Trader Joe's YEA/NAY/MEH, 2023 Edition

You can still haz cheezburger tho.

6 Likes

YEA for the Brownie Crisp Coffee Ice Cream Sandwiches. Thick brick of very tasty ice cream between two thin brownie-type cookies. The crisps are soft–think the texture of your classic ice cream sandwich chocolate cookie–but that’s not a detriment in my opinion. These are also small enough so that you won’t feel too guilty having one. :wink:

5 Likes

I’ll skip the sauce then…but I am fond of their Cacio e Pepe Puffs, which from the sound of it have a lot more flavor than the sauce.

1 Like

A third vote for the lemon ricotta. We do the butternut squash raviolis with butter, garlic, marsala, fresh sage, pepper, and a little cream.

YEA for the Tres Leches Cake. Frozen, loaf shaped, serves 4 skimpily, 3 is more like it. The whipped cream topping deflates during thawing, so the slices aren’t pretty, but tres leches cake doesn’t keep well, so this is a good size when you don’t need dessert for a crowd.

MEH to the Orange Chicken Bowl. Needless to say, the breading on the chicken pieces turns out as soggy paste. The ingredient balance is off. In descending order of quantity, chicken, rice, vegetables. Too much meat for a small meal.

2 Likes

Nay on the garlic cheese breadsticks. Dry and fairly tasteless.

3 Likes

Organic Baby Broccoli
Cut off some of stem, sautƩed in butter, olive oil, crushed red pepper, salt, lemon juice, bit of water.

5 Likes

I brought home a tub of TJs Caramelized Onion Dip. I enjoyed a little bowl with my single serving package of chips, but then my cats - both of them -attacked the small dab of dip that was left and licked the bowl clean. So they give the dip two tongues up. Go figure.

6 Likes

Be aware that alliums cause anemia in many mammals, cats included. Small amounts like this are rarely a problem for otherwise-healthy cats but if yours are elderly or have chronic conditions, they are best avoided.

3 Likes

It was about a fingertip’s worth of dip total for both. And I’m not sharing the rest of my dip with anyone. I just thought it was strange that they were interested.

4 Likes

Yay- Chili onion crunch hummus. I’m obsessed with this. I also bought the chili onion crunch in a jar, but have not tried it yet.

Nay- Dill pickle potato chips. They aren’t terrible, but there is no way I could ever finish a full bag of them.

My TJ had a special buy of big, beautiful green artichokes, $1.99 each. Great price; WF and another market had smaller ones for $3.99 each.

I made Italian Stuffed Artichokes: chopped anchovies, capers, fresh Parmesan, garlic, chopped parsley + basil, crushed red pepper, lemon juice + zest, olive oil, water, panko.

Double wrap in foil, roast at 425° for 1 hour 20 minutes.

13 Likes

MEH: Snacky Clusters. Sounds fine in concept (broken-up potato chips, pretzels, and corn chips covered in chocolate) but a) it’s milk chocolate (which I always think of as a missed opportunity–I mean, it could have been dark!) and b) even with that qualification the chocolate isn’t that great. I’ll finish the bag, probably, but won’t buy again.

3 Likes

NAY: Everything But The Bagel Seasoning.

YEAH: Pancake bread

I kind of like the Everything But the Bagel seasoning - I sometimes add it to homemade crackers. I don’t love it, but it’s a fun variation.

3 Likes

I think I just OD’d on it.

Now I prefer furikake on everything i used to put Everything But the Bagel seasoning on.

No doubt sometime down the line I will OD on furikake as well.

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My Chicago relatives would be horrified, I’m sure, but my favorite hot dog now is basically a low-rent version of Japa-Dog. One dog, simmered/steamed, on a soft bun w/ kewpie mayo and furikake. Maybe some chopped white onions.

I should try it w/ the teriyaki pork sausage that’s still in the freezer from Roundman’s.

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What would they think if you put Everything But the Bagel seasoning on your hot dogs?

1 Like

Not TJ’s furikake I assume? Tastes flat compared to the alternatives

I like this one.

2 Likes