Trader Joe’s GRAINLESS GRANOLA


RAVE

“SWEET AND SALTY CLUSTERS MADE WITH ALMONDS, COCONUT, SUNFLOWER AND PUMPKIN SEEDS”.

GRAINLESS GRANOLA” – Meaning no oats/grains, and mainly nuts. Wow is this good! When you cut open the bag, a huge waft of coconut smell hits you. You look inside and see clumps and clusters of Almonds, Coconut, Sunflower and Pumpkin seeds in a “salty, sweet” combination that is quite irresistible. I started just popping a few clusters into my mouth and they are delicious just like that as a snack. In fact, I could have eaten the whole bag if I didn’t stop myself. I can easily see Moms filling little baggies with this for yummy, healthy “Snackables”.

Next I put some of this cereal in a bowl with milk and yogurt and banana and it was even more delicious. Now I love granola, the regular kinds with oats, so for me there is no reason to be “grain-less” other than this is simply super delicious. I even put this on top of my regular granola as a crunchy topping. Ditto on my cooked steel cut oats. My suggestion is add some dried fruits, like cranberries or raisins which makes this Grainless Granola even better. As oats are fairly cheap and nuts are expensive, naturally this granola minus oats costs more than the regular granolas TJ sells, but its still a good deal and its so good you probably won’t care too much.

TJ’s got this one right and has a major hit here I think. Grainless Granola is $4 for a 10 oz bag. Try this, you will no doubt love it as much as I did. And yes it’s of course Vegan and Gluten Free. I guess its kind of aimed at “Paleo” people, which I’m not but frankly it’s something any homo sapiens will love.

Trader Joe’s ITALIAN BOMBA Hot Pepper Paste of Fermented Calabrian Chili Peppers


bomba1

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Since it first appeared, Trader Joe’s Italian “Bomba” Hot Pepper Sauce blew up all over the internet as one of Trader Joe’s best new offerings. In this case, any hype you’ve heard about how good TJ’s “BOMBA” is, is 100% justified. This stuff is incredible. Sorry I won’t be saying “it’s the bomb” (even though it is). However I will tell you that we just freaking LOVE this stuff, and put it on many, many things. Since first trying this its become a condiment that we have to have in the fridge at all times. Here’s why.

BOMBA is a condiment made from crushed up fresh Calabrian red chile peppers that get fermented. By now I’m sure you’re well aware about how fermentation adds complex flavor elements to foods. When you taste this paste you will notice a little bit of funkiness. That is it’s fermentation and it adds a magical addition of, you guessed it, UMAMI. Giving this stuff more complexity than just a “hot sauce”. Now Bomba sauce is a bit spicy but it’s not really spicy. It’s nowhere near a knock-your-head-off hot sauce, skulls on the label, kind of spicy. This has a tolerable level of spicy PLUS flavor! As a spiciness test, I just put a small spoon of Bomba in my mouth. While I got “yes this is spicy”, it didn’t want to make me want to drink a glass of milk or anything. I got something beyond just “spicy”, there that funkiness, even a bit of sweetness. So depending on the amount you use, you can adjust the level of spicy to your taste and palate, and if you add even just a tiny bit to dishes – I’m talking a quarter of a teaspoon – it will add wonderful flavors that may surprise you.

