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Trader Joe's food review thread
August 24, 2008 at
07:09 PM
in
Grocery
(3)
I've been trying out various food products from Trader Joe's. Thought a food review thread might be fun. Please do add your own reviews of Trader Joe's foods/products.
So far...
Trader Joe's Chocolate (Product of Belgium): Really nice and a good value too.
Shepard's Pie: This one was a huge disappointment. It was watery, almost like soup and had very little meat in it. Hubby couldn't even eat it. The pic makes it look so good, the reality was a shock.
Chicken Enchiladas in Salsa Verde: Very tasty, have had this one a couple of times. Not bad value either. Cheaper than TV dinners at other stores. *Note: The only pic I could find is not the best, it looks much nicer IRL on a plate.
Chicken and Chile Verde Burritos: Not bad, would eat again but not as nice as the enchiladas. Would be nicer with a sauce on top.
Chicken and Gorgonzola with Lentils: Not my thing, found the chicken a bit bland for me, although the lentils were nice.
Mandarin Orange Chicken: This one is very nice and pretty easy to fix. Just put a 1/4 cup of oil in a pan, brown the chicken and then dump in the sauce and serve over rice (sold separately). To make it a little healthier, I took the chicken out of the oil, patted it to remove the excess oil and then mixed in the sauce. You can also bake the chicken in the oven, the instructions are on the package, it's just been too hot to fire up the oven here. Just bought more today. It's enough for a family of four or you can just do half for 1 or 2 people, as it comes with two sauce packets.
So far...
Trader Joe's Chocolate (Product of Belgium): Really nice and a good value too.
Shepard's Pie: This one was a huge disappointment. It was watery, almost like soup and had very little meat in it. Hubby couldn't even eat it. The pic makes it look so good, the reality was a shock.
Chicken Enchiladas in Salsa Verde: Very tasty, have had this one a couple of times. Not bad value either. Cheaper than TV dinners at other stores. *Note: The only pic I could find is not the best, it looks much nicer IRL on a plate.
Chicken and Chile Verde Burritos: Not bad, would eat again but not as nice as the enchiladas. Would be nicer with a sauce on top.
Chicken and Gorgonzola with Lentils: Not my thing, found the chicken a bit bland for me, although the lentils were nice.
Mandarin Orange Chicken: This one is very nice and pretty easy to fix. Just put a 1/4 cup of oil in a pan, brown the chicken and then dump in the sauce and serve over rice (sold separately). To make it a little healthier, I took the chicken out of the oil, patted it to remove the excess oil and then mixed in the sauce. You can also bake the chicken in the oven, the instructions are on the package, it's just been too hot to fire up the oven here. Just bought more today. It's enough for a family of four or you can just do half for 1 or 2 people, as it comes with two sauce packets.
Community Wiki
Last Edited by Princess_Spock
May 31, 2016
at
03:10 AM
Feel free to add your own, good and bad foods to the list but please, don't delete/move foods that someone else added - thx!
List of Lounger approved (or disapproved) TJ foods.
Good Foods by category:
Gluten free favorites:
Rice Noodle Soup Bowls
Rice mac and cheese
Fiberful fruit leathers
Crunchy Curls
Raspberry chicken walnut salad
lara bars
gluten free brownie mix
gluten free pancake mix
Individually packaged omega fortified cranberry and nut mix
Banana waffles
Baked Goods, Cookies and Desserts
Brioche loaf (not bakery good but better than the grocery store type)
Candy Cane Joe Joes (available at Christmas time)
Caneles de Bordeaux (fairly good 3.5 out of 5 - needs a little more flavor and custard on the inside)
Carrot cake muffins
Chocolate Caramel Tartlet
Chocolate Dipped Dunkers
Cinnamon Rolls
Crispy crunchy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Dark Chocolate Triple Ginger Cookies
Lacy's milk chocolate macadamia nut cookies
Lemon Cream Cheese muffins
Lemon loaf cake
Mango Passion Torta Cotta
Maple Cream Cookies (oreo style)
Oatmeal cookies
Parmiago Rosemary Rolls
Pinachios
Pumpkin Bread mix
Pumpkin Spice Bunt Cake (baked goods area)
Raspberry Tarte (Best thing we've had so far. Frozen foods. They also have a blueberry tarte.)
