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

I can't get everything bagels where I am, so I put them on the cream cheese or spread of plain bagels. I also like it on tomatoes, avocados or to add some texture to salads. Also it's decent as a whack furikake when I make the rice for sushi or poke.

I am very sad because I ran out. This is the stuff I usually get at Trader Joe's to take when I am out of the country.
Pink Himalayan Salt
Green Dragon Sauce
Brown Rice Pasta
Rice Crackers
Everything Bagel seasoning
Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
Cowboy Bark

Oh man, and I always stock up on a dozen boxes of the red fox tea if I can hit a TJ at the right time.

yeah i use the everything seasoning because no one else in my family likes everything bagels, so i use it to everythingize the plain bagels we get. it's also pretty good in scrambled eggs.

I'm giving my family so much TJs stuff as presents (since they don't live near one). Their caramel corn/Cracker Jacks knock-off product is outstanding, as are their gluten-free chocolate cupcakes, which are basically the only pastry I can have these days.

And I don't know what it is about their almond milk but it is just miles away THE BEST, compared to all other supermarket brands. If it's a mainstream product just repackaged with TJs boxes, I wish I could figure out what one it is, because the supermarket ones are all slightly tinted water comparatively.

everything but the bagel is really good on popcorn

Is everything but the bagel still available? I went to tjs a week ago and they didn't have it, was too rushed to ask someone there to look it up for me. It's amazing on avocado toast...

The big cookie skillet is great.

"spud crunchies" = dehydrated frozen french fries?

Best place to buy affordable valentine's day roses that I've found around here

"spud crunchies" = dehydrated frozen french fries?

― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Wednesday, February 14, 2018

kinda? very common snacking in asia. these rule tbh but TJ's isn't ready to get this real

https://s3.amazonaws.com/cratejoy_vendor_images/treats/bold/images/3._Jagabee_Soy_Sauce_Potato_Crisps_by_Calbee.png

i didn't want to like them because they tasted like cold dead fries but somehow i gave in. three bags later, i wonder if i can make them myself in a dehydrator ;_;

Strong suspicion the Trader Joes are rebranded Calbee. They are offloading the bacon & cheddar version at dollar stores.

My woke girlfriend just got a tattoo of a spoon. I showed a photo of it to a friend. And then today the friend sent me a photo of a Trader Joe's bag, and the tattoo is indeed a replica of the TJ spoon.

That's all I got.

http://cynthiashaffer.typepad.com/.a/6a013487f74219970c0147e216a9ae970b-500wi

heartbreaking
does she know you call her your "woke girlfriend"?

what does your non-woke girlfriend have a tattoo of?

seriously though i can't imagine getting a tattoo and then realizing it was on a grocery bag
i hope she is taking it ok!!

twist ending: the grocery bag design is based on her tattoo

My wife is obsessed with those spud crunchies

trader joe’s has rebranded rp’s fettuccine for those of you who are gluten free and miss fresh pasta. it’s very good and stored with all the other fresh pasta

It's a little nuts that Trader Joe's never has a decent soy yogurt.

tj's is a fucking lifesaver in the boonies, that's all i know. i'm into the mushroom fettuccini with grilled lemon chicken mixed in.

TJ's is not great for dairy-free. Had a convo with a lactose intolerant TJ's employee about it when I was attempting a dairy free, several course Indian meal.

And I got her tattoo
Grocery bag

I was at a friend's house today and friend brought out the TJ french fry spud snacks and Mrs. Broccoli immediately wondered if they were rebranded Calbee crisps... Good to check in on this thread and confirm some suspicions.

I ran out of everything but the bagel and won't be able to get to a TJ"s for a bit. I've had to try to make my own and I just can't get it right.

buy the bagels and shake em over your food

recipe:
ingredients: everything

😫

they now have these organic chicken sausages which are not-bad (which is to say not great, but decent.)

at least at my local TJ's their avocados are all either hard as rocks or extremely soft and easily puncturable to the touch, like a drifter's corpse left in the sun.

i like their frozen pizzas a lot. They used to have those very cheap and excellent $1.99 pints of organic grassfed ice-cream but they're all gone now.

everything-but-the-bagel + scrambled eggs = victory

like a drifter's corpse left in the sun.
lol
true

Occurs to me that TJ exists in my part of the U.S. because they slip under the Whole Foods price point. Now that Amazon's owns Whole Foods, I'm not sure that will last.

