I work at Trader Joe’s and these simple hacks will change the way you eat for the better
SIMPLE hacks can change the way you eat, according to Trader Joe’s employees.
Sharing their tips and tricks can help you eat healthier without sacrificing taste.
The ingenious hacks were revealed by Matt Sloan and Tara Miller, who host the Trader Joe’s podcast.
One employee’s favorite hack involves taking regular yogurt cups and turning them into frozen yogurt.
All you need to do is add popsicle sticks and stick the cups in the freezer overnight.
Tori, who works at a store in Spokane, Washington, along with Tara, sampled blueberry and vanilla versions and claimed they were delicious and the texture was fantastic.
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An employee at a branch in Woodbury, Minnesota, said a vanilla cake mix was actually better by leaving out the milk.
Cynthia claimed that by following the instructions on the packaging but minus the milk, you produced a “vanilla version of a brownie”.
There’s no need to replace the volume of liquid with anything.
Cynthia recommended using it as a strawberry shortcake shortcut.
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Jenny, a crew member at a store in Woodbury, Minnesota, thinks adding chile lime seasoning on top of various foods can add an extra “oomph”.
She thinks the hack is “really, really cool” and can be added to things like watermelon, margaritas, pad thai and ice cream.
Podcast co-host Matt revealed two hacks for what he called dough “pucks” and involves baking chocolate chip cookie dough in muffin tins.
Firstly, was a way to make “brookies” which involved combining them with the Brownie Truffle Baking Mix.
You simply add the pucks to the bottom of the 9-inch pan before pouring the brownie batter on top.
The second uses a mini muffin tin to make muffin-shaped cookies with a special chocolate peanut butter cup twist.
Simply drop the pucks in the tin, bake them and when they are fresh out of the oven and still warm, just gently press a peanut butter cup into the cookie muffin.
Matt recommends going “regular size with dark chocolate, peanut butter cup”.
Meredith, who works in the Boston office, recommends keeping chocolate hummus in the freezer.
She eats it straight from the tub and says it’s just like a carton of ice cream.
Matt added that he had heard of people using chilled-but-not-frozen chocolate hummus to frost caked and cupcakes.
Ben, a crew member in New Jersey, creates makeshift beignets for Mardi Gras.
He removes the dough from a tub of crescent rolls, cuts them into smaller pieces and then deep fries them.
Once cooked, he tosses them in powdered sugar.
Tara said she might try them using an air fryer, too.
Denon, a crew member based in Washington, recommended using Elote Corn Chip Dipper for chicken tenders.
Simply dredge chicken breast tenders with crushed corn chips and cook them in an air fryer.
Nothing else, no need for butter milk brine or egg wash.
Alex, in the Trader Joe’s kitchen said you could add that step if you want to go a little above and beyond.
“The chicken is really moist and tender,” said Tara. “Surprisingly moist,” added Matt.
Tulsa, Oklahoma, store worker James recommends making burritos using Mandarin Orange Chicken.
While cooking the chicken in an air fryer or even the oven or a skillet, he puts some oil on a high heat and adds Spicy Mexican-Style Riced Cauliflower.
Once the chicken is ready, he tosses it in the pan with the sauces and then adds it to a tortilla warmed on an open flame.
According to Matt, black garlic “adds the flavour of time, T-I-M-E” (which not to be confused with the flavour of the herb thyme).
Matt said: “When you want that depth of flavor that comes from long, slow simmered cooking, throw in some of this black garlic.”
Tara adds black garlic to eggs, soups, and sauces, plus she seasons chicken with it before putting it on the grill.
Matt also revealed he uses garlic-flavored olive oil when roasting, frying or grilling.
He called the flavored olive oil “magic” and said it can be used for roasting vegetables, frying sunny-side-up eggs and on grilled bread.
Tara said that while Trader Joe’s sold “truckloads” of instant coffee, not everyone used it to make a reviving cup of the hot drink.
She said she liked to add it to chocolate cake or chocolate chip cookie batter or it can be added to anything where you want to enhance the flavour of chocolate.
Matt also suggested adding it to meat rubs or just sprinkling it over ice cream.
He also said he loved adding packets of Ginger Drink Mix to marinades and dressings as well as just using them on their own to make a cup of hot ginger tea.
TJ’s Organic Spicy Honey Sauce can also be used to finish a sauce for a piece of poached fish that needs a dash of unctuousness, Matt suggested.
Tara added that she likes to add it to roasted Brussel sprouts.
The last hack revealed was to store unopened peanut butter upside down.
By doing this it stops the mess that can occur when the oil separates in a jar of natural peanut butter.
Store the unopened peanut butter jar upside down in your pantry but when you current jar is almost empty, move the upside-down jar to the fridge – still upside down.
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Just flip it upright once you are ready to mix it up.
“It’s much easier, much less messy to stir the oil back in,” says Matt, and “it will stay relatively homogenized after mixing.”
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