Three Trader Joe Products I Can't Live Without

by Marc A. Reynolds
Garden State Green

I'll start out by saying that you have to be careful when shopping at Trader Joe's.  To the unsuspecting shopper or someone new to the world of organic food it's easy to be fooled.  Unlike Whole Foods, Trader Joe's allows foods with their own name on it to contain less than healthy ingredients.  Their standards are just not as high when it comes to keeping with all natural and organic.  Now that the negative news is out of the way, let's get on with it.

The first item that my family finds to be very tasty and super convenient is Trader Joe's Organic Brown Rice.  The box contains three pouches, you cook each one in the microwave for 3 minutes.  It's as simple as that, no guessing water levels when cooking and waiting around for your brown rice to cook.  

Item number two that will help eliminate a slew of other cleaning products is Trader Joe's Multi Purpose Cleaner.  With no chemicals and keeping it truly green this stuff cleans glass, granite, stainless steel and pretty much any other household surfaces.  I even use it on my hardwood floors and ceramic tile if I have a little spot to clean up.  It works well without being toxic.

The last great find that is now a staple in our household is Trader Joe's Unscented Deodorant.  This stuff is awesome.  You can now enjoy the health and environmental benefits of using a deodorant that is Paraben and Aluminum free.  Even better, you don't have to sacrifice smelling clean.  This is years ahead of that old crystal that would leave you smelling like you spent the day running laps under a hot sun.

While there are other products I regularly purchase at Trader Joe's these are the top three.  They really changed how we clean our home.  We eat dinner faster with the tastiest organic brown rice I have found.  We are stink free without polluting our bodies with unnecessary chemicals (mostly).  I do have to point out that this deodorant is not 100% natural, but I have yet to find one that is that doesn't leave me smelling like a BO ridden bus boy by mid morning.  I highly recommend you give some or all of these products a try if you're in the market for greener, healthier products.