Mango and Sticky Rice Spring Rolls

I believe I have a new favorite dessert.  Oh man these Mango and Sticky Rice Spring Rolls are GOOOOOD!  (Note:  for the rest of this review I will call these things Sticky Rice and MANGO, not Mango and STICKY RICE.  Cuz even though the box lists the mango first, in my mind this food is always sticky rice first...)

This is the box.  Go to Trader Joe's.  Find it in the freezer section.  Get one.  NO - get two!!

Sticky rice and mango is my go-to dessert when we eat in Thai restaurants.  Trust me, I always check the menu to see if they have it before we even order our meals.  To me, it is the perfect dessert.

So, when I saw this box of Sticky Rice and Mango Spring Rolls in the freezer section at Trader Joe’s, let’s just say I got a wee bit excited.  And my excitement was correct – these rock.

Get.  Out!!!  Mango and Sticky Rice SPRING ROLLS???  

I cooked them by frying them in 2 Tablespoons of oil, which is one of the 2 cooking techniques listed on the box.  I thought if we were having spring rolls, I wanted them to be nice and crispy, so it was worth stinking up the house a little bit with oil frying.  I kept them in the oil (stove on medium) for about 5 minutes and kind of obsessively turned them over each minute (cuz, see above, I was excited).

When they were browned and had rested on my plate for one minute, I dug in.  And let me tell you – these are perfect.  They are an amazing combination of spring roll savory-ness and sticky rice and mango deliciousness.  They are not really sweet, only slightly sweet.  The crispiness of the spring roll is in perfect contrast to the stickiness of the rice.  There is not a ton of mango in them, but there is enough to make your mouth super happy.

Here is what they looked like after being cooked.  My mouth is watering just looking at the photo...

They are just so good!!!  For me, these would make an amazing breakfast (don’t judge, you granola and yogurt eaters).   Be sure to eat them warm – they will make your belly sing.

I will definitely buy these again.  I fear they will be short lived at Trader Joe’s, they seem like quite a niche item.  But they are right in my niche, baby!!!  I give these a solid 5 star rating.

Here is what my sweetheart thought after he had a couple of bites, “Very nice.  I love the crispy exterior of the spring roll and the way it plays off of the chewy sticky rice inside.  The mango gives it just the right amount of flavor.  I am not sure quite where to place this – whether it is a dessert or a main food item…  Maybe it is a side dish?  Perhaps an appetizer?  Anyway, I am gonna give these a 4.75.”

Well, since this is my blog and my score should count a bit more than David’s, I am giving this product a final rating of a 5!!  Cuz that’s how I roll.

New product!  Please keep this TJ's...  Don't flake out on me and call these "seasonal" please.

Price: $2.99 (shhh, please don’t tell Trader Joe’s, but I for one would pay more for these suckers!)

Rating:  5

50 YEAR CELEBRATION!!!

Get.  Out.

You guys - TRADER JOE'S IS 50 YEARS OLD!!!!!!!

Celebration sign at our local Trader Joe's (they also had balloons!)

Honestly, we had no idea.  I am just so thrilled to be back in the land of TJ's (home in Virginia after a long time away), so we went to the store closest to home, in Clarendon, VA.  Look what we saw before we even got on the elevator in the parking garage:

Party at Trader Joe's??  That elevator couldn't come fast enough!!!

PARTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And I tell you, Trader Joe's Clarendon knows how to party!  For starters, they have a guy named GARY who works there who is a musician and he performs!  Like, IN THE STORE!!!  We were lucky enough to see him singing one other time and it was great.  Sadly, today we were there at the wrong time, but he was setting up as we left and he gave us a sneak peek at his set list:  all songs from 1967!!!  (Get it??  50 year anniversary, songs from 50 years ago...  Gary is clever that way!!) We are going to try and go back tomorrow and see him play.

They also are having a drawing where we miiiight win a great give bag full of TJ's merch or a gift card (fingers crossed...).

Also super cool, the employees all had 50 year TJ's t-shirts.  But ULTRA COOL was Kara, who went out of her way to totally bedazzle the hell out of her shirt!

Each letter is BEDAZZELED!  Seriously, I love it.  Adorable!

She even blinged up the BACK!

Seriously, the shininess of the shirt helped with the party vibe!!!

















And guess what??  There are items on sale for .50 cents!!!  I mean, wowsa!!!

2 days only - 50 cent stuff!

 

For .50 cents each we got:

A baguette (which we are taking with us for a pre-show picnic when we see the remarkable David Sedaris perform tonight!).

Ooooh lala - a cheap baguette!

Get it while you can!

A mango.

Now that's CHEAP!

Spaghetti.

You HAVE to have spaghetti in the cupboard at all times, right?
Get some while it is on sale!

3 avocados (.50 cents each) which David was so psyched about that he juggled them.

