Trader Joe's Rice Bites with Quinoa & Cranberries: To be honest, I'm not a big fan of quinoa, and dried cranberries are probably my least favorite dried fruit. So why exactly did I purchase these grain + fruit bites from Trader Joe's? I blame it on my curiosity for this growing food trend of bite-sized squares, in both chewy and crunchy varieties, that appeal to health-minded consumers yet are not actually so healthy from a pure calorie and sugar-intake perspective. Trader Joe's take is simply not good. It has a cloying, artifical sweetn... (read more) 2.5/5.0
traderjoes rice bites quinoa cranberries 2.5
Trader Joe's Marshmallows: While softer than Jet Puff, these Trader Joe's marshmallows are insanely sweet to the lint that my teeth hurt just biting into it. I know marshmallows are essentially pure sugar, but still. 2.0/5.0
traderjoes marshmallows 2.0
Trader Joe's Raises the Bar Chewy Granola Bar: Oats mixed with grains and seeds like quinoa and amaranth, bound together with a maple-syrup flavored glaze, produce a varied textural experience that's more familiar than interesting, especially if you've ever eaten one of many like it that now saturate the healthy-snack food aisle. These chewy granola bars are clearly Trader Joe's response to Kind bars, in which the company succeeds through sheer mimicry and value pricing. Nonetheless, they are tasty enough and filling, making them a sol... (read more) 3.0/5.0
traderjoes granolabars raises bar chewy granola 3.0
Trader Joe's Ancient grains and nuts granola: Crunchy granola clusters with whole roasted oats, chia seeds, walnuts, and coconut oil. Clusters are good for snacking out of the bag - mash them up to use as a topping for yogurt. Coconut flavor elevates it from your ordinary granola product, but it's also neutral enough to pair with many fruits and flavored yogurt. 3.0/5.0
traderjoes ancient grains nuts granola 3.0
Trader Joe's Pink & Whites Cookies: Trader Joe's continues its quest to cover all bases, taking familiar cookies and adding just enough of a twist to keep them fresh. These tweaks involve amplifying the flavor of a classic (like their vanilla-concentrated Nila wafer knock offs) or giving new form to an otherwise ordinary snack (like their cat-shaped cookies). The appropriately named Pink & Whites, shortbread cookies with pink-and-white yogurt coating and colorful sprinkles, are essentially frosted animal cookies shaped as fl... (read more) 2.5/5.0
cookies traderjoes yogurt pink whites 2.5