Chipotle Salsa

More salsa! This one gets a negative review from me. It has a particularly strange, smoky taste to it that I just  can't seem to get into at all. My boyfriend says it's okay but not great, and my dad likes it a lot, so it may be worth a try. Please post your own findings!

Peach Salsa

I really like Salsa, this one is my favorite though! I have a huge sweet tooth, so this salsa with a kick of sweetness really does it for me. I dip all kinds of things in it! It's pretty mild as salsas go, but it has a lot of flavor. I would 100% recommend this one.

Honey Apple Butter

After trying that fig butter, I went back for more and they were all out! At TWO Trader Joes! So I decided to try another fruit butter, this time the honey apple. It was so good and sweet. I have had apple butter that just didn't really taste good, but this one was NOT like that! I totally recommend this one. Grab a jar and you won't regret it! Oh bonus, it was only 2.29, cheaper than the fruit spread I normally buy.

0% Greek Yogurt Vanilla

No this is not an illusion. There are seven containers of Trader Joe's yogurt in that top picture. Would you guess that I am a fan? Not a chance in the world....
Seriously, this stuff is so good! Greek yogurt is great because it is thicker and filled with protein. This one is great because it tastes good and a little sweet but without being overpowering. The container has two servings of yogurt, but I usually end up making it three servings (about five ounces each). It contains five ingredients and five cultures in it. (Wow that is a lot of fives). It actually only costs $2.79 which is a pretty good deal. I add it to fruit, both fresh and frozen as well as granola.
Oh and by the way, the reason for the seven containers is that I try to re-use containers; only one is full!

Sorry I missed posting yesterday! Hope you enjoy this food and continue to spread the word about the most informative Trader Joe's blog out there!

Mélage à trois

Mélage à trois...definitely an ear-catching name. It is such a great product. A bag full of pre-cut red, green, and yellow bell pepper strips makes it so easy to cook peppers!! I personally happen to be rather lazy, and especially after a long day, anything that will save me time is a good idea. I don't have to get each pepper out, wash, slice, etc. requiring dirtying a cutting board and knife. Here's how I used them today: got a TJs chicken sausage and sliced it up as well as the mélage à trois peppers and added them to a frying pan (with TJs canola oil spray). Let them heat up and move them around the pan. Definitely under ten minutes. I put them on handmade corn tortillas and had lunch. Easy as 1-2-3 or maybe red-yellow-green!!!
I highly reccommend these AND if you are watching your budget, each bag is only $1.69. Sounds good to me!!!!!

BBQ Sauce

I love bbq sauce...This one especially. I've been using it for ages! It's really good used so many ways. I like to put it on chicken and potatoes, use it as a salad dressing, atop a burger, let me count the ways..... If you saw my last post about pizza dough, I have another tip for you. I mixed some of this bbq sauce with tomato paste to make a pizza sauce that I topped with cheese and veggies. I would suggest trying it on your next trip! Please post your reviews :)
Oh, and if you try it and hate it, keep your reciept and TJs will take it back!

Pizza Dough/Pizza Sauce

Today, I decided to make pizza. One of the things that I like about making my own pizza is that I get to put everything I want and nothing that I don't want on it. Trader Joe's has three different varieties of Pizza dough, white, wheat, or garlic + Herb (I believe that's the official title). I always get the whole wheat, although I would like to try the herb dough (that I will too review!).
Well the wheat dough is really good, it has a great flavor. It has enough dough that I was able to make four personal pizzas out of it. The dough is pretty inexpensive too, although I can't seem to find how much I paid, I believe it was under two or three dollars. It's standard dough, it comes refrigerated so it is ready to use. If you don't plan on using it right then, put it in the freezer immediately and then let it defrost when you are ready. To make, I simply let the dough rise for 20 minutes, and rolled it out on a lightly floured surface (with, of course, TJs white wheat flour!) and I formed it into four mini pizzas.
I then added the above pictured pizza sauce. It's really good, and I used almost the whole jar for my four pizzas. It's easy to spread it on the dough, then add my choice of toppings. Today I used daiya and tons of veggies on two of them (with some TJs feta), and TJs meatless meatballs with veggies on the other two.
Once again, an easy meal made from TJs ingredients.