Wheeeee!  AVOCADOS!

Corn.

And, get this, we got a dozen eggs, normally $1.29, BUT TODAY AND TOMORROW FIFTY CENTS!

Looks like we were not the only ones grabbing eggs

BARGAIN!

Now, I can't promise you that YOUR Trader Joe's will have these same items on sale.  Apparently each store is having special deals on different things.

And I certainly can't promise you the dulcet tones of Gary (cuz there is only one Gary...) or the blingy shirt of Kara (again, only one Kara...).  But I still say - YOU NEED TO GO TO YOUR TRADER JOE'S TONIGHT OR TOMORROW (August 19th and 20th, 2017) TO CELEBRATE 50 YEARS OF JOE.

Cuz you know as well as I do, that deserves a party.

Mango Coconut Flavored Caramel Corn

It looks like a good idea for a snack food, no??

We ate this Mango Coconut Flavored Caramel Corn while on a road trip.  We were on I-95 somewhere in Southern Virginia when I busted the bag out.  I had picked it up at TJ’s during a MANGO RUN one day when I was throwing a plethora of mango items into our cart.   I should have paid more attention to the quiet conversation between two TJ’s employees that I overheard that day…  One, pointing to a bag of this snack, said, “Have you tried this yet??” with a sort of glazed look on his face.  The other employee replied, “Ummm, yeah, I did…  It’s not great…  But it might be, like, a good PICNIC food or something…”.

WHY didn’t I heed the warning signs and take it out of my cart then?

Look - David thought it would be an IMPROVEMENT on your everyday, run of the mill caramel corn...

Here is what David, who was driving while taste testing this, said, “This is NOT an improvement on caramel corn.  In fact, it is a DE-provement.  It is like somebody squeezed a coconut and dripped the coconut pee all over your good caramel corn.  I didn’t even remember that there was supposed to be mango associated with it, but I can only presume that mango is what gives it that sort of “too-flavorful-like-somebody-has-rubbed-an-air-freshener-dangling-from-their-rear-view-mirror” onto the popcorn after the coconut pee has been on it.  I am gonna give this a 2.5, and hope that god rewards me in heaven for my charity.”

He wasn't as happy with it here, in the car, after he had actually TASTED it

Side note:  DAVID LOVES ROAD TRIP SNACKS.  He would eat snacks the entire 14 hour drive in the car if he could.  In fact, he has eaten so many “natural” (white cheddar) Cheetos on a road trip once that he got sick.  All of this is to say, David will basically eat ANYTHING on a road trip (except an Arby’s sandwich, he draws the line at Arby’s “meat”…).  Yet, I still had to practically force him to eat bites 3 and 4 of this popcorn so that he would have tasted enough to form a considered opinion for this review. 

As for me, I regret buying this.  At the time, it seemed like a good idea.  But even when I pulled this out of the bag of road trip snacks to open it, I was hesitant.  After we tasted the first bite I understood why I was nervous to try it. 

Misleading (but clever) signage.  I wouldn't say there was a "party" in this bag of popcorn.  I would say there was an
AIR FRESHENER in this bag of popcorn.

First off, when you open the bag, it SMELLS BAD.  It doesn’t smell like FOOD.  David hit the nail on the head when he called it an “air freshener”.  That’s what it smells like!  And the mango tastes fakey to me.  I don’t imagine it is – I mean, most stuff at TJ’s is pretty darn healthy, but it tastes fake in this product.

The coconut tastes like suntan lotion – ewww.  We love caramel corn!  So honestly, this product could have been a big winner!  Like, an improvement on caramel corn!  If they nailed the flavoring on this one I think we would have really liked it.  But I would rather have naked caramel corn any day of the week than this.

We adore Trader Joe’s Caramel and Cheddar Mix (formerly known as Chicago Style) – reviewed here.  You should buy THAT instead of this yucky seasonal caramel corn.  As for the Mango Coconut Flavored Caramel Corn, they need to nix the mango and coconut flavorings and just make it plain ol’ caramel corn – that would be yummy. 

We don't like to return stuff, but we just had to bring this bag back.
 Not to worry though, we filled our cart with our yummy stuff at Trader Joe's!

David says that even though he remembers eating so many Cheetos before on a road trip that he threw up, he prefers to eat the last 1/3 of the bag of Cheetos that remain in the car and risk getting sick again instead of eating more of this caramel corn.  (David also ate at least 8 store bought chocolate chip cookies on this road trip…  We are all about the healthy, apparently!!)

I am surprised at David’s high rating of this.  I can’t give it any higher than a 2.  I recommend you do not buy this one.   David (in a rather hesitant voice) says, “It is CRUNCHY, and this IS some caramel in there…  So if you are desperate, it’ll do….”

