Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Trader Joe's Chicken Chilaquiles Rojo


As regular readers know, I hate onions. I can tolerate them in small amounts, but what's in this package can in no way be deemed "small amounts." I ripped open the top, looked down inside, and saw a ton of chopped onion pieces. Ugh. I managed to fish out most of them before I started cooking, but I won't want to do that again.

Other than that, I did generally like the flavors here, and the tortilla chips made for a satisfying, crunchy textural contrast.

The package claims that this makes 2 1/2 servings. Uh, no. I'm not a big guy, but I ate the whole thing (minus onions, of course) for my lunch--along with some cooked veggies and a salad. It was a little more than I would have considered the ideal amount, but certainly not enough for two servings, let alone 2 1/2. Did they test the serving size on 8-year-old children?


Will I buy it again? 

No. First, onions. Second, basically the only time I buy grocery products with chicken is when I'm trying them for this blog. Otherwise, I'm happier sticking with plant-based fake meat products. If this were reformulated with about one-tenth the onions and with a meat substitute, then I would readily purchase it again--but I don't see that happening.

Monday, October 28, 2019

Trader Joe's Apple Cider Donuts


I'm torn about these.

On the one hand, they're surprisingly good cake donuts, given that they're packaged and shipped to stores, rather than sold fresh where they were just made. They have a nice amount of cinnamon-sugar coating. They are the best store-bought cake donuts I've ever encountered.

But on the other hand, there's precious little "apple cider" about them. I ate all six of these, and with every one of them I was consciously trying to detect the flavor of apple cider, or even of just apple--and completely failed. Not a hint of it anywhere, as far as I could tell.

So they're pretty good at being something they're not supposed to be (cinnamon donuts), and a complete failure at being what they're supposed to be.


Will I buy it again? 

No. I'm fortunate to have many better donut choices. And I always prefer raised over cake.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Roundup

This is my weekly compilation of news and other links about Trader Joe's.


11 Trader Joe's meals you can make in 10 minutes or less 

The best Trader Joe's frozen fall foods

Pumpkin spice has taken over Trader Joe's

Heather's Trader Joe's top ten

5 Trader Joe's skin care products

5 lessons from Trader Joe's unbeatable customer experience



Best tweets of the week:







And finally, sadly, we yet again have had a week with nobody posting a picture of a cute cat in a Trader Joe's grocery bag.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Trader Joe's Maple Ginger Cookie Swirl Ice Cream


Too much maple. Too little ginger and cookie.

Fix that, Trader Joe's, then we'll talk.


Will I buy it again? 

No.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Sila Al Peperoncino Sheep's Milk Cheese



This is now the 10th peppery cheese I've tried from Trader Joe's; see here for the previous nine.

This is among the poorest of the lot. It's so mild that it's almost bland, which is not what one wants or expects from a cheese labeled as "spicy." It wasn't really deliberate, but the cheeses I bought immediately before and after this one were random hot/spicy/pepper cheeses from other grocery stores, so I could try both of them side by side with the TJ's. Both were much better.

It also molded incredibly fast. You can see that it was getting mold even before I unwrapped it, in the bottom right corner of the lower photo above.


Will I buy it again? 

No.

Monday, October 21, 2019

Trader Joe's Plaintain Crisps


Nina spotted these at the store, brought them home, and served them with dinner at her house last night.

When I first opened the bag, I was startled to see some thick, wet, yellow goop clinging to the inside of the bag:


Turns out this is dust from the chips, clumped and moistened by the excessive oil in which they are cooked. Harmless, but unattractive--and not what one expects to see upon opening a bag of chips.

This gives you a hint of how oily the chips are. It's their worst feature, and a complete deal-breaker for me. They are the greasiest chips I've ever had. Which is too bad, because they otherwise have a nice flavor and crunchy texture.

This oiliness is made worse by reading the list of ingredients and realizing that they've used palm oil. Orangutans are being endangered because their native forests are being burned and chopped down to plant palm trees. I don't want to contribute to that. I see no reason that Trader Joe's couldn't use something else.

They're nothing like either Trader Joe's Sweet Plantain Chips or TJ's Jerk-Style Plaintain Chips, in either flavor or texture.


Will I buy it again? 

No.

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Roundup

This is my weekly compilation of news and other links about Trader Joe's.


