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

what i know is that they have veggie potstickers (frozen) that are AOK

and that you should never buy their soups, because they are extremely nasty

and that they have sesame crackers that are the best ever, but often not in stock

and that they have nice cabot sharp white cheddar for cheap, which you cannot otherwise get on the west coast, yes!

and that they are otherwise mostly worth avoiding

I'm getting very aggravated with TJ's overnaming or misnaming things, particularly in cheese For eg.

The only actual made in Italy mozzarella is labeled by the brand name not what it is whereas everything from string cheese to grated industrial rubber gets labeled as mozzarella
Grana Padano Parmesan, two names, one label, which is it?

OK so these are the only two I noticed yesterday but its annoying.

maybe it's a blend of grana padano and parmesan?

does not compute in block form

which is it?

Probably neither? If you want Parmesan in the US, gotta make sure it says "Parmagiano Reggiano" or you could get whatever the maker considers "parmesan".

This was, on closer inspection of the label, Italian Padano.

I know I'm a stick in the mud European and think things should be labeled as what they are and where they come from. The California Ersatz "Mozzarella" is pretty good really. Domestic parmesan is pretty awful though.

There's one place I know of in Wisconsin that does a decent parmesan, but yeah most are geared to emulate Kraft parmesan rather than Parmesan parmesan.

f all u all, tj's parmesan is delicious and also the best deal in town

TJ's actual italian parmesan is the best deal in town, and he padona is good too, I just object to the label.

tbh i haven't been to a tj's in many moons cause if i only ever want either some cheap shit at a place w/a huge selection (supermarket) or quality food that i'm splurging on (whole foods). any time i go to tj's i get like 20 mediocre things and mayyybe 1 or 2 legit "hey you need to try this shit" tasty things. i was just reminded about the choc-covered edamame tho so think i'll have to go back and give the place yet another try.

http://greenlagirl.com/cafe-gratitude-los-angeles-now-under-construction-opens-feb-2011/

i generally go to tj's first for my staples, and then fill in the rest from whole foods and other local stores. i've found that food costs around here are ridiculous, but i can generally get staples cheapest at tj's. i know i can count on getting my yogurt and canned goods and coffee and lemons, etc.

they've just opened in my parents' town, after at least a 15 year wait. i think it will be too mobbed for them to actually shop there :( (this also happened when whole foods opened).

Ok really guys, the fucking sodium. A little-ass thing of curried lentils should not have 60% of my daily sodium.

Yum!

Haha. Agreed to both Hurting and Jeff.

It is delicious, but it makes me feel awful.

Yeh for someone who is starting to have trouble with hypertension, It would be nice if they let you salt the shit out of the food yourself.

you could just cook the food yourself.

Adding water to a package and applying heat IS "cooking food myself" for the most part. If I don't get take-out, I have succeeded.

I actually really like cooking, but only with others. Cooking for just myself is just a chore, and I usually just bake a potato or sautee some vegetables. I would literally prefer doing laundry or doing maintenance on my files.

Dark chocolate mint UFOs. Frozen mac & cheese. Another vote for tamales, yogurt, and paneer tikka masala (until I get tired of it).

It is almost candy cane joe-joes time.

Oh hell yes. I devour a box of those every year, then buy another box and eat four of them and forget about it. BUT MAN THAT FIRST BOX.

Chocolate covered raspberry sticks
Peanut butter pretzels

Cannot fuck with TJs on either front

Paneer tikka masala cosign

I would literally prefer . . . doing maintenance on my files.

Is that a euphemism?

I'm currently enjoying a bagel topped with cream cheese and TJ's pumpkin butter, which is very good. I also like the pumpkin muffin mix, which is even better if you cream half a block of cream cheese, 1/2 cup of sugar, and an egg yolk together and plop a teaspoon of that in the middle of each muffin before you bake them.

I wanted to buy pumpkin butter but the girl vetoed it cause we didn't have anything to put it on. I will pretty much buy pumpkin anything, tho.

Me, too! Now you know that it is good on bagels, so you can get some bagels and some pumpkin butter.

Oh did I not mention the flax-seed peanut butter? So good.

Dark chocolate sea salt caramels (holiday seasonal item): I LOVE YOU
these shits are so good

chocolate - high quality
caramel - buttery and smooth
salt - salty and from the DEAD SEA (purportedly)

anyway, these candies are divine and i'm tempted to buy a bunch just to keep for later when they become unseasonal again

Just had the pesto pizza. It was delicious! They can do no wrong with their personal-bake pizzas, IMO, but the pesto just became my new favorite.

pesto pizza is of our lazy backup dinners

I have had a lot of pesto pizzas...

Anyone know about the brandy beans? Will they get you drunk? They look really good.

"is one of our"

i buy the raw pizza dough (in the refrigerator section) fairly often. i like to bake it up with a bit of olive oil brushed on for extra crispness.

cranberry spiced cider!

splashed in glass of seltzer is awesome.
also nice hot.

mango chicken sausage

When the hell will the TJ down the street ever open?? I never see workers there anymore when I walk to or from the bus. I see some signs of activity, at least - ducts and pipes get moved around - so at least I know they haven't given up. I keep delaying certain purchases until it opens.

Rumors on Yelp said they would open in January, which is clearly not possible.

cilantro/jalapeno hummus

YES! The cilantro jalapeño hummus is amazing.

That sounds great but I don't know what I would use it for. My appetite feels like it just got off the bus in Times Square in 1976.

i have a few different tj's frozen dinners i can choose from tonight:

-mac & cheese
-paneer tikka masala
-pesto tortellini
-sweet potato gnocchi
-polenta provencale

i am spoiled and i don't know what to choose!

Pander tikka masala ftw

Ohhh but Mac n cheese

Yep, you're screwed

mac n cheese is the BEST

you know what i am really loving from tj's is the lavender dishwashing detergent

polenta provencale is my favorite!

isn't it good?

saw a cauliflower & romanesco frozen veggie thing in a butter sauce that looked tempting but i just had the most amazing romanesco courtesy of my local farmers market the other day so why bother

Have decided to drastically reduce my consumption of TJ's prepared foods. They're great but they make me feel bad and get fat.