TARGET - what's your favorite food/beverage item?

[abbefaith]

Forgive me if this has been done recently, but i'm just wondering what food items people like to buy at the red bullseye mecca?

My favorite is the cheese straws!

[coney with everything]

I gotta say we've liked just about every AF product we've tried. My son loves the frozen mini burgers, pizzas, and calzones.. The chips, esp the wasabi and buffalo flavored ones, rock. The cereal is a bit pricey, but darn tasty.

The only thing I won't buy again (I've only seen these at Target) isn't an AF product, but a Ming Tsai frozen dinner. I had such high hopes because I figured Ming wouldn't put his name on lousy food, but it really wasn't very good.

[jules1026]

An item that I miss from Target: Archer Farms used to have a lemon shortbread cookie with white chocolate chunks. Talk about addictive. I can't find them anymore!

[i_eat_a_lot_of_ice_cream]

We just got the archer farms pomegranate fruit strips, which are SOOOOOO GOOD!!!

[madgreek]

I get these for my wife and kids. We all love them. They're not cheap, but i feel much better about the ingredient list than the other fruit snacks on the market.

[cavandre]

If you live near a "Super Target", go to the deli counter & try any of the Archer Farms cold cuts. I really enjoy their Cracked Pepper Turkey Breast, especially since it's substantially cheaper than the similar Boar's Head product I usually buy down the street at Publix.

[PricingGoddess]

If you have a Home Cafe style coffee maker, that uses the individual pods, then you are going to love Target. They carry 5-6 different flavors under the Archer Farms label, that are really good. Actually, much better than Folgers, which I can only find 2 flavors. These will fit the Krups machine that we use at home, as well.

[chelleyd01]

I have a Senseo and I use the Archer Farms pods in Hazelnut and French Vanilla....I fill my coffee cup with 1/3 cup or so of milk or half and half, microwave for 45 seconds and then slide it under the machine. A nice creamy, quick and CHEAP latte!

[PartyGirl43]

I'm slighly ashamed to admit this, but because I was having a REALLY REALLY busy night when I just could not cook for my DH and son I bought a frozen Archer Farms lasanga. My DH said it was awesome. Thank You Archer Farms.....

[Big N Fat]

Designated Hitter? And I do agree with meatn3, popcorn cannot be beat at Target.
-BnF

[chelleyd01]

Sadly, I do not have a Super Target, however, my Tgt has about 8 aisles of grocery, plus the back wall is freezer/fridge. I just commented today that I am going to start doing grocery shopping there because they are SIGNIFICANTLY less than the regular grocery store. My usuals are:

pork gyoza and frozen pizzas, plus the little dessert cups of tiramisu or lemon/berry
pear cinnamon caramel dessert sauce
Vodka pasta sauce
coffee pods for my Senseo!
blue corn chips
brown sugar pecan mustard
berry cereal
apple cinnamon pancake mix
canned chicken breast----use it in buffalo chicken dip!
Market Pantry brand "crystal light" drink mixes
simmer sauces
salad dressing
cheese risotto

You really can't knock Archer Farms or Market Pantry brands...I find them better quality than the "name" brands we already know!

[Big Bad Voodoo Lou]

I use a jar of pasta sauce and a little can of tomato paste whenever I make my own meat sauce, and the Market Pantry tomato paste is significantly cheaper than any other brands, including the supermarkets' store brands. Three cans for a dollar can't be beaten... especially when one of my guilty pleasures is enjoying a spoonful right out of the can.

I also got a jar of Fleischmann's yeast there for a few dollars cheaper than the supermarket, which was nice when I baked two giant challahs for a friend's wedding.

[homerunmama63]

The salt-and-pepper cashews - Archer Farms, I think - are to DIE for......

[meatn3]

Not a grocery item, but the snack bar usually has a 99 cent popcorn and for 1 cent more you can add a fountain soda! About the best snack bargain when you are running errands!

[tangelo]

Yes, all hail the Small Popcorn Combo!

[gingerbread girl]

I LOVE Jones Soda cream soda. But the last few time I looked for it at Target, I couldn't find it. What happened? I wonder if there is a support group for cream soda addicts?

[lesliedm3]

The Archer Farms Ginger Beer is fantastic. Kind of like ginger ale, but way more gingery. Mix it with rum and a squeeze of lime...yum.

[Thefoodczar]

Target carries these miniature deli spiral sandwiches which are just great for parties----I wish I could remember the brand name! Oh, and at the risk of going slightly off-topic, I live in Dallas, and so far none of the Targets that I have visited have self-check out lines. It really hacks me off to drop into a place for 2-3 items, which takes all of five minutes, then stand for 20 minutes at the express line for someone to finish buying shirts or something like that, paticularly when said clothing is missing a bar code!

