Happy Friday, everyone! It’s time for one of my favorite posts of the month, where I get to talk about all things Trader Joe’s! Before I get into my April finds, let’s recap some of my March items that I hadn’t tried by the time my post was published last month.
March Recap
Mini French Baguettes – Can you even believe that these have existed in my freezer for over a month and I have not tried them yet?! I’ve honestly shocked myself here. I guess we’ll have to revisit this item when I finally do try it!
New Zealand Salted Butter – Eek…I’m striking out over here! I obviously plan to put this butter on my baguettes, so this is a packaged deal situation. Stay tuned!
Strawberry Vanilla & Pineapple Kiwi Greek Yogurts – Here’s a fun fact about these! When I brought these yogurts home, I specifically told Gary that we needed to share them so I could write about them on my blog. Well, Gary left me (quite literally) half a teaspoon from the strawberry vanilla one. From what I tasted, it was good, but given that he had two of them I’ll consider that a positive review! We did end up sharing the pineapple kiwi one, and it was very tasty and unlike any other yogurt flavor I’ve had. I will say, I didn’t notice that these were whole milk yogurts when I purchased them, and we do tend to stick to nonfat yogurt, so I’m not sure we’ll make a habit out of getting them in the future.
Let’s move on to my April Trader Joe’s Food Finds!
Going into this month, I knew ahead of time that there were a couple of new items I wanted to grab. You know that I rely on Instagram to keep me in the loop about these things! Aside from those items, though, I didn’t really have a game plan or theme. When I was in the store, I tried to think about how I would incorporate new items into meals or snacks I had already planned on making. That was my attempt at not getting carried away…I’ll let you decide whether or not it worked š
Since I grabbed the strawberry vanilla and pineapple kiwi yogurts in March, I figured I’d continue down the yogurt tasting path with a few new flavors. This month I got Apricot Mango & Guava Passionfruit Greek Yogurt ($0.99). I haven’t had an Apricot Mango one yet (although Gary said his was good). I must say, though, I was so pleasantly surprised by Guava Passionfruit! I was expecting it to be a bit weird, but it tasted like a tropical vacation. I’d honestly put it above the pineapple kiwi one I got in March.
This Buffalo Style Chicken Dip ($4.99) was the ultimate impulse purchase. Although, Gary would say that all of the items on this list were impulse purchases…ha! This dip looked interesting so I figured why not? When I first tasted it, I wasn’t super impressed. The texture and flavor were very unique so I think that threw me off a bit. I’m used to creamy dips, but given that this dip has shredded chicken in it, it’s not as smooth. Well, something happened between the first time I tried it and the second time, because it definitely grew on me and I finished most of the container by myself! Gary thought it was a bit too spicy for his liking, so if you’re spice averse, this may not be the dip for you. Even though it didn’t make it into my list of favorite dips, if you’re a buffalo sauce fan, it’s worth a try!
I’ve walked past this Falafel Mix ($2.99) at Trader Joe’s countless times, and I’ve always thought, “oh, I should try that someday.” Well, the day came! This mix only requires that you add water and let the mixture sit for 30-60 minutes. I really liked that there were baking instructions in addition to the traditional frying ones. We baked our first batch over the weekend and they were pretty good! They definitely can’t compete with authentic falafel from a Mediterranean restaurant, and for some reason, ours came out a little flat, but we still enjoyed them.
This next item is a no brainer. I obviously needed to get Organic Hummus ($2.49) to go with the falafel mix! This was a solid hummus. It was basic, but flavorful, and there isn’t really much more to say about it than that!
I raved about the Strawberry Mochi back in January, so it only made sense for us to try the Chocolate Peanut Butter Mochi ($4.49) too! If you like peanut butter desserts, you definitely need to try these! Gary and I both really like these as a smaller, handheld dessert option. Ultimately, if we had to choose one, we lean toward fruity and refreshing mochi flavors, but I can definitely see us rotating through and getting these on occasion.
This Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake ($7.99) was one of the items that I knew I wanted to get before I even got to the store! Trader Joe’s has set the bar high for me in the frozen cheesecake department. My mom always chooses the classic New York cheesecake (in the blue box) for her birthday dessert, so I had very high expectations for this one! When I brought it home and Gary saw it, he said (and I quote), “did you really just buy a whole a** cheesecake?” I could not handle it! I had to inform him that Trader Joe’s does not sell cheesecake by the slice. #youlearnsomethingneweveryday Anyway, to start, it’s beautiful to look at with the reddish pink swirl on top. However, I’m pretty picky with my strawberry flavors. I love fresh strawberry, but am not keen on artificial strawberry flavoring. We have definitely been enjoying this cheesecake as a special dessert treat, but I must admit that the strawberry flavor is a bit too artificial for me to choose it over a classic New York cheesecake in the future.
I went to Trader Joe’s earlier in the month of April, so I kept my eyes peeled for fun Easter goodies to put in Gary’s basket. These Chocolate Mousse Eggs ($3.49) did not disappoint at all! They had chocolate cake on the bottom, chocolate mousse on the top, and then they were coated in hardened chocolate and decorated beautifully. I’m usually not a chocolate cake person, but these were delicious (especially when refrigerated)! I hope they’ll make them in other shapes throughout the year so I don’t have to wait 12 whole months to taste them again.
Trader Joe’s doesn’t miss the mark on many foods, but these Oven Baked Cheese Bites with Tomato and Chili ($2.69) were not good. Ew. Bad. From what I’d seen online, others compared the taste of them to pizza, but I have no clue what kind of pizza those people eat! They were uncomfortably peppery, didn’t taste like pizza, and left a bad aftertaste. Gary agreed that they were nasty. I’m not going to waste them, but I’m not looking forward to finishing the bag. At all.
I’ve also seen other people post about these Freeze Dried Strawberries ($3.49) so I wanted in on the fun. They are so good! They taste just like fresh strawberries but they’re freeze-dried…my mind was blown that there was no quality lost! Even though Trader Joe’s has a ton of delicious dried fruit, a lot of it has added sugar, and this particular item doesn’t. I liked eating them plain and adding them to a bowl of Cheerios in the morning. My only complaint was that the bag was a bit small. I just wanted more š
I know that purchasing pre-cooked chicken is not always the cheapest way to go, but we’ve been trying to eat more salads for lunch, and the convenience of these Just…Grilled Chicken Strips ($5.49) made that easier for us to do! We made two decently large BBQ chicken salads, two BBQ chicken quesadillas (are you sensing a theme with our palates lately?), and we still have a tiny bit left in the bag. The chicken was flavorful and was perfect for those meals. When we’re too lazy to grill our own chicken this will be a great option for us to keep on hand!
Oh goodness do I have a story to share about this Green Goddess Salad Dressing ($3.99)! I actually purchased this for the first time in March. Then, I was laying in bed about a week later and thought, “hmmm…did I put that salad dressing in the pantry? I’m pretty sure I bought it in the refrigerated section.” I hopped out of bed, and sure enough, it was supposed to be refrigerated. Since it had spoiled, I had to throw it out and wait for my next trip to get a new one. I was so bummed! But, when I finally got to try it this month, it lived up to the prolonged hype! It was good on salad, but I really loved using it as a dipping sauce more than anything. The lemon, garlic, and basil flavor would pair well with meat, fish, poultry, veggies…pretty much anything! I loved that it was a healthier option with all clean ingredients. I’ll definitely be getting this item again!
Wow, is that a record number of new items we’ve tried in a single month? It just might be! Gary can’t wait to be fully vaccinated so he can come to Trader Joe’s and monitor what I put in the cart. It’s cute that he thinks that will do anything š Be sure to check back next month to see how that works out for both of us, and comment below if there are any items you want me to grab on my next TJ’s run!
xoxo
Jennifer