It's official, I've finally been doing this long enough that I've started to forget products.Take a look at this, vs, 2019's Apple Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Similar, yet, different. And 2019 wasn't even that long ago! (I guess that means that the flavor combination was rather forgettable.)
Welp, at the very least, the cereal shape is different. So let's see how this compares to my old post. As always, I'll do a dry taste test and then a bowl with milk.
Another seasonal de-stash.
I grabbed these from Lidl thinking I could incorporate them into my baking, but my cookie boxes were crowded already, so they were relegated to snacking.
Problem is, I rarely eat nuts. (That's what she said!) I'm not allergic, and I love nut-flavored things like, marzipan, Reese's cups, and pistachio ice cream, or even chopped peanuts scattered over a savory pad Thai. But snacking on a handful of plain almonds? Not going to happen.
But, these are fairly healthy (especially when compared to all the Doritos currently on top of my fridge), so I took them into work so I could eat them as a desk-snack. Maybe they'll surprise me and I'll be converted...but I doubt it.
The blog has accidently turned into mostly-Lidl reviews. It makes sense, since I've been shopping there a lot lately, and they really went all-in with interesting fall themed products, but for the sake of variety, I promise my next review will be non-Lidl.Today we are still Lidl-ing it up, this time with a a seasonal kombucha: apple, cinnamon, vanilla and clove.
I love kombucha, and have tried a lot of flavors over the years, but my preferences typically lean into berry based flavors like cherry, raspberry, or cranberry. So this apple, cinnamon, vanilla, and clove option is pretty different for me.
Will it be a good-different? I guess we'll see.
I am officially over-pumpkin'd, but there is one pumpkin thing I purchase each year and enjoy, and that is Pumpkin Spiced Tea.
A bunch of companies make this stuff. Over the years I have had Celestial Seasonings, Trader Joes, Harney & Sons, Aldi, and Lidl's takes. I even made this post about it, Three Teas Enter, One Tea Leafs!But, since I still had some pumpkin spice bags leftover from last year, I thought I would give apple a try this time.
This was a bad call.
Remember in my last post when I told you being late was very on brand for me? Well these are fall related, but from LAST YEAR. (I may be awful, but at least I'm consistent about it.)
Why do I still have them in my pantry, completely unopened? I couldn't even begin to tell you. Will I still open them, eat them, and review them? You bet your sweet bippy I am!
So yeah, as previously stated, these are from Aldi's fall collection, last year. I bought them hoping to compare them to the previous Oreo version and just never did. So, better late than never?
Sparkling Cranberry Apple Cider - Aldi
Hello, my name is Maria, and I am thirty...four? years old? Yup, I'm 34. I constantly forget how old I actually am. (Probably because I'm not big on Birthdays and don't like to celebrate mine.) Anyway, long story short, I am 34 years old and I still don't like the taste of alcohol.
I'll go out with friends and get a drink to be social, or grab a signature cocktail at a wedding, but I have never had an adult beverage I truly enjoyed. Drinking it feels like a chore, or like medicine, and half the time I wish I could pinch my nose and just knock it back to get it over with. Which is probably why I have only ever been drunk once in my entire life.
So, now you know. I rather sip on sodas and seltzers than anything boozy to ring in the new year. So when I spotted these at Aldi I thought, I really like cranberry, so why not give this a shot?
Jolly Rancher Fruit Roll-Ups - CVS
I have gone to CVS more in 2020, than ever before in my 33 years of life for a few reasons. One: it's close to my home, two: it's full of covid-safety gear, and three: it's actually filled with limited edition food stuffs. Who knew they carried limited edition m&m's, and Oreos, and breakfast cereals? Not me! Well I stopped there to grab clearance Halloween candy (another great reason), and thought I would check to see if they have the Starburst Fruit by the Foots, they didn't, but they did have these!
Apple Pie Kit-Kat - Wawa
Not only is this item made with white crème, but it's also apple-flavored, but there is no mention of apple anywhere in the ingredients. (Other than a vague, "Natural and Artificial Flavors.") Maybe I should have saved this for October, because this is the stuff of my foodie nightmares.
