First, let me apologize to every foodie who reads this blog. I deeply regret making this admission: I do sometimes consume microwavable food.
The new obsession is making me do it.
Black bean and jack cheese burritos from Trader Joe's.
I buy three. Over the course of a week, I eat three. I hide them from my kids. They're perfect for lunch. I work from home, blogging, blogging, blogging, and often waiting until my blood sugar is so low I can barely make it down the stairs into the kitchen. With great effort, I reach into the fridge, pull out a burrito, rip open the wrapper and slap it in the microwave. Two minutes later, I'm shoveling cheesy, beany-goodness into my pate.
I normally turn my nose up at such processed food, but (and I speak here as a native Los Angeleno and lifelong burrito lover), these taste pretty darn good. The cheese melts, the beans taste fresh, the tortilla is firm yet moist....it's the next best thing to running out and buying a fresh burrito. And God knows I'm not taking the time to do that.
Give it a try. Keep a couple of these babies in your fridge for when you need a quick bite. You'll be grateful. And let me know what you think.
I grew up in a household that was nearly devoid of junk food. My sister and I each got a single box of sugar cereal each year (on our birthdays), Halloween candy was strictly rationed and bread was dark and made from whole wheat. Potato chips were very definitely a special, once-in-a-very-great-while kind of treat.
Because of the chip control that went on during my childhood, the moments when they did appear on the scene remain present in my memory, even 20+ years later. They became especially associated with roadtrips for me, as my dad would insist that we have some "car snacks" and my mom, who actually loves potato chips, would cave to the special occasion energy.
We'd make a stop at Trader Joe's or some other local natural foods store for thick-cut, kettle cooked potato chips (Kettle Chips play a prominent role in my memories, but the TJ's Hawaiian-style chips also showed up fairly regularly). Handfuls would be carefully doled out to my sister and me in the back seat of the station wagon and we'd slowly crunch our way through our portions. Raina would suck all the salt off the chips before eating, where I'd nibble along the edges, trying to make the treat last as long as possible. We'd ask for seconds and would get them, until my mom determined that we'd all had enough (typically determined by her own salt/grease satiation level), and folded up the bag, tucking it down by her feet for safekeeping.
These days, I occasionally buy a bag of Kettle Chips (I had a salt and vinegar phase during college) but I am untrustworthy around open bags of potato chips. They call to me until I surrender and crunch my way through the entire bag. However, while I do enjoy them, potato chips now are never quite as delightful as those measured handfuls of chips that we'd eat while criss-crossing the highways of the west coast.
Trader Joe's is looking for recipes that are HiiP (Highly Innovative Ingredient Pairings). The requirements are that recipes use up to four Trader Joe's products, no alcohol, and take 20 minutes or less to prepare and cook.
I'm left wondering just how innovative of a recipe they are looking for. Do they want recipes like those featured in the blog event Things that Go Really Well Together that have pairings as unique as white chocolate and caviar, or are they looking for something a bit more mainstream? I'll be very interested to see the results.
If you are in need of inspiration, check out the foodpairing site. Click any food and it will tell you what it best pairs with chemically. Read the rest of the contest details on the Trader Joe's site and enter by May 15th. Good luck!
When I was growing up in Los Angeles, we lived down the street from one of the very first Trader Joe's (Eagle Rock). My family moved up to Portland when I was nine and one of the things that we all missed most was Trader Joe's. My parents, sister and I were all thrilled when the expanded north to Portland. These days I am lucky to live three blocks from the Center City Philly Trader Joe's and do more than half of my grocery shopping there.
I know that there are many folks out there who practically live at their local Trader Joe's and now there's a cookbook expressly for them. Written by Dana Gunn and Wona Miniati, Cooking with all Things Trader Joe's, offers more than 250 pages of recipes and photos in which all the dishes are made with ingredients from TJ's. Their theory is that we could all cook tasty and beautiful meals, if only we hand someone to help with the prep. Trader Joe's becomes your sous chef and these recipes makes it possible to create an array of dishes using just a few things straight off the shelves.
It's a fun book, with lots of big, colorful pictures and easy to understand recipes. It would make a great gift for a new cook or someone who doesn't have a whole lot of time to cook (most of the recipes come together really quickly). For those of you who are thinking about getting yourself a copy, the authors have a special deal to offer Slashfood readers. If you buy it from their website, you can get $5 off if you input the code SLASH5 when you're checking out (this offer is good through April 31st).
