So I do tend to run to Trader Joe's for my OMG I need something gluten free to eat kind of days. Here is my ranking of the best products from Trader Joes. As you'll see I have a lot of loved items. My one downfall on items I wish they had a better production plant. So many items are labeled with their famous G* but are processed on shared lines. Ggrrr. Shared lines are a No No for me. Shared facility, I'll give it a try. (I keep hoping that shared facility is 4-5 football fields long and the gluten is all the way on the opposite goal line.)
Favorite Items:
1 - Tamales! - I could eat these every day. Really I could. With four different flavor options, you get a good mix of variety.
2 - Gluten Free Brownie mix - Soft, fluffy, chocolatey tasty brownies, this is by far my favorite mix.
3 - Polenta mix - One thing that I find weird is if I eat too much I feel like I've been glutened, but there are no gluten ingredients, I guess maybe my body is telling me to slow down.
4 - Taquitos - Just like the tamales but can be microwaved, and I don't need to worry about them being fried with flour stuff, so crunchy and tasty.
5 - Fresh edamame - Fresh, not frozen in the shell edamame. it's sweet and tasty, but you have to buy it early in the day, it runs out regularly.
6 - Pre-cooked brown rice - cheap and pre-made. All you have to do is nuke it for 60 seconds and you have 2 full servings of rice. Great for a quick meal with a couple tamales.
7 - Wine - Cheap~ OMG - Cheap tasty wine. I really like the TJ branded wine. Plain and simple and a bottle costs you under $4.
8 - Creme Brulle cups - OK, they are warm and gooey and caramelized on top but it's custard inside chocolate cups that are just the right size above bite-size to satisfy you after a nice home-cooked meal.
9 - Gluten Free Cupcakes - Their fresh, not frozen! So you can pick them up on the way home from work! Not 3 days before so that they thaw! (They also did pink frosting ones for Valentine's Day!)
10 - Gluten Free Joe Joe's cookies - The best most reliable place to get gluten free "Oreo" cookies, that also aren't bite size.
11 - Chocolate chip cookies - They have a great bag of chocolate chip cookies, very similar to the Tate's brand, but cheaper and easier to find! Nice and crispy.
12 - Licorice scotties with no wheat! - I miss licorice like nothing else. I find myself flipping over every package when I'm in the store. These are great, and wheat free!
13 - NGB: Gluten Free Beer - Trader Joe's now has their own Sourghum based gluten free beer, brewed by Minhas Brewery. I can get a meal and a good beer all in one place!
14 - All purpose baking flour - Some recipes call for Not using this recipe, so keep an eye out for that in some cook books. But I made cupcakes with it, and they turned out with a fabulous consistency, and tasted really good. I felt a bit of a rice after taste, but sometimes I feel that's only because I know it's there.
15 - Brownies - Who knew there were brownies too! (see picture above!)
16 - Almond meal - Almond flour, just not as ground up. It's CHEAP! Almond flour in the regular grocery store costs at a minimum $10 a tiny bag. This is under $4.50 and is a big bag. If you grind it up a bit more it works just as well as almond flour.
Fancy sounding beer, frozen mac and cheese single servings and creme brulee cups, yum! |
The Not so favorite:
1 - Gluten free pizza - It had no taste... None.. How do you make a pizza with no taste?!
2 - Mac and Cheese - I guess I'm spoiled with Annie's mac and cheese that comes with the cheese sauce instead of the powder.
3 - Gluten free ginger snaps - Too much ginger flavor. I know that's the point of Ginger Snaps, just didn't hit my taste buds. They were crumbly and pungent.
4 - Gluten free bread - This is a total hit or miss for me based on which brand they have in stock. The first bread I got from Trader Joe's made me cry it was so bad.
5 - Granola - Their granola is different. It is sweet, and has a lot of alternative items versus regular granola in it. It's good for a handful or 2 in a pinch. But after several tries I can't bring myself to finish the bag.
6 - Frozen Mac and Cheese - It didn't get much better in frozen form. The pasta was tough, and I could taste the mustard and paprika too strongly. It was creamy, and rich, but left me burping mustard and paprika hours later.
It doesn't even look tasty! |
No comments:
Post a Comment