Trader Joe's blog and cooking.
I love croissants. They’re more than just bread. They are bread that loves you. And I like it. I’ve tried anything croissant related at Trader Joe’s. I’ve bought more boxes of Chocolate Croissants than I care to discuss. I love the Almond Croissants just as much. I keep a box of the Ham & Cheese Croissants around in case I want a quick and light lunch.
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I’m pretty sure every candy sale that I’ve ever done or witness that involved a case of chocolate, ended with the packs of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups being sold out first. And there is good reason for it: it’s just delicious. On the shelves of Trader Joe’s we’ve seen the addition of two new “cups” style candies: sunflower seed butter, and this almond butter.
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A bagel and a schmear. As a life long New Yorker, I’m pretty sure there is a certain amount of Yiddish that has been added infused into the local lexicon. And when it comes to bagels there is a reason for this.
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Finally. Something that can be considered real food. An actual meal. The past month, all the new items that have landed in store have been more or less junk food. I’ve had enough of cookies and sweets for a bit. Well, if it weren’t for one last lap around the store, I would have missed these. These are the newest addition to the fresh pasta aisle since the addition of the Italian Sausage and Four Cheese Ravioli.
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Neapolitan. The classic pairing of vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate. We first saw this recently with the seasonally available Neapolitan Joe Joe’s. Now we are seeing it in Trader Joe’s Neapolitan Puffs Cereal. Soon, we will revisit this combination where it all started: in ice cream but with Joe Joe’s. Yup, they seem to be capitalizing on that varieties success.
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Behold! A perfectly timed product gracing shelves in time for Valentine’s Day that is chocolate, but quite different. The color you are seeing here is not the result of coloring of any sort. And apparently, this is a new type of chocolate you can be sure that you’ll be seeing more of whether you find it at Trader Joe’s or available commercially.
So far, I’ve reviewed almost 300 items in the freezer section alone. So what are Trader Joe’s Best Frozen Foods? Some of the items are available year round. Other items and are seasonal. I think it’s worthwhile to see what was most loved. Perhaps you’ll see items you are familiar with.
Others you might have walked past a few times. Regardless, I’ve broken this down into sections. I mean, is it possible to say that Macarons are better than Orange Chicken? Totally unfair comparison in my mind. So here is the best of the best from the almost 300 items I’ve tried.
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Welcome to the first product specific Fearless Flyer of the year. My goal here with this Trader Joe’s February 2019 Fearless Flyer Matchups are to match the products featured with reviews from this blog and from around the web.
If there is a picture next to the product, it is matched with a review from this blog. If it is just a link, then it is a review on a different site. If there is neither, that means I couldn’t find a review to match up with that product.
Lot’s of fun new items to check out this month. Some old ones, some classic items featured. Happy Shopping! I hope this helps you work on your next shopping list!
I guess Trader Joe’s was feeling many people’s resolve about New Year’s Resolutions. They knew we would cave. So they came out with a long list of sugary items to expedite this process. They’ve welcomed vegan cookies, sunflower seed butter cups, and now these.
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I love a good coffee cake. In fact, I posted a recipe here for an easy crumb cake just the other night if you feel like turning your oven on. If you aren’t in baking, here is a store bought option for you. However, this Trader Joe’s Pancake Bread isn’t quite a coffee cake. It’s not quite a pancake either.
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Vegan cookie review part deux. I figured these cookies need separate reviews. This cookie right here has certain similarities to the lemon variety like the fact it’s vegan, the cookies are huge, and they are new to shelves. However, the taste on these are quite different.
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Consider this a brief lemon theme between these cookies and a recent review of a candle. But on my most recent shopping trip there were a few new items hiding in the fresh breads and desserts aisle. In my local store, that happens to be right when I walk in. So grabbed both and hoped for the best. The other variety is a brownie cookie, but that will have to wait for a different review.
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So, it’s that time of year where certain rose themed items are making their way back on to store shelves. Now, the popular Rose Facial Toner is available all year-long. However, there were two rose themed items that come and go: this and Rose Facial Oil. And while I haven’t seen the facial oil back yet, I wouldn’t be surprised if it does show up again in the near future (fingers crossed).
