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.