Archive for the ‘Recipes, food, cooking and related items’ Category
07/04/2017
July 4, 2017
Normally I limit my food reviews to ALDI and Trader Joe’s products which have a national presence as opposed to many supermarket chains which are more regional in nature. However I’ve recently discovered these in the “plant-based protein” freezer at Target and was impressed with them. So here’s a review. If there’s a Target near you with a grocery section, you might want to check these out.
As noted above, I like these. Unlike many frozen burrito products which seem to lack texture and flavor, these have both. There are several types of Sweet Earth burritos which vary slightly by ingredients and spices. All are reasonably good, but this one stands out because it is the most flavorful and has a bit of a kick to it. Those are two things I like.
The product is labeled as vegan and “Non GMO Project Verified.” As a meat substitute it has 19g of protein – not bad. Most likely due to being wrapped in a flour tortilla, carbohydrates are moderately high at 45g. It’s surprisingly filling and long-lasting at only 320 calories each.
Calories 320 per burrito (1 serving, 198g) – Price $2.99, $2.50 on sale
Tags:burrito, calories, curry, food, nutrition, price, review, reviews, sweet earth, target, vegan
Posted in Recipes, food, cooking and related items, Vegetarian | 2 Comments »
07/04/2017
July 4, 2017
This is not a great eggplant parmigiana, but a pretty good eggplant as an eggplant.
This is another one of the seemingly endless variations of Trader Joe’s “eggplant with tomato sauce and melted cheese” products. This one features eggplant which are “grilled”. Now I suspect the grilling was done on one of those industrial strength machines that moves a conveyor belt of eggplant slices through some kind of flame. But the pieces had grill marks on them, so who are we to quibble about the method.
While I usually have no patience for waiting on an oven to cook these kinds of entrees, this time I followed the oven directions. Instead of large slices of eggplant, these are actually smaller pieces of a slice. That makes it somewhat easier to eat without needing a knife to cut through the usual slices. The tomato sauce was not very flavorful. Much of the mozzarella seemed to have melted into the sauce instead of forming a nice cover for the eggplant. The result was a somewhat watery tomato/cheese sauce without much flavor intermixed with a few small islands of melted cheese. As a parmigiana, it was disappointing.
However as just eggplant, the eggplant was pretty good. The best bits and tastiest, were those with the skin on – more flavor and more chew. The pieces without skin we’re still tasty, but no as much. Being grilled, there was no breading on the eggplant as is often done with fried eggplant slices. Overall I liked this, but not because it was a good eggplant parmigiana, but because it was good eggplant.
Price ??? (lost receipt) Calories 270 per container (1 serving)
Tags:calories, eggplant parmigiana, food, frozen entree, italian, nutrition, price, review, reviews, tj, tj's, trader joe's
Posted in Recipes, food, cooking and related items, Trader Joe's | 5 Comments »
06/20/2017
June 20, 2017
As if struck by lightning, every so often I’m amazed at how many calories some foods have. A package of these fig bars has a total of about 1,400 calories in it, and costs only 99 cents. That’s pretty much a day’s worth of calories for someone who is inactive. Of course these calories are just about all carbohydrates which is good for providing energy, but not much else. Living off something like these alone would leave someone with a serious lack of protein. That’s the end of my lightening moment for today.
However, with moderation and self-control, these are a nicely sweet treat if you like figs.
(more…)
Tags:aldi, Benton, calories, fig bar, food, nutrition, price, review
Posted in ALDI, Recipes, food, cooking and related items | Leave a Comment »
06/14/2017
June 14, 2017
It’s not Italian sausage. BUT, for a meatless meat (yes it’s labeled vegan), it has the texture, if not exactly the taste, of a meat. The texture is the biggest problem with many meatless meats. They, or we, can always work on how it tastes. In its own right, it’s fairly good tasting, but on the bland side.
(more…)
Tags:calories, food, italian sausage, nutrition, price, review, snacks, tofurky, trader joe, vegan
Posted in Recipes, food, cooking and related items, Trader Joe's, Vegetarian | 3 Comments »
06/03/2017
June 3, 2017
There are only three questions to ask of a curated coffee: how long has it been on the shelf, has anyone blown off the dust, and are there still overdue fines? It seems we’ve come a long way from curating book collections to curating bulk produce.
While claimed to be a 50/50 blend of light, Colombian Morales, and medium, Ethiopian Limu, roasted coffee beans, all the beans in the can looked the same. Judging by the color and the amount of oil on the beans, I’d call them a medium roast. When the beans were removed from the can, and compared side by side, there was a mix of small and medium size beans.
Aside from the marketing hype, this is a nice coffee. In the can and ground, the beans had a nice aroma. Brewed and in the cup, the coffee had a nice taste. There was a little bitterness, but nothing exceptional. Overall this is a smooth drinking medium roast coffee. Price $8.99 (13 ounce can).
Tags:coffee, colombia, Ethiopia, food, price, review, select harvest curated coffee, tj, tj's, trader joe's, whole bean coffee
Posted in food, Recipes, food, cooking and related items, Trader Joe's | Leave a Comment »
06/03/2017
June 3, 2017
Everyone wants to be hot. Most of us are not. And so it is with these chips.
While still not for the squeamish, these chips do not live up to the reputation of the howling hoblin hotty Habanero ghost pepper (Bhut jolokia) for which they’re named.
