I'm a retired personal trainer on a Mediterranean diet. I swear by these 11 buys from Trader Joe's.

May 4, 2025 adminsr

2025-05-04T12:20:02Z

My husband and I stay active and buy groceries for our Mediterranean-style diet at Trader Joe’s.
We keep Trader Joe’s pico de gallo salsa, 21 Seasoning Salute, and organic coconut milk on hand.
We like Trader Joe’s three-layer hummus and Asian-style vegetable stir fry, too.

I’m a retired personal trainer in my 60s living in Tucson, Arizona, with my husband. We both live fairly active lifestyles.

I’m also a certified yoga instructor, swimmer, and author who’s published four fitness books — including “Fitter Than Ever at 60 and Beyond.” My husband regularly swims, lifts weights, runs, and practices yoga.

To support our healthy habits, we try to eat a Mediterranean diet rich in lean protein, eggs, dairy, fruits, vegetables, and nuts.

We like shopping at Costco with our executive membershipand we also buy a lot of staples at Trader Joe’s.

Here are some products from the chain that we swear by.

We always keep crunchy almond butter in our pantry.

I like the simple ingredients of Trader Joe’s crunchy almond butter.

Susan Dawson-Cook

Clery sticks spread with crunchy almond butter is one of my favorite lunch sides.

I buy Trader Joe’s unsalted almond butter because it only contains almonds — no inflammatory oils or sweeteners — which often appear in other brands.

A 16-ounce jar of Trader Joe’s chunky almond butter cost us $6.

Trader Joe’s colossal olives stuffed with garlic cloves are a great snack.

Trader Joe's garlic-stuffed olives — The olives pair nicely with cheese.

Susan Dawson-Cook

These garlic-stuffed olives from Trader Joe’s are a fairly light and delicious pre-dinner snack, especially when paired with cheese.

A 16-ounce jar of Trader Joe’s colossal olives cost $4.50 on this trip.

The olives pair well with baby Swiss.

Trader Joe's baby swiss cheese — Trader Joe’s baby Swiss cheese comes in blocks.

Susan Dawson-Cook

We usually pair our olives with a few thin slices of baby Swiss cheese.

It usually costs about $5 per pound at Trader Joe’s.

Three-layer hummus is delicious.

Trader Joe's 3-layer hummus — Hummus can pair with almond crackers.

Susan Dawson-Cook

I like that this three-layer dip contains tasty layers of traditional hummus, cilantro-jalapeño hummus, and spicy hummus.

It pairs nicely with blue-corn tortilla chips or almond crackers.

We usually pay $4 for a 12-ounce container of this dip from Trader Joe’s.

Trader Joe’s Asian-style vegetable stir fry is easy to turn into a full meal.

Trader Joe’s Asian-style vegetable stir-fry mix includes snap peas, mushrooms, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, and more.

I like cooking these pre-chopped veggies in olive oil with a protein, like lean ground turkey, to whip up a satisfying dinner within minutes.

The 18-ounce bowl of veggies costs $5.50.

We use pico de gallo salsa in a few ways.

Trader Joe's Mildo Pico de Gallo Salsa — Trader Joe’s pico de gallo salsa can be found in the refrigerator section of the store.

Susan Dawson-Cook

Trader Joe’s Gallo Pico Salsa contains fresh-tasting ingredients like tomatoes, onion, cilantro, jalapeños, and lemon juice.

It’s a delicious side with any meal, and we sometimes add it to scrambled eggs for extra flavor or use as it as a dip with blue-corn tortilla chips.

A 12-ounce container of Trader Joe’s pico de gallo salsa cost us $3.

Dolmas can be a nice snack before lunch or dinner.

Trader Joe's Dolmas with vine leaves — Trader Joe’s dolmas vine leaves stuffed with rice are vegan.

Susan Dawson-Cook

Popular in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisinesdolmas are grapevine leaves typically stuffed with rice, onion and seasonings.

We like the ones from Trader Joe’s, which are especially nice as a light appetizer before lunch or dinner.

A 9.86-ounce can of Trader Joe’s dolmas cost us $3.50.

Green tea is a staple.

Trader Joe's green tea boxes on shelf — I like drinking green tea with breakfast.

Susan Dawson-Cook

Green tea is high in antioxidants, and I often drink it with breakfast.

A box of 20 bags of Trader Joe’s green tea cost $3 on our last trip.

Trader Joe’s 21 Seasoning Salute is great to have on hand.

We like using Trader Joe’s 21 Seasoning Salute on meat, poultry, or fish that we cook outside on our grill.

The spice blend contains a flavorful mix of ingredients like onion, black pepper, celery seed, cayenne, parsley, basil, and oregano.

A 2.2-ounce bottle of it cost us $2.50.

My husband loves mochi ice cream.

Trader Joe's mochi ice cream in freezer — Trader Joe’s has a range of mochi ice cream.

Susan Dawson-Cook

Trader Joe’s mochi ice cream is a hit with my husband, who especially enjoys the vanilla and dark-chocolate flavors.

These tasty gluten-free treats are essentially a chewy rice dough filled with ice cream.

A package of six vanilla mochi usually costs us $5 at Trader Joe’s.

Organic coconut milk is the key ingredient in one of my favorite sauces.

Trader Joe's coconut display — Trader Joe’s organic coconut milk is a pantry staple for us.

Susan Dawson-Cook

We regularly eat baked wild salmon with a dill and lemon sauce.

One of the sauce’s key ingredients is coconut milk, which adds a nice creaminess to the dish without making it too heavy.

A 13-½ -ounce can of Trader Joe’s organic coconut milk costs just under $2.