Raspberry Chocolate Torte (frozen foods)
Schoolhouse Cookies
Seven grain bread (great flavor and texture)
Sheppard's Bread (great taste, with just a touch of honey)
Shortbread Chocolate Thumb Print cookies
Strawberry Shortcake (frozen foods, cake)
Triple Gingersnap cookies (in the tubs)
Vanilla Bread mix
Vanilla Lemon Cupcakes with cream cheese icing
Vanilla Meringues
White Fudge drizzled Oatmeal Cranberry Dunkers
Snacks
Alsace tart (appetizer) (frozen foods)
Any of the TJ chocolates
Banana chips
Blue tortilla chips
Bruschetta
Dark Chocolate Caramels
Dark Chocolate Roasted Pistachio Toffee
Ginger gummy bears
Gluten free trail mix
Golden crackers
Gorgonzola crackers
Lemongrass Spring Rolls (frozen foods)
Mini milk chocolate peanut butter cups
Mini Peanut Butter Sandwich crackers
Multigrain crackers
Phillo dough (frozen foods)
Pirate's Booty
Pistachio covered toffee
Pita chips with cinnamon and sugar
Pretzel Slims (either plain or chocolate covered)
Rice pudding
Roasted Plantain Chips (they are salty, not sweet)
Sesame Sticks
Southwestern Style Chicken Poppers (frozen foods)
Thai Lime and Chili Cashews (spicy!)
White Cheddar Corn Puffs
Meats and main courses
Smokehouse Pulled Beef Brisket
Korean-Inspired Pork Shoulder in a spicy scallion and ginger sauce
Paneer Tikki Masala (new frozen food)
Bison burgers
Chicken Empanadas (frozen foods)
California Rolls (prepared foods)
Beef or chicken tacos (frozen foods)
Chicken Enchiladas in Salsa Verde (frozen foods)
Chicken and Chilie Verde Burritos (really needs a sauce)
Mandarin Orange Chicken (frozen foods)
All of the pasta dishes
Asparagus Rissotto (frozen foods)
ChickenTaquitos (frozen foods) *note: the beef ones are okay but not as good as the chicken taquitos*
Chicken Gorgonzola with mushrooms (frozen foods)
Pre-cooked seasoned lentils (produce section)
Organic Jasmine Rice (frozen foods)
Vegetable Masala Burger (frozen foods)
Turkey chili with beans (canned)
Puff Pastry Margherita Pizza
All of the pizzas (esp. the BBQ Chicken Pizza)
All of the meats
All sausages
All frozen fish - tilapia and cod is awesome
Roast beef, pickled onions and honey mustard sandwich (prepared foods section)
Chicken Serenada (frozen foods)
Chicken Pompadoro (frozen foods)
Carne Asada (makes great fajitas)
Steamed clams (frozen, in shells, with garlic butter)
Other
Pizza dough (in the prepared/refrigerated foods section)
Garlic & Herb Pizza Dough ( even better than plain)
Spring Creek garlic and herb goat cheese
Roasted Pepper and Artichoke Tapenade
Masala Simmer Sauce (starter sauce)
Water crackers
Multigrain flax seed crackers
Golden Entertainers crackers
Brown Rice Medley
Grilled eggplant and zucchini (frozen foods)
Peanut Butter
Cookie Butter
Salad mixes
Greek style yogurt with honey
All soups (except Miso)
Frozen Garlic
Frozen Cilantro
Frozen Basil
Red pepper hummus
Edamame hummus
French Roast Coffee(drive across town just for this)
Bold and Smokey Kansas City Style BBQ Sauce
Romano Caesar salad dressing
Chile Spiced Mango (dried fruit section)
Thai Style Soy Ginger Carrot
Nasi Goreng
Black Raspberries (frozen foods)
pear sauce (in cups like apple sauce)
Almond milk
Garlic naan (frozen foods)
Banana waffles (frozen foods)
Lightly smoked canned sardines
Powdered Chai (pretty sweet but yummy and easy to mix)
Winter Blend coffee
Mango Chutney
Garlic Bread (frozen foods, by pizzas)
Beans So Green (frozen foods)
Bad Foods:
Oatmeal bars (way too sweet)
Shepherd's Pie (watery and nasty)
Chicken and Gorgonzola with Lentils (bit bland)
Tangerine juice
Orange juice (too sweet)
Instant Miso soup (powdered miso)
Dried Salted Green Beans
Currant cookies (too seedy)
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Egg salad sandwich (bland and dry)
Perline Pasta & Proscutto (terrible filling, bad flavor and weird texture)
Chocolate covered frozen bananas - bummer, I thought they'd be a hit but no one liked them here
Filet of Sole reduced calorie meal (frozen foods - good flavor but very small portion)
Dried pumelo (over sweetened yet still bitter)
Cream filled Oscar Meyer hot dogs (cream does not belong with beef. Bad idea)
Tom Yum cashews (the flavor was too overwhelming)
Turkey meatballs - frozen foods section - (Mixed reviews, one lounger's DH liked them but to me they had a weird texture and odd taste, plus they gave my DH terrible heartburn so with 2 out of 3 no's, in the bad foods section they go.)
