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In which I finally go to Trader Joe's and the end result is...

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BlueStarLizzard:
Dad Meth.

Charlottesville got a Trader Joe's a few years back and after I heard it was trendy and very crowded, I declined to go there. However, being recently informed one could find Pumpkin Cheesecake in Trader Joe's, I decided to brave the trendy and see what could be found.

Since I was going into a grocery store, I figured I would go ahead and get the stuff to make Dad Crack (cabbage, onions, green peppers, mushrooms and sausage, usually kielbasa, cooked in vinegar with garlic in the crockpot) as well as cheesecake, along with browsing for interesting things.

Except they didn't have cabbage. What kind of grocery store doesn't have freeking cabbage? In fact the whole produce section was completely underwhelming, which surprised me considering it's a trendy store and hippies like rabbit food.  =| I am not impressed with Trader Joe's. I'm not sure people who shop there regularly actually cook. It was all packaged food, pre prepped food, snacks and treats and a big wine section. Almost all the "meat" was some variation of turkey. There was some interesting stuff and one thing I did buy even though I'm really uncertain about it*, but, overall, I was underwhelmed by the selections and I'm not sure the few things they had that looked good are really worth the hassle of trendy crowds and a really obnoxious shopping center.

They also did NOT have the thing I wanted, which was the pumpkin cheesecake.  :mad:

The good news was that they did have fresh spinach. Dad loves spinach. So I decided to experiment a bit with what I could find in Trader Joe's. I nabbed three bags of baby spinach, two red onions, two green bell peppers and two cartons of baby bella mushrooms in the produce section. I almost lost hope when I found the bacon section because right up front is the sin known as turkey bacon, but they did actually have real bacon. I got two packages of their uncured, apple wood smoked bacon pieces. I also bought a bottle of balsamic vinegar. I was disappointed that there was no sausage that did not have the words "turkey" or "soy" on the packages, but I did have two packs of bacon, so I figured the sausage was no great loss.

When I got home, I shoved all three bags of spinach into the crockpot along with a cup of the vinegar and turned it on high heat. Then I fried up the bacon, which was torturous. Trader Joe's slightly redeemed themselves with the bacon. Good, thick bacon that smells divine when it's cooking. Most of both packs did end up in the crockpot, but it was a struggle.
After the bacon I caramelized the onions in the bacon grease and poured that on top of the spinach, which smashed the spinach down enough to get the sliced green peppers into the pot.
About a half hour later, the spinach had wilted down enough to get the mushrooms in. Overall I let it cook for about three hours.

Anyway, it turned out rather tasty and Dad went completely bonkers over it. I really liked the bacon in it, especially as the chunks range from whole thick cut slices to little bits. I did put some salt and pepper into the onions when I cooked them, but not that much. Between the bacon and the vinegar, it really doesn't need anything else in the way of seasoning. I had meant to add garlic, but I forgot to get some at the store and then I forgot to add garlic powder. It ended up not needing it.

So, now I have created Dad Meth.



*As I was strolling along the condiment aisle, I saw something that made me go "What the *expletive deleted*ck?" and want to gag. But then I stopped and stared. I tried processing what I was seeing and came to the conclusion that this could possibly be a really great thing. I don't know. I can't figure it out. I must try it, even though it wigs me out a little.
Blue Cheese Mustard. It's blue cheese in fancy mustard. I really just don't know about this. I will report back once I figure out what to put it on.

MillCreek:
I have to drive 45 miles round trip to my nearest Trader Joe's, but one thing it is good for is a variety of good frozen appetizers for parties.

K Frame:
TJ's isn't, by any stretch of the imagination, a grocery store. It's really a boutique store with really decent prices on cheese and some other products. 

charby:

--- Quote from: Mike Irwin on November 17, 2018, 07:33:35 AM ---TJ's isn't, by any stretch of the imagination, a grocery store. It's really a boutique store with really decent prices on cheese and some other products. 

--- End quote ---

Beat me to it, I'm not a big fan. Aldi's is a lot more satisfying.

Ron:
For single folks they have some good frozen foods. Their frozen Manderin orange chicken pieces combined with their vegetable fried rice makes a great meal.

Good prices on wine/beer.

Their meat is actually pretty good. I’m surprised you didn’t find regular Italian sausage at least.

I agree, produce is real weak at Trader Joe’s.

As mentioned, they have good cheeses. Their house brand “unexpected cheddar” is really good paired with red wine.

They are a supplemental store not the main go to.

They just opened an Aldis in the same shopping plaza as my TJ’s so I’m pretty happy about that.

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