Trader Joe's

I seem to be doing a lot of trekking these days. Not out in the wilderness, but in the wilds of New York city. Often times I have to hit two or more stores to get all the things I need. I try to go to one store a day, or do a continuous trip, getting the heavy things last. I do all of my shopping on foot.

Today was my Treader Joe's trek. I take the train from work and then walk a mile to the store to load up on as much as I can. I love Trader Joe's because they have great prices on unique things. I can pay the same price for organic and free trade foods as I would at the standard grocery store.

The other great thing about Trader Joe's is their gluten free list. They have a list of all the products in the store that are gluten free. You can download the list on your desk top, or, if you're like me, you can grab on from the customer service desk and take it around the store with you as you shop. I wanted to try a few new things for next week and I made about three trips back to check the list.
Today they had Beef Jerky, which reads 'gluten free' right on the label. All you herbivores, look away. This jerky is great! I like things to be spiced, but I wouldn't call this 'spicy'. It's sweet and smoky and not too dry. I had some of it on the walk back to the subway and it really sut my tummy up.

My other find today was Trader Joe's Chocolate Pudding. When something says chocolate and gluten free right on the label I feel that it is my duty to sample, for your benefit. Into my shopping bag in went.

I had to wait to get home to try this one.

After putting away my groceries and washing my lunch dishes I decided I could treat myself to a little chocolate pudding.

As a I only got to have Jello-type puddings at friends houses, so any kind of creamy, chocolaty snack is a real treat and this exceeded my expectations. It's thick and rich without the artificial aftertaste I always associated with pudding cups.


Plus: it's got a cute little cow on the label!