I liked this granola. Its a bit different from TJ’s regular oat based granolas – which by the way are gluten free if made from oats!)
This Loaded Fruit and Nut Gluten Free Granola is made with corn for one thing, in the shape of some thick corn flake things…they are round cup shapes that are kind of a very thick and crunchy “corn flakes” TJ says they’re “super crunchy, lightly sweetened, corn-based, cup-shaped, circular flakes”.
It also has some rice based small round things that may remind you of Rice Crispies but much better of course. It has just enough fruit and nuts to justify the name “loaded”. I still usually toss in a few dried cranberries. This gluten free granola is super crunchy. It holds up very well to milk, and it matches great with yogurt. I like this as nice super crunchy topping on my morning yogurt & fruit. “Enjoy it as a snack right out of the bag”
Yes do I like this stuff by itself as a snack, again super crunchy. TIP: I usually turn the bag a few times and shake it to distribute all the things before pouring some out. TJ’s GLUTEN FREE GRANOLA is $3.99 for a 12 oz bag. It contains among other things, almonds, coconut, hazel nuts, pecans, Brazil nuts, raisins, cranberries, coconut….
I would buy it again.
Gluten Free? Sure, but most all granola is made with oats which are of course Gluten Free.
Trader Joe’s SPICY HONEY; it’s honey with chili, so obviously sweet and spicy. Make that Quite Spicy!
Now back in 2010, I had first heard of something called “Mike’s Hot Honey” . It created a bit of a buzz in the NYC food scene when it came out. I actually first tasted Mike’s Hot Honey on a delicious pizza from Paulie Gee’s in Greenpoint, Brooklyn that Mike had come up working there doing pizzas. His Arugula Pizza with Honey was Mike’s hot honey drizzled over fresh arugula on the pizza after it came out of the oven. The whole thing was just terrific. Also the place (if you can, go try a Paulie Gee’s pizza). Mike was marketing his hot honey (his was made with a Brazilian birdseye chili). Hot Honey began to catch on with chefs. Hot honey became a thing. Other vendors came out with similar products. Trader Joe’s jumped on the hot honey bandwagon too a few years ago. They came up with what they call “Spicy Honey”. TJ’s spicy honey is quite good. It’s quite spicy as I said so you use it sparingly, just drizzles of it at the end on something. Interestingly I just realized as I had a bottle Trader Joe’s first sold it in an 8 oz container and the sold it for I think $3. Recently they increased both the price and the size. Its now 12 oz for $5. It’s Organic too I think. This is really Terrific if you’re into Sweet and Savory. I drizzled some on my Japanese Curry Rice last night, perfect addition.
“From something as simple as a baked sweet potato to something as rich as a slice of New York Cheesecake, a drizzling of Organic Spicy Honey Sauce instantly gives anything it’s added to an extra element of complexity. Try it on sandwiches, pizza, or shrimp tacos for an elevated everyday eating experience. Give it a go over pan-fried Gnocchi, roasted carrots, or barbecued meat skewers for a bit of gourmet experimentation…”
If you’ve never heard of it before, “horchata” is a beloved and famous Mexican drink. It’s made from milk, rice, water and cinnamon and super refreshing served ice cold on a hot day. I didn’t know of horchata until I first visited Mexico years ago. I absolutely fell in love with it with my first sip.
Well this new ice cream from Trader Joe’s is “inspired” by this Mexican drink. They say its a “sweet cinnamon and rice ice cream with horchata flavored cookie pieces”. The little pieces add little bits of crunchiness in the smooth ice cream. I found TJ’s new flavor to be quite good. In fact, our pint went pretty fast! Here’s what TJ’s has to say….
“The popular Latin American beverage called horchata [or-cha-ta] is creamy and sweet, like ice cream. With no good excuse not to, we decided to take it all the way there—from smooth beverage to frozen dessert! Trader Joe’s Horchata Inspired Ice Cream delivers all the delicious flavors of horchata in every spoonful.
Like many ice creams, its rich base includes cream, milk, egg yolks, and cane sugar. We horchatized it by adding cinnamon and brown rice flour, plus a touch of sea salt. And since inclusions are fun, we also added pieces of horchata-flavored cookies, contributing a nice textural variation.”
