Trader Joe's Chocolate & Peanut Butter Lover's Nut Mix

Well, this product was released around Valentine's Day and for some strange reason is still around. It's an unusual mix of nuts, cookies, pretzels, and mini peanut butter cups. At first, neither Sonia nor I were particularly enamored with it. It seemed dry and kind of boring.

But over time, it grew on both of us. I think for me it was the uniqueness of the elements and the plethora of almonds and cashews in the bag. For Sonia, it was the absence of "milk chocolate gems" which seem to make an appearance in nearly all of Trader Joe's snack mixes that put this blend over the top into winning territory for her. Let's break it down ingredient by ingredient, as we've done in the past.

First up, Trader Joe's Tiniest Chocolate Chip Cookies. They're probably the most unnecessary element in the mix. At least at one point, TJ's sold these by themselves in a resealable bag. They got a 6.5 out of 10 on this blog. So...they're just kinda "meh." Plus, this is a chocolate and peanut butter lover's mix, not a chocolate chip cookie lover's mix.

Next, let's look at the pretzel sticks. Also somewhat pointless, but some type of pretzels generally get thrown into every trek mix/trail mix/nut mix/snack mix in existence. They add crunch and saltiness, but again, do they really have a place in a chocolate and peanut butter mix?

Mini Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups. Okay, now we're talking. With plenty of milk chocolate and peanut butter in every little cup, these things are great. They make up for the humdrum cookies and pretzel sticks. In fact, if there were too many of these guys in the mix, it might be a bit too much chocolate and peanut butter.

Almonds. Whole almonds, roasted, covered in sea salt. Very nice. I guess you have to love almonds in addition to chocolate and peanut butter. Fortunately, both the beautiful wifey and I do.

Cocoa dusted dark chocolate almonds. More almonds, but with a twist this time. They have a layer of dark chocolate on them. A bit of dark chocolate in the mix is interesting. It provides a slightly richer flavor and a bit more complexity to the overall taste of the snack.

Cashews. It's getting pretty nutty in here now. Gotta love cashew halves. They just bring even more rich, nut-tacular flavor.

Finally, peanuts. Wait. There are no peanuts in a peanut butter lover's mix? Version 2.0 should totally have peanuts. If I were the mix master, I would lose the little cookies and throw in peanuts, for sure.

$5.49 for the 12 oz resealable bag. Kosher. In the end, the lack of peanuts and inclusion of a couple of superfluous elements will put me in the "not bad" territory. I'll spring for seven and a half stars out of ten on Trader Joe's Chocolate & Peanut Butter Lover's Nut Mix. Sonia will go with a full star more than me: eight and a half out of ten stars.

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Italian-Style Wedding Soup

When I do reviews like these, I'm always torn over how to handle my prep for the post. On one hand, I can do a bunch of research and learn as much as possible about a particular offering, maybe read another review or two about the product at hand, particularly ones written by folks who are familiar with the dish, find out the history of the item and get a nice brief but broad education before I sample the food and share my thoughts.

On the other hand, I can just dive in with no expectations and no preconceived ideas about what something is or is not supposed to be. I think I sound a little smarter when I go the former route, but I might be a tad more honest if I go the latter route.

All that to say, I know nothing about Italian wedding soup and have never had it to the best of my knowledge, and I've decided to go the no-prep route on this fine occasion. The first thing that jumps out at me: this Italian wedding soup hails from Canada rather than Italy. That's fine. I'm sure there are plenty of Italian-Canadians that have carried on their proud soup tradition in the great white north just the same as grandma used to make in the old country.

The soup: it's a typical chicken broth with teeny tiny round pasta balls, carrot bits, beef meatballs, and little green flakey things I assume are parsley. The heartiest and most flavorsome of the elements are, of course, the meatballs. They're nice and soft, and their flavor is pleasant, but they're still not the most pungent meatballs I've ever had. They have egg whites, sheep's milk, and Romano cheese in them, but they don't taste quite as robust as their ingredients might make them sound.

The carrots and acini di pepe are even less potent, but they do add a nice selection of textures to the overall mouthfeel. The parsley adds some additional visual appeal and does...you know, whatever parsley is supposed to do.

