Everything In Our Trader Joe’s Cart This Week

Okay, fine, the jig is up. The truth is, we love Trader Joe’s. While their stores and products are far from faultless, there is something about that nostalgic optimism that keeps us hooked on their affordable groceries. And we love to share our Trader Joe’s hauls with you lovely folk, nearly as much as we enjoy the shopping itself. And, given that this week saw the beginning of a new month (and apparently the unofficial start of fall), there were lots of new and exciting products to try and evaluate. These are the top five we picked up this week.

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Spooky Bats & Cats Sour Gummy Candies

Overall, these have a delightfully irresistible texture. They’re not too rubbery, and their texture kind of resembles a thick version of Sour Patch Kids. They’re not really that sour, so if you’re someone who doesn’t necessarily love sour things, I still encourage you to try these.

The green flavor in the pack tastes like a good ‘ole green apple Jolly Rancher, and it’s very mouthwatering. The purple flavor is similarly delicious, but with a wildly different flavor. It really leans into the deeper berry flavors, almost tasting like a black currant. And, the orange shapes taste like the retro orange slice gummies with their super intense orange flavor. These however, have a much brighter note to them, in a way that makes them feel more refreshing and plays nicely with the light sourness of the coating.

Rating:

9/10

Sporks

Pumpkin Spiced Joe-Joe’s Sandwich Cookies

Our endless frustration at the discontinuation of the Pumpkin Pie Oreos continued this year, much to our dismay. But, alas, we still have Trader Joe’s to count on. Their Pumpkin Joe-Joe’s have been our substitution in the Oreos’ absence. But, this year, when we spotted the Pumpkin Spiced Joe-Joe’s Sandwich Cookies, our curiosity was peaked.

Of course, the pumpkin spice Joe-Joe’s are delicious, we knew that already. But would the yogurt coating be a welcome addition, or can we simply stay to the original? Fortunately for our wallet, the yogurt coating on these was disappointing. It melted too quickly in our fingers, and it’s not only too mild to have persisting flavor throughout the bite, but the pumpkin flavor used in it just wasn’t that pleasant overall. It tasted more artificial than we would’ve liked.

Rating:

6/10

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Giant Baked Beans in Tomato Sauce

I’ve been burned a time or two by the canned beans section at Trader Joe’s. Whether somehow crunchy or just simply the most bland bean I’ve ever tasted, it feels like they have a difficult time getting a canned bean right. That couldn’t be further from the truth for these beans, though. We were delighted with their deep, rich flavor and exceptional texture. The beans themselves were ultra tender and creamy, and the herbaceous tomato sauce was to die for. Heat them up with a pinch of salt and a crunchy baguette and you have the perfect appetizer ready in seconds. Elevate it with a nice bottle of white and you an exceptional night on the horizon.

Rating:

10/10

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Organic Fall Leaf Shaped Italian Pasta

After the tragic structural integrity of last year’s pumpkin-shaped fall pasta from Trader Joe’s, we have to admit that we weren’t that hopeful for this leaf-shaped pasta for this year’s rendition. But, much to our delight, it surpassed all of our expectations. It was not only able to maintain its colors and shapes in a way that was genuinely impressive for such intricately formed shapes, but it was the kind of pasta that has a wonderful al dente texture. The bite is maintained, and even if slightly overcooked it doesn’t fall apart and turn to mush.

Rating:

10/10

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Autumnal Harvest Creamy Pasta Sauce

Alongside the fall leaf-shaped pasta, we naturally had to get this autumnal squash pasta sauce to pair it with. We love a theme, what can we say. But this sauce ended up being just okay. It was far from bad or unpleasant, but it just wasn’t impressive. It was equally tomato and squash forward, and it otherwise lacked any autumnal essence. It was desperately lacking in the salty, umami qualities that could’ve made it soar. It needed work to be great. But you can certainly get it to that point with a bit of doctoring up.

Rating:

7/10

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