I tried out this Trader Joe’s “Goat’s Milk Creamy Cheese”, which I think cost’s nearly $5.
This is a soft spreadable goat cheese, which is not at all goaty. So if that’s what you are looking for you might like this extremely mild “goat cheese”. Me, I love goat cheese and don’t mind at all if it’s a little goaty. Isn’t that the point? OK very very goaty can be off-putting at times but I found this soft cheese just way, way too mild. I found this barely tasting like a “goat cheese”. Perhaps this is the mildest goat cheese I’ve may have ever tasted. I was not impressed. It ain’t cheap so what’s the point? To me this tastes like cream cheese with a smidge of goat cheese mixed in. Something you or I could make easily, for way less too.
Anyway this might have been a good idea on paper but I found this to be a failure for my tastes as it’s way too mild. Very lacking in goat cheese flavor, and most importantly expensive as this is a tiny package (4.5 oz) for which they charge almost 5 bucks. The do sell a few excellent kinds of goat cheese (chevre).
We could make a soft spreadable goat cheese akin to this… Just mix a package of cream cheese ($2) and Trader Joe’s excellent Goat Cheese log ($3). Let both sit out for a few hours until they are soft, and combine them. If you want a little less goat taste, just mix in half the goat log. Me, I would mix the whole thing. It would cost less per ounce than this.
I think the result will give something like what I was expecting this to be – a soft, easily spreadable goat cheese that would work on toast, crackers, a bagel or what have you. Great for a cheese board or guests.
HOW TO MAKE CREAMY GOAT CHEESE for $5 bucks – Get a blue “Chevre” log and a package of cream Cheese. Wait an hour or two till they are soft. Mix cream cheese with whole (or half) the log of Trader Joe’s GOAT CHEESE (optionally you could add flavors, perhaps fresh herbs or black pepper. A few drops of lemon juice. You will get about 12 oz for a tiny bit more than this package (4.5 oz) costs, so cheaper in the long run too.
This cheese here (blue log of chevre) is a terrific goat cheese at a decent price. It’s TJ’s Number Two best selling cheese two years in a row and sells for three bucks! So if you want a soft not too sassy spreadable goat cheese I say buy that and make your own creamy goat with your preferred ratio of goat to cream cheese (1/2 of this for a milder cheese or the whole thing if you like a bit more tangy and goaty.
I love PETIT BILLY (that’s the exact taste and texture for a very French soft goat cheese: https://tasteoffrancemag.com/trending/cheese-wire-petit-billy/) Last time I went to France I smuggled one back. That cheese is wonderful, it’s one of my favorite French cheeses (but costly in the U.S.)
As far as this tub under review, “Goats Milk Creamy cheese” I would not buy it again.
Trader Joe’s has come out with a ton of HUMMUS varieties as you probably know from checking the shelves….
“(we’ve come out with versions like) …. Roasted Red Pepper, Olive Tapenade, and Crunchy Chili Onion. But even aside from adding flavors, just adjusting the proportions of one of the existing base ingredients yields remarkable results. Take Trader Joe’s Dreamy Creamy Hummus, for instance. Here, our supplier doubles the amount of tahini of a standard hummus recipe to create a texture so thick, rich, and exquisitely Creamy that it’s simply Dreamy.”
Ingredients as you know must be listed in order of quantity. When I looked at the label closely, I was a little surprised to see the first ingredient listed here is actually water, not chickpeas, which are listed second.
This is the reverse of (for example) the Organic Hummus which I liked (label below). As you can see in that version, chickpeas are the first ingredient. I mean, of course, right? Pretty sure any recipe witll list chickpeas as the main ingredients. The Organic Hummus list first “Fresh steamed chickpeas” with water, which is needed to smooth out the chickpeas, as the second ingredient.
Knowing that the “creamy dreamy” has more water than chickpeas in it is kind of a turn off to me. So I kind of think I would not buy this “dreamy” one again.
