Bollywood Popcorn

I have a new obsession from Trader Joe's; it is BOLLYWOOD POPCORN!!  Sure, at first glance Indian Popcorn might not be the exact thing you expect to quench your hunger, but for my taste buds, it is all that and a bag of chips!!

Sometimes you MUST try the new items

David's take:  "Very nice.  I think this is a successful attempt at finding something new to add to popcorn. It's a little bit CUMIN-Y, so if you don't like cumin you might not go ravenous over this.  I like how FLAVORFUL it is - it's very flavorful and that's good!  I don't think it supplant my love of cheddar flavor on popcorn, but it is very nice and successful for a different take on popcorn!  I give this a 4.25."

I hereby declare my love of Trader Joe's Bollywood Popcorn
 (and I do a little Bollywood move in the middle of Trader Joe's)

I declare - THIS IS GOOD STUFF!  The ingredients say it is flavored with vegan Tikka Masala - I say bring that tikka on!! 

Paprika, turmeric, and garlic powder are also mentioned in the ingredients (but not the cumin that David tastes so strongly, though that may well be a part of the tikka masala or the unnamed "spices").  I really like this product.  I like that it TASTES SAVORY.  Why, it doesn't just taste like a snack, it tastes kind of like a meal!  The bag says one serving is two cups and there are five servings in a bag, which seems about right.  I don't think I could eat an entire bag in one setting (though I might "have to" try, just for scientific research for this blog, of course...)

Go ahead, invest two bucks in a bag

This is definitely different than your run of the mill snack food and it's a great invention!  I was never into flavored popcorn until we first had Garrett's Chicago Style popcorn (later emulated at TJ's - 5 star review here).  I then got up enough nerve to taste TJ's Popcorn in a Pickle and liked it, too (review here).  I am glad my taste buds "matured" enough to accept flavored popcorn, because this Bollywood popcorn is a welcome addition to my snack food! 

The only negative I noticed was that your fingers get SUPER MESSY while you eat it.  I do not recommend chomping on this snack while reading a library book, cuz that can only end in you paying a fine for ruining a book.  At least, that is what I thought the first couple of times I ate Bollywood Popcorn, until I invented my NEW TECHNIQUE for eating it!  Check it out!!

THIS is how you should eat it!  No more messy fingers!!

Yup - all you have to do is put your Bollywood Popcorn in a small bowl and use your tongue to pick it up instead of your fingers!  Voila, problem solved!  (Important note:  it is recommended that each snacker have their own bowl when employing this technique, cuz, well, some people might think your tongue in their bowl is gross.) 

This is a creative product.  We went to India in May and this brings back nice memories of that trip.  Here are a couple of Indian vacation photos, plus one shot of David wearing a fun and rather lovely mask a friend him.

I love this photo of an Indian woman making coir.  We had such an inspiring time watching these women.

This man is a TODDY TOPPER!!  He climbs trees and collects "toddy" to be sold in toddy bars.
Only MEN drink in toddy bars, but I got to go in one!  Color me lucky.  (No, we didn't taste it...)

Beautiful Indian woman in her boat

David with a very famous Indian Kathakali performer

Tuk Tuk Driver in Southern India - he let DAVID try out driving the tuk tuk!!

Back in America with the new BOLLYWOOD POPCORN!

I give this Bollywood Popcorn a 4.75.  If you have an adventurous palate I recommend you grab a bag and try it out.

Price: $1.99
Rating (average of 2 raters):  4.5

Shiitake Mushroom Chicken

I would like to clarify that I believe there is a typo on the packaging of this product.  I think it should be called Shit-Ake Chicken.

Ok, now for the review.  (Can you guess what we thought of it even before reading further??!  :) )

Looks tasty enough on the bag, no?  

I have BUYER’S REMORSE on this one.  Sigh.  It is my own fault, I should have read the bag more clearly before buying it, but I got excited!  It looked really good in the photo!!  And it looked like it would be so easy to prepare!  But if only I had taken time to read the ingredients list I would have seen that not the first ingredient, but the first TWO INGREDIENTS listed are dark meat chicken chunks.  Putting aside my preference for white meat chicken a moment, why did they list it TWICE??  And again, ignoring that if I have my choice I choose white meat chicken, why didn’t they use better QUALITY dark meat chicken in this meal? 

Dark Meat Chicken Chunks - the ingredient so "nice" they listed it twice...

OK, backing up; this is a frozen meal that comes in a bag.  It consists of dark meat chicken, more dark meat chicken, shiitake mushrooms, edamame, and green beans.  I was right about one thing with this product, it is easy to cook and make a meal out of.  But it does not make a TASTY meal, which is something we like…  I followed the instructions and cooked it in a wok and served it over jasmine rice. 