So, I mean, this isn't the greatest soup I've had from Trader Joe's, but it's not the worst, either. It's vaguely like many chicken noodle soups I've tried in terms of overall taste and comfort food value, but with small beef meatballs instead of chicken.

In the end, I would turn to an Italian and ask, "Did those Canucks do your soup justice?" Because I honestly don't know myself. It's decent soup, but I would not seek it out again.

$4.99 for the 22 oz glass jar. Refrigerate after opening. It has come to my attention that this soup is not necessarily served at actual Italian nuptials. Go figure. The "wedding" part has something to do with a marriage of flavors or something silly like that. 

Six and a half stars out of ten from me for Trader Joe's Italian-Style Wedding Soup. Sonia's had Italian wedding soup from Progresso at least once. She liked it a bit more than this selection, flavor-wise, but notes that it has significantly more sodium than this soup from TJ's. Sonia will go with seven out of ten stars.

Bottom line: 6.75 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Spicy Mango Habanero Guacamole

Well, shoot. If mango can work with pico de gallo, who's to say it can't work in guacamole? Avocado, mango, onion, jalapeño, bell pepper, and habanero pepper. That doesn't sound half bad.

And it isn't. It's actually surprisingly delicious. The mango gives the whole thing a bright, sweet zip. The rest? It's like regular guac minus the tomato. I've never been a huge fan of raw tomato, so it's a step in the right direction as far as I'm concerned.

Sonia's a tomato-lover, but even she loves the refreshing uniqueness of this dip. It's great on chips. Isn't all guacamole great on tortilla chips? It's just as good if not better on fish tacos. We imagine it would work with shrimp tacos, chicken tacos, and probably even classic ground beef tacos—but we can tell you from experience that white fish, beans, and cheese in corn tortillas blend beautifully with mango guac.

We polished off the tub on the same day we opened it. At 35 calories per serving, we really don't feel too bad about doing that. We have no major complaints other than the word "spicy" in the title. I mean, it does contain jalapeños and habaneros, but they're well-tempered by the other ingredients and there's not much more than a faint residual heat, at least by our standards.

Would we buy it again? You betcha. $3.49 for the 10 oz tub. Kosher. Found in the refrigerated section. Eight and a half out of ten stars from me for Trader Joe's Spicy Mango Habanero Guacamole. The beautiful wifey will spring for nine stars.

Bottom line: 8.75 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Uncured Turkey Bacon

The texture of this turkey bacon is the star of the show here. It might be the best textured bacon I've ever had. It's "meatier" than your typical turkey bacon, it's thick, and it's decidedly not greasy.

You can still get the bacon nice and crispy if that's the way you like it. I don't like my bacon super charred or overly crispy. I like it just a tad chewy and somewhat soft. This product is perfect for that.

I wish I could be just as positive about the taste. Unfortunately, it's a little on the bland side. I've had turkey bacon that's delicious and succulent, but this one is lacking in that department by my reckoning. Sonia agrees, though she's not as displeased as I am. There's very little in the way of "hardwood smoked" flavor, too.

We're fans of Jennie-O turkey bacon. That brand uses white and dark meat in their product, while this one only uses turkey thighs. I'm on record more than once stating that I greatly prefer white meat poultry over dark meat, so that could be at least part of the problem.

Still, if you're making an egg sandwich or a BLT or something along those lines, you've got cheese or mayo and multiple other ingredients picking up the slack that might be left by not-so-flavorful turkey bacon, and there's nothing offensive about the taste either, so we won't shaft it too badly in the score department. Plus, it's got that amazing texture...

$3.99 for eight slices of bacon. Would buy again. We'll go with seven and a half out of ten in the end.

Bottom line: 7.5 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Crunchy Chili Onion Sprinkle Seasoning Blend

At least one of our YouTube viewers mentioned this product in a couple comments, and we finally got around to trying it. So glad we did. Thanks, Jane Doe. I wish we could go back in time and add this to our big discussion about our favorite TJ's seasonings. We like the original Chili Onion Crunch product quite a bit, but this one surpasses it in the flavor department by a good margin.

The original condiment is certainly a bit crunchier than this one, although there is a distinct crunch element here as well, in the form of crispy fried onion pieces. I was never super enthused about the oiliness of the original topping, and we definitely don't have anything like that here. It's dry as a bone. That's a good thing IMO. I think it actually makes this product more versatile.

