Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't recommend Pura Vida Fire Roasted Root Vegetables, which I bought from Costco in a giant freezer bag. I was hoping to use them as a simple side dish but the flavor was more smoke than smoky. Maybe the flavor could be disguised in a more complicated preparation?

Yep, we tossed these too.

My wife liked them but I didn't enjoy the taste or texture. A Costco find I did like is their castleveltrano olives. I'm not even a big olive fan but they are delicious.

Anonymous wrote:I've had good experiences with Heyday Canning at Whole Foods (mole chili and the coconut curry chickpea ones, specifically). Really good for a lunch in a pinch, I always throw in some quick-cook vegetable like a slaw or spinach or baby spinach.

I tried the Heyday beans alla vodka and maple baked beans. Neither tasted anything even remotely close to the advertised flavor. They were fine, just not what they claimed. They were expensive for what they are.

Brodo bone broth. All the flavors are delicious to drink or use as soup base.

Bresca duck. My son and I were about the throw up at the end.

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Anonymous wrote:Yuck why would anyone want to eat any of these items mentioned? It's all just junk processed "food." Maybe try following a recipe for sea salt chocolate chip cookies using organic butter, flour, eggs, sugar, baking soda, chocolate and Maldon?

Cuz the only one of those ingredients I have is butter. Less expensive to just buy the cookies and a lot less work considering I’ve never made homemade cookies in my life.

Absolutely do this for yourself before you die.

Homemade cookies fresh from your oven are one of life's great pleasures.

Yeah, the thing is I really hate cooking, hate cleaning up from it, and would be annoyed to have all that stuff left over. Waste of money.

DP. You're missing out on such great joy in life. Certain things, like home-made whipped cream, taste absolutely nothing like their store-bought counterparts (canned whipped cream).

I suppose you have anxiety and OCD. Sorry about that.

I suppose you have low iq and poor social skills. Sorry about that. DP

DDP
You can bake with anxiety and OCD. It can be very soothing and you find that you have a lot of control over a lot of things. But I think that poster already said that it wasn't cost effective for them and I get that. A lot of expensive ingredients can be overwhelming for someone and they may have to throw some results or some things out before getting it. Then stocking in the ingredients is actually lower-cost. But you do have to get there.

I am the poster who was called low IQ. Ha. I started learning how to cook when my first child was born and our HHI was 60K a year. It doesn't take expensive tools or ingredients to get started, especially now that all recipes are online and there's no need to buy cookbooks. This is why I suggested to the non-cooking poster that she was suffering from anxiety. I still have my old cheap handheld beater, I don't have a stand mixer. I bought a used Vitamix blender on eBay. My only kitchen splurge has been a new Le Creuset cast iron dutch oven. I make sourdough bread in it. When there's a will, there's a way. It's just too sad to not be introduced to the joys of cooking for oneself, and I hope that poster finds a way to discover it.

Anonymous wrote:The plastic pepper grinders that you can buy at Giant. You can’t adjust the grind and the grind is huge. My DH cracked a tooth. I really need a good pepper mill.

You need this:
https://www.wmboundsltd.com/product-p/00661.html

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Trader Joe's chocolate quality is pretty poor. But then I'm a chocolate expert and I can't stand most chocolate out there. Whole Foods used to sell Callebaut chocolate, 1 pound blocks of them. I don't know if they still do, but they're excellent quality. I now buy them on Amazon.

I tried the Zao Stamina ramen in downtown Bethesda. The broths are just OK, but the noodles are home-made, slightly chewier than the conventional kind, and I love them.

Georgetown cupcakes. Gross.

My husband LOVES the ice cream from Trader Joe’s, both the chocolate and the vanilla.

My family thinks the vanilla from TJ's is the best - never even wanted to try the chocolate, the vanilla is so good

Anonymous wrote:I can't recommend Pura Vida Fire Roasted Root Vegetables, which I bought from Costco in a giant freezer bag. I was hoping to use them as a simple side dish but the flavor was more smoke than smoky. Maybe the flavor could be disguised in a more complicated preparation?

Yep, we tossed these too.

I can't recommend Pura Vida Fire Roasted Root Vegetables, which I bought from Costco in a giant freezer bag. I was hoping to use them as a simple side dish but the flavor was more smoke than smoky. Maybe the flavor could be disguised in a more complicated preparation?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The plastic pepper grinders that you can buy at Giant. You can’t adjust the grind and the grind is huge. My DH cracked a tooth. I really need a good pepper mill.

Your husband didn't crack a tooth on a peppercorn. It may have been a foreign object in the grinder, or in the meal. It was not a peppercorn.

It was a peppercorn. According to him and according to his dentist.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Momofuku ramen. The noodles are fine but the sauce/seasoning is horrible tasting.

Yes- they really are underwhelming! We bought a 6-pack and they are just sitting. I guess I can add the Top Ramen seasoning to them!

I ended up tossing them.

Anonymous wrote:Trader Joe's chocolate quality is pretty poor. But then I'm a chocolate expert and I can't stand most chocolate out there. Whole Foods used to sell Callebaut chocolate, 1 pound blocks of them. I don't know if they still do, but they're excellent quality. I now buy them on Amazon.

I tried the Zao Stamina ramen in downtown Bethesda. The broths are just OK, but the noodles are home-made, slightly chewier than the conventional kind, and I love them.

Georgetown cupcakes. Gross.

My husband LOVES the ice cream from Trader Joe’s, both the chocolate and the vanilla.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Momofuku ramen. The noodles are fine but the sauce/seasoning is horrible tasting.

Yes- they really are underwhelming! We bought a 6-pack and they are just sitting. I guess I can add the Top Ramen seasoning to them!

My kid loves these. Note, there are different flavors.

I got Spicy Soy (gently spicy chili flavor). So bland. What flavors do you or others recommend? (Not your "kid" - not interested in that review).

I bake. I don't like those Pillsbury things, but this is probably a matter of "what you're used to is what tastes good." If I'm not baking my own cookies and I really need a chocolate chip cookie, I like the ones at Pret.

I don't think the Tasty Bite Madras lentils at Costco are especially interesting, but they're fine when you need a fast meal.

Soon it will be chocolate-dipped coconut macaroon season at Costco. Get yourself some.

Beecher's World's Best Mac and Cheese is delicious. The cheese curd lasagne is good, too, although I haven't seen it down here. Maybe I've been looking in the wrong place.

BJs sells frozen, gluten free Perdue chicken strips. My gluten eating teenagers love them. Cook a few minutes longer than package says though.