff,
they're like $4 a bottle.
This is 1.99 a bottle.
I don't drink it every single day, okay?
Don't give me such a hard time,
but it tastes really good
when I just want a little sweet treat.
This is also same thing,
kind of for a sweet treat sort of day,
not a daily indulgence,
but the only ingredients are coconut water and coconut.
I love how clean both of these are.
They taste delicious, they're high quality,
I wouldn't drink them every day but they are delicious.
Next up are these shots, juice shots to be specific.
So the organic No Joke Ginger juice shot
which is coconut water,
ginger and lemon juice and cayenne pepper
and the Mighty Tumeric juice shot,
which is a blend of coconut water, tumeric
and lemon juices with added black pepper.
In my household we are big fans of shots.
Only the juice kind though.
These specifically, some people take them for detoxifying,
which I don't really think is a thing,
but some people take them for circulation,
I personally think as an anti-inflammatory.
So if someone around me in my household is sick
or I'm around sick people,
or I feel like I'm getting sick, I will use these
and who knows if they work,
but it makes me feel better about myself.
I will say that the ones you get at your local juice store,
they are a lot more intense.
They bite a lot more because that cayenne
or that black pepper are really, really strong
and they don't usually have the coconut water in it.
These are diluted with the coconut water.
They are also half the price.
So you go anywhere else, they're gonna be $4, $5.
One grocery store I know, I live in hoity Santa Monica
but one grocery store sells these for $10.
I'm like, are you kidding me?
So these are 1.99 and if you have never done a juice shot
and can't handle the crazy bite
of the cayenne or the black pepper,
this could be a good way into it.
But if you're used to juice shots
and you like it really strong, this would not be for you.
Next up, organic sprouted tofu, extra firm by Trader Joe's.
If I'm gonna eat tofu, this is the tofu I'm gonna eat
because it's organic, it's extra firm and it's sprouted.
Extra firm tofu, first of all, is what I always use
because anything less than that,
I think just tends to fall apart when I'm cooking with it.
Of course it depends on the recipe.
If you want to make a smoothie or a spread,
or use it in a vegan baked good,
then probably less firm is better
but if I'm cooking tofu to eat it as a protein,
I want it extra firm.
Now sprouted, what does that mean?
So tofu is made of curdled soy milk.
Gross, I know, but it's true.
And it's made with regular soybeans.
The sprouted tofu is made with soybeans
that have been sprouted,
so those seeds have germinated for a couple of days
and they've got a little sprout coming out,
like a little tail coming out of them
and then those are turned into the tofu
and that sprout makes them a lot more nutritious
for a couple of reasons.
For one, the sprouting process helps with digestion.
Two, they increase nutrient absorption
because the sprouted tofu has 50 to 60% less phytates,
or as Joe likes to say, phytates, no, I'm serious,
which phytates reduce the absorption of minerals.
And also by sprouting, it's actually gonna end up
having more protein than regular tofu would.
So if you are plant based
and turn to tofu as a protein source,
getting sprouted version will help you out.
I also do prefer the taste of the sprouted,
but not everybody does, I think it's great.
The next refrigerated item, chocolate hummus, 1.99.
Okay, I first started seeing
people post about this on Instagram
and I was like, that sounds disgusting
but then I was like, why?
I have used chickpeas in baked goods before
to make bean cookies and stuff,
so why not turn it into a sweet dip
and it actually is so good!
I don't want to say it's like Nutella,
because it's not Nutella, but it tastes like a sweet dip.
I mean, the first ingredient is chickpeas.
Of course, the second ingredient is cane sugar
so I'm not saying that this is a protein substitute
but if you want a snack,
dipping a pretzel in this is delicious.
I will even dip a carrot in this
and everybody thinks that I'm weird
because carrots and chocolate is maybe a weird combination
but I think it's delicious!
I don't know, if you aren't about chocolate hummus,
Trader Joe's also does have regular hummus options
for less than $2,
which is less than I'll find at my other grocery stores.
A Trader Joe's refrigerated item,
the vanilla overnight oats.
So it says rolled oats soaked in an almond beverage
and it's gluten free.
What really caught my eye,
well first of all now that you can buy overnight oats
in the store is just really funny to me,
but the fact that these ingredients are so clean.
There's no added sugar other than the dates,
so that's totally awesome.
Now because it's soaked a lot longer,
obviously it's been sitting on the shelf until I bought it,
it is a lot mushier than an overnight oats
that you'd make at home on your own.