[Dax]

Awesome. Thanks for the heads up. I love me some dark and stormies. How does it compare to Reeds and other standard ginger beers?

Now I just need to make up a drink with the delicious blood orange soda too.

Oh, and I'm a lush enough to drink the box o wine.

[jim1126]

Their Archer Farms cereals RULE, and are much less expensive than other brands. I especially love the Morning Balance.

[jim1126]

Just found out Target is discontinuing its Archer Farms cereals. Evidently they've got some big distribution/promotion deal with Kashi kicking in. They're all on clearance at my location. Get 'em while you can!

[madgreek]

Thanks for the heads up. I've yet to try any of them, but have been interested. I just have so many other cereals that I love, It's hard to pick up something new. I guess now is as good a time as any to try them. Any suggestions?

[gillyweed]

Archer Farms Black Bean & Jalapeno Tortilla Chips. I don't want to admit how many bags of these my husband and I go through each month..... Those and the Blue Corn tortilla chips - have just the right heft to them and the perfect amount of salt. The Yellow Corn tortilla chips aren't as good.

Also love the Archer Farms dried fruit strips.

Also, our Target stocks Frontera Salpica salsa, which is the best jarred salsa we've found. Haven't been able to locate it at any other grocery stores in the area.

[jcrisco]

I know I'll get attacked for this one...but I bought a bottle of the archer farms "french inspired simmering sauce" and mixed it with seared chicken and mushrooms. I had to keep shoving my husband away from the stove. He kept sneaking bites. I also had bought a box (I know, I know) of the archer farms mushroom risotto. OMG - in 17 minutes I had risotto which tasted exactly like the risotto I make from scratch, stirring, over and over and over! Good for a weeknight quick meal.

[EdwardAdams]

The tomato risotto is good as well. It is a good pairing with pork.

[Bob W]

We just tried a pack of the dried fruit strips. Wildberry or something like that. Pretty tasty. Now, I started eating fruit leather 40 years ago -- my father used to get it from an old Turkish guy who made the real deal: apricot, of course, rolled up on sheets of cellophane. So my fruit leather standards are pretty high. 8<D

And people wonder how chowhounds come to be. LOL

[cupcakez]

My boyfriends mother and grandmother make apricot fruit leather like this. It's so delicious. Turkish food is great.

[vttp926]

for the first time ever i tried the honey mustard and onion pretzels, i ate almost half the bag in one sitting. so good. i bought a snack mix that is sweet and spicy. will have to try those later but i love these pretzels and such a great deal for it too.

[Big N Fat]

Do they serve cheeseburgers??? If not, popcorn.
-BnF

[Suzy Q]

The Archer Farms peach salsa mixed with cream cheese and nuked just until warm and gooey is wooooooooooooonderful...

[Big Bad Voodoo Lou]

Try the peach-pineapple salsa some time. It's "medium," so it has a slight tangy bite to counterbalance the fruity sweetness. I love the Archer Farms salsas and haven't tried a bad one yet.

[t.c.]

I haven't yet tried an Archer Farms product that I didn't like, but the Milk Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Bars are particularly addictive...

[cackalackie]

The closest Target to my home is rather small, but new - and arguably in a high-demo area. It sounds like it has a particularly nice food department, considering the size.

Yesterday I noticed they have a frozen range of Asian products by a well-known (except to me) chef. I bought the cranberry crab parcels. I can't remember the exact name of them - but they were triangular in shape and filled with a crab, cream cheese and cranberry mixture. They were divine!

I also picked up some Target brand frozen tex-mex spring roll things - well it is March Madness, after all - and they were also very well-received.

[justagthing]

was it Ming Tsai, they often carry products endorsed by him...

[cackalackie]

That's the one! I hadn't seen/noticed the range before.......

[ArikaDawn]

I wen to Target yesterday and got a big bag of Archer Farms cranberry nut trail mix. Sooo good. I was also really excited because they had my favorite large fuji apples on sale for $1 a lb. which is about half of what I typically pay.
I was tempted to get sushi, they have a little sushi dept. with authentic sushi chefs, but I still cannot get over my supermarket sushi phobia. It can't be too bad though, there is always a super long line of devotees waiting to get theirs made. Maybe next time.......probably not.

[brekkie_fan]

I've bought the Izze drinks, Pace Picante sauce, and Yoplait yogurts. Oh, and I started stocking up on those 90/100 calorie snack paks. Perfect for work muchies. There's also the Powerade and canned fruit cocktail.

