I don't usually eat lunch of breakfast, but sometimes the combo of free work coffee...my morning dew, excedrine and aleve for migraine, and ADD meds make a bit jumpy.
Ok, would make MOST people jumpy....
So working from home this wasn't a biggie, but now I work in an office. I brought in several boxes of TJs snacks. I have some cereal bars, some granola, and I just found these the other day and I literally just had one.

OH MY GAWD.

I was wary about the oat thing, since most food items that claim a healthy aspect plus unhealthy one always seem disappointing. I'd rather eat healthfood OR junkfood. the combo always turns odd IMHO.
This one sooooo doesn't. I enjoyed the texture of soft oats in the brownie. It was moist and fudgey and had a nice rich flavor. Boardering on dark chocolate, which I don't normally like. I prefer the semi sweet that is on the low end of the sweet. This is about perfect. It looks like with the frosting swirl it might be too rich or sweet, but it really isn't.

I'm not sure if my kids would like this since they take after me and would rather get a bowl of pickles than a cookie, and its more bittersweet than SWEET like most kid snack items.
I used to LOOOVE fudge rounds as a kid and now they just taste like shortning and make my teeth burn from the high sugar content.
This is like a more grownup version of my fudge rounds as a kid.

Next time I go, i'm buying more. ALL FOR ME!! *insert evil laugh*

A

Ready to bake Brownies

I'm not a huge chocolate fan, I tend to waver more to salty snacks, but every now and then....
I've found the pillsbury 9x13 brownies PERFECTALLY divive into two, so i'll do one egg, 1/4c oil, and a drizzle of water and bake in a loaf pan and it's the perfect size so that I can usually finish them, but are not scarfing brownies for days trying to finish them off. I have serious guilt issues about throwing away half a pan of brownies!

I saw these and was like, awesome! they were a little pricier, but worth a shot since I don't always have eggs laying around. I saw really good reviews.
However I ate half of one, threw the rest away and tossed entire pan.
they had a weird plasticy texture and flavor....they were thick and fudgey in texture, but ehhh...
Since i stocked up on the pillsbury last time they were onsale for like a buck, and they make 2 extra thick loaf pans.....and I prefer the texture/favor I won't buy these again.

Since they have good reviews I wouldn't discourage a try, but I wasn't impressed AT ALL...

D

Trader Joe's mini brie wedge things

I couldn't find a google image for this item and I forgot to take one last night. I made a trek to TJs last night and bought some of this product. not to be confused with the little cream cheese type tubs this stuff looks very simlar to the laughing cow cheese wedges.

I couldn't even finish a wedge even though I actually tried. I contemplated trying again with plain saltines instead of the pita chips, but um...no.

just. NO.

F

Frosted Flakes

The kiddos hardly ever ate cereal in my house due to busy travel schedule and inability to keep dairy in the house. Atleast non expired variety. Usually we did oatmeal for breakfast as it required very little expire-able items. New job, more time to shop!
I bought these on a whim, as I doubt my kids have had FF more than 2x in their lives with ME anyway....and now it's going to be some sort of army of darkness around here if we ever got down to ONE box.
They will pass on booberry or cocoapuffs or any number of cereals which are basically giant bowls of processed sugar with a sprinkling of something to bulk it up. It disturbs me just how crazy the cereal thing is now. *Shudder*
that being said my all time favorite cereal, honey nut cheerios tears up the roof of my mouth something awful. Same thing happens to me when I eat tomato sauce too. Like, I'll be sore for days. I still cave and buy a box every so often, but generally like when I go out drinking I find myself going "WTF? really? why can't you learn already!"
now my rare guilty pleasure cereal is lucky charms. What a load of crap that stuff is. but I can't help myself. one bowl every 6-12m isn't going to KILL me, surely?

Anywho, FF are not the healthiest thing on the planet, but these are really tasty and quite cheap. I'm willing to admit that everytime i've gone to TJs since it's opened i've ended up buying like 3 boxes. and they are disappearing awfully quick!

I really need to pickup a box of bran flakes to make muffins. hmm....