Most of the heat in the chips is felt on the lips. The best way to bring a quick tingle is to hold a chip between the lips for a bit. Call it a lip lick. As the seasoning varies some by chip, the more seasoned chips can also be felt on the tongue. The rest of the mouth is mildly involved by comparison unless the chips are taken by the handful and held in the mouth for some seconds. There’s a little earthy taste to these chips aside from the heat. That gives them some added interest. Perhaps just overpowered by the heat, the chips did not taste salty.
If you like heat in your food these will satisfy that need without causing a trip to the emergency room (not guaranteed), because in these chips the ghost is just a will-o’-the-wisp.
Price $2.29 – 7 ounce bag
Calories 140/ounce (28g) (about 13 chips)
Click on images to enlarge
Tags:calories, chips, food, ghost pepper chips, nutrition, price, review, snacks, trader joe
Posted in Recipes, food, cooking and related items, Trader Joe's | Leave a Comment »
05/31/2017
May 31, 2017
Garlicky, salty, crunchy, edgy and 89 cents every day – what more could you want? Add a little zest to your salads or just grab a few straight from the bag to snack on, they’re pretty good. Personally, I do both. Other, milder, flavors are available. But the best part is they’re 89 cents every day, meaning there’s no need to wait for a sale.
Calories 30 per 2 Tbsp (7g) Price 89 cents per 5 ounce bag
click on images to enlarge
ALDI customer contact URL – https://www.aldi.us/en/contact-us/
Tags:aldi, caesar, calories, croutons, food, price, review, reviews, tuscan garden
Posted in ALDI, food, Recipes, food, cooking and related items | Leave a Comment »
05/31/2017
May 31, 2017
If you need a guacamole fix, these are unlikely to satisfy. As a chip, they’re okay and in some ways sort of a mild Doritos.
Rather than have the flavor sprinkled on as an afterthought, these chips seem to have the flavor “baked” into the flour of the tortilla. In addition there’s still the traditional sprinkle of seasoning coating the chips. There’s a faint hint of guacamole in the flavor. As a flavored chip, the flavor is not objectionable. These, or at least this bag, do not taste overly salty. And like almost any chip, you’re likely to eat many more of these than you should.
I suspect these are a seasonal item. Although they showed up well after Cinco De Mayo, which one would think is the appropriate time? For me, a regular tortilla chip dipped in some real guacamole is the way to go.
Calories 140 per ounce (28g, about 11 chips) Price $1.99 per 12 ounce bag
click on images to enlarge
ALDI customer contact URL – https://www.aldi.us/en/contact-us/
Tags:aldi, calories, clancy's, food, guacamole tortilla chips, price, review, reviews, snacks
Posted in ALDI, food, Recipes, food, cooking and related items | Leave a Comment »
05/20/2017
May 20, 2017
In a seemingly endless number of nutty snack bars, here’s one more. To the possible delight of many readers, if this one becomes a permanent resident on the ALDI shelves, this bar seems to be a variation of the very popular but short-lived Simple Nut Bar.
Without having a Simple Nut Bar present for a side-by-side comparison, this Roasted Nut Bar seems very similar. From memory, my preference would be the Simple Nut Bar. But I could easily live with this one. Like the Simple Nut Bar, this one is mostly nuts. Comparing the back of the boxes (see Simple Nut Bar box here), the ingredients are very similar. Both are products of Canada. That leads me to believe these are produced by the same company and are just variations of the product formula.
There’s a minimal amount of sticky binder to hold all the nuts together (almonds, peanuts and sunflower seeds). If you’re looking for sweet, or chocolate, this is not for you. As the bar is mostly nuts, it is hard and crunchy. For a snack food, this has a reasonably good nutrition mix. Of course, being mostly nuts, a high percent of the calories come from fat (most likely the nut oils). Carbohydrates are lower than many other snack bars. While not a high power protein bar, these do have an okay 6 g of protein. Calories 180 per bar Price $2.79 per box (6 bars in a box)
click on images to enlarge
ALDI customer contact URL – https://www.aldi.us/en/contact-us/
Tags:aldi, calories, food, millville, nutrition, price, review, reviews, roasted nut bar, snacks
Posted in ALDI, food, Recipes, food, cooking and related items | 2 Comments »
05/20/2017
May 20, 2017
The beans are light brown with no oil. Lys means light in Norwegian and Kaffe means coffee. All the pieces fit together to support the claim on the package of “light roast”. The advantage of a light roast is that the more delicate flavors in the coffee are brought to the front. They are not hidden behind stronger flavors brought out by a dark roast.
Made in a press, the coffee is on the thin and watery side. After all it’s a light roast by design. Once the mouth adjusts to the fact that this is supposed to be a light roast, there’s a nice flavor to the coffee. When cooled some there’s a bit of sourness. There’s little to no acid and no bad tastes, making this a very smooth coffee. It’s a different experience and an enjoyable one at that. The coffee reminds me of the Jacobs Kronung coffee reviewed a long time ago.
While the taste is different, for comparison purposes, the “strength” of the coffee is somewhere above a strong tea. For people who don’t like coffee, this may be a gentle way to give coffee a try. For an everyday dark roast drinker, this is a way to take a break and clear the taste buds – think of it as sort of a colon cleanse for the mouth? Price $7.99 (12 ounce can).
For another reviewer’s thoughts on this coffee, see Become Betty here.
Tags:coffee, food, lys kaffe, price, review, tj, tj's, trader joe's
Posted in coffee, food, Recipes, food, cooking and related items, Trader Joe's | Leave a Comment »
Ain't Found A Good Title Blog 
