A Few MORE New Snacks From Trader Joe's

Our latest new snack tries from TJ.

Yogurt Stars - my kids LOVE these.  So much so, that I can't buy them too often because the kids eat them (with my husband's help) in a matter of about 30 hours.

 Old Fashioned Blister Peanuts - weird name, eh?  I would never have purchased these, based on the name, but a TJ employee was walking around handing out samples.  And my three year-old loved them.  My husband and I quite enjoy too.  They actually have little bumps on them!

 My little one loves these.  They are nice and soft which appeals to his young gums.

The Best Dark Chocolate IN THE WORLD

This review comes from my mom.  A lover of dark chocolate.  Like eats it every night.

Recently, she was on a trip to France, where her group toured a chocolate factory.  And she deemed this chocolate the best she had ever eaten.  And she's tried a lot of different chocolates.  The friend she was with told her that this amazing chocolate was sold at Trader Joe's.  My mom absolutely did not believe her.

After she returned from France, and finished her stash, She went to TJ's, to prove her friend wrong.  But, low and behold, there it was.  And now my mom is a happy camper.  Eating a few squares a night of this decadent dark chocolate.

Protein-Filled Easy-to-Make Kid-Friendly Snack

Last summer, I got so fed up with my then 7-year old CONSTANTLY telling me he was hungry.  He was summer doing swim team and after an hour of swimming, five days a week, the kid was famished.

I don't buy too many highly processed snacks, and there are only so many organic snack options.  Those, coupled with cheese sticks, yogurt and fruit just wasn't cutting it.

Sooo, I Googled something like "afternoon snacks" and came up with a few different ideas.  I adapted a few of the recipes and came up with one real winner.  I made it once, then forgot about it.  Until swim team started up again this summer...

The two must-have ingredients from Trader Joe's are the Crisp Rice Cereal and the Dried Berry Medley (also a tasty treat on its own.)  See recipe at the bottom of this post, along with a photo of the completed snack masterpiece.

Crispy Oat PB Balls

• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup natural peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 cup crisp rice cereal
• 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1/4 cup dried fruit

1.     Step 1

In a small saucepan over medium, heat honey, peanut butter, and butter. Stir until loosened and smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in cereal, oats, and dried fruit.

2.     Step 2
Drop mixture by the tablespoon into mini cupcake paper liners. Place on a rimmed baking sheet, and refrigerate until set, about 15 minutes.

SUMMER! Two Ice Cream Sandwiches. A YAY! and a NAY!

Everyone loves an ice cream sandwich, right?  My kids start craving ice cream and asking for it every June.  Here are two we tried.

A YAY!  These Sublime Ice Cream Sandwiches are appropriately named.  DEE-lish.

I love anything minty, especially ice cream.  But these fall short.  They don't even taste right.  I threw them out.  And if you know me, you know I usually eat mediocre sweets rather than throw anything out!

What's for Dinner? Indian!

I love good Indian food, even though I don't get to an actual Indian restaurant very often.  I love it even more if I can make it with one jar - at home.

So far, here are the sauces I have tried from Trader Joe's and how they fare.  I have always used chicken with any Indian sauce that I buy.

NAY!
Masala Simmer Sauce - somehow this was a little spicy and a lot bland.

 

YAY!

This one was delicious, although very spicy.  My kids wouldn't eat it (we rinsed off the sauce and forced them to eat the chicken!)

Check back as I try each TJ Indian sauce.

A Few New Kid Snacks from TJ's

We've had these before, but not this flavor.  This one was a very well received, and the whole box disappeared within a few days.  The one downside is that these pouches are super tiny!

Fruit wraps!  Bit hit.  You buy these individually, for $0.49 each.  Both of my kids loved them.  There are several different flavors.

 

Another new one to our house, my little one loved these and ate both.  My older one wouldn't even try it, so I can't say if he would have liked it or not!  They are really ugly and unappealing looking (brown and texture-y), so that could be why my very particular first born steered clear of these.  You also buy these individually, for $0.99 each and there are many different flavors.

Trader Joe's Banana Bread Mix

I don't typically buy baking mixes because I like to bake and do it pretty frequently.  My kids also love baked goods and my little one LOVES to help.  He cracks eggs very unsuccessfully!

My good friend from college is a chef and has an amazing (from scratch) banana bread recipe.  This mix was on an end cap at TJ's, and I bought it impulsively.

As a baker, I didn't love this recipe.  I made these as muffins, which requires that you substitute creamed butter for the oil.  And you are supposed to mix it in - this is impossible to do without a hand mixer.  I will say these bake up nicely and evenly.

Overall, the muffins were decent tasting, but don't really taste like true banana bread.  My little one liked them, my big kid did not.

We'll eat them, but won't buy this mix again!