One of my go-to items for an inexpensive and easy dinner is Trader Joe’s Organic Polenta, which I’ve mentioned before. Still it’s worth mentioning again as this is one of their inexpensive items, even one of the few products that is the same price as it has been in the past for years (shh.. I’m afraid if TJ’s see this they may raise the price)
A package of the Organic Polenta ($1.99) can make a meal for two, say with some sauce plus maybe some salad and bread. It’s easy to prepare too. You just slice up the polenta and then bake, broil or sauté it until it’s a little crispy and browned (do NOT microwave it thought they say that’s one way).
When it’s nice and crispy, just top it with your favorite sauce and grate a little cheese on top. If you want a change from a tomato sauce, a good thing to match the polenta with would be TJ’s frozen Mushroom Medley ($4) or sauté some mushrooms ($2.29).
Trader Joe’s Organic Polenta is shelf stable and can safely stay for a couple of months in your pantry, just like pasta. I always have a package of the polenta on hand and suggest you do too!
Want to spend less than $1.99? Well fortunately you can still buy some bags of pasta at Trader Joe’s for just 99 cents! Plus they have some sauces for $1.99.
The most popular post on this site is usually my original review of TJ’s CHICKEN SHAWARMA THIGHS so I thought I would revisit this topic again but specifically about “How To Cook” the chicken.
Let’s start with your Shopping List which might include the following items:
TJ’s Shawarma Chicken Thighs
Naan (frozen or fresh, or pita or flour tortillas)
Tzatziki Sauce – cucumber garlic yogurt sauce goes great with this
Onions, garlic, peppers, tomatoes, parsley or cilantro (optional)
Zhoug Sauce (or your favorite hot sauce, optional)
other things as you see fit, for example Hummus if you want to do a Shawarma Hummus bowl.
Now there are a number of ways you can cook the chicken. Grilled in a pan, baked in the oven and I’ve even read some people cook these in an Air Fryer. Please don’t even consider cooking this in a Microwave. The chicken needs to be browned to taste good). My simple preferred and I think easiest method is the first: grilling on the stove top. I like to use a cast iron pan but if you don’t have one of those babies any fairly heavy pan will do. Naturally cooking it on an outdoor grill would be great if you can do that. If you want to bake the thighs, you can put them on a sheet pan (use parchment or foil for easy cleanup) and bake them for about 20-25 minutes at 450.
COOKING : Remove the chicken from the package carefully as the marinade can stain; it has both turmeric (yellow) and anatto (red) which in addition to being spices are both excellent natural dyes! If your cutting board gets a bit stained, just use diluted bleach to clean up later.
To even out the cooking in the thighs which have a thick and thin part, I put a few shallow slashes in the thickest parts. This will open let them cook more evenly. You can pat off some marinade with a paper towel if you like. Next what I do is I actually sprinkle on more seasonings just before I put them in the pan to help them brown. No really. Dry spices will help the chicken brown even better, but this is completely optional. I give them a dusting of spices such as Ajika seasoning blend or Smoked Paprika and ground cumin. I may do a bit of all three. If you are cooking the chicken with veggies – which I recommend – prep and slice them. I recommend at least adding a few cloves of fresh garlic sliced up. Onions (and maybe peppers) will be great cooked with the chicken. I add my veggies to the pan 1/2 way during the cooking when I flip the chicken, so I use a large pan.
Get your pan heated on medium; add olive oil or oil/butter mix, say a good tablespoon of oil plus a tbl of butter. When it’s sizzling, carefully put the chicken into the pan. Now DO NOT TOUCH IT. At all. Let it cook at least about 5 minutes and resist all urges to touch it to get a really good sear on the first side (see picture below). It may take about 8 minutes to cook the first side.
When the first side is nice and golden brown, flip the chicken over. This is when I add my sliced onions, garlic (maybe green, red or yellow peppers…) which I place around the chicken – if there is room in the pan (if no room you can cook them in in the same pan when you take out the chicken but they may take about 8 minutes too).
When the thighs are done on the second side, which may take about another 8 minutes, you can remove them to a cutting board or plate. Let the chicken rest a few minutes before slicing. Slice as thicky or thinly as you wish. Put the sliced chicken back into the warm pan (heat is off) scraping in any juices from your cutting board. If you made veggies, you can mix the chicken with them or keep them separated as you see fit. Below is chicken, onions, and some fresh arugula mixed into the warm chicken.
