Day165 - Taco Seasoning

It is strange how many of these reviews start with, “We don’t normally eat…” or “We don’t often buy…” – I guess it just goes to show you how many DIFFERENT products we are buying and eating this year because of this review project!  But I fear I must start another one with, “We don’t make tacos very often…” because it is true, we don’t!

We were recently back at our “home” Trader Joe’s and saw a lady with some flour tortillas in her cart (which we do not buy very often and had never purchased at Trader Joe’s – oops – there is ANOTHER one of those disclaimers!).  Anyway, the sight of the tortillas, mixed with my hunger, made me think TACOS! 

So we set about finding the ingredients we would need to make tacos.  We don’t eat tacos often, and when we do, it is at a restaurant or my sister’s house I guess!  J  But this time, we were going to make them ourselves.  So we got:  flour tortillas (to be reviewed another day), hamburger (probably also to be reviewed at some point), and hot pico de gallo (which got a glowing review on day 25 of this blog).  We wanted some taco seasoning, but couldn’t find any where we expected it (by the jars of salsa, right?) so we assumed TJ’s didn’t carry it and planned to pop into another store on the way home. 

But before giving up, we asked an associate, who led us to the packets of taco seasoning in a very out of the way place on a very hard to find bottom shelf.  THEY HAD IT!  (Note to stores:  these don’t take up much shelf space at all, maybe you could display them in a couple different places?  By the canned refried and black beans, by the tortillas, and by the jars of salsa?  Just an idea to making shopping easier.)

These packets were HIDING!  

We are NOT taco seasoning experts.  I think I have only ever bought one brand and probably only invested in that a couple times in my life.  So I really cannot compare this TJ’s brand to any other, in taste, quality, or price.  But I CAN say it made good taco meat!  It was super easy, we followed the meat recipe on the package (onions, green peppers, can of  tomatoes (from TJ’s), beef, and the seasoning).  The package recommended using HALF of it for a milder taste, and ALL of it for a super spicy taste.  GO BIG OR GO HOME, right?  In almost all of it went! 

Tacos being made...  That is a pound of ground beef, which turned out to be a LOT for us (like 4 meals...)

I saved a bit to put on small Portobello mushrooms I sliced and was making to put on the tacos (wow, I just checked the blog and am surprised I have not reviewed these, we eat them a ton.  To be reviewed…).  It turned out that the taco seasoning on the mushrooms was super good and my favorite part of the whole meal! 

And the "Best Use of Taco Seasoning" award goes to - these mushrooms!

I think I will keep a packet of this seasoning in the cupboard to use on veggies.  I am going to experiment and see how it tastes on things other than hamburger meat! 

Price - .79 cents

Rating - 4

Day 114 - Filet Mignon Roast

Holy kamole!!!!  We had this for the first time last night.  Color me a happy eater!!

Let me explain – last night we hosted our first ever (maybe last?) TRADER JOE’S DINNER PARTY!  David’s cousin and her husband were in town visiting and we wanted to get together with them, so we invited them (Sheila and Paul) along with my lovely in-laws Greg and Joan over for dinner.  But instead of just having a “regular dinner party” I made it a TRADER JOE’S DINNER PARTY!  This meant everything served was from none other than, you guessed it, Trader Joe’s J.  Sheila and Joan follow the blog (and I think Paul might be kept up to date by Sheila) so they were keen to join in the fun! 

Here are the Trader Joe's ingredients BEFORE THE PARTY 

I made “score sheets” for everyone and they were elegantly displayed on the table (as elegant as stapled together pieces of paper can be).  Everyone was asked to rate the items listed (Joan counted – there were 26 different items to be served!) and write any comments they wished.  I have collected all the score sheets but HAVE NOT READ THEM yet.  I will write my review of the roast here first so my opinion is not “tainted” by the other reviews, but I will be sure to share their comments and scores, too!

I LOVED THIS ROAST.  We chose it for the dinner party because, as a household of two people, something as big as this roast is not normally practical for us.  But since we would have 6 people at the table, it looked like a perfect size!  And it was – we have a bit of it left over (which we are grateful for and plan to eat later today!).

David with the tasty roast in the store

It was super easy to cook – David roasted it in the oven following the instructions on the package.  He lifted it off the bottom of the baking dish using the little metal rack that came with our old, inherited crock pot.  The roast comes pre-seasoned, but he added a bit of olive oil before putting it in the oven.  When it was done cooking, he followed a tip a co-worker had given him to cover the pan with foil, then with TOWELS to keep the warmth and moisture in.  Boy howdy did that work well!  We didn’t cut into that roast for another 45 minutes after it came out of the oven but it was still warm, juicy, and dellllicious! 

The spices on it are just right – nice and peppery.  In my opinion Trader Joe’s hit a home run with this item.  It is more expensive than we would normally spring for, but hey, it was a DINNER PARTY and after tasting it, I realize that in this case, the cost is totally worth it! 

Yes, more expensive than some dinners but WORTH IT

If I were rating it myself, I would give it a 5.  But because of the dinner party set-up, I am going to now peek at the other guests’ ratings and I will average them together for the final number at the end of the review.

Here are some other diner’s comments on this filet mignon roast:

·         “Tender and peppery but a bit dry.”

·         “Tender, flavor is elegantly beefy.”

·         “Very tasty rub – lots of pepper flavor.”

·         “Wonderful texture; great flavor.”

·         “Instructions for cooking were accurate.  Roast was moist and flavorful.  Easy to prepare for dinner with guests.”

Price - $17.49 lb.

Rating (6 ratings averaged together) – 4.75

Day 71 - Boneless Beef Rib Eye Steak

We do not eat a heck of a lot of red meat.  That might be apparent by the fact that this review is posting on day 70 of this project and it is the first time beef has appeared!  (I had to peek back through the reviews to fact check that and I am a little surprised myself!  I certainly didn’t plan it that way.)  We are not vegetarians, and we are not “anti-beef”, we just don’t eat it all that often. 

So when we DO eat it, we want it to be good.  And this wasn’t.  There was far too much fat and not enough TASTE.  The best part about it was the seasoning we put on it and not the actual beef itself.

In general, beef at Trader Joe’s seems limited.  And pricey.  Maybe beef is a money maker for them?  They just don’t have the selection that Safeway, Giant, or other grocery stores do.  And they don’t have the option of opening a package and giving you a smaller portion like Publix will.  And there is no “meat department” with a butcher to wrap up just what you want.

Boneless Beef Rib Eye Steak

Color me disappointed in this steak.  Sure, we will try another one before the year of reviews is up, but for now I will stick to veggies, chicken, and fish.  This steak left a not-so-good taste in my mouth.

Price – $9.49 per lb

Rating – 2.5