A Trader Joe’s fan blog with some NYC attitude. Mostly raves with a few rants.
01 Apr 2022 Leave a comment
in All Natural, Blog, coffee, Home Goods, organic, Products, Trader Joes, Uncategorized, update Tags: coffee, healthy, plants, product, Products, vegan gluten free, vegetarian
I was pretty surprised to see this yesterday at Trader Joe’s in the plants section. I’ve never even seen an indoor coffee plant before. I think it was $7.99. As a bit of a coffee geek, I was slightly tempted to buy it (but didn’t… yet) Just in case you do, here’s some Plant Care tips for coffee I found online below. I wouldn’t expect you are going to get a harvest from this but still kinda interesting….
28 Mar 2022 2 Comments
in General, Health & Beauty, Products, Rave, Trader Joes, Uncategorized, update, WhatsGoodAtTJ? Tags: conditioner, hair, mask, product, Products, Rave, review, Trader Joes
I find this to be an terrific conditioner for your hair. Well, Trader Joe’s calls this a “mask”. I call it an intensive conditioner, that really works to make your hair softer and silkier.It has a lovely smell as well. If you read the ingredients listed one can see it has a lot of moisturizing oils and other ingredients. These include coconut oil, shea butter oil, mulberry leaf extract, vitamin E, argan oil, coconut extract, açai extract, sunflower seed extract, and vitamin B5. You just put it on and leave it in for 3 to 5 minutes, then rinse. I even sometimes put a tiny dab of it on my wet (curly) hair after getting out of the shower like a hair dressing. I would call this a premium product but it doesn’t have a premium price, due to it’s own brand label and no marketing. Its a super reasonable $3.99 for the 5 oz tube. A real bargain. If you try this stuff I bet you will find it works well and thank me (a guy no less) for the tip!
24 Mar 2022 3 Comments
in frozen, General, ice cream, Pantry, Prices, Products, Rave, snacks, sweets, Trader Joes, Uncategorized, update, WhatsGoodAtTJ? Tags: dessert, gluten free, Products, Rave, Trader Joes
Mochi is a very Japanese food product made of “sticky” (glutinous) rice pounded or ground for a long time until the texture becomes very chewy. Mochi has that wonderful chewy texture prominent in many Asian food cultures. Trader Joe’s MOCHI ICE CREAM product is a terrific combination of this plus ice cream and you can find it in the frozen desserts. TJ’s took a hockey puck of ice cream which has the soft chewy mochi dough wrapped around it to encase it. This combination is delicious. TJ’s mochi ice cream treats come in 3 flavors: Strawberry, Vanilla and a Green Tea (Matcha) flavor. All the flavors are really good and worth trying. These little Mochi Ice Cream treats make for an unusual, interesting and yummy dessert that everyone seems to love. I know we do, we buy them all the time, and yes a box seems to go pretty fast. You get six pieces in the box, and the package now goes for $4.79. Well they are a bit special, its not just ice cream. They’re a special dessert, and these are well worth a try. TIP: keep them frozen as it says on the package and take out just before eating (defrost for 3-4 minutes) If they get too melted its very messy to eat but with a plate for run-off you will be safe and yes you will be licking your fingers like we do.
24 Mar 2022 7 Comments
in All Natural, General, News, Pantry, Prices, Products, Rave, Staple, Trader Joes, Uncategorized, update, vegetarian, WhatsGoodAtTJ? Tags: Food, healthy, no preservatives, product, Products, Rave, review, Trader Joes, vegetarian
(UPDATE: IT WAS OUT OF STOCK FOR SOME TIME BUT IS NOW BACK IN STORES (Jun 2022)
“Blend of pearled couscous, orzo, split baby garbanzo bean and red quinoa”
HARVEST GRAIN BLEND is a healthy blend of grains and beans and is both a healthy and tasty Trader Joe’s product that you must try if you’ve never had it.
Harvest Grain Blend makes a quick, super easy side dish, ready in as little as 10 minutes. It makes a great side dish, as shown here plated up with a piece of broiled salmon. Of course one could just as easily plated this up , restaurant style, as the bed with the salmon on top and the grains on the bottom, with a mound of this on the plate and whatever your Main or Protein is on top. Another idea for this grain blend is for the the base of a protein bowl. Make up a Protein Bowl with this and top with say an egg, or tofu or what have you, vegetarian or non. You can make this mix with water, butter and a little salt. Even better would be to use broth (veggie broth, chicken broth, etc) which of course make it even more flavorful. You could even toss in some veggies too if you like, maybe adding frozen peas or spinach (yum!) or mixed frozen veggies. Add them during the last 3 minutes of cooking. It’s easy to make and fairly foolproof.
