Black Beans - even CHEAPER than before!

I first reviewed Trader Joe's Black Beans (in a can) on July 21, 2015.  They got a good review, which you can see here:

Black Beans Review

At that time, one can of black beans was .89.  As you might suspect, most stores do not LOWER their prices.  I mean sure, they may run a special sale every now and then, but would you really expect a store to LOWER their price and keep it that way???

TRADER JOE'S DID!

They CUT the price!!!

The same can of black beans is now a dime cheaper!

Yup - black beans are now only .79!!!  Look, a dime might not be a ton of money to you, but every dime counts, man.  Dimes add UP!  If you eat one can of black beans per month, you would save (let me do the math here...) $1.20 a year!!!!

Good ol' Black Beans

Seriously, I think it rocks that Trader Joe's sees fit to lower their prices sometimes.  When the price of everything else in the world seems to be going UP, it is nice that the humble black bean gets a bit cheaper.

Keep it up, TJ's!!

P.S. - while we are on the subject of BLACK BEANS, do yourself a favor and do not buy the Black Bean Rotini at Trader Joe's, even if they lower the price...  0 star review here (and trust me, 0 stars is hard to get from me...):  Black Bean Rotini Review

Avoid this at all costs

Black Bean Rotini is barfable

Day 339 - Roasted Corn (frozen)

I have mentioned this before, but we tend to buy fresh vegetables as opposed to frozen.  And for CORN, we sometimes buy CANS.  But when I saw this bag of frozen ROASTED corn at Trader Joe’s, I was intrigued… 

Hmmm, doesn't it look interesting??

And I was right to be intrigued!  We served it up and YUM, what a good idea. 

David: “This is nice!  It is grilled tasting.  It’s easy eatin’ – you don’t have to chew it off the cob.  And it tastes like GRILLED CORN.  Nice.  The taste is great but the texture is a little bit limp in the way that frozen or canned corn can be.  I give this a 4.”

Does it look tasty in this photo?  Because in real life it is.

Me:  I think this is a grand idea!  Usually when it is not summer time (i.e. not corn on the cob season) I buy canned corn.  I always feared the frozen corn would be mushy when it was cooked.  But this is not mushy at all (to me anyway).  I really like the GRILLED aspect of it.  Very nice! 

I just put some in a bowl, added a bit of water, and microwaved it.  It is really good!  It is very satisfying.  It tastes like you are eating corn on the cob from the guy who sells it at a fair but it is even better – you are not eating it off the cob so it doesn’t get stuck in your teeth!

FIRE ROASTED CORN.  Yum.  And look - the sign says it is a perfect ADDITION to stuff.
Geez, all we did it eat it straight!

File this one under, “Why didn’t we think of that??”.  This is a good invention and I plan to keep some in our freezer.  I give this a 4.25.  And since this is MY blog and not David’s, I am going to go with MY SCORE for the final one.  J

Price – $2.49

Rating – 4.25

Day 290 - Grilled Asparagus (frozen)

First off, let’s be honest.  This frozen grilled asparagus is NOT like fresh asparagus.  It does not taste as good as asparagus you buy in the produce section, wash, trim, and cook yourself.

But secondly, let’s be clear.  This asparagus is NOT as crappy as canned asparagus.  Growing up I actually liked canned asparagus.  I think it was sort of a treat in our house and I do not remember having it until I was older, but canned was the only asparagus I ever ate.  It came out of a tall, thin metal can and I thought it was expensive and exotic.  It was also, honest here, as mushy as all get out. 

When I became an “adult” (something I still don’t claim to be, though my birth certificate says otherwise) I thought canned asparagus was the way to go.  Then I met David, and he hated canned asparagus.  He introduced me to fresh asparagus and I loved it (though every once in a while I would still buy a can and snarf it down on my own…).  I have a dish that is one of my specialties – asparagus, brown butter, and capers.  It is amazing!

Reasonable price for a vegetable that is normally pretty expensive

 I saw this grilled asparagus in the TJ’s frozen section one night when I was shopping there alone and thought I would give it a try.  I had dinner ready when David came home from a late night of work and these spears were on the plate.  Here is what he thought:

“I like it.  It’s got crunch but it’s soft enough to cut with a fork.  It is flavorful, tasty.  In this case perhaps because we grilled it lightly (EDITOR’S NOTE:  “WE”????  We??  Ummm, YOU were at work when I made this meal…).   Ummm, and it is entirely NOT WOODY.  No part of the stalk have I encountered a kind of fibrousness to.  And I haven’t even gotten up to the tips yet - I presume those are gonna be even nicer!”

BAM – I PUNKED HIM!  He thought “we” grilled those!!!  Boy was he surprised when I told him they came in a bag, frozen, and I had just defrosted them in the microwave. 

The asparagus spears are quite pretty, eh?  I served them with grilled eggplant from our garden topped with TJ's feta
and a TJ's Chicken Balti Pie.

My opinion of these – they lost a bit of asparagus taste in the freezing process.  So they are not as delicious as fresh asparagus but they win hands down over canned asparagus.  If TJ’s carries these during the asparagus off-season they would definitely be something good to have in the freezer.  I agree that they were not woody.  They were a nice size and very “uniform”.  Fresh asparagus goes off really quickly in the fridge if you don’t cook it right away, so I think this frozen asparagus would be a good staple to keep in the freezer on nights when you haven’t gotten to the store to get a fresh veggie.  It would be the equivalent of the can of “emergency corn” I keep in the cupboard.  Overall, they are good but do not have the “vibrancy” of fresh.

