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Category: Food Items (Page 1 of 27)

Trader Joe’s Traditional Meatloaf review

December 9, 2025 / / 0 Comments

Surprisingly good

Meatloaf is a strange meal. It’s basically a giant meatball, basted with a tomato/ketchup or barbeque sauce, and baked. As far as I know it’s an American invention, and it evoques the cuisine of the poor. Now that beef has become so extraordinarily expensive, it might make a comeback, who knows?

Meatloaf is not part of my culinary repertoire, though I’ve made it a few times here and there.

For some reason, however, once in a while I get a hankering for meatloaf. I don’t quite know why, as this is not something I grew up with, but I do love sweet-savory flavors, and meatloaf, with its sweetened sauce, can often go there.

Trader Joe’s traditional meatloaf is sold in the refrigerated section, but it lasts quite a while in the fridge (unopened). The packages have 1lb of meat loaf, so they probably serve 2 people for a meal, more if they are children (though my children tell me meatloaf is the grossest food ever, according to kids in cartoons). I ate it over 3 meals on my own.

I was quite pleased with this version. It wasn’t particularly sweet, but it had a nice, meaty flavor, and the tomato sauce complimented it. The texture was on point, and it was easy enough to slice and microwave. I’d buy it again for when I get a meatloaf hankering.

Trader Joe’s Mini Chocolate Mousse Desserts Review

December 8, 2025 / / 0 Comments

Good dark chocolate taste, but they are truly mini in size.

Well, when Trader Joe’s says mini, I guess they really mean “mini”. The photo shows two of these Mini Chocolate Mousse Desserts ($5 for 6) on a tea saucer. They are tiny. But if you are counting calories or carbs, this is a great way to treat yourself. The chocolate mousse has a strong chocolate flavor, a nice variety of textures, and is not very sweet. In all, it’s an elevated version of the Belgian chocolate pudding they used to sell, denser and softer (it’s a mousse, not a pudding) but with a similar flavor profile. I liked them very much.

The package comes with a plastic mold surrounding six mini-mousses. You can presumably remove each mousse while frozen to defrost in the fridge (for at least 2 hours), but I ended up defrosting the whole thing, as it was easier. Each mini-mousse is surrounded by a plastic film. Unfortunately, they didn’t keep their shape when removed while they were thawed. It might work better if you remove it when it’s frozen, if you want to preserve its look.

In all, while they are expensive (thank Trump for his tariffs), they are a high quality treat. They are made in Belgium and contain “cream, sugar, unsweetened chocolate, flour, butter, cocoa powder and cocoa butter” in addition to milk products and emulsifiers. I’d buy them again, as they fit my need for small sweets, but next time I’ll defrost them one at the time.

Mezzetta Roasted Garlic Pasta Sauce Review

December 7, 2025 / / 0 Comments

Meh

I’ve been trying to up my game as far as jarred pasta sauce goes, and try some of the more “gourmet” sauces, which are made with actual tomatoes, rather than tomato paste, and more natural ingredients. So far, I haven’t really been impressed with any of these sauces, though perhaps I will need to do my own blind test to see which ones I actually prefer.

I bought Mezzetta roasted garlic sauce when it was on sale, but it’s usually around $9 at my local Safeway. The tomato flavor is pretty bright, and I did like the relative chunkyness. The roasted garlic flavor was a bit off putting, but that’s my fault for ordering roasted garlic sauce when I’m not the hugest fan of roasted garlic. Mostly, though, I felt it tasted very generic. I’m not sure I’d be able to tell it apart from a cheaper brand.

I tried it both on gnocchi and by itself with bread, and I definitely preferred it on its own. I may try another flavor to give it a real chance.

Mushrooms & Truffle Pastificio G Di Martino Stuffed Gnocchi – Review

December 7, 2025 / / 0 Comments

Interesting idea that just doesn’t work out

When I saw these Mushrooms & Truffle Pastificio G Di Martino Stuffed Gnocchi at the World Market (~$4), I got pretty excited. I love gnocchi, I love ravioli, and the idea of stuffed gnocchi seemed logical. They had them in a variety of flavors, and I decided on Mushrooms & Truffle as everyone in my household loves mushroom ravioli.