ASSEMBLY: If using Naan, warm up your bread (Naan, pita or tortillas…). For a Shawarma Wrap, put a little sauce down the middle of your Naan, etc. Next add your sliced chicken in the center. Top with grilled onions or peppers if you made these. A little more Tzaziki on top. If you want it spicy then maybe some Zhug mixed in. Optional, a few chopped tomatoes, cukes, parsley, or cilantro. Fold up gently to eat kind like a taco with your hands, or eat it with a knife and fork if you are stuffy!
Chicken Shawarma as Wraps using TJ’s whole wheat home style tortillas
Other ideas how to serve them? Besides doing eating the chicken with Naan or bread you could just put the shawarma chicken on top of a bed of rice. Or salad greens. Or eat with hummus, served with side dishes like Basmati rice, or maybe Harvest Grain Blend. Or you could make a Shawarma Hummus Bowl. Put hummus in a bowl and top it with slices of the chicken with pita bread on the side. This style is very popular at Middle Eastern places.
Hope this gave you some ideas and that you really enjoy some great Shawarma soon.
“Delicate flakes of Kosher salt perfect for finishing steaks, seafood, and veggies”
You may wonder as I did, why is Trader Joe’s selling huge boxes of Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt? Well if you’ve watched The Bear or seen any chef cooking on TV or Youtube you may have noticed almost every one seems to use – and specify – Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt in their cooking. Its the “Go To” salt for most professional cooks and has even gotten trendy now. It may be on THE BEAR but my Grandma (and probably yours too) used it for 70+ years.
If a recipe specifies “1 tsp Kosher Salt” please know you that is you put that amount of regular table salt, it will be too salty. The bigger coarser grains take up more room than a fine salt if you are measuring it. Now I haven’t bought Diamond Crystal for a few years and when I saw this at Trader Joe’s the other day I got sticker shock seeing how much Kosher Salt seems to be now! $8.99 for a 3 lb. box?! ($3 bucks per pound!) Wow, I am pretty sure the last time I bought a box a few years back I paid about $5 so it’s really gone up, probably thanks in part to becoming Trendy via social media.
By contrast Trader Joe’s sells their regular Sea Salt (fine) for about $2 for over 1 1/2 lbs. However I am seeing “kids” (to me that is) buying the Diamond Crystal at Trader Joe’s recently. I was able to find a 1 pound box of kosher salt for about $2 on Amazon. (But it’s Morton’s brand not Diamond Crystal and you can’t just use the same amount, use less)
I really liked this blueberry preserve Trader Joe’s has come out with, which uses wild organic blueberries from “the Canadian Boreal Forest“. It has an intense and delicious flavor of wild blueberries which are much smaller than cultivated ones. It’s very tasty though I found it a bit on the sweet side, borderline overly sweet, so what I like to do with jams I find too sweet is tame down the sweetness with some lemon juice. I added the juice of about a 1/4 of a fresh lemon into the jar and mixed it in. That did the trick for me, cutting down the sweetness with some more acid and adding a very nice subtle lemon undertone. It made it even better and really improved the whole thing. So my recommendation is buy a lemon with this jam (if you didn’t have one already in the fridge).
TIP: after adding the lemon juice I add a little piece of the lemon rind and throw that it in to the jam for even more flavor from the rind’s oil. Just push it to the bottom.
The Organic Wild Blueberry Preserve is $4.49 for a 17.5 oz jar. Not cheap but then it is Certified Organic and taste-wise I would say this stuff is certainly a Gourmet Level jam. Probably elsewhere (say Whole Paycheck?) a similar one would probably go for more like six or seven dollars. Try this on just about anything but I really think it would be heavenly on a slice of TJ’s Sliced Brioche bread, toasted with butter, spread with the blueberry preserves. Ditto on an English Muffin, toasted Crumpet or on your pancakes….
Trader Joe’s says: “Our supplier takes wild, organic blueberries, harvested from the Canadian Boreal Forest, and simmers them with organic cane sugar to complement their pleasantly tart and rich blueberry flavor.”