A+

Shrimp fried rice

Going hand in hand with my weird texture issues (again, thanks mom!) goes my general distaste for seafood. Which stinks because it's oh so healthy, but I haven't gotten over it yet. Plus, this has visible onions and that would never do in my world.
However, that being said I really encourage my kids to try new foods, even if that means making 2 different meals for us. I'm just that side of awesome.
So the boys like shrimp, or "shrumps" as my lil one called them for awhile. It was pretty darn cute.
They also do not have my weird food issues at this point in time, so good work self.

I bought this because the younger of the two begged for me to get him some shrimps, and while the idea of even cooking it kinda squicks me out - I figured the fried rice wouldn't be too bad, and it was SUPER cheap. 2.99 and it makes a healthy 4c of rice.
I think it would be enough for a entire meal for 2 adults even, or one REALLY hungry person. easily side dish type for a few adults.
Lucky(?) for me, my two kids who are still shy of double digits eat like they ARE adult size. The younger one gobbled up all the shrimps (as he says) and proclaimed my ex made him a super big lunch and he was full. He didn't say he didn't like it, kept claiming he did....so I think we'll buy again. Sometimes they just are not hungry, but it's fairly rare.

The elder of the two got the slightly larger portion size and inhaled it like someone was going to take his plate away at any moment. Honestly he may have actually been able to eat the ENTIRE package if i'd let him. But in fairness, the other day he ate 4 pieces of pizza PLUS a dessert item, and I ate two. I also *only* eat dinner, and he eats 4-5 meals a day. He's GOT to be hitting a growth spurt, i've been waiting for it to happen for several years now. he really hasn't grown hardly any since like kindy/1st. his brother is 3yrs younger and only 3" shorter. course both of them are still freakishly tall....but the younger one is unbelievably so.

This is def a cheap and easy way for me to not only sneak in some acceptable veggies on them, but keep them eating a bigger variety of foods. And the size was PERFECT for the two of them. at 3 bucks it was a hell of a bargain.

I have read several reviews and they are all quite good, however I suspect the palates of the under 10 crowd might be slightly less umm...sophisticated than the average adult. Sure smelled good and looked pleasing, but I obviously cannot rate based on my own tastes.

B+

Chocolate Peanutbutter cups - Mini

I'm actually not a HUGE chocolate freak. I tend to gravitate more towards salty snacks, however like every human on the planet....sometimes you just need some chocolate. I used to like reeses, much like I used to like snickers. A LOT. now I find myself snagging one from the kid's halloween haul and going "WTF? why did I use to like these?" and then just feeling poorly about myself later for consuming enough fat, calories, and sodium for a weeks worth of food.

Enter Trader Joe's!

These are really tasty and kind of pop in your mouth in a burst of peanutbutter and chocolate. The best thing I think about these is that 27 is considered a "serving" and unlike most treats where I eat an entire package or large brownie or whatever because I don't want it going bad or wasting it (oh mom, so many food issues!) you can eat just a few.
I've been keeping these hanging out near my couch parking spot and after the kids goto bed having 5-6 or 10 of them and I no longer feel like snacking.

Plus it's been a few months now and my container is still like 2/3rds full. I may try the slightly larger but still small version of these next, or making cookies with them.

My coworkers hate me already. Muhahahha!

A

Gone Bananas!

More about my weird texture issues. I don't like cocolate dipped cones or bars. I find the combo of the waxy crunchy chocolate and sweet cold ice cream something akin to eating worms. It just plain squicks me out. However i'd heard good things and the price was good (1.99) for these and even if I didn't like them and they were subpar - I knew the kids would eat the snot out of these. For two young (certainly not little!) my kids both eat more than a grown man does. I just know my grocery budget when they are teens will be more than my morgage and car payments combined. Unless I go and buy a BMW. But I digress...

Box comes with 20 pieces, and while they look small they really are filling. I was admittedly still rather full from my ham and cheese kolache (yum!) but 2 pieces left me patting my tummy with glee. Since my kids were away for the weekend, I didn't have to hide them either!

There is the vague air of the dipped chocolate deal, however the chocolate is GOOD and slightly thicker so I didn't get the odd crunchy chocolate weirdness that normally makes me gag down my frozen treat and smile politely as I watch others scarf theirs down with glee feeling awkward.
Bananas were ripe and firm and tasty. Frozen aspect was good as well, it will be a nice treat esp when it's hot outside.
The kids may have to pry these out of my cold dead hands.