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I swung back into the health and beauty aisle this week and what did I find? A new candle. Now, I haven’t reviewed candles in the past. Mainly because they are usually limited run scents. In the past couple months I’ve bought Cedar Balsam, Pumpkin Vanilla, Gingerbread as well as Honey Crisp Apple. What did I learn from buying them? I wished I had picked up a few more.
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Confession time: It’s the second time in two days I’ve been to Trader Joes, forgive me, I went on a Sunday and it seems like food was going out of fashion, especially in the frozen section. I wasn’t actually there for this product. I was actually looking for Trader Joe’s Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Butter and Sage.
I adored it.
But like many things at Trader Joe’s they like to tease you with great items and come back and try something new every time. So, this is my new bag of gnocchi: Trader Joe’s Gnocchi alla Sorrentina. In plain English it’s regular gnocchi with tomato sauce and some cheese….
There is something special about the holidays and Trader Joe’s. I’m not mentioning this because Valentine’s Day is coming up. I’m reflecting on this past holiday season. As a foodie, going in there was almost as exciting as going into FAO Schwartz as a kid. Now kids won’t even know what that is. Alas, Trader Joe’s has found a way to extend the holidays for just a bit longer. And perhaps your waistline too. …
Most of the new products hitting shelves this week aren’t of the healthy nature: there are new almond butter cups, candy coated peanuts, and this Blushing Apple Tart. So snacks and dessert items seem to be the order of the day. Trader Joe’s Blushing Apple Tart is the new addition in the freezer aisle.
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Does anyone else celebrate Taco Tuesday? I think we celebrate it on a lot of days during the week. I have a soft spot for nachos in particular. Who doesn’t love cheesy chips? I adore them. Just not Trader Joe’s Queso Dip. One of the cardinal rules of a dip is that it should never be watery or thin. This vegan dip does a better job of being cheesy than queso.
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So if I’m going to do all these bread reviews, it’s only fair to share something that could use some bread. Or something for all that bread to sop up. I love a good sauce, but with almost a foot of snow being predicted by the weekend, I was thinking about some hearty meal planning and lots of staying indoors by the weekend.
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Let me apologize in advance if my reviews seem carb heavy. Because most of the new items hitting shelves are for some reason breads. I thought I was done reviewing bread last week when I tried Chocolate Chip Pain Au Lait. Nope, not only does the frozen Indian section have a new bread, there is also a pancake bread (review to show up in the near future). So while Trader Joe’s does an excellent job of serving certain food communities, I feel like the low carb crowd might be left out here a bit.
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I wasn’t going to write this review given the time of year. In fact, I’m shocked they picked now to release Trader Joe’s Chocolate Chip Pain Au Lait. I mean we have one Pain Au Lait. Why would we possibly need a second variety right after New Year’s?
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Well, it wouldn’t be the beginning of the year without looking at the lighter options available at Trader Joe’s. Now, I’ve had my fair share of Mac and Cheese offerings from the Pepperoni Mac and Cheese, Truffle Mac and Cheese, Gluten Free Mac and Cheese, Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese, and Hatch Chile Mac and Cheese. And yes, they are mostly pretty good.
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Trader Joe’s sells Umami take two. Yes, this isn’t Trader Joe’s first dive into selling us something that is simply just umami. A couple years ago they sold Umami paste. That paste was all sorts of umami from tomatoes, to mushrooms, parmesan cheese, olives, balsamic and other forms of umami. This product is clearly different.
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I got an email today from Trader Joe’s about their annual survey of most loved food items. In fact, they do this every year. That had me thinking: Where is the list of things we don’t like and don’t care for? In the spirit of “out with the old and in with the new”, here is my take on the worst things I’ve tried at Trader Joe’s. I’ve done nearly 1,000 Trader Joe’s reviews. No, I haven’t tried it all. Not even close. But from what I have tried and written about I’ve got enough to choose from.
This is completely unscientific and my own humble opinion. It is also the opinions of those who shared their thoughts with me as well.
While I have liked, if not loved, most of what I’ve tried here on this blog, there have been some that have stood out in all the wrong ways. I did also put it out there to my followers on Instagram see what they said. Their thoughts and commentary follow. If you have something you would like to add, then feel free to leave a comment at the end. I can’t wait to see what made your “Trader No” list. …
