Trader Joe’s – Trader Ming’s Chicken Egg Rolls

I cooked up a pack of Trader Joe’s – Trader Ming’s Chicken Egg Rolls to pair along with dinner one night.  I’ve tried just about all Trader Joe’s egg rolls and these have to be the most “authentic” egg rolls they sell.  They’ve got the classic thick and crunchy egg roll shell.

I cooked these in a convection oven with a little spritz of Pam cooking spray over the top of them. They cooked up perfectly, evenly and had a nice crispy wrapper.  The filling is more along the lines of the filling you’d get when ordering an egg roll at a Chinese restaurant. It’s filled with vegetables, but it’s also filled with pieces of shredded chicken, instead of pieces of pork.  There are pieces of carrot, cabbage, water chest nuts, bok choy, bamboo shoots, etc. mixed with the chicken. They’re perfect just as is, but they’re even better dipped into a little bit of sweet chili sauce.

A serving is one egg roll, which are 140 calories or 4 points plus values.  Definitely worth it if you’re an egg roll fan.

QUESTION:

What is your favorite frozen egg roll?

Trader Joe’s Roasted Rosemary Boneless Chicken Breast with Wild Rice Pilaf

I spotted this Trader Joe’s Roasted Rosemary Boneless Chicken Breast with Wild Rice Pilaf in the prepared foods section of my local Trader Joe’s and was intrigued. It looked good, it sounded good, so I decided to give it a shot.  I had it in the fridge for a few days, and then decided on having it for lunch with a small side salad.

I pierced the film and put it into the microwave, took it out when it was done and measured out my serving.  I initially raised an eyebrow at the chicken and realized the skin was still on it. Now, I don’t eat skin on any meat so it grossed me out just a bit –but I ended up pulling the skin off and chucking it in the garbage. Granted the removal of the skin would lower the points and calories, but since I wasn’t able to recalculate I left it as is.  The meal was quite filling with a small side salad.  The chicken was moist and the pilaf was delicious and packed with flavor and vegetables. It was one of the better heat and eat rice pilafs I have had.

Price wise these come in at right below $6, which truly isn’t bad for a convenience meal for two people.  A serving is half the container (255 grams), which is 310 calories or 8 points plus values.

QUESTION:

What is one of your favorite prepared meal at a grocery chain?

Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Nonfat Greek Yogurt

On my last trip through Trader Joe’s it was officially pumpkin season – which meant a lot of my favorite Trader Joe’s items were officially back.  One of the things I was very excited to try was the Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Nonfat Greek Yogurt.  I have purchased pumpkin yogurt and my initial thought all the time is it would be perfect if thicker … and Trader Joe’s provided just that.

The yogurt itself is very thick like classic greek yogurt.  The pumpkin flavor is undeniable, but there is a noticeable tartness from the nonfat yogurt that is also on the forefront.  The tartness can be downplayed by adding in a little bit of artificial sweetener or even some honey.  I enjoyed my yogurt with a packet of Equal stirred into it, then topped over some strawberries and blueberries and topped off with 1/3 cup of Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Spice Granola.  It was delicious and very filling.  It’s the perfect pumpkin greek yogurt.  And I enjoyed it so much I made sure to pick up 2 more containers.

A container houses an 8 ounce serving which is 190 calories, which is equal to 5 points plus values. Sure, it’s high for yogurt, but it’s definitely worth it – plus you’re getting almost double the amount of yogurt you would typically get.

QUESTION:

Have you tried the pumpkin greek yogurt from Trader Joe’s?

PB Crave – CoCo Bananas

After purchasing a boatload of PB Crave off their website I decided to finally give the peanut butter a shot.  In my particular area, the line is sold at select Wal-Mart locations but it is also available on the company’s website.  The one peanut butter I was the most intrigued about was the PB Crave CoCo Bananas.