A

Trader Tots

My kids thought me even more insane than normal as I kept yelling "trader tots" because of the punny nature of it. Plus their weird looks were making me laugh more.
I have an odd issue with textures, but when it comes to tater tots and fries I want the outside to be super crunchy and well well done, and the inside to be mealy and delish.
I like sonic tots when done EXPERTLY, however 99% of the time you get the cold and soggy version. The rare day when they are done really well is always a happy day.

Cooking them myself tends to be better, but I always cook my potato items nearly double the suggested time. If that gives you any idea.

Pros - The outside was SUPER crisp and nearly over done, even from the frozen state. IMHO this makes them perfectly done.
Cons - Inside was more mashed potato than baked potato, if you get what I mean. I enjoy the texture of the sonic tots (done well) where you can almost pick out the bits of potato but they are mealy and good but have a little fight left in them. The TTs were a bit mushy for me.

However - Trader tots are definately better than sonic tots are 99% of the time, and fun to cook at home. When you have young kids like mine who consider ketchup a side dish, tots are always a hit with them :)

B

Banana Snacks

The kiddos were somewhat split on the banana chips. The little guy was ok with them, but didn't LOOOVE them. Elder thought they were the spawn of something satanic and evil. Both kids however ADORED the freeze dried variant.
So much so that we returned the mostly uneaten chips (those things are pricey!) and bought freeze dried.

OBC - D
FDBS - A

Turkey Burgers

I'm not a expert on turkey burgers, but it's always a nice alternative to replace beef. I cooked up a few of these for me and the kidlets and there is a certain odd flavor - I think sage or some other herb. I ended up putting a few dabs of A1 onto the patties as they cooked and it upped the favor and made them a bit more meaty.
All in all however, they were very tasty and cheap. I have a few boxes in my freezer now!

B-

Stuffing Mix

I kinda have a weird thing about texture and veggies. It stinks because i'd love to eat healthier but texture is a hard thing to get past. I've done the stovetop - and I can eat it but the pieces of onion and celery squick me out a bit. I actually prefer to eat it dry out of the box. LOL.
Tried this at thanksgiving and was surprised. It was pretty tasty and I didn't have any weird veggie complex going on. About similar flavor to ye olde stovetop.

I'd say it could definately stand a bit more oompf, but I generally show up for thanksgiving for rolls, potatoes, and gravy. Stuffing just makes its way into the pile.

B

Joe Joe's

Im not a huge fan of oreos persay. I think i've bought them twice in 12 years?
one of the times they would have been thrown out if my dad hadn't visited and eaten them all. LOL.
I'd heard joe joes were better than nabisco, but I figured that was damn hippy talk.
I was wrong. Very wrong!
I bought a box for the kiddos, being a mean mom they have had them once with me EVER....but I had to give em a try. and then I ate about half the box. ha!
The cream is creamier and squishy unlike oreos which have that firm styrofoam like texture. The cookies are delightfully chocolately and also a tad lighter which makes them easier to eat.
they are not crumby like oreos, you can easily bite into them when dry....and are very tasty! and CHEAPER too! huzzah.
I bought my second box last week :D

A

Potato chips cooked in olive oil

Ok, thats a rather long name for a bag of chips. TJs has a pretty wide variety to choose from - but these were good enough to have me go for them a second time. Never being a big chip fan until the wave of kettle versions started coming out....I find myself now a convert. esp since my second pregnancy where I have found myself craving CRUNCHY foods quite a lot. probably an iron thing.
A nice well cooked darker color these are golden brown, crunchy, and none of those bottom of the bag rejects that would cause me to throw away half a bag of chips (you know who you are *cough*lays*cough*)

B+

Frozen Garlic Naan

I love garlic. I probably use garlic too much. I love bread. Figured win-win, right?

uhhh...not so much. HUGE chunks of garlic. I cooked per instructions and then cooked double the time and was still cold and somewhat soggy in middle. I was burping some serious garlic breath for like 12 hours, despite eating foods to try and quell it.

I crave garlic when i'm sick (it's a natural antibiotic you know) so I will probably hang onto the rest until that point and eat them....but I won't be buying these again. I like the idea of having naan around however so I may try out the regular variety.

