Nacho Cheese Tortilla Chips!

I don't remember when I first tried Nacho Cheese (or, "Nacho Cheesier") Doritos. However, I do recall loving it more than any other chip in this Universe (well, this was before I started relying on microchips). I might've tried them in Australia, but my definitive memories of them start only in Hong Kong. Some of these memories include:

1. Some day in ParknShop, I was allowed to buy small packets of chips. I think the 28g Nacho Cheesier ones were about 3 HKD (or 8 HKD for 3 packs).

2. My mum bought us a big packet of Nacho Cheese Doritos for my brother's birthday. He had his friends over that day, too.

3. For my 10th or 11th birthday, I was allowed to buy a big packet of chips. I was psyched! So many choices, and I could only pick one...so I ended up getting BBQ Ruffles, though I did stare at the Doritos forlornly.

4. There are many moments in HK in which I yearned for Nacho Cheese Doritos. They are painfully sad moments.

But then we moved to the US, where Doritos are inexpensive, come in even larger packets, and have a zillion more flavours. I got older, and my parents didn't restrict what I ate (especially after coming to college). Though, apart from the little bundle of nostalgia associated with it, I don't really eat them THAT often. I stopped eating Doritos a few years ago because of the partially hydrogenated oils in them. However, I crawled back to them as college stress muddled up my rules, free food tempted me, and tears made me careless. Fried in comfort, dipped in guilt flakes...and the remote control of my life.

How could I ever love a product that has partially hydrogenated oils? PHOs repulse me. If i see it on a food label, I immediately lose every desire to eat it - yes, even Herr's jalapeno kettle-cooked potato chips. A perfect analogy is seeing an attractive person, and, on the way to asking him/her out, he/she starts smoking a cigar(ette). Yet you must love him/her. He/she's your idol - understanding, reliable, but abusive.

Until now, Doritos were my sole exception to my PHO rule. I have, fortunately, found a beautiful replacement to Nacho Cheese Doritos. One that requires work, genuine desire and a willingness to travel further than ever before! So what is this new night in shining amour?

*fireworks and fanfare*

Trader Joe's Nacho Cheese Tortilla Chips!

*shining streamers and glitter shoot into the night*

They are perfect. They taste like Doritos, and there are no PHOs. What else do I want? SOME MORE PLEASE! [Haha, cheesy joke!] They are also $1.99 for 284 g, which is acceptable.

Trader Joe's Bread

I ran to Trader Joe's today to buy some organic/local bread.

I walked back with two loaves of bread - Trader Joe's "Artisan" fruit and walnut, and some sort of whole grain bread. Not 100% whole wheat, and definitely not local/organic.

Over four years ago, I felt like Trader Joe's sold only organic/local/fresh/not-much-preservatives food. This is not true. I suppose I should take back my grudge against Wholefoods. So now, I'm not sure how I feel about supermarkets vs. open markets. Evidently, Trader Joe's does give the vibe of homeliness (with the bells and the handmade (?) signs, but in the whole bread shelf, there were only a few brands of organic breads. The others were made by various companies, including Trader Joe's own San Francisco (?) brand of sour dough and normal bread. I'm not really sure what my politics are on Trader Joe's, but the prices really surprised me.

At Fresh Grocer, a loaf of bland whole wheat bread (the kind available at every Shoprite/Costco) is around some $4.59, and there isn't much variety. The bleached white bread can go to around $1 I guess, but who wants to buy that?

At Trader Joe's, the whole shelf is pretty much some sort of wheat blend (I did not find a 100% whole wheat bread...), and there are "freshly baked" loaves of ciabatta, foccacia, and baguettes (:D). For a city store, Trader Joe's pricing is pretty good! It's actually comparable to that of suburban-towny-Shoprite! $1.99 for a baguette at Trader Joe's = $1.99 for a baguette at Shoprite.

So, I find it kind of weird.

The cheese was also better priced... a chunk of Wisconsin cheddar for $2.50 vs. a chunk of orange cheddar for $4 at Wawa.

Why is the grass greener - I mean - cheese cheesier across the river? Why is stuff on and around Penn's campus so overpriced?

The (purple and golden) raisin and walnut bread crust was really good, and I find the toasted/baked walnut really delicious.

So, my updated list of Food Places to Buy Inexpensive-ish Fresh Food

Chinatown: eggplant, 白菜 (bak choi), cherries

Farmer's Market @ Clark Park: fruits and vegetables

Wawa: skim milk, low-fat milk.

Fresh Grocer: carrots.

The Spice Corner: juniper berries, dried coconut, teas!!

Trader Joe's: cheese, bread, corn/flour tortillas

Trader Joe's Chocolate

I LOVE. Trader Joe's! Despite the fact that I haven't been there in about three years, my first impression still leaves me in wonderment and adoration. I simply. Love. Trader Joe's. I remember going in, seeing all that organic stuff, all that SOY stuff, all those unfamiliar, "exotic" ingredients such as couscous and quinoa and bran - all those foods made me yearn for Trader Joe's. I honestly should go there again, and I think that I'll go with A next week [since she and I both love food and are vegetarians] and we can go buy vegetarian meatballs or something.
Anyway, my dad's friend got these for him/me&my bro, and the ones with the X are the ones my brother ate [I think.]. This ups my number of nouveaux chocolat to 8!
I don't remember the flavours and such; there was an information paper but I seem to have misplaced it. Most of them were praline filled though, and I don't really have an affection for praline. I'm just indifferent to it. I think it's because of the time, way back in HK, where we received this huge box of mosaic praline chocolates. They were yummy, but dry and gritty and had this weird nutty aftertaste [I'm nuts for nuts [haha.] but those ones were a little off].
Anyway, I digress.
As a general review, these were soooooo smoooooooooooth. Due to their utter smoothness, they had a mu [friction constant] of pretty much zero, so they were consumed way too fast. Yep, even the triangular-shaped one. I don't really care whether they're from "Belgium" or where-ever. The box is pretty cute too, though I can't find it in my room at the moment... I even like the wrinkly spongey-paper [I'm not sure if that's the name?].