Wasabi Mayo - a CLASSIC RETURNS

And no sooner had I ranted and raved about Wasabi Mayo disappearing from the shelves of Trader Joe's did it RETURN!  If only all discontinued products had the same fate!  (Well, all of the good discontinued products that is.  I am perfectly fine if they stop selling the crappy products forever :) ).

Wasabi Mayo - I was sad it was gone, and I am psyched it is back!!!

But seriously, Wasabi Mayo is a king among condiments.  Wasabi Mayo is creamy.  It is sharp.  It is spicy.  It is freakin' awesome.  And I am glad it is back.  Here is a link to my original review of it:  Wasabi Mayo Review

Same great price - well worth the 3 bucks I swear

I have purchased a new jar, of coooourse, but I have not opened it yet to give it a taste.  I still have a teeny weenie little bit left in my old jar, the one I have been hoarding and using with extreme caution ever since I learned they pulled this mayo off the shelves.  Word on the street was that the NEW version might be from a different manufacturer.  I put the two jars side by side so we could take a quick peek:

Old jar on the left, new jar on the right

I guess I won't know for sure if this new version tastes the same until I crack it open and eat some!  And now that I know I can get MORE, I do not have to fret about finishing my old jar.

Life is good.

Me, having a quiet moment with my Wasabi Mayo while in the wine department

(P.S. - I am a pretty easy girl to please really!)

(P.P.S. - David was out of town at CLOWN CAMP last week, so instead of grocery shopping with him I went alone.  That means that these photos of me with mayo were taken by ME.  Alone.  In Trader Joe's.  Cuz we do not normally look foolish enough when we snap a zillion photos in TJs, so this time I had to set my camera up on a timer while kissing one of my favorite products...)

Discontinuing Products Sucks

I fully understand that Trader Joe's cannot carry EVERYTHING all the time.

Trust me, I get that!!  The stores would have to be huge ("These stores are yuuuuge, the yuuuugest stores you have ever seen...").  

But I just need to take a teeny tiny moment to WHINE, to complain, to bitch about something:  WHY DOES IT ALWAYS SEEM LIKE THEY DISCONTINUE THE GOOD STUFF???

Most recently I was sad to discover that the amazing condiment WASABI MAYONNAISE is no longer on the shelves.  Wasabi Mayo is gone!!  And that sucks.  Cuz it was really a special product, one that I have never gotten anywhere else.  It was the bomb smeared on white bread with some cheese and lunch meat - made the zingiest little sandwich on the planet.  

This.  THIS is how I feel when I go to Trader Joe's to get Wasabi Mayo and find it is DISCONTINUED.  As my mom used to say, "I wanna wring somebody's neck!".  (Now that I think about it, that was a pretty mean thing of my mom to say...)

Here is the original review of Wasabi Mayo (may-o it rest in peace...):  Wasabi Mayo Review

But nooooo, Trader Joe's had to go and ruin it.  Sigh.

Other notable discontinued products that I loved are Sambal Matah Sauce and Bollywood Popcorn (reviewed here:  Bollywood Popcorn ).  They keep the CRAPPY stuff (did someone say "Inner Peas" - Inner Peas review  and "Black Bean Rotini" - Black Bean Rotini review ) and they get rid of the super unique, interesting things.  It is just frustrating sometimes.

Did you like Bollywood Popcorn?  TOO BAD FOR YOU!
Cuz they stopped selling it.  Boo hiss.

But THESE crappy things, oh these are still on the shelves...

Oh, and course you can still get the barf inducing Black Bean Rotini...

And yes, before you lecture me, we COULD get a jar of regular mayo and mix in wasabi, like the TJ's guy told us to do.  But realllllly, when Trader Joe's could just SELL US A REAL JAR OF WASABI MAYO, should we have to DIY it???

Thanks for letting me vent.  Please comment below and tell me what products Trader Joe's discontinued that YOU loved!!  Maybe it we all get our gripes out here we will feel a wee bit better.  

P.S. - we also really liked TJ's Sambal Matah sauce.  Heck, they didn't even carry that delicious jar long enough for me to review it!  

Day 187 - Wasabi Mayonnaise

We are a MAYONNAISE family.  Not salad dressing.  Not Miracle Whip.  Not even “Mayo with Olive Oil” (tried it – bleck).  No – we are a pure, unadulterated, mayonnaise family.  And we get through some mayo.  David slathers it THICK on sandwiches.  On both pieces of bread, mind you. Yeah, we love us some mayo.

So trying this product was a little bit wild.  It could have gone very wrong. 

As you can tell, I was a bit aprehensive about this purchase...

But it didn’t.  it turns out Trader Joe’s Wasabi Mayo is a kinky, tasty, and fun way to spice stuff up!!  I have dipped avocado chunks in it – yum!  And we have had it on a bacon, avocado, lettuce, tomato sandwich – DELICIOUS!  Today we even had it on a salami sandwich – also 2 thumbs up. 

It is SPICY, but not like “OUCH I ACCIDENTALLY ATE THE ENTIRE BLOB OF WASABI FROM MY SUSHI PLATE” spicy.  Know what I mean?  You will taste the wasabi, but will not need an entire box of Kleenex for nose blowing.

I dipped some of these Florida avocados in Wasabi Mayo - oh yeah baby!

The label mentions using it in dressings and I think I will do that.  I also think it might be good with EGGS – like an omelet.  I wouldn’t normally put mayo on an omelet, but I DO put Dijon mustard on them, and I think this Wasabi Mayo might be a bit like the Dijon. 

This sign doesn't lie - this stuff DID add zest to our sandwiches

There aren’t often advances in the condiment department, but I would call this one.  Oh sure, it will never REPLACE plain old mayo in our fridge, but it will sit alongside it. 

P.S. - full disclosure, I also like this product like I like saying, "Wassss(abi) upppp??".  It makes eating this fun.

Price - $3.29

Rating – 4.25

Day 122 - Brown Rice California Rolls

I don’t think I had bought sushi at Trader Joe’s before this, or if I did it was so long ago I don’t remember.  The first thing I noticed when I popped over to look at the sushi was how CHEAP it was!  I mean - $3.49 for a pack of sushi is crazy cheap compared to other stores!

But when I picked a package up and examined it I realized why – it is basically “half price” because it is HALF SIZED.  The sushi pieces were seriously about half the height of the pieces you see everywhere else.  Now before you get all up in arms about that let me just say – I LIKED THAT!!  That was what sealed the deal for me!  Sushi I could eat easily, in a single bite, without getting rice all over when I bit down and it busted and crumbled. 

Here they are in the store

So I brought them home with me for lunch.  I displayed them cutely on a plate for you to see instead of just wolfing them down out of the package.  Then David said, “Hey, I should put my finger in your photo so they can see just how petite these rolls are,” (or something similar), and so he did.

Here they are with David's finger

 Here is what I really LIKED about these California rolls:

·         Sweet little size

·         Good price

·         Wasabi came in a neat package, nice!

And where is what I DIDN’T LIKE about these California rolls:

·         Rice was tooooo sticky

·         Some of the rice was HARD

·         There was something SWEET tasting in the rolls, we couldn’t figure out what it was

A cheap price isn't everything

So, in the end, since TASTE is more important than value or size (even if the size is super cute…), I can’t give these a terrific rating.  I doubt I will get them again.

Price - $3.49

Rating - 3