Pizza 102 – “Getting More Advanced” No Knead Dough

10 Mar 2014 3 Comments

by promacnyc in Blog, DIY, General, Products, Rave, recipe, Recipes Tags: fresh, Grana Padano, Jim Lahey, No Knead Dough, olive oil, pizza, recipe, Trader Joes

“Pizza 102”

Pizza (No Knead Dough) Canned crushed tom., fresh tomato, garlic, mozz, Grana Padano, EVOO, arugula topping…

Once you really get into making your own pizza, the next evolutionary step for you to take might be to make your own dough!

No…really! Its easier than you think. Especially now as over the last few years there’s been a kind of revolutionary dough recipe and technique that has caught on like wild fire. I’m referring to “No Knead Dough” which thanks to both its creator, Jim Lahey of the Sullivan Street Bakery, and the internet, which has spread the recipe to an enormous number of people who’ve tried it, has started many, including yours truly on this truly DIY fun and tasty path.

You can learn a lot by watching Jim Lahey show how to make homemade pizza with no knead dough:

Simply the #1 Soap for Summertime: Trader Joe’s TEA TREE OIL SOAP

11 Jul 2013 7 Comments

by promacnyc in General, Health & Beauty, Products, Trader Joes Tags: beauty, blog, fresh, healthy, product, Products, Rave, soap, Tea Tree Oil, Trader Joes, vegan gluten free

UPDATE – DISCONTINUED 2019. For archival purposes…

Yes I’ve praised this soap before in an earlier post.

While the rest of the year I keep a bar of TJ’s HONEY OATMEAL SOAP in the shower, come summertime, I swap that for TEA TREE OIL SOAP.

Trader Joe’s TEA TREE OIL SOAP is my #1 Summertime soap. On a hot day there is nothing that cools me off and refreshes me like washing in cold water with this stuff. It has a slightly astringent quality of course due to the tea tree oil. That’s what must make it feel so refreshing.

Now, the only soap that feels even more refreshing than this stuff would be DR. BRONNER’S PEPPERMINT OIL SOAP, which Trader Joe’s does sell as well. But lets face it, that cost’s $10/bottle (Will make another post about this famous stuff, with all the crazy writing all over it)

From a listing on Amazon of ingredients for a bar of the Tree Tree Oil Soap ;

Very Basic, Natural Ingredients
Contains No Laurel / Laureth Sulfates
Cruelty Free – Never Tested on Animals; No Animal Products in Ingredients
Made In Connection With An Upscale Boutique
Comes in Double-Pack (Two 4 oz Bars Per Pack)
Ingredients
Sodium Palmate, Sodium Palm Kernelate, Water, Glycerin, Tea Tree Oil, Sodium Chloride, Pentasodium Pentetate.

also saw this about tea tree oil soap in general:

Tea Tree Oil Soap Soothes the skin with its natural healing properties…

reduces bacteria and inflammation

acts as an antiseptic, antimicrobial, and antifungal.

This would mean you won’t smell as much too!

Two Large Bars of this soap to a pack mean its $1 a bar; WOW! Thats a really good deal for this level of quality health and beauty product. Did you catch that “made in connection with an upscale boutique? in the text above” I bet whoever the original manufacturer really is (any ideas peeps?) they probably sell a bar for $3-4 each when it has their own fancy name on it. But when Trader Joe’s re-brands it under their own label, they can sell for much less (probably the fancy packaging makes it seem worth another $4?! )

Many women use TEA TREE OIL soap in the bathroom basically for the face but trust me, try it in summer in the shower if you haven’t already on the rest of you, too. Its refreshing and feels great and so clean. BUT NOTE: avoid getting it in your eyes (It can sting a bit)

Let me here what you think about this soap for Summer!

UPDATE 2019 – DISCONTINUED ! ARGH!!! RANT!!!!

Nuts & Heartbreak At Trader Joe’s

04 Jul 2013 2 Comments

by promacnyc in Discontinued, General, Products, Rant, Trader Joes Tags: Almond, complaint, discontinued, Holy Grail, missing products discontinued, nuts, Old School, out of stock, Trader Joe

A tale about Trader Joe’s Roasted ALMONDS IN THE SHELL.

—

nut·crack·er

pronunciation:ˈnətˌkrakər/

NOUN 1) a device for cracking nuts.

