The Trader Joe's Product Discussion Thread (S/D)

I'm not savvy enough to make cornbread from scratch, but I can say that Trader Joe's cornbread is the perfect consistency and tastes just sweet enough. Way better than the premade shit I was buying from Shaw's bakery before.

OMG the cornbread!!! this thread pushed me towards buying it, i just made it and it is so good. "Just the right amount of sweetness." is exactly right.

wow so new 'dark chocolate lover's' 85% tj brand chocolate is goooood. fruity tasting. rich. and cheap!

red oval beer tastes better than simpler times and is cheaper

$2.99 for a six pack its like--how can you NOT buy this beer

in bulk

yeah i had some on new year's and it was pretty tasty

in the frozen appetizer section: arancini with fontina cheese --> delicious

DELICIOUS!

I made a special trip to TJ's on Sunday to get a pint of their chocolate sorbet and the fucking hippies stopped carrying it.

Their honey-sesame coated cashews are to die for.

I wish that TJ's delivered, like Pea Pod, because I'm just far away enough from a TJ's to make getting there a pain in the ass, but boy do I miss having a freezer full of food that requires nothing more than a couple Ts of water and the application of heat to turn it into dinner.

Dark Chocolate Covered Powerberries <3 <3 <3

products i have mourned:
coconut sorbet
puff pastry that is not rolled, but lies flat in a sheet
coconut cashews (RIP homies, i loved u truly)

red oval beer tastes better than simpler times and is cheaper

wtf soooo not otm

u have no taste buds imo

simpler times tastes like bad coors light
red oval tastes like bad red stripe

oh man i am sort of one of those anti-prepared food people but this thread just makes it sound so good. (is it really?)

yes. And what isn't good is made up by the fact that your not preparing food, which is priceless.

I used to buy frozen burritos from TJ's every now and then until I got freaked out by all the sodium.

Like I said on the Friday night thread, TJ's gluten-free ginger snap cookies are CRACK IN A BISCUIT.

I don't give a crap about sodium but I like tj's for easy solutions to common problems: quick cook steel cut oats, cheap and decent olive oil, samosas I can make in my toaster oven, shit like that. Also decent cheap wine. (not chuck, but lots of other $3.99 brands)

ehh...turns out the nearest trader joe's is pretty far anyway. (10 miles, but probably almost a 30 min drive due to traffic lights, etc.)

I made a special trip to TJ's on Sunday to get a pint of their chocolate sorbet and the fucking hippies stopped carrying it.

― Darin

this is my husband's main addiction. they were still carrying it at our TJ's but he is trying to wean himself off.

also: i highly recommend this pizza thing (i forget the name/brand), that is a super thin crust, caramelized onions, couple cheeses and prosciutto. it's amazing.

I will confirm -- that flatbread thing IS good.

arancini with fontina cheese --> delicious

these taste surprisingly like the ones my mother-in-law cooks

anybody know what happened to the cocoa powder covered hazelnuts? last seen maybe 5 years ago. :/

can't tell if that's an endorsement or not (xpost)

she's italian so yeah, tj's are better than i would expect

also: i highly recommend this pizza thing (i forget the name/brand), that is a super thin crust, caramelized onions, couple cheeses and prosciutto. it's amazing.

I like these too, they're not called pizzas, um, tarts maybe? Some kind of French-ish name.

I like the made-in-Italy pizzas, they have a few types, thought they seemed to have stopped carrying my favorite, the goat cheese and black olive one.

they have this new product that's polenta balls, spinach, and peas in a tomato cream sauce. i bought it based on trying a sample a few visits ago, and it's fuckin great. will buy again.

"fuckin great" may be an overstatement, but it is pretty nice.

also i just saw those arancini mentioned upthread and wondered how they were. however, trying to steer away from carby/cheesy things in the new year and toward the resolution cliche of veg/fruit/grains.

if you're looking for healthy options at tj's, you could do much worse than the frozen soba noodle dish. it's vegan, 250 calories or something (their pad thai has 600!) and tasty enough for lunch if you add a little soy sauce/sriracha.

i don't mind it at least.

Will try that, A.

i am a big fan of the annie chung's miso soup bowls, which they have at TJs and other grocery stores. they're low-cal also (i want to say like 220 calories) and filling, though they're probably pretty high in sodium, given that it's miso soup

i like those! the udon is my favorite. i always add hot sauce and spinach.

frozen mac n cheese is amazing

― cool app (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Wednesday, March 11, 2009 1:30 PM (10 months ago) Bookmark

http://imgur.com/FQdMl.gif

I had the Chicken Enchiladas in the refrigerated (not frozen) section last night and they were fantastic.

the trader joe's instant miso soup is great and v low cal but also v v v high in sodium.

also: i highly recommend this pizza thing (i forget the name/brand), that is a super thin crust, caramelized onions, couple cheeses and prosciutto. it's amazing.

I like these too, they're not called pizzas, um, tarts maybe? Some kind of French-ish name.

I like the made-in-Italy pizzas, they have a few types, thought they seemed to have stopped carrying my favorite, the goat cheese and black olive one.

― nickn, Monday, January 11, 2010 8:43 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

Been munching on these a while now. I love the black truffle flatbread, great for 2-3 people depending on what you eat with it.

The prosciutto one is more of a true tart - cracker-thin crust, but the rest are more like thin pizzas. All very good.

DUD: Trader Joe's brand Comte cheese. Tastes like cheese-flavored candle wax.

miso is naturally very high in sodium to begin with so...

their frozen mac n cheese is truly amazing

i have two boxes of their mac in the freezer.

Have not had best luck with TJ's cheese - although the "Italian Truffle Cheese" is hard to stop eating.

The Old Amsterdam Gouda is pretty good, but Their Stilton was sub-par (but half what a good one costs). It's not really a place for high-end cheeses.

yeah, the cheese section is 2nd rate, i mostly go for the cheap booze and some stuff my kids like

They don't have many, like "real" cheeses in the chese snobby sense - like the kind that stink a lot and taste better when you leave them out.

I wouldn't say 2nd rate, just not top-end. I also like the Black Diamond Swiss (sliced), and most are acceptable (and priced accordingly).

x-post

I have only recently starting going to TJ's, here are my yays and nays:

nay:

Vietnamese sandwich-style wrap (it was just gross)

eh:

candy-cane jojos (they were good but a bit too minty)
microwavable pad thai (sold in a little blue take-out container, tasty but it was all noodles and sauce, some veggies would have rounded it out nicely)

yay:

vegetable masala burger (indian spiced veggie burger, YUM)
goddess dressing (i use it as sauce for a wrap i make with the masala burger)
spice chai latte powdered (chai powders are so hit and miss, theirs is very very good)

I bought a wrap at a coffeehouse in san francisco that I loved, and I recognized the veggie burger and found the right dressing so I could make it myself. i make it at home with a tortilla, tomatoes, spinach and red onions, it's delicious.

The frozen chana masala is pretty yum, as are the boxed daals and curries in the pouches.

The frozen mac and cheese is so holy shit yum.