Even more awesome Trader Joe Products (under $5)

Peanut butter goodies
This is my new favorite cookie! The bottom is a crunchy cookie with some creamy peanut butter on top. That's all dunked in milk chocolate and sprinkled with peanut bits. Sorry, girl scouts, but these are better and cheaper than your expensive badge-earning cookies. For only $2.99, you get 16 goodies. I didn't get these on my last shopping trip because I'm trying to lose a few pounds. If you get these, get 2 because you'll want one for yourself and the other one, well, you can decide whether you'd like to share it.

Watch out, girl scouts - these Goodies will give you all a run for your money!

Dark chocolate covered peanut butter wafer cookies
These cookies are about the size of a large chocolate caramel candy. The thing that makes them tasty is the combination of the crunchiness of the wafers, the creaminess of the peanut bitter and chocolate, and there is a slight saltiness from the peanut butter. As good as these cookies are, I think the dark chocolate gives the cookie a slight waxy texture. I'm not the only blogger who thinks that these snacks are not a hit - others have been a little more critical. Milk chocolate would make these a bit more melty and perhaps make them just as good as the Peanut butter goodies. Having said that, these wafer cookies are less messy than the goodies because you can pop a whole cookie into your mouth. The nuts on top of the goodies will fall all over the place if you're not careful. For $2.99, these are worth a try, especially if you prefer dark chocolate over milk chocolate.

Dark chocolate covered peanut butter wafer cookies

Dried unsweetened dark cherries
Even though I have a food dehydrator, there are some dried fruits that I would rather just buy from Trader Joe's. Cherries and strawberries are two fruits that take a long time to dry properly and are not always in season. Additionally, cherries require that you pit them one by one before putting them in the dehydrator. So, $4.29 is actually a great price for a bag of dried dark cherries. The strawberries are great too but they're only available during the summer months.

Dark cherries are a great snack either by themselves or dipped in chocolate. I also use them in brownies or other baked goods. Give these a try!

A tasty and healthy snack - imagine that!

Vegetable root chips
These are basically Terra chips but cheaper. For $2.99, you get a bag of taro, beet, sweet potato, and yucca chips. Another snack that I have to hide from myself or else I'll eat them in one sitting.

like Terra chips but only $2.99 a bag

More Awesome Trader Joe Products (under $5)

 Every now and then, I like to stop by Trader Joe's to pick out some new products to try. They're not very expensive and sometimes the products don't come back after one season. I think the reason they don't mind if people return stuff they don't like is because that's how they know which products suck. It's just fun to try some new things there. Here are a few recent products (that cost less than $5) that were pretty cool.

1. Gluten-Free Crispy Crunchy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Gluten free Chocolate Chip Cookies

The fact that they're gluten-free makes them unique already.

Gluten free Chocolate Chip Cookies

They're definitely crunchier than other chocolate chip cookies. I really don't miss the gluten. They contain rice flour.

The Mideast Feast - only 600 calories!

2. The Mideast Feast is one of my favorite prepared meals from Trader Joe's. Ok, it's not new but I wanted to let you all know about it, in case you've never tried it. It's very filling, healthy, and tasty. The box includes hummus, tahini, falafel, pita bread, and tabbouleh. It's meat-free but there's enough protein. I'm not vegetarian but I still like this meal very much. At $4.99, it's very affordable too.

Nutrition Info for Falafel Chips

3. Falafel Chips - This is a new product. They are made with corn and garbanzo beans so the texture is a little different from regular tortilla chips. The spices are very tasty but they are a little harder than corn or tortilla chips. Try these with a dip or something to put on them because they are really almost like a cracker. If you look at the nutrition info, they have a healthy amount of fibre and protein, which make them a little healthier than regular chips. For $3.49 a bag, it's worth a try. The chips are packaged in a sealed plastic bag inside the paper bag.

Falafel Chips

Random Trader Joe's products (that are awesome)

If you're a poor student who wants a little gourmet but can't afford it, Trader Joe's is the answer. Originally a convenience store chain from California, it has expanded to many states in the U.S. I'm grateful that there are a few stores in the Boston area because they have some really cool products that won't break the bank. This post is about a few of my favorite recent products from there. Their product lines turnover quite often so it's possible that these are not available in your area any more by the time you read this. I happened to find these in January 2012.

The first one is the Mosaic of chocolates. It's only $1.99 for 8 pieces of chocolate (2 pieces * 4 flavors). It's probably biggest bang for the buck and the value is actually in the simplicity of just 8 squares of good chocolate. The white and milk chocolate pieces have cranberry and pistachio pieces mixed in. The dark pieces have almond pieces and are topped with sea salt. Those are probably my favorite. The salt also goes well with the other pieces, so if you can knock a bit of salt off the dark pieces, try putting it on the other squares. The most boring piece in the bunch is the milk chocolate with white chocolate drizzle. It's still good though.

Mosaic of Chocolates - only $1.99

 The next product is the Eggnog flavored almonds. They're on sale after Christmas for $1.99 a box. My room mate described the flavor as being "very nutmeg -y," which is not a bad thing, just an observation. The almonds are covered in white chocolate with eggnog spices. It's a simple product and definitely worth the $1.99 for an 11 oz box.

Eggnog flavored almonds - on sale for $1.99

Finally, the Gummy Tummies were just something I decided to try because the thing I enjoy most about going to Trader Joe's is trying something new and thinking, "wow, that was kinda cool!" and this seemed to be something that might fit the bill. As you can see in the picture below, the penguins look more like Barba Papas (some of you might be too young to know what those are) with liquid filled bellies. The liquid is actually quite viscous so it's not like they squirt water when you bite into them. Unfortunately, they are not suitable for vegetarians (in case you are one) because they contain animal gelatin (one of the top ingredients). However, for everyone else, these are really cool.

Gummy tummies penguins - surprisingly good!