If you are not familiar with BOBA TEA (aka bubble tea) it’s a popular (very TRENDY) drink that has very large pearls of Tapioca that sink to the bottom. The tapioca pearls have a very chewy texture that most people really enjoy. The pearls are so large that to suck them up it comes with a special ultra wide straw. These drinks are sold by specialty tea shops like “GONG CHA”that serve up a premium (and a bit pricey) Boba Tea Drink.
Trader Joe’s BOBA TEA kit is a (poor) approximation of what you might get from a specialty Boba Tea shop. I have had Boba Tea from quite a few different Tea shops and in short, Trader Joe’s Boba Tea Kit won’t put any of them out of business. The drink you get in a real Boba Tea shop is way better than this, however if you’ve never had it before this may give you an idea of what “boba tea” is. As my wife commented “this is a Trader Joe’s version”. She meant it as a knock as in “cheap knockoff of the real thing”. A specialty shop boba tea drink usually costs about $5-6 bucks each. This kit sells for $5.50 for 4 drinks. So yes a cheap knock off. Granted, its a high profit item (sugar, tea, tapioca)
Anyway if you can’t have it at one of these shops and just want to try boba tea in that case then his might be a good starting point. For one thing the tapioca pearls in Trader Joe’s are much smaller than the ones that the shops make which are huge and so chewy. This kit has 4 pouches of a concentrate with the pearls. You mix this package up with milk or tea (or combo of the two) plus a handful of ice to dilute its sweetness, and you need to add enough of these things in, otherwise it will be way too sweet. I put the defrosted pouch into a glass jar with a lid so I could really shake it up with the added ice and liquid. The kit even has 4 big straws. Not bad, but again really no comparison to a Boba Tea shop drink. I probably wouldn’t buy it again.
There are some Fall items that are misses and some that are hits. This is a HIT for me. These are really good. I love them and everybody I offered them too liked them. The added spices and coating is not cloying, it’s just enough but not too much so you still taste pumpkin seeds, and they are really crunchy and tasty (they have butter). $2.99 for 8 oz.
The Pumpkin Greek Yogurt however was a big Miss for me; Didn’t like that taste at all. I would not buy that again.
This “roasting sauce” is a new Fall item for as part of TJ’s annual “pumpkin spectacular”. Now I’m not one who goes crazy every Fall with all their Everything Pumpkin items. While some of the products they come up with are good (like this one!) some sound just bad to me (case point, TJ’s PUMPKIN SPICE HUMMUS, whose very name offends me as did TJ’s infamous “chocolate hummus”). But having said this, I hear Pumpkin Spice Hummus is popular and sells out often, so clearly I’m in the minority! Anyway as far as this new sauce is concerned, I liked it. It was betterthan what I imagined. This PUMPKIN CHIPOTLE ROASTING saucewas quite tasty used it to braise chicken and vegetables (a recipe follows below).
This Pumpkin Chipotle sauce uses an imaginative blend of ingredients. Though it has pumpkin puree as the first ingredient it has so many other ingredients, the pumpkin flavor blends in with so many other flavors it makes a complex and tasty combination. This doesn’t have anything like a “pumpkin pie” flavor at all. Rather this sauce’s flavor profile is complex, balanced and delicious. Ingredients are:pumpkin puree, cane sugar, water, apple cider vinegar, apple juice concentrate, onion puree, sea salt, molasses, garlic, tomato paste, vinegar, chipotle in adobo puree, chipotle chili powder and spices like nutmeg, ginger and allspice which are subtle here and blend well.
I used this sauce to make a braised chicken dish which turned out delicious. I used boneless chicken thighs and onion, garlic, celery, yellow peppers and mushrooms. This would work very well with bone-in thighs too, roasted as per TJ’s recipe (see link below)
In addition to chicken, I am sure this sauce will work very well with pork. Also just on roasted veggies. Probably it would work well even with tofu too. So it might be fun to experiment with this sauce and see what you can come up with. Here’s my saucy dish in the picture.