That doesn't make it bad though.
I will say I prefer it when I add some toppings,
so some fresh fruit and nuts
to give it a little more textural variety,
but this is a great on the go option.
So the next refrigerated item is actually a frozen item
and I can't believe that this is 1.99.
This is a Shakshuka starter.
So shakshuka is something I usually order
when I'm out to brunch.
It is a breakfast from usually the Middle East
or North Africa where it's poached eggs
and a spiced tomato sauce.
It's delicious and a lot of times
they serve it with a baguette or something to put on top,
but without the bread it's totally nutritious
with just vegetables and eggs,
and the ingredients of this are really clean and minimal,
which I love, but this is great.
I keep these on hand for Whole 30,
for breakfast, lunch or dinner, any meal of the day
but they're already pretty much prepared.
You just heat it up in the stove or microwave,
add your eggs.
You could do poached or a lot of times I just do fried eggs
because they're easier than poached eggs,
but your meal's ready to go.
Onto pantry items in my haul.
So the first are the seaweed snacks.
Now when I went to the store,
they were completely out of the plain ones,
which I usually get because the only ingredients
are seaweed, oil and salt
and these wasabi ones have sugar and other crap in them.
These have wasabi seasoning powder
which includes cane sugar, wasabi powder.
The only less nutritious ingredient is sugar,
but still I'm not even a huge wasabi fan.
I just literally bought it for the haul,
I probably won't even eat these.
I buy the regular ones, now you get it.
(slams)
To be honest, I've shared these in probably
three or four, or five videos in the past.
I didn't even need to show them again.
I mean, they did fit into this because they're 1.99
but it just needed an excuse to buy them again
because they're so good.
White cheddar corn puffs, the "World's Puffiest"
and they also have sour cream and onion,
but if you're gonna get them, I mean really,
white cheddar's the way to go.
I would not call this a healthy snack,
but it's a delicious one.
Next up, Trader Joe's Bamba Peanut Snacks.
Okay, so I actually had no idea what these were.
I've been in Trader Joe's a million times
and overlooked them, and never paid any attention to them
and then my sister came in one day,
she came over to my house.
She was telling me about, I think it was in Israel,
how these Bamba's are a huge snack
and that kids over there
have less incidents of peanut allergies.
Is it because they're exposed to these
throughout their childhood
that people over there are less allergic
or less likely to be allergic to peanuts than we are?
I don't know.
Anyway, that's the story of how I decided
to finally try these and they're only 99 cents
and oh my gosh, they're so good!
First of all, look at the ingredients.
Peanut paste, corn grits, palm oil and salt.
I'm not really sure what corn grits are,
just like grits of corn?
Just grits, like regular?
It's just like grits
when you get them out of breakfast grits?
Look at these ingredients.
Peanut paste, corn grits, palm oil and salt.
That's not too bad.
I mean, unless you're allergic to peanuts obviously,
and then you don't want to eat these
but, in terms of cleanliness it's not too bad
and the taste, they're so fluffy, they're not that salty.
Usually when I eat a corn puff,
I think oh, it's gonna have the salty, crunchy bite
but they're actually not that salty
which usually I think I would hate and not that crunchy,
and it melts in your mouth and turns into peanut butter.
What?
I don't even know, but delicious.
Alright, next pantry item, pineapple salsa by Trader Joe's.
So this salsa does have sugar in it but it's delicious
and it's great for chip dipping and all that,
but really I love to cook with it.
So cook with chicken or turkey,
or if you've ever done any of my salsa meat recipes
where I just literally dump a jar of salsa
and a pound of meat into the slow cooker and let it go,
do it with this, delicious.
And it's not that much sugar.
Two grams of sugar per two tablespoons
so it is an added ingredient, but worth it.
For me, worth it for me, maybe not for you,
I don't know, you decide.
Joe's O's, 1.99.
Now that is a big box of cereal for 1.99.
So these are pretty much
Trader Joe's version of Cheerios, obviously.
So they're gluten free and made with oats
and I don't buy cereal often
but sometimes I'll throw in a trail mix
or more often, I'm gonna get a little hate for this,
but I'll use them as little treats for my dog.
She loves them.
I don't give them to her that often, so stop getting mad
but sometimes, come on.
Everybody's got to have a little treat.
Next up, Trader Joe's herbal tea, peppermint flavor.