BONUS ROAD TRIP PHOTO!!!  No drive down I-95 would be complete without a stop at SOUTH OF THE BORDER!!!!  And I have a new photo series called "Dhavid's Dhoti" - where he wears his dhoti (men's attire from Southern India) in fun and interesting locations!  So here is Dhavid at South of the Border!!  Classy, no??

Dhavid's Dhoti at SOB

Price – $2.99

Rating (average of 2 raters) – 2.25

Mango Tangerine Scented Candle

As you know if you read the post before this one, we just went to India.  It was our first visit there and I spent the whole time with eyes wide open in amazement at all there was to see, smell, taste, and do. 

And while we were there – IT WAS MANGO SEASON!  And when it is mango season in India – It.  Is.  Mango.  Season!!!  There are loads of different varieties of mangos there, and they are insanely delicious and juicy!! 

Mangos at Crawford Market in Mumbai, India

Anyway, we are now back in the US.  And of course, one of the first places we went upon our arrival was TRADER JOE’S.  I mean, one has to get fresh half and half for coffee, right???  But after we unpacked, did laundry, and caught up on a bit of sleep, we went back to TJ’s to see what was new and stock up on some fresh veggies, etc.

Guess what?  IT IS MANGO SEASON AT TRADER JOE’S, too!  I mean, boy HOWDY is it mango season!  The first thing we saw when we walked in the door of the Fairfax, Virginia TJ’s this sunny Saturday afternoon was a display of some new mango coconut popcorn (which of coooourse we bought but haven’t tried yet, review to come…).  Oh man, TJ’s has gone NUTS!!!  There is mango EVVVVERTYHING – mango WAFFLES, mango SHAVING CREAM, mango mini pies (we got those!), mango cereal (got it!), mango ice cream, mango mochi, mango margarita mix, mango, mango, MAAAAANGO!  Let’s just say, in Trader Joe’s terms, JUNE is to MANGO as OCTOBER is to PUMPKIN.  If you have ever stepped foot in a TJ’s in the autumn season you will know exactly what I mean.  They’ve gone a wee bit overboard in the mango department (one worker told us there were gonna be, like, 50 mango items in the Fearless Flyer….)

So this is my first of several MANGO product reviews!  Drum roll please….  May I present the MANGO TANGERINE SCENTED CANDLE!

Candle in a metal tin

This candle comes in a metal tin.  I like to buy metal tin candles in small sizes to throw in my toiletries bag when I travel.  They are great for helping out musty smelling hotel rooms.  This candle is 5.7 oz though, so is too big to be called a travel candle.  But I grabbed one anyway.  In fact, let’s not lie, I grabbed 3.  1 is for me and 2 are for gifts!

Had to take a little sniff in the store to make sure it smelled good...

Then I came right home and lit mine.  I mean, I needed to make sure it is a nice candle before GIFTING it, right???  Turns out, it is!  The scent is nice – strong without being too strong and not overly in your face mango.  It is a nice balance of the mango and tangerine – it smells fruity and summer-ish. 

Ahhhh, mango and tangerine scent filling up our house

The label tells me the wax is a natural coconut-soy blend and the wick is lead free cotton (which is not something I am concerned about, but if YOU are there ya have it, this is a fancy wick). 

So it is a nice scent, natural wax, metal tin, and fancy wick, all at only $3.99!!  That is a really reasonable price for a good candle if you ask me.

This is a good candle at a really good price - go get yourself (and a friend!) one

I hate even listing the price here, and I hope that the people I am gifting these to don’t feel like I am a cheapskate…  But I want You guys, the readers who I am not gifting these to, to realize how cheap they are and go grab 1 (or 2!) now while it is “mango season”.  Cuz you know how it goes; just like pumpkin time, Trader Joe’s won’t keep these around forever. 

Price - $3.99

Rating – 4.5

Day 338 - Soft and Juicy Mango (dried)

Guys, it is DECEMBER.  December!!!!  That means this is my last month of this project!!  Oh my – the emotions!  The decisions!  What should I review??  What is worthy of LAST MONTH attention?  I find myself in an Elaine (from “Seinfeld”) like situation, trying to determine what is “sponge worthy”…  see a short Seinfeld clip here

I want to review at least a few NON-SEASONAL products, things that are staples at TJ’s and always on the shelves.  Things you can find, buy, eat, and ENJOY long after I am done writing reviews.  J  I have given props to the nut/dried fruit aisle at Trader Joe’s before, but it is worth saying it again:  TRADER JOE’S HAS AN AMAZING SELECTION OF NUTS AND DRIED FRUITS.  If you are new to shopping there, you need to really explore this aisle.  And even if you are an experienced TJ’s shopper, you can often find something new and exciting that you have not tried before in this section of the store.