Flavor-wise, this blend is absolutely delicious. It's robust, zesty, and spicy—but not too spicy. It's a heat that you feel in your chest at least as much as your mouth. It tastes like sea salt, onion, garlic, chili, and pepper all mixed together.

It has a bit of brown sugar in the mix, too, so it's slightly sweet. I don't know if I've ever had szechuan pepper before, but that's one of the many elements in this mix, and it very well may be the magic ingredient. I'm not sure. 

This may be my new favorite seasoning from Trader Joe's. Nay. This may be my favorite seasoning blend, period.

$1.99 for the 2.64 oz shaker. Kosher. Nine and a half out of ten from me for Trader Joe's Crunchy Chili Onion Sprinkle Seasoning Blend. The beautiful wifey will go with nine out of ten stars.

Bottom line: 9.25 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Strawberry Mochi

It seemed like for a long time, Trader Joe's mainly just carried Mikawaya brand mochi. In fact, Mikawaya mochi was the first ever non-Trader Joe's brand product that we reviewed on this blog. It was also the first ever dessert item we reviewed on this blog, a full 15 years ago this month.

Slowly, TJ's rolled out their own line of mochi with specialty flavors like mango and pumpkin pie. Mikawaya brand suffered from a few recalls of their products throughout the years and eventually, Trader Joe's just started offering their own classic flavors like vanilla and, of course, strawberry. 

This is the fist time we've tried Trader Joe's own strawberry, but we've had Mikawaya's version from TJ's many times throughout the years. Internet rumors suggest Bubbie's Ice Cream is Joe's supplier for their own line of mochi.

Well, shoot, these strawberry mochi are delicious...but maybe not quite as delicious as the Mikawaya strawberry..? The rice shell seems much stiffer on these for some reason. I guess we did experience something similar with the vanilla flavor we reviewed in 2019.

Odd that these and a few other flavors would be so stiff and starchy while products like Trader Joe's Blood Orange Mochi have both stellar taste and texture. It seems to bother Sonia a bit more than it bothers me. Pro tip: let the mochi thaw more than the five minutes suggested on the box.

$4.99 for six mochi. Kosher. Gluten free. Found in the frozen dessert section. Would probably opt for one of the newfangled gimmicky flavors or Mikawaya brand before purchasing this exact product again. Seven stars out of ten from me. Five out of ten from Sonia.

Nathan's score: 7 out of 10.

Sonia's score: 5 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Okonomiyaki

Sonia and I both love most Japanese food: sushi, tempura, yakitori, ramen, you name it... Trader Joe's Karaage wasn't what we were expecting or hoping for, but we're grateful to TJ's for introducing us to it, and we're eager to try other versions of it.

Okonomiyaki? Never heard of that one, either. But we'll gladly try it. It's a Japanese vegetable pancake. Apparently "okonomi" means "as you like it" or "your preference." I imagine there are a few Burger Kings in Japan and they have an ad campaign that goes something like "At K of the B, you can have it okonomi." Sorry, sorry. Bad joke. <ahem>

Anyway, this particular version of okonomiyaki contains cabbage, onion, wheat flour, and yam—and it comes with a sweet soy sauce and dried skipjack tuna flakes as toppings. Interesting. We'll air fry this product at 360°F for about five or six minutes on each side. Folks online said to add Kewpie brand mayo for an authentic Japanese experience. Fortunately, Sonia loves Kewpie mayo and has a bottle on hand for just such an occasion.

The verdict? We like the taste and texture a lot. It's savory and succulent. The texture reminded me of a crab cake in a way. Sonia likened the product to a latke but with cabbage and onion rather than potato.

They actually give you enough sauce and tuna flakes in the package. The Kewpie mayo wasn't a bad pairing, but Sonia and I both prefer the product without it. It's plenty wet with the okonomi sauce alone—plus the product itself is quite moist even after a good 10-12 minutes in the air fryer.

$4.99 for the 10 oz package, found in the frozen section. Would buy again. Eight out of ten stars from me for Trader Joe's Okonomiyaki Japanese Vegetable Pancake. Sonia will go with nine out of ten.

