5 Fabulous Finds From Trader Joe’s: Matcha Green Tea Ice Cream, Ube Tea Cookies, Chicken Soup Dumplings, Strawberry Soda and Zinc Oxide Mineral Sunscreen

Frozen Chicken Soup Dumplings

Goodness gracious, the last time I went to Trader Joe’s I got two boxes of these Chicken Soup Dumplings, and the next time I go I’m getting three. Maybe even four! They’re that good. Connor and I, man…we gobble them up so fast!

Have you ever been to dim sum and ordered soup dumplings? Those tasty little ground meatballs with their savory broth encapsulated in a chewy pouch… Like a delicious soupy dumpling in a sleeping bag, if you will! You bite into the dumpling, and the glorious broth gushes into your mouth. Mmmm!

These frozen ones take two minutes to cook in the microwave, and you get six total.

These are Connor’s new favorite thing to eat at lunch and mine too. We eat them with edamame and rice!

There’s a pork and ginger version too, which I haven’t tried yet because I’m not a huge fan of ginger in savory dishes, but for the sake of adventure, I may try it for fun. Will let you know!

Matcha Green Tea Ice Cream

The Ube Ice Cream at Trader Joe’s takes me back to my childhood! Ube is a purple yam, and ube ice cream is a common treat in Filipino culture. I grew up eating it. It tastes a little like vanilla, but this isn’t about TJ’s Ube Ice Cream… It’s about the Matcha Green Tea Ice Cream, which, like the Ube flavor, is SO YUMMY.

It’s a rich, creamy green tea with the subtle grassiness of matcha. It might not be enough flavor if you like strong matcha notes, but I think it’s just right, and I’m not sharing it with anybody in this house. 😁

In fact, last night I was in an eat-my-feelings kind of mood, so I opened both pints, and I dug my spoon back-and-forth between the two flavors while standing inside my kitchen. GIRL, I couldn’t even be bothered to put it in a bowl and go sit down somewhere, LOL!

Zinc Oxide Mineral Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 30 Spray

This zinc oxide mineral spray sunscreen has a pretty high percentage of the active ingredient, which is 15% zinc oxide. I read about it in the new Fearless Flyer, which claims that the sunscreen “dries clear.” HMMM!

It’s SPF 30, water resistant for 80 minutes, and the formula also has aloe, grapefruit oil and vitamin E. The bottle says “fragrance-free,” but when put some on my arms the other day (while I was in the TJ’s parking lot, haha! I couldn’t wait), my bloodhound nose got a whiff of grapefruit, which I don’t mind at all because it’s very, very subtle.

As to the whole “dries clear” claim, there seems to be a caveat. There is a purple cast at first, but after 10 minutes it pretty much disappears.

I’ve yet to test this out by being in the sun for a good length of time (right now my go to is Sun Bum SPF 70 lotion), but I will this weekend and let you know what’s up.

So far there’s lots of pros!

Strawberry Juice Beverage

I’m not a soda drinker, not really. On the rare occasion, I’ll have a Coke, but most of the time soda’s way too sweet for me. This Trader Joe’s strawberry sparkling drink is absolutely perfect, though!

It has just the right amount of strawberry sweetness without tasting like a sugar bomb exploded in my mouth. I love the bubbles, the color, and I love that one can is only 60 cal.

Ube Tea Cookies

OK, so, these Ube Tea cookies are not as purple as they are on the box. (I’m not OK with that.) They’re also teeny, tiny, like the size of a quarter, which I guess is good because you can stuff more into your mouth?!

I like these, but they’re not gonna keep me up at night or anything like the TJ’s Chocolate Stars, which, oh, my god, sometimes haunt me at night!

The issue for me is the ube flavor gets overwhelmed by the powdered sugar. Plus, I kind of wanted them to be more purple. I’m having a hard time letting that one go.

Still, I wouldn’t say no to a handful of these with a hot cup of Earl Grey with some milk. It’s a decently yummy afternoon snack.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. TGIF!!!! Happy Memorial Day Weekend! 😺