Posts Tagged ‘review’
07/10/2017
July 10, 2017
This was a much better experience than the last Trader Joe’s brie I tried. This brie had a much firmer, but still soft, texture. It was sliceable and didn’t run off the knife. The taste was mild with a touch of tartness. Overall the taste was a pleasant experience. The texture was melt-in-the-mouth. There was a kind of velvety mouth feel to the cheese.
For the lovers of stronger cheeses, you won’t be offended by this, but you also may not be satisfied. For the brie lovers out there, this is probably a winner.
Price $5.99 per pound
Calories 100 per ounce
If you’re looking for double plus one creamy brie,
try here.
Tags:brie, calories, cheese, double cream brie, food, nutrition, price, review, tj, tj's, trader joe's
Posted in food, Recipes, food, cooking and related items, Trader Joe's | 2 Comments »
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
This is the first item I’ve ever seen marked down at Trader Joe’s. But that’s not why I picked it up. I picked it up because an Amancay red I had a few weeks ago was an okay and interesting wine. This purchase didn’t fare as well.
The wine has a clear pale yellow color. There’s a brief fruity aroma on first opening which soon disappears. In the mouth the wine is earthy and tart with something of the taste of concentrated unripe green grapes. The wine worked surprisingly well with an anchovy pizza. The wine balanced the strong tastes from the pizza, especially the saltiness from the anchovy. The pizza balanced out the acidity from the wine.
This is not a white wine for me. It’s too harsh. The wine is better with food than by itself, especially stronger tasting foods. Chilling helps the wine some. A few days in the refrigerator sealed after opening seemed to help the wine mellow some. Balancing out the negatives is the very low price (marked down). Price $3.99.
Tags:2014, amancay, argentina, price, review, reviews, tj, tj's, torrontes, trader joe's, white wine
Posted in Trader Joe's, Wine | Leave a Comment »
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.
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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.
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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 »
July 10, 2017
Ain't Found A Good Title Blog 