Day 316 - Egg Pappardelle Pasta (plus bonus news about our HALLOWEEN COSTUMES!)

Before I review today’s product, let me share some super fun news: 

WE WON 2 TRADER JOE’S HALLOWEEN COSTUME CONTESTS! 

When we first went to the Bethesda Trader Joe’s on October 25th we saw this sign, which of course got me excited! 

  

We had already been working on our costumes – I was going to be a big piece of BACON and David was going to dress as a sunny side up EGG!  (Of course, ironically these are 2 things that we really like from TJ’s and got great reviews see bacon review here and see egg review here .)  We checked at the Clarendon TJ’s (very close to our house) and they were ALSO having a customer costume contest!!! 

We got the costumes all finished up (easier said than done) and went into the Clarendon store to get our picture taken.  It was a blast!  Walking around the store dressed as bacon and egg was not EASY, mind you, but very fun.  Everyone kept saying, “Hey!  Bacon and eggs!!” as we passed.  We had to wait in line to pay for our purchases and that was funny – standing there in costume as the line snaked forward.

Here we are in the underground parking garage of the Clarendon Trader Joe's - you can see David was sort of TALL...

The next day we went to the Bethesda store and got our photo taken for the contest there, too!  That store was even HARDER to walk around because it is smaller and more crowded.  But it was really cool because some employees were also dressed up (like the lovely Alison who was dressed as Carmen Miranda!). 

I wish I had a photo of the Carmen Miranda costume, but I don't, so here is another BACON & EGGS costume shot!  :)

Both stores called and said we were WINNERS!!!  We won gift cards, which of course we spent immediately on more TJ’s stuff.  J  Thanks Trader Joe’s!!!

THANKS BETHESDA TJ'S!

THANKS CLARENDON TJ'S!!

Now onto the review - Egg Pappardelle Pasta 

The package said four servings, which I thought seemed wrong because there didn’t seem to be that much in the package.  Of course, after COOKING the pasta I realized they were right – those puppies really plump up!  Four servings was indeed accurate.

Here is what the package looks like - find it in the pasta section

We served this pasta with a dollop of butter ( butter review here from waaaay back on day 49) and smothered with beef stroganoff which David lovingly prepared while I was at work, and a side of TJ’s broccoli cooked perfectly by yours truly.

YUMMY!  The broccoli was a nice side for this hearty meal

This pasta was DELICIOUS.  It balanced the beef stroganoff splendidly.  The pappardelle is noodle-y.  It is egg-y.  It is everything you would want an egg noodle to be.  It tastes “fresh” and is something different rather than rice or a traditional pasta (we eat a loooot of pasta).

Mid-bite.

David agrees and said they were good noodles.  They were rich and soft and “the noodles did their job”.  The egg noodle is a little richer than just having pasta all the time.

Note – these noodles are low sodium so if you are looking for that in your diet these might be a good fit.

Price – $1.99

Rating - 4

Day 311 - Broccoli and Cheddar Quiche

Honestly, I thought I reviewed this little quiche way back in the beginning of this project, under day 60 for sure.  We used to always keep one of these in our freezer for a quick meal.  Between you and me, our TJ’s shopping has had to change some this year because of these reviews.  We need to eat new and different products all the time now to have items to review, so some of our old standbys have gotten a wee bit ignored, like this quiche.  But when I looked back in the blog and realized I had MISSED reviewing this, I needed to rectify that stat!  I cannot let the whole year go by and the project finish without helping you find this little quiche if you do not already know about it.

Find this box in the frozen food department.  It is a tiny box, like the size of a personal pizza

These quiche are great to have on hand for nights that you are not in the mood to cook, or days when you work from home and want a nice, hearty lunch.  The packaging (or was it the receipt?) says this is a “breakfast quiche”, which makes no sense to me.  Who decided that quiche was a BREAKFAST FOOD?  It is a lunch quiche.  A dinner quiche.  A midnight snack quiche.  I say quiche is an all day food. 

We ate this one for LUPPER – a 4 PM late lunch/early dinner – while sitting out on our front porch on a sunny day.  I recommend this setting for a tasty meal J.  

If you eat lunch on our porch you can see stuff like THIS!  A mamma dove with two babies in their nest in our Dogwood tree!

I usually bake these quiche in the oven, but this time I tried the microwave method. The packaging says this is one serving, but we always cut one in half and share it.  On this particular day I served it with cous cous and peas which made for a delightful combination.  We always plop some TJ's Dijon mustard (which I also thought I had reviewed but maybe I haven't, am I losing it???) on our plate for dipping the quiche in (it’s a French thing…) and this time I also did some dipping in Hatch Valley Salsa.  David was starving and wanted a bit more sustenance, so he also added a piece of HAM to the plate. 

