Chocolate Filled Crepes

I love crepes.  I like chocolate crepes.  So, I was very excited when I saw these in the frozen food section at Trader Joe’s!!

Apparently THIS is my excited face.

We used to live in Paris, and I loooved getting crepes from the little stands on the street corners.  I especially loved the simple butter and sugar crepes…  Ahhhh, just writing about them brings back memories and makes my mouth water!  If digital cameras had been around when we lived there, I am quite certain I would have photos of us sitting at some café eating crepes, but sadly, that was back in the time of 35 mm film…  I do, however, have a couple of old Paris vacation photos.  😊

David, long hair and leather jacket, sipping coffee at a Parisian Cafe circa 1998
(You cannot tell me this look is not sexy...)

Us, touring the Paris sewers in 1989.  It looks like I am wearing a shirt I borrowed from someone who wore
 8 sizes bigger than me, no?  What was I thinking... 

All that being said, I guess you could say that I have sort of high standards where crepes are concerned.  However, I do not know how to MAKE CREPES myself, so I do not have a lot of room to judge or criticize other people’s crepes!  However, review is what I am here to do, so let’s set about reviewing these TRADER JOE’S CHOCOLATE CREPES, shall we?

Here's the box!  

First, they are frozen and so easy to prepare.  You just put them on a plate, bung them in the microwave, and voila – it is crepe time! 

My first reaction the first time we had these was, “Well, they are better than not having any crepe, that’s for sure.  But it is definitely not as good as having a “real crepe” on the streets of Paris.  The crepe part is a little bit rubbery, but it is nice that it holds all of the chocolate filling in.  you can pick it up like a sandwich, you don’t even have to use a fork if you do not want to.  In my opinion, the chocolate filling tastes a bit like melted ganache.  The size of each crepe is rather small, but that is not a negative in my book.  We have had them for snacks, dessert, and breakfasts (I prefer breakfast with a nice cup of coffee or cappuccino). 

Look!  A bit of chocolate is peeking out!  So pretty.  I served them with blueberries
 from TJ's,  a fig from our garden, and cappuccinos.  

I think these would be good if you added fresh whipped cream, or strawberries, or banana slices on top.  That would add some pizazz, but even without those additions I think these are a winner.  I give them a 4.25.

David’s opinion:  “I think these are very good.  I like the rubbery crepe quality of them, because the taste of the crepe is really quite flavorful.  I love that they managed to figure out how to make it a nice little sealed rectangular pocket so that stuff doesn’t gush out at the bottom.  I think the taste of the chocolate is quite nice – it is dark chocolate-y and there is not too much of it.  if the crepe itself didn’t taste so good I might say there wasn’t enough chocolate, but as it is I think it is a great balance.  I am going to give this a 4.25.”

These things are CHEAP!

Price:  $2.69 (which comes out to a whopping .38 cents per crepe, cheaper than a candy bar!!)

Rating:  4.25

Bonus Paris photo - lunch outdoors for my birthday - 2007

Chicken Burrito Bowl

First, let me say right off, I have the flu.  It’s not the “throw up” type of flu, it is the fever, exhausted, and every inch of your body ache type of flu (it even hurt to COMB MY HAIR this morning…  Huh?)

Oh, I feel muuuuuch better than I felt yesterday, where I lie in bed ALL DAY and night long, freezing cold (with a fever) even though I was snuggled under the electric blanket.  I now have a super expensive ($117 after insurance???) prescription of TamiFlu to take (geez Louise, that works out to almost $12 per pill – I could buy 2 bottles of wine at Trader Joe’s for every pill I am taking!  Priorities, people…)

Not gonna lie...  I sat in the waiting room of the doctor's office for 45 minutes to get in to see her.  And the whole entire time I was wearing the ridiculous mask UPSIDE DOWN and INSIDE OUT.  And they never told me!  Can't they TELL I feel awful by looking at me??  When I finally got called back the nurse said, "Oh, put the PURPLE side out!  You are gonna suffocate!"  Gee, thanks.

