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

every time you walk out of TJ's without a toblerone, you have won

or have you?

the almond/coconut/whitechocolate/dark chocolate balls are amazing

MEDIOCRITY ALERT: the Smashing Smores (small tub of chocolate-covered graham and marshmallow squares) are just fine but not all that flaborful or decadent and certainly not worth almost $5 when you can get the dark chocolate sea salt turbinado almonds instead.

yeah I like that fox tea

I also really liked the dried mandarin oranges. good chewy texture and concentrated citrus.

I made the mistake of buying gluten-free candy cane joe-joe's. They are almost inedible.

Their GF brownie mix is good though! I add some powdered Bourbon vanilla, and then as a topping I melt a few Tb of peanut butter w some butter in the microwave and then pour it over the top and bake per instructions.

Kept reading that as a few lb of peanut butter and was concerned

the pumpkin loaf mix is very nice -- notes of cinnamon and brown sugar, not too nutmeggy

i think the entire store has turned into a pumpkin loaf

Whoever eats pumpkin loaf and drinks 2 Buck Chuck remains in Joe and Joe in him.

this shocking TJ fearless flyer text analysis was making the twitter rounds:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BzmxzgJCYAAMn_W.jpg

hahahahahah

you don't need flyer discourse analysis to see that it's wall to wall pumpkin in there!

Ours has a giant sandwich board outside

63
PUMPKIN
PRODUCTS

lmao

(Get the TJ's pumpkin seed oil, which is a fairly new product, anyway, because it is good and because it is nothing to do with New Age American Pumpkimania (which is all about gingerbread spices anyway).)

io, why don't you come and bake for me one night a week?

j/k, but you need to have more parties (no pressure)

Tried the Dark Chocolate Peppermint Cremes and the Speculoos Cookie Butter Cups (like peanut butter cups but with cookie butter in them) and now I'm certain I'm going to gain shit tons of weight this month.

anything Speculoos, Speculoos all the time

otm

i'm actually surprised by how much i like the lamb kofta meatballs, and i say this as a fan of tj's frozen indian dishes. the masala sauce isn't perfect, but change it to one that is and you could easily see this on a restaurant menu for $10.

ooh good to know

yeah, the sauce could be a little more unctuous and less... clove-y? less sweet? but the meatballs are delicious!

Had apple and Chardonnay chicken sausages and polenta Provençal with spinach and peas for dinner. The sausage was decent but not super exciting but I really liked the polenta with peas as a side.

that polenta is the best.

so idk what's up but the candy cane joe-joe's are pretty gross this year...the cookie part gets kinda slimy and there is too much cream (i need a proper cookie:cream ratio) and the cream is toothpastey. i didn't accidentally buy the gluten-free version or anything either. i ended up sampling some mi-del candy cane cremes at whole foods and bought them instead. more expensive but it's seasonal so i can justify it.

I've had a totally didn't experience with the joejoes. But they are still evil.

Different experience.

It occurred to me after I bought a bunch of boxes at Whole Foods today that Oreo probably makes these too, and they do. That's probably the cheapest option and if anyone knows how to make a sandwich cookie it's them.

Another thing I bought from TJs...the giant danish almond kringle in the pre-made bakery/sweets area. it was amazing.

The mango chips were good too, super crunchy and tart

the giant danish almond kringle is the best thing ever.

my 3-year-old won't eat the candy cane jo-joes

that is basically as harsh a condemnation as you can get

3 year olds shouldn't be eating candy cane joe-joe's

unless the adults are all totally sick of them

funny thing: probably more than a dozen different salsas and not a single one of them is excellent.

True. I like the spicy refrigerated one next to the hummus though.

The medium refrigerated one is good! The salsa especial!

yeah, that's the one I meant! I guess it's not so spicy, huh. I sometimes mix it up in my head with the even thinner Santa Barbara Salsa Taquera I get from Ralph's every once in awhile. I've no love for chunky salsa.

I just want something as good as Green Mountain or Desert Pepper, why is that so hard???

I enjoyed their triple ginger beer and their Porchetta Pork Roast is very good, easy to make, but a bit expensive. On the not-so-great side, we tried cooking up their frozen salmon and it came out very fishy and dry.

The new sriracha and garlic barbeque sauce is pretty bitchin, had a sample of it on meatballs yesterday and grabbed a bottle before i even finished.

That sounds good!

Not good: triple chocolate mini bundt cakes. Taste like a cocoa-flavored fart.

We've become big consumers of the Brioche Toasts, perfect for cheese and crackers!

single-serve porcini mushroom lasagna in the white box: super bland and way too much sauce and has a homogeneous mucous-like texture
beef tenderloin bites: YUM CITY U.S.A.

the giant peruvian inca corn rules. tastes like a cross between corn nuts and fritos.

serving size: 1/3 cup. sooo easy to gorge on these tho.

http://www.traderjoesreviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/giantperuvianincacorn.jpg

oh yeah, and the honey sesame almonds are classic and addictive. sesame is my favorite seed, so underrated in american culture.

Yeah, my wife keeps getting those Inca Corns. Kinda somewhere between beer nuts and Fritos, but in a good way, probably slightly better for you too.

o man those things

I can't stop eating those ether but I don't really love them!

sriracha and garlic

but sriracha has garlic in it