I can't believe these words are crossing my lips...but there was just TOO MUCH GARLIC.
(I'm in disbelief)

D

Cereal Bars

I used to buy the nutrigrain bars for myself back in highschool....and those things were PRICEY!
The kids were kinda meh on the box i'd bought (nutrigrain ones)...I ate most of them myself, but then hit TJs and bought all the varieties of the cereal bars they sold.
They have strawberry, blueberry, apple, and fig!
Fig isn't my normal MO...being a FAR FAR pickier eater than my kids even (I used to buy strawberry and apple NG bars) but I loved fig newtons if I didn't think about them too much. LOL.

The kids have loved all four flavors and I get no objections when I suggest they grab a cereal bar instead of a bag of fruit snacks for lunch/snacktime. Plus, how cute is that box?
and at 1.99 for a box of 6, and I suspect FAR healthier versions of ingredients than NG even provides....I'm hooked. Plus, FIG! yay!

I fully plan on keeping atleast 2 varieties onhand at all times.

A+

Jasmine Rice - Organic or no?

 

 

 



 

I reviewed the Organic frozen rice and was IN LOVE!!! I guess I didn't notice in the mad chaos that is TJs right now there was a regular version. The organic comes in a cello type wrapper that you can pull apart, the reg version comes in a thicker plastic bubble that you have to tear the top off to open.

 

The reg version was more broken, less fluffy. I actually didn't TASTE it as I had one organic left I gave the reg stuff to the kids and kept the organic for myself. Selfish I know but I appreciate good rice and the kids don't eat very much of their rice anyway. lol....

 

I gotta say, there is a price diff of 50c per box (3 packets of 2c of rice each) and I will be using the rest of the reg variety and buying only the organic version from now on. I know I know organic is much better for all parties concerned, but i grew up poor white trash and generally opt for price over "quality" unless there is a big diff in performance/taste/etc.

 

Here the diff in price is enough to make me choose organic over reg (I just wanted to see if reg was as good as) but also the taste/quality of the product is far superior.

 

 

Go Organic when you go jasmine!!

Cheesy Chedder dogs

The kids oddly enough thought these were awful terrible no good. And my kids are pretty darn adventurous eaters. Sushi? heck yes. Shrimp? absolutely. They prefer whole grain breads and have only ever eaten all beef hotdogs - usually prepared Chicago Style....

I'm aghast and amazed they wanted nothing to do with these? I'm confused. They were pretty darn tasty and I could see getting them again easily. Really not sure what the kids objection was. *headscratch*
That being said, they were not AH-MAY-ZING....and I like my dogs somewhat dry and snappy so I usually nuke mine til they are splitting and shrively so really couldn't tell there was cheese in there. but thats been my exp with all cheesefilled dogs in the past anyway.
I usually buy nathans or hebrew national, so I may just give their reg hotdogs a try and see how those are.
3.69 is cheaper than what I usually end up paying unless I get a good buy one get one, so not too bad. Dog itself acted like a better quality dog and was a good size.

May be trying this again - B

Unexpected Cheese

Cheese is never unexpected in my house. Nor uninvited. I feel like going all LOTR and speaking about my precious. Much like with red wine I'm not a cheese snob. I like pretty freak'n much everything. Not a fan of yogurt (it squicks me out, plus I don't like sweet with my savory, dammit...and cheese should be savory imho) nor blue cheese (first the look of it is pretty gross, but I actually really dislike the flavor as well). But i'll gnaw on a hunk of swiss, gouda, edam, muenster, asiago, etc. my fridge always contains ATLEAST one container of sour cream (its my mission in life to find more dishes that include sour cream!) and cottage cheese. It's unexpected only that I don't require a rascal to move my cheese laden body about. Moderation I suppose?

Either way, I ripped open the package and delved in. My main complaints are
A) MOAR!
B) It's kinda crumbly which is frustrating
C) MOOOOAAARRRR!!

I ate small chunks as they were broken apart. it acted like a parm, and was creamier and smoother than a parm like a chedder, but had little bits of salty crunchy goodness like you get when eating slivers of parm.

Cheaper than parm, creamier than parm, every bit as tasty as....
3.99 is the going price for this (making it 9.12 a pound) and i may end up with a chunk in my fridge at all times. YUUMMMM...

Also suspect that this would make for really tasty addtion to baked mac and cheese dishes, salads, and pastas. creamier and melty, but still kick you want.