Braised Boneless Chicken Thighs (sliced up) in Pumpkin Chipotle sauce with vegetables
Trader Joe’s suggests roasting it with cauliflower or peppers which sounds good and they also mention using it with pasta too…. I have not tried that yet.
This is how I made my chicken dish if you are interested.
RECIPE — BONELESS CHICKEN THIGHS IN PUMPKIN CHIPOTLE SAUCE : Season chicken with salt and pepper. Dust with a little flour (optional). Brown chicken in 2 tsp olive oil for about 5 minutes per side. till golden. When browned, remove temporarily. Toss in your chopped vegetables to the pan (onions, garlic, celery, sliced bell peppers, sliced mushrooms). Sauté on low-medium heat for about five minutes till translucent. Then add a few tablespoons of liquid (wine, stock or water) to the pan to de-glaze it, scraping up any browned bits at the bottom. Add your chicken back in and cover with Pumpkin Roasting Sauce and braise on gentle simmer (either on top of the stove or in the oven, loosely covered). I used about 3/4 of the jar in my dish but you can adjust amount if you want less or more sauce in the finished dish. Simmer / braise on low heat for about 25 minutes or so. If you use chicken breasts instead of thighs, reduce cooking time to about 12 minutes and if using bone in chicken simmer or roast for about 40 minutes. When done, I took out the chicken, rested it a bit, then sliced it and added it back to my sauce. Leave whole if you prefer of course. Check seasoning for salt and pepper. Optional – add 2 tablespoons of butter to the sauce. Serve the chicken, veggies and sauce on top of Jasmine rice (or orzo or potatoes).
TJ’s says: “Use this Sauce to coat some Baby Cauliflower and Organic Mini Sweet Peppers before roasting them in a hot oven. Make it a marinade for chicken or pork to turn into an aromatic, shredded taco filling. Or give it a try on pasta night, combined with a touch of cream and tossed with Organic Cascatelli Pasta.”
PUMPKIN CHIPOTLE ROASTING SAUCE is $3.49 a jar (14.5 oz). I would buy this again. If you like it, I would say stock up on a few jars as it may vanish after Thanksgiving as I think its a seasonal item.
Trader Joe’s frozen “SWEET POTATO GNOCCHI with butter and sage” looked interesting enough for me to review. It even says “Product of Italy”. These gnocchi seem quite popular and get a fair amount of interest here.
Three of us tasted it as part of a dinner we put together.
We all thought that yes this was tasty. Our main comment to begin with though about the fact these say “sweet potato”. Other than the fact these have an orange color, none of us could have told you just by tasting it, that these were made using regular potato or sweet potato. Sweet potato is listed as the first ingredient though.
Butter and sage is a classic sauce. This sauce here was tasty. The flavor of the sauce was nice and buttery with a hint of sage. We were a bit surprised at how much sauce comes in this, so just know the dish is pretty saucy, which may not be a bad thing at all! Since there is a good amount of sauce, be sure to have something to mop it all up with like some good crusty bread, as we did.
HEATING: It takes about 6 minutes, using either Microwave or Stove Top to cook this from frozen. I cooked this on the stove top in a nonstick pan (adding 2 tbls water or broth and cover and stirring occasionally.)
You can easily turn this into a more substantial meal by adding some things to the dish (protein or veggies).
For example, add your favorite Chicken Sausages (or meatballs. Some veggies perhaps, many items will match well with the sauce and the gnocchi.
In a separate pan (or use the same pan to brown these first) Brown up sliced chicken sausages and mix those in when the gnocchi are ready (or chicken meatballs) . I think Shrimp would work too. Vegetarians might add the vegetarian sausage of their choice.
Adding VEGGIES. You could add some cooked or frozen vegetables. Frozen French green beans work well, or frozen peas. Or fresh or frozen spinach. You could just toss in a generous handful of veg for some extra taste and a little veggie protein and cook those along with the sauce.
FULL MEAL: Add some salad and bread along with this and you can have a nice substantial meal using with this gnocchi. And maybe the additions mentioned above if you want to beef it up even more.