Best candies at Trader Joe's

6 new Trader Joe's items that are underrated

Ranking of Trader Joe's pumpkin-spice stuff

5 dietitian-approved lunches to buy at Trader Joe's

15 copycat Trader Joe's recipes

Why I stopped shopping at Marshall's and Trader Joe's

How to use Trader Joe's dukkah

My 92-year-old grandma showed me her favorite things to buy at Trader Joe's

8 Trader Joe's buys to add to your healthy fall shopping list

How to shop at Trader Joe's without overspending



Best tweets of the week:












And finally...nothing. It's been another sad week with nobody posting pictures of cute cats in Trader Joe's grocery bags.

Friday, October 18, 2019

Special post: My five favorite things to make

Two years ago, I did a post with a similar title, except "two" instead of "five." I now have three more main dishes that I like just as much as the two described there, and they all feature Trader Joe's ingredients. Numbers 1 and 2 are the two described in that earlier post. I still make them frequently, with no change in the recipes.

3. Soy Chorizo chili, as described here, with link to the recipe at the end of the post.

4. Tacos. I use Trader Joe's Taco Seasoning Mix. In that same post, I said that TJ's taco shells would be my first choice. They were so only briefly. I soon thereafter discovered Old El Paso "Stand 'n Stuff" shells. Their clever design, with a wide base, conveys two big advantages. First, they can stand up without falling over. Second, you can stuff a lot more filling into them with no risk of cracking. I won't buy any others now. Really, once you try them, you can never go back to regular taco shells. (I once tried the version with a "hint of lime," and didn't like the flavor at all. Too salty.) I use Gardein's fake ground beef, Fresh Express Green Leaf Shreds, TJ's tomato sauce, and whatever shredded cheese I have on hand, with TJ's Organic Shredded 3-Cheese Blend being my current favorite. Most recently, I've started adding TJ's Organic Spicy Taco Sauce as the finishing touch.

5. Pasta. I'm not picky about the pasta itself, but my two principle choices are TJ's Winter Snowflake Pasta when I can get it, or TJ's Organic Whole Wheat Spaghetti when I can't. But the thing that has really moved pasta from a safe but boring meal choice to one of my favorite foods is discovering the synergy between TJ's Autumnal Harvest Creamy Pasta Sauce (which I buy in bulk in the fall to last all year) and TJ's Italian Sausage-less Sausage (thin-sliced and lightly browned in oil). For some reason not subject to rational inquiry, that flavor combination sends dopamine across all my pleasure center synapses.

Drop in for dinner someday, and there's about a 99% chance that you'll be served one of these five things. As favorite things go, they're right up there with raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens.

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Trader Joe's Baby Cauliflower


To start with, I think--but do not know--that this is simply ordinary cauliflower harvested earlier than usual. Nina thinks it's a different cultivar. She might be right; after all, Trader Joe's sells "baby broccoli" that is actually broccolini. But I can't find anything online that says that "baby cauliflower" is something biologically different from cauliflower.

All that aside, I wasn't impressed with this. The stem:head ratio is way too high. I ended up throwing away about half of the weight of the package because I didn't want to eat so much of the thick stems, and cut them short.

What was left was nothing special. It didn't strike me as especially desirable in either texture or flavor. In fact, if anything, it had less flavor than my usual cauliflower. I tried it with butter, then again with lemon juice, and both times I felt that I was tasting the condiment far more than the vegetable.


Will I buy it again? 

No.

Monday, October 14, 2019

Trader Joe's Spiced Pumpkin Madeleine Cookies


These are very soft cookies--to the point that they stick together. There is some actual pumpkin in the recipe, in the form of "pumpkin flakes," but you'll be hard-pressed to detect it. The flavor is dominated by the standard blend of "pumpkin spice": nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, and clove. It's pleasant enough, but all just boring and predictable.


Will I buy it again? 

No.

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Roundup

This is my weekly compilation of news and other links about Trader Joe's.


Trader Joe's announces recall of certain chicken products due to possible contamination

11 Trader Joe's items for people who don't have time to cook

13 of the best Asian foods you can find at Trader Joe's

17 Trader Joe's pumpkin spice products

5 sweet new Trader Joe's items that taste like fall

10 ways to use Trader Joe's pumpkin butter

10 of the best breakfast foods to get at Trader Joe's

16 editors on the one Trader Joe's product they cannot live without



Best tweets of the week:




And finally...nothing. No cute cats in Trader Joe's grocery bags were posted this week, and it's very, very sad.

Friday, October 11, 2019

Trader Joe's Organic Tomato Mozzarella Piccolo (Little) Pizza



I was at Trader Joe's yesterday intending to get a Woodfired Sicilian Style Pizza. I didn't find any. Maybe that item has been discontinued. But while looking for it, I spotted this, which is apparently so new that there is nothing about it online, from Trader Joe's or from anybody else.