PB Crave peanut butter is a natural peanut butter and the oils separate from the peanut butter and has to be reincorporated into the mixture.  After a number of stirs with a buttering knife, everything is incorporated together and ready to eat.  CoCo Bananas is a blend of wild honey, chocolate and a natural banana flavor.  The peanut butter itself is not sweet like regular peanut butters on the market; it’s got more of a natural peanut butter flavor that’s slightly sweet.  I’d say the chocolate flavor is not really noticeable but the banana flavoring is definitely nice and smooth. It’s definitely a nice, delicious treat.

A 2 tablespoon serving is 180 calories or 5 points plus values.

QUESTION:

Have you tried any PB Crave peanut butters?

Burger King – Strawberry Ice Cream Sundae

Every once in a while I enjoy grabbing an ice cream while out. Typically, McDonald’s has been the location of choice because I can get a vanilla cone, I know the points and there’s no second guessing, unlimited choices to choose from and it’s always portioned.  A few months back Burger King began selling ice cream cones and ice cream sundaes but I hadn’t looked up the points because I simply haven’t been in an ice cream mood … until the other night.

I wanted a sundae, but I didn’t want one from McDonald’s.  Chocolate sundaes can get old, plus they’re not truly a favorite of mine. I like caramel or strawberry sundaes and well … McDonald’s doesn’t do caramel sundaes anymore. So I pulled up the Burger King website, found the ice creams, saw the strawberry (and caramel), calculated and decided Burger King had won!  A few minute jaunt down to Burger King and I had a small Strawberry Sundae in hand!

The sundae is delicious – the strawberry sauce isn’t very sweet and there are real pieces of strawberry in it.  The ice cream is similar to the frozen soft serve you’d get at McDonald’s.  Together it was quite a delicious and satisfying treat.  There are 2 sizes available – I went with the small because that’s truly more than I needed.  I enjoyed it and I will definitely keep Burger King on my radar for whenever I’m in the mood for a strawberry or caramel sundae!

A small strawberry sundae is 190 calories or 5 points plus values.  Worth it? I think so!

QUESTION:

Have you tried any ice cream dessert from BK?

Trader Joe’s Stuffed Peppers with Seasoned Turkey & Rice

This is an oldie but a goodie – and it’s only an oldie because my local Trader Joe’s have not carried this before even though from what I understand these are sold at other Trader Joe’s.  So when I spotted the Trader Joe’s Stuffed Peppers with Seasoned Turkey & Rice I made sure to pick up a pack.

I’m a big stuffed pepper fan, so much that I make them at home from time to time. My personal stuffed peppers are quite simple, with simple ingredients and these stuffed peppers are flavorful, bold and simply delicious.  They’re made up of a large red pepper, split in half and stuffed with a mixture of turkey, rice, spinach, mushrooms, carrots, onions, sauce and spices. I will note, there is fennel seed in it, which gives the turkey meat a sausage quality which really makes it unique.  The vegetables for the most part are cut up pretty small so it’s not like chunks of mushrooms, but more like slivers throughout the mixture.  It was a little reminiscent of the stuffed peppers I make, just a lot bolder with new and unique flavors.  They’re filling and simply delicious.  I enjoyed them and will repurchase these again.

A serving is 1 pepper (1/2 the container), which is 190 calories or 5 points plus values. You could eat the entire container for 10 points plus values.  Definitely worth it!

QUESTION:

What is your favorite prepared meal from Trader Joe’s?

Trader Joe’s – Mikawaya Strawberry Mochi

I have heard and read so many great things about Mochi ice cream that I decided I had to give it a try, particularly after I heard I could find it at Trader Joe’s. I found the Mochi ice creams and out of all the flavors available, I went with the Mikawaya Strawberry Mochi because it was the safest route.

I wasn’t sure of what to expect, so when I opened the package and took one out I thought they’d be like little ice cream bon-bon’s. After trying it, I wasn’t wowed and was more weirded out so I decided to hold off and try it another time.  Waiting a few weeks I gave it another shot and I have to say … I really don’t like mochi. At all.  The very middle is good because its flavored ice cream, but the outside “bun” or mochi is just not appetizing – at least for my taste buds. It reminds me of Play-Doh which I think subconsciously weirds me out even more. It’s very chewy, it’s doughy and I don’t feel like it had much flavor at all.  I was TKO’d after one bite and ended up chucking the box because no one was adventurous enough to try one and I wasn’t going to force myself to eat them.

