Unicorn Gum? I give up. (Quickie Review)

Fairytale Fruit Project 7 Gum - Target

I don't even know what to say for myself. I keep saying I won't go back to Project 7, because of the artificial sweeteners, but their gimmicks sucker me in every time. 

This is unicorn gum. UNICORN. GUM. What am I? Made of stone? So yeah, I don't have high hopes for this, but it's pretty and I wanted to photograph it, so... here we are. 

Functionality-wise, the packaging is the same packet-style as all the other Project 7 gums I've reviewed in the past. Plastic foiled packet, re-seal-able, matte-finish, etc. It photographs like a dream and the colorful fruity unicorn illustration is Juicy Fruit meets Lisa Frank. It's wonderful. 

Peeps Oreos - Déjà vu Round 2!

Peeps Oreos - Target (2 for $5.00) 

That's right! It's a Déjà vu-Round 2 of Limited Edition Peeps Oreos.

Last year's take on this seasonal sweet used the golden cookie base with a bright highlighter-pink marshmallow creme flavored filling, and even though I bought several packages of it last year, and definitely photographed them, but I guess I never wrote them up? (Which isn't surprising, 2017 was a very VERY bad year for my blogging habits.) 

Anyway, I thought they were pretty good, sickeningly sweet and sugary, but good. However, my boyfriend's daughter LOVED them. Of all the Oreos I've dragged into our pantry over the years, these are her favorite so I made sure to buy several packages. I did a quick search online to see what my fellow foodies thought of the neon-pink pucks, and it turns out reviews weren't so favorable? That's news to me! 

Skip the scoop and have a Peep Instead?

Neapolitan Peeps - Target $1.66

The Peeps floodgates have opened! We have a ton of "new" Peep flavors hitting the shelves. Why did I put "new" in quotes? Well...most of them aren't really new. 

This season, we've got... 

• Kroger gets Pancakes & Syrup (One of last year's Mystery Flavors, unmasked & re-released) 
• All Grocery Stores are getting Sour Cherry (Another Mystery Flavor, unmasked & re-released)
• Cotton Candy Peeps (re-release, I saw them at Target, unsure if they're exclusive)
• Lemon and Orange Sherbet Peeps (Very similar to previous orange & lemon Delights)
• Walmart has the NEW trio of Mystery Peep Flavors - Actually New
• Target has filled Neapolitan and Triple Chocolate Delights - Also New 

In that sea of marshmallow chick-shaped sweets, there's a lot of old ideas being rehashed. In all honesty, I've always liked original Peeps (Especiaolly when they start to get a little stale), but a of of the fancier flavors they've released over the years just don't appeal to me. Especially the Delights line. That "fudge" dripped bottom is a waxy coating of lies. In what way is that fudge? 

Even though I am no fan of the "fudge dipped" delights, I couldn't pass up a filled peep, especially one with a Neapolitan flavor profile. All the new flavors we have seen over the years are great, but the combination of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry is timeless. If it's done right...

So, let's see if these are a real Delight, or a fake-fudge-failure.

New Snickers Bars - Available June 2018!

Check out my thriving fig tree in the background! 

New (written) posts are coming up this week. 

 © Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

Keep Up with My Daily Adventures on Social Media!

Maui Onion Chips!

 © Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

Keep Up with My Daily Adventures on Social Media!

My Boyfriend Went KETO - The Worst Culinary Week of My Life

I didn't plan on writing about this (hence the bad cellphone pics), but it turned out to be a really interesting experience and worth blogging about. 

Mid-December, wanting to be healthier for the New Year, my boyfriend suggested we go Keto, and my original response was, "I'd rather die." 

At that point I only understood the most basic concept of Keto, which is that it limits carbohydrate intake, forcing your body into burning fat stores instead. Wanting to strengthen my argument (and hoping to talk my boyfriend out of it) I started researching Ketogenic diets online. Several weeks of Pro-Keto YouTube videos, blog posts, recipes, and Reddit threads later, I had a much better understanding...and I still refused to do it. 

As I thought, the goal of a Ketogenic diets is to burn keytones for energy, and to do that, you need to cut your carb intake down to very VERY low levels, somewhere between 20-100 grams per day, while eating a diet rich with proteins and fats. This dietary-lifestyle has it's benefits, like balancing out sugars for diabetics, or treating some forms of epilepsy, but it's pretty extreme for a casual dieter such as myself. To put it into perspective, one average-sized apple contains 25 grams of carbs. If you're on the lower end of the carb-limiting spectrum, that already put you over your daily limit. 

Now, more informed, and still refusing to do it (this time with a better argument), I still  supported my boyfriend's decision to give it a try. Instead of joining him on his diet journey, I supported him by cooking Keto recipes all week. There were some successes, a lot of failures, and intense grumpiness...

Happy...Febru-ween?

 © Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

Keep Up with My Daily Adventures on Social Media!