It wasn’t until I came home that I noticed the Prop 65 warning in the package: the gnocchi have lead in them! There is no safe level of lead exposure, and the consumption of even a standard portion of lead contaminated mushrooms can have negative health effects. Lead is particularly problematic for children, who absorb a far greater proportion of it than adults. Before this purchase, I had not realized how mushrooms – in particular dried wild mushrooms – often contain lead as I hadn’t seen the Prop 65 warning before. I probably wouldn’t have bought the package if I had noticed it, but I decided to make them for myself anyway.

I shouldn’t have bothered. The gnocchi were a complete failure. The gnocchi themselves were simply not tasty. Even though I cooked them in salted water, they hadn’t really absorbed it and were in need of it and probably some type of spicing. The texture was very dry and even powdery, perhaps because they were made with dried potato flakes rather than fresh potatoes. The filling suffered from the same issue, it was very dry and had a strange consistency. Its main ingredient is ricotta cheese, and it really didn’t taste much of mushroom.

I tried them both by themselves and with tomato sauce and grated cheese. The sauce and cheese helped with the flavor, but they couldn’t really do anything about the very unpleasant texture. And for that reason, I wouldn’t bother trying the other flavors.

Amazon Grocery Mini Croissants Review

December 7, 2025 / / 0 Comments

Cheap and tasty, what more can you ask for?

I got these mini-croissants ($4 for 12) at Amazon to east with the jams from my Bonne Maman Advent Calendar, and so far, so good. According to the reviews and the packaging the croissants are usually sold fresh, but mine came frozen. That was not a problem, 15 to 20 seconds in the microwave and they were fluffy and chewy again. This surprised me, and we’ll see whether the quality remains as the days go by (I’m keeping them in the freezer), but a day after, they still taste fresh. They have a very chewy interior, wonderful when warm, and a strong butter flavor – I didn’t bother adding butter to them as they really didn’t need it.

The croissants are pretty small, about the size of the blade of a butter knife, but they’re perfect for those of us watching our carbs. The third ingredient, after flour and water, is actual butter, so you’re eating the real thing here.

Avoid Chilean Salmon

December 4, 2025 / / 0 Comments

Guardian investigation finds “dangerous labour conditions, antibiotic overuse and ecological harm” in production of salmon in Chile

A new article in The Guardian exposes just how problematic salmon raised in Chile is. The salmon industry regularly violates safety regulations causing a high number of injuries and deaths among salmon farm workers. “Those who eat Chilean salmon cannot imagine how much human blood it carries with it,” quotes The Guardian.

Moreover, the fish are pumped with antibiotics, a recognition that they are kept in filthy, unhealthy conditions. The antibiotics not only help create antibiotic resistant bacteria, but they and other chemicals used by the industry, break havoc with the environment.

Chile is the largest exporter of salmon to the US – over 50% of the salmon Americans consume comes from Chile. While supermarkets don’t label Chilean salmon as such, you can safely assume that most of the farmed salmon (labeled as Atlantic salmon, the name of the species, not the locale) comes from Chile – so your best bet is to avoid all farmed salmon unless you know for a fact it has a different origin. Wild salmon is somewhat more expensive, but it’s also higher quality.

Luscioux Pistachio Spreadable Cream Review

December 3, 2025 / / 0 Comments

Delicious paste from Italy

My daughter picked up this tiny jar of Luscioux Pistachio Spreadable Cream at World Market, and we all liked it. It had a strong and pleasant flavor of pistachios, though it was a little on the sweet side. I don’t have much experience with pistachio butters, though I know they are all the rage now because of the popularity of Dubai chocolate. Still, I preferred this one to the one we’d bought before.

At over $10 for a 7oz jar, it’s rather expensive – twice the price than in Europe (thank Trump’s tariffs), but still cheaper than most of the pistachio spreads you can buy on Amazon. As other spreadable, sweetened and emulsified nut butters, this product contains vegetable oils – sunflower and cocoa butter in this case. It is about 45% pistachios – which is much lower than the 90% nuts required to be called a “butter” here in the US (until Trump changes these regulations), thus the name “spread”. It’s till higher than the 13% hazelnuts Nutella has and it doesn’t have palm oil. Other ingredients in the label include powdered milk and whey (so it’s not vegan), olive oil, soy lecithin and “flavors”.