Lots of chicken...  Lots of bad quality chicken...

The two ingredients that made this product taste bad were the bad quality chicken and the very bland, poorly textured green beans.  The very best part of the dinner was the rice (cooked separately and not included in this packaged meal…).  But the best part of this PACKAGE was the edamame and the shitake mushrooms – those bits were good.  But those things can’t carry the weight of the whole meal.  I think something that would jazz it up would be GARLIC.  Give it a bit of flavor.

This does not taste like a dish you would get at a restaurant AT ALL.    Well, I take that back.  It DOES taste like something you would get at a restaurant, but the restaurant would be an all-day Chinese Buffet in Daytona Beach, Florida.  It would be in a pan that had been left out all day on the buffet line, and senior citizens who paid $4.99 for all-you-can-eat “Chinese” would be plopping it on their plate for their 4:00 PM dinner.  THAT is what it tastes like!  (And I do not mean any offense to Seniors, we are AARP members ourselves!)

Orrrr, it might also be found in a junior high school cafeteria. 

I couldn’t finish my serving.  I ended up eating more rice and heating up some Trader Joe’s edamame (which I love) to finish out my dinner.  As for the Shitake Mushroom Chicken dish, I give it a 2.0. 

David's take on Shiitake Mushroom Chicken BEFORE eating it...

Here is what David thought: “I agree, this is not as delightful as one might have liked.  In general, I do not have a problem with dark meat chicken, but this one...  The beans in this dish taste like canned green beans.  It would be much improved by the addition of green peppers, onions, maybe carrots…  For me the best part about this is the SAUCE.  So instead of getting this again I should just learn how to make a sauce like this – it is nice and savory but slightly sweet so it is a tasty sauce.  I would give this a 2.75.”

And David AFTER eating it...
Even DAVID didn't want second helpings, and David alllllways wants a second helping!

We won’t be buying this one again.  In fact, instead of putting the leftovers in a Fupperware (fake Tupperware) container we threw them out, which never happens at our house.  David will (hopefully) be figuring out how to make the sauce included with this package and we will put it with tastier stuff! 

Price – $4.99

Rating – 2.5

Teeny Tiny Honeynut Squash are Back in SEASON!

I reviewed these petite, adorable little squash on day 301 of my blog.  They got a FIVE STAR rating. Check it out:

Miniature Honeynut Squash Review

Love these adorable little squash

And now they are BACK IN STOCK at Trader Joe's!  Same price as last year - .99 cents for one lovely little squash.  I followed the same recipe that I put in the original review and, once again, these puppies came out delicious.

2015 Price Tag (cute display outside of our Trader Joe's)

2016 Price Tag (cute display INSIDE our Trader Joe's)

These miniature butternut squash have a lot going for them:
- they are autumnal
- they are adorable
- they are easy to prepare
- they taste good
- did I mention how CUTE they are?
- they are a healthy thing to eat
- they are not your run-of-the-mill boring veggie

A LARGE photo of a small item

It is for all of these reasons and more that I suggest you book it to your local Trader Joe's and grab some.  Heck, serve 'em to guests!  Trust me, they will ooohh and ahhhh.

I grabbed 2, you should pick up more than that.  I am going back to get several.  

Yummy!!!  I served one honeynut squash (we each ate half) with a meal we ordered from Munchery, a food delivery service

Price:  STILL .99
Rating:  STILL 5 STARS

Tanzania Coffee (Small Lot)

I have reviewed a LOT of Trader Joe’s coffees on this blog.  That makes sense, because of the fact that I am forever searching for that “perfect” cup of java.  So when I saw this Tanzania Coffee in the pretty container on the end cap of NEW PRODUCTS at TJ’s, I picked up a bag.

Small Lot, big elephant
 (I mean, in the wild elephants are big, but the drawing of the elephant on this bag is actually quite small)

Yes, a BAG, which is unusual for Trader Joe’s coffees.  Most of them come in recyclable cans (not metal).  This coffee is also more expensive than other TJ’s varieties, most likely due to the “small lot”-ed-ness of it.  However, we didn’t notice until we got home that it is also LESS COFFEE than the TJ’s cans, which when you do the math makes it even MORE expensive.  The cans are 14 oz, and this bag is 12 oz. 

Hmmm, I wonder what that sign UNDER this sign says?
I am surprised the P.I. in me didn't push the top sign to the side to investigate.

