Trader Joe's blog and cooking.
The pros: Quinoa and chocolate work in Trader Joe’s Golden Spiced Milk Chocolate Bar to make a crisp texture and in fact I wish and would be willing to buy many bars containing this combination. It’s a healthy improvement to a familiar flavor & texture combination.
The cons: Eating this whole bar is 70% of your saturated fat for the day. Spice combination that might not be for everyone.
The verdict: …
The pros: Trader Joe’s Apple Cinnamon Goat Cheese has tasty partially cooked apples on the outside.
The cons: The cheese has a taste and texture I can’t get past. It’s tangy like goat cheese but spicy like cinnamon. It even has a gritty texture like cinnamon.
The verdict: …
The pros: Trader Joe’s Chocolate Mint Flavored Black Tea smells right away of chocolate which got me kind of excited for the taste. These Tea bags come with strings.
The cons: Tastes like black tea with minimal flavors of mint or chocolate. Plastic packaging seems a bit wasteful.
The verdict: …
The pros: Trader Joe’s Blueberry Waffles are $1.99 and found in the freezer section. The blueberries are very subtle in flavor. They do crisp up when you follow the directions.
The cons: I was hoping for visual pieces of blueberry. There were none. They were a touch different from regular waffles in terms of color. No microwave allowed on Trader Joe’s Blueberry Waffles. This item appears to be seasonal.
The verdict: …
The pros: It’s ready in about 2 minutes in the microwave. Trader Joe’s Chicken Piccata is marginally edible.
The cons: While edible, this is not the best dish or even marginally good. The sauce is congealed and is not a true piccata sauce. Piccata sauce is just like francese just with capers added in. This was a yellow blob that once it plopped on the chicken, the microwave did this dish no favors. However, I did not use the recommend method of cooking either. Sadly, in the microwave this isn’t good.
The verdict: …
The pros: Trader Joe’s Tarragon Chicken Salad Wrap is a quick grab and go in the refrigerated section.
The cons: As good as Trader Joe’s freezer section is, the refrigerated section does not hold up as well, which is both confusing and disappointing. This was not even a really good chicken salad to be honest. I had much higher expectations. The garbage can ended up eating mine.
The verdict: …
The pros: Trader Joe’s Grilled Pesto Chicken Wrap is one of the better wraps, notice the word better. It was edible compared to a lot of the other options.
The cons: Not delicious, wasn’t a standout, having squash in a wrap was weird. I thought it was mushy celery at first. Flavor wise, this is not what you’d expect either. I was looking for something super herby. Instead I was confronted with the flavor and texture of squash and cream cheese with some grilled chicken mixed in.
The verdict: …
The pros: With the right main ingredient, Trader Joe’s Umami paste would add some awesome flavor. I’ve read online that people have mixed it in with bolognese sauce. I’ve used it in a braise with short ribs.
The cons: There should be some recipes or guides to help you figure out how to use this. Supposedly, according to the package, you need to use this within 28 days.
The verdict: …
The pros: Trader Joe’s Buenalba with Sweet Paprika Cheese is a unique tasting cheese that is hard to place. It says that its raw goat and sheep’s milk cheese. It truly ended up tasting like Bleu Cheese (If you are into that sort of thing). It’s not spicy at all.
The cons: Trader Joe’s Buenalba cheese tasted like Blue Cheese and not the velvety smooth goat cheese taste I was looking for.
The verdict: …
Some combinations Trader Joe’s come up with are magical. Some are a disaster that leave you in awe that some corporation let it go to market. This is one of those disasters. The concept was good. Cheddar and apples go well. Cinnamon and apples go. Add texture to cheese with a pumpkin pie spice, it just didn’t work in Trader Joe’s Apple Pie Cheddar Cheese. For $10 per pound, it worked even less. I’m willing to pay for good cheese, but this isn’t it. I really wanted to like it. I’d still like to know who approved of this product without tasting it first.
The pros: Not that I could think of. Nope. Nothing.
The cons: Strange and bizarre taste. Cheddar taste, odd consistency, almost an pumpkin pie taste to it. It was a nice concept, but totally gross.
The verdict: …
I’ve reviewed other Trader Joe’s Gnocchi such as Trader Joe’s Gnocchi alla Sorrentina and Trader Joe’s Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Butter and Sage (which for the record is my absolute favorite). So being unable to find my favorite flavor that I had purchased the week before, I picked up the Sorrentina and this one, Trader Joe’s Gnocchi alla Gorgonzola.
Gorgonzola is similar to blue cheese, just an Italian variation. So I was curious by this one. I found this to be completely confusing flavor, but my husband loved it. If you like a gnocchi alfredo with the subtle taste of bleu cheese this is likely for you. Blue cheese of any variety has the potential to overwhelm any dish, but that was not the case here. It was enough blue cheese to muddle the alfredo flavor.
So what do you get for $2.99?…
