Two Amazing New Cookies

As far as I know, I have never seen either of these at TJ before now.  The Meringues are as good as any I've ever had or made.  Serve them with ice cream and guests will be wow-ed.  These yogurt cookies are seriously crazy good.  My family of four devoured them in a day or two.

New Snacks - Two Hits and A Miss

My 4-year old is obsessed with SNACK-IES.  It's super annoying!  He watches way too much TV, and he insists on eating snack after snack the whole time.  SO get this.  If it is a "snack", it is healthy and comes from the fridge.  If it is a SNACK-EE (said loudly and with conviction,) it is tasty, probably not healthy, and from the pantry. This all stresses me out because there are only so many snack products out there that I'll buy!  And that he likes.  Here are my three latest attempts.

Cinnamon Apple Sticks - MISS
Fig Cereal Bar - HIT
Raises the Bar - HIT (did not expect this one to be a winner!)

First NON-Food Item REVIEW!

One of my friends is a huge supporter and fan of Trader Joe's.  We talk TJ food all the time.  Well, she just texted me a review!  And it isn't of food.  It is actually of a product.  I am excited because this is an aisle I have completely ignored.  Now I will definitely buy these, I love tea tree oil.  Thanks Molly!

IN MOLLY'S WORDS:
Love these cleansing pads. The tea tree oil is strong and leaves my face feeling so clean and fresh. Tip: when you first open the container, pick up the pads and flip them over. They get saturated evenly this way. If not, the pads are slightly dry at the top.

Each Kid Picks ONE Thing at TJ

I started this rule once I realized that any time I had my kids with me at TJ (or anywhere really...) that they would WANT, WANT, WANT. The rule is, that each kid can pick ONE thing - a snack, a treat, etc. And I have to approve it. So no angel food cake... (Yes, one of my sons really did pick up an Angel Food Cake at TJ one day and asked for it.)

Yesterday, my 4-year old went nutso over this box of cookies. For any of you with a 4-year old boy, you know, this is a NO-BRAINER pick! I have to admit, it really IS cute...

Two comments.

First of all, he thought it would be an edible train. Should have seen that one coming!

Secondly, the cookies are just so-so. For someone who is SUPER picky with store bought cookies, as you might have read, I love and have approved a lot of the TJ cookies. But this one was "meh." They should be AMAZEBALLS. They're from Germany! I've had similar products from other sellers that were much better.

And one more thing.  OK, so three things...

It is a very tiny assortment. So do I bring this to a party? Kinda meager offerings. Do I serve these on a pretty platter at my book club? Again, not much there. Would have to buy 2-3 boxes.

Conclusion -

Great one-time buy for my little one, but probably not going to happen again!

New Dark Chocolate Sweet Treat!

Any time I see a new candy product at TJ, well let's be honest, a new CHOCOLATE candy product, I have to buy it. I'm a chocoholic, and I think the candy at TJ almost never disappoints. (You'll never see a review for the mango cookies... sorry!)

I am really digging these! I wasn't sure about the graham component, because I am hit or miss on my love of graham crackers in desserts. But it is not overwhelming, and the dark chocolate/sea salt combination on all TJ products is really outstanding! I love their dark chocolate (and I am typically a milk chocolate gal.) And the sea salt didn't seem like it would go, but it is the essential touch that makes these good enough to buy again.

PS - if any TJ powers that be are listening, I have not seen my most favorite - Milk Chocolate Jumbles - in a really long time!

Caramel Cashew Cookies

Sweet Tooth fulfilled. These cookies are delicious. And they don't even have any chocolate! Amazing. I actually bought these for my husband, who loves cashews and is more of a caramel/butterscotch/vanilla guy, rather than chocolate. Well, we just taste tested them together and we both love them. Annoying that he can stop after eating two!

Dark Chocolate Almonds

Although I prefer milk chocolate, my last several dessert related posts have all been products with dark chocolate front and center.

I see these Dark Chocolate Almonds at the checkout line every time I go to TJ.  A friend had told me about them this summer, at a swim meet, when us parents were all sitting around eating the TJ Honey Cashews I brought.  He started by telling us that he doesn't even like almonds, but that he literally ate the entire container in one sitting.  And I am thinking to myself, "I don't like almonds either!"  But I was skeptical.  I refused to spend the almost $5 on these and risk wasting them.  For months.  Until now.

Guess what?  They are AH-MAZING.  The perfect combination of sweet and salty.  And you seriously can't tell they are almonds.

Dark chocolate = anti-oxidants.  Almonds = good fat.  Snack WINNER!

Dark Chocolate and Peppermint WINNER!

As I mentioned before, I love Christmas at the Teej.  And my very fave dessert combo in the whole wide world is dark chocolate with peppermint.  These cookies are AH-MAZING!  Perfect combination of the two star ingredients and the denseness (the height) is just right.  I need to keep sampling these!