Yum!

I have an announcement that simply must be made here:  REAL MEN DO EAT QUICHE.

This is a good product.  It is super easy and quick to make.  It is cheesy but not too cheesy.  The crust is good.  The inside filling (broccoli, cheese, and egg) is tasty and filling.  The side of Dijon mustard really makes everything pop.

After tasting this quiche cooked by both methods – oven and microwave – we think the oven is the way to go.  The crust turns out better using the old fashioned oven method. 

This is a good staple to keep in the freezer.

Price - $2.29

Rating – 4.25

Day 181 - Cruciferous Crunch Collection

When I first saw this bag of veggies at Trader Joe’s, I thought, “Hmm, I am surprised they did not go the cutesy route and spell that name with letter “K”s,”.  Then I thought about it again…  3 words.  Ohhh no – best to stick with the correct spelling for the alliteration in this one…  

  

This is quite a CRUNCHY COLLECTION man.

Anyway, this mix has kale, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, green cabbage, and red cabbage.  The bag lists these as possible cooking methods:  “This blend is delicious steamed, sautéed, roasted, creamed with some cheesy sauce, raw, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera,”.  I chose the sautéed route and cooked them with olive oil in our wok.

I was tempted to add some lemon juice, garlic, or soy sauce, but I decided that since this was our first time trying this mix, I should cook it “au naturel” so we would see exactly what it tastes like.

I liked it.  It was, as the name suggests, crunchy.  The Brussels sprouts were cut very thin to allow them to cook in the same amount of time as the other things in the blend.  I didn’t taste much broccoli.  The main taste (to me) was green cabbage.  It did taste “healthy” – in a good way. 

Here is what it looks like on a plate

I liked this better than David did.  We served it with steak (to be reviewed soon) and a baked potato (also to be reviewed) but I noticed that at the end of our (admittedly rushed) dinner the thing left on his plate was Cruciferous Crunch Collection.  He normally eats every bite of everything on his plate, so that is not a good sign.  Oh my, I just asked him what number HE would give that veggie mix and he said, “A 2.  In fact, a 1.5.  I didn’t eat it…”.  OH my!  He normally likes eveeeeerything.

Ok, so if I get this one again it’ll have to be for a meal that he is not sharing. 

P.S. – I just used the power of Google to see if any other folks were having this stuff for dinner.  It turns out that eating it raw as a salad is something loads of people dig…  Ok.  Now I think I will try it THAT way next time and see how it goes.  I shall post a comment on this entry when I do. 

Speaking of comments – post yours here and let me know what you think of this stuff.

Price - $2.29

Rating (my rating, you saw David’s dismal one above…) - 3

Day 156 - Very Green 100% Juice Smoothie

We visited YET ANOTHER Trader Joe’s today!!!  This one was in Pembroke Pines, FL.  The Captain (manager), I think her name was Sarah, was super sweet.  And I really liked some of the signage in this store – it was all beach-y/Florida themes!  Nice. 

Their sample area is called THE GECKO GALLEY - perfect for Florida!!

This was a big painted sign on the front window - "Trader Joe's, where shopping is always a picnic"  :)

One product we picked up was the Very Green 100% Juice Smoothie.  While I adore green veggies, we do not often drink green drinks.  David, in fact, wrinkled up his nose at the prospect of tasting this…

You can tell he is thinking, "Do I really have this??  It is YOUR project, Susan...."

The label on the front says this smoothie is a blend of banana, mango and kiwi purees, apple and pineapple juice, and (I quote) “green foods and other added ingredients”.  Hmmm….  The “green foods” part was a bit off-putting…  Green WHAT?  Oh sure, I doubt it would be green M&Ms, but still, why the secret???  However, when I took time to read the nutritional information, I found out what all of the ingredients were, including the seemingly top secret ones not listed on the front:  apple juice, banana puree, mango puree, pineapple juice, kiwi puree, spirulina, chlorella (what the hell is that one??), natural flavor, dried greens blend (broccoli, spinach, barley grass, ginger, blue green algae, parsley, garlic).

GARLIC?  In a SMOOTHIE? 

As you can see it really IS very green!

But guess what?  It is not half bad!  It says 2 servings, and I would say that is accurate, not sure I would want to chug the whole 16 oz container in one sitting, but it was good.  The first and strongest taste I got was banana (ironic, since bananas are not green, unless of course you are eating/drinking unripe bananas…).  We also could taste the mango and apple juice and perhaps a hint of pineapple.  It tasted like I was drinking something HEALTHY, but not like I was trying to force down medicine or anything.   I think it is quite expensive for the amount of drink you get, but I guess if you think of the cost of all of the ingredients it is probably not over-priced.

