Where I work, I always hear women singing the praises of TJ Maxx. While I don't usually find clothes or shoes there, I do manage to discover plenty of gluten free finds there that you may not see any place else. I could have spent a lot more money than I did when I made my most recent trip. While due to funds I made myself pass up on the GinnyBakes Double Chocolate Happiness cookies, the WOW peanut butter cookies and The Laughing Giraffe Snakaroons, I find some other great purchases.
The item I was most excited to find was the
Dang Toasted Coconut chips. Plenty of bloggers have been writing about these for a while, and I think the only place to find them "locally" is Whole Foods....which is at least an hour away. Finally, I had found the object of my stomach's desire!
These things are SO tasty. I'm a big fan of coconut, and so glad I finally found them. A streak of creativity came over me last night, and I decided to grind some of these flavorful chips up with some dried bread to make a "crumb" to coat chicken thigh tenders. They were absolutely amazing! I'll be writing a separate post to highlight exactly what I did.
Another great item I found were
Super Seedz. These flavored pumpkin seeds come in many flavors, and I chose the Coco Joe version. These are small bits of chocolate and coffee flavored goodness. Due to their texture and flavor, they were reminiscent of no bake cookies, but without the oats that adversely bother my system. I think I'm going to have to go back to the store and buy some of their other varieties- like Original Curry, Sea Salt, Cinnamon and Sugar, Spicy, and Tomato Italiano- because these are really addictive. And they're pretty healthy. One ounce only has 2 grams of sugar plus 8 grams of protein, as well as being low in sodium. It also touts 9 grams of heart healthy unsaturated fats.
While I'm trying to stay away from all the massive sugar during the holidays, I did buy some "cookies." I found on the lower shelf of a display rack the
Cuorenero Pistachio "Macarons". Now these are not the coconut variety of macaroons..these are the European variety that are made out of almond meal, with a thin layer of cream sandwiched between to light and delicate cookies. If you've never heard of this company, it's because these were an Italian import. (You'll need to "translate" their webpage, because it's in Italian.) I did some online researching, because although the box says "gluten free," I was unsure of the possibility of cross-contamination. This company began as a chocolate company, and I believe this is their first foray into baked goods. Therefore, I don't believe there is any chance of cross-contamination with gluten containing flours.
And they're SO good. They have other flavors available like chocolate, strawberry, lemon and orange. I even found blueberry and vanilla flavors at the store that weren't listed on their website.
The last item I purchased were
Jan's Mixed Roots chips. I really love roasted root vegetables, and root vegetable chips are a great health alternative. The front of this package touts that these chips have 30% less fat than regular potato chips. These rosemary garlic flavored chips are made with a mix of purple and orange sweet potatoes, taro chips and cassava chips. (These chips also come in Coriander Sea Salt and Salt and Vinegar.) These chips have two grams of saturated fat and have less than 200 mg of sodium per serving, plus 2 grams of fiber per serving. (As an aside,
Crisproot makes some interesting Cassava Chips as well.)
So how do they taste? Yummy! I can imagine pairing them with some soft Boursin spread or a goat cheese spread. Again though, my creativity is stirred and I wonder how I could incorporate these into another recipe. Please comment below about creative ways you have use potato chips in savory recipes. Or, leave a comment about what products you have found, or would like to find at your local TJ Maxx store. Your comments help me put faces and names to the hundreds of you that read my page monthly, and I like to know you as a person instead of a statistic!
Labels: product review