While I liked these I like other gnocchi choices available at Trader Joe’s. Boiled soft gnocchi such as this dish are fine, however I am quite partial to pan fried gnocchi which you make by sautéeing the gnocchi with a little olive oil and butter until they get golden brown – then add sauce at the end.
These sweet potato one in sauce were about $3.69. I like them and give them a good if not great review mainly as as they don’t stand out as being “sweet potato” gnocchi but still we thought these were tasty.
I love gnocchi when they are fried up and get a little bit of a delicious texture on the outside which you can’t get with prepared, sauced frozen ones, like this dish.
Frequently I make Trader Joe’s (shelf stable) potato gnocchi–a productI just love and buy all the time(and its cheaper, just $1.99 $2.29). I cook those up so they get a golden brown on the outside, and add my own sauce. In this case, I might add my own butter, sage and grated cheese and a squeeze of lemon to come up with a dish a bit like this one, but with a bit of a crispier texture, and frankly I don’t need so much sauce.
My go to gnocchi, as mentioned, are the packages of Trader Joe’s shelf stable potato gnocchi on the shelves along with their pastas. Those gnocchi are not only cheaper but you can get those crispy by frying/baking/air frying them up to brown them.
Trust me, try making crispy gnocchi at least once. So good that way. So honestly I would say try out both kinds, this dish, and later make your own dish, with TJ’s regular potato gnocchi pan fried up crispy (and add butter and some sage and cheese for a sauce).
Here’s a link on “How to fry gnocchi, and why you should want to!)
I like that you don’t have to buy a whole package now. Sometimes when I have a package of jalapeños in the fridge, often I don’t use them up quickly enough and they start to get old, then go bad and I end up throwing them out. So this is better by the piece for 29 cents each. Naturally I will grab the biggest, freshest one I can find in the bunch to get the best bang for my buck (er, 29 cents). In fact, other than a banana I think this one of the cheapest items you can buy at Trader Joe’s, right?
This has become one of my favorite items at Trader Joe’s! If you love garlic as much as I do, you too will love thier “GARLIC SPREADDIP” . It’s great and has become yet one more TJ’s must have item I have to always have in the fridge now. I think of it as much as an ingredient as a “spread”. You can add a spoon of this to a dish to give things an immediate flavor boost, almost like you would fresh garlic. I put this in mashed potatoes, spinach, pasta, hummus…. It’s so versatile. It makes a great spinach dish. I came up with a super quick recipe hack using just 2 things: frozen) spinach and this stuff. See my “recipe”below.
Quite a few countries have some type of garlic spread like this. In Lebanese cooking, they have the garlic spread called “Toum” (and basically TJ’s spread is Toum). In Greece, they have a spread called “Skordalia” made from garlic, olive oil and potato. In the South of France they have the yummy yellow garlicky mayonnaise called, “Aioli” famously served on toasted baguette slices alongside Bouillabaisse. Mashed garlic acts as an emulsifier with oil to make a spread. Trader Joe’s version like Lebanese toum is an emulsified paste of garlic, oil, lemon juice and salt, traditionally made in a mortar and pestle. They did not skimp on garlic. TJ’s GARLIC SPREAD is so garlicky it’s not funny. True garlic lovers will want to try this on everything. So what can you use this Garlic Spread on? To start with just try it on thin slices of toasted baguette, which will be match well with a salad or soup like croutons or garlic bread. This stuff is especially good for any pasta dish. Just toss in a spoonful into your finished pasta, especially tomato pasta (PESTO ROSSO? Add some of this to jazz it up! Use this instead of butter for cooking grilled cheese sandwiches. Put a little into your tuna or egg salad. Eggs, try some in an Omelet for some kick. Salmon or other fish, for sure. I’ve found it’s fantastic in mashed potatoes to jazz them up. Almost any vegetable dish will be enhanced with a spoon or two of this vegan garlic spread, so it’s ideal for vegans and vegetarians as well as us non-vegetarians. It was amazing on the CHICKEN SHAWARMA. Greek yogurt plus some of this spread makes and instant super easy tasty sauce. Here’s a recipe I came up with using spinach. This is a great tasting spinach dish in under 2 minutes.