How to use Bomba ? Of course this is going to be great added to tomato sauces, say on pasta or pizza or what have you. But what about other pasta dishes? A spoonful mixed into your Spaghetti Aglio e Olio? For sure! A little bit in your Carbonara? Controversial perhaps but I do it, and it is terrific. What about all those Gnocchi you love from Trader Joe’s? Regular, cauliflower, kale, shelf stable or what have you… OMG folks, a dollop of this Bomba with garlic and good olive oil will make your gnocchi soar. Still, Bomba is more than “just for Italian” food. I put a little bit into my scrambled eggs. It’s divine with eggs of any kind. A drop of it onto of my buttered, toasted baguette is great. A little bit mixed into avocado toast or guacamole. Add a little bit of Bomba to your marinade for meat or chicken. Dips and sauces? Perfect. You can mix this up with some Greek yogurt (or mayonnaise for that matter) for an instant wonderful sauce, to top some cooked Chicken Breasts, Shrimp, or Tofu as well. Or try that mix as a dip for some chips. Drizzle some with olive oil and garlic on your roasted veggies. Add a spoon of this to your soup or most any sauce to give it some jazz. I even love it on cottage cheese on toast (no, seriously that’s really good). On my sardines on toast. I suggest adding some fresh garlic when using Bomba. Of course these two go very well together. Asian food?! OMG yes, yes, yes! Honestly the list of things and types of food Bomba can improve and go with is endless and I promise, you will discover uses on your own (please share some with us in the COMMENTS below). TJ’s Bomba is truly a premium gourmet offering. Amazingly Trader Joe’s sells this for $2.99 a jar, which is honestly incredible for such a product. Oh and it’s really Italian, it is a “Product Of Italy”. I have found it sold out on occasion as its a big hit. So if you like it, next time grab an extra jar to keep in the pantry like I do (but just one, leave some for me, and the next guy!) Ingredients are: Chilies, Sunflower Oil, Olive Oil, Basil, Salt, Ascorbic Acid, Citric Acid. Honestly even if you are not really the “hot sauce type” I suggest you get a jar of this to try. Calabrian chili’s are not super hot; they are in the “medium” spice level. People can pop them in their mouths easily. Personally I can’t live without having a jar of Bomba in the fridge now and if you try this, you may feel exactly the same.

TIP: I add a bit of Extra Virgin Olive Oil after I open the jar to “seal the top” off from air and keep it freshest for longer. Keep the jar in the fridge. Take it out 15 minutes before using if its congealed.

If you tried BOMBA and have any Comments feel free to share them.

Trader Joe’s NEW ZEALAND BUTTER


UPDATE: (July 2022) Unfortunately this product vanished. I haven’t seen it for 2 or3 years (?) so I assume it was Discontinued by Trader Joe’s? Too bad. So good!

(for the archive)

Another excellent premium butter on offer at Trader Joe’s!

Trader Joe’s now carries three premium imported butters, a French butter, an Irish butter and just recently I saw this one, from New Zealand no less. New Zealand is pretty famous for its food products. I happen to love the New Zealand Extra Sharp cheddar cheese that TJ carries, it’s terrific and it’s even a Trader Joe’s team favorite. So I was happy to see this Kiwi butter. When I first opened the package I was struck by the deep yellow color (it may be hard for the actual color come through in my picture). Trader Joe’s says on the package that “it’s made for us on the South Island of New Zealand from grass fed cows”. I am imagining something like this picture from there?

Cattle graze in front of New Zealand, North Island, Mount Taranaki Credit: Getty

Man, that’s some beautiful scenery so perhaps those cows are so very contented and making lovely (grass-fed) milk. When I tasted this butter I was impressed. It’s very gently salted, a bit less than TJ’s French Cultured butter. This butter has a lovely sweet aroma and tastes great. The color is beautiful. So yellow. It was delicious when I spread some on some warm bread. Wonderful when I put it on pancakes the next morning. Wonderful when I made an omelet with it. It was just great cooking with it. This is a truly premium butter and I was as impressed with this Kiwi butter as I am of all 3 imported premium butters TJ sells. Each one is excellent in it’s own right. I have tried tasting one then another to see which is “best” but each one is of such high quality, I can’t really put one over another. They are all excellent premium butters and and each makes you think “now this is what butter should taste like”.

If you were impressed by the French Cultured butter or the Kerrygold Irish butter TJ sells, you will be also impressed by the New Zealand butter, which might be the only one made from completely grass fed milk. Of course imported butter costs more than TJ’s regular butter, maybe double? This NZ one is a wee bit cheaper than the French and Irish butters. The NZ butter costs $3.29 for an 8 oz package. If I can save a little bit on an imported butter, that’s great, so this New Zealand butter will probably be on my shopping list from now on as my first pick of the “special butters”. I never used to buy imported butter, just too expensive. However thanks to Trader Joe’s decent prices for them I now regularly buy two kinds of butter for our fridge. One “normal everyday” butter plus one of the imported “Special butters for that premium butter taste where it really counts (like my morning toasted bagel). One final thing. I read somewhere that the New Zealand butter is the only one TJ sells where 100% of the milk is from “grass fed cows”.