So anyway, I am not feeling dapper.  Also, I am home alone.  David is at rehearsal for “Gogol’s Nose and Other Strange Tales From the City”, a show he is co-directing at George Mason University.  It opens March 29^th and YOU should come see it if you are in the Maryland, Virginia, Washington DC area J.  Here is a link to the university performance calendar so you can check it out:  link to Gogol's Nose!

David has been at rehearsal in the evenings quite a lot lately, which has meant a change in diet for me.  No longer are we doing “team cooking” – me focusing on veggies and him doing starch or meat…  No, now it is things like, I kid you not, a dinner of Girl Scout Cookie Thin Mints for me!  Oh yeah, steppin’ it up a notch in the cuisine department. 

So, tonight I pulled a little something out of the freezer that I purchased with the intention of eating for a LUNCH – a Trader Joe’s Chicken Burrito Bowl.  Since David wasn’t here, I ate that whole sucker myself.  And here is what I thought of it:

Here you have it: dinner in a box.  Just add wine!

This is the first time I have had this item.  I was imagining MOE’S (a chain restaurant) when I bought it.  it was super easy to prepare – I microwaved it for 4.5 minutes, stirred it, let it sit a minute, and it was ready to roll.  I topped it off with the last bit of Hatch Valley Salsa I had (which I am kinda sorta addicted to and reviewed here:  Hatch Valley Salsa link  ).  (It is garbage and recycling night, and using the salsa means I can get the jar out of the fridge and recycle it!  But don’t fret, I have my back-up jar in the cupboard!)

My first bite of chicken in this burrito bowl was way too big, it was like the size of 3 bites!  That put me off a bit, but subsequent bites were better sized.  Sadly though, the chicken was really bland.  The black beans, corn, and peppers were much tastier. 

Ahhh, fancy dinner!!

This burrito bowl is listed as one serving, and that seems right if you are hungry.  It would make a good lunch.  It is nothing that is going to knock your socks off – it is NOT like going to Moe’s.  For some reason this Trader Joe’s bowl is just not all that flavorful.  It needs much more spice. 

Reasonably priced and NEW
                                                                                                                                                           

So, while I would rather have a bowl or burrito from Moe’s (which ironically is right next to our usual Trader Joe’s!), this is not a bad substitute.  It’ll do if you wanna just sit on the sofa, eat, and watch CNN.  I might buy one of these again to keep in the freezer for a lunch or solo dinner – it was filling enough anyway. 

Price:  $3.49

Rating: 3.5

French Onion Soup AND Reston, Virginia Trader Joe's

GUYS!  We visited ANOTHER TRADER JOE’S!  I think this was our 27^th store to visit since January 1, 2015 (in 14 different states, well, 13 states and one District). 

The newest store (new to us) was on Killingsworth Avenue in Reston, VA.  The night before Halloween I surprised David by driving us out to a house I had found online that was all lit up for Halloween and had the lights danced to music!  Anyway, when we were done enjoying that, we Googled and saw that there was actually a TJ’s nearby that we had never visited, so off we went!

Here is the Halloween house!  See those jack-o-lantern lights?  THEY SANG!  It was cute.

The Reston, Virginia Trader Joe's is very nice!  It is big, well stocked, well lit, clean, and has wide aisles.  They also have something that I have not noticed in any other Trader Joe’s around the country:  a little play kitchen for kids!  We got there shortly before closing time, but this little girl was enjoying the play area!  Isn’t it adorable??  I bet kids love it (parents, too).  I talked to a super friendly, really nice employee named Kimberly who didn’t know that her store was SPECIAL by having the play kitchen J.  I was like, “Kimberleeeeeey, no, not all stores have those!  It is amazing!”

LOOK!  A little kitchen to play in!!!