A serving is 1 piece, which are 100 calories or 3 points plus values.  Since I forgot to take a picture of the label – there’s 3g fat, 25mg sodium, 19g carb, 0g fiber, 14g sugar and 2g protein.

QUESTION:

Are you a fan of Mochi?

Pop-Tarts Chocolate Peanut Butter

I picked up a box of the Chocolate Peanut Butter Pop-Tarts after fawning over them for weeks at the grocery store.  I had tried a bite of the regular peanut butter Pop-tarts and had assumed that these could only be better.

After the first bite, I knew that assumption was wrong.  These chocolate peanut butter Pop-tarts just did not personally live up to the hype. The crust is chocolaty but more of a cocoa flavor than chocolate. They have a peanut butter filling and a chocolate frosting.  I had hoped they’d taste like a Pop-tart version of a Reese peanut butter cup … but it just did not live up to that. I was rather let down by the flavor and didn’t enjoy them very much. They were more boring than exciting … and I felt the plain strawberry Pop-tarts are so much better than these.

A single pastry is a serving (so make sure to get a Ziploc bag or find a friend to give the additional pastry to) which is 200 calories or 5 points plus values.

QUESTION:

What is your favorite Pop-tart flavor?

Trader Joe’s Country Pumpkin Spice Granola Cereal

Fall brings out all the pumpkin and fall goodies at Trader Joe’s.  This meant, I was super excited to pick up a box of Trader Joe’s Country Pumpkin Spice Granola Cereal. I did not have a chance to give this a try last year and since I have a pumpkin fascination/obsession I wanted to give it a go.

I’m a big granola fan – but I truthfully don’t eat it very often at all. This has been the first box of granola I have purchased in over 3 years … and I have to say, it was well worth the wait.  I first described this granola as what you would get if plain old granola and pumpkin pie had a baby. It’s that classic crunchy granola texture mixed with chewy raisins with a very noticeable pumpkin spice flavor mixed throughout. It’s delicious, flavorful and mixes well with yogurts and assorted fruits.  I’ve had this pumpkin spice granola over pumpkin flavored yogurt, while I’ve also had it with coconut vanilla yogurt mixed with fresh blueberries, strawberries and granola on top of it.  It adapts well to the flavors it’s mixed with while it also holds up to its crunchy texture.  I have been such a fan I have incorporated this into my breakfast/snacks daily.

A serving is 2/3 cup which is 240 calories, or 6 points plus values.  Although I find a 1/3 cup serving is more than enough to accompany a serving of yogurt. A 1/3 cup serving calculates out to be 3 points plus values.

QUESTION:

Have you ever tried Trader Joe’s pumpkin spice granola?

Pot Roast Dinner

I had some beef eye round steaks in the freezer, so I decided to use them in a pot roast bag to make dinner a lot simpler.  I’d been in the mood for pot roast so this was going to be a perfect dinner. I trimmed the edge of fat off the steaks and I have to say, I was a little surprised to see how lean they were. I’ve never had or cooked eye round steaks.

I opened up a McCormick Pot Roast bag, layered in the steaks, added in one cut up onion, some baby carrots and potatoes. I mixed up the seasoning mix with water, poured it over the mixture and found it wasn’t quite enough liquid. So I used half a pack of onion soup mix, mixed it up with water and poured that in. closed up the bag and baked it for 1 hr and 20 minutes.

It came out perfect. There wasn’t a lot of “gravy” in the bag but I think it’s due to my choice in using a leaner cut of beef and it not releasing a lot of water during the cooking process. It was a great dinner that provided leftovers for the next day!

The whole plate pictured was only 8 points plus!