Instructions: Bring 1 3/4 cups water or broth to a boil. Add 1 tbl butter (or EVOO). Add 1 1/4 cup Harvest Blend. Once its boiling again, reduce heat to a simmer. Cook covered for 10 minutes. Turn off heat and let sit for 5-10 minutes. Fluff and serve.
A 16 oz bag now goes for $2.99. This is something I must have in the house at all times. Its super fast, easy, healthy, and lasts a long time in the pantry. I find this great for those times when you think you have “nothing to eat” in the house. I can make this grain dish, open a can of TJ’s terrific poached salmon , put it on top. Dinner in 10 minutes with almost no effort!
Harvest Grain Blend is really good and worth trying. It helps make up for the loss of the brown rice medley TJ’s used to sell! (don’t get us fans started 😉
Ingredients: pearled couscous, orzo pasta, split baby garbanzos, red quinoa
18 Mar 2022 2 Comments
in baked, bread, Dried Fruits and Nuts, fresh, New, News, Prices, Products, Rave, snacks, Staple, sweets, tea, Trader Joes, Uncategorized, update, WhatsGoodAtTJ? Tags: irish, item, Products, review, seasonal, St. Patricks Day, Trader Joes
SEASONAL ITEM (ST. PATRICK’S DAY)
I guess someone at Trader Joe’s thinks naming this “Blarney Scone” is pretty funny, huh? It’s Irish Soda Bread just so you know, and not a scone. It’s quite good. Loaded generously with raisins (or are they currents?) I like this best sliced thin and lightly toasted, spread with good butter. Yum! The Irish Soda bread goes for $3.99 for a 20 oz loaf. If you want some, grab it up as I don’t think Trader Joe’s will stock this much more than a week or two around St. Patrick’s Day every year.
17 Mar 2022 3 Comments
in All Natural, General, Mexican, Prices, Products, Rave, recipe, Recipes, spices, Staple, Trader Joes, Uncategorized, update, WhatsGoodAtTJ? Tags: dinner, Food, healthy, ideas, no preservatives, Products, Rave, review, taco, Trader Joes
Ground turkey is something I buy fairly frequently at Trader Joe’s as I find it a versatile ingredient. It’s a convenient protein to have on hand in the fridge, or freezer. Obviously also it has less fat and calories than ground beef, plus is much less expensive, all of which is why ground turkey is a big go-to ingredient for many people. Taste-wise however ground turkey is on the bland side and needs some jazzing up to be tasty. I have found it benefits from two things. One, deep browning. Getting it really browned improves its flavor (due to the Maillard effect). Number two: using lots of seasoning. One excellent match for ground turkey is TJ’s taco seasoning, the 79 cents “miracle” packet. Other good Trader Joe’s seasoning blends that match well with it are: TJ’s Cuban Style Citrus Garlic Blend seasoning, TJ’s Ajika Georgian Seasoning, ground cumin, black pepper and of course lots of garlic, ground or especially fresh chopped garlic. So my “secret” for ground turkey is I season it really, really generously, coating it completely, as the TJ ground turkey is pretty “wet” which make it’s hard to brown. I’ve found a good amount of dry seasoning coating on the outside gives it a drier surface that makes it brown more easily. So if you put a good deal of seasoning on the outside to provide a dry surface for pan grilling (add as little salt or no salt since the seasonings may have salt, check the package) it helps. I also try to minimally compress the ground meat even if making into a burger. I don’t compress the meat much either, as minimally as possible. I sprinkle the dry seasonings generously all over and gently lay it into a VERY hot cast iron pan with good tablespoon or two of olive oil or an oil and butter mix. I don’t touch or move it at all until the bottom side has turned quite brown which can take a good 6-8 minutes. If making turkey for tacos, I just lay it from the package (seasoned) into the pan and try to not break it up until it is done and very browned. This yields large chunks which I like. If you want to mix it with other ingredients like chopped veggies, then you can even add an egg and some binder (panko, breadcrumbs, etc) and then form that into patties.
Ground turkey recipes are all over the internet and found easily. Here’s mine for a fast turkey bean chili.
EASY TURKEY BEAN CHILI: Season turkey as described above, Cook in a hot pan in a nice slug of oilve oil (better still a mix of oil & butter). Cook until turkey is very browned on one side; then flip and add a chopped medium onion and ground cumin to taste. Sauté together until the onion is a lightly browned and fragrant. Add a few cloves of chopped garlic. Break up the turkey keeping a few large chunks for texture. Add a large tablespoon of Tomato paste, mix in and cook on low-medium heat for a minute. Add a can of drained red kidney (or black beans) then a can of Fire Roasted Tomatoes with Green Chiles. Rinse out the can with some water to get everything and add all that liquid. Simmer everything on low for about 20-30 minutes to let the flavors blend. Taste and adjust seasoning/salt if needed. Serve with rice with grated cheddar cheese on top. (Variation -Turkey Bean Chili Soup; this can easily become a soup instead of a stew, just add more liquid (chicken or beef broth or another can of tomatoes) and simmer together till done. )
The TJ ground turkey goes for about $4 a lb. The regular turkey is better overall. The more expensive all white meat ground turkey breast kind can turn out too dry unless you are super careful cooking it, and mix it with other ingredients to keep it moist. If you don’t use ground turkey within 2 days of purchase, put the package in the freezer, and do an overnight defrost in the fridge the day before you want to use it. Yes I know it has a 2 week “use by” date on the package but all ground meats are best used as fresh as possible, within a day or two. TJ’s dates are way too generous for me.
