Trader Joes

[the sensible celiac]

If you are lucky enough to live in an area where there is a Trader Joes store, you should know that it just might be a celiac's best friend..

It is difficult to categorize Trader Joes.  To some extent it is certainly a gourmet food store. You can find all sorts of pates, wines and cheeses there. What it does not have, but many other gourmet shops do, is high prices.

TJs is also a good place for uncommon food items that may not be thought of as gourmet, for example, they carry ready-made meals from India made by TastyBite (likeses 'em).  It is also a very friendly place for vegetarians, and especially friendly to celiacs. They even sell GF pasta at very reasonable prices.

I could go on for hours about how lucky I feel to be living about 4 miles from a TJs store, if you are near one, check it out!
http://www.traderjoes.com/

Steve

[kimberlytimbers]

My wholehearted agreement about Trader Joe's. I love it when a modern institution feels reasonable and smart!

[tksmom]

I have not had much luck at the Trader Joe's near us.   It is a small store and not much Gluten free food to be found.  Maybe the stores near you are larger stores?

[the sensible celiac]

The Trader Joe's stores seem to be very different in various parts of the country.  We live in the desert in Southern California, but when we visit Massachusetts the TJ's there are much different.

You might consider talking to the store manager or other employees, we always find the people at TJ's to be very receptive to customer requests, maybe they could get more GF foods into the store for you.  They do know which of their items are GF, since they print brochures that list them.

They might also be able to help you finf GF items they do already have in stock, that you may not have realized are OK.

Give them a chance to be nice to you, it's a win-win kind of thing   

[tksmom]

The Trader Joe's near us is in New Hampshire, on the Mass border.

This is the first store I went to when we found out and one employee saw my daughter and I just kind of wondering around and asked us if she could help.  She was great, she gave us a list and showed us around.  But they didn't have a whole lot of things that were on the list at that time.  I have gone back a couple of times but she is uninterested in what they do have.

I think the problem is my daughter not the store.  She was always a plain eater.  No sauce on pasta, no mayo on sandwiches, no butter on potatoes, no seasonings, basically she ate bland, plain food.  It was difficult before the diagnosis to get her to eat anything with taste, it's even harder now!

[Tom L]

I went to Trader Joes by my house (really about 20 miles away) and saw some gluten free kids cerial. I ran into one of the workers there and asked if they had more in GF items. Boy was I surprised when he asked if I had there GF list! He took me around and was pointing things out on the shelves for about 20 minutes! Trader Joes now have a loyal customer in me! The store was not that big but they had a good selection that was on their list.

[sheltiemom]

You do need to read labels carefully at TJ's because that sneaky gluten in soy sauce is present in one type of rice cracker. I have tried some wonderful sorbet from the freezer section. Perhaps that is something that tksmom might look into.

[tksmom]

I do go back every now and then to check things out because Trader Joe's is so close to my house.

If she wasn't so picky then I am sure I could find alot of good things there too. 

[matroc]

I just tried the Brown Rice Pasta from Trader Joes and I like it a lot.  I really bought it for my dogs because  one of them was haveing severe allergic reaction to something.  So since they eat a lot of chiken and rice we eat the same food a lot.  Brown rice pasta was fbetter than others I lhave tried.  Bow Wow  Matroc

[the sensible celiac]

Yes, I agree about the brown rice pasta at Trader Joes.  It is teir own store brand, but if you read the label you'll see that it is made in Canada.  I think it might actually be the Tinkyada brand brown rice noodles in a Trader Joes package.  In any case, it seems to me to be very, very much like regular pasta in look, texture and flavor.  Yum!