RAVE

Mustard and Ale Cheddar Cheese


Trader Joe’s “British Mustard and Ale Cheddar”? Hmmm…Sounds a bit intriguing, no? Comes in a small package, only 5 ounces and kind of cheap, it was well under two bucks. Now I have to say I’m not usually one who is too into cheeses with added “flavors”. Still on rare occasion you do come across a quite decent cheese with something added to the cheese that works quite well. An example are some Dutch Gouda’s that have cumin or caraway seeds in them. I’ve tried some that are really delicious. I didn’t know what to expect from a Mustard and Ale Cheddar. I love mustard with cheese of course especially cheddar. So I got some of this mustard and ale cheese to taste, and frankly thought well it’s OK, its got a lot of whole mustard seeds in there which are a little strong, maybe over-shadowing the cheddar. I couldn’t put my finger on the “ale” part really. So I think, it’s OK but would I buy more, no, not really, I’d rather buy a jar of TJ’s excellent Whole Grain Dijon Mustard and some Cabot Extra Sharp Cheddar or New Zealand Extra Sharp Cheddar and use some mustard as I see fit. But here’s the funny part. During this evaluation, I tasted a piece, then tasted another. Just one more bite…. ok one more… and soon I realized during this tasting I had eaten about half the package. It was hard for me to stop tasting this cheese! Maybe I liked it more than I though? So if the combination sounds appealing to you, you may want to give this a try and see what you think.

TIP While we are at it, if you want a great melted cheese sandwich, try spreading that TJ whole grain Dijon on some nice bread before you add your cheese. Grill it up with butter. When all the elements melt together its pretty great. So I figure this cheese might make a very good melted cheese sandwich too. If anyone tries that let us know if its any good like that. So its a bit odd, but this cheese may be worth trying. If you put it out on a cheese plate, folks might even ask where you got this stuff.

Trader Joe’s CHICKEN / PORK GYOZA DUMPLINGS


Chicken and Vegetable OR Pork and Veg. Gyoza Pot Sticker Dumplings – Perfect for now (currently Chinese Lunar New Year) or anytime of course.

Chinese dumplings are one of my very favorite things to eat. Seriously. Over my lifetime I would not be surprised if I’ve eaten a thousand of them, in one small hole in the wall place or another, mostly in Manhattan’s Chinatown or Flushing’s. Flushing especially has become a destination for dumplings with terrific places that specialize in dumplings of all kinds. I’ve even learned how to make dumplings myself, from scratch, including at times even making the wrappers! (I usually buy them in an Asian market). However that’s too much for most people. Which is where these babies come in. When you just get a craving for Pot Stickers, you can buy these frozen Gyoza Pot Stickers that TJ carries in their frozen Asian section. They’re good! They’re cheap. $3 bucks a bag. Wow.

Now I am not going to say that these dumplings can measure up against my favorites dumpling joints. Never the less the fact is I buy these bags of dumplings all the time to have on hand in the freezer for whenever I get a dumping craving and don’t want to leave the house (which let’s face it is all the time right now in the middle of Covid-19!)

These TJ bagged dumpling are not at all bad for what they are, they are super convenient, and frankly at $3 a bag (about 21 dumplings) they are a steal. TJ sells both a Pork & Veg version and this Chicken & Veg version which I am reviewing here. As the pork one is not “porky” enough for me (I can make a decent pork and cabbage dumpling) personally I give a slight edge to the chicken ones surprisingly, as of course pork dumplings are way more typical dumplings. Buy a bag of both and see which you prefer. They’re both good. Now the stuffing of both versions are too finely ground up for my personal dumpling preferences. In any handmade dumpling you would usually be able to see chopped up vegetables which one can’t in either the pork or chicken dumplings.