Another really cool thing this location has is MULTIPLE STUFFED ANIMALS TO HIDE…  Do you know about the TJ’s stuffed animals?  Each store has one (at least I thought they only had one!) and they hide it on the shelves.  Kids that are shopping hunt for the animal, and if they find it they report it to the customer service area and get a treat.  But Kimberly explained to me that she feels like it shouldn’t be too hard for kids to be successful in this adventure, and that is why she deploys MULTIPLE ANIMALS!  Isn’t that kind (and smart)??  I love it!  Lucky Reston kids.

Shhhh, one of the animals in hiding in the coffee department in Reston!

Oh, and get this…  The store captain is named SUNSHINE HAVEN!  With someone named SUNSHINE running the place, how could it NOT be glowing and lovely??  I hope to go back sometime and meet Sunshine.  And hey – Sunshine – Kimberly is a great representative of your store and the TJ’s brand.  I don’t know if it is within your realm of power, but if it is, give that lady a raise, she is great. 

The Reston, Virginia store has a very nice feel

We picked up several items while we were at this location, one of which was the luxurious advent calendar I wrote about recently Super Amazing Fancy Advent Calendar Review .  the item I am actually reviewing today did not come from this particular store, but I am sure they carry it. 

French Onion Soup.  David, who lived in Paris for a few years, has eaten some French Onion Soup in his day.  Here is what he thought of this version from Trader Joe’s:

“Very, very good.  I have had me some French Onion Soup, and I love it, but it is often a disappointment.  This one is FULL of flavor, very rich, although we should point out that we ended up cooking it 15 – 20 minutes longer than the insructions said to, so I think it reduced a little bit.  But still, the balance of the onions, the soup, and the cheese (which is not overdone but which is very flavorful) is, I would say, perfection.  The only downside is that you have to think about cooking it about 40 – 45 minutes before you are actually going to EAT, and that is usually outside our zone.  But, IF you can remember to do that, and go do something else for half an hour while this cooks in the oven, I think this is a winner.  I give it a 5…  Well, I have to give it a 4.75 because of the TIME it took.”

Oh my…  This is embarrassing…  My sweetie and I normally agree on stuff, but on this one, not so much…  I do not think this soup is that good…  It is more like a GRAVY than a soup (that could be because we cooked it too long…).  We ran out while it was in the oven (one of the places we ran was to Trader Joe’s, so that should count for something!).  But this soup is too “beefy” for me. 

Plus, there is not enough cheese.  I like French Onion Soup like in PARIS – you put your spoon into a big ol’ GLOB of cheese…  Then it kinda bloobles on your spoon.  That is what I was HOPING for, but this isn’t it.

You can tell even when it is still frozen that there isn't going to be enough CHEESE on it.  Not enough for me, anyway.

The packaging is sort of weird.  The soup comes in two little frozen “blobs”, which you put in your bowl and then cook in the oven.  I personally don’t think this one was worth the time to cook.  The thing I liked most is that cooking this gave us an excuse to use these delightful little Le Creuset dishes we inherited from David’s mom.  We keep them high up in a cupboard and always forget we have them, but they were perfect for this soup because you need an oven safe bowl to cook them in.

I wouldn’t buy these again for me, but David really love it, so we probably will get them again.  I talked to a woman in TJ’s recently who adores these (she microwaves hers because she doesn’t have an oven).  I don’t think this product is horrible, it just isn’t as good as French Onion Soup should be in my opinion. 

I like that it came in two easy serving sizes, but I don’t like the taste.  I sadly give it a 2.75.

Price – $4.99

Rating (average of 2 raters) – 3.75

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

Chicken and Vegetable Wonton Soup

First off, if you lived off ramen noodles cooked in a hot pot in your college dorm for 4 years, this soup is the adult version of that meal.  It is just as fast, cheap (but not as cheap as ramen), and hearty, but a little less “college-y”.

Now for the review.