The box says it serves two, but I thought it looked a little small for that, so I bought two of them, since I was having Nina over for dinner. I was right. One of these would not have been enough for both of us. But two of them was too much; we both left about 1/3 uneaten. So they're an awkward size. The side of the box promises, "just the right size." This is mistaken.

Nina and I shared roughly the same general impression: The toppings are lovely, and the tomatoes in particular survived the freezing and reheating process surprisingly well. But the crust is too thick, dry, and bready.

For once, the bake time suggested on the package (10-12 minutes at 425 degrees; I used the full 12) worked just fine.

To add a little zip and protein, I had browned some thinly sliced Italian Sausage-less Sausage beforehand and added it to the top of the pizzas before putting them in the oven. This turned out very nicely, and I recommend such an enhancement if you're going to try this item.


Will I buy it again? 

Probably. But a thin-crust version would be better and an enthusiastic yes.

Wednesday, October 9, 2019

Trader Joe's Pumpkin Bisque


The first taste impression you get from this soup is sweetness. It is, in fact, the sweetest soup of any kind I've ever tasted. There's no added sugar, but honey is the third ingredient, after pumpkin puree and water. I actually enjoyed eating it, but with every spoonful, the sweetness consciously registered as out of place and excessive.

Note the genuine Mason jar used as a container. Nice touch.


Will I buy it again? 

No.

Monday, October 7, 2019

Trader Joe's Apple Cider Cookies


Nice crunch. Bite size. Strong apple flavor (though for some reason it reminds me more of applesauce than of straight apples). Fairly prominent presence of allspice and nutmeg.

All in all, a perfectly pleasant treat, about which I have no serious complaints. I can eat a dozen of them at a time. Yet I don't love them.


Will I buy it again? 

No. Nothing wrong with the cookies, but they don't set off any "must have" bells in my pleasure center.

Saturday, October 5, 2019

Roundup

This is my weekly compilation of news and other links about Trader Joe's.

Best Trader Joe's items for easy tailgating 

5 new Trader Joe's products for cheese lovers

10 fall Trader Joe's products that are too cozy to resist

The 7 best cheeses to buy at Trader Joe's

The 15 best Trader Joe's snacks

Trader Joe's fall arrivals ranked best to worst

Best Trader Joe's food products

Top 10 Trader Joe's gifts to grab while you're getting groceries

11 Trader Joe's employee picks for fall

Definitive guide to Trader Joe's best salads

The Trader Joe's pumpkin foods you need in your life



Best tweets of the week:






And finally, here's this week's cute cat in a Trader Joe's grocery bag:


Friday, October 4, 2019

Trader Joe's Organic Spicy Taco Sauce


I have been making lots and lots of tacos since I discovered how much I like Trader Joe's Taco Seasoning Mix. I was skeptical that a taco sauce would improve on what I thought was the perfect formulation.

I was wrong. It makes my tacos even better.

The prescribed amount of taco seasoning mix is 1/2 packet per pound of ground beef. (I use Gardein's Beefless Ground.) For my first experiment, I used only half of that, in order to make the tacos deliberately bland. As such, the taco sauce definitely spiced things up. No surprise.

But then I tried it on the regular-strength filling--and to my surprise, even that was improved. I've come to agree with Nina's observation that it's primarily the acidic tang--presumably because of a heaping helping of vinegar--that hits the spot.

I have not yet tried it on a turbocharged batch, using the full packet of seasoning mix, but that will be the next challenge.

Incidental links: Trader Joe's introduction to the product is here. And here is a taste test trying to confirm or refute a Reddit rumor that the TJ's sauce is just repackaged Taco Bell taco sauce. They conclude that it is not, though I, too, noticed the similarity. It's probably just because both are so heavily vinegar-based.


Will I buy it again? 

Yes. It has earned a permanent spot on the condiment shelf in my refrigerator door.


Addendum 

I wrote this post about 3 hours ago, and just now learned that I wrote and posted it on NATIONAL TACO DAY!

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/food/2019/10/03/free-tacos-and-deals-national-taco-day-national-vodka-day-friday/3838299002/

Wednesday, October 2, 2019

Trader Joe's Organic Fruit Flavored Snacks



These are just gummies, gussied up a bit with "organic" and "fruit juice" to give them a patina of healthfulness. I suppose if you must consume such a thing, this is as good a choice as any, but don't fool yourself into believing that it's anything but candy. Some of the flavors are distinctly what they purport to be; others you have to play a guessing game.


Will I buy it again? 

No.