Christmas at TJ - Peppermint Cremes

As I mentioned before, I love the holidays at Trader Joe's.  It's super fun to walk in and see so many new products.  Or maybe I just forget about them from year to year.

One of my fave things in the whole world is the combination of chocolate and peppermint.  And there are tons of options to try at TJ with this combo.  Joe-Joe's, peppermint bark, mini peppermint waffle cookies, peppermint pretzels and my choice for this week - Peppermint Cremes.

These are good, but not great.  There is too much mint in the middle.  For some reason, I thought these were cookies.  They are 100% candy.  And the inside is that soft, white, gooey middle, and it's just too much.  I'll still eat them of course, but I won't buy again.

Holiday Season at TJ - 99 Cent Chocolate Advent Calendars - Say Wha?!?

UPDATE: The chocolates inside the calendar are ROTTEN.  They are discolored, blotchy and taste funny.  Huge disappointment for my kids.  And me.

I do love that TJ celebrates the holidays.  Today, seeing as it is early November, there were several Thanksgiving related items, like pecan pie filling in a jar, pumpkin cream cheese and frozen pumpkin pies.  There was even a Turkey Gingerbread Kit.  But I don't get excited about Thanksgiving, so I am skipping right to Christmas!

Did anyone else know that TJ gets 99 cent Advent Calendars every year?  According to the cashier, they sell out SUPER FAST.  I bought one for both of my kids, and decided that even though there were multiple designs to choose from, I should get them the same one.

Hurry in and grab yours today.  They have about 1000 (I think?) and when they're gone, they're gone.

 

Brownie Crisp - it falls short!

Very disappointing.  I love sweets, so this seemed like a no-brainer.  A brownie and a cookie.  But It did not excite me.  A brownie needs to be soft and this is crispy.  Just weird.

Egg White Egg Salad

Guess what?  Egg salad needs yolks!  SKIP THIS ITEM.

Trader Joe's Watermelon Delivers!

Trader Joe's has an exceptional price on watermelon and it tastes terrific.  Cut out the middle man and do it right!

South African Style Potato Chips... Hmm...

YUCK.  These don't even taste like potato chips.  They taste like a whole new product.  Meat slivers.  I've been to South Africa.  They have amazing spices.  And incredible cuisine.  But I never had meat chips there.  Back to the drawing board Teej.

Pineapple Juice is a WINNER!

Twice now, TJ has been sampling this Pineapple Juice while we were shopping.  And my kids went ballistic they loved it so much... and wanted it so badly.  I did end up purchasing one carton, for a fun treat, but at $4 a pop, it is a once-in-a-while thing!

I sampled it as well and it is really, very tasty. 

Happy 4th of July - Great Hostess Gift!

Here's a great hostess gift for your next July 4th party.  Under $10!

The three hydrangea stems are from Trader Joes, and came in one bunch for $5.99.  The Mason jars were $1 each from the Target $1 bins.  You could also get glass vases at The Dollar Store or buy a $2-4 Mason jar at Michael's.  And I bought the red ribbon at Wal-Mart for $1.49 a roll.  The navy Chevron ribbon was a scrap left over from an Art Party I threw, but was purchased at Hobby Lobby when the ribbon was half off.  The roll was about $3 on sale.

Magic Moo - Organic Chocolate Sauce

This is delicious.  My kids are loving it over ice cream and we just used it to make chocolate milk for the first time.

But there's a logistical downside.  It is really, really, really, really hard to squeeze out, once it has been refrigerated.  Like I can hardly do it, with my grown-up muscles.  I have to squeeze with all my might for a few seconds, and a dollop comes out.  So I do that about 14 times per kid's bowl.  My kids have absolutely no chance of using this product on their own.

Let me reiterate, it IS tasty.  And much better than the leading brand, that has high fructose corn syrup.  And corn syrup.  Yep, both.

Rice!

We love buying these big bags of rice either to supplement our TJ International dinners ;-) or to make when we're home cookin'.

The rice has easy directions, turns out well and tastes delicious.

Delicious Snack - Sesame Honey Cashews

I had these last weekend at my friend Molly's house.  They are divine.  I don't usually like cashews, but these really work.  They are a tiny bit sweet (the honey), but then the sesame counteracts the sweet - in just the right way!

I brought them to the this week's swim meet and every single adult I was sitting with LOVED them.

Bummer... a delicious candy from TJ's!

I have a huge, uncontrollable sweet tooth.  I've mentioned this before, but I've always been relieved that I haven't liked any of the TJ candy that I have tried.

UNTIL NOW!

The Milk Chocolate Jumbles are TO. DIE. FOR.

"Crunchy pecans & toasted quinoa with soft and buttery caramel enrobed in chocolate and topped with Himalayan pink sea salt."

Pecans and quinoa = protein
chocolate = anti-oxidants
Himalayan pink sea salt = it sounds really cool!

The little smidgen of sea salt is amazing.  Such an added dash of delish.