[justagthing]

BTW...today is the last day of the Archer Farms sale....

[izzizzi]

Has anyone tried the frozen chicken fajita strips? Also the fish sticks and chicken nuggets? And are the Archer Farms cereals any good?

[melissad]

I got the blueberry granola cereal yesterday, and it is fabulous.

[bite bite]

Okay -- haven't actually tried this yet -- but Target has little juice box sized wines which, if at all drinkable, would be brilliant for beach picnics or for cooking. The only disappointment is they don't come with straws...

[enbell]

Will you let us know how they are?

[JK Grence the Cosmic Jester]

They're the Wine Cube line, made by Trinchero. For the most part, they're perfectly drinkable; nothing to shout from the rooftops about, but nothing you'd pour down the drain either. The Cabernet/Shiraz blend paired with creme brulee was the very thing that got me to understand how food can dramatically enhance wine.

[bite bite]

Absolutely. And thanks JK -- your post below gives me more encouragement to imbibe.

[cjla]

I went tonight, stocking up on some things before a week of company. They're selling four packs of Izze soda(in cans) 2 for $5. I bought the clementine, blackberry, pomegranate, and grapefruit flavors.

Its not easy to find Izze, but my husband's not much of a drinker, and I like to have something besides water and regular soda for him to drink.

Viva la Target!!

[justagthing]

Wow! I am so jealous of the people that have such a huge variety of Archer Farms products at their local Target. this week, they had all of their Archer Farm products on sale, so I decided to try some stuff. I love the Honey Mustard and Onion Pretzels. I also bought the Spinich Artichoke dip, great stuff. As previously mentioned, I bought the Tropical Dried Fruit tub and need to go back and buy more while it is on sale. Finally, I decided to try their Sassparilla, that was really good. It's hard to find Sassparilla, so I was very giddy with youthful excitement.

[Feed_me]

I bought the 4 pack of the Archer Farms Italian Blood Orange soda about a month ago and finally tried it. I really liked it and just bought some more. I think Trader Joe's is/was selling the same stuff, but I never bought it when I saw it at TJ's. Today I noticed Archer Farms Italian berry soda which I will have to try.

[ArikaDawn]

I am absolutely a Target fiend, but do not do a whole lot of grocery shopping there. I think the last time I went I got Fuji apples, a movie theater size box of Hot Tamales, Archer Farms Trail Mix, and Dannons Lemon Chiffon yogurt. Not exactly a balanced diet, haha, but I do love the convenience of having groceries available when I am there.

[cowgirlinthesand]

Archer Farms Pork Potstickers and Spicy Beef Tamales are great!
(I also buy my morningstar Fram products at Target for 1/2 the price of the grocery store.)

[Janet from Richmond]

I love the tamales also. And the cheese straws, the chips, trail mix and fruit leather. I'm looking forward to trying the salad dressing.

[Dommy]

Oh.... I LOVE thier crispy puffy sourdough crackers... they are BANNED from the house because I will eat the WHOLE box by myself (I can't even get P. to share becuse he finds them 'too crunchy' BAH!!! )

--Dommy!

[ttsui]

Archer Farm potato chips! When my hubby's nice to me or I'm doing grocery shopping at the SuperT, I'll get some of the Rosemary and Olive Oil potato chips. They're so good!!!!

[Dommy]

My Target has a 'to-go' aisle with mini salads and sandwiches. Healthy things like carrot sticks and fruit salads too. They are pretty darn good and CHEAP!!

The only thing Archer farms that I can'ts stand is the waters! BLEH!!

--Dommy!

[ciaobella]

agreed, the flavored water is a real miss!

[OneJayneDoe]

At my Target, I buy Oscar Meyer Thick Sliced Bacon, Land o Lakes butter, Knudsen Cottage Cheese, kraft cheeses, Stouffers side dishes, Starbucks coffee. I buy those items at Target because they are significantly less expenisve than at my grocery store. I haven't tried any Archer Farms brand items, but now I'll have to do some investigating to see which products I'd try first. Suggestions?

[QueenB]

Trail mixes and pastas.

[spyturtle008]

Love the Archer Farms salad dressings I've tried.

[Bob W]

Definitely the potato chips. A good deal at the regular price, an amazing deal when they go on special.

[Gio]

This is so weird. Target is the very last place I would think to buy any food stuffs. Why would anyone want to buy "fake food" anyway? Just wondering.

[spyturtle008]

Why does anyone buy anything at the grocery store?? Because sometimes I don't have time to make pasta from scratch or deep fry potato chips or process my own soymilk or bottle my own salad dressing. Honestly I'm a little confused by this post.