Autumn is here - SOUP SEASON!

The package says this soup is one serving, but I would call it 1.5.  There were 7 or 8 hearty wontons, so that is quite a few to eat in one sitting.  I really like this soup!  The broth is tasty, the wontons are good and meaty.  This warm soup would be good on a cold fall or winter day. 

I wish it had more veggies – there were only 2.5 snow peas and kind of a lot of carrots.  Would it kill them to throw in a couple more snow peas??  The photo on the package seems to show more veggies than our bowl had.  The photo also makes it look like the veggies and won tons float – I think that was artful use of chopsticks to push things to the top and make them look jazzy in the picture!

Here is our bowl.  Served with San Pellegrino, which Trader Joe's was OUT of last night.
Oh I hope they have not stopped carrying it...

My favorite part of this soup is the CILANTRO – if you get a bit of cilantro in your bite it really jazzes things up.  That being said, I realize that cilantro is one weird a** herb!!!  Have you read the articles that explain that, to some people’s taste buds, cilantro tastes just like SOAP???  Isn’t that freaky??  I love cilantro, so I feel sorry for the people who think it tastes like getting your mouth washed out with soap.  Here is a link to a good article about cilantro:  Cilantro Haters

This is easy to prepare – I microwaved it for 4.5 minutes, let it rest for one minute, then dove in.  this would be a good “bring to work” lunch.  It wouldn’t stink up the break room when you microwaved it like some other frozen lunches do. 

Find this one in the frozen food section

Here is what David thought of it, “This is a nice idea.  It is lovely and warm for the winter time.  For me the soup was a bit “Campbell’s Soup-y” and a bit sweet rather than them more vinegar-y and flavorful hing that I would expect from a Chinese wonton soup.  And the dumplings – though I love dumplings, these are a little bit, ummm, I could do with them being more, ummm, GRANULAR I guess.  That is, BITS of meat and BIT of vegetables in there, rather than just like a chunk of a chicken hotdog in there.  I do agree with Susan that the cilantro is a great idea.  I would give this a 3.25.”

And I would give this soup a 4.  So those 2 scores will be averaged together for the final rating. 

Price:  $2.29

Rating:  3.75

Day 348 - Gnocchi al Gorgonzola

Guys, we visited ANOTHER TRADER JOE’S!  This one was remarkably close to home – when I check Google maps it is only 7.7 miles away, but we had never been there.  How embarrassing… 

We went to the ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA Trader Joe’s.  We had gone to The Little Theatre of Alexandria to see their production of “A Christmas Carol” (note:  we had seen another production of the same show the night before at Ford’s Theatre, and a production of “The Nutcracker” the night before THAT!  Christmas, Christmas time is here!!).  After the show we really wanted a Mega Crunchy Salad with a Bite (very recently reviewed here - http://traderjoes365.blogspot.com/2015/12/day-342-mega-crunchy-salad-with-bite.html ) so we stopped into TJ’s.  Sadly, they were out of that salad L.  But it was a fun chance to check out our 23^rd Trader Joe’s for the year. 

Look - another Trader Joe's visited!  #23 for the year.  (And look - I got new boots!)

The Alexandria store was nice.  We visited on a Sunday evening and it was very quiet and calm.  The main aisle of the store near the registers is really wide and uncluttered, which was cool.  We met a great employee in the wine section named David (he would have to be nice with a name like David, right??).  He helped us pick out a bubbly wine for New Year’s (we are heading to Florida where the nearest TJ’s is 90 minutes away so we were THINKING AHEAD!).   He walked us through the difference between actual champagne (which is pricey, even at TJ’s) and bubbly wine.  I will let you decide which of those we chose (look, you know we live on a budget, so spoiler alert, we are drinking BUBBLY WINE for New Year’s J ). 