These are a tiny bit on the blandish side but a good dipping sauce can really make up for that with some nice Asian flavors in it. My first choice is to make these in a pan as Gyoza or Pot Stickers. Pot Stickers refers to first frying the bottoms, and then adding liquid to steam them, giving one the best of both worlds texture-wise in a single bite, with the wrapper both a bit crispy/chewy plus soft. The skins on these TJ dumplings are neither too thick nor too thin but acceptable in proportion to the filling. If I make them myself they would have thicker skins, be bigger and more packed with filling. But these do fine in a pinch. I have never tried cooking these in a microwave though the package states you can make them that way. Nor have I tried making boiled dumplings with these, as also suggested on the bag. If you did boil them in a strong flavorful chicken broth they might be very good that way, especially with some spinach, kale or other leafy vegetables, i.e., a “chicken soup with wontons and greens” type soup (hmm, i just gave myself an idea to try out!)

PAN FRYING YOUR DUMPLINGS: One can boil these but personally I make these mostly as Pot Stickers or Gyoza using a well-seasoned black cast iron pan. If you don’t have one of those just use a good non-stick pan. Swirl a tablespoon or 2 of neutral vegetable oil in the pan with medium heat. Put your frozen dumplings in bottoms down, careful they don’t touch each other or they will stick together. You will hear them start to sizzle in a bit. Let them cook without touching them till they are nice golden brown on the bottom, maybe 4-5 minutes…You can check one every once in a while. You don’t want to burn them however you do want very browned bottoms, Well I do! When they are browned, toss about 3-4 tablespoons of water (or stock) into the pan and immediately put a cover on! Stand back of course as they may spit or really steam up at you. Lower the heat a little. If you have a clear glass cover that’s ideal so you can see whats going on inside but if you don’t, any cover that fits tightly will be fine. We want to let them steam until the water is just about all gone which may take about 6-8 minutes. Check when you think they are done. When they are almost ready if you put a tiny bit more oil when the water is all gone and let them keep cooking they can get a quite crispy bottom which is lovely, but this step is tricky, and optional. Anyway this is the reason these dumpling are called “pot stickers” as they do tend to stick to the pan and not want to leave it! If they are a bit stuck use a thin spatula to gently help release them, being careful not to tear the skins.

You should to eat your Gyoza right away while they are nice and hot, so timing is critical. What we do, is we get everything ready, then take just 2 or 3 dumplings at a time on our plates, cover the pan with the heat off to keep them warm and come back to fill up with a few more when we finished the first ones. That way you always eat warm dumplings. In the first picture you can see I served them with edamame and peas which were a great match with these dumplings to add in more veggies. You can serve them with a little rice too and any kind of veggie or salad. We can usually eat about 6 each easily as the Main, along with other stuff though they can be just an appetizer of say 3 or 4 each. I strongly suggest eating lots of green veggies with these. Edamame go great. If you can get Bok Choy or Choi Sum, that would certainly go well. And toss lots of chopped scallions all over these when you serve them.

Many countries have some variation of pot sticker dumplings. In Korea, “Mandoo“. In Japan they are called “Gyoza“. In China, Jiao-zi or Guo-tie.

锅贴 
Goutié

https://www.tasteatlas.com/guotie/recipe

You always eat dumplings with a dipping sauce. One classic sauce might be Chinese Black Vinegar* with lots of julienned ginger. Or soy sauce plus vinegar, sugar, ginger and garlic. TJ sells a bottle of “GYOZA DIPPING SAUCE” which is fine if making your own sauce is too much trouble. I frequently use TJ’s diping sauce and add just add a few things to it (like Lao Gan Ma, chili sauce) If you like fresh cilantro it’s wonderful with dumplings. Something spicy to add a kick if spicy is your thing, like me. Green Dragon hot sauce for example is great with these! TJ’s Sweet Chili sauce is also lovely! I mean a bit mixed into your dipping sauce.