Creamy Dreamy Hummus $2.49
2 TBLS, about 50 cal
WATER
CHICKPEAS
TAHINI (PUREED SESAME SEEDS)
SEA SALT
DEHYDRATED GARLIC
CITRIC ACID (ACIDIFIER)
GUAR GUM
The hummus at Trader Joe’s I usually get are the Mediterranean, Roasted Garlic and Organic hummus. I’ve found all of those pretty solid choices. I will pass on this one.
I would label this latest Small Lot coffee offering at Trader Joe’s in my “good but not great” category.
I liked it but it didn’t knock me out as some of their other small lot coffee finds have at times in the past. These are totally hit or miss. Sometimes you get one which is fantastic. Outstanding. Sometimes you get one which is pretty good, which for me, is this Costa Rican coffee. I thought it was pretty good. I only say this as some of the Trader Joe’s coffees which were terrific raise the bar when compared to some of the best Small Lot coffee finds in the past over the years that TJ’s has had. The Uganda Mountains of The Moon small lot coffee from a while back was off the hook, stunning. Epic! So again, there is a high bar.
This coffee is from a mountainous region in Costa Rica, from an area officially designated as “Chirripo National Park”. The beans are roasted in an (actual) medium roast and the beans look very good as you can see. This coffee’s taste is as they describe on the bag. “Nutty and toasty, with notes of citrus”. If you are one of those people who just likes to check out and explore EVERY Small Lot coffee that Trader Joe’s comes out with just to check it out, its worth getting. Otherwise, I would say spend your ten bucks coffee money on some known entity which you love. For me for the past year or so since they started carrying it, that coffee has been the Fair Trade Organic BOLIVIAN BLEND. Another Medium Roast. I really love that one, which is not a Small Lot, so easy to find too year round.
This Costa Rican Chirripo coffee while OK, its not as good as that for me so I would not buy it again. Once again, Small Lots are Limited so if you want to try this, grab while you can. I rate this maybe 6/10
“Trader Joe’s Cheesy Bagels are hearth-baked Bagels with a plain bagel base, delightfully doughy on the inside. On the outside, they boast a cheesy, chewy crust that comes from shredded Asiago cheese that’s been pre-melted on top.” — Trader Joe’s
When I saw these in the NEW ITEMS section a few weeks ago I was intrigued and thought this sounded like something worth trying. Just picking up the bag and smelling them, well it has a wonderfully appealing smell, from baked Asiago cheese! Since they smelled so good, I thought I would check them out. When I told my neighbor (another big Trader Joe’s fan) she said she wanted to try them too, and as she got back to Trader Joe’s before I did, she bought them for us both to try.
Well, guess what. We were both dissapointed in these, and not half as as good as we were expecting. We both thought, “just OK”. Yes, the cheesy part, the Asiago on top that is baked in, that is good, however it is called a “cheesy bagel” so the bagel itself has to be good. It’s not. Trader Joe’s says “delightfully doughy inside”. It is doughy. Just soft and doughy, bready. It did not delight this bagel maven. These have none of the chewy texture which defines a real bagel. You can tell this so called “bagel” is only baked and not boiled and baked, which is what makes a real bagel. Just to compare, these are nothing at all like Trader Joe’s ARTISAN BAGELS, which are boiled and baked and to which I gave a big thumbs up. Those are good, real authentic bagels with a chewy crust and soft chewy interior. And once again this is coming from a picky New Yorker who knows from bagels!
These just taste to me like the kind of “bagels” seen in supermarkets in maybe Iowa, where they have no idea about bagels. Now I think one could come up with something akin to a good “cheesy bagel”. Take one of Trader Joe’s good Artisan Plain Bagels, cut it open and toss on some grated Asiago Cheese. Toast this up till the cheese is melted all bubbly, and you may come up with a good tasty “Cheesy Bagel”. It will be far far better than this disappointing so called bagel.
Two of us reviewing them said the same thing: “Would not buy these again”
TJ’s Artisan Bagels are $1.99 for three (good) perfectly chewy bagels. I kind of suggest you just buy those and toast them up with your favorite cheese.
