Trader Joe's Beef Steak Burritos With Seasoned Beans

Terribly bland. Pieces of beef were tough. Even following the heating instructions carefully, the burrito shell comes out soggy in some places, dried out and hard in others.


Will I buy it again? 

No.

Trader Joe's Pitted Dark Sweet Cherries

What you've got here is the cherries from Trader Joe's Very Cherry Berry Blend, but without the blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries.

Another way to think of it is that it's the same kind of pitted dark sweet cherries that you usually find in a can with heavy syrup, but without the syrup. In fact, I think that's what I like most about it: the list of ingredients starts and ends with "dark sweet cherries." I always liked the canned cherries, but wasn't thrilled about the sugary syrup with which they were packed. Now I can do without it.

As with the various TJ's berry blends, these are frozen in such a way that they're not in one solid icy chunk. You can pour out what you want, let them thaw for 45 minutes or so, and eat. They're delicious. I encountered just one sour, off-tasting cherry in the whole bag. I found no pits and no stems.

Speaking of the stems, can we talk about that "serving suggestion" photograph on the package? It shows cherries with stems in them. How is that supposed to happen, when the package contains cherries from which the stems have been carefully removed? They're suggesting, apparently, that we buy cherry stems somewhere and insert them into the cherries before serving. Seriously weird.

But I'll forgive that weirdness on the bag because I like what's in it mucho mucho.


Will I buy it again? 

Many, many times, I expect.

Trader Joe's Kale & Cauliflower Curry Salad

For once, I forgot to take a photo of this product when I brought it home, so I swiped the above from Trader Joe's web site, here.

This stuff is not good. The cauliflower is OK, but the kale is tough and bitter. (I think I'm just going to have to accept that any kale in my life will have to be the "baby" variety; I have not been able to get into the regular variety, despite many attempts.) There are way too many wheat berries, which don't add much except for a little chewiness. There are a few golden raisins, for a nice touch of sweetness. The "curry" is pretty un-curry-like. I don't know what's going on with it, but it didn't taste like real curry to me. I couldn't work up the interest to explore the ingredients list to figure out what it was.

The whole thing just didn't work. I suppose I ate about 3/4 of my half of it; Nina ate less than 1/4 of hers.

For an opposing point of view, see this review from the "Eat at Joe's" blog, the author of which absolutely loved it.


Will I buy it again? 

No.

Trader Joe's Lite Sharp Celtic Cheddar

I picked this up around St. Patrick's Day, and thought maybe it was a new product introduced for the occasion. A little research after I got home showed that it was not new. I still don't know if it's brought out only in March each year, or if it's available year-round.

This is, incidentally, the first item I've ever noticed at TJ's labeled as "Trader O'Joe's."

Let's cut to the chase: This is the best low-fat cheese I've ever tasted--and it's not even close. In fact, I would never have guessed that it's a reduced-fat product if the label had not so informed me. What's more, it's among the best white cheddars I've had, even competing against full-fat versions.

I happened to have a block of Cracker Barrel's Vermont Sharp White Cheddar at home when I bought this, so I compared them side by side. They definitely tasted different, but I could not say that one was clearly better than the other. The Cracker Barrel is more of what I've come to expect from years of eating such things, but it isn't superior. The TJ's is a little off the beaten path, but in pleasant, interesting ways.

The difference in fat is not trivial. Comparing one-ounce servings of the Cracker Barrel and TJ's:

Total calories: 110/70
Fat calories: 90/35
Fat grams: 10/4
Saturated fat grams: 6/2.5
Cholesterol mg: 30/10

I like this stuff a lot, and the fact that I can enjoy my cheese and crackers with that kind of reduction in fat and calories makes this one that I'm going to choose repeatedly, and perhaps even as a default first choice.

I'm also naming it to my Top Ten list. It really is something unexpected and special.


Will I buy it again? 

Yes, yes, yes.


Addendum 

Since writing the above, I've bought this four more times, and I just continue to love it more. It has become my default choice for snacking cheese. Except to experiment with new varieties, I simply see no reason ever to buy any other white cheddar. And, by the way, it's obviously not just a special springtime item as at first I thought it might be.

Trader Joe's Lite Shredded 3 Cheese Blend

This product starts off with one demerit just for spelling "light" as "lite." Disgraceful. Cn I pik u up sum lite cheez at the drive-thru?

I might forgive such editorial wretchedness if the contents were good, but they're not. Cardboard taste, rubber texture. Not quite inedibly bad--I did slowly work my way through the entire bag--but it was borderline.

If you need 50% less fat, I suggest buying some really good shredded cheese--like this one--and using only half as much.


Will I buy it again? 

No.

Roundup

This is my weekly compilation of news and other links about Trader Joe's. (Well, almost weekly. Did anybody notice that I missed last week?)


12 Trader Joe's items that are labeled vegetarian but are actually vegan

5 freezer shortcuts Trader Joe's makes possible

Top 12 frozen desserts at Trader Joe's

Pre-cut squash from Trader Joe's saves the day

Trader Joe's 2016 vegan pumpkin products

Try Tunisian olive oil from Trader Joe's

A family divided over pumpkin-spice season

Trader Joe's pumpkin-spice products, ranked

10 reasons to love Trader Joe's

Trader Joe's new foods for September

Why Trader Joe's is the best grocery store of all time



Best tweets of the week:

1.

Abby waits all year for #TraderJoes pumpkin dog treats. Today @karasyrup and I found some. Here's her reaction 😂 pic.twitter.com/RWsrkoEdhH

— Dan Wunderlich (@defininggrace) September 25, 2016

2.

 3.

4.

5.

6.

Here's a new video from "Trader Joe":





And finally, because I missed last week, here's TWO cute cats in Trader Joe's grocery bags:

Trader Joe's Salted Caramel Coconut Cookies

This is Day Seven of Cookie Week. 


These ought to be a slam-dunk winner. Put coconut and caramel together, and I'm in.

But somehow Trader Joe's managed to screw up an unscrewuppable combination. There's a huge amount of packaging material for just a few cookies (eight, if memory serves). The cookies are sticky and floppy. Both the caramel and salt are barely noticeable.


Will I buy it again? 

No. They're not awful, but they're a big letdown from what you'd expect from the picture on the box.