Bloomin’ Plants at Trader Joe’s

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Oops! We forgot to tell you about our latest “fun” purchase at Trader Joe’s…. A plant!

Now you regular shoppers know that along with great deals on food and wine, Trader Joe’s also has some fabulous prices on cut flowers and plants of all kinds.

Usually we walk right by the assortment of beautiful plants and flowers that welcome us into our Tucson store, but last week we gave in to a plant purchase when we saw a rather unusual specimen….

This plant was unlike any we had seen before. It has big green pinecone-like stalks, with a burst of orange flowers.  It is a called an “Orange Star” and it is native to South Africa. Well, this plant just caught our eye and we have enjoyed having it on our table this week.  It has been fun to watch the flowers bloom and grown and change each morning.

This is what the plant looked like when we bought it last week….

Plant from Trader Joe's

Trader Joe's Orange Star

And this is what it looked like tonight when we were watering it……

Trader Joe's Orange Star Plant

Trader Joe’s Plant, week2

We thought that this South African Orange Star plant was so unique, that we made a card from one of the images. See it here on Zazzle:

http://www.zazzle.com/south_african_orange_star_card-137724473282417930?rf=238405420632441701

Do you buy the flowers or the plants when you shop at Trader Joe’s?

Trader Joe’s Roasted Poblano Peppers

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Trade Joe's Roasted Peppers

Trade Joe's Roasted Peppers

Last night we tried a new product for dinner: Trader Joe’s Roasted Poblano Peppers. They are two to a package, and the peppers are filled with Spanish rice and shrimp.

We heard about this Trader Joe’s product from my Aunt who happened to mention it when we were together last week.  We were talking about how much we all LOVE shopping at Trader Joe’s and some of the products that we constantly fall back on and purchase again and again. My Aunt’s favorite “emergency” items are the frozen guacamole and the Roasted Poblano Peppers.

One of the cool parts of this conversation is that folks were from all over the country, California, Washington DC, Boston, New Mexico and us from Tucson and yet we all shop and just LOVE Trader Joe’s stores. We did feel sorry for the folks from Kansas City, who sat at the table green with envy wishing that Trader Joe’s would open up a store for them (Hint Hint Trader Joe’s- Please expand in the Kansas City area!)

So as the conversation continued, we both became interested in trying the Poblano Peppers. We both love poblanos as they are a nice, medium spicy chili (many times they are used in making chili rellenos) and they just sounded wonderful stuffed with rice and shrimp.  My Aunt lives in Santa Fe, so we were wondering if this item was even available in the Tucson area, as we were not familiar with it at all. I guess we need to spend some more time checking out the frozen items at our Trader Joe’s Store!

So the last time we went shopping at Trader Joe’s we set out to scour the freezer section look for this tasty sounding item. And low and behold, there they were, big as life, right next to the tamales and the burritos.

They have sat in our freezer until last night when we could not stand the suspense any longer. We took them out and followed the directions on the package for the oven baking. While we let the oven heat up, we removed the packaging. Interestingly the peppers were individually wrapped up in plastic to keep them fresh.

Individualy Wrapped Peppers

Individualy Wrapped Peppers

Trader Joe's Poblano Peppers

Before the oven

The package directions said to cover the pan loosely with foil and cook for 25 minutes or until the shrimp were thoroughly cooked and then let stand for 2 minutes before serving. Did I say that the shrimps were raw? Yes! So poke around and make sure that they are fully cooked before letting them stand for those extra 2 minutes.

Also, take care when you prepare this item, as in our oven the shrimp were not fully cooked for another 20 minutes more than the package caused me to expect.  This caused our dinner to be served a bit later than expected…

But they were completely worth the wait. The pepper was spicy, the rice yummy and the shrimps were covered in a delicious red spice.  These peppers were a medium- hot to me and would almost suggest serving them with a salad that had a creamy dressing to sort of “put out the fire” so to speak. We served them with some plain cooked vegetables (Trader Joe’s Organic Foursome) to counter act the spiciness.

Bottom line: we both loved these peppers and would purchase them again.

Oprah Inaugurates a Food Revolution in America!

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We made it a point to watch Oprah today (Friday). Why? Oprah interviewed Jamie Oliver and discussed his latest venture/obsession/mission: The Food Revolution!  (Cook more meals at home, buy fresh food, eat together as a family, get healthy as a result.

Jamie is so focused on this new venture that he has a new TV  show, Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution. This  is  6, 1-hour shows filmed in Huntington, West Virginia (Airing on ABC Fridays).

Why this town? According to Jamie and the CDC (Center for Disease Control), this town is the most un-healthiest spot in the United States. From what we can piece together, Jamie arrives in the town to challenge them into breaking away from their usual meals and try to eat healthier. Many of the previews we watched this afternoon, focused on Jamie’s work at a school in the city (talking to the kids, working with the staff etc…)   Naturally, Jamie’s show contains some drama as the local DJ tries to “run him out of town” and is initially resistance to this British guy showing up to tell the locals what to do.

