Best Laid Plans

It's hatch chile season, and I used this challenge as an excuse to order some online. Just so you know, it is pretty difficult to find these chiles for a decent price. Even more difficult, it is hard to find these chiles in smaller amounts. I finally found a website that did offer them, and was looking forward to receive my chiles end of September.

So, a month later, still no chiles. I have talked to the company and they have just been overwhelmed with orders (probably because of the reasons listed above). I had hoped to make chile rellenos and/or green enchilada sauce. Oh well, maybe next month.

Product: Jiff's extra crunchy peanut butter

I really prefer smooth peanut butter myself, but the extra crunchy kind is really good in peanut butter cookies. The best peanut butter cookie recipe that I have found is from Cook's Illustrated, and it recommends the Jiff brand. This one will be in your Kerri's Greatest Hits cookbook, or you can find it here.

I am off to eat a few more right now...YUM!

Tasty Bite - Jaipur Vegetables

Ok, first of all I don't think I bought this at Trader Joes. I believe I bought it at another specialty grocery store, called Sprouts. The brand name is Tasty Bite. The dish is cubes of paneer cheese, with vegetables and cashews in a creamy curry sauce. I did not have high hopes for this meal. I thought it would be ok at best or absolutely horrible. It was actually pretty darn good. The only thing I beg to differ on is the portion size. The package says it is for two but if you have two adults especially if a man is one of them, you may find yourself fighting over the last bit. This is the ingredient list: water, tomatoes, potatoes, green peas, carrots, paneer cheese, french beans, cashew nuts, onions, oil, raisins, cream, salt, chilies, ginger, garlic, herbs and spices. I love it ... nothing unpronounceable ... no partially hydrogenated anything. And, on the back it says it can be used as meals for hiking and camping ... no cooking or refrigeration is required until the foil pouch is opened. It was a good find especially on those nights where you may be cooking for one.

Go old trusty Trader Joes

Are you sick of all my Trader Joe posts? Well, I have one more. This Trader Joe's Chai drink was so good. I subbed warm milk for water. I think it's official ... with all these great products I'm a Trader Joe's convert!

Trader Joe's Chicken-Less Strips

Wow, these are so tasty I might consider becoming a vegetarian full time! Honestly, I don't think people would be able to tell the difference between this and chicken if you served it to them. The light seasoning is really good. I topped a large green salad with these strips, feta, and a balsamic vinigarette.

This one goes out to Mark

It occurred to me as I was watching Sunday football that my Simpler Times beer would make a good product challenge. This is also something I picked up at Trader Joes the other day. It is a family owned brewery that specializes in Pilsener and Lager beers. This one is the Pils. It was nice, light and smooth ...everything I like about a Pilsener. Not as good as Mark's homebrew but maybe the next best thing. I would get it again.

Trader Ming's Vegetable Shu Mai

I have some apologizing to do and some catching up to do! Sorry, I have been missing for this challenge. We are moving into a new home (finally) and I forgot how much work home ownership is! We haven't been venturing out lately. Phoenix has some great supermarkets ... among them my most recent find Trader Joe's. I really didn't know what to get here so I started by getting a few things off their most recent flyer. Here is a frozen product that we tried, vegetable dumplings. They were great and the ponzu sauce that comes with them was unbelievable. Mine don't have that browned look, which I think they get by pan frying near the end of cooking time.