Eggplant Garlic Spread - bland and had an odd aftertaste
Spicy Shrimp Bao (strong fishy aftertaste)
Frozen falafels (incorrect seasoning, tastes like frozen veggie burger discs)
***
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For those of you who might be wondering if there's a Trader Joes near you, click this link and enter your zip code. LinkyTo see if there's a store opening soon in your area, click this link. Linky [traderjoes.com] |
Good Foods by category:
Gluten free favorites:
Rice Noodle Soup Bowls
Rice mac and cheese
Fiberful fruit leathers
Crunchy Curls
Raspberry chicken walnut salad
lara bars
gluten free brownie mix
gluten free pancake mix
Individually packaged omega fortified cranberry and nut mix
Banana waffles
Baked Goods, Cookies and Desserts
Brioche loaf (not bakery good but better than the grocery store type)
Candy Cane Joe Joes (available at Christmas time)
Caneles de Bordeaux (fairly good 3.5 out of 5 - needs a little more flavor and custard on the inside)
Carrot cake muffins
Chocolate Caramel Tartlet
Chocolate Dipped Dunkers
Cinnamon Rolls
Crispy crunchy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Dark Chocolate Triple Ginger Cookies
Lacy's milk chocolate macadamia nut cookies
Lemon Cream Cheese muffins
Lemon loaf cake
Mango Passion Torta Cotta
Maple Cream Cookies (oreo style)
Oatmeal cookies
Parmiago Rosemary Rolls
Pinachios
Pumpkin Bread mix
Pumpkin Spice Bunt Cake (baked goods area)
Raspberry Tarte (Best thing we've had so far. Frozen foods. They also have a blueberry tarte.)
Raspberry Chocolate Torte (frozen foods)
Schoolhouse Cookies
Seven grain bread (great flavor and texture)
Sheppard's Bread (great taste, with just a touch of honey)
Shortbread Chocolate Thumb Print cookies
Strawberry Shortcake (frozen foods, cake)
Triple Gingersnap cookies (in the tubs)
Vanilla Bread mix
Vanilla Lemon Cupcakes with cream cheese icing
Vanilla Meringues
White Fudge drizzled Oatmeal Cranberry Dunkers
Snacks
Alsace tart (appetizer) (frozen foods)
Any of the TJ chocolates
Banana chips
Blue tortilla chips
Bruschetta
Dark Chocolate Caramels
Dark Chocolate Roasted Pistachio Toffee
Ginger gummy bears
Gluten free trail mix
Golden crackers
Gorgonzola crackers
Lemongrass Spring Rolls (frozen foods)
Mini milk chocolate peanut butter cups
Mini Peanut Butter Sandwich crackers
Multigrain crackers
Phillo dough (frozen foods)
Pirate's Booty
Pistachio covered toffee
Pita chips with cinnamon and sugar
Pretzel Slims (either plain or chocolate covered)
Rice pudding
Roasted Plantain Chips (they are salty, not sweet)
Sesame Sticks
Southwestern Style Chicken Poppers (frozen foods)
Thai Lime and Chili Cashews (spicy!)
