Food, drinks, style, and humor
The pros: Trader Joe’s Ghosts and Bats are a fun seasonal potato chip like snack. These are also gluten free.
The cons: Seasonal. These remind me of a combination of my favorite chips. I do wish they could add some more flavoring here.
The verdict: …
The pros: Trader Joe’s Ts and Js Sour Gummies come in a resealable bag and are essentially Trader Joe’s answer to Sour Patch Kids. These are gluten free.
The cons: They aren’t an exact copy of Sour Patch kids, but are very addicting making the resealable bag almost unnecessary. These are shaped in the letters T and J which means they are probably more coated in the sour sugar (which might not be a bad thing).
The verdict: …
The pros: Trader Joe’s Gluten Free Chicken Breast Nuggets are perfect with those who cannot have gluten which won’t have you feeling deprived of the experience of chicken nuggets.
The cons: These aren’t quite a perfect clone of the regular chicken nugget, but they come close enough.
The verdict: …
The pros: Trader Joe’s Crunchy Nutty Rice Bites might remind you of a more adult flavored Rice Krispies treat, just better. Gluten free and kosher if that is a priority for you. Bag can be resealed so you don’t feel obligated to eat the whole thing.
The cons: Nothing really jumps out
The verdict: …
Every now and again, I have someone who reaches out to me with a suggestion (or two or like a dozen) of things I haven’t tried yet. While I may not get to it right away, I do love it when readers reach out to me with a suggestion. So tonight’s review goes out to Btandjt on Instagram for suggesting Simply Lite Dark Chocolate Bar. Thanks for the great suggestion!
The pros: Simply Lite Dark Chocolate Bar tastes every bit dark chocolate without being very bitter, but some how doesn’t taste artificial in any meaningful way.
The cons: This bar came with a warning label. No really. It might help you lose weight in one way or another. In fact, the warning label on this chocolate may remind you of this famous SNL sketch (80 second video).
The verdict: …
The pros: Trader Joe’s Gluten Free Cheese Pizza with Cauliflower Crust is an improvement over Trader Joe’s Cauliflower Pizza Crust.
The cons: You still won’t confuse this for “real” pizza. You can expect two realistic servings from this pizza.
The verdict: …
The pros: Trader Joe’s Vanilla Coconut Beverage is vegan, gluten-free, and soy free. Also there is an unsweetened variety. Pretty long shelf life compared to dairy.
The cons: This item only comes in a half-gallon size. Quite a bit of saturated fat in each serving.
The verdict: …
The pros: Trader Joe’s Stone Ground White Grits are creamy and well done if you follow the directions listed on the bag. The bag is resealable
The cons: These are the real deal, so they can’t be rushed. There are currently no quick grits or frozen grits available at Trader Joe’s.
The verdict: …
The pros: Trader Joe’s Gluten Free Waffles are pretty close to regular waffles.
The cons: These also seem very sweet and don’t have much fiber in them.
The verdict: …
The pros: Trader Joe’s Taco Shells are a solid choice in the pantry aisle. They make for good taco shells out of the box, but are better toasted per the directions.
The cons: I wished the plastic wrapping was resealable. No fun or exotic flavors to speak of here.
The verdict: …