He also talked about wines that get “corked” (sounds sorta nasty, doesn’t it???) and suspected the bad bottle we had of Grand Reserve Meritage that we hated (the worst wine we reviewed - it got only a 1/2 star:  wine that tasted like petrol reviewed here ) had indeed been “corked”.  He was just finishing up doing a tasting that included a Grand Reserve Pinot Noir and, though I was nervous to get back on the Grand Reserve band wagon, we tried it and liked it.  Color us the proud owners of a bottle of that, too.

It says "Amazing as a side!" right on the sign, yet we ignored that.

Now, onto a review.  This is for Gnocchi al Gorgonzola, which we did not purchase at the Alexandria location.  You can either heat this on the stove top or the microwave, but both methods take 7 minutes.  Weird, nuking stuff is normally faster.  The bag has 3 servings.  Some of the ingredients listed include:  Emmental, gorgonzola, hard grating cheese (wonder what variety that is??), and nutmeg. 

David – “These gnocchi are nice, they have a very good taste.  The sauce is nice but this dish needs to have MORE SAUCE.  More sauce, and more “cheese-ness” – more gorgonzola in the cheese tastiness.  For that reason I give it a 3.5.”

Find these in the frozen department.  The GNOCCHI, not David.  Usually you can find David with me.
I just noticed that David is getting photo bombed in this shot.

I agree with part of what David said.  I like the TEXTURE and the TASTE of the gnocchi.  I think, quantity wise, there was enough sauce, I just don’t think it has enough taste.  It needs to be more cheesy. 

This is how it looks when you dump it in your pan - the cheese blobs are sorta gross looking

I think this would be a better side dish than a main dish.  The sign mentioned that and we foolishly ignored the advice.  J  It definitely needs green veggies or something else with it to give it a taste counterpoint.  Without that it is too bland.  We had it with asparagus and shredded Brussels sprouts (reviewed here -  http://traderjoes365.blogspot.com/2015/05/day-123-shaved-brussels-sprouts.html   - I cooked them differently this time and did not do the recipe on the package as I did in that review.  This time I just made them with olive oil and lemon juice and they were much nicer).

See, it looks tastier after it is cooked.

I agree with David’s score of 3.5.  This tastes like a winter dish.  It is heavy.  This would be good to eat if you were out skiing all day and came in for a hot meal.  Or, say, if you were a LUMBERJACK and had been out chopping wood (in your flannel shirt) all day. 

Price – $2.99

Rating – 3.5

Day 345 - Farfalle with 4 Cheeses and Spinach

Here’s the thing: I am stressed.

This time of year is STRESSFUL.  There are so many gifts to buy and wrap.  And we always make our own Christmas cards and that takes a ton of time and creativity (we haven’t even STARTED yet…).  We are heading out of town soon and I need pack for that…

Last week, which somehow wasn't as stressful of a time....  This is a big ass Christmas ornament, isn't it pretty?

But on top of all of that “normal” stuff, a good friend who we help care for has been injured and so we have jumped into “care taking” mode.  We are her only friends really, and have the responsibility to make sure she is okay.    So the past couple of days that has meant bringing her home from the hospital, advocating for her to get in-home health care people who speak Spanish and can communicate with her, and trying to help clear out her apartment to make it safe for her to navigate with a walker.  (She is a hoarder…  Two and a half years ago she was on the verge of being evicted and we had to do a major clean-out of her apartment – it was very hard.  Now, with health care workers going into the space, we are worried they might report it as being “unsafe” for her since she has begun to re-accumulate stuff.  Sigh.  It’s an ongoing battle.)

Again, from a less stressful time just a few days ago, David "plugging in" a huge ass string of Christmas lights in NYC.

SO, with all of THAT going on, I am stressed and haven’t written a review yet today!  It is 4:30 PM my time and I try to have my reviews posted much earlier than this every day, but I am sure that you are super busy, too, so I hope you will forgive my tardiness.

Onto today’s REVIEW. 