So I think I should review a staple – SOFT AND JUICY MANGOS.  They are dried and cost $1.99 per bag.  TJ’s dried fruits are cheaper than fancy name brand ones you will find in other stores. 

Aren't they a lovely color??

The other day when we went to a brunch, our hostess (Joan) started grabbing all the Trader Joe’s products she could find in her cupboards and asking me if they had been reviewed.  J  These mangos used to be a go-to item for me, but since I have changed my shopping patterns a bit this year to accommodate this blog, they had slipped off my radar.  So I gladly accepted Joan’s offer to bust them out, and I invited some fellow brunch goers to help me review.  Let’s see what they thought:

Connie (used to live in northern Virginia, has since moved to New Mexico):  “It is indeed SOFT and JUICY.  However, I find mango in general to be super sweet, and Trader Joe’s putting SUGAR on this mango I think was not called for.  It adds something – it is sort of like gilding the lily.  I think it is over the top.  I think I would give these just a 2 because the sugar makes it way too sweet for me.”

Snap - Connie gave these a TWO!  Ouch.

Stan (the sausage man):  “I found these way too sweet and not acidic enough.  I had Zabar’s mangos 2 weeks ago and they had a really good balance between the natural acidity of the mango and the natural sweetness.  (Zabar’s is a cool New York grocery store, you can see it here:  Zabars.)  I will give it a 2 also.”  (David inserted a lovely Zabar’s joke here, saying that what Stan meant is that, “The mangos at Zabar’s had more Hasidic-ty…”)  (I don't have a photo of Stan, sorry.)

 Judy (this brunch was the first time I met her, I think Judy and I would get along swimmingly, she was fun):  “I think these are FINE, I get good mango flavor.  But they are too sweet.  I give them a 3.” 

Here's Judy, mixing mango with coffee or tea.

Doug (Connie’s husband):  “I think these are toooo sweet.  When I think of mango – this is not a natural sweetness.  It tastes like an artificial sugary sweetness.  I give them a 2.”  (Oops, no photo of Doug, either...  I was too busy eating cinnamon buns to take pictures...)

Chris (our nephew, senior in high school, currently debating which college to attend): “I thought these were very nice!  The way the sweetness and the natural flavor of the mango mixed together made a nice taste.  The aftertaste was fairly good.   I would give these a solid 3.”

Chris, looking like a mango-eating Zombie...

Me:  I like these.  I used to eat them all the time.  They are very MANGO-Y.  These are a good dried fruit – more interesting than your “normal” dried fruit like apple (not that there is anything wrong with dried apple!).  I can imagine these chopped in pieces and put on top of Greek yogurt.  TJ’s has a few different variations of dried mango and this is the most simple, classic one.  I would give these a 3.75.

Look guys, it says LIGHTLY SWEET on the sign...  

Price - $1.99

Rating (average of 6 raters) – 2.75 (I am a bit disappointed they got this low of a score, but I am taking into account several people’s opinions, so perhaps this is what they deserve)

Day 230 - Mango 100% Juice Smoothie

We are still at the Indy Fringe Festival.  David is performing his solo show “A Little Business at the Big Top” (I directed it).  We travel to festivals all around and all of them have one thing in common – the people involved with productions do not eat healthy and are exhausted.

So on our trip to Trader Joe’s, I picked up this Mango 100% Juice Smoothie, thinking it would be a healthy addition to our diet.

Not cheap, but chock full of health

And it was!  As soon as I took the first sip I felt a jolt of HEALTH coursing through my veins!  (Even though, technically, the juice was in my MOUTH and my esophagus, not my veins, but you know what I mean…)  It felt like I was pouring a whole mango into my body!  And mangos are both TASTY and HEALTHY. 

Mango is definitely the strongest flavor in this juice, but the label tells me it also contains banana puree, apple juice, orange juice, and lemon juice.  And it is an excellent source of vitamin A and a good source of vitamin C. 

Ahhh - a chug of health

I sort of feel like I should invest in a case of these juices and hand them out to weary performers at the Fringe Beer Tent.  They would do everyone a world of good!  David doesn’t like this smoothie and so wouldn’t drink one, but that would just leave more for other performers. 

This is David in the Indianapolis Trader Joe's PRETENDING he is going to like this Mango Smoothie.  He had already decided he thought it looked yucky, but we liked the CLOUDS they have hanging up so he was being all angelic or something...

I wish the juice was a litttttle less thick, but it IS a smoothie and not a juice, so I guess I cannot rightfully complain.  It comes in a one pint plastic recyclable bottle. 

If I had a Trader Joe’s smoothie competition, I would say this one beats the Very Green Smoothie (reviewed on day 156 of this blog) and the Strawberry Chia Smoothie (reviewed on day 145 of this blog).  This one does the best to balance YUMMY TASTE with GOOD FOR YOU.

Price - $2.99

Rating - 4

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