—-

Oh! This is so just typical… I find a new product at Trader Joe’s that looks interesting , says to myself ‘Self, you have to try this!’, buy it, open it up and instantly think, “OMG this is so great! I love it! I will buy this from now on, every time I go to TJ’s”!!!! And so it happened with this product :

Trader Joe’s Roasted ALMONDS IN THE SHELL.

I’ve bought natural almonds in the shell before, back in the day, when you sat down, Old School with a bowl and a nut cracker. In the old days, my folks and I would sit down together with a bowl of nuts and our family nutcracker and crack each one open to enjoy as we chatted or watch a tv show together. Its a bit of work cracking open nuts over and over but that was the way you ate nuts back then in the 70’s. You didn’t pay peons in some foreign land to not just grow them for you, but to also sit there and open them for you too, you lazy Gringos. We opened them ourselves with a nutcracker. 2009673-man-cracking-walnut-with-metal-nutcracker-in-hand-isolated-on-white-background

And nowadays? Everyone’s gotten so lazy, its hard to even imagine a family with a nut cracker spending time opening your own nut you are about to eat. But yes thats why there is such a thing as a “nutcracker”.

So I see these babies in a bag, “Almonds In The Shell” and notice upon close examination in the bag that they appear to have somehow been “pre-cracked” (?!!) I mean they look like pistachio nuts with a little slit waiting for your thumbnail to just pry apart. Very interesting ! So I says to myself, boy those guys at Trader Joe’s have figured out that we still want the enjoyment of sitting down with some nuts and opening them but with a little help. Make it easier than the old nutcracker. And sure enough, when I try them, they are easy to open! They are just like pistachios, you just pry them apart with your fingernails. No nut cracker needed! The shells are somehow thin. Much thinner than any unshelled almond I’ve ever see before. How did they manage that?!

Its like someone at Trader Joe’s found the Holy Grail of Nuts.

And TASTE? Oh man, they are FABULOUS. My taste buds seem to think they’re better than the shelled almonds. As if they’re holding a little extra flavor inside the shell with the almond that’s there waiting to escape as soon as you pry them open. You can smell it. They are just so…. almond-y! Like a Super Almond. They are really SO VERY GOOD!

I am in love.

They become my new favorite Trader Joe item. I buy a package every time I go to Trader Joe’s. I find a pound can just last a few days- if that. We go through the bag like butter. I have to hide them from myself (and my wife) otherwise they can go in a night watching some movie on Netflix, cracking open almond after almond. But it seems better than just putting a hand down and putting two or three in your mouth. There’s work involved. OK, very little work but still you have to open them. You’re burning up a few calories doing it right?

There’s are shelves full of them. I even see them featured in the NEW PRODUCTS section. On display. In a huge, huge pile.

A few weeks pass, and my wife goes to get them and comes back empty handed. She say’s there weren’t any. I go in a week or two and see its not there. Worse, the shelf where I was picking them up from in the Nuts section, doesn’t even have the Sign for them up!

Oh No! NO NO NO! You GODAMM TRADER JOES Muthafuggas!!

We all know this scenario. This sinking feeling. That oh so Trader Joe’s feeling you get at the pit of your stomach when you realize, “Oh no! Maybe this is not just Out Of Stock! Maybe this is (gulp!) A DISCONTINUED ITEM ! 2009673-man-cracking-walnut-with-metal-nutcracker-in-hand-isolated-on-white-background.jpg !!

If you are a TJ regular, you KNOW this feeling. Its a bad feeling. Almost like learning a best friend has died. Almost like turning on your computer and you push the power button but it won’t start up and you realize oh my computers broken. Almost like coming out of a store and going to the place your bike was locked up, and not finding it there and realizing, some motherf-er stole it (for me, a bike, for you, might be your car)

And so it was. I went to the Manager’s counter and asked about my beloved Almonds In The Shell. Where they out of stock? Any idea when you might be getting more in? The Manager (Captain?) consults her computer screen and tells me the bad news. “I’m afraid they weren’t selling well. They were discontinued”

Gasp! Discontinued?!!! Not selling well?! I was buying them constantly. If I only knew, I would have bought a case.

I left the store, heart broken.

It wasn’t the first time.

