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

I'm enjoying the frozen rainbow trout filets, defrosted and baked in tinfoil with a sprinkle of salt and some lemon slices

all of those sound good.

think i'm on my 6th or 7th hazelnut milk chocolate bar in 2 months

Trader Joe's Atlantic Salmon filets in the frozen food section are also really good. Today I made a risotto with preserved lemons and salmon that I liked a lot.

I made extra risotto so I could refrigerate it overnight to try making arancini (which should be and maybe is a NYTs spelling bee word) tomorrow. The recipe sounds difficult, so I only expect half a success. I've already made some meat sauce and bought mozzarella for the stuffing

Horseradish chips are back - the taste even better mixed with honey roasted peanuts

Bruschetta spread: fine as a last minute type of thing (if buoyed by mozz and pesto etc) but nothing great

The jollof rice mix is punishingly bad — I don’t normally buy rice mixes but I figured I’d try it for a weeknight dinner bc I’ve been working nights. Inedible with only 1/4 tsp salt, only marginally better after more salt, hot sauce, gandules, corn, peas. Do not buy it.

Trader Joe's Large Brown Pasture Raised eggs now look exactly like Vital Farms', and they are $1-2 cheaper per dozen.

Most eggs look pretty similar though, don't they? A recent discovery is the Chili Onion Crunch. Compares to the Momofuku Chili Crunch. Great on eggs, stir fry, or anything that could use a bit of spicing up.

One of the vital farms selling points has been the darker yolks. They were supposedly from a better pasture diet, indicating more nutritional value in the egg -- vitamins, etc. TJ's pasture raised eggs have had paler yolks in the past. Good tip on the chili onion crunch. I will look for it on the next trip.

I saw a lot of packages of eggs today at Trader Joe's, but didn't see those in particular

I saw a lot of packages of eggs today at Trader Joe's, but didn't see those in particular

They have a bluish carton. The graphic design definitely steals from the vital farms stuff, which also feels like a recent change. I am generally overwhelmed by the variety of eggs at TJs.

Banana bread biscotti recommended

It doesn't just taste like stale banana bread?

yes!

My local TJ's has abruptly dropped all forms of sherry - fino, amontillado, and cream (oloroso). I may be the only person in town that ever buys it but I'm not gonna drink goddamn four dollar marsala, bring back the sherry

my local TJ’s only has beer and wine

😔

I have been going back weekly for the last couple of months to Trader Joe's for their Meyer lemons (a cross between lemon and mandarin orange). They come 3-to-4 per bag. They have been incredibly good! They grow really well locally (if SF had an official fruit tree it would be Meyer lemon), but I don't know where these are from.

They also make the best preserved lemons because they have a soft rind and spicy flavor

my favorite hot sauce has been discontinued :(

https://hotsaucefever.com/images/sauces/438/trader_joes_jalapeno_pepper_sauce.jpg

Do they still have kabocha squash and Japanese sweet potatoes in the northeast U.S.? Do they still require masks and have lines for entry? Do they still ration items? If you live in SF or the Bay Area in CA, do they have Acme Bread for you?

Do they have large quantities of asparagus that are not prepackaged but sold as normal produce?

Dunno.

Not here. Mask optional is recent, no entry lines for months/years.

Do you mean like toilet paper and stuff? No.

N/A

Maybe seasonally?

THanks, Josh! The mask requirement is fine as long as they don't have lines. (This might be the weekend I finally go back to Trader Joe's to recharge my car battery for one thing. Hopefully it has not died yet; fingers crossed. Recycled toilet paper may be the product that I've bought most consistently over the years. They had great fat green asparagus one year. It wasn't in water but still had not turned purple and white on the ends. I think Trader Joe's locations with good bagels sourced locally might be a good location indicator for living. I haven't tried the ones here; they are huge and the savory seasoned ones tend to overwhelm the presence of all the others, which I hate.)

I live in SF and they haven't had lines since I think the vaccines were widely available. I'm going later today so I'll keep an eye out for asparagus and Acme Bread.

