Trader Joe's blog and cooking.
Every now and again, I have to clarify that I’ve bought some products more than once for the sake of testing them. If you buy Trader Joe’s Chicken Chilaquiles Rojo, please read through my review, because I have to be honest, I wasn’t loving this product the first time around. Odds are you might think badly of this product too.
…
Ever have a food combination that is so wrong it is almost right? Or so wrong, you should never have tried it in the first place but curiosity got the better of you. Well, this isn’t the first time I’ve see the combination of chocolate and hummus together. But since this is the only one I’ve purchased, then Trader Joe’s Chocolate Hummus will have to set the bar.
…
Welcome to another installment of my Trader Joe’s Fearless Flyer Matchups where I matchup items featured in this months flyer with reviews from around the web. While I won’t have all of it, you can still take a look at the full flyer here.
If an item has a picture next to it is an item I reviewed. If it is just a link, then it is to a review elsewhere. If there are no links, then I couldn’t find a decent enough review to give you. There are some real gems in this month, see the bottom for my top 5. So here are my Trader Joe’s August 2019 Fearless Flyer Matchups:
…
Every now and again you get hit with a product that is a spin off of an original. And every now and again that spin off is better than the original. That seems to be the case here with Trader Joe’s Neapolitan Joe Joes Ice Cream.
…
Bomba Calabrese. That’s what this little jar of Trader Joe’s Italian Bomba Hot Pepper Sauce is. But you want to know something? This jar is hot. Like Harissa levels of hot.
…
Trust me when I tell you there are new items that I want to pass over because I don’t think I could put enough words to accurately describe them. When I saw Trader Joe’s Chocolate Chip Muffins, I was debating on whether or not to review them even. But after a bite, I knew I had to.
…
Is there anything more comforting than Mac and Cheese? I didn’t think so until I ate Trader Joe’s Mac and Cheese Bites. How can Mac and Cheese be made better? Clearly, the answer is breading them and frying them. This is another item from the freezer section, but I would keep this to a crowd pleasing appetizer or snack.
…
Have you ever picked up a product and totally misread the labeling? I did with Trader Joe’s Strawberry Fruit Spread with Natural Rose Flavor. You see, I originally read this product as Trader Joe’s Strawberry Fruit Spread with Natural Rosé Flavor instead of what it really says which is “rose” meaning the flower.
…
During the most recent heat wave we had on the East Coast, I decided that cooking just isn’t for me when the temperature exceeds 95. So after a grocery run I decided that my meals were going to be charcuterie based with a side of Trader Joe’s Focaccia Bread.
…
If you have found Trader Joe’s Chili Onion Crunch to be missing from your local store, then fear not. With this copycat recipe, I’ve got you covered. With handful of pantry items you too can make this at home and tailor it to your liking.
…
I keep a blender solely for the purpose of making smoothies. Oh and wine slushies. My blender comes out at least once a week. And while I can make a good smoothie, I’ll buy smoothies from time to time to see if they make one better. So this time I picked up Trader Joe’s Banana and Almond Butter Protein Smoothie to see if they can outdo me.
…
It wasn’t long ago that I reviewed Trader Joe’s Patio Potato Chips. If anything, I learned that I did actually like the ketchup flavor that was found in that bag. Now they’ve transformed the powdered flavoring and put it on a slightly different shaped spud. Enter Trader Joe’s Ketchup Flavored Spud Crunchies.
…
There are some sections at Trader Joe’s where they can do no right: sushi would be an example. It’s so wrong, it has no chance of being right. There are other sections of the store where they can do no wrong. That section is the Indian selection, where they have now added Trader Joe’s Fiery Chicken Curry.
…
Some aisles at Trader Joe’s have gotten larger over time, some have seen diminishing shelf space. Coffee recently has entered the world of diminishing shelf space. Some of the coffees are really good, some not so much. And sadly, with the addition of small lot coffees, by the time you realize that you love a certain coffee, they are often off the shelves likely to never be seen again. Coffee aside, this isn’t Trader Joe’s first rodeo with coffee and chocolate, just now you have a small snackable sized bag with Trader Joe’s Coffee Lovers Espresso Beans.
…
You might look at this product and say, “Wait haven’t you already reviewed Trader Joe’s Organic Carrots of Many Colors before?” And the answer is sort of. You see these carrots are dehydrated, I’ve reviewed the fully hydrated bag of Trader Joe’s Carrots of Many Colors and Trader Joe’s Colorful Carrot Coins previously. This now makes the third colorful carrot product I’ve reviewed so far.
…
By the end of 2019, I’ll do another best of list. This year has been full of hits and misses and a heck of a lot of just ok products. Now, to be fair we haven’t even hit the Fall/Winter season when they hit us with the best of the best items. But in the meanwhile, you better believe that Trader Joe’s Pimento Cheese Dip will make the list of best of.
…
If one area has been consistently expanding, it is the non-dairy options at Trader Joe’s. While I’ve tried some interesting flavors from blueberry lavender to matcha to the seasonal chocolate peppermint, Trader Joe’s Turmeric Ginger Coconut Beverage is far an away in a class its own both in taste and in color.
…
Confession time: One food related item that I’ve made it a point not to publish or try is yogurt. To date, the only yogurt products I’ve put up reviews for are the ones where the yogurt is buried in with another ingredient. Why? Of all the dairy items I consume, I detest yogurt. So why would I try something like Trader Joe’s Strawberry Greek Frozen Yogurt Parfait Bars?
…
When I went to Trader Joe’s before 4th of July, I was really there for a different frozen item. I was actually there to pick up the now returning frozen Mac and Cheese Bites (review to be updated soon). But right next to it was an unexpected sight: Trader Joe’s Shrimp Scampi Lasagna.
…
Overall, 2019 has brought us quite a few sweet treats. This is pretty interesting considering I know I have a good number of my readers and friends who are low carb. So, I’m still wondering why Trader Joe’s hasn’t pushed harder on the low carb front. But nonetheless, there must be a good amount of people out there who have solid sweet tooths. If you are buying Trader Joe’s Mini Gummy Bears on a Chocolate Pool Day is just another way Trader Joe’s is appealing to those people.
…
It’s been a while since Trader Joe’s has introduced a new condiment. The last creations Trader Joe’s introduced were the Umami Mushroom Seasoning and the Everything but the Bagel seasoning. One knocked it out of the park. The other is still sitting in my pantry cabinet. Now, we have a new seasoning that is oil based but seems like the partial contents of a spice cabinet have been emptied into it: Trader Joe’s Chili Onion Crunch.
…
When Trader Joe’s hits us with new snacks, it is usually something to get excited over. There have been some real winners in the past. Or at least some polarizing ones like the recently returned popcorn in a pickle and perhaps Trader Joe’s Patio Potato Chips belong in that polarizing category.
…
Every now and again, I get excited to try something WITHOUT sugar in it. I mean I like to try more than chips, ice cream, and snacks. So you better believe that I was excited to pick up Trader Joe’s No Sugar Dry Rubbed Uncured Bacon. I mean it screams “NO SUGAR.” Words I’ve waited awhile to hear because even I believe that the low carb diets have been largely ignored by Trader Joe’s.
…
Now that summer is upon us and new products seem to be much slower than the rest of the year, you’ll probably see more products that from and aisle that I’m realizing that I haven’t gotten to enough: the health and beauty aisle. I think there are a lot of good items hiding in plain site like Trader Joe’s Lavender Salt Scrub.
…