While I can’t say these TJ frozen dumplings compete with the best Chinese homemade dumpling places I have gone to, these are quite decent and make up a great deal with the convenience of being able to have them anytime you get a craving! These bagged ones are such a bargain for $2.99 a bag (UPDATE: now $3.49). TJ has a number of other “fancier” dumplings in the frozen section in boxes which cost a bit more but frankly I keep coming back to these cheaper bagged versions. I tried TJ’s Pork and Ginger Soup Dumplings and frankly was not impressed. Not surprising as making Xiao Long Bao is a pinnacle of the art of dumpling making. I’ve eaten them at some top dumpling restaurants like Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao in Flushing, Queens (fantastic! go if you get a chance).

  • Chinkiang Black Vinegar can be found at most Chinese or Asian groceries (5-6 dollars?) If you can’t find it and don’t mind paying through the nose Amazon sells it. It’s a classic, pantry item.

SIDEBAR: In New York City if you want terrific pan fried or boiled dumplings I check out VANESSA’S DUMPLING HOUSE which I first enjoyed 20 years ago in her original tiny hole in the wall joint on Eldridge Street where no more than 4 people could fit. Her product was fantastic and word grew about her amazing dumplings which went back then for the amazing price of 5 for $1! Vanessa’s business grew and she became a very successful immigrant entrepreneur who kept expanding and improving and now has multiple beautiful places. If you eat her pot stickers or any of her many kinds of dumplings you will learn what really good dumplings taste like. They do cost more though now! Finally, if you really are interested in learning more and maybe trying your own hand to make dumplings you will find lots of great info here

https://carlsbadcravings.com/potstickers/

and if you are REALLY inspired, make these yourselves!

VEGETARIANS – TJ does have vegetable dumplings too ! (boxed, frozen)

Trader Joe’s Liquid Dish Soap


I liked this Liquid Dish Soap that TJ sells under their own brand.

This is the LAVENDER TEA TREE SCENT version. They also sell a Citrus scent version. It’s clear, meaning no dyes. Is Dawn blue naturally? I think not.

I imagine this stuff is probably comparable to one of those crazy expensive dish soaps you see in Whole Foods that I will never let my wife buy (“Seven dollars for dish soap?! You’ve got to be kidding me. Don’t worry I’ll pick some up at the dollar store next time I go. “) And yes I do frequently buy the huge bottles of dish washing liquid at the dollar store. 40 ounces for a buck. Now I do recognize they are more “watery” and I have to put more on the sponge more often but its just going down the drain anyway, quite literally.

Anyway to make my honey happy, I “splurged” and got a bottle of TJ’s Dish Soap It’s $2.99. You can tell instantly this is thicker than my $1 soap. Turn it upside down and see how fast it takes a bubble to rise. I tried it out washing up and this does a good job, it made a lot of foam that lasted. It smells quite nice (lavender and tea tree oil).  I can tell I don’t have to use as much soap as often as I do with my Dollar Store stuff. I’m sure its really some famous brand sold under TJ’s label at half the price the name brand usually costs, as is typical with some Trader Joe’s products. A big thing on the internet is guessing who really makes a product TJ sells (for example Annie’s Mac and Cheese vs. TJ Mac and Cheese) Anyway for $2.99 I will probably now buy this soap from now on. OK perhaps in addition to having one of the big bottles of the cheap stuff under the sink just in case we run out. Old habits die hard.

LAVENDER TEA TREE SCENT – made from plant derived cleaners Biodegradable. Hypoallergenic. Cuts Through Grease.

A 25 oz bottle is $2.99

Trader Joe’s Harissa Chicken Thighs


By now you’ve probably heard of TJ’s Shawarma Chicken Thighs which are very good and a big hit. I gave them a big thumbs up, and from what I can gather checking the internet, everyone seems to agree that they’re great. TJ later came out with other marinated chicken thigh flavors. They have three versions now, they added a “HARISSA” version and a “LEMON & HERB” one. I decided to give the HARISSA flavored chicken thighs a try. These are a bit trickier for me. Unlike the SHAWARMA version which I buy pretty regularly now, I don’t think I would buy the HARISSA version again, though I did make a great Chicken and Rice dish using them. Some bloggers seem to like the Harissa version while many others don’t. Not a clear cut winner, so you may have to try and decide for yourself if you are interested. As for me, these Harissa things are nowhere near as good as the Shawarma ones. 

