It is a drier cheddar. It’s listed as " Trader Joe’s Unexpected Cheddar is a popular, award-winning cheese that tastes like a sharp, aged cheddar initially, but develops a tangy, slightly crystalline, and crumbly texture similar to Parmesan."
That crystallization could have attributed to the large crack and chalkiness on the outside. I used to buy a crystallized Cheddar called Seaside that had what looked to be a bit of a bloom on the outside - same “chalky” look.
Nothing to be alarmed about, that’s my regular cheddar and your description is normal. Not often cracks, but it’s a crumbly cheese and I’ve certainly had a few blocks with a crack over the years.
NAY for the Spicy Meat Pizza with Calabrian chillies.
The crust is good, it’s spicy, but the sauce is SWEET. Not slightly sweet, but straight out sugary.
How to ruin an otherwise good thing.
Does Trader Joe’s ever have a good dairy-free ice cream? I usually buy Ben & Jerry’s but sometimes go without when I’ve only gone to TJ’s. Seems like they have only a couple and not very interesting flavors.
I haven’t tried this product but I just checked the ingredients and it’s just milk, sugar, and cream. So effectively sweet half and half? I don’t see why it wouldn’t froth just as well as any other full fat dairy.
Thanks. I see that but my wife has complained that their ‘heavy cream’ doesn’t froth as well as supermarket brands so I thought I’d get some first-hand experiences.
The new baby broccoli is good. Product of US, I think $3.49 for 8 oz. Good quality, comparable to what you get locally at good produce places. The only thing to add, they seem to go to flower kind of fast. It’s not broccolini or the usual regular broccoli that’s simply young broccoli picked young. Stems are long without any sprouts.
From the heads it look a lot like broccolini (a lot of shops use baby broccoli and broccolini interchangeably but they are actually different)
Interesting. Did you notice if they also had the. Broccolini they’ve sold in the past?
They use to sell baby broccoli that seemed like regular broccoli picked early….same stems (dense) structure, chalky for lack of a better term. TJ’s did not carry broccolini that I know of. Broccolini is a hybrid of regular broccoli and Chinese broccoli (gai lan). This doesnt look like broccolini to me. Stems are long, thin and not dense, sort of reedy, like water crest but stronger. Broccolini to me has stems similar to Chinese broccoli, same diameter, fibrous not as dense…but you do see sprouts and leaves. In any case, I bought some of the same or very similar baby broccoli from Monterey Market in Berkeley and they called it baby broccoli. My take, MM knows what they’re selling.
Mild YEA for the Steamed Lentils. I bought them on a whim a few weeks ago and found them in the fridge last night. They’re cooked to a nice level of just tender enough and not mushy doneness and they’re been lightly seasoned, so they’re easy to work with. I was hungry and tired after a few hours of snow removal and using these as a base – alongside a can of crushed tomatoes, some frozen spinach, and various pantry ingredients – I was able to put together a pretty decent lentil stew in about 20 minutes. I think that’s quite a bit faster than I’d have been able to do if I’d broken out dried lentils and used the Instant Pot…but in general I like having a bit more control and of course normal lentils are shelf stable. So this product is not something I’d use all the time but it was handy and I’ll probably buy it again in the future.
Whoops! Life got in the way. I liked them quite a bit. Much better than the Red Curry Lays that came out last year, though take my chip opinions with a grain of salt because I’m not a huge potato chip person in general, and usually only buy them if a new flavor intrigues me.
Oh, I’m the same in that I rarely get excited about potato chips.
Thx for getting back to me 
Those steamed lentils are great for hot weather lentil salads. I make a very mustardy vinaigrette, warm the lentils so they absorb more, and douse with vinaigrette. Then I add different things to them for a variety of lunches: feta, radishes, celery, arugula, cherry tomatoes - whatever I have around really, it is amazing how many things work and I can have a week’s worth of different low-effort lunches.
I use them fog an almost-instant salad along with the vacuum-packed beets they also sell in the produce section, olive oil and vinegar, and feta of goat cheese. Scallions or red onion, and arugula and/or fresh green herbs like basil or mint are nice.
Yea for the miso crunch salad. I like the dressing a lot and this bag was nice and fresh. Ate with some pulled rotisserie chicken.
Just had this with dinner tonight on this end too. So good! I really like the elote salad too.
I’ll have to look for that. It’s their dressing that ruins most of their salads for me. I know I can make my own, but then I can’t have the truly lazy dinner or lunch I wanted.
Have you tried their avocado ranch or the green goddess dressings? Those are pretty good.
