The other day I asked you what your FAVORITE family meal ideas from Trader Joe’s were and I got SO many really great responses! I picked up some items to make a few of them this week and will report back as I make them! For now, here is a list of all the amazing recipes you guys said that your kids even loved too! I will be creating a printable recipe book with ingredients list to go along with this in the near future. Stay tuned! 🙂 

ABOVE RECIPE

Spinach Tortellini mixed with kale & cashew pesto & sundried tomatoes (my kids ate them with regular pasta sauce!)

1)Shrimp Alfredo with Whole Wheat Pasta

2) Pesto Pasta Chicken Sausage 

Pick up the kale Cashew Pesto, chicken sausage, any pasta you want, frozen peas and some parm cheese. Cook pasta and sausage and then add together with pesto, peas, and parm!

3) Coconut Curry Chicken with Rice & Broccoli

1 bottle Thai red curry, 1 can coconut milk, jasmine rice, chicken breast (3 pack), brown sugar, scallions, butter

coconut rice: 1 tbsp butter melted in a pot. Add in tbsp brown sugar and melt the sugar into the butter. Add 2 cups jasmine rice and coat in the sugar butter (yum!) Pour in 1 3/4 cup water and half the can of coconut milk. Stir. Simmer on med/low heat for about 15 minutes with the cover on. Turn off heat and let sit an additional 5 minutes. When you serve the rice, top it with scallions, salt & pepper.

chicken/broccoli: cut the chicken into bite sized cubes. Coat bottom of pan with olive oil. Cook chicken and then add the bottle of thai red curry sauce and the other half of the can of coconut milk. Add the bite sized chopped broccoli to the simmering pan and cover to let the broccoli steam in the sauce. 

Serve with rice on bottom and chicken/broccoli on top!

4) Tortellini, Pesto & Sundried Tomatoes

as seen above! 🙂 This was the recipe I tried first last night. Super quick (5 minutes) and yummy! 

5)Beef & Broccoli OR Cauliflower orange “Chicken” (both in frozen section) with Veggie Fried Rice

6) Air Fried Orange Chicken (in frozen section) with Steamed Broccoli

7) Rice Cauliflower, Roasted Sweet Potato, Black Beans, Cheese on Tortillas

8) Brown Rice Quinoa Pasta with Ground Beef in Three Cheese Pasta Sauce

9) Traders Table Chicken Parm Bake

10) Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup

2 pkg Mediterranean orzo salad, 1 pkg  grilled lemon chicken (shredded), 2 containers of chicken broth, 1 lemon. 

Mix all ingredients except lemon into a pot and bring to a boil. Boil for about 10 minutes and then squeeze lemon in to taste!

11) Slow Cooker Chicken Curry

1 large sweet potato, 2 red bell peppers, thai yellow curry sauce, 1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs, 1 can coconut milk (14 oz), 2 tbsp corn starch, brown rice or quinoa, add naan if you wish as well (TJ has awesome naan bread)

12) Cauliflower Gnocchi with Pesto & Salmon

*BEST WAY TO COOK GNOCCHI – adapted from @spinach4breakfast 

microwave frozen gnocchi x 45 seconds. Add oil to a pan over med heat and when hot, add in gnocchi in a single layer. Do not move them around. Flip and do the same on other side. and then mix in your pesto or sauce

OR

AIR FRY ( I will microwave them first for about 40 seconds and then air fry for about 5 minutes – just keep a close eye on them)

13) Chicken Sausage with frozen Bell Peppers mix. Add Black Beans and Frozen Rice! Easy peasy!

14) Veggie Fried Rice (in frozen section) with 2 scrambled eggs and chicken (I just cook as normal on the stovetop and then cut into bite sized pieces)

15) 1 minute lentil salad (so many of you raved about this – not sure my kids would be on board, but you guys LOVE this)

1 package TJ’s Steamed & Fully Cooked Lentils, 1 package TJ’s Organic Crumbled Feta Cheese, 1 container TJ’s Bruschetta Sauce

Combine together and eat as is or with your favorite crackers!

