Tasty eats from Trader Joe's

bluedawg · **Posted:** Thu Mar 14, 2013 11:06 am

ScandinaVegan wrote:

We're taking a trip to the US and will be staying with my BIL and SIL who LOVE Trader Joe's. I believe they do all their shopping there and they talk about it constantly. They are not much for cooking and are keen on the pre-packaged and frozen meals, etc.

Anyway, they're not vegan, but always sweetly offer to pick up something "weird' for me to eat when we visit. What are the best gluten-free vegan things at TJs?

I'm most interested in meal-type things, since produce and nuts and dried fruit are stuff they'd buy anyway. But faux yogurt, cereal, and of course chocolate are also of interest! Thanks everyone!

i don't eat gluten-free, so i'm afraid i'm terrible at knowing off-hand which things are GF and which aren't... i could give you a list of "favorites" but i'd feel bad if 80% of them ended up having gluten in them, heh. maybe one of our GF peeps can chime in with a good cheat sheet?

missmuffcake · **Posted:** Mon Apr 08, 2013 11:48 am

so, those fresh rice noodles, i know there were problems with them but i went ahead and picked some up. has anyone figured out how to cook them without having them turn into a big old gooey ball?

mictheotterspotter · **Joined:** Sun Feb 17, 2013 3:38 pm **Posts:** 24

Oh, this thread is bad for me. We went to TJs in San Fran Frisco and Monterey in March and I have to say me and the Fatman just loved it so much.
I bought rather a lot of chocolate (for me) and I still have lots in the fridge, I'm rationing it to myself.
And I loved the Thai curry I had from there, and the soy yogurt - this made me retry soy yogs here, and they're quite good now, so much better than they ever were.
Missing TJs...very jealous of all of you. And missing Old Navy (though I did buy jeans and tops to last me :-) )

Rhizopus Oligosporus · **Joined:** Tue Oct 19, 2010 9:39 pm **Posts:** 4588

missmuffcake wrote:

so, those fresh rice noodles, i know there were problems with them but i went ahead and picked some up. has anyone figured out how to cook them without having them turn into a big old gooey ball?

Yes! Just cook them long enough to warm them through; literally just a minute or maybe two tops. Taste them and if they are hot, you are ready to eat them. They are delicious.

missmuffcake · **Posted:** Fri Apr 12, 2013 10:56 pm

Problem is - I only cooked them for a minute or two...

In other news - the moz turns to liquid on pizza - not so good!

jdfunks · **Posted:** Sat Apr 13, 2013 12:58 am

So.... http://instagram.com/p/YArWbIwxMD/

assilembob · **Posted:** Sat Apr 13, 2013 9:20 pm

Holy moly the frozen quinoa and veggies (the duo with kale and squash, and the melange) is so good. I should never have found it because I have a new excuse to be lazy.

ndpittman · **Posted:** Sun Apr 14, 2013 4:27 am

I picked that up and looked at it! I'm going to go back and get it. I was being weird because it didn't have a 'V' even though it was clearly vegan.

TexTroosers · **Joined:** Wed Mar 20, 2013 10:44 pm **Posts:** 55

missmuffcake wrote:

so, those fresh rice noodles, i know there were problems with them but i went ahead and picked some up. has anyone figured out how to cook them without having them turn into a big old gooey ball?

I had the same problem, and I was careful to cook them for only a minute. The only thing I could think of was that they had been sitting in my fridge for at least a week, not that I know that freshness would affect that at all. I just went back to using dry noodles...

zelavie · **Posted:** Tue Apr 16, 2013 7:54 pm

I just made my last trip to Trader Joe's for quite some time. I'm moving next week, and the closest TJs will be about 7 hours away. I'm gonna miss you, Kimchi Fried Rice (and so many other delicious things!).

Simply_Love · **Posted:** Fri Apr 19, 2013 11:49 am

So I finally tried the moz last night. Honestly, it wasn't too bad. It's no where near as good as Daiya texture wise (like MissMuffin said, it kind of turned liquidy), but the flavor wasn't too horrible, as was easily masked by the olives, peppers, onions and basil we had on the pizza. Next time I'll use a bit less, and probably won't ever choose this over daiya if I have the choice, but it's nice to have an option for when I'm at school and Daiya is harder to get.

Also, the garlic herb pizza dough. OMG IT'S THE BEST THING EVER.

VeganVamp · **Posted:** Mon Apr 22, 2013 1:02 pm

Quote:

Anyway, they're not vegan, but always sweetly offer to pick up something "weird' for me to eat when we visit. What are the best gluten-free vegan things at TJs?

I'm most interested in meal-type things, since produce and nuts and dried fruit are stuff they'd buy anyway. But faux yogurt, cereal, and of course chocolate are also of interest! Thanks everyone!