White Cheddar Corn Puffs
Meats and main courses
Smokehouse Pulled Beef Brisket
Korean-Inspired Pork Shoulder in a spicy scallion and ginger sauce
Paneer Tikki Masala (new frozen food)
Bison burgers
Chicken Empanadas (frozen foods)
California Rolls (prepared foods)
Beef or chicken tacos (frozen foods)
Chicken Enchiladas in Salsa Verde (frozen foods)
Chicken and Chilie Verde Burritos (really needs a sauce)
Mandarin Orange Chicken (frozen foods)
All of the pasta dishes
Asparagus Rissotto (frozen foods)
ChickenTaquitos (frozen foods) *note: the beef ones are okay but not as good as the chicken taquitos*
Chicken Gorgonzola with mushrooms (frozen foods)
Pre-cooked seasoned lentils (produce section)
Organic Jasmine Rice (frozen foods)
Vegetable Masala Burger (frozen foods)
Turkey chili with beans (canned)
Puff Pastry Margherita Pizza
All of the pizzas (esp. the BBQ Chicken Pizza)
All of the meats
All sausages
All frozen fish - tilapia and cod is awesome
Roast beef, pickled onions and honey mustard sandwich (prepared foods section)
Chicken Serenada (frozen foods)
Chicken Pompadoro (frozen foods)
Carne Asada (makes great fajitas)
Steamed clams (frozen, in shells, with garlic butter)
Other
Pizza dough (in the prepared/refrigerated foods section)
Garlic & Herb Pizza Dough ( even better than plain)
Spring Creek garlic and herb goat cheese
Roasted Pepper and Artichoke Tapenade
Masala Simmer Sauce (starter sauce)
Water crackers
Multigrain flax seed crackers
Golden Entertainers crackers
Brown Rice Medley
Grilled eggplant and zucchini (frozen foods)
Peanut Butter
Cookie Butter
Salad mixes
Greek style yogurt with honey
All soups (except Miso)
Frozen Garlic
Frozen Cilantro
Frozen Basil
Red pepper hummus
Edamame hummus
French Roast Coffee(drive across town just for this)
Bold and Smokey Kansas City Style BBQ Sauce
Romano Caesar salad dressing
Chile Spiced Mango (dried fruit section)
Thai Style Soy Ginger Carrot
Nasi Goreng
Black Raspberries (frozen foods)
pear sauce (in cups like apple sauce)
Almond milk
Garlic naan (frozen foods)
Banana waffles (frozen foods)
Lightly smoked canned sardines
Powdered Chai (pretty sweet but yummy and easy to mix)
Winter Blend coffee
Mango Chutney
Garlic Bread (frozen foods, by pizzas)
Beans So Green (frozen foods)
Bad Foods:
Oatmeal bars (way too sweet)
Shepherd's Pie (watery and nasty)
Chicken and Gorgonzola with Lentils (bit bland)
Tangerine juice
Orange juice (too sweet)
Instant Miso soup (powdered miso)
Dried Salted Green Beans
Currant cookies (too seedy)
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Egg salad sandwich (bland and dry)
Perline Pasta & Proscutto (terrible filling, bad flavor and weird texture)
Chocolate covered frozen bananas - bummer, I thought they'd be a hit but no one liked them here
Filet of Sole reduced calorie meal (frozen foods - good flavor but very small portion)
Dried pumelo (over sweetened yet still bitter)
Cream filled Oscar Meyer hot dogs (cream does not belong with beef. Bad idea)
Tom Yum cashews (the flavor was too overwhelming)
Turkey meatballs - frozen foods section - (Mixed reviews, one lounger's DH liked them but to me they had a weird texture and odd taste, plus they gave my DH terrible heartburn so with 2 out of 3 no's, in the bad foods section they go.)
Eggplant Garlic Spread - bland and had an odd aftertaste
Spicy Shrimp Bao (strong fishy aftertaste)
Frozen falafels (incorrect seasoning, tastes like frozen veggie burger discs)
***
This post can be edited by most users to provide up-to-date information about developments of this thread based on user responses, and user findings. Feel free to add, change or remove information shown here as it becomes available. This includes new coupons, rebates, ideas, thread summary, and similar items.
