Truffle Mac & Cheese

Price: $3.49

Rating: 4/10

I loved TJ’s Mac & Cheese with Green Chiles, so when I saw this new Truffle Mac & Cheese, I was psyched! I was going to make it as an appetizer for a get together with some friends at my apartment, but we ended up making some other things instead, so I had it for dinner one night. I followed the directions exactly, and what came out was so unappetizing I threw about ⅓ of it away. It came out rubbery with a sauce that was super thick and not-at-all-creamy. I’m not sure if maybe I should have tried stirring it sooner so the pasta would get more coated in sauce while it was cooking to avoid the rubberiness or what, but it seemed like the main problem was just not enough sauce to cover the macaroni. Whatever the issue was, I won’t be buying this again to try to solve the issue.

Saucy Scallops with Mushrooms

Price: $5.99

Rating: 7/10

I was super excited when I saw this sauce at TJ’s since I’m a fan of creamy sauces as well as mushrooms. I was a little skeptical about the scallops since they can be a bit rubbery, but decided to try it out anyway. 

I ate mine over pasta, but you could probably also have it over potatoes or rice and it would be just as good. The bag is pretty small and only contains 2–3 servings or so, but it’s pretty great. When you open it, it looks like there isn’t any sauce since it’s all stuck to the scallops, so it only turns into actual sauce when it heats. It has a good, creamy flavor, although I wouldn’t have minded some extra peas. The sauce itself is good, but I did add some pepper and some truffle salt to up the mushroom factor though. Despite these few issues though, I thought it was pretty great and I’ve bought it a few times since I originally tried it. 

Party Size Mini Meatballs

Price: $4.79

Rating: 7.5/10

These meatballs are a mix of beef and pork and are great for party appetizers, or just a quick meal. I've bought them several times, and I usually use them for BBQ meatballs of some kind, along with one of TJ's barbecue sauces. I've never tried them in pasta, but I assume they'd be good there too. My only beef with these meatballs (see what I did there?) is that you can easily overcook them in the over or toaster oven if you cook them too long, or don't turn them over in the middle of cooking. But if you're looking for something quick to whip up, making some of these and then tossing them in some barbecue sauce is a great way to make a fast meal.

Cioppino Seafood Stew

Price $5.99 (only enough for 1 full meal for 1 person)

Rating: 9/10

I’d been eyeing this seafood stew for a while, but hadn’t gotten around to trying it due to the $5.99 price tag. The bag says this should be good for 2 servings, but given that it’s only 170 calories in each serving, that would be an incredibly small meal if you were eating it by itself. Unfortunately those 170 calories contain 80% of your daily sodium intake, but I didn’t realize this until AFTER eating the whole bag at once. But onto how this tastes.

This stew is a mix of mussels, cod, shrimp, and scallops in a tangy tomato sauce with a good dose of garlic. I was actually shocked at how good it was. I’d expected I’d probably like it, but nowhere near as much as I actually did. The only thing missing was a piece of garlic bread to go with it. Even though I hate winter, this stew was so good I’m actually looking forward to coming home on a cold winter day and heating up a bowl of this for dinner. The bag of seafood is all raw, so you have to cook it up when you’re making it, but it’s pretty easy. I’d recommend adding the larger pieces of fish first though, and then adding everything else two or three minutes later so your shrimp and scallops don’t come out rubbery.

Shrimp Soft Tacos with Tomatillo Sauce and Cotija Cheese

Price: $3.69 for 3 tacos (which is enough for one serving)

Rating: 1/10

As you can probably tell from my rating, this is one of the worst Trader Joe's purchases I've ever made. The only real way to make these frozen tacos is to microwave them, which should have been my first indication that these wouldn't be great (microwaving shrimp? yuck!). But I'm a huge fan of tacos, as well as a huge fan of shrimp, so I figured I'd give them a shot. I heated them up in the microwaved and was met with a truly unpleasant smell as they were cooking. I wouldn't really describe it as a fishy-smell or anything, but just a general bad food smell. It was actually noticeable enough that even my boyfriend pointed it out. At this point I should have abandoned these tacos to the trashcan, but I decided to soldier on. The texture of the shrimp was kind of rubbery, and there was barely any "salsa" or cheese that I could identify. It didn't taste awful, but it wasn't good. I thought maybe I could dress it up with some salsa, but after trying Green Dragon salsa, some tomatillo salsa from the fridge, Tabasco sauce, Valentina Hot Sauce, and Hatch Chile Salsa, I finally gave up on the idea that these were somehow salvageable and threw the last taco away. There are some times where I think that maybe something would be great for someone else and that they just weren't great for me, but I honestly don't think anyone–other than maybe someone who is actually starving–could possibly eat these and think that they were anything less than terrible. Just don't do it. If you want shrimp tacos, pick up a bag of fully-cooked shrimp, some soft tortillas, and a jar of salsa and make these yourself.