So this is a caffeine free tea
and I love most of Trader Joe's teas,
but this one is really, really good.
It's a really strong flavor, very full and robust
and super pepperminty.
It's not bitter though.
So a lot of peppermint teas taste bitter.
I don't love it cold,
but if you have it hot, it's delicious.
It steeps in five minutes
and I think it's one of the cheaper teas that they have,
so highly recommend if you're looking
for an herbal, caffeine free tea.
Next up, seasoning.
So, $1.99, most of these seasonings
are $1.99 at Trader Joe's.
Obviously we've got the Everything But The Bagel seasoning,
which I put on everything.
The chili lime seasoning which I love
except I can't use it a lot, like if I do Whole 30,
because it has rice concentrate in it.
What the heck is rice concentrate?
Anyway, I still love the seasoning
and I use it all the time, except not on Whole 30.
The onion salt, which I didn't buy a new one
because I still have one, but we do buy it all the time.
It's delicious, it's pretty much a mix of granulated onion,
granulated garlic, minced onion, salt,
green onion and chives.
So it's a lot of onion and salt,
but it's actually not that high in sodium.
75 milligrams of sodium.
And then, this is a new one which actually,
I'm sorry, I'm lying, this one was over $2.
I think it was 2.29 or 2.99?
I can't remember, but I just remember it was over $2,
but I'd never seen it before!
The organic chili seasoning blend,
which is a mix of chili powder, cumin,
garlic powder and oregano,
so I'm definitely gonna be cooking with this.
Alright, so organic, unsweetened, flaked coconut.
So Trader Joe's sells unsweetened flaked coconut and chips.
These are the ones I usually buy
because it's harder for me to find the shredded coconut
from another grocery store where it's not sweetened,
so this is one item that I will actually get
because of the price and also it's very clean.
The only ingredient is organic coconut.
So use this in recipes or topping on oats
or in trail mixes or whatever.
Okay, so a lot of people say to not buy peanut butter
at Trader Joe's because of the price,
but I actually thought that the price was pretty good.
This is regular creamy, salted peanut butter.
I think they have unsalted too.
Now it's not organic.
They do sell organic one, but it's over $3.
I don't personally need my peanut butter to be organic.
If you do, that's great, good for you
but I usually don't eat peanut butter plain.
I usually use it in recipes and stuff,
and so this is fine and it was $1.99.
The only ingredients are peanuts and salt,
so it's clean, no added sugar, no oil needed, good for me.
The next item is actually two items in one.
The Simply Light milk and dark chocolate.
So these are both sugar free
and I hadn't actually tried these,
but what caught my eye is
at the top they are marketing the net carbs,
which has become a thing.
Everybody wants you to think
their thing is the lowest in carbs.
Carbs aren't bad, you guys,
but if you are doing keto then yeah,
you want to watch carbs.
What's tricky about this is the sweetener is maltitol
which is a sugar alcohol.
It's not bad, but it affects blood sugar
and so I wouldn't say it's ideal for keto.
So if you're looking for a keto friendly chocolate
and people are going online
and searching for it and finding this,
I would say this is not probably your best option for keto
but if you're looking for chocolate
that doesn't have added sugar
and uses a sugar alcohol instead and you want lower sugar
but you're not so worried about the specific amount
of net carbs or anything like that,
then this could be a good option.
It tastes like chocolate.
I'm not big on chocolate,
so I'm the wrong person to ask actually,
but they did really try to push the net carbs
and I thought that was a little bit sneaky.
Okay, so I have one more item for you.
Oh Trader Joe's has such good reusable bags
and I couldn't resist, look at this.
It's a unicorny, because it has a Trader Joe's corn
on the horn, and then on the back.
I don't know you guys.
I thought it was cute and I couldn't resist.
It was 99 cents, plus in California,
we've got to bring our bags now.
They charge you 10 cents if you don't bring your bags, so.
So that is my Trader Joe's haul of items under $2.
I hope you enjoyed it.
I thought it would be a fun way
to switch up the haul format.
If you want more videos like this at Trader Joe's
or other stores, let me know what you'd like to see,
what stores you'd like to see that done at
and I also thought about doing a price comparison video
with Trader Joe's and Wholefoods or something like that,
so if that interests you,
be sure to let me know below in the comments.
So that is it for today, thank you for being here.
Don't forget to subscribe.
I will see you next week
and remember it's all a matter of mind over munch.
Come on, I think it's cute.
Ooh, there's a potato on the bottom!