Once a Thread Wiki is added to a thread, "Create Wiki" button will disappear. If you would like to learn more about Thread Wiki feature, click here.
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The TJ Pumkin Bread is simply wonderful. It was nice and moist with a great flavor. It's nice to eat as is or you can make a cream cheese icing to pour over it.
Wasn't fussed though on the TJ Gingerbread as the ginger was too overpowering.
The TJ Chicken Teriyaki from the frozen foods section is another winner. Just chop up the veggies of your choice, or use the TJ frozen stir fry veggies and sautee them in a pan with some of the sauce. The chicken is prepared in the microwave, per the instructions on the package and comes out great. We have it usually once a week.
DH went tonight to get a pumpkin pie and they were sold out. If I could drive, I would have been able to pick one up this morning or make one from scratch like I normally do.
DH went tonight to get a pumpkin pie and they were sold out. If I could drive, I would have been able to pick one up this morning or make one from scratch like I normally do.
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Yes, I have way too much time on my hands right now.
Last night, we were short on time and I picked up a pizza dough, a trio of sandwich meat (the packet that has salami, mortadella, and prosciutto), and pepperoni. I made a quick white cheese sauce (with herbs) on the stove and wrapped it all in the dough with mozzarella. It was ready in 20 minutes and we had a wonderful Stromboli for less than $10.00. Hubby loved it and we even have left-overs. I don't know what I would do without Trader Joe's. They even had herbs for sale (live plants) Rosemary, Thyme, and Sage. It was $7.99 and all 3 come in a pot (the pot comes with a ceramic Turkey and a sign that says Turkey Stuffing) and I plan to keep it until Christmas.
Ingredients:
Mediterranean style flat bread (9 in a package, I buy 2 for feeding 6 people)
Cous Cous (plain style, in a box)
Hummus
Taskiki (cucumber yogurt, next to the hummus in TJ)
Tomatos
Cucumber (hot house, or the "sweet" type)
Feta Cheese
Spinach leaves
Directions:
1) Cook the Cous Cous (takes about 10-15 minutes for the cous cous to soften)
2) In a small saute pan, put 2 TB of olive oil spread around the pan, on med/high heat and put in a piece of the flat bread. Cook 45 seconds on each side until light brown (careful not to burn it).
3) Place the bread on a plate and add a thin layer of hummus and Taskiki
4) Add cous cous and feta cheese (so the loose pieces stick in the hummus and taskiki)
5) Top with sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, and spinach
6) Enjoy!
Its almost like a Mediterranean tostada. Once you make one you will understand how to make the next one better, and can even fold it like a taco, or just pile everything on and eat it with a fork and knife!
Mad props for the inventor of this!
For Thanksgiving my BIL brought over some things from TJ's and I loved them
Now I want one near me, so I can shop there too
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of 2008 (in no particular order )
1. Mandarin Orange Chicken (except this one is really #1)
2. Greek Yogurt
3. Triple Ginger Snaps
4. Candy Cane Joe Joe's
5. Refrigerated Pizza Dough
6. Frozen Green Beans
7. Hummus
8. Tarte d' Alsace
9. Frozen Sweet Potato Fries
10. Avocados
11. Frozen Brown Rice
12. Frozen Buffalo Burgers
13. Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
14. Sparkling Blueberry Juice
15. Garden Patch Vegetable Juice
16. Almond Milk
17. Tortillas
18. Dunkers Cookies
19. Pound Plus Bittersweet Chocolate
20. Crispy Crunchy Chocolate Chip Cookies
21. Creamy Tomato Soup
22. Cannned Corn
23. Veggie & Flaxseed Tortilla Chips
24. Five Seed Almond Bars
25. Frozen Chocolate Croissants
26. Frozen Meatballs
27. Roasted Red Pepper Spread
28. Freeze Dried Mango Slices
29. Frozen Steel Cut Oatmeal
30. Peanut Butter Pretzels
31. Olive Oil
32. Nuts
33. Coffee
34. Charles Shaw Wines**in stores where wine is sold