A Typical Visit to Trader Joe's

Trader Joe's stores have different layouts, of course, but you can generally depend on them being set up in a certain fashion. They're much smaller than typical grocery stores, with narrow aisles, so you'll want to be considerate of where you leave your cart while you browse and read labels, and how long you stand in front of the shelves while other people are trying to shop.

The stores experiment with rearranging so you walk in to particular merchandise. Some stores decided to move the cheeses to the back of the store so people can't just run in, grab their coveted cheese and leave without seeing other tempting items.

A Trader Joe's will have anywhere from four to six aisles (some bigger stores in California and Arizona will have more). There will be a frozen food aisle with freezers on both sides, and then gourmet items up above such as chocolates, cookies and desserts. The freezers contain things like meat, fish, frozen enchiladas and taquitos, frozen veggies, Morningstar Farms fake meat made from soy, frozen chopped onions and basil, frozen french fries, and a wonderful selection of appetizers for parties. Also, Trader Joe's sells fabulous desserts, sorbets, and gelatos. The gelatos and sorbets usually come in three different flavors each - you never know which flavors the store will have until you get there. Sometimes they have tiramisu gelato, other times they just have the chocolate and vanilla gelatos.

There will be a bread aisle with bread, pita, lavash, cereals, granola bars and tortillas on one side; and pasta, sauces, canned tomatoes, olive oils, olives, balsamic vinegars, and boxed or jarred soups on the other side.

Near and in front of the bread aisle will be a beautiful display of houseplants and cut flowers at very affordable prices. You can pick up a beautiful bouquet for your dining table, or a tiny potted miniature rose plant to give someone as a gift. Around holidays, the bouquets take on an appropriately seasonal and festive look.

There will be a wine aisle or two, with international wines as well as California, Washington and other US regions. You'll find staples such as Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, as well as more interesting varieties (Viognier, Pinot Gris, Gewurtzraminer, etc).

There will be a produce section with two or three tables for produce. You can also find produce in the refrigerated aisle, which contains pre-cut carrots, shredded carrots, bags of pre-washed cauliflower and broccoli heads, pre-cut fruit plates, and bagged salad mixes. The refrigerated aisle also has ready-to-go meals (sandwiches, small pizzas, sushi trays), hummus, salsa, Belgian chocolate pudding, tapioca (sometimes), tzatziki, fresh pasta and pasta sauces.

A canned goods aisle holds beans, soups, pickles, chilis, garbanzo beans, refried beans, and other goodies in cans and jars.

Another aisle will typically hold chips and snacks on one side, and dried fruits, nuts and beans on the other. The selection of crackers isn't very wide, but you can get Trader Joe's crackers that are very similar to Ritz in look and flavor, plus other crackers you can use for elegant entertaining. Sometimes they have oyster crackers that are perfect to go with their soups.

There will probably be a beverage aisle with Hansen's sodas, sparkling water (Pellegrino, not Perrier usually), Orangina, and Trader Joe's wonderful sparkling blueberry, sparkling cranberry, and sparkling pomegranate sodas.

The cheese and deli refrigerators are full of amazing goodies from around the world.

When you're done, bring your cart over to one of the checkouts, which I find move a lot faster than normal grocery stores for whatever reason. While you are checking out, you can ask the cashier for an entire case of the delicious Three Buck Chuck wine. They will ring it up and put it in your cart for you - it's often kept right behind the cashiers' stations.

You can see that Trader Joe's has enough variety so you can feed your family a fast meal, stock your pantry with essentials, throw a cocktail party, or throw a dinner party with ease. The prices are amazingly low, I bet you will be surprised when you are rung up and look at your relatively low total for so much food!