Even worse, I knew, it won’t be the last either.

My unspoken rule for Trader Joe’s is “never fall in love”.

Its just too risky.

RANT

(published In Memoriam – Dry Roasted Salted Almonds In The Shell – 2013-2013)

“Out out brief candle!”

Trader Joe’s Just a Handful: Almonds, Cashews, Chocolate Trek Mix (prepandperfection.wordpress.com)
Roasted Almonds: The guilt-free recipe (alittleblackapronwithpearls.wordpress.com)
Almonds Are the Fourth-Best Nut (gawker.com)
Handful of Almonds! (nevergiveupfitthoughts.com)

TJ’s “South African Smoke” Seasoning Spice Blend

19 Jun 2013 51 Comments

by promacnyc in Discontinued, General, Products, Rave Tags: Food, fresh, Paprika, product, Rave, review, Sea salt, Seasonings, Spice, Spice mix, Trader Joes, vegan gluten free, vegetables, vegetarian

SEASONAL ITEM (summer)

Trader Joe’s and Spices – TJ’s has shelves of terrific spices which are decently priced if you compare them to a regular supermarket, plus the spices always seem fresh to me.

They move a lot of spices and get restocked all the time. I especially like some of TJ’s seasoning blends, mixed blends of whole spices, sold right in their own cleverly-designed spice grinders. As you know grinding spices just prior to using them, is the best way to get optimal flavor. You can even re-use these as they have screw tops. You can put your own stuff in them or add to the blend which I do sometimes. As far as some good TJ’s blends this is an especially great one

South African Smoke Seasoning Blend

The ingredients listed simply are: smoked paprika (in large flakes), sea salt, garlic, basil. Even though this may not sound so complex trust me when you grind this seasoning onto almost any food, you get a heavenly smoky aroma.

ON THE LABEL: “SOUTH AFRICAN SMOKE adds that wonderful Umami flavor, which can be elusive and difficult to achieve. You will be amazed and delighted at the way a grind or two will awaken any food.

So, so TRUE! I couldn’t even begin to list all the foods this is good on. This might make even make wet cardboard taste good!

But if you try it on almost any food (meat, chicken, tofu, veggies, rice, potatoes, pasta…. you name it)… then you will agree with that this stuff is the bomb.

A jar costs about $2.29. I even added some coriander and fennel seeds into the jar, which I thought made it even better. So you could experiment a little too with these jars of spices, added some of your own spices too. Here’s what “Trader Joe’s themselves had to say about this on their site:

“Our travels take us to some of the world’s most interesting regions, where we have the opportunity to taste foods we may never have encountered on our home turf. (Full disclosure: this is the royal we, as it refers to our buyers and not, alas, to certain writers of food-related information.) Among our recent “discoveries” is Trader Joe’s South African Smoke seasoning blend, one of the more unique items we’ve come across.

South African Smoke begins with African-grown paprika that is slow-smoked for 48 hours over a sustainable African hardwood called Acacia Saligna, commonly used as barbecue coals. This process enriches the paprika with a smoky, roasted flavor that evokes the South African braai, or barbecue. The smoked paprika is blended with sea salt, garlic and basil and packaged in a grinder, giving you fresh-ground flavor in every twist. Use it as a rub for meats or veggies prior to cooking, or keep it on the table in place of everyday salt & pepper. You’ll find this spice blend only at your neighborhood Trader Joe’s, where we’re selling each 1.76 ounce grinder for $2.29.”

My only complaint about this stuff is it goes too fast in my house!

THIS PRODUCT GETS A RAVE!

UPDATE SUMMER 2014 –

M.I.A ON THE SHELF. HOPE ITS NOT DISCONTINUED !?

UPDATE : SUMMER 2015 …ITS BACK ON THE SHELF !! GRAB IT WHILE YOU CAN ?! ONE READER REPORTS ITS SEASONAL / FOR SUMMER only (grilling) SO STOCK UP WHEN IF YOU SEE IT

Beans, Beans, Beans! & Recipe for Mediterranean Bean Stew

03 Mar 2013 Leave a comment

by promacnyc in General, Rave, recipe, Recipes, Trader Joes Tags: diet mediterranean beans canned recipe, Food, healthy

Trader Joe’s Great Northern Beans

With the recent publication of an important study about how a “Mediterranean Diet” can ward off heart attacks and strokes, its a very appropriate time to think about how one’s diet can be more like a “Mediterranean Diet”.