Stop by again tomorrow for a new review and be sure to click follow at the top of each page!

Raw Crunchy Almond Butter

Almonds are really good for you, containing protein and many different vitamins. Reportedly, almonds have a great deal of health benefits, lowering the bad cholesterol, helping your heart, providing magnesium, help losing/maintaining weight, etc. (whfoods.com) The thing that is different about this almond butter from the rest is that it is raw. It has not been roasted in any way; this is supposed to keep the nutrients in it. However, I personally prefer the normal unsalted Trader Joe's almond butter, I found a picture of the of this variety, I think it has a little more flavor to it.

Well, enjoy eating your almonds, in whatever form you do it!

Hummus Dressing

I really should have known when I was at Trader Joes... Hummus is pretty much always made with olive oil and this for some reason is made with canola oil. Personally, I prefer olive oil because it is better for you and gives a better taste. I bought it a month or two ago and have not been able to bring myself to eat it. Maybe hummus was not meant as salad dressing or maybe this just isn't good, the smell is just not appealing. Perhaps if you want hummus on your salad you should check out one of the very many varieties of hummus TJs carries. I'm pretty sure that they would be better than this one.

Beef Tamales

I have been a regular eater of these tamales for about five years. They are really good; the center is really moist, filled with shredded beef and carrots and has a red color to it. I am by no means a connoisseur when it comes to mexican food, but these are just amazing. It's super easy to grab one out of your freezer and put it in the microwave for three minutes. These are also a great value, 2.29 for a package of two.
There are two other varieties that I know of, chicken tamales and green chile and cheese. My boyfriend tells me that the green chile and cheese ones are awesome, however I don't eat a whole lot of cheese so I haven't tried them. The chicken ones, in my opinion, are not nearly as delicious as the beef!
So try and enjoy!
Report back your opinions!!

Chicken Sausage

Trader Joe's Chicken Sausage is the best because it is so easy and there are a bunch of varieties. My favorite thing is that they come pre-cooked. I bought some at Sprouts that had to be cooked and they were such a pain to tell if they were even completed cooking that I never ended up eating them. These are great. I just take them out of the package, slice them in some manner, and throw them into a frying pan with TJs pure olive oil and let them crisp up a little bit.
There are about six to eight different varieties. I have tried spicy italian (ok) and garden herb (ok) other than these two. The kind on the left, Mango, is a little strange. The ingredients made me think it would be great, but it ended up being pretty gross, IMHO. The Sweet Apple sausage is amazing! They have a little maple syrup inside, so they are slightly sweet. I add some peppers to the frying pan (TJs melange a trois - to be featured later!) and they quickly cook up. I roll them into a tortilla of some sort (TJs has a great assortment!) and I have a really easy dinner. I still need to try a pesto variety, which sounds pretty good! More news on that later....

Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk

I've been drinking soy milk for a good part of my life. I've tried other types of faux-milk, hemp milk, coconut milk, almond milk, but never ended up deviating from my favorite vanilla soy milk. Fast forward to a couple months ago when I tried this product. It has a vanilla taste to it, but actually has less than half the calories of normal vanilla soy milk AND no added sugar. It is reasonably priced, $2.99, and it has quickly become a staple in my home. It's perfect because it does not overpower you with it's sweetness. I use it in coffee, smoothies, baking, cereal, etc. The only thing you could dislike is when everyone else figures out how great it is and your neighborhood TJs is all out! THAT is never good!!!

Fig Butter

I always love trying new food at Trader Joe's. Monday night, I picked this fig butter up because I can never seem to get enough figs. It is delicious; great taste of figs and super-sweet containing more fruit than sugar. If you like figs, this is an awesome addition to your food repertoire! I have been spreading it on two pieces of toasted Trader Joe's sprouted flourless whole wheatberry bread with 2 eggs in the middle. Add some fruit and/or yogurt and you have an delicious and wholesome breakfast.