Absolutely - A+

Journey to the center of the cookie

 

 

These i've seen get rave reviews elsewhere. I threw one into the oven per directions and waited exactally 60secs to cool. the cookie was somewhat hard and tasteless I thought, and the center wasn't gooey at all and tasted like melted hersey bar. I guess I was expecting something richer and more like a lava cake per the picture. Didn't do much for me at all. my homemade cookies and fudge brownies are much more of a treat.

at 2.99 for 2, they are pretty pricey as well.

 

Personally i'd much rather spend that 3 bucks on a package of pilsbury simply chocolate chip break-n-bakes. good for 3-4 servings depending on how many you eat, hot and gooey and melty and very tasty. just as quick too.

 

I won't buy these again, honestly. C

Joe's Diner Mac 'n Cheese

I'm a big fan of cheese in general. I actually make a wicked good mac and cheese myself. involving grating up around 20 bucks worth of pricey cheese, simmering bay leaves and garlic cloves in whole milk (I normally use 2% so it's another purchase for me) and baking it. dirty dishes number in the hundreds, and while it feezes well....it's a procedure for sure.
TJs mac and cheese lacks the bay/pepper/gar;ic flavor has, but has every bit of the pricey cheese combo and delish ooze that a cheese dish should have.
Pop this baby in the microwave for 5-6min and dinner is DONE man. Good for 2 side dish servings (LOL....right) or meal for one. Could use a bit of pepper or garlic, but damn tasty as-is anyhow.

at 2.99 it's a bit pricer than most TJs items, but WELL worth it in my opinion. Absolutely will be buying again. This was my second one in 5 days!  A

Emergen-C

Just a quick note since i'm battling strep as I am starting this blog -
I swear by Emergen-C whenver I feel any sickness coming on. I feel (because you can't prove this I suppose) it's warded off, or shortened colds I may have gotten, and certainly with the amount of travel I was doing up until recently it was one of the few things I could do to try and maintain my health.

My personal favorite used to be the raspberry, until I came upon the breast cancer awareness pink lemonade flavor. I think I bought 4 boxes because I assumed it was a temporary thing. Its super duper yummy. the kids call it "sick juice" lol.

I have quite a stockpile, including a variety pack of flavors I was trying out in my cabinet of medical torture devices...er, meds.....
but since I was at CVS picking up drugs, I swung by as several years ago it was fairly hard to find. I usually had to hit whole foods, central market, etc. Now you can find it most anywhere.
CVS had it on "sale" for 13.99 I believe.

I happened to look down while in the householdy section of TJs and lo....they sold emergen-C (no pink however!) for 8.99. Incase you didn't know....prices at TJs include tax with the exception of booze, soda, and non-edibles. so 8.99 out the door.

I snagged some acai berry, and while it has this weird floating scum thing and is a disturbing shade of grey purple....if you didn't look at the stuff it was actually quite tasty. the visual may not allow me to repurchase, but it was really good..... i'm on the fence.

anywho. Kudos TJs. nearly half the price? sheesh!

I am also partial to Yogi Immune support tea when sick. I did spy that TJs carrys yogi teas but as there was some sort of jungle law shopping going on, I didn't stop to look if they carried it. If anyone is interested however, it's what I drink when sick. I am normally partial to a good stiff black tea (twinings irish breakfast) when healthy, but the immune support tea is very tasty, smooth, light and is perfect when sick. I hate adding sweetner to tea, but it's not DREADFUL when I add some honey to soothe a sore throat. Thats important. :)
And echinacea normally tastes like something you'd lick off the bottom of a table somewhere, so to have this tea not only be bearable, but actually tasty is a huge bonus.

Mandarin Orange Chicken and Jasmine Rice

 

 



I made the kids dinner last night, first try of the oh so famous orange chicken and rice. The chicken was GOOD, and I do mean GOOD as promised. And it made quite a lot of food. According to package it makes 5C of chicken. The thing I really liked I hadn't seen discussed before was the fact there was two separate sauce packets inside, so you can EASILY split the chicken into two servings...unlike a lot of foods you find.
I baked mine and it turned out well, I cut up a few of the larger chucks as I was catering to small children...plus it should be bite sized anyway!
I only used about 1 and 1/4th packets of sauce which was plenty I found.