This Farfalle with 4 Cheeses and Spinach is a typical frozen meal.  I used to eat this type of thing allllll the time for lunch.  You know the drill:  small box of frozen something-or-other than you grab out of the freezer and bung in the microwave.  I used to buy whatever varieties were on sale at the grocery store and just keep a freezer full of them.

Here's the box - it looks prettier on the front of the box than it does when you open it and cook it.

But after a while, they all sorta tasted the same and felt, well, kinda crappy.  So I stopped eating them.  But I picked this one up at Trader Joe’s to eat and review for the blog.  J

This one is pretty bland.  That surprised me, considering the fact that the title boasts of not 1, not 2, not even 3, but 4 cheeses (they are listed as:  hard cheese (what the hell is that?  “Hard cheese” sounds like a rubric of cheese…), emmental, mozzarella, and gorgonzola !  Somehow, even with all four cheeses, this dish doesn’t taste all that CHEESEY.  The spinach in it is nice and the bow tie pastas are cute. The meal definitely requires the addition of salt and pepper. 

This was my view as I ate this lunch - I was eating with my CNN friends.

This box is one serving.  It is quick and easy to make.  It fills you up if you eat it for lunch.  Basically this is not amazing, but it gets the job done.  If you just “need some lunch” this is fine.  I wouldn’t write home about it and I wouldn’t put it as a “must buy” on your shopping list.  But if one somehow jumps in your shopping cart you don’t need to throw it out. 

See, it doesn't look nearly as pretty as the box made it out to...  And it kind of tastes as bland as it looks here.

Ok, it’s time to continue with the holiday “do do do” s and go watch the little neighbor girl in “The Nutcracker”.  J

Price – $1.99 (I think)

Rating - 3

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 326 - Chicken Parmesan Lollipops

We had these treats when my sister and brother-in-law were in town visiting recently.  I forced them to try and them and be guest reviewers (it didn’t really take much forcing, they were totally game).  We ate them in between rushing around town finding fun things to do (like paint rocks at a mobile art van we found on the side of the road in Alexandria, VA!). 

We found a mobile art lab!  And it just so happened that it was ROCK PAINTING day!

Before I go into the individual reviews let me explain the product a bit.

These Chicken Parmesan Lollipops are easy to make – just take them out of the freezer and bake them for 15 – 20 minutes on a parchment covered cookie sheet.  The “lollipop sticks” (which are a bit fatter than normal toothpicks) are a bit superfluous.  You cannot really use the sticks to transfer the lollipop from the cookie sheet to a plate, because the stick falls out.  This is because the CHICKEN is not a solid piece of chicken (we we thought it would be).  Instead it is ground up chicken mixed with spices then formed into a little ball, not really a ball but a FLAT BALL, then breaded and put onto the stick. 

Here is the box - it is in the frozen food section

As for my opinion, I felt that this ground up chicken makes the texture a bit odd.  It is also a littttle too tomato-y but I personally liked it.  I thought they were interesting as an appetizer.  I would give them a 3.75.

They look cute on the plate, but trust me, the sticks had to be put back in after I transferred them over from the cookie sheet.

Jim’s thought on this product:  “I decided to spread the Chicken Parmesan Lollipops on CRACKERS.  I enjoyed them so much more this way.  I think that the texture lends itself to being spreadable.  I like the taste.  They taste like CHICKEN.  I would give them a 3.5, which is high.”  (Jim is a college professor and I kid him about being a tough grader, so this is a great score from him.)

Jim's new invention - CHICKEN PARM LOLLIPOPS ON A CRACKER!
Who needs a STICK when you can have a CRACKER?

Sherry’s thoughts:  “I didn’t really care for the texture when I bit into it, but I liked them spread on a cracker.  I liked the taste.  I don’t think I would BUY these, but if someone had them at a party I would eat one.  I would give them a 3.”

Sherry mid-bite.  