UPDATE: (April 2022, I noticed ground turkey has prices crept up about 50 cents due to rampant inflation)
16 Mar 2022 2 Comments
in All Natural, General, New, News, organic, Pantry, Prices, Products, Rave, Staple, Trader Joes, Uncategorized, update, vegetarian, WhatsGoodAtTJ? Tags: Food, healthy, no preservatives, Products, review, Trader Joes, vegan gluten free, vegetarian
“Organic Date Syrup is made from 100% Deglet Noor dates with nothing added. It makes a deliciously sweet topping or ingredient and can be used in place of maple, agave or any other syrup”
This is an interesting product, a very, very thick, sweet dark syrup made solely from dates. It tastes exactly like dates of course. I find it delicious and unique. It is a little expensive at $3.50 for a 6 oz bottle, however you use it in very, very small amounts, way less than say you would use honey so a bottle will last for awhile. One use I find this date syrup goes especially well with is drizzled on top of plain yogurt on my morning cereal and I don’t use much of it, just a tiny drizzle or two is plenty as its so intensely concentrated giving everything a lovely flavor.
TRADER JOES HAS THIS TO SAY
“Dates have been a part of people’s diets for an extraordinarily long time — archaeological evidence suggests that date palms been cultivated by humans for at least 7,000 years! But even beyond their countless culinary uses when eaten as a whole fruit, dates have also been used to make other foods sweeter since the days of ancient Mesopotamia. So while we’d like to introduce Trader Joe’s Organic Date Syrup as a new item, it’s actually an extremely old one — just new to us, is all. Made entirely from organic Tunisian Deglet Noor dates, this Syrup has a naturally warm and caramelly taste and can be used to add sweetness to anything you’d use agave or maple syrup on. Everything from pancakes and French toast, cakes and pastries, cocktails and coffee drinks, vinaigrettes and marinades, all take on a rich sweetness with even just a light drizzling of our Organic Date Syrup — we find that its dark, butterscotch-y flavor feels tailor-made for topping ice cream.”
https://www.traderjoes.com/home/products/pdp/organic-date-syrup-070849
05 Mar 2022 Leave a comment
in All Natural, Italian, New, News, organic, Pantry, Prices, Products, Rave, recipe, Recipes, Staple, Trader Joes, Uncategorized, update, vegetarian, WhatsGoodAtTJ? Tags: healthy, Italian, no preservatives, pasta, product, Products, Rave, recipe, review, Trader Joes
This shape, “Gigli” is sometimes also called “Campanelle” (tower) a twisty corkscrew shape with a frilly edge. This is one of TJ’s premium pastas that go for a bit more than the regular Organic pastas they carry. This one goes for $2.99 for a 1.1 lb bag, a premium price but its a premium pasta. This is a high quality Organic Pasta made in Italy by a premium manufacturer. You can note by the closeup of the pasta, it has that rough exterior indicating it’s bronze die cut and the lighter color indicating it’s slow dried, like the best Italian pastas you might find at a specialty Italian grocery – and which probably sell for double or more than this.
The cook time is only 5-7 minutes and I would stop it at a minute under Al Dente for finishing with a sauce (which means maybe around 4 minutes). I cooked this pasta with a sauce of sautéed fresh cherry tomatoes, garlic, olive oil and feta cheese and everyone seemed to love it. My only minor complaint is when it was cooked some of the frilly edges detached into little stringy things, which look a bit weird but again this a very minor complaint. Taste wise this is another excellent quality pasta from Trader Joe’s. This corkscrew shape will be good with any sauce especially any sauce that will get into every nook and cranny of this shape. Though I haven’t tried it yet for CACIO E PEPE, I have a feeling they would be good with each other
RECIPE – EASY CHERRY TOMATO AND FETA CHEESE PASTA
Put up a large pan of salted water to boil for the pasta. In a large sauté pan, cook about 12-16 oz of cherry tomatoes (sliced in half) in a good amount of olive oil on med-high heat until the tomatoes start to soften up, about 5-7 minutes. Throw in about 4-5 cloves of minced garlic and cook for another few minutes and at the same time, I push the tomatoes to the side and put a good amount of FETA cheese cut into cube on the other side of the pan and cook on medium heat until they start to brown a little bit. Turn off the heat. Cook the pasta; check it for about a minute under al dente and toss the drained pasta into the pan with the sauce adding about a ladle of the pasta water. Cook for one minute until al dente and mix it all together. Top with a bit of more grated cheese (Parm, Pecorino, or Asiago), some fresh ground pepper and plate it up. Enjoy!