Now after some careful label checking, I think I figured out one major “problem” with these after I looked closely at the two packages. Here’s one big difference between the Shawarma and Harissa versions: the liquid content.

The label on the Harissa Flavored Chicken Thighs says “Contains up to 28% Solution….”

The Shwarma Chicken Thighs however say “Contains up to 7% Solution…”

A-ha, right? The “Harissa flavored” version has a much “wetter” marinade that the Shawarma version and this wetter marinade (i.e., more water) means they would absorb more liquid as weight into the meat sitting in this package. To me 1/4+ of the weight of a package of chicken being marinade seems massive. So one thing I found with these compared to the Shawarma thighs is it was harder to get a good sear going quickly when I threw them into a hot cast iron pan, as with the Shawarma thighs. Which frankly makes sense considering a much higher liquid content, and that fact is not in the Plus Column. Another bugging point to me was, why would tomato paste be the first ingredient in a “Harissa” marinade? Tomato paste is present in harissa, but its a minor player, the primary ingredient being fresh or dried red chiles.

These also didn’t have anywhere near as a distinctive flavor as the Shwarma version. So all in all, these are “just OK” for me. Personally I wouldn’t buy them again (unless I was making an Arroz con Pollo, for which these worked well). Frankly my suggestion is, if you really want to make some “Harissa Chicken” — just buy some boneless chicken at TJ, buy a jar of TJ’s Harissa ($2.70) and marinate it with lots of harissa smeared all over the thighs (or breast) for a 1/2 hour or so. I bet it would be delicious and work way better than these. Boneless skinless organic thighs I think are 2.99 a pound. These Harissa chicken flavored thighs sell for $4.99 a pound. 

PS – If I remember correctly when I looked at the label, the “LEMON & HERB” marinated thighs have an even higher “contains up to XXX % solution” content (50% or more?) You are paying chicken prices for lemon juice!

So these are not terrible but not great. RATED AS “MEH” – UNLESS DOING AN ARROZ CON POLLO which did turn out great with rich tomato-y rice (and if you want a basic recipe idea leave a Comment)

TJ’s TANDOORI NAAN (frozen)


I really enjoy the Naan Indian breads that TJ carries. These frozen Naan breads are tasty and super convenient, only requiring warming up. They are “handmade in India”. A package of 4 Naan is just $1.99, wow! TJ sells two frozen versions, this plain Tandoori Naan and a Garlic Tandoori Naan version which includes garlic and cilantro. I buy a pack of each kind to keep in the freezer. They’re both really convenient and quite good.

Naan breads can be used for so many things. Of course these flat-breads go great with any of TJ’s pretty numerous Indian food offerings but Naan can be used anywhere a flatbread type bread would be good… with saucy foods, soups, etc. Bake these with cheese on top, or some ham or prosciutto, and you have a terrific easy creation. Pizza with sauce? Sure, I’ve done them that way*. Your imagination is the limit on what you can do with these.

To heat them you can throw these into a regular or toaster oven, or sometimes just throw them in a cast iron pan. Hit them with some olive oil or butter or ghee and they become even more tasty and a little crispier. I sometimes add butter and fresh crushed garlic and these are fab. Or just buy the excellent Garlic Naan version if you don’t want to smash your own fresh garlic. The Garlic Naan ones are really flavorful with some green stuff (cilantro or scallions).

