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

don't eat your veggies....

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/green-giant-recall-trader-joes-recall-fresh-vegetables-recalled-over-listeria/

A kind mention for the "super-firm" tofu: unique and a good value, with about twice the density as "firm" blocks.

I've been freezing it overnight for texture, thawing (still in the package) in warm water in the sink, pressing the excess water out (it only will lose about 15% of volume in my tofu press, other tofu loses 50% or more), slicing into ~7 mm cutlets, then marinating/coating, and frying.

Some marinades have worked especially well: 1 pt Jamaican jerk sauce, 1 pt oil, 1 pt water is excellent. Nutritional yeast/shoyu/oil is flexible, working in salads or sandwiches. BBQ sauce+oil is serviceable. Rosemary/majoram/pepper gyro seasoning is okay, but that spice mix remains a work in progress. Sadly, Zhoug sauce, which seemed promising, made for a terrible marinade: cilantro loses any charm when browned.

their boxed golden milk is not terrible. not as good as what i was making by hand but much less trouble for everyday consumption. i like it warmed up before bed with 2 cookies like a toddler :-/

the (new-to-me) frozen paratha is excellent.

i just looked at the what's new page and am very interested in their pimento cheese and spicy taco sauce. I don't generally like chip things but the chili & lime rolled tortilla chips are really addictive.

The buffalo hummus is my jam (literally) right jow

*now

oh yeah their fake takis are so good

Buffalo hummus! the thought is making my mouth water.

I have it spread on the spicy quinoa burgers and it is excellent

destroy: jarred pumpkin bisque

first off, it has 390 calories and 27g of fat per CUP. i saw that when i bought it but I decided it was something fun (and hopefully filling) i could take to work and have for lunch in a pinch. but it's SO sweet (this is coming from a sugar addict)...I feel like I'm eating some funky pumpkin pie filling. there's honey, tahini and apple cider vinegar in it and it's just all ott. i usually don't bother returning things but I'm gonna stick this one in my trunk until my next TJ's trip.

I like the Thai eggplant dinner thing in the frozen dinner section (no rice or noodles included). I heat and put over rice, tasty and filling.

The person who designed the Tunisian extra virgin olive oil container should be arrested, it’s impossible to pour without it splashing all over the top.

welcome to tinned olive oil. punch a tiny hole on the other side if it bothers you so much?

yeah tinned oils are kind of annoying but if some spills I usually just use it to clean some stainless steel in the kitchen.

Or get/make a smaller oil dispenser for day to day use.

outdoor miner you’ve changed my life I forgot that one weird trick

I love most of Trader Joe's bath and kitchen and beauty products, especially the winter seasonal stuff. I got and love these super soft Japanese charcoal washcloths, and I like picking up the ginger/grapefruit scrub and ginger lotion for my wife. But today there was all sorts of awesome new swag, including olive wood cutting boards and bowls, a gift set of different body scrubs, another set of essential oils and wool ball diffusers, mini candles, and these great wool-ball trivets. Quality gifts for friends and family and teachers!

I noticed they also, very on trend, now have their own brands of beef broth and oat milk, fwiw. Oh, and they had an advent calendar for cats I considered.

olive wood cutting boards

I'll look for these at my local TJ's.

jalapeno sauce

I impulse bought the advent calendar for dogs lol
It was 99 cents! Couldn’t resist.

If anyone sees a jar of the maple butter I will buy it from you. That stuff was AMAZING and disappeared rather quickly.

I got the ginger lemon hard kombucha (6.5% abv!) and it smells kind of like bratwurst. That has not stopped me from working my way through the six pack.

thai lime chili almonds w/ kefir lime leaves are interesting

i love those things. I also use the leftover debris in the bag on top of salmon when I bake it.

do you live in somewhere with a breezy, unencumbered open plan trader joe's

I've seen one of these once. In Laguna Hills, CA. It was magnificent.

I'm a fan of:
Pretzel bagels and rolls
Frozen, dark chocolate covered strawberries and bananas
Plumcots and apriums, which sadly recall the Mayostard/Mustardayonnaise sketch from Mr. Show.

Most Trader Joe's products are a lot like the better Sufjan Stevens records: Addicting at first but get I sick of them really quickly. And there have been some all-out disappointments.

Excellent username there Deflatormouse. Welcome to the I Love Everything annex.

i shopped at the first trader joes (pasadena ca) for a while last year. i've been in bigger bodegas. it was intense, but it was obviously less intense than the court st brooklyn store.

there's a newish one at the mid city/santa monica border. extremely chilled out vibes.

https://lh3.ggpht.com/p/AF1QipPaCwMKmCh-mvZu5Qwbx0Ru3Vbu0gZwdmEzfkUJ

i love those things. I also use the leftover debris in the bag on top of salmon when I bake it.