Trader Joe's publishes a gluten-free product guide. It is a little brochure that lists all items without gluten. I also found a link to it:

http://www.traderjoes.com/lists/no-gluten.asp

PS - I despise Daiya, and acutally think the TJs vegan mozz shreds are somewhat decent. Diff'rent strokes, eh?

missmuffcake · **Posted:** Mon Apr 22, 2013 3:10 pm

Simply_Love wrote:

Also, the garlic herb pizza dough. OMG IT'S THE BEST THING EVER.

I recently tried it for the first time - it is soooo good! I usually make my own dough but really want to get more of this!

Tzippy · **Posted:** Mon Apr 22, 2013 6:38 pm

Yesterday I tried the new frozen pad see ew. It was meh; not horrible, but not something I plan to purchase again. And there is no way it was 5 servings like the package claimed. Two servings, maybe.

xstartxtodayx · **Posted:** Thu Apr 25, 2013 1:48 pm

Tzippy wrote:

Yesterday I tried the new frozen pad see ew. It was meh; not horrible, but not something I plan to purchase again. And there is no way it was 5 servings like the package claimed. Two servings, maybe.

Definitely only two servings, and you need to cook something along with it. The tofu it comes with is inedible, in my opinion. The noodles, veggies and sauce were tasty though.

disneyfav4ever · **Joined:** Mon Nov 01, 2010 1:16 am **Posts:** 305

I'm trying the pad see ew for lunch today. I had to look for it awhile at the store because it's only marked vegetarian, but I read through the ingredients five times, and it's definitely vegan. I also picked up the frozen stir-fried vegetables with sauce that are in the current Fearless Flyer.

disneyfav4ever · **Joined:** Mon Nov 01, 2010 1:16 am **Posts:** 305

I also tried the champagne vinaigrette dressing for the first time. I usually make my own salad dressings and marinades, etc, but I've been very pleased with all the ones I've tried from TJ's.

Marzipan · **Posted:** Sat May 04, 2013 11:00 pm

I love that refrigerated spicy peanut dressing. It is really sweet but that's why it's so good!! It's versatile - dip for goyza, dressing for salad, sauce for cold Asian pasta salad....

Jigglypuff · **Posted:** Sun May 05, 2013 2:43 pm

OMG HOW DID I NOT KNOW THAT TRADER JOE'S HAS VEGAN CINNAMON ROLLS? I'M SO EXCITED THAT I HAVE TO TALK IN ALL CAPS YOU GUYS. I can't even believe how much good stuff this store has!

VegSo · **Joined:** Sun May 05, 2013 5:26 pm **Posts:** 10

I just found the forums a couple of days ago, and oh my I did not know there were so many vegan goodies at Trader Joe's! I will certainly try to look for the rocky road thingy, maybe the cinnamon rolls! I've always loved the mochi pre-veg, and I got a false hope they still carried the coconut icecream ones :( I searched that thread because I just can't catch up, so sad :(

I don't care for daiya that much, and I found TJ veg moz to be pretty meh. My favorite is def Follow Your Heart cheese. Wish vegan cheese was not as expensive though!

Nimmy · **Posted:** Sun May 05, 2013 5:47 pm

I love that they started carrying chia seeds and flax seeds- now I don't have to drive all the way to Whole foods. I picked up some of the spray coconut oil and am excited to try it. I wonder if it's too coconutty for noochy popcorn...? Hmm. Also got the soyrizo, cinnamon rolls, and vanilla almond milk because I loves it.

poopiebitch · **Posted:** Sun May 05, 2013 5:57 pm

Nimmy wrote:

I picked up some of the spray coconut oil and am excited to try it. I wonder if it's too coconutty for noochy popcorn...? Hmm.

Most movie theater popcorn (and places you get similarly-popped corn) use coconut oil, so I say go for it!

jdfunks · **Posted:** Sun May 05, 2013 7:28 pm

poopiebitch wrote:

Nimmy wrote:

I picked up some of the spray coconut oil and am excited to try it. I wonder if it's too coconutty for noochy popcorn...? Hmm.

Most movie theater popcorn (and places you get similarly-popped corn) use coconut oil, so I say go for it!

I use it exclusively on my stovetop popcorn now - do it!

jdfunks · **Posted:** Sun May 05, 2013 7:29 pm

I wanted to add that the TJ's cantina-style fresh salsa (or whatever, it's a little bit more than the normal line) is really good!

bookwormbethie · **Posted:** Sun May 05, 2013 8:07 pm

has anyone tried the TJ soy yogurt? my store has i think vanilla, peach, and i think strawberry. i'm tired of paying quite a bit for the the whole soy brand yogurt at earth fare --- although it is quite tasty.

any guesses as to which company makes the TJ soy yogurt?

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