• I'm a Canadian mom who drives to the US just to stock up on my family's favorite Trader Joe's items.
• My kids love the store's fettuccine Alfredo, mango juice smoothies, and vanilla meringues.
• The Middle Eastern-style kebabs and Mandarin-orange chicken make weeknight dinners a breeze.

As a mom of three picky eaters, I will do whatever it takes to find foods that my kids enjoy. Luckily, Trader Joe's offers dinner options my whole family loves at affordable prices.

There's only one problem: the complete lack of Trader Joe's locations in Canada.

So, twice a month, I drive nearly an hour from our home in Canada to Bellingham, Washington, to stock up on all my family's favorites.

Crossing the border for groceries might sound extreme, but the quality of the products and rave reviews from my kids make the drive worthwhile.

Here are nine items from Trader Joe's that always end up in my cart.

Prices may vary by location.

My whole family is obsessed with Trader Joe's Mandarin-orange chicken.

One of my family's favorite meals is Trader Joe's Mandarin-orange chicken, so I make sure to buy four packages each time I shop.

This chicken, battered in a delicious orange-ginger sauce, is great on its own or with stir-fry noodles.

If I'm feeling fancy, I'll serve it with broccoli, carrots, and white rice, sprinkled with some sesame seeds on top.

My son never liked fettuccine Alfredo until he tried the Trader Joe's version.

Even though my son has never been a fan of fettuccine Alfredo, served in a restaurant or cooked at home, he absolutely loves Trader Joe's take on this dish.

For my family of five, I typically heat up two packs of the frozen pasta. I also love adding Trader Joe's breaded chicken tenderloin breasts for extra protein.

To elevate the dish even more, I add some high-protein milk and butter, then top it with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and parsley. The result is always a resounding success in our household.

Trader Joe's take on kebabs is delicious.

I'm originally from Egypt, so I always make sure to pick up a bag of Trader Joe's Middle Eastern-style kebabs, which remind me of home.

A bonus: my oldest daughter loves them, too.

These kebabs take about 20 minutes to grill and are my secret for whipping up shawarma in a flash.

I like combining them with tomatoes, a homemade tahini sauce, and onions seasoned with sumac and parsley. Then, I pack it into the Trader Joe's Egyptian-sourdough Baladi pocket bread.

I can't get enough of Trader Joe's chocolate-covered wafer cookie bars.

My secret indulgence is Trader Joe's chocolate-covered wafer cookie bars. This sweet treat tastes exactly like my favorite childhood snack I had back home in Egypt.

Each bar costs only $1.20, so I normally grab anywhere from five to seven during my grocery trips.

Trader Joe's vanilla meringues are a sweet treat that always come home with me.

My haul always includes Trader Joe's fat-free vanilla meringues, which are my youngest daughter's favorite treat.

At only $4.50 per container, these fluffy meringues offer the perfect amount of sweetness in each bite.

Trader Joe's rolled corn tortilla chips are my son's go-to snack.

My son loves Trader Joe's chili-and-lime-flavored rolled corn tortilla chips, so I always make sure to pick up a bag whenever I visit the store.

I highly recommend these extra-crunchy chips for anyone who likes spicy snacks, since they're packed with zest and heat.

I always pick up Trader Joe's mango juice smoothies for my daughter.

My teenage daughter's favorite item from Trader Joe's is the store's mango juice smoothie.

These non-dairy smoothies are made with mango purée, apples, banana purée, and lemon juice, and are a staple in our fridge.

Along with great flavor, each smoothie is full of vitamins A and C, and costs only $3.

Trader Joe's pork gyoza potstickers are a great appetizer for hosting.

Whenever we have guests over, I love to serve Trader Joe's pork gyoza potstickers.

Each pack of these potstickers has about 20 pieces, making it the perfect appetizer for any get-together.

I like to pair them with some soy sauce mixed with rice vinegar, and garnish with green onions.

I can't believe how awesome Trader Joe's cultured salted butter is.

So many of my favorite Egyptian recipes rely heavily on butter, so I'm always on the hunt for one that's high-quality with an affordable price tag.

Trader Joe's cultured salted butter is my personal favorite, as it tastes amazing, softens in minutes, and elevates every dish.

• Two pilots were killed after an Air Canada plane collided with a ground vehicle at LaGuardia Airport.
• Photos from the scene showed the plane on the ground, at an angle, its nose severely damaged.
• The airport will remain closed until at least 2 p.m. ET as federal investigators examine the incident.

An Air Canada aircraft collided with a ground vehicle at New York's LaGuardia Airport late Sunday, killing two pilots and forcing the airport to shut down as investigators examine the crash.

The Air Canada Express flight, a CRJ-900 operated by Jazz Aviation — a Canadian regional carrier that runs shorthaul flights on behalf of Air Canada — struck a Port Authority rescue and firefighting vehicle on the airfield shortly after landing, authorities said.

New York Port Authority Executive Director Kathryn Garcia told reporters early Monday morning that two pilots on board the aircraft were confirmed dead. New York Port Authority told Business Insider another 41 people were transported to the hospital, including 39 flight passengers and two officers.

Garcia said the fire truck involved in the collision was responding to a separate United Airlines aircraft that had reported an odor issue. Two officers in the truck were taken to hospital and are in stable condition with no life-threatening injuries, she added.

The airport will remain closed until at least 2 p.m. ET Monday to allow the National Transportation Safety Board to investigate, Garcia said, adding that federal investigators are already on-site.

Jazz Aviation said in a statement on its website that the plane was carrying 72 passengers and four crew members. The statement did not provide information about the number of injuries or deaths.

Air Canada has set up a helpline for friends and family of passengers on flight AC8646.

The flight left Montreal around 10:35 p.m. E.T., and touched down at LaGuardia at 11:37 p.m., per data from flight tracking website Flightradar24.

"The airport is currently closed to facilitate the response and allow for a thorough investigation," the Port Authority spokesperson said in the statement.

Per Flightradar24, 271 flights at LaGuardia were canceled on Monday.

An air traffic control recording from LiveATC.net appeared to capture the moments before the collision. In the recording, a controller urgently instructs the vehicle to stop. A few minutes later, the controller announces there was an incident on the airfield.

The Federal Aviation Administration issued a ground stop notice for all planes at LaGuardia Airport, per a notice by the agency.

A New York City Fire Department spokesperson told Business Insider that the department had responded to a call at 11:38 p.m., about an incident involving a plane and a vehicle on the runway.

LaGuardia is one of the three major commercial airports serving New York. It said in an X post earlier on Sunday that "weather conditions have caused LGA Airport flight disruptions," and advised passengers to "check with your airline to determine the status of your flight."

LaGuardia served over 30 million passengers in 2025, per the Port Authority.