[Gio]

Oh I do understand the need for easy, quick prep for meals - but here, in my area, Target is primarily a discount department store with a small, packaged food aisle. I guess because we buy mostly organic, I wouldn't consider shopping for food at Target. I apologize for any offense I may have made.

[QueenB]

In a lot of areas there are Targets that include full grocery stores (meat, produce, dairy...anything you'd buy in a regular grocery store). I don't know the official name for them, but I call them SuperTarget.
And they do sell organic.

[spyturtle008]

Oh, absolutely no offense taken. This makes sense -- sounds like we have very different Targets! (You can get some organic stuff at the Target I use, and although I don't shop there exclusively by any means, they have some great products and some excellent prices.)

[Glencora]

I buy very little food at Target, but I think there's something funny and kind of wonderful about buying socks, motor oil, and ice cream at the same time. Oh, and a six pack of pansies.

[adventuresinbaking]

I don't go directly to buy food at target when I go there, but I often find myself perusing the food area when I am there.

I've found my favorite brands of organic soymilk for much less than my local grocery store and coop. Its more of grab it if they got it approach.

Kind of like when I bought a bunch of Ravenswood wine at BJs for 6.50 a bottle. I don't go to BJ's to buy wine, but at that price I took advantage.

[violet heather]

I found that Targets brand of boxed mac and cheese is just as good a Kraft's.

I bought four boxes for a dollar (Just for the fake orange cheese packets, I use it on a diffrent brand of pasta.).

[sweet ginger]

I believe you can buy that fake orange cheese through King Arthur Flour.

[madgreek]

It's just as good as Kraft. I agree. In fact, my wife is pretty picky when it comes to food, and she couldn't tell the difference.

[mitchgx]

I find the Archer Farms Buffalo-Wing flavored potato chips to be highly dangerous....I literally can't stop eating them once I start.

[lisaf]

One word, Icee. Not a food perse, but better than a slurpee.

[brekkie_fan]

icee rules!

[JK Grence the Cosmic Jester]

One that I just stumbled upon is the Archer Farms tropical dried fruit mix. I haven't seen dried kiwi available anywhere else, and can say that those little green bits are utter deliciousness.

[justagthing]

just bought a jar this weekend and love it!

[Sacto_Damkier]

Target sells the Archer Farms Au Gratin and Green Onion & Creme Fraiche waffle crisps which are very good and highly addictive. Everyone always loves them and are completely shocked when I tell them the chips are Target house-brand!

[Tex in the City]

I love these as well and they have disappeared from the Target I shop at...do you still have them at your store??

[Veggietales]

Archer Farms trail mixes, particularly the one with golden raisins, almonds, filiberts, sunflower seeds, dried cherries and one more thing, I can't remember, but it's a good balance of sweet and salty. And I'm allergic to peanuts and coconut to I was pleased to find a mix that didn't have either of those 2 ingredients.

[QueenB]

I love the Sunny Cranberry (dried cranberries, golden raisins, sunflower seed, toasted almonds and pepitas) sprinkled on top of salad. Though, eating it by the handful is great too.

[PseudoNerd]

Wouldn't the fact that much of the foods are processed in the same place affect your allergies?

[silverbear]

Breyer's Ice Cream -- much cheaper than at Safeway

Grape Nuts cereal -- also well priced

Beer -- 12-bottle boxes of Stella Artois, Fat Tire, and other New Belgium brews at good prices

All are available at the "regular" Target I shop at for light bulbs, diapers, etc. I've never been to a Super Target.

[chigirl71]

Hi Silverbear,

Your Target carries Stella (my *favorite*) and Fat Tire (my husbands favorite)! Wow! Are you lucky. The "best" we can get at out local Target is Bud Light (blech).

[silverbear]

It does seem to vary by store. I am halfway between two Targets, and one carries the good beers mentioned above, along with Breyer's ice cream. The other carries neither.

[ziggylu]

The SuperTarget isn't close enough to my house for frequent visits so I am not very familiar with the grocery products...but...I"ve been heartbroken ever since they took Fresca off the soda fountain at the snack bar at TargetGreatland near my house!

[brekkie_fan]

i'm sorry about your fresca craving. i went nuts when i saw Mountain Blast Powerade at my local Target. Love that stuff.

[cupcakez]

Im in love with the nut and cereal mix that is drizzled in white chocolate (maybe theres some dark/milk chocolate on there too). Im from canada and every time we go to the states I get my mom to stop at target to get some of these. delicious. last time i made her take them away and dispose of them so i wouldnt eat the whole bag in one sitting (im a nutrition student and after reading the fat content figured Id be too guilt ridden to enjoy the rest of my day if i ate them all. and i admittingly have zero self control).