A “Mediterranean diet” is a heart-healthy diet that is “rich in olive oil, nuts, beans, fish, fruits and vegetables”.

Personally after hearing about this study one of the things I thought was that “we should try to eat more beans and legumes” every week. So I thought I would buy some beans, make something good for dinner, then do a write-up about using beans that hopefully you can try.

I used Trader Joe’s ORGANIC GREAT NORTHERN BEANS and made a quick and easy “Mediterranean Bean Stew” with tomatoes, onion, garlic and lots of olive oil. It was delicious and a big hit at the dinner table. I hope you try it!

RECIPE: EASY MEDITERRANEAN BEAN STEW

Sauté a large onion (chopped) along with 3 large cloves of garlic in a generous amount of olive oil over medium heat. Saute these for about 5 minutes until the onions are translucent. To this mixture, Add 2-3 ripe tomatoes (chopped) and 1 can of Great Northern Beans (or Cannelini or Chick Peas). Normally I rinse beans but for this dish I included the liquid. Add about 1/4 cup of white wine and spices (Italian spices, oregano, basic) and a good deal of black pepper, plus a few shakes of red pepper. Add salt to taste (but add sparingly as the beans have salt in them).

Simmer covered for about 15-20 minutes over low-medium heat. When done, check the consistency. There shouldn’t be a ton of liquid, it should be like a thick stew so it seems too watery simmer for another 5 minutes uncovered on medium high heat.

To serve, plate and sprinkle with some grated cheese (parmigiano, pecorino, grana padano or ricotta salata) and dress with another good slosh of olive oil. A few olives couldn’t hurt either. This can be a Main Dish for 2 with some salad and bread, or a side dish for 4.

Beans and Legumes are very healthy as we all know. They’re extremely good sources of Protein as well as Fiber. TJ’s says one cup contains 14.7 grams of protein and 12.4 grams of dietary fiber. Trader Joe’s does sell a nice variety of canned beans. Beans are both nutritious and inexpensive (89 cents to $1.19/can). Canned Beans are great to have on hand in your pantry. I do usually try to make my own beans “from scratch” (soak overnight then cook) but the canned ones are handy when you haven’t planned ahead or had the time. So its not a bad idea to pick up a few cans and have some in your pantry at all times. They are great for adding to salads too of course, especially Cannellini and Chick Peas. These I do rinse when I use them this way.

The old song is true, “Beans, beans, they’re good for your heart…”

(I’ll stop there!)

DIY – Simple Homemade Jam

30 Jan 2013 Leave a comment

by promacnyc in DIY, General, recipe, Recipes, Trader Joes Tags: homemade, jams, recipe

My Home-made Peach Jam

This is a jar of some “DIY fast-and-easy peach “jam” or “preserves”. I’m using the quotation marks because it is not the fully “preserved” type that will last months and months. Rather I make this to keep in the fridge, aka “refridgerator jam”. Its EASY and DELICIOUS, fast and much cheaper than store jams. You can make it in half hour. 97210-turbinado-sugar

Of course one could make this with Trader Joe’s very nice

TURBINADO RAW SUGAR

Or that plus half plain sugar…experiment!

Here’s a basic recipe:

Buy some fruit. It should be fairly ripe. To make these fast jams, I usually buy the “quick sale” stuff at the supermarket that is over ripe, not perfect looking…but this is exactly what is perfect for making jam. Fruits: you can use peaches, nectarines, plums, pears, figs, strawberries, other berries. Have a fresh lemon on hand too. Sugar – Trader Joe’s sugar is perfect. But honestly almost any sugar will do (real sugar not fake). What matters is that you need to cook this a fairly long time. Use a heavy sauce pan.

Its not a hard and fast recipe. More like a basic recipe / ratio with many, many variations.

SIMPLE HOMEMADE FRIDGE JAM

Ingredients: About 1-2 lbs of fruit. Eg – Peaches, about 6 large.

Wash and cut up the fruit into small pieces. I do this directly into the pan. I throw in the pits too (will fish out later, or not) as I think they have natural pectin which will help with the ‘jelling’. I put about 1/2-cup to 1 cup of sugar. While that may sound like a lot its not, as it will all cook down, and the sugar will make it jell in this recipe.