I saw good reviews of this small lot coffee on the ‘net so I thought I would try it for review. For me, just OK. Not bad but not great either as many Small Lot ones have turned out to be in the past. While tasty, nothing stood out here to me as outstanding especially when I mentally compared this with some truly outstanding Small Lot coffees Trader Joe’s has had in the past (like UGANDAN MOUNTAINS OF THE MOON). Not to mention some non-small lot faves of mine: I’m talking about you, Fair Trade ORGANIC BOLIVIAN blend – which for the last few months has become my standard Go To coffee that TJ’s sells.
So while I would say this coffee may be worth a try if you are one who likes to explore every small lot that Trader Joe’s comes out with, frankly I would suggest you save your money to spend on some other coffee they have. Again for example the excellent Organic Bolivian one if you haven’t tried that before.
Fortified with 8 Vitamins Plus Iron. Zero Cholesterol
Ingredients: wheat bran, corn flour, corn bran, cane sugar, whole wheat, oat bran, and fortified with vitamins plus iron (60% of the DVI for Iron).
NINE GRAMS OF FIBER!
So what’s not to like?! Will this win any awards for the way it tastes? Probably not but it actually tastes OK. Its not bad. I kind of like the taste. It doesn’t taste terrible and frankly you don’t buy this for taste ; you want it cause its a very healthy option and you want to add Fiber easily into your body. Granola tastes better but isn’t as healthy a choice as this. First, as the name implies the main purpose of this cereal is simple, to deliver quite a bit of dietary Fiber into your system. It does this mainly from all kinds of bran (wheat, corn, oat).
So on the fiber front it delivers, without tasting too bad. Not exciting, but fine especially as you are probably not eating just this by itself, you are probably adding real milk or a milk :beverage”, and maybe added a banana, maybe berries, or other fresh fruits or maybe some dried fruits. Maybe yogurt, Kefir, so this is just one part of your breakfast bowl. That stuff will make it taste good!
My wife bought this high fiber cereal for her gut, as she felt she needs more fiber in her diet, though I think we eat pretty well in the fiber department.
Trader Joe’s HIGH FIBER CEREAL has 9 grams of dietary fiber per serving (2/3 cup). That is about 33% or 1/3 of the recommended daily amount of fiber.
Also in the plus column is it’s low in calories, very low in fat, is low in sodium, has zerocholesterol, PLUS this cereal is low in Added Sugars, compared to almost any other cereal Trader Joe’s sells. So really compared to many others, this is a “healthy choice” in the Trader Joe’s cereal department. Maybe the healthiest cereal they sell?
It kind of resembles thin little crunchy bits of brown stuff, clearly extruded, and I assume baked. I am not very familiar with Nabisco’s FIBER ONE cereal but its a little similar. I think the shape of that cereal is thicker that this.
Taste wise? Well I doubt anyone would say “this is the best cereal I ever had”. The best I could say is I didn’t think it tastes it’s OK. Not bad. Fairly neutral in flavor, it is nice and crunchy. A bit naturally sweet. It taste healthy. Generally I myself use it like a topping, and put it on top of my breakfast mixture of chia seeds, fruit, yogurt and sometimes kefir. I sometimes add a little bit of granola on top to improve it. But again, if you want an easy way to add some extra fiber in your diet, this cereal is certainly an easy way to add some to your breakfast in the morning, which will be good for you!
(You can compare to FIBER ONE)
Personally I have always liked the classic GRAPE NUTS cereal also pretty high fiber, and prefer it to this, however my wife prefers TJ’s High Fiber cereal over Grape Nuts. She has brought this home quite a few times now, so she really likes it, and says it helps keep her regular! 😉
Trader Joe’s says: “Trader Joe’s Instant Cold Brew Coffee starts with 100% Arabica coffee beans from India. Our supplier uses an all-natural, proprietary extraction method that took them over two years to develop. It’s truly a unique process that yields a fine, dark powder. Add one heaping teaspoon of this Instant Cold Brew Coffee to 12 fluid ounces of cold or hot water, then stir until dissolved. The result is a cup of Cold Brew that’s full-bodied, dark, and smooth, with a caramel-like aroma and rich, cold-brew coffee taste.”