Like the folks over at The Grub Report, I've never been a big fan of squash. My sister always makes it on Thanksgiving and Christmas, and after the one person who eats squash has some, it just sits there in its sad little bowl, lonely, getting all cold and runny.
However, I might try this recipe for Butternut Squash-Tossed Pasta. I think it has enough other ingredients where the flavor of the squash will be lessened a bit. It also uses Butternut Squash from Trader Joe's, though I'm going to assume you can use any brand (the Trader Joe's Gorgonzola-Walnut Tortellini is something I'd definitely use, however).
After far, far too long a time with their slow-loading yet content-less website, Trader Joe's has upgraded to something worth visiting. The site now offers a complete look at the history and values of the privately-owned company, as well as the same information on new locations and copies of their latest "Fearless Flyer" newsletter.
The best thing about the site is that they now have a great display of their new items. Once you select your location from the drop-down menu, a page with pictures and descriptions of some of the new products in your area comes up. I already found that Cheddar with Mango, Chile & Lime is a new type of cheese ("one of the most unique cheeses (ever!)") currently being offered, a product I might not have noticed simply stocked on the shelves. They also have a useful FAQ that answers some questions about labels and nutrition, in addition to clearing up the ever-present concern of whether Trader Joe's products will turn you "into a superhero, a professional athlete or one of the great brainiacs of humankind."
Great job with the website overhaul, TJs. We love having a site that we can use!
A banana chip is a thin, deep-fried slice of banana. Once fried, the slightly sweet chips are crisp (often bordering on rock-hard) and oily. Because they look like fruit, some people mistake these for a healthy snack, but they are far from good for you. A one ounce serving has about 150 calories and 9.5 grams of fat, almost all of it saturated.
On Trader Joe's top 100 list, they included something called banana crisps. I only tried them recently, since nearby Trader Joe's seemed to be perpetually sold out of them. Unlike the traditional deep-fried diet disasters, these chips are baked. They are ultra-thin and akin to an ordinary potato chip in both looks and flavor, and actually make a great substitute for regular potato chips because they don't taste very banana-like at all, though they are slightly sweet rather than salty. Best of all, each one ounce (2/3 cup) serving has only 40 calories and 1 gram of fat.
Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Mint Creams tempted me from their plastic containers, stacked appealingly close to me as I stood in line with my other purchases at Trader Joe's over the weekend. After a moment of hesitation, I gave in a tossed a box into my cart. And I am so glad that I did. These little candies are about an inch in diameter and are slightly domed. They taste like a cross between a junior mint and a York peppermint patty, with a filling that is creamy, but with a little bit of texture to it. The difference between those other candies and these is that the TJs dark chocolate shell is much thicker, providing the perfect compliment to the filling and a noticeable chocolate flavor. They're really good when chilled and end up tasting like a minty, bite-sized ice cream treat, which makes them incredibly refreshing (not to mention that it keeps them from melting) on a hot day.
It looks like Trader Joe's is set to open a store in yet another Joe-less town. Though they have not released the address yet, Trader Joe's has confirmed that they are planning to enter the Pittsburg market. Local speculation and city officials say that the specialty grocer has plans to move into the Wheeler Paint Co. building on Penn Ave in the neighborhood of East Liberty. There are only five TJ's locations in Pennsylvania at the moment, so this should be good news to Pittsburg residents who are fans of the store.
Now that TJ's has store-opening almost down to a science, it's no surprise to hear that the store should be open by the end of the year.
I'm a coffee aficionado (or as they might say it in Panama, aficionado de café), but I'm also on a budget. And although I'd love to drink nothing but that lyrical Stumptown Sidamo or the deep, dark, delicious Thundermuck, well, $10 a pound is a but much for every day.
Thus I was delighted to see a new 12-ounce can of coffee for only $3.99 at Trader Joe's last week: Panama Café Duran. My little sister Jenny lives in Panama and I've drunk Duran before; it's the everyday coffee found in every Panamanian supermarket. I know it's decent, and in the hands of Trader Joe's it is fresh, balanced, and just dark enough to satisfy that part of me that longs for those polished mucky beans so revered here in Portland.
Yesterday I picked up another can and as I was reaching for it another woman was looking at the green-and-yellow can, considering. "It's good!" I said, "and cheap!" I know you're going to be in Trader Joe's, and you'll be wondering, too. Go for it.