Cook the mixture at a medium-high heat. You want a low boil that will not boil over (your pan should be big enough so that it has high sides and room). Watch it. Cook it stirring occasionally, for about 40-45 minutes total. Check it and stir it every 10 minutes. What you want is for it to all fall apart, and the fruit to mostly disintegrate. What looked like a lot of fruit will become a much smaller amount after its cooked down. At the end, I squeeze in half a lemon or lime’s juice. Let it cool, place in a jar and refrigerate for a few hours. It should thicken up. Use within a few weeks. This won’t be hard, trust me! It probably won’t last that long.

Melissa Clark of the NY Times has a wonderful recipe for jam here which you can use to experiment more with…

TJ’s ORGANIC VIRGIN COCONUT OIL

26 Jun 2012 1 Comment

by promacnyc in General, New, Products, Rave, Trader Joes Tags: beauty, Coconut, Coconut oil, Cooking, Cooking oil, healthy, Rave, review, Saturated fat, Trader Joes, vegan, vegan gluten free, vegetables, vegetarian

So I’ve been hearing about Coconut Oil, once considered highly unhealthy, being re-evaluated from a health standpoint.

Coconut Oil has been getting a fair amount of buzz this past year. I had read an interesting piece in the NY Times by Melissa Clark about cooking with it.

I saw this jar of Trader Joe’s Organic Virgin Coconut Oil in the NEW PRODUCTS shelf at my Trader Joe’s. I thought, I should see what all this fuss is about and made a mental note to pick up a bottle and try it. Now Coconut Oil is a really interesting product in that it has uses both ‘Culinary’ and ‘Health & Beauty’ ! So you can put this into many categories. So I jokingly say, you can eat it and you can put it all over your skin. Or use it as Cooking Oil but also use it as a Hair Dressing. It really is good for all these things, in fact, it has so many uses!

When I opened the bottle and sniffed it, it was just an intense smell of well, coconut. I mean you smell it and your mind instantly thinks ‘Tropical Beach’. At least mine did. Its just got a lovely aroma.

I heard it was great in cooking especially good for sautéing vegetables, as Melissa Clark wrote about. So I peeled and sliced up some Carrots (TJ Organic Carrots) and tossed them in a pan with about a tablespoon of the Coconut Oil. Again, an amazing smell wafted through the kitchen. Tossed in the sliced carrots and let them sauté for about 10 minutes or so. After the carrots were slightly browned I tasted one. It had a wonderful under-note of (yes) Coconut. The sauteed carrots tasted delicious, and I could imagine many vegetables benefitting from being cooked in coconut oil. Melissa Clark mentions roasted sweet potatoes – that sounds great – and she has a number of interesting recipes listed in her piece, which you can try.

Coconut Oil when it’s kept at a cool temperature appears white and in a solid state. If it warms up it, will become clear and liquid.

Additionally of course this is good for other things, like putting on your hair too. And it is wonderful to rub on dry skin as a moisurizer. I even read its a natural antiperspirant (you put a drop or two under your arms).

What a useful product. The question may be Where to keep the jar?! In the Bathroom or the Kitchen?!!

A jar costs $5.99 for 16 ounces. Check it out. I’m just beginning to experiment with using it. I put it on my hair, it helps keep my curly hair, curly and moisturized – it does make your hair soft and smell wonderful too.

UPDATE: (Spring 2019) They lowered the price. It’s now $4.99 !

*The Coconut Oil Cure All* (tinyoranges.com)
Coconut Oil (runworkeatsleep.wordpress.com)
Why Moms Should Use Coconut Oil (ecochildsplay.com)
In The Following Paragraphs We’re Going To Be Checking Out The Lots Of Benefits Of Coconut Oil (ajbelljournalism.com)
Nicole Hughes posted a blog post (bloggymoms.com)
Definition: Coconut Oil (bellasugar.com)

On Brand Loyalty

13 May 2012 1 Comment

by promacnyc in General, Trader Joes Tags: blog, branding, Business, marketing, reblog, T. J.'s

I liked this piece I stumbled upon via Twitter and thought I would re-blog and Share it….

