azveggieguy's Profile
Why do you continue shopping at CostCo? I am underwhelmed. What do you appreciate about the warehouse store?
I refuse to believe the vanilla is made by HD because it's 10x better.
Vegan foods at Trader Joe's - What's good?
However, I've found the eggplant in my TJ to be bigger, fresher, & cheaper than what's in the supermarket.
Faux Meat - Recommendations
A local brew pub has had black bean burgers on their menu for years. When Costco started selling MF's I discovered the restaurant's source -- the rippled edges are even the same. They're really delish!
Faux Meat - Recommendations
Not sure which TJ chicken tenders you mean. Years ago, I tried their frozen breaded chicken bits and thought they were awful -- reminded me more of a poor attempt at fish. Their imitation chicken strips (in the refrigerated section), however, are great, and a comparison of ingredients suggests they're the same as what's sold by Morningstar Farms in my supermarket's frozen section. But comparable with either are Quorn's chicken tenders (recipe ready) and breaded nuggets. My wife's trying to avoid soy, so these are our go-to products.
Trader Joe's Yea/Nay Thread - 2nd quarter 2012
Don't know how new this is, but just tried the "Stacked Eggplant Parmesan." Has a bit of pesto in it and is quite tasty.
What is the one item you always leave Costco with?
a bag of Wm. Macy's cheese crisps
Arugula -- please share your favorite uses.
From "The Best 125 Meatless Pasta Dishes": saute 2 cloves garlic + 1/2 tsp chili flakes in o.o., add chopped pear tomatoes (28 oz can) + 1/2 c. calamata olives, simmer until reduced. Toss 12 oz. penne and 2 c. chopped arugula, top w/sauce, serve w/grated parm. Fantastic! (And If I'm starting off w/a bag of arugula from TJ, I'll usually use the whole bag.)
Fooled me twice, got crunchy brown rice
I only wish it DID come out fluffy, but no matter how much more liquid I add, it won't absorb it and so I have to assume it's the result of having been sauteed. I don't dispute the fact that a different rice might work better - I'm just annoyed at multiple recipes that call for long grain brown and it clearly doesn't work!
Fooled me twice, got crunchy brown rice
No more than a minute, but it seems enough to inhibit the rice's ability to absorb liquid.
Fooled me twice, got crunchy brown rice
I used to like to make brown rice risotto but ran into a constant frustration: the recipe called for briefly stirring the raw rice in the sautéed onion to coat it with oil before adding liquid, as you do with Arborio, and it invariably led to crunchy rice that no amount of added water could soften. I should have caught myself before recently trying a similar recipe (Spanish rice with soy chorizo), because it called for the same procedure and yielded the same results. (No particular variety of brown rice was specified, so I used generic supermarket long-grain, but I would think that if this were a factor it should be pointed out.) This recipe was clearly adapted from another I’d seen using long-grain white but was adjusted for brown by calling for more liquid and longer cooking time, so fooled me into thinking it was otherwise doable. Not! I’ll refrain from sautéing brown rice in the future because I now assume that it inhibits liquid absorption. True? If that’s the case, why does this instruction keep cropping up? (I read the older thread about b.r. risotto and saw the same instructions in linked recipes.) Or is there something I’m overlooking?
Costco food finds - 1st quarter 2012 [old]
Oh my yes. That's why I stopped buying it on a regular basis - it's so irresistible that putting on pounds was unavoidable.... (I recently bought a quart of Haagen Das for a dessert topping because I didn't want so much of the Kirkland around as temptation; the HD couldn't compare.)
Costco food finds - 1st quarter 2012 [old]
At my northern Arizona store, I came across Tickler brand "extra mature" English cheddar with chilies and peppers. It's wonderful. I not only feel it in the back of my mouth, it makes the top of my head perspire as well. Yum.
Hit me with your best (not too complicated) vegetarian recipes (that can be made in bulk)
You can get some super-simple ideas from Mark Bittman at
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/01/01/magazine/eat-vegan-recipes.html?scp=6&sq=bittman%20vegetarian&st=cse
Tucson Foothills - Not expensive
Haven't been back in a while, but seems to me that quite a few places in the Skyline/Kolb shopping area would be satisfactory.
Wolferman's
Another consideration if you're health conscious is that some of the varieties still include partially hydrogentated oil. You can go to their website ("nutritional information" via their site map) to see which are the offenders. If you're looking for a really satisfying English muffin, try Ezekiel 4:9 Sprouted Grain -- dense, chewy, a bit larger than Thomas's. I can't say I'm a fan of their other products, but their English muffins rock!
A side note on the p.h. oil issue: I was gifted some of Wolferman's sticky buns and blanched that the ingredients list included it. I emailed them just to scold that they were still using it, and they offered to send something else. I opted for scones, which I'm still waiting for, but I was impressed that they were that concerned with customer satisfaction.
Which Canola Oil Doesn't smell fishy?
I've used TJ's for years, keep it in the fridge after opening, and always found it completely odorless.
cheesecake water bath question
I plan to bake a cheesecake in a couple of days and want to try using a water bath. But my only pan wide enough to nestle the springform pan in is a cast iron skillet, and I'm concerned that it will transmit more heat than is good for the baking process. Anybody have any experience using one for this purpose?
Vegetarian sausage?
Tofurkey's Italian sausage is a standby for me, whether for pasta dishes, casseroles, or a "meat" component in chili along with tvp. Good stuff.
What is "The Real Arizona Deal"
What you'll find in AZ that you won't find elsewhere is Sonoran-style Mexican cuisine, and you'll find various takes on Tucson restaurants on this board. I know of visitors (can't say myself, since I'm not a carnivore) who swear by the carne seca (air-dried beef) chimichanga at El Charro (preferably the downtown venue, if only for the better dining experience). So if you only have a limited stay in the Old Pueblo, try that for one meal and then Cafe Poca Cosa for another - it's not strictly Sonoran, but definitely upscale and eclectic.
New to Prescott Valley
I concur with Sapa regarding the Taj Mahal - a real disappointment. If you want great Indian food, it's worth the drive to Sedona for India Palace or Flagstaff for Delhi Palace (same owners).
Spinach - bad mouth feel?
However, if you're susceptible to kidney stones, oxalic acid is the culprit.
Costco food finds - 3rd quarter 2011 [old]
Yow! My smallish northern Arizona store, which is probably a few months behind everybody else, just brought in Kirkland-branded blue cheese. Not quite as pungent as I prefer, but pretty tasty and @4.50/lb a gonga deal.
Amazon.com groceries?
I use Celestial Seasonings' caffeine-free herbal tea to make iced tea and go through a lot of it. Amazon's subscribe & save feature brings the cost down way below that of the local natural foods store.
Costco food finds - 3rd quarter 2011 [old]
Heard that about pricing too, but thanks for the clarification about the asterisk.
Recommendation for vegetarian cookbook?
I'll vouch for Bitman ("How to Cook Everything Vegetarian"). The beauty of his book is that it's full of variations and re-combinations, not just set recipes.
Costco food finds - 3rd quarter 2011 [old]
You need to watch for an asterisk on the price card - that indicates it's going to be discontinued. However, at my Costco I've seen 2 discontinued food items return: Bob's Red Mill quinoa and California Sun-Dry tomatoes (the ones in the pouch - MUCH better than the ones in oil). Don't know why they got a second chance, but glad they did.
Cheese cart or dessert cart: you can only have one.
whichever one has the cheesecake
Costco food finds - 3rd quarter 2011 [old]
Don't know how long these have been around, but just stumbled across Macy's cheese crisps at the Prescott AZ store. I foresee a long addiction....