SPINACH WITH GARLIC SPREAD RECIPE – Two ingredients: frozen spinach and garlic spread. Toss the spinach in a pan with a little olive oil (or butter) and cook for a few minutes till done (keep it bright green!) then add in a nice heaping tablespoon of this Garlic Spread and mix. Fresh black pepper and a pinch of salt if needed. DONE. It will look a little bit creamy and taste absolutely delish. If you want squeeze on a few more sprinkles of fresh lemon.
In fact most vegetable dishes will be enhanced with a spoon or two of this VEGAN spread, so it’s ideal for vegans / vegetarians to give a enormous flavor boost to most things. One thing to remember, it does have calories. It’s mostly oil, like mayonnaise. 2 Tbls have about 150 calories. Its $2.99. GREAT ITEM! I would buy this again
“Corn, black bean and pepper salsa. Smoky sweet with just the right amount of kick” – Trader Joe’s
If you like salsa but this one is a must try. Its terrific. I love it. My wife loves it. In fact both of us think it could be a pick for a TJ’s Top Ten.
Trader Joe’s Cowboy Caviar is a great version of this classic, maybe more in a salsa style with corn, black beans, red bell peppers, onions, jalapenos, lime juice and spices, with some kick to it from chipotle chiles in adobo, which give it a bit of heat plus a smoky undertone. TJ’s doesn’t have one of their heat level pictures on the jar. Call it a medium heat? This stuff is soooo good as a salsa, as a dip for chips, especially with the yummy Organic Corn Dippers, and its great on tacos, rice, eggs, mixed into veggies, alongside grilled chicken, or as a little side dish…. you name it, I think it will perk it up.
It comes in a jar so its a really good pantry item to have on hand. You can put out some of this with chips or crackers and you can have something in a few seconds for unexpected guests. A jar now goes for $2.99 $3.49 (13 oz)
“A mild cow’s milk cheese seasoned with garlic powder and baked golden brown”
What is Trader Joe’s “bread cheese”. Well, there’s no bread in it, its just a cheese that you can grill and it’s really good ! Perhaps, too good. Dangerous 😉
Inspired by a popular grilling cheese from Finland, Trader Joe’s “Bread Cheese” is made to be grilled. It’s a firm cheese with a high melting point which has been pre-baked until golden brown, then packaged up. We now grill this cheese up in a pan until it it gets all melty and gooey. While it is all nice and soft, you eat the slightly squeaky yummy cheese which is kind of like a mozzarella stick without the breading. In fact they suggest you dunk it in some tomato sauce. Some people have put the Hot Honey on it. Some have put Ranch on it. I like it “Greek style” with fresh lemon juice sprinkled over the hot cheese. This stuff is wonderful on top off a salad, or eaten with with a crusty baguette or other bread. Trust me, this is so good and you will come up with lots of ways to enjoy it. Anyway you eat this, you will find it delicious. Its about $4.29 for the package (6 oz). I would buy this again.
My suggestion. Try it Greek Style like Saganaki. Cook it up in a small pan with a little olive oil until golden and sprinkle it with fresh lemon, then bring the whole pan to the table for everyone to tear into and enjoy with warm bread or pita and some salad. TJ’s sells another yummy cheese for grilling called HALOUMI, which is also delicious. Try them both.
“Known in its native Finland as juustolepä, Bread Cheese contains no wheat, or gluten, nor anything else of that nature, but rather gets its name from its hearty, remarkably bread-like consistency and squeaky, Halloumi-like texture. And much like Halloumi, Trader Joe’s Garlic Bread Cheese is best served nice and warm, after it’s had a chance to get just a little melty and gooey.”
Just to give you an idea of how small it really is, the cute little pineapple growing on the stalk is about the size of my thumb. It looks so cool and adorable.
Full name of the plant is PINEAPPLE BROMELIAD. See the link for info on care and growing.
TJ’s was selling these for $15.99
Now have you ever wondered why you see so many pineapples in depicted in design, old buildings and architecture? There is a reason: it showed wealth and hospitality.
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