certified organic | Trader Joe’s Rants & Raves (mostly raves, a few rants)

Trader Joe’s ORGANIC GROUND BEEF (85/15 meaning 15% fat). From organically raised 100% GRASS FED cattle. Certified Organic.

“Trader Joe’s Organic 85/15 Ground Beef comes from organically raised cattle that are never given antibiotics or artificial growth hormones. The cattle are 100% grass fed, grazing on wide-open pastures—their diet of natural grasses and vegetation contributes to full-flavored, well-marbled beef that’s rich in healthful Omega-3 fatty acids. 85/15 refers to the ratio of lean to fat, meaning that this Organic Ground Beef is 85% lean.”

The beef was delicious when I made it into a classic hamburger and cheeseburger (with Unexpected Cheddar). For ground beef 85/15 mix is considered “lean”. Most ground beef you buy is generally 80/20 (20% fat). I am OK and prefer the slightly leaner 85/15 ground beef, and this was still plenty juicy. This ground beef will be good for any recipe. Next up for me, tacos.

Trader Joe’s tends to put rather long “use by” dates on the bag. I say use it as you would any ground meat you buy, within two days of purchase to keep it as fresh as possible, and if not just toss this into the freezer, and when you need it do an overnight defrost.

Organic Ground Beef is $7.49 (1 lb.) Way cheaper than you would pay at Whole Foods.

Trader Joe’s ORGANIC KETCHUP

RAVE

Great tasting ketchup

My wife thinks anything “organic” tastes better, while I think some things marked “organic” do, but some things don’t taste any better. This is one of those cases where yes ORGANIC is in fact better. Or should I just say that TJ’s Organic Ketchup is a great tasting ketchup, period, and possibly “the best” I’ve had. Now like most Americans Ketchup has always meant “Heinz” as I’ve been eating Heinz ketchup since well, forever, and it was probably the first ketchup I ever had in my life. When my wife brought home the Trader Joe’s organic ketchup and I tasted it (with doubts) my tastebuds did somehow react with something like, “wow, now this is ketchup”! I was pleasantly surprised and I had to admit to my wife yes this organic version was better tasting. She gave me a “I told you so” looks. Now I know Heinz switched from using sugar in their ketchup recipe to using high fructose corn syrup in their (regular) ketchup years ago, like most companies, as sugar is more expensive than corn syrup. Heinz has now come out with another version, a more expensive Heinz ketchup they call “Simply Heinz” (hah!) which does use sugar not corn syrup and the ingredients look more or less similar to Trader Joe’s. However for one thing all of Trader Joe’s ingredients say Organic. Interestingly also is the fact that TJ’s ketchup spells out the actual spices in their ingredients while Heinz just lists the generic word “spice” (why singular, not “spices”?!) TJ’s ketchups says organic spices than spells out: allspice, clove, red pepper, paprika and salt. Frankly I had no idea what specific spices were in ketchup, so maybe it’s the spices at least in part that makes TJ’s ketchup taste so good. In short, in our house we have switched brands to now buying only TJ’s ketchup. Sorry Heinz. This is better. And probably cheaper than Simply Heinz. TJ’s ketchup is $1.99 (24 oz) and for “certified organic” that’s not bad.

So if you’ve never tried TJ’s Organic Ketchup it is well worth giving a try. You just might switch brands too.

TIP: Want some Spicy Ketchup? I just mix this with as much or as little Sriracha as your taste buds are in the mood for. So good! Especially with burgers….