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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.

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!

Trader Joe’s Milk Chocolate Malted Milk Eggs

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Trader Joe's Malted Milk Eggs

Trader Joe's Malted Milk Eggs

(Part 2 of at 3 part series on Easter Treats at Trader Joe’s)

All the Easter Stuff was out when we shopped at Trader Joe’s today, so we picked up a selection of goodies to try out and share with you. This is the second item we are reviewing: Trader Joe’s Milk Chocolate Malted Milk Eggs

First, we love Malted Milk Eggs, so when we saw a Trader Joe’s version, we could not wait to get home and give them a taste….or two

OK, the truth? …we thought about eating some on the car ride home as the box is a cute “milk carton” style and would be easy to get into, BUT it was only 8:45 AM and somewhere in the back of your mind, you know it is just too early in the day to start munching on Malted Milk Eggs, even if you had to stop and think about it for a bit…

Well, we did resist the temptation and even waited until we got home, unpacked all the “real” shopping that we had, and had a cup of coffee made before trying these wonderful eggs.

You will be happy to know that Trader Joe’s has come through again with a wonderful product! The eggs are huge- much bigger than the usual malted milk balls that also come in the cute milk carton container. And they had a great, toasty malt taste.  Also, these treats do not contain any artificial colors, flavors or preservatives.  YEAH! That makes us feel a bit better about eating them, as sometimes those artificial ingredients give us a headache.  As a kid, we enjoyed those brightly colored malted milk eggs, but as an adult, we are grateful that there are some malted milk eggs that  are simply chocolaty and not coated again with a bright blue color that gets all over your hands and turns your tong blue!

Delaina, who is our official Malted Milk expert, gives Trader Joe’s Milk Chocolate Malted Milk Eggs two thumbs up. In fact during the tasting of the other Easter items today she actually took a bag of Malted Milk Eggs back to her desk for further analysis…..hmm.

Inside Trader Joe's Malt Eggs

Inside Trader Joe's Malt Eggs

Trader Joe’s Milk Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Eggs

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Trader Joe's Peanut Butter Eggs

Trader Joe's Peanut Butter Eggs

(Part 1 of a 3 part series on Easter Treats at Trader Joe’s)

You know when you are so busy that holidays sneak up on you?? Well, that’s how it was today. All of a sudden there is an abundance of Easter items in the stores…. And then it hit us: Easter is just around the corner!

So to make sure that we are able to present all the Easter goodies that Trader Joe’s had on it HUGE display as we entered the store today, we are making a sacrifice to taste and report on all three of these goodies today. It is our hope that by presenting many of the treats that we found today at Trader Joe’s, we will assist a few Easter Bunnies in selecting and filling Easter baskets with some fun and unusual treats.

Item #1 Trader Joe’s Milk Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Eggs

We both just love the combination of peanut butter and chocolate together, and usually purchase those small bite-sized cups. But at Easter time, those wonderful egg shaped treats are very tempting as well. We did not notice these egg treats last year at Trader Joe’s and forgot to ask if they were new, or just new to us.

Anyway, there are three individually wrapped eggs in the box. They are not foil wrapped, but sealed in plastic packages. This not only makes them easier to un-wrap (no small pieces of colorful foil falling everywhere), but also nice if you are going to hide treats in the yard. Our group is still talking about the Easter Egg Hunt that was ruined when the squirrels ran off with the candy in the yard!

Inside of Chocolate Easter Egg

Peanut Center

The chocolate and peanut butter treats are rich and just delicious! The outside was smooth and glossy with a flower decoration in the middle.  Trader Joe’s packaging notes that they are made with a “natural peanut butter center”, so we expected a very soft, peanut center. This is not the case. The centers are much firmer than other peanut butter and chocolate egg treats. And the center of the egg is close in color to the outside chocolate shell, we concluded that Trader Joe’s added some chocolate to the peanut center for a more solid product and make it easier to ship.