Trader Joe's Irish Bangers

Right before St. Patrick's day my local Trader Joe's had spruced up and brought in some extra products in preparation for the impending holiday. One of the products on display in the "butcher shop" was the Trader Joe's Irish Bangers. Since St. Patrick's Day only comes once a year, I try to make sure to pick up some traditional Irish bangers to have so I grabbed a pack to give a whirl.

 

According to Trader Joe's website: "Our Bangers (available only for the season) are pork sausages made from pigs raised in the U.S. that are raised without the use of antibiotics or hormones. They’re seasoned with traditional spices, and include Rusk—a sort of twice-baked crouton that adds texture to the meat. These are not fully cooked, so they’ll need to be browned well on all sides until hot all the way through—about 10-12 minutes. $4.49 for a 16 oz package."

 

I cooked them up per the directions in a frying pan and found they came out pretty well. The only complaint I had was that the casings were just slightly tough, but it didn't make the sausage overly chewy/rubbery. Flavor wise, they had a unique flavor to them. Nothing outlandish or crazy, but just something different about them. I was so intrigued by the flavor that I googled and found Rusk is made from sourdough bread. Once I figured this out it was undoubtedly the flavor my taste buds were picking up on.

 

The sausages rendered some fat, but they weren't overly fatty and unsettling once eaten. They were paired perfectly against some mashed potatoes and some sauteed asparagus (although, admittedly, peas would have been a better option).

 

A serving, 1 link, is 170 calories or 5 points plus values.

Boiled Dinner

St. Patrick’s Day came and went and my boyfriend and I did not have our boiled dinner. We were supposed to have dinner with his mom but a family emergency came up and dinner was called off.  I typically make a boiled dinner at least once or twice a year because I just really love corned beef.  My local wholesale club sells a lean corned beef eye round all year round and I really enjoy it because there’s not a whole lot of fat and it’s very low in Points Plus values (3 to be exact for 4 ounces).

I invited my brother and sister-in-law over for dinner and off and cooking I went bright and early in the morning.  I covered my corned beef in water and set it on to boil.  Once the water began to boil, I dropped the head down to medium-low and let it simmer away for 4 hours.  After that I dropped in my baby carrots (2 pounds worth), some peeled white potatoes and the largest head of cabbage ever cut into quarters.  I covered it and let it cook until all the veggies were done.

It was totally delicious!  I ate mine with a drizzle of white vinegar over the vegetables, a spritz of spray butter on the potatoes and a tiny bit of mustard alongside the corned beef.  Totally delicious!  I ate it for dinner and lunch two days in a row and was not complaining about that what-so-ever!  It’s a great meal – takes a while to cook, but was worth the points.

Whole plate points plus: 6.