“A Study on Brand Loyalty: What We Can Learn From Trader Joe’s”

by Danielle Hagen

http://www.mpdailyfix.com/a-study-on-brand-loyalty-what-we-can-learn-from-trader-joes/

Danielle makes a lot of good interesting points about Trader Joe’s from a Marketing standpoint. You can read her blog post HERE

TJ’s Smoked Herring Kipper Fillets

12 May 2012 9 Comments

by promacnyc in New, Products, Rave, recipe, Recipes, Trader Joes Tags: Canned Fish, Dijon, Mustard, Salad, Whole grain

RAVE

I saw these on the shelf at Trader Joe’s, where this bright green can beckoned at me among the tuna and other canned fish items shelf. At the time, priced at just 1.99* I thought I’d try them and give a report. Well the report is simply that these are a great product, and immediately made it into my ‘always buy these things’ category. as these are extremely handy to have on hand at all times in the pantry.

A can of these may easily be the basis for a super easy quick lunch – or even dinner if you added some side dishes. The can was easy to open using the pull tab, and inside were fat, meaty smoky dark-colored fat fillets of herring (aka “kippers”, which are very popular in Britain) packed in Canola oil which in itself had a lot of flavor (don’t just dump it out!). These smoked Herring Fillets taste wonderful. We both went crazy for their flavor. If you enjoy smoked fish – which I love – these will send you into heaven as they have a nice but not overpowering smokey flavor. I decided they would be good served with a mustard sauce, which I whipped up in a few minutes. I even used a little of the oil they came in my sauce.

To make it into a “dinner”, I made a healthy salad of whole grains, Barley and Wheatberries, with chopped veggies. They were a good combination with the fish. Or just make some boiled potatoes for a very quick easy side. Trader Joes’ Smoked Herring Fillets; A can cost 1.99 the first time I bought them, then a few weeks later they went up to $2.29 (oh well!) Again very handy to have on hand in your pantry. These taste quite “gourmet” like something you would have gotten at “Zabar’s”, or any high end smoked fish emporium. Equally I could see mashing these up with some finely chopped green onions and spreading thickly on some nice whole grain or dark bread smeared with butter, and lemon slices, for a Scandinavian style open faced sandwich.

CANNED SMOKED HERRING FILLETS WITH MUSTARD SAUCE

Dice up a few tablespoons of ONION. Place the onions in a bowl. Mix in 2 tbs of a good MUSTARD (Dijon or other french style mustard, which Trader Joe’s sells) Add a little OLIVE OIL. Add a little vinegar or LEMON juice till the sauce is of a spoonable consistency. Serve the sauce with the Smoked Herring Fillets with some lemon wedges on the side, and perhaps some parsley. Eat with a good whole grained or dark bread.

A kipper is a fish which has been split from tail to head, eviscerated, salted, and smoked (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

*they’ve gone up in price: $2.29 (july 2014)

FYI = No Pink Slime at TJ’s

30 Mar 2012 1 Comment

by promacnyc in Blog, News, Products, Trader Joes, update Tags: Advanced meat recovery, Beef, Beef mince, Beef Products, Food, Food safety, Pink Slime, United States Department of Agriculture

FYI –

—–Original Message—–
From: (trader joes rants)
Sent: March 23, 2012 4:34 PM
To: Trader Joe’s Web Customer Relations
Subject: Trader Joe’s Product Information Form

Your Trader Joe’s: NYC, Bway, 72 St
Product Name: Ground Beef

Your Comments: I read that 70% of all supermarket ground beef now contains ‘pink slime’ as filler. What about TJ’s ground beef ?

———–

Hi,

Thanks for taking the time to reach out to us. Our ground beef is 100% pure beef with nothing added. Please be reassured that this is not something that would be permitted in our products– NO pink slime in any of our meat. We only work with reputable suppliers, many of which are actually generally much smaller in comparison to other markets, just so that we can ensure the quality and integrity of our products. We also have third party audits of our products and vendor facilities to ensure that our standards are met.

At Trader Joe’s, food safety is of the utmost importance, and we take seriously the work done to ensure our products are wholesome and safe; after all, we’re customers, too – and we would not sell anything we would not eat, drink, or use ourselves!

Kind regards,
Kerry
Trader Joe’s Customer Relations