TJ’S LINK
https://www.traderjoes.com/home/products/pdp/organic-italian-artisan-gigli-pasta-060942
TRADER JOE’S SAYS:
Traditional Italian pasta is made with only two ingredients, durum wheat semolina flour and water—a small amount of softer wheat flour is allowed by law, but Trader Joe’s Organic Italian Artisan Gigli Pasta is crafted with 100% organic durum wheat semolina sourced from farms in Puglia. Our supplier has been producing artisan-made pasta for more than 35 years. Most dried pasta are made in huge batches and dried quickly, from three to 12 hours. This Artisan Pasta is made in small batches, and dried at much lower temperatures for up to 24 hours, resulting in a more rustic texture that cooks to a delightfully al dente texture. Gigli, also known as Campanelle (translates to “bellflowers” or “little bells”), has a ruffled edge and hollow center, so it holds any sauce extremely well. Marinara? Carbonara? Just a bit of olive oil and shaved Parmesan? Any of these will do, deliciously.
19 Feb 2022 2 Comments
in All Natural, Italian, Pantry, Prices, Products, Rave, Staple, Trader Joes, Uncategorized, update, vegetarian, WhatsGoodAtTJ? Tags: Food, gluten, new, no preservatives, product, Products, Produtto In Italia, Rave, review, Trader Joes
This is a great new pasta Trader Joe’s recently introduced with a great shape. It’s a “Fusilli” (corkscrew) curly shaped pasta with a little hole (bucati) in the center. This shape is very good and will hold lwhatever lovely sauce or ingredients you use with it. You can tell it’s a premium quality pasta just by looking closely: the exterior is not smooth but rough indicating it was *bronze die cut, and produced by a high end artisanal Italian manufacturer (closeup below: note the rough texture). This pasta has a fast cooking time, the package says 7-8 minutes. I just cooked it and at around 6 minutes it was al dente, meaning if I’m going to finish this with the sauce in a pan the way Italians do, I would fish the pasta out at around the 5 minute mark – a minute under al dente.
I just cooked some to taste, quite simply with butter, grated cheese and pepper. It was excellent. This is indeed terrific pasta. This corkscrew hollow shape should be great with many sauces, either tomato based and I think especially with a pesto sauce (green or red)
Trader Joe’s ORGANIC FUSILLI CORTI BUCATI PASTA. Imported From Italy. Organic Durum Semolina Wheat. $1.99. Try this if you see it, it’s really good. Me, I will buy a bunch for our pantry.
* Bronze dies make better pasta as they give pasta rough edges which makes for better sauce adherence.
RECIPE: I made a Tuna Pasta dish with this fusilli. It was excellent.
COLD TUNA PASTA too. (Pasta, One or two cans tuna, drained. Capers, Lemon, Olive Oil, A little mayo, chopped parsley.)
18 Feb 2022 2 Comments
in jar, Mexican, New, News, Pantry, Prices, Products, Rant, Trader Joes, Uncategorized, update, vegetarian Tags: Food, no preservatives, product, Products, review, Trader Joes, vegan gluten free, vegetarian
TJ’s HATCH GREEN AND RED CHILE FLAKES are terrific and apparently a hit and a popular Trader Joe’s item. When I saw this “Trader Jose’s Hatch Valley Salsa” with “fire roasted Hatch Chile peppers” I guess I was expecting it to have a special taste but in fact found it to be just OK, nothing special at all. Trader Joe’s has had a GREEN SALSA (Salsa Verde) for some time which is fine in this salsa verde style and but which is cheaper at $1.99. This one is $2.99, a premium price. Both have green chiles and tomatillos. On its own this Hatch Valley Salsa was again just OK when we ate it with TJ’s Corn Dipper chips, it didn’t bring a great deal of flavor plus as it is thin and not great for dipping (on the plus side of that, no thickener agents) I haven’t tried this and the regular Green Salsa together to compare them side by side but still, I probably won’t buy this again as I just don’t think the higher price is worth it against the Salsa Verde. It might however be good for cooking a dish like Green Chile Enchiladas. TJ’s has so many very good salsa’s and related products (like Cowboy Caviar which I love as well as the Chlpotle Black Bean Dip) So I am giving this HATCH SALSA a “Meh” as its $2.99. Medium spice heat level. Ingredients: Hatch Chile Pepper, Tomatillos, Lime Juice Concentrate, Garlic Salt.
Trader Joe’s Rants & Raves (mostly raves, a few rants) 
Recent Comments