They had fresh asparagus at the local one this morning.

smelly pee

to be clear, it's TJ's house-branded smelly pee, featuring 19th century public domain rotogravure illustrations with twee-joeky thought bubbles added

Coffee Bean Mini -Hold the Cone- Ice Cream Cones are the best

I am not sure I understand why people are so concerned about smelly pee. Doesn't the smell disappear when you flush the toilet? It is not as bad as the effect of some other things people tend to eat without comment.

I appreciate the marketing and packaging. It is not too clever or cruel. It is just the right side of banter, deliberate oxymorons and all. (The Acme Bread, if available, is probably packaged as a Trader Joe's product.)

masks, no lines, Japanese sweet potatoes, no kabocha squash, no rationing, no asparagus (but I expect soon)

random purchase: pomegranate white tea (yet to try; contains hibiscus!)

Asparagus pee is a feature, not a bug.

Asparagus yes, Acme Bread I dunno after youn's post, masks optional.

Jeff OTM.

I had a vague memory of reading about Acme Bread at Trader Joe's and found the information again on their site. If you happen to try it and like it, please post.

http://acmebread.com/bread/whole_wheat (description for Cranberry Whole Wheat Raisin Walnut)

I haven’t seen that cranberry walnut bread in ages - it’s so good

They had a bakery near Ashby for a while, if I'm getting my names right-- I used to dumpster that bread all the time. Notoriously good Bay Area dumpster, and if anyone from inside saw you, they would go inside and get you a loaf of something and give it to you.

wife's favorite decaf tea has been discontinued :(

my store ran out of the frozen Atlantic salmon so I bought the Alaskan sockeye salmon, it is pretty great

somehow gt's aqua kefirs and kombuchas are still $2.99 at tj's. #littleblessings

I went today for the first time in maybe a year??? Probably not a whole year. But it’s been so long and I used to go so regularly.

The vegetable and soba noodle stir fry kit is banginnnnnn

They have a new tomato and parm focaccia that is also amazing

They’re down to 3 different varieties of olive oil instead of like 10 lol

There is a new giant “family size” rectangle cheese pizza that looks promising

I did not see a spot for the beloved Japanese fried rice and I really hope they did not discontinue :(

I guess all TJ's are different and are dependent on local and regional supplies

Meyer lemons are gone now at my store, but I'm anticipating amazing peonies in a few weeks

Apparently they found huge amounts of lead in the palak paneer but so they were gone for a year but they’re back this week. I don’t care I’ll keep eating that garbage.

was excited when Stevie posted about focaccia, but i don't think we have that here. just went to tj's for the first time in 8 months after going like 2x/week for the previous 15 years! thing i got that am most excited about (that i'd forgotten bc 8 months) is GOAT GOUDA. YUM.
also picked up a purple artichoke which is currently steaming

ube pretzels are bomb i housed 2 bags

Have been eating tons of the chakri mix

this is the Good Focaccia: https://www.traderjoes.com/home/products/pdp/focaccia-bread-with-roasted-tomato-and-parmesan-064435

We have stopped going almost entirely. So much of their stuff is utter trash, and the few things they do well aren’t worth spending time for.

TJ's makes its reputation and its main profits as a seller of slightly exotic convenience foods and snacks, but I value it almost entirely for its selection of nuts, seeds and dried fruit, wine and cheese. It's also where we buy our laundry soap and TP. Since most of what we buy there has a long shelf life, since the pandemic started I've cut back to shopping there about once every two months.

Same thing, but because they don't have booze (Pennsylvania liquor laws eyeroll) and the nut prices are better at Aldi, I really only need Trader Joe's for shampoo and one or two other sort of BS items.

Even though they stopped carrying soy milk, I still go there every other week for non-dairy milk because their almond milk is the only one that I've tried that doesn't taste gross.

Also their sliced whole wheat bread is under $3 which is ridiculously cheap.

TJ food is probably 90% of my diet.