In all, I enjoyed it on top of a crumpet but it’s too sweet for me at my age, and I wouldn’t buy it again. My daughter might, however.

Duke’s Real Mayonnaise Just Rocks

June 28, 2025 / / 0 Comments

I’m a relatively new convert to mayonnaise. As a kid and young adult I always avoided it. At some point, however, probably around the time I became a fan of Nation’s, which smothers its burgers in mayo, I started to dig it. But I would have been a much earlier and greater fan of mayo if I had tasted Duke’s Real Mayonnaise before. Simply, this is the best mayo I’ve ever had and it elevates mayo to previously unimagined heights.

That’s a wild thing to say about a product that is not only over a hundred years old, but apparently wildly popular in a large part of the country (the South). Still, I had never heard of it, not even in passing or while cooking any of the southern cuisines I explored.

This mayo has a very intense flavor that won’t be easily hidden behind others. It’s made with soybean oil and egg yolks, and gains its sour notes from distilled and apple vinegar. They almost, but not quite, fooled me into thinking it was lemon juice. It doesn’t have added sugar, which apparently detracts rather than enhance the natural flavor of the mayonnaise. I think it would be great to dip French fries in or for chicken salads.

Once only sold in the South, Duke’s is now available nationwide and even internationally. I found it at my neighborhood Safeway on sale for $4 for the 30oz jar (normally $8).

Trader Joe’s Mini Chicken Tikka Samosas Review

June 27, 2025 / / 1 Comment

Perfectly nice snack suited for an air fryer

Before the invention of the air fryer, I would not have even bothered buying a frozen snack like this. I don’t like turning the oven if I don’t have to – toaster ovens annoy so much that I put mine away -, and I hate having to pan-fry anything that is store bought. If I can’t microwave it effectively – and microwaving something with pastry like this, will turn the pastry soggy -, I rather not eat it. The air-fryer has changed all that.

These snacks are small, and therefore perfect for an even small air fryer like mine – cook them for 10 minutes at 375F. They come out with a nice, think and crispy shell and a flavorful but not too spicy filling. There is a good ratio of filling to shell. The are pretty tasty by themselves but you can dip them on anything you want. I used honey mustard dressing, as I was going through a honey-mustard-on-everything phase.

I’d buy them again.

Trader Joe’s Brazilian Style Cheese Bread Review

June 21, 2025 / / 0 Comments

Better than chipá

Brazilian style cheese bread had a moment in the US, probably around the time Brazilian steak houses became popular in the country. Due to a very old prejudice, I missed that moment and visited my first Brazilian steak house only last year, when my daughter’s boyfriend mentioned he wanted steak for his birthday. While I didn’t write a review at the time, we very much enjoyed the experience, though my memories of the cheese bread are too vague to refer to it.

Meanwhile, chipá, Guaraní cheese bread, had been having its own moment in Argentina. I tried it at my lodge in the Iberá wetlands and was so unimpressed as not try it again. Judged by the Trader Joe’s version, I should have.

Chipá or Brazilian cheese bread (the Guaraní people live in a vast territory that includes all of Paraguay as well as parts of Bolivia, northeastern Argentina and southern Brazil) is made with tapioca flour, milk, egg and grated cheese and usually shaped as little rolls. Trader Joe’s sells its version frozen with instructions of baking them in the oven. I air fried them (for 7 minutes from frozen at 360F, without preheating) and they were perfect. They had a nice, crispy shell with bright, not-too-salty Parmesan, and a wonderful chewy, elastic interior with a subtle cheese flavor. They are naturally gluten free for those who care about that. I really think you need to eat them warm to enjoy, as the elasticity of the dough is the best part.

Not only did I enjoy these buns very much, but I learned something knew. I already knew that cassava, yuca and manioc were all different names for the same root. What I didn’t know was that tapioca was the name of the starch of said root – thus tapioca flour refers to cassava starch while cassava flour refers to the flour made from the whole root. If you make your own chipá, make sure you use tapioca flour. But given how good Trader Joe’s frozen Brazilian cheese bread is, you really don’t need to go through the trouble.

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