Trader Joe's Seed & Bean Medley

This absolutely lives up to its claim of being crunchy and salty. In fact, if the crunchiness and saltiness here are not enough for you, I don't think you have anywhere left to turn short of going down into a rock-salt mine and gnawing on the walls.

The corn is huge, just like the Giant Peruvian Inca Corn. I also loved the chickpeas and fava beans. The edamame was OK. I thought the dried peas were an inspired addition, but there were very, very few of them to be found, sadly.

The biggest weakness is the pumpkin seeds. Subjectively, I just don't care much for them. Objectively, they're vastly overrepresented here--like nearly half of the volume.


Will I buy it again? 

Undecided. If it weren't for those darn pumpkin seeds, it would be a definite yes. I'll have to ponder whether the good half of the bag is worth putting up with--or wasting--the half I didn't like.

Trader Joe's Organic Coconut Sesame Seed Clusters Snack

This is a new product; see Trader Joe's own description of it here.

But that's not how I learned of its existence. I learned of it when Nina brought me an empty bag--with apologies. She had intended to eat just half and leave the rest for me to try, but found it so deliciously addicting that she couldn't stop. So I bought my own.

It's pretty good, but I didn't flip for it the way Nina did. It's kind of just crunchy bits of toasted coconut. The sesame seeds are pretty, but I can't tell that they add anything in terms of taste. The whole thing is pretty heavily sweetened, which I thought was its biggest flaw.


Will I buy it again? 

Not for myself, but now I know that I can get Nina to do anything I want by holding a bag of this stuff in front of her.

Trader Joe's Rosemary & Thyme Maple Toffee Sunflower Seeds

I had never heard of these until a few weeks ago when my local Trader Joe's had strategically placed them right next to the bagged salads. It certainly seemed like they might make a nice addition to a green salad.

Between the sunflower seeds, the rosemary, the thyme, the maple, and the toffee, you'd expect these to add a lot of complex flavors to the salad--but they don't seem to. They definitely add crunchy texture, which is nice. But beyond that, I get a general sweetness, and not much else. I can't discern any of the specific four flavors that these are supposed to convey.

I'm not a fan of sunflower seeds as a snack, so I haven't tried them on their own.


Will I buy it again? 

No.