Amazing stuff. I had read somewhere on the ‘Net that this Ugandan coffee was one of the best coffees Trader Joe’s has offered, so I told myself I had to check it out. I had seen it sitting in the NEW ITEMS shelf but I was done shopping and had too much to carry already, so made a mental note to buy a bag the next day. Well when I went back, as luck would have it there were no more bags. My bad luck. It sold out. Of course by their very nature “small lot” means these coffees come in a limited batch from small producers. Think a Limited Editions.
Fortunately it just so happened that my upstairs neighbor, another big TJ’s fan, happened to have gotten some of this coffee. Yeah baby! She generously offered me some of the coffee, so that I could review it.
Well right after grinding it, it smelled so fantastic that I had very high hopes. I mean it smelled AMAZINGLY good. Then I brewed it up and wow was I impressed.
I was almost shocked at just how good this coffee tastes. Not to mention this may be the first time I’d even tried a coffee from Uganda come to think of it. I am sold. A fan. I definitely agreed with all those who gave this high marks. This must be one of the best coffees I’ve tried from Trader Joe’s, period.
The Mountains of the Moon UGANDA RWENZORI coffee is just a fantastic tasting coffee, which I found wonderfully balanced. To my taste buds its just perfect, hitting all right notes. Bold and robust but not over powering, it was both a little sweet and a little bitter, both smooth and robust, tasting surely like an “African” coffee a little ascertic and winy and yes even had those “notes of chocolate” describe on the bag. This is just terrific. Also TJ’s got it right that this is actually a “medium roast” as described (sometimes TJ’s roast descriptions are off). I loved this coffee and want more. I’m crossing my fingers we see it again (might be next harvest?) If by any chance you see it, do yourself a favor and grab a bag if you can. I have a feeling anyone who considers themselves a coffee lover is going to love this. If/when I see it again, I will be sure to stock up on a few bags. ($8.99 12 oz bag, whole bean)
Trader Giotto’s CHICKEN PICCATA – Seasoned, breaded boneless chicken breasts with a lemon and caper sauce
“Our Chicken Picatta is made for us using a special family recipe. Boneless, skinless chicken breasts are seasoned and breaded then baked in the oven until crispy. We then add a buttery, lemon and caper sauce to complete the dish. A timeless Italian American classic that tastes like you made it from scratch” (-On the package)
This is actually pretty good. So if you want a tasty dinner that all you have to do is Heat & Eat, Trader Joe’s CHICKEN PICATTA with Lemon Caper Sauce dish could do the trick. Especially say on a hot day when you don’t want to cook? Or make that any day you don’t want to cook.
My upstairs neighbor actually wanted to check out this Heat and Eat dish to see if it was worth it. She invited my wife and myself to dinner for a review and tasting.
So how was it? Well I was at bit surprised at how good this dish actually tasted. In fact, all three of us who tried it all said it was quite tasty, though we all thought there were a few things that could be improved. Like is should have more capers. My neighbor who loves capers almost as much as I do, wanted more capers. Since we had them in the fridge, we tossed in a tablespoon of capers in the sauce, and that did make it better.
We also thought some fresh lemon would improve it so we added a squeeze of lemon juice. Those simple things really improved the whole dish and made it taste almost homemade.
If you don’t have a jar of capers in the fridge (I do) then at least give this a squeeze of a quarter of a lemon, as that will really improve the sauce to make it taste almost homemade. If you add a tablespoon of butter that would not be amiss either!
To cook the dish, we followed Trader Joe’s “recommended method” instructions to bake it in the oven. I really recommend baking this over nuking it. It will be best baked in the oven, as in the oven the chicken will crisp up a bit. PLUS when you add the sauce at the very end, it will reduce a little and get a little browned and bubbly, both of which adds flavor. So baking is best and worth any little extra effort.
The chicken breasts were actually tender and juicy, and of course the sauce helps a lot with this as you bake it with sauce so they were moist. The included lemon caper sauce was tasty, however they don’t give us enough capers IMO. If you add capers, lemon juice and a pat of butter it will really make this dish taste almost like you made it yourself.
RECOMMENDED HEATING INSTRUCTIONS (OVEN): Preheat oven to 375. Set sauce packet aside. Remove packaging and place chicken pieces on a rimmed baking sheet or pan. Place in oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until hot. Remove from oven and pour sauce over chicken. Return to oven for about 3 minutes or until sauce looks bubbly and slightly browned. Optional: add a few tablespoons of capers, a tablespoon of butter and squeeze a quarter of a lemon over your dish. To serve restaurant style you can plate with thin slices of lemon on top.