― Yerac, Saturday, January 25, 2020 2:45 PM (four hours ago)

i was going to comment on the huge amount of dust in the bag. this is genius!

Excellent username there Deflatormouse. Welcome to the I Love Everything annex.
― A is for (Aimless), Saturday, January 25, 2020 4:25 PM (two hours ago)

Aw, shucks. Thank you so much.

I love love love the pork gyoza (gyozas?)

xpost, yeah the thai chili lime almond dust is amazing on fish ( I think I did some fresh ginger, agave and butter underneath. I wonder what else it would be good on. They really should bottle it. They have something similar bottled but it's not really the same. It needs the bigger chunks.

night+market give simething similar with pad thai, and yeah, that's a great idea. use everything!

chili lime almond dust

Sounds like Tajin. Available at any hispanic grocer, and at any Walmart locally...

I couldn't find my beloved trusty superfood pilaf made of kale and sweet potato and quinoa the other week, and after one of my helpful local tj's sales associates had to consult The Computer System to verify it'd been discontinued ;_; they talked me into trying the frozen riced cauliflower seasoned with green onion and sesame oil as a side for salmon and I've been super into it but I am definitely always willing to try pouring dust from a chip bag onto my fish, so I'ma try that too

the Mayostard/Mustardayonnaise sketch

I like to think about this any opportunity I can, so thank you.

another tj's product I'm about lately is the mini sheet cake, specifically the chantilly cream vanilla bean one. it's the perfect size for overeating cake, which is the way I personally like to eat cake.

Tajin is a lot like the chili lime powder TJ's has. But tajin has bigger and drier? granules? I used to know a guy that would pour it into his hand to eat while drinking booze. The almond thing has these detritus of dry keffir lime leaves that really make it.

i don't know this mayostard Mr. Show sketch! It might be too close to home. I mix mustard and sriracha into too many other condiments. I only like ketchup if it has sriracha in it.

I never have good luck with the TJ's proper desserts. I should look up the sheet cake. I usually will only get ice cream or ice cream mochi sometimes but the mochi is often very dry/old.

i am looking at the new product page and they finally have furikake.

TJs has their own tajin too, it's just called chile lime seasoning

oh sorry yerac already addressed that

The two things I always keep stocked in the freezer since a TJ's opened up a block away from me:

Broccoli & Cheddar Quiche
Chicken Fried Rice (I find it needs like an extra half chicken breast added to it per serving)

hot & sweet jalapeños = yes

Did a big chopping trip to TJs yesterday. They now have various items flavored with the Everything But the Bagel seasoning including an almond and cashew mix and lox. Also trying out the Synergistically Seasoned Popcorn, which is tangy and spicy.

*shopping trip

I had an egg-and-cheese on TJ's Everything ciabatta this morning and it was worthy

I like the idea of a chopping trip to the grocery store, just whip out your knife & cutting board in the produce section and start going ham.

TJ's is the only place in our town to get brown basmati rice these days; the Asian and Indian shops haven't a grain.

So the Everything but the Bagel Nut Duo is ok, really needs more of the seasoning to pep it up a bit, but the Olive & Herbs Mixed Nuts is really good. Lots of nice olive flavor.

Do not buy the V8 knockoff. Vile

I keep thinking about stopping my TJ patronage because of their labor practices not protecting their workers and their IMO dumb decision to not support online ordering, but when I get non-dairy milk from other places, it often tastes gross as hell. TJ's soy milk really is no-fuss goodness.

In normal times I shop at TJs once a week along with a couple other stores, but I'd only buy some wine and maybe six or eight other pantry items. Today I shopped there for the first time since early March and came away with $240 of stuff, mostly pantry stuff, 10 bottles of wine, some freezer items, and a bit of produce thrown in for good measure.

I went in today at lunch at what is traditionally the busiest TJs in the city I live in and it was a ghost town. Maybe 20 other shoppers? No line to get in, no line to check out.

Both times I'd driven by post-SIP, there had been lines of 50+ people winding down about a block and a half so this was a welcome surprise.

Also, iirc TJs is one of the most employee-friendly chains to work for so if you have beef with them, perhaps stick to your local co-op or family-owned+operated grocery store.

Not sure what things TJs did that were unsafe, but the one I go to seemed to have an extremely rigorous process in place for limiting the number of people in the store and keeping them well away from their employees. Much more so than any other store I've been to.

same -- people are waiting in line around the parking lot to get into TJs whereas you can waltz right in anywhere else
we do have to wear masks in any public place in my area though so that's not up for negotiation