I am a big fan of coffee, a real coffee. While I am not half as geeky and fanatic about it as many coffee geeks, I do love me some (great) coffee. Hence I almost never drink any “instant” coffee, which I find not even in the same league as a brewed coffee.
As far as the Cold brewed coffee trend that has caught on the last few years, well I always will prefer a regular brewed coffee too over that. If I want it Cold, I let it sit, chill it and enjoy it then, maybe with ice. But Cold brew doesn’t excite me compared to a chilled down brewed cup of coffee or some pre-made, iced brewed coffee. Still, I wanted to try this “Instant Cold Brew” from Trader Joe’s.
As I am not a big fan of any instant coffee I can’t say I am crazy about this one either however I found it actually made me a drinkable cold coffee beverage on a hot day. So maybe this is good for one of your Coffee Emergencies, where you didn’t plan ahead!
The label says add 1 heaping teaspoon per 12 oz of water but I think I will play with this and add more to make it stronger. This is of course very convenient which is its main selling point. It is convenient I’ve even used it to add to something as an ingredient where coffee was called for.
Trader Joe’s sells some fresh “PIZZA SAUCE” carried in the refrigerated case, near the pizza dough. The sauce goes for $2.69 for 10 oz. I decided to give it a try.
The other night we planned on making a fresh pizza from scratch (I made my own dough using the famous Jim Lahey recipe). When I was ready to assemble the pizza for cooking I used this sauce.
Now my Go-To typically for tomato sauce for making pizza might just be to use TJ’s very decent jarred Marinara. Either the Plain version or the Roasted Garlic version. I like them both.
So here’s my honest review of this fresh sauce. “Just OK”. I would find it hard to recommend. I just tasted it on a spoon. I could swear it gave me a bit of a bitter aftertaste. Possibly from so many dried herbs? It is thick with a lot of ingredients. Too complicated?
I gave it a chance and used it to make the pizza. The pizza turned out OK and yes the sauce was a bit better now cooked but again “just ok” so would stick to my Go-To (and cheaper) jar of TJ’s Marinara – or whatever sauce you like at TJ’s).
So instead of this I suggest using TJ’s regular or ROASTED GARLIC MARINARA if you are making your own pizza from scratch – using either Trader Joe’s pizza dough or your own dough or whatever – and add your mozzarella or favorite cheese(s). Or their prepared Pizza Base.
To top my (marinara) sauce for our pizza I will add a pinch of dried herbs like oregano, maybe some crushed red pepper. Usually I will add fresh garlic. Later I will add fresh basil, cut with a scissors. Then give it all a drizzle of EVOO.
This will be way better than this prepared “pizza sauce” and the Marinara is cheaper to boot. You will plenty left over too to use in another dish, or freeze for later.
I would not buy this again.
Speaking of fresh basil – Here is the legendary late, great Dom DeMarco cutting on some basil with scissors. The Master at work and whose pizza’s I was lucky enough to get to enjoy many times, sometimes waiting a hour or more…. RIP Maestro Dom.
I love pistachios and I love chocolate. So when I saw this new item Trader Joe’s recently came out with, naturally I wanted to try it. The concept sounds good.
But the reality? Well, while tasty three of us tasted this and had the same reaction. This isn’t a slam dunk success. Why not? Pistachios are kind of delicate and subtle in flavor. The texture is also a little soft. Coating them in chocolate sounds good but we found the the chocolate really dominates and overshadows the flavor of the pistachios. Unlike other nuts, say almonds where the almond can really stand up equally to the chocolate. You know you are eating almonds, as they have a more distinct in flavor not to mention a very crunchy texture.
So while I find it kind of tasty its a bit of a miss not a hit . I probably won’t buy this again. If I want a chocolate covered nut, I will just stick to the chocolate almonds or cashews.
My wife bought this to try though we are not lactose intolerant nor vegetarian. Taste wise it was very MEH. Neither of us thought it was good and we both thought “don’t buy this again”. Still if you are lactose intolerant (or vegetarian) perhaps this recent addition to the frozen dessert options at Trader Joe’s is something you might be interested in.
Trader Joe’s Rants & Raves (mostly raves, a few rants) 
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