Opening this bag, as another one that I reviewed here, is tricky.  One would think a bag would open on the TOP, but this opens on the FRONT.  This can be especially tough when the product you are trying to open is COFFEE, cuz, well, who can tackle a tricky thing like that before you have had your coffee, and, if you can’t get the bag open, you can’t have your coffee, so, ummm, well you get where I am coming from.  David opened it before I had to tackle it, so that made it very easy opening for me.  Thanks David!

The packaging tells us that this is “Dark roast, full bodied, with floral notes.  100% Arabica whole bean coffee”.  We ground the “hand-picked, exclusively selected for TJ’s beans” right before making the coffee and brewed it in what we call our “campfire” coffee maker (metal Italian maker that you use on the stove top).  The packaging has some pretty surprises if you peek on the sides (giraffe print) and the bottom (zebra!). 

This is a good coffee.  It has a bit more taste than some of the other TJ’s coffees.  It is not as “bland” as some of them are.  I like it. 

Coffee always smells good.

David says, “I like it also.  I don’t notice it all that much, which is good, because I expect coffee to be coffee.  This satisfies that completely.  Yeah.  I am happy.  I guess I give it a 4.”

I give this one a 4, too.  Not sure if it is a seasonal, special product or if Joe’s plans to keep it around (the sign says "Limited Edition" so if you are curious, you best get it now).

Some other coffee reviews from this blog:

Cafe Pajaro Blend

Five Country Espresso Blend

Organic Bolivian Blend

Ethiopian

Sumatra

Smooth and Mellow Blend

Columbia Supremo

Joe's Dark

Guatemalan

Pour Over

THAT'S A LOT OF COFFEE!

Ahhh coffeeeeeee

Price:  $7.99

Rating:  4

Barrel Ax Red (California)

Our bottle of Barrel Ax was a 2013 vintage (was that a good year for wine?).  This bottle was recommended by a super friendly and informative TJ’s employee at the Clarendon, VA store.  We asked if Emma Pearl wine (Emma Pearl Pinot Noir Review here) might be coming back (sadly, he thinks it is not, as it was a limited supply, sigh).  But since he knew we like Emma Pearl, he suggested we try this Barrel Ax (it is in the “super cheap wine” category, as was dear ol’ Emma).  It is only $3.99 a bottle, so we grabbed one.  I mean, how horrible can it be, it is not a huge investment, right?

Simple, cool label

Newsflash:  I REALLY LIKE BARREL AX!!

It is a pretty good substitute for Emma Pearl (which we hoarded a case of, but the case is almost gone).  Barrel Ax has a nice, balanced taste.  It is not too strong.  We drank it with a beef dinner (and had a second glass with brownies!).  It is a California wine, and the label says it has flavors of raspberry and strawberry and is aged in oak up to 5 months.  It also says that this is the perfect wine to enjoy with BBQ or PIZZA!  This is perfect, because David just scored us FREE PIZZA FOR A YEAR from a new local pizza place!!!!  I know, right???   (Story about the big pizza win here:  Pizza Kindness )

Whaaaat??  Free pizza for a YEAR?  

Barrel Ax is a good table wine.  It is simple, seems like it would pair well with about anything. 

David says, “I like it.  it is very deep and earthy and red table wine-y.  But not table wine-y in the sense that it tastes cheap and nasty, but rather that it is RICH and full bodied.  It goes well with a hearty meal, a beef or something.  It has a lot of tannin going on.”

David being tough with a bottle of wine

Susan:  Funnily enough, I think this wine tastes neither rich nor full bodied, the descriptions David gave it.  I don’t think it would over-power any meal.  It holds its own but it is not “rich” to me.

I think I might stock up on a case of this stuff!  Heck, we can just put it in the case that the Emma Pearl was in.  

Price:  $3.99

Rating:  4.25

Pumpkin Body Butter: WARNING, IT IS BACK!

It's that time of year again.

It is AUTUMN, when all things Trader Joe's turn PUMPKIN, even the body butter.  But please, learn from my mistake.  I tried it last year, I took one for the team.  Here is the review (the product got a higher review than it should have solely because of the good PACKAGING, packaging I am not even sure it HAS anymore since the follow-up body butters at Trader Joe's didn't):

Pumpkin Body Butter Review

Unless you want to walk around this fall smelling like a Thanksgiving candle, just don't do it - don't buy this body butter.

It's baaaaack....

Oh, I am sure there are some die hard fans out there going, "YESSSS - THE PUMPKIN BODY BUTTER IS BACKKKK!", but I ain't one of 'em.

Bleck.

You have been warned.