The show will debut tonight (Friday March 26, 2010) in the United States on your local ABC station. Here in Tucson, it will air from 7-9pm. Thank goodness we checked again, as we originally thought it would be on at 9pm tonight- eeks! THAT would have been disappointing!!

There were quite a few clips to view on Oprah, but there were two parts that really stood out for us.

1. Golden Brown Food

Oprah aired a clip of a home visit that Jamie makes to a family, and piles up a weeks worth of food on their kitchen table. The food mound is composed of pizza, French fries, corn dogs, chicken nuggets, burgers, nachos, you get the idea- everything was brown, bready and high in fat!

The comment is made that all the food that this family is eating is “golden brown” from the fryer! Eeks!  Most of it is breaded or fried, looked greasy and seemed soggy by the end of the shots.

It was sorta shocking to see that much “golden brown” food at one time. Yuck!

Truthfully we are sure that we have eaten such a meal in the past, but every day for a week? Wow that mound of food looked impressive, but in a negative way.

2. The Coffin for the obese

In another part, Jamie brings the radio DJ along to a local funeral home, and then we all get a view of what the “end of life options” are for the obese. This we will admit was shocking to us.

The coffin was as large as a full or queen sized bed!

The Morticians noted that a coffin of this size required many “un-dignified” adjustments in order to be moved and buried. These included tipping it up on it’s side (to get through a door), transportation in a pickup truck and/or by fork lift, and the injustice of having to pay for two plots at the cemetery. These huge coffins are also super heavy (reinforced steel side beams etc…) as they have to hold up with contents that weigh between 600-700 pounds.

The most shocking news of all? These huge coffin sales are on the rise in the United States. We sat shocked and silent at this news as the show went to a commercial break.

Wow, maybe Americans do need a Food Revolution after all??

Jamie and Oprah were able to lighten up the mood of the audience when the show returned by cooking.

As most of the clips and shots of the show focused on kids eating chicken nuggets, what does Jamie make? Breaded chicken strips, of course.

Only his chicken “nuggets” were homemade, cheaper and quicker than the kind in the box that everyone is used to. Jamie comments that his homemade chicken nuggets will cook up in the pan in 6 minutes and that those frozen nuggets take 12-15 minutes to cook up. Also his nuggets are cheaper and you know and can identify all the ingredients in them.

To round out the meal, He serves mashed potatoes and some steamed greens.

We are looking forward to watching the 2 hour special tonight to learn more about  Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution and how it changed this small town.

Links:

  • Oprah’s website CLICK HERE
  • Oprah’s recipes from the show CLICK HERE
  • Jamie Oliver’s website to join Food Revolution  CLICK HERE (Goal is 6 million supporters!)

What do you think about the food revolution? What questions or help do you need to start a revolution in your home today??

Trader Joe’s Bunny Gummy Tummies & Friends

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Trader Joe's Bunny Gummy Tummies

Bunny Gummy Tumies

(Part 3 in a 3 part series on Easter Treats at Trader Joe’s)

One more Easter Treat caught our eye today (just when we thought we  were safe from any more Easter candy) At the checkout, we spotted the package- surprise The Gummies are back!

After trying those delicious Cherry Yummy Gummy Tummies during Valentine’s Day, we were happy to see a new Gummy product with an Easter theme: Trader Joe’s Bunny Gummy Tummies & Friends

This time the gummies come in a variety of shapes, flavors and colors all in one package.

  • Egg – This orange egg shaped piece contains a tangy-sweet liquid center.
  • Bunny- The pink bunny has a fruity strawberry liquid center.
  • Chick- The yellow chick is filled with a brightly sour liquid  lemon flavor.
  • Sheep- The white sheep has a rich liquid blackberry center.

Each of these pastel pieces has a nice assortment of detailing on the outside, and is soft and chewy with almost a blast of flavor when you bite down into the soft liquid center. WOW. These are not your ordinary Easter jelly bean- type treats!

Our only critique is that the creamy white sheep have a dark-ish colored blackberry center, which makes them look a bit odd, in comparison to the other candies. (All the other candies have similar colors to the centers, orange-orange etc… )We were wondering if they would be better off in a purple color with the blackberry center or perhaps they could have used a creamy white vanilla or even coconut center for the sheep, but maybe that is just us!

Trader Joe's Gummy Treats

Trader Joe's Gummy Treats

We thought that these treats would be fun to use as a garnish on the table top or pressed on top of a desert for an “Easterery” touch. We were thinking of cupcakes, or a sheet cake.  Or even placed on a plate when you are serving your dessert?

These three posts have focused on the Easter Candy Treats that are currently for sale at Trader Joe’s. We hope you get to try some yourself….soon!