16) Vegetable Fried Rice and Pork Dumplings (both in freezer section)

17) Creamy Tomato Gnocci Soup

1 tbsp olive oil, 1 medium onion – diced, 4 garlic cloves minced, 2 (14 ounce) cans fire roasted tomatoes, 1 cup vegetable broth, 1 cup coconut milk (plus a little extra at the end), your gnocci of choice, 2 cups of fresh basil if you wish to add it, salt & pepper to taste

In a large pot, heat oil over medium heat and then add in onions until soft. Add in garlic and saute another minute. Add in tomatoes and broth. Raise the heat to a boil. Once at a boil, lower to simmer for about 20 minutes until the liquid reduces a bit. Blend the soup with an immersion blender or whatever blender you may have on hand. Return soup to pot and stir in coconut milk and bring the soup back to a simmer. Stir in gnocchi and simmer for 4 more minutes (I cook my gnocchi ahead of time and air fry it a bit then add it in – if you do this, omit the 4 minute simmer). Stir in basil if you wish and then salt/pepper to taste. 

18) Frozen Vegetable Lasagna

I’ve had this a few times and love it, my kids CRUSH it. 

19) Pesto Tilapia over Brown Rice

Place tilapia evenly on a greased or parchment paper lined sheetpan. Spread kale cashew pesto on tilapia and bake for 15-20 minutes until fish easily flakes. Place over brown rice or rice/quinoa of choice

20) Salsa Verde Carnitas

1 package TJ’s Fully Cooked Carnitas, 1 package TJ’s Corn Tortillas, 1 jar TJ’s Salsa Verde, 1 bag TJ’s Diced Onions, TJ’s Organic Sour Cream, Finely chopped Cilantro and Lime slices, for garnish, Avocado if you wish as well!

Microwave carnitas according to package directions. When warm, shred meat with forks. Cover and set aside. To prepare tortillas, heat a griddle or grill pan to medium-high heat. Fill a shallow bowl or plate with water. Dip each side of tortilla in water and immediately place on grill pan. Warm tortilla 1 minute each side, then place in foil to keep warm. Repeat for each tortilla. To assemble tacos, layer tortilla with carnitas, salsa, diced onions and a drizzle of sour cream. Garnish with chopped cilantro and/or avocado if you wish and lime wedges. 

21) Homemade Pizza with Cauliflower Crust

This is a great one with the kids! Make one for the kids and one for the adults and let them put whatever they want on it! 

22) Turkey Stuffed Peppers

See my recipe that we love HERE!

23) Frozen Beef Tamales with Rice & Beans

24) Fish Tacos with Sweet Potato Fries

This TJs recipe is KILLER for fish tacos!

25) Carrot Zoodles, Vodka Sauce & Chicken

find the zoodles in the front section near produce! Add in sauce and then cooked chicken to the mix! Buy the chicken pre cooked or cook your own!

26) Beef Lettuce Wraps || Butter Lettuce, Ground Beef, 2 Bell Peppers, 1/2 Onion & Taco Seasoning

27) Apple Chicken Sausage with Sweet Potato Gnocchi

There were about 25 of you that all suggested this combination!! So simple too!

28) Goyza Pot stickers & Vegetable Fried Rice (frozen section)

29) Butternut Squash Pasta with Sage Pumpkin Sauce

30) Frozen Breaded Eggplant Cutlets, Sauce & Shredded Mozzarella

THESE are so dang good and my kids love them too!! So easy to make!

31) Naan, Kalamata Olives, Mozzarella Marinated Balls & Spinach (can add grilled chicken too!) 

Let the kids make their own naan bread too! They can add veggies, pepperoni, chicken, sauce, cheese! 

32) Baked Potato with Pulled Pork/Chicken on top

We do these a lot! Use a regular potato or sweet potatoes. Bake as you normally would. Add on the TJs pulled pork or chicken along with avocado, cheese, sour cream, whatever else you wish!

33) Guilt Free Mac & Cheese (frozen section) with TJs Pulled Pork

34) Frozen Shrimp & Frozen Veggie Fried Rice

Super simple combo!

35) Slow Cooker Bruschetta Chicken

Scoop up some skinless/boneless chicken thighs, TJs bruschetta near the hummus, & rice of your choice (I used the brown rice and quinoa from Costco – our fav). Coat the bottom of the crockpot with olive oil. Place chicken on top. Place bruschetta over all the chicken and add a drizzle of balsamic over the top! If chicken was NOT frozen, cook on low for 3 hours. If it was frozen, cook on low for 5 hours or so! I also added a roasted veggie to ours!