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

has anyone has the spoorloos filled choc bar? Too much sweet not enough yum imo

it wasn't as bad as being buried alive in a coffin by a weird, doughy nemesis though?

xp - i have. it was ok. definitely could've been more yum imo

their lentil wrap is just okay but i would drink a gallon of the accompanying spicy tahini sauce.

and i've said it before, but the pumpernickel pretzel sticks are awesome -- they're crying out for a nice sharp fondue or at least a "pub cheese."

the trader joe's pub cheese is gross. it's just cheez whiz.

most pub cheese is gross. but it has a perverse appeal for me.

wtf is pub cheese? i've seen it, and it just looks like cheez whiz in a tub

that's what it is

yes, but why do they call it "pub cheese" - is it for aspirational "yuppies" that like british things and see themselves as above eating cheez whiz in a tub?

I like it. But I'm also a cheese whiz fan.

"pub cheese" (and port wine cheese, and low-end cheese spreads)

I tried to like port wine cheese and I just cannot.

The four-cheese jumbo raviolis they have w the fresh pasta are prob like top 10 TJ's products btw

Their cheese tortellini (from the dry pasta aisle, not the refrigerated kind) is not great. Some of the ones that are more tightly folded don't absorb enough water and the cheese inside stays dry and grainy.

I don't know if I could ever trust shelf-stable dry tortellini

Also those chocolate croissants were flaky in the wrong kind of way, and also pretty bland.

Jesse OTM. That shelf-stable tortellini is just not good. I don't know if all shelf-stable tortellini is like that or if it's specific to TJs. I do really like the spinach and cheese tortellini in the refrigerated section.

Really? All I tasted was pasta and no filling :(

I've had shelf-stable tortellini from other grocery stores that were just fine. Not amazing, but very decent for convenient tortellini when you need them.

"need"

Haha also, I'm not sure how inconvenient cheese tortellini that you keep in the freezer is (I buy the stuff from the refrigerator section and freeze it).

It didn't occur to me to do that.

Given your proclivity for freezing things, that kind of shocks me! But I'm glad you found out now, when you're young and have many years of freezing tortellini ahead of you.

Right now I have a zip lock bag of milk in my freezer. Why because I don't keep milk around very much anymore and sometimes I need some for cooking.

Yeah that sounds about right.

It didn't occur to me to do that

That is so good though bcz I always drink non-dairy milk and hate cooking things that call for regular milk bcz I buy a quart, use half a cup, and the rest just goes bad

Yeah that's pretty frigging brilliant. I have little bags of half a can of coconut milk in the freezer, but it never occurred to me to do with animal leche.

Big fan of the portabella mushroom and the spinach and cheese and artichoke and cheese ravioli. Need to try the four cheese.

Their pulled pork is pretty good too, but Costco has one like twice the size for not much more money.

I freeze milk every time I buy it for a recipe and don't use it all, but usually I don't get a chance to use it again before it becomes horribly freezer burned.

That's why I put mine in a bag and removed all the air.

Do you guys use some sort of specialty milk that isn't sold at convenience stores?

Does convenience store milk not expire?

be advised, trader joes fruit floes are the exact same thing as whole foods 365 frozen fruit bars and are about half the cost, also the lime ones are amazing

Lime ones were too intense for me. Chili mango is still my fav, followed by carribian then coconut.

LL - Cooking for me is dependent on convenience. If I am making muffins from a box mix and I have to go to the store across the street to buy milk for them, I'm going to just buy a muffin at the store.

I looked for chili mango the other night but they didn't have them :( they were sampling triple ginger lemon ice cream and it is amaazzzzing but the sample bite is about all the ice cream I can handle so I will never buy it.

As of yesterday, our TJ's was out of all the "fruit floes" except for coconut.

Tropical Carrot Juice Blend is wonderful.

Floe emergency.

Big fan of the portabella mushroom and the spinach and cheese and artichoke and cheese ravioli.

I used to be you until I tried the arugula and parmesan ravioli and now I will buy no other variety

the butternut squash triangoli are just too damn sweet though

otm and otm, except I still do buy other varieties

Butternut squash risotto is way too sweet, too. Somebody in the TJ's test kitchen needs to rethink butternut squash.

Add salt

As of yesterday, our TJ's was out of all the "fruit floes" except for coconut.

Because of this thread I went to TJs yesterday specifically on the lookout for the chile mango floes but they did not have them. :( I came home with the Lime ones though and they were amazing.

i think the chile mangos are discontinued (hence the crazy eddie's rock bottom pricing)
also discontinued: "perk you up?" nut mix with espresso beans. unhappy face emoticon.

We buy so many Popsicles. All the floes augmented with raspberry cream and mango cream bars. And peach pops. This floe shortage concerns me greatly. They are a major part of my diet.

oh no!

I want to go back and get more now. iirc they had Tropical and Coconut which both sound like flavors I'd enjoy.