Bottom line: 8.5 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Sparkling Tea & Lemonade and Trader Joe's Sparkling Matcha Lemonade

Some of you youngsters may be unaware, but there was a famous golfer in the 1960s named Arnold Palmer that popularized mixing iced tea and lemonade. At some point, they just started calling the mixture by his name and even folks like me who never watched golf and are way too young to remember him in his heyday would occasionally order "an Arnold Palmer" at restaurants and such. Folks that grew up in the 80s and 90s might remember him from ESPN and Pennzoil commercials. He was still a household name even if you didn't pay much attention to golf. But yeah. Lemonade and iced tea = Arnold Palmer.

I mean, it is an outstanding combo. Now matcha and lemonade? That seems a little weird to me, but hey, I'm game for a sip or two. I'll try just about anything once. Sonia is a little more into matcha and green tea than I am, and she thinks matcha lemonade sounds pretty enticing.

<tries product, shoots video>

Shockingly, the beautiful wifey likes the black tea and lemonade combo a little more than she likes the matcha tea and lemonade combo. I like them both about the same, to be honest. Neither are particularly syrupy or sugary. I mean, they're a tad sweet, but they're also a tad tart and tea-ish. The carbonation is a nice addition. That's one thing a traditional Arnold Palmer never had: fizz. I always enjoy fizz.

Refreshing? Yes. A bit of caffeine in the tea part of the beverage? I would think so. Excessive sugar? Nope. Just 80 calories per 12 oz can.

I think I like sparkling juice beverages better than these tea and lemonade dealies in the end. Sonia thinks they have their place. She'd consider a repurchase, particularly of Trader Joe's Sparkling Tea & Lemonade.

$1.99 for each individual can. Not sure if they sell a 4-pack or not. Trader Joe's Sparkling Matcha Lemonade is showing "not available" on traderjoes.com as of the time of writing this post, but its counterpart is alive and well. I'll go with seven stars a piece for both tea and lemonade beverages. Sonia will throw out seven and a half stars for the matcha drink and an even eight for the black tea version. Our scores are still close enough that we'll just average out the points.

Bottom line: Trader Joe's Sparkling Matcha Lemonade: 7.25 out of 10.

Bottom line: Trader Joe's Sparkling Tea & Lemonade: 7.5 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Tom Yum Seasoned Snack Mix

I've had Tom Yum soup from a legit Thai restaurant exactly once in my life. It was a vegetarian version, while traditional Tom Yum is usually served with shrimp. I remember it being somewhat spicy. There were lots of veggies and tofu swimming around in a thick, flavorful Thai soup. It was delicious. I've tried plenty of other Thai curry dishes, too, and in general, I'm a big fan.

If you'd have told me that there was a dry snack mix that flaunts all the complexity and richness of real Thai soup, I'd have told you that it wasn't possible. And if you'd have told me that said snack mix was even spicier than your typical restaurant Thai curry, I'd have said "I gotta try this snack mix!"

And in my opinion, this mix comes dangerously close to capturing the sweet, spicy taste of Thai Tom Yum. Of course, the format is totally different than a bowl of soup, but the flavors are all there: lemongrass, chili powder, lime juice, garlic, coconut, paprika, soy sauce, and shallots. 

The main chunks in the mix are cashews, fava beans, sticky rice, and peas. Of course, they're all dried and crunchy, in the manner of your typical snack mix or trail mix.

Please note: there are dried red peppers in the mix that are VERY spicy. I got one in my very first handful. Fortunately, I recognized the little bugger as something extremely hot and took the tiniest nibble of it. I may have falsely attributed a higher level of spice to the rest of the mix since my mouth was on fire after sampling the red pepper. 

I will admit, this mix would be terrible for taking on an actual hike since it makes you so thirsty and the risk of throwing one of those peppers in your mouth whole would stand to ruin your entire day. Perhaps it's for the best that there are only a few of them scattered throughout the bag.

All things considered, Sonia enjoys the mix too and thinks it's a good approximation of Tom Yum soup. She thinks it's something she wouldn't be in the mood for very often, however. Me? I think I found my new favorite snack mix of all time. I might not eat it every day, but I'd definitely like to have some on hand in the pantry on a full-time basis.

$3.49 for the 5.29 oz resealable bag. Product of Thailand. Would buy again. Nine out of ten stars from me for Trader Joe's Tom Yum Seasoned Snack Mix. Sonia will go with eight out of ten.

Bottom line: 8.5 out of 10.