Trader Joe’s Olive Tapenade

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Trader Joe's Olive Tapenade

Trader Joe's Olive Tapenade

We found a wonderful new (to us) product at Trader Joe’s this week: Trader Joe’s Olive Tapenade: Traditional.  We have tried a Trader Joe’s tapenade item before, but it was discontinued last year and we have not found another product to take its place- until now.

This wonderful product (which is found in the refrigerated case near the salsa and hummus) is an excellent version of a tapenade.  There are nice big pieces of olives, pimentos and garlic in this spread giving a lot of flavor in each bite.  This is one of those yummy items to have in your frigid to add some pizzazz to an ordinary meal or snack

Are you familiar with the many ways to use Tapenade?   Here are a few ways we like to enjoy this Trader Joe’s Olive Tapenade:

  • Spread thinly on a cracker or slice of bread
  • Tossed with hot pasta and Parmesan cheese
  • Spooned onto a piece of baked fish after cooking
  • As a dip with vegetables
  • But our favorite is in a  cold pasta salad!

This is how we used our container of Trader Joe’s Olive Tapenade. We bought all the ingredients at Trader Joe’s as well- So easy and convenient! First we cooked some whole wheat pasta,  then sliced some cherry tomatoes in ½, added a can of garbanzo beans, sliced some green onions and used the Olive Tapenade and some Balsamic Vinegar as the dressing. We mixed everything all together and …. well…. YUM!

The pasta salad was very colorful and all those flavors combined overnight and the next day the  pasta salad was just fantastic!

Do you like Tapenade? Have you tried this item? What did you think?

Trader Joe’s Mini Lemon Blueberry Scones

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Trader Joe's Lemon Blueberry Scones

Trader Joe's Lemon Blueberry Scones

Just in time for a rainy day here in Arizona: an afternoon tea party. Yes I know it is HOT here, but…well sometimes you just go with your gut and do something unusual, right?

It is Monsoon time here in Tucson and that means the possibility of about 2 hours of very strong rain any day now….

What it really means is that there are clouds in the sky, and rain in the mountains that surround the city. We will get a daily report about the “chance” of rain today in the city center  (say 30-50%) but rarely does it happen here for us (Hey it’s a desert, right?)

So while we were shopping at Trader Joe’s and the dark clouds were all around the city, we thought we might celebrate and have a little tea party.

OK we really meant to tell you was that we were going to buy these tasty scones and make some tea and enjoy them together. NOT that we were going to invite lots of folks over for a fancy snack or something… Yes it was really just an excuse to purchase these delicious looking blueberry lemon scones:  Trader Joe’s Mini Lemon Blueberry Scones.

Good news: The scones did not let us down. They were full of blueberries, and glazed with a lemony- sweet crust that actually had bits (some were big) of lemon peel visible. The scones were moist and “short” which is a nice way of saying they were a bit crummy…

A Trader Joe's Bluebery Scone

A Trader Joe's Bluebery Scone

Now we would not call these scones “mini”, but rather “just right” they were a nice sized snack, and they would be a nice addition to a larger tea party  selection if you wanted to go all out on your tea with sandwiches, cakes etc….

We wanted to go quick and simple so we just stopped for the scones.  And at 3pm  sat for a few minutes and sipped our tea and nibbled our scones and watched the dark clouds gather up on the edge of town.

Hey maybe tomorrow it will rain?   (That’s OK we have 4 more scones…..or do we???)

Have you tried these scones? What did you think?

How to make Trader Joe’s Waffles

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Now, waffles are not usually on our Sunday AM radar at the house. Although we like to eat waffles when we are at a restaurant, (all crispy and golden on the outside) we do not have a waffle iron in  our kitchen yet. Oh well, some day….

Here is the recipe for waffles from the back of the box of Trader Joe’s Buttermilk Pancake & All Purpose Baking Mix:

  • 3 ½ Cups Trader Joe’s Baking Mix
  • 2 Eggs
  • 2 Cups Water
  • ½ Cup vegetable oil

-Stir all ingredients with a whisk until smooth. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for your waffle iron to cook your waffles.

-Makes 12, 4 -inch waffles

Variations suggested on the box:

Golden Pecan Waffles– Stir in ½ cup chopped pecans into the batter.

Country Bacon Waffles: Add 6-8 strips of cooked bacon (crumbled) into the batter.

Waffles with Whipped Cream and Strawberries -my favorite! Make the Waffles according to the directions. Top with whipped cream and sliced strawberries- eeks! There is nothing as good as that combination- crispy waffle, fluffy whipped cream and sweet strawberries!

Has anyone tried any “savory” waffle combos that you liked?  We tried a waffle with cream cheese and smoked salmon one time- it was OK but I like my salmon on a bagel.   I also saw a recipe that used a waffle as a base for chili sprinkled with cheese and onions (topped with sour cream). That looked interesting but we have not tried that yet

How do you like your waffles? Drop us a comment and let us know

Trader Joe’s Pancake Mix Directions

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Have you tried Trader Joe’s Buttermilk Pancake & All Purpose Baking Mix yet? We love  having all the ingredients ready to go when the mood for pancakes hits us- usually on a Sunday morning, drinking coffee…reading the paper…. You get the idea.

So here is the super easy way to get Pancakes on your table!  (here is the smallest batch directions):

To make 10+, 4 inch pancakes (who measures this stuff, right?) you will need:

  • 1 ¾ Cups of Mix (Trader Joe’s Buttermilk Pancake Mix)
  • 1Cup of Water
  • 1 Egg

What to do:

Whisk water and egg together in a bowl. Add the Mix and whisk until the batter is smooth.

Heat non-stick pan over medium heat until hot, and coat with a small amount of oil or use cooking spray so the pancakes don’t stick to the pan.

Use ¼ cup of batter for each pancake, and bake about 2 minutes per side.

Serve with Trader Joe’s pure maple syrup.

Variations:

Jam (orange marmalade is awesome!)

Trader Joe’s Lemon curd

Applesauce? – This was a suggestion from the back of the Trader Joe’s package that sounded interesting. They suggest you try a ½ cup of Applesauce and a sprinkle of cinnamon in the batter. I think we will try this the next time we make Pancakes- it sounds delish!

Enjoy!

Take a minute and let us know what you like on your Trader Joe’s pancakes…..