Trader Joe's for the win

I went to Trader Joe's for the first time,

the first time I went to visit Tony and Kacy in California.

It was pretty much love at first sight.

Followed by sadness.
Because,
no Trader Joe's...

Then our friends moved from Maryland to Texas,

and although we did visit once while they lived in Maryland,

the drive was pretty excruciating

(especially the way home - it's always twice as long...).

But Texas.

Texas we could handle.

We've been extra busy the past year,

but we still managed to visit 3 times since they moved south

(plus Tyler popped in when he went on his Dallas business trip)

and every time we visit,

we go to Trader Joe's.

(And every time we go to Trader Joe's,

we find more favorites...)

On arriving home from our last trip,

I set about putting away our treasures.

When I lifted one of my packages of almond flour/meal

out of the bag,

I saw there was a hole in the seam

and flour was spilling.

If I lived near a TJ, it'd be no big deal;

I'd just exchange it,

but since we don't,

I had a dilemma.

It was probably perfectly fine.

But,

we do live in an age when people are mean,

and that open seal,

though likely an in-the-factory oopsie,

could mean that somebody'd tampered with my flour.

So I really shouldn't feed it to my family.

Darn it.

I really wanted that flour.

So.

I wrote a short book note to Trader Joe's

and explained the situation,

and asked if,

by chance,

they could maybe reimburse my card

Or even just send me a coupon 

(with a long-off expiration date) 

for a free bag.

Or better yet - they could build a store in FSM,

and I could just exchange it there 😁

Yesterday,

I got a call from Desiree,

the manager (or maybe assistant manager?) of the McKinney store,

telling me she was so sorry that had happened,

and could they please send me some almond flour.

Well, sure!

That was more than I'd expected,
but it was so kind.

And I really did want the flour

more than I wanted my $6 back,

so I was pretty tickled.

I gave her our address 

and she told me was going to send four bags of  almond flour,

plus a few seasonal items too,

to make up for all my trouble.

And she apologized again

for the inconvenience.

I told her,

"We already loved Trader Joe's,

but now we love you even more!"

(Tyler said exactly the same thing when I told him about the call)

I talked to Desiree yesterday afternoon

and today, around 9:30 this morning,

Fed-ex brought my package.

Customer service at its finest!

Two(huge) thumbs up for Trader Joe's!!

Especially the McKinney store.

If ya'll go in there, tell Desiree I say

howdy

and

thanks again!!

~

I figure maybe you're wondering what our TJ staples are:

butter.

their butter is the creamiest, butteriest butter ever.

It used to also be the cheapest,

but they've raised the price from $1.99 /lb to $2.99

still worth it,

but I'm even more selective in what it gets used for.

(Josiah thinks I should allow us 2 sticks per week

and if we run out before the week is over, too bad.

That way, we'd be able to ration it until it expires in May)

(kid totally understands budgeting 😋)

creamy (or maybe they call it smooth) unsalted peanut butter.

(nothing but peanuts!)

least expensive, most delicious creamy unsalted pb you'll  ever find.

almond meal/flour

(um. obviously...)

white modena vinegar

(Tyler loves to add this to his salads)

dark chocolate almonds

(the bags are the cheapest way to buy these)

This time, I snagged a couple of cans of coconut milk

and coconut cream,

so those will likely be added to the list as well.,

They have good prices on grass fed ground beef,

and their produce always looks great,

but we didn't get any since the car was already pretty full

and we had an almost 5 hr drive.

~

So ~ do you have a Trader Joe's??

What are your TJ favorite, must buy items?