The kids take after me and don't do spicy foods well....as in pepperoni is often too spicy for our taste. I LOVE spice, but my entire mouth goes numb and it's really difficult to enjoy your dinner after that I find. This chicken had NO kick to it and the kids were MAD for it. My 8yr old ate the lions share...probably half the bag himself. the 5yr old and I had much smaller portions.
I think next time I will mix it up and after serving the kids add a little spice (sesame oil?) for myself as I think it needed a touch more heat. Like I said, I LOVE it...just can't tolerate much!

at 4.99 this was a bargain and I'm glad I bought a few! A

The rice was surprising for me. I won't touch instant or boil in a bag with a 12 ft stick.
My mother came to visit and made instant and I almost gagged....So spoiled I've become. I have a rice cooker that makes good rice, but it's honestly a pain to clean and takes awhile.
The rice comes with 3 bags containing about 2c each. I nuked up 2 bags and ended up sticking half a bag in the fridge.
in 3 minutes the rice was PERFECT. magically so. better than any rice I've EVER had from pei wei, Chinese takeout, PF Chang's, umm....really anywhere.
Better than some of the rice I've made in my cooker (subpar rice people) and super super easy. I like the packets which means I can make smaller portions. If I hadn't been sick I probably would have eaten more rice myself making 2 about right.

3.49 for 6c of magically delish rice?  A+++

PIZZA 4 FORMAGGI

This is a fairly small pizza, and since I am not always with my two little rugrats who incidentally can out eat me, sometimes it's nice to have something smaller I can consume myself.
I gave it a whirl...
Crust was fairly crisp using my lazy method of chucking it on the rack naked. cheese was unimpressive, and sauce was kinda odd. I dunno.
I ate it, but it wasn't very good in a very general way.
For the price (which if memory serves, was 4.99?) there are far tastier options out there, including my personal favorite.... Papa Murphy's. Kids love it, I love it. The pizzas are fairly large there however, so it would definitely be nice to find a smaller alternative for kid-free pizza eating.

I'm somewhat sensitive/allergic to tomatoes however, so I have to be cautious as some sauces cause problems (roof of my mouth will blister and peel) and this one didn't. so that's a plus I suppose.

C-

I'm not a stranger to Trader Joe's - growing up in Chicago burbs where my large and extensive family still resides, however it was out of my scope as a teenager. Plus, what teenager grocery shops on a regular basis? I moved to DFW when I was a pup of 20.
I've been back on a fairly regular basis but taking back TJ treats is pretty difficult.

1 - prior to kids I would mostly fly. Seldom room and pretty suspect. I still recall the time I was lugging 6 boxes of UNFROSTED brown sugar cinnamon poptarts back to Chicago for my mother who couldn't find them anymore. The TSA employee running the bag scanner looked at me as quite the oddball. LOL.

2 - Since kids I've mainly driven, however my trips are either for summer (too hot for most things) or Xmas. Space is also a premium when hauling stuff to and from locations (bring stuff up for gifts whatever, always bring more back!) and TJs is mostly closer to Chicago than my mother lives where I usually stay. Meaning I'd need to hike out a good hour plus each way. Annoying.

Still, when my older son was born I was made aware of TJs "midnight moo" and figured it was a slightly healthier version of a sweet I was willing to give my toddler. An occasional hot chocolate - with the scantest taste of chocolate, made with organic blah blah... you get the picture.

Aldis, another back home staple I DID shop at quite a bit as a kid, finally opened locally not too long ago. My sister seems OBSESSED with them now, for whenever she visits she takes my kids and comes back with food we won't (and don't) eat and I feel guilty and try and give it away to folks who might.

I braved opening day around 6pm Friday, all the while battling a not-so-great feeling which would later prove to be strep. Perhaps this was why I was able to handle the chaos in a near zen state, as normally even normal shopping makes me break out in hives and foam at the mouth. I prefer to shop with no other humans afoot. LOL.
  I gleefully filled my cart with goodies and was AGHAST at the price. 130 bucks people. Easily would have run me 250+ at Kroger's or tom thumb. I did my research on recommended foods, and decided to throw down on many. I actually went back again on Monday following my Drs appt (confirmed strep) to pick up some additional items, items I missed, and items I couldn't battle the crowds for such as coffee. No way I was getting a can and opening it and grinding it in the chaos!