Alongside their article about
Trader Joe's opening in New York, last week's New York Times ran a list of the top ten most
popular items at Trader Joe's by volume sold.
Charles Shaw Wines
Mandarin Orange Chicken
Nuts About Antioxidants Trek Mix
Lite Shredded 3 Cheese Blend
Extra Virgin
Olive Oil
Trader Darwin's High Potency Chewable Multiple Vitamin & Mineral Formula Dietary
Supplements
Strangely, I only buy two out of the top ten items - Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Dark Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans. My
top trail mix pick would be the one that has all the peanut brittle in it, not the antioxidant mix. If I'm getting
cheese, I'll go for the imported Feta or Parmigiano Reggiano, not pre-crumbled Gorgonzola. With only 10 out of the three
thousand items, I supposed that I shouldn’t be surprised that I only regularly purchase two of these items. Which
of these are your favorites?
This
photo, it's lovely, no? And you can totally see why I had to buy this cookie. If
nothing else, there was the Weissella logo, red and German and totally appealing. Plus, I have to tell you: I adore
ginger cookies of all sorts. "Soft gingerbread cookies" spoke volumes to me. And look, just look at the nice
chocolate coating. The bottom of the cookie looks a little odd - almost like a thin piece of white paper on the bottom
of the cookie. What is that?
Trader Joe's plans to open their first
store in New York City within the next three
months. The southern California-based specialty grocery chain already has several locations in New York State, but none
in Manhattan. The store will definitely give New Yorkers - particularly those who for some reason do not feel the need
to leave the city, ever - a chance to see what they have been missing for all these years.
The new Trader Joe's will be in Union Square, near the huge Whole Foods Market, though its dramatically different
stock and lower price points will probably not put it in direct competition with the massive, high-end grocer. Trader
Joe's is famous for their generally high-quality prepared and frozen foods, as well as their low prices on specialty
goods, from well-priced vanilla extract and high-end chocolates to exotically-spiced curry simmer sauces. Most of the
items they carry are sold under their own brand, with some notable exceptions like Charles Shaw wine,
which is lovingly referred to in California as "two-buck Chuck".
I shopped, I brought
home, I cooked, I photographed. And you'd like to know, wouldn't you? What I thought of Trader Joe's new product:
Mexican-style chili One Pot Sauce. ("Just add Meat or Chicken" - isn't chicken "meat"? Just
curious.)
Well, it was o.k. Maybe I'm not a big fan of Mexican-style chili. Maybe... I don't get the need for this product. I
sautéed my ground turkey (completely violating the suggestions of beef or chicken), I added in a bit of
chipotle pepper for extra spice, I stirred in the cup of water and kidney beans on cue. I even added the optional
corn (though not canned corn! ick. I used frozen).
Have you ever stashed a Coke in the freezer, hoping to chill it quickly, then forgotten all about it, only to have it explode all over your frozen peas?
First, let me apologize to every foodie who reads this blog. I deeply regret making this admission: I do sometimes consume microwavable food.
I grew up in a household that was nearly devoid of junk food. My sister and I each got a single box of sugar cereal each year (on our birthdays), Halloween candy was strictly rationed and bread was dark and made from whole wheat. Potato chips were very definitely a special, once-in-a-very-great-while kind of treat. 
After far, far too long a time with their slow-loading yet content-less website, 
A 
Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Mint Creams tempted me from their plastic containers, stacked appealingly close to me as I stood in line with my other purchases at Trader Joe's over the weekend. After a moment of hesitation, I gave in a tossed a box into my cart. And I am so glad that I did. These little candies are about an inch in diameter and are slightly domed. They taste like a cross between a junior mint and a York peppermint patty, with a filling that is creamy, but with a little bit of texture to it. The difference between those other candies and these is that the TJs dark chocolate shell is much thicker, providing the perfect compliment to the filling and a noticeable chocolate flavor. They're really good when chilled and end up tasting like a minty, bite-sized ice cream treat, which makes them incredibly refreshing (not to mention that it keeps them from melting) on a hot day. 
It looks like Trader Joe's is set to open a store in yet another Joe-less town. Though they have not released the address yet, Trader Joe's has confirmed that they are planning to 
I'm a coffee aficionado (or as they might say it in Panama, aficionado de café), but I'm also on a budget. And although I'd love to drink nothing but that 
Alongside 
A fraking amazing Battlestar Galactica cake
Iced Tea 101
Pierogies + cheese + onions + kraut = Parmageddon!