And guess what again?  EVEN DAVID LIKED IT!  Oh sure, at first he only took a teeny tiny sip cuz he was nervous.  But after a drink or two he had to admit that it was good.

Price - $2.99

Rating – 3.75

Day 151 - Punjab Eggplant

Trader Joe’s makes these “Indian Fare” dishes that are perfect to have on hand.  They come in small boxes so are easy to store in the cupboard, are super easy to cook (we just put the foil-like pouch in boiling water while we are cooking whatever we are going to serve with the Indian dish), and are a perfect size for 2 servings.  We always have at least one of these packages in our cupboard for easy dinners.

These are sort of  hidden on the bottom shelf at our Trader Joe's, but worth crouching down to get

Tonight’s dinner was this Punjab Eggplant served over TJ’s Basmati Rice (to be reviewed soon) with sides of yellow squash, a fried chicken finger (which David was craving) and broccoli.  It was a really good combination.

Tasty, cheap, fast and easy dinner

The Punjab Eggplant is a tiny bit spicy, which we like.  It is super saucy which makes it nice over rice.  And it is filling.  Oh, and did I mention, it is CHEAP, too? 

So to recap:  easy, cheap, tasty, and saucy!  All good things!

Grab one of each of the Indian Fare dishes off the shelf at Trader Joe’s and try them out.  Find your favorite and keep it on hand for nights that you just don’t feel like cooking (or nights when you want something saucy!).

Price – $1.99

Rating – 4.25

Day 55 - Baby Broccoli

When we have “regular” (as opposed to “baby”) broccoli, I normally cook it in a steamer.  However, when we have BABY BROCCOLI I sauté it.  And THAT, my friends, may be the reason baby broccoli is tastier than “adult broccoli”!! 

Find it in the fresh vegetable section

This vegetable is a staple in our house (I crave green veggies – I like to have at least one with every dinner).  The 8 oz package is just enough for two people (well, it is enough for two people to each have a serving, then for one person (ME!) to have seconds!). 

Here is how I normally cook it – wash, cut the end tips off, heat up some EVOO and sriracha in a pan, put baby broccoli in, cover, after a minute or two add some fresh lemon, salt, and pepper, cover and cook a few minutes more.  You have to turn them a couple of times while cooking and oh man – are they good!  The sriracha mixed with lemon makes an amazing burnt-like sauce.  Note:  if not everyone in your house likes HOT stuff, do it without sriracha.  Last night I made them without it, I just used EVOO, pumpkin seed oil, and lemon juice.  Still tasty!

Preparing to cook

On a dinner plate!

Baby broccoli is the more tasty child of adult broccoli. 

Price - $2.79

Rating – 4.5

Day 34 - Asian Vegetable Stir Fry

This is not the type of thing we normally buy – pre-cut veggies all set to stir fry.  For us, a big part of the “fun” and deliciousness of cooking is the prep – chopping, measuring, etc.  And paying extra for someone else to do the prep work just seems silly, especially when we actually ENJOY that stuff.  But, for the sake of the blog, we bought this to see how it was.

Find this in the produce section

First off, it was not expensive when you consider all the stuff packed into it:  green peppers, broccoli, red peppers, white onions, snap peas, snow pea pods, bamboo shoots, bok choy, baby corn, mushrooms, red onions, carrots, and water chestnuts.  That is a ton of veggies for a stir fry!  When you are a household of two (as we are) and make a stir fry from scratch, you buy all those veggies and use little bits of each, leaving lots of half eaten veggies in the fridge.  So the idea of all of this variety in one pack was actually pretty appealing.  The package recommended cooking the veggies with a meat or tofu, and we almost never cook tofu, so we thought, “What the heck!” and did it with tofu (which will be reviewed on another day).

Veggie stir fry in action - in the wok

Packaging close up

Impressions – for me, the stir fry had a surprising lack of flavor.  I am not sure how all of those delicious vegetables could be mixed up together and the end result have LESS flavor than any of the individual veggies on their own…  I thought the whole point was that the WHOLE IS GREATER THAN THE SUM OF ITS PARTS…  Even the onions were mild.  I wish the mix would have included some GARLIC – that might have livened things up.  We made it in a wok using Extra Virgin Olive Oil and soy sauce, but perhaps we should have added our own garlic.  After eating a couple of bites, I added sriracha sauce to mine to give it some pep. 

The label says it is “about 6 servings” – for us (two tiny people) it was TWO SERVINGS.  I guess if you eat like a Cabbage Patch Doll, it would be 6 servings. 

Price – $3.99

Rating – 2.75