And finally, David’s musings on these meat lollipops J:  “I appreciate the respect that this food item has for my feelings.  First of all – potion size.  They are in small, manageable portions.  Each one provides 3 or 4 small bites so you don’t need to worry about a huge portion on your plate that is constantly saying, “You haven’t finished me yet…” and putting your blood pressure up.  The taste:  very nice.  Flavorful.  Like a little bit of chicken parmesan on a stick!  The downside of chicken parmesan is all of that TOMATO SAUCE, but when the portions are this small you don’t have to suffer through all of that.  You just have the delight of the taste and then you are done with it.  You don’t have to finish the rest of the chicken parm that is left on your plate.  Now, for this new concept of which I have heard of placing it on a CRACKER… I did try this, and I have to admit that it is nice.  Because the tomato paste is modified by all of that starch/breading so it “milds it out” and that is good.  But I prefer them on a stick to on a cracker (because the cracker is too stressful…).  (Editor’s note:  David seems remarkably stressed about his appetizers, doesn’t he???)  It doesn’t STICK to the cracker, it just SITS on the cracker because of all of the BREADING…  So, as you bring it to your mouth, you are worried about it rolling off!!!  (Editor again:  apparently Jim smooshed his onto the crackers more to prevent the falling off factor.) I would give these a 4.” 

$4.99 - not a bad price if you want chicken balls on a stick

So, in the end, nobody hated these, nobody thought they couldn’t live without them, and one person invented a new way to eat them.  All in all a good time was had by everyone.  J

Price – $4.99

Rating (average of 4 raters) – 3.5

Day 323 - Chicken Soup Dumplings

Let me start by saying – THIS BLOG HIT 50,000 VIEWS!!  Yes siree, this crazy wild project of mine, this hair brained idea hatched at the end of 2014, has surpassed any expectations I may have had.  On the afternoon of November 11, 2015 I watched as the counter clicked over to 50,000.  Let’s just say, I was excited!!

GET.  OUT!  50,000 hits????!  Yowsa!

Now, time for a REVIEW!

Trader Joe’s CHICKEN SOUP DUMPLINGS get 5 super shiny solid gold stars!  Twinkle twinkle 5 shiny stars, these dumplings rock.

This is the box.  It is in the frozen food section.  You NEED it.  Go buy a box.  Like, now.

David and I both agree – the only thing that is not so good about these dumplings are that there are not more of them in the package.  J  There are six in the package and it says the serving size is one.  I think that would be perfect, however both times we have had these I had to split them with someone who shall remain nameless, and 3 was just not enough.  They are too yummy to stop at 3!

Here is MY portion.  I WOULD have eaten the whole box of these dumplings, but I was forced to share.

We first tried them as a sample at the Bethesda, Maryland TJ’s.  They are amazing.  My sister Sherry was here the first time we had them, but she didn’t want any because she thought they smelled like stinky feet when they were cooking.  Well let me say, if stinky feet taste this good, bring on the toes cuz I will gobble them up!!    (They do not smell like stinky feet to me.)

They are super easy to cook – pop ‘em in the microwave for 2 minutes in their little container and you are ready to roll.  The tricky part is to get them out of the little plastic container.  Each dumpling is in it’s own little compartment.  You need to use a big spoon to gently glide it under the dumpling and place it gingerly in a bowl.

Another Chicken Soup Dumpling lover

The thing is, when you read the title, CHICKEN SOUP DUMPLINGS, you might be like me and mistakenly think they are dumplings IN chicken soup.  That is incorrect.  These are dumplings with chicken soup IN THEM!  I KNOOOOW, nutty concept!!  But what execution!  To fully experience the “chicken-soup-inside” effect you have to be careful when transferring them from microwave to bowl.  Otherwise you rip the dumpling and some soup leaks out.  But if that happens don’t fret!  Just catch the soup and put it in your bowl!