I just had the Sicilian pizza. Regardless of any authenticity, I think it's a lesser pie than their other Italy-sourced vegetarian pizzas. Cheese all on one quadrant, no evidence of wood smoke, and a dollar more. Best TJ pizza IMO is the roasted vegetable, which has been absent from my local TJ for the past month.

TJ's has a pretty devoted following. I would equate it to people who go to Target. I used to look forward to my weekly trips there on Saturday morning after the gym.

Buying TJ's was a brilliant sidestep for ALDI US. Smaller footprint, high throughput shops selling exclusively store label/higher margin product, and pretending to be a 70s co-op with newsprint marketing. There's only one within 60 miles of me, and every register has a line 3-8 pm. I like it, but I tend to buy the exact same things (lavash flatbread, hummus, a bag of greens, a bag of potatoes, a bag of apples/citrus fruit, pesto sauce, a frozen pizza, a bottle of wine) every visit. Anything else is a snack for the drive.

TJs seems to make its reputation on convenience food, snacks, and wine. Of those three categories I mainly buy wine there, plus a few snack foods like chips or hummus, because their price point is better than anywhere else near me.

otoh, I buy olive oil, nuts, dried fruit, dry pasta, cheese, bagels, vitamin supplements, and laundry soap there regularly. Those are comparatively cheap and decent quality, although truthfully their bagels are pretty mediocre. The sad fact is that just about every bagel within five miles of my house is even worse than mediocre, so there's that to consider.

The above short list covers about 95% of what I buy at TJs. As an officially old person I am very set in my ways, which is how I like it.

I could get everything I need at TJ's for the week for about $40 (spinach, broccoli, avocado, hummus, guac/yogurt, one random cheese, brown rice pasta, tapanede, fresh ravioli, eggs, chicken, low carb tortillas, a couple of frozen things) and then all the extras that needed to be bought less regularly spanish olive oil, olive oil spray, siracha, coffee. I had this down to a science.

The Aloo Chaat Kati pouches are pretty A+ for a snack or quick meal. I call them my Indian hot pockets.

They used to carry tasty mache, another thing that was great that disappeared.

wine and beer now that they have those cheap fancy beers

If you have an Indian grocer nearby, you can taste the other flavors of DeepFood's "pizza pockets", sold under the Babu's Pocket Sandwich sub-brand, with the very same microwave crisping sleeves as TJs Aloo Chaat packages. The Aloo Chaat ranks above the Palak Paneer, but below the Pau Bhaji.

aloo chat ❤️

it's "Potato" "Snack". If you want ❤️, find your local Chaat stand.

No local Chaat stand where I am right now (South America), but I have been doing super good making tikka, dhansak and masala recently. At some point I have to try to make naan or roti, the flour here is terrible though.

oops i posted this in the wrong thread

I guess Dried Baby Bananas are TJ's Weird Banana Product of the year and they're great. Tiny whole bananas with a kind of vague caramel-y note to them.

Zhoug Sauce is VG. It's a cilantro/oil/green pepper/garlic/cumin/cardamom spicy pesto.

It's on the spicy side, but I imagine mixing with equal parts diced avocado and tomato would be a stellar party dip.

As I have an inexpensive Mexican grocer nearby, I think I'll try this recipe to make zhoug at home, subbing all cilantro, and using mustard oil rather than EVOO.

As good as TJ Zhoug: blend the hell out of 2 bunches cilantro (rinse and cut the excess stems), 8 jalapeños (remove stems), 4 cloves garlic, 2 tsp ea. cumin, coriander, 1 tsp ea. green cardamon, salt, juice of 2 limes, 1/3 cup any veg oil (you won't taste yer artisan EVOO under this green power drill).

I've come close to (re)inventing zhoug sauce on several occasions while making guacamole (before adding the avocados) or adding cilantro and peppers to hummus bi tahini. The TJ product just gave me the courage to go all out Indian Ocean pesto and add the coriander seed, cardamon, and oil.

that sounds delicious, also dangerously enticing to the invading hordes

the sumatra coffee brownies are not *inedible* but they do taste like something that your neighbor made from Allrecipes and brought to a church potluck. Like, it's just brownies covered in some sort of stale-tasting coffee powder that makes a mess everywhere. Not worth $3 for 4.

good to know. that does not sound enjoyable at all

many thanks to this thread for alerting ppl to the existence of Everything But The Bagel