SERVING: Plate the chicken with sauce. If you add some slices of lemon on top it will look like it came from a restaurant.
PORTION: The box states “Serve 3”. Ha! Maybe it might serve 3 kids? No, this package does not “serve three” adults. They do include a generous amount of sauce but there is not that much chicken. In the package we got, there were 2 large pieces plus 2 small pieces of chicken. So think realistically that it “serves 2“.
I did manage to make this serve three ONLY because I made some sides. I made a little quick easy zucchini, garlic pasta to have enough food to feed three for dinner and some pasta goes perfectly with this. So realistically this will make 2 portions for dinner, or 3 slightly skimpy portions, which you could stretch by adding sides. Serve this with some rice, potatoes or pasta and maybe a salad and/or a veg. Some nice crusty bread for mopping up that lemon caper sauce?
So in short we thought that Trader Joe’s Chicken Piccata with Lemon Caper sauce was good, and improved if you add some more capers to it. Find this in the refrigerated section with other prepared dishes. It’s $8.99 (16 oz).
I would buy this again.
Addendum: Many months later. I wanted to try my hand at making this dish myself so I did it. Here’s a shot of my own home made CHICKEN PICCATTA from scratch. Fantastic and not terribly hard to make. Recipe I used as a guide line follows (I did not use heavy cream as per the recipe, I made a roux with some home made chicken stock) And added a TON of capers!
Trader Joe’s HEIRLOOM GROUND CHICKEN – “All Natural, Pasture Raised, Slow Growth, Air Chilled, No Added Hormones, No Antibiotics”
What is Trader Joe’s HEIRLOOM CHICKEN you ask? Well here’s what Trader Joe’s says: “Trader Joe’s All Natural Heirloom Chicken is a very special chicken. First, it comes from a recognized breed with a genetic line that traces back multiple generations. And unlike so many other chickens raised very quickly on processed meal and antibiotics, these Heirloom Chickens are slow-growth, pasture-raised birds. This means they are allowed to mature at a natural rate and forage for food in a natural environment. They also have never been given antibiotics.”
That sounds pretty good, right? While they don’t say “free range” they say “pasture raised” which sounds the same? After reading about TJ’s Heirloom Chicken I wanted to try some. I got the ground heirloom chicken to test out and in short I thought it was quite good. Obviously an “heirloom chicken” is going to cost more than TJ’s regular chicken as this is a “super premium” chicken, and to me it actually seems like it Whole Foods item. Though if it was at Whole Foods I can only imagine it would cost more (maybe $10-12lb)? Trader Joe’s sells the Heirloom Ground Chicken for $6.99/lb. By comparison TJ’s regular ground chicken, something I have been getting for years and like very much as well, is $3.99/lb (now 4.49). One difference I noticed between the two is that the texture of this Heirloom Ground Chicken seems to be better, not quite as finely ground as the regular ground chicken (and this one seems to be less wet?) So this seemed to brown a bit faster. It’s 90% lean with 10% fat.
To cook the ground chicken, I added seasonings and mixed in quite a bit of chopped scallions. I shaped the mixture into patties, sprinkled them generously with the terrific AJIKA blend which is great on chicken and also helps browning. I sautéed them in olive oil for about 4 minutes on both sides until golden brown. I served these burgers/kebabs on warm pita doing kind of a Middle Eastern chicken burger thing. I sauced them with some TJ’s Garlic Dip and some Green Dragon. These chicken kebabs were really tasty; we really enjoyed them. One could of course make something similar and shape them into meatballs or long cylinder kebabs. What I didn’t do, but might in future is compare the two kinds of ground chicken TJ’s sells side by side, cook them up the same to compare. Meanwhile I’ll say yes this “premium” chicken is quite good. I would buy it again. Trader Joe’s also sells boneless breasts of this Heirloom Chicken for the same price as the ground chicken, while whole chickens are $3.99 / lb. (Again, cheaper I think than it would be at Whole Foods?) So you can either try a whole bird (roasted) or the boneless breasts, or this.
There’s more you can read about ALL NATURAL HEIRLOOM CHICKEN on the TJ website (Whole chickens are $3.99/lb)
Trader Joe’s Rants & Raves (mostly raves, a few rants) 
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