These are totally delicious.  the second time we had them we dipped them in soy sauce and it was yummy, but you do not NEED to add the sauce.  They are moist and tasty enough to stand on their own.  They can be a bit messy – if you have been careful and the soup is still in the dumpling you will get a chin full of soup, but it is worth it.  Just pull out a napkin, wipe up, and move on to the next dumpling. 

Well worth the three bucks.  NEW ITEM - don't discontinue these Trader Joe's!  Are you reading these?
KEEP THESE DUMPLINGS!

David thought about opening a can of chicken soup and plopping these in to make “instant won ton soup” but we agreed that would be a waste of perfectly amazing dumplings.  Eat them on their own.  And eat them right after you cook them. 

These are a good invention!  They are new and maybe seasonal, so GET THEM SOON AND GET THEM OFTEN.

Price – $2.99 (only .50 cents per delicious dumpling)

Rating - 5

Day 320 - Chicken Pot Pie (fresh)

Let's start with something FUN - Clarendon Trader Joe's (Virginia, right outside Washington DC) is where the awesome Rebekah works.  She is the only store rep who has written me back (out of the 21 stores we have visited and I have written to about this blog project).  Her store is now having THIS super fun contest:

Well, we do not have a dog or cat...  So we do not consume TJ's pet food products (this sign was hanging in the pet food aisle).  HOWEVER, we do have a couple of furry friends who like TJ's stuff, so went sent in these entries:

Ted loves TJ's honey

Ty is a fan of TJ's bananas

Aren't they adorable?  :)  Seriously though, I think it is great that some Trader Joe's store really get into the "fun spirit" and host stuff like this.  Ok, now onto today's review.

This was not a frozen chicken pot pie, but one of the “fancier” fresh ones that are in the refrigerated section (by the hummus and cheeses).  I think it is a seasonal item. 

I wish I would have grabbed the TURKEY Pot Pie right next to this...  Maybe we just got a bad one??

David loved this.  He even uttered , “Deee-licious.”

I cooked this (and by “cooked” I mean “put it in the oven which was preheated to 375 and followed the instructions for how long to cook it”.  It isn’t rocket science).  And STILL…  sigh.  It was super watery and not even HOT all the way through even though I left it in the oven longer than the instructions said.  I think the instructions need to be modified. 

David agreed that it was too watery and seemed to try to veil his suspicion that I somehow cooked it wrong (I HEATED IT UP, WHAT COULD GO WRONG??) by saying that, “Even despite the consistency it was great.  it may be possible to cook this in such a way that it was not quite this watery”. 

He looks over the moon about it and he hasn't even TASTED it yet

I was disappointed in this puppy.  When I took it out of the oven it looked like it was cooked.  It wasn’t until I had cut it in half and put it on plates that I realized it was still very chilly inside.  I had to bung it in the microwave. I thought the chicken chunks in this were too big and some had hard BITS.  There wasn’t a lot of creaminess – it could use a creamier sauce.

Here it is before I cut it.  See, how was I to know it was still COLD on the inside?  Deceptive...

Here is the watery mess of the inside.  Note:  no steam coming off of this...
Also, does it look like the picture on the front of the box?  Not so much...

I think we had this last year in the autumn and we remembered it as being good.  But maybe we had the TURKEY pot pie and not the chicken one, perhaps this is different.  This brought nothing special to the table and needed salt and pepper just to add some jazz.

The container says this dish is 3 servings.  We would beg to differ and say it is 2, maybe 2.5 if you have half a person at your dinner table.  We cut it down the middle and each ate half.  Then again, we didn’t make a vegetable to go with it.

I say skip this chicken pot pie and buy a cheaper frozen one.  it might not be “fancy” but it will be less watery.  Or better still, buy TJ’s Chicken Pot Pie Ravioli!  Now THOSE are yummy and well priced!  Chicken Pot Pie Ravioli review here

David gives this a 4.25.  I give it a 3.25 (that is being a bit generous).

Price – $6.99

Rating – 3.75