David admitted I had totally fooled him and he would have never known they were not fresh if I hadn’t told him.  He did run into a bit of fiber (to be expected with this vegetable).

Price – $3.99

Rating - 3.75

Day 260 - Brussels Sprouts Roasted

We are Brussels sprouts fans.  We normally buy them “raw” (like, what I would call “regular Brussels sprouts” – individual little cabbage-head like sprouts that you have to clean and cook).  But since I need to try a new Trader Joe’s product every single day of 2015 for this blog, and since I am only day 260 and there are 365 days in a year, sometimes we have to buy things we wouldn’t “normally buy” – like these pre-roasted Brussels sprouts!  (If you would like to read my glowing review of TJ’s Brussels sprouts (raw) from day 68, check here:  http://traderjoes365.blogspot.com/2015/03/day-68-brussels-sprouts.html )

But back to these pre-roasted ones.  My first thought after I read the package was, “4 servings!  Haha – clearly you do not know how much I love veggies!  This is 1 serving for our household, 2 at the max!”.  More on that later in the review, but suffice it to say, I was wrong on that estimation.

These come in a little pack in the fresh veggie produce section

I cooked these for 3 minutes in the microwave as the package instructed (with one resting minute after cooking). PEEE-EWWW did they stink!  It really smelled gross in our kitchen!  When I roast Brussels sprouts in the oven they do not stink up the house, so I am not sure what was up with that. 

They are good.  They for sure needed salt and pepper to season them but they tasted good.  David agreed with me.  He pointed out that the texture was also good (though not quite as good as when I roast them at home).  These TJ’s pre-roasted ones are not mushy.  He liked the flavor, too.  He thinks they are “pretty close” to what you get if you roast them yourselves but a little less “crisp” and pointed out that each of the flavors is a bit less of its own note, they kind of all go together a bit more but not in an unpleasant way.

Here they are in action!  Chicken (bought at BJ's, not Costco), brown basmati rice  (to be reviewed soon), and pre-roasted Brussels Sprouts

I feared these would be mushy like pre-cooked veggies in a can.  I guess I am a fresh vegetable snob, I love a green veggie with every meal, and I was nervous about these.  But they were a pleasant surprise. 

Pricing wise – the larger package (I am not sure how big it is, sorry) of raw Brussels sprouts at Trader Joe’s is bigger and cheaper – only $2.49.  However, it does require you to cook them.  So if you value convenience more than price, grab a pack of these pre-roasted ones.

Serving wise – the pack was vacuum sealed so after cooked and opened it was more than I originally thought.  It is 3 – 4 servings.

If you want a quick veggie this is a good option.  It would be nice to have on hand for nights when you don’t have another fresh vegetable around.

Here is an article that TJ’s wrote about this product - http://m.traderjoes.com/fearless-flyer/article/2247

  

Price – $3.29

Rating – 4.25

Day 202 - Black Beans

A can of black beans is a can of black beans, right?  I mean, how SUPERB or CRAPPY can a can be?  Maybe I just have never bought a super bad brand of black beans.

That being said, these are fine black beans. :)  They are black.  They are beany.  They are good.  As I have mentioned in previous reviews of canned vegetables on this blog, before buying Trader Joe’s brand, I always thought I “needed” to stick with name brand canned vegetables.  I clipped coupons and bought them on sale.  But now that I know TJ’s are just as good as the fancy name brand vegetables that pay for advertising (and coupons!), I will stick to TJ’s!

Not only are they tasty, they are an excellent source of fiber (insert fart joke here)

I served these over rice and topped with chopped green pepper, chopped onion, chopped tomato, and sliced avocado.  YUMMMMMM.  I added salt, pepper, and Tabasco to mine.  Sometimes I do the black beans over rice and kale (also with Tabasco) and that is also a really tasty meal.

See those black beans hiding under all of those tasty toppings???

If you have never tried a store brand canned vegetable, do it.  Cheaper and just as reliable. 

Price - .89

Rating - 4

Day 84 - Whole Kernel Corn

Basically, a can of corn is a can of corn, no???

And yet…  At SOME grocery stores, I choose to buy the name brand corn (Green Giant and the like) instead of the plain label store corn.  “Why??” you ask.  Well, I am sure it is psychological, but I sometimes think the fancy brand MUST be better, right??

Wrong.  And Trader Joe’s brand just proves it.  This can of corn at Trader Joe’s tastes equal to any fancy brand you see advertised on tv.  I have eaten this corn as a side dish (just warmed with butter on top) and I have eaten it cooked into main dishes (most recently in a chicken chili that was supurb!).

Simple can, simple vegetable, tasty

Trader Joe’s corn is good.  It should not be dismissed just because you do not see commercials for it on television or coupons for it in your Sunday newspaper. If you are going to eat a canned vegetable, this one is worthy of your spoon (or fork, I am not judging).  Get it.  Eat it.  If you like corn you will like it.

Price – $.89

Rating – 4.25