So with your next TJ Indian feast, grab some Naan while you’re at it. A package of maybe TJ’s frozen Channa Masala ($2.29 and delicious) or foil pack of Tadka Dal ($1.99) plus some Naan and some tomato and you have a dinner in 3 minutes for a few bucks that is as good some takeout. I even made my own Tadka Dal and ate it with this Naan. Since I had extra dal, I gave some and 2 naan to my upstairs neighbors who thanked me profusely and told me they devoured it in minutes and that it was as good as an Indian restaurant.

TJ also sells some non-frozen Naan breads in the fresh Bread section. These Naan however cost more, they’re bigger and thicker.

  • You can make these in pizzas using Naan as your base. These naan are kind of thin so if you want a bit thicker base, get the fresh Naan version TJ carries in the fresh breads section. Though they sell a Pizza base there too!

RAVE

TJ’s Plain GREEK YOGURT


RAVE

This is one of those Trader Joe’s products that I basically like to have in my fridge at all times. Why? It’s so useful. I use it all the time, for one thing to make all kinds of tasty sauces in about a minute. You can use it as a substitute for Sour Cream but with less calories (not zero but lower)! Greek yogurt is thick, as it is strained yogurt containing less liquid than regular yogurt. You might say it can be though of as similar to and can be substituted for Sour Cream, or crema in Mexican cooking, or to creme fraiche in French cooking. You could use this anywhere Sour Cream would be used, or mayonnaise perhaps but this is lower in fat and calories. So I use greek yogurt to make creamy sauces or dressing by mixing it with another ingredient. It can be as simple as mixing greek yogurt with a few teaspoons of fresh lemon juice, a pinch of salt and grind of pepper. Boom you have a creamy lemony yogurt sauce. Very Greek! This not only makes for a nice salad dressing but is also a nice sauce that would go with grilled chicken or shrimp. Add something else to it and you get even more mileage. Certainly fresh crushed garlic, will make it yet more Greek still. Or mix in some Green Dragon Sauce. Or some Yemeni Zhough. Or Sriracha, as the milkiness of the yogurt tames all of these spicy sauces and makes them smoother and creamy. Along with garlic, chopped parsley, or arugula, or spinach makes a nice green dressing…. your only limits to find things to use this with will be your imagination. For dessert or with fruits, you can mix the yogurt with a pinch of sugar or maple syrup for a lovely sweet, creamy addition. Of course I can put this on my breakfast cereal, but it is richer than regular yogurt, so I keep the amount smaller.

Some more ideas

  • as a breakfast or dessert bowl with banana and blueberries
  • as a topping for chili instead of sour cream
  • as a topping for soups instead of cream
  • as a spread on crackers or bread (try mixing with some ingredients…)
  • as an addition to a pasta sauce instead of cream for extra creaminess

Trader Joe’s Whole Milk Plain Greek Yogurt. 16 oz. tub $2.50. A container lasts in my fridge for about a month, depending on how much I use it. So great stuff, try it.

Trader Joe’s Manager Stops Anti-Maskers from entering Oregon store


I saw this news on REDDIT and am just reposting it here as after watching this I find it incredible to believe this would even need to be done by a Trader Joe’s manager. I guess that’s because I live in New York City, where Covid-19 basically landed first and where in March and April it decimated a large number of New Yorkers . We’ve lost 26,000 lives.

Trader Joe’s manager stops anti-maskers from entering store in a video viewed 7 million times

https://www.newsweek.com/coronavirus-oregon-anti-maskers-protesters-trader-joes-mask-mandate-1562420

This lady’s group in Oregon thinks they don’t need to wear a mask to go shopping at Trader Joe’s?!

Trader Joe’s says 1,250 workers tested COVID-19-positive, 2 died, nationwide since March


Read more here: https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/article247018277.html#storylink=cpy

2 Trader Joe’s employee have DIED due to Covid-19. They simply went to work in order to make a living, and unfortunately got Covid-19 at their workplace. We, the public need to keep them and all essential workers as safe as possible. Be respectful, and wear your damn mask when you go shopping. Be respectful of any worker who doesn’t have the luxury of “working from home”. Employees at TJ’s must meet hundreds of people a day. Respect businesses policies and their SIGN that says you must wear a mask to enter.

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