[JK Grence the Cosmic Jester]

OH GOD YES! The Indulgent Snack Mix! There's three different kinds, all of them are great. I think for a while they had individual size ones for 99 cents, but when you could get 5 times as much for 1.99, why would you go for a small?

[QueenB]

I just bought and tried (and tried and tried and tried!) this today. Wow, is it awesome. I never had noticed it before. Now it's going to be a struggle not to buy a bag every time I go in Target.

[JK Grence the Cosmic Jester]

I drive a ridiculous distance for the Italian handmade frozen pizzas under the Archer Farms brand. The apple and gorgonzola is utterly divine.

[abbefaith]

i'm starting to think a lot of this stuff is only at super targets?

[CrazyOne]

I think so. Chips are probably at regular Targets, and Choxie stuff definitely is. Various shelf-stable Archer Farms products are available in our regular Targets, but I'm sure it's not the same variety as SuperTarget. (I've yet to be in a SuperTarget, in fact, not even sure I've been near one.

Things I've looked for and not found in regular Target are the imported Italian frozen pizzas and the tiramisu. But I hear some supposition that the imported pizzas from Archer Farms and from Trader Joe's are sourced from the same supplier, so if you're not near a SuperTarget but are near Trader Joe's, you might want to find these at the latter.

[JK Grence the Cosmic Jester]

I was likely the one who gave you that supposition in the first place. The four-cheese pizzas at each are suspiciously similar, down to the packaging style. I'm sure enough to bet money that the maker for each is Italpizza; at the very least, I know TJ's gets their from Italpizza because when TJ's first started carrying them they weren't private label pizzas yet. TJ's and SuperTarget both carry a different range of these pizzas; I think the only one the two share in common is the simple but excellent 4-cheese. The only one I haven't been enamored with is the veggie one at SuperTarget.

[Vexorg]

Target seems to be putting more of these items into their regular stores. The local Target just went through a major remodel/expansion which included a much larger food section (not a Super Target though, since there's no produce, bakery, fresh meats or deli.) Since this was completed recently, I haven't had much chance to try a lot of the Archer Farms items yet. I will say that on a lot of things they beat the local supermarket prices pretty handily though. I don't buy a whole lot there though, since the selection is still fairly limited.

[alyheartsseafood]

Target brand organic milk is not as good as some other brands. I second the organic air popped popcorn- very yummy. Salsa, not so yummy. Frozen fried shrimp, pretty yummy, as far as frozen fried food goes. :)

[puppymomma]

I bought a cherry and almond chocolove bar, and it's yummy.

After the holidays I bought a gingerbread mix for 99 cents. I haven't made it yet, but it looks really good. I guess I'm saving it for a special occasion. It's Archer Farms.

[pamalamb]

I love the raspberry chocolove bars, and they're cheaper than at Whole Foods!

[Mushroom]

I've yet to taste a bad Archer Farms Potato Chip!

[bookwormchef]

Archer Farms Sea Salt Chips and Salt & Pepper Chips

[beachmouse]

Love the Archer Farms olive oil-fried potato chips.

[abbefaith]

ahhh i forgot my *actual* favorite... their frozen sweet potato fries!

[Oh Robin]

Target Brand Frosted Mini-Wheats are bomb. So much sugar and $1.79.

[QueenB]

Their packaged gnocci are great. I've bought both the regular potato and the mushroom. They don't come dried, they're vacuum sealed fresh in a pack in the dried pasta section. I thought they were a nice substitute for homemade.

I also like the Archer Farms trail mixes. Wasn't thrilled about their potato chips though. Almost too greasy for my taste.

[ncpearl]

Thank you for posting about the gnocchi. It's very hard to find this item where I live. The Target brand is better than all the others I've tried (and I've tried a lot) and I was totally unaware that Target had this item. Thanks so much!

[BellaDonna]

The Lime-Orange citrus Market Pantry calorie free sparkling water/soda
Archer Farms Thick Sliced Bacon

[Covert Ops]

Anything by Archer Farms. . .especially the tiramisu in the frozen section!

[Glencora]

They sell the low cal, low sugar "Chewie" bars that Costco doesn't carry. I put them in my son's lunch once in a while.

[spyturtle008]

I've noticed that their fake meat products and soy milk are a good deal cheaper than other local supermarkets (by $1-2 per package/carton). Also like their Archer farms salad dressings...

[LulusMom]

I think the choxies are surprisingly good, and the air popped popcorn is good too.