I blame those novelty white-"chocolate" lollipops from the 90's for my hatred of white candy confections, that and you know..., the fact that most of them taste terrible. I have vivid memories of them being everywhere as a kid. They came in every color and shape imaginable: ballet slippers, turkeys, Easter bunnies, etc. They Pavlov'd me into an irrational reaction of disgust whenever I see white chocolate confections to this day.
Then there's apple. I like real apples, and sour apple flavoring, but there's something about fake-apple, especially when it's emulating baked goods, that makes me feel like I'm eating a scented candle or air freshener.
So, why did I buy this? Well, I've been hunting down the new Voo-Dew at Wawa and other convenience stores, with no luck, but every shop had a display for the Birthday Cake flavored Kit-Kats...that was filled with these instead. After a few failed stops, and no Voo-Dew, I got annoyed with being empty-handed, so I finally caved and picked one of these up (and a jalapeno-cheese stuffed pretzel), hoping it might be so bad that I would write a funny, and slightly mean, review...
I'm back just in time to celebrate the end of a decade!
Like always, my hiatus wasn't planned, and proof of that is...I kept buying stuff, so much stuff, and telling myself, "it's okay it's for a review." Well, we both know that didn't happen. To make matters worse (or better), I kind of jumped into the Halloween clearance section with both feet. There is a LOT of fall-themed backlog to get through, but I consider that a win since I'd rather ruminate in fall flavors than dig myself into further foodie-debt with winter offerings.
To speed up the de-hoarding process, today's post is double trouble. Today we have two different apple themed chocolates, which one will be more a-peel-ing?
I'm a dry-cereal advocate, but only for certain brands/lines. Take Cinnamon Toast Crunch for example.
When in milk, all the granulated sugar and flavor-dust washes away to create a coveted cereal milk concoction mimicked by fancy foodies, but to get to it, you need to power through a lackluster soggy cereal situation. Now, I can appreciate some delicious cinnamon-infused cereal milk, but have you ever tried...just eating the cereal? I am now a 30+ year oldfuture corpseadult, and I eat Ziploc baggies of dry cereal at work, and it's amazing.
So far I have found the dry cereal rule to be true for both classic Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and Sugar Cookie Toast Crunch, but what about Apple? Will this cereal will be the exception to the rule?
Another item from my Asian Food Markets farewell-haul. (I miss them.) Last I heard, they were scouting new locations for a South Jersey store, but things have been pretty quiet. I hope for the best, but I fear that this might have been goodbye, for good.
Contextually, this is easy to figure out. These are hard candies with different apple flavors, a pink, a red, and a gold. And since my hiatus, I still haven't learned to read Japanese, so we're going to be winging it a little in this one. I mean, I can tell it is three different varieties of apples, but I am not sure which ones and if these are region-specific. Thanks to the almighty-Google, I was able to find this, which looks almost exactly the same, but the golden apple in the center (on the right) is replaced with a green one. Pretty sneaky, sis. I guess apple variety packs are this brand's thing?
Since the top and bottom apple image are the same as the one found online, I can assume they are Johnathan Gold and Fuji. The gold is still a mystery, but I am going into this with some healthy skepticism. Will these actually taste any different?
I came home from work last Thursday, made dinner, ate in front of the TV, and took an unscheduled three hour nap on the couch. (Livin' the dream.) Let me tell you, couch naps at 30 aren't what I thought they'd be, because I destroyed my neck.
When I woke up I discovered that I could only turn my head, slightly, to the left. I've been taking pain medicine, propping myself with pillows at night, and using heat to loosen my muscles. It's getting better, but it's still not great. I actually hurt myself more when I sneezed earlier...When did I turn into a glass-banana? I should be reviewing milk or something to try and boost my calcium to fix my brittle little bird-bones, but I'm going to have this sparkling cider instead.
You guys already know I have a newfound appreciation for breakfast cereal. (See this post for details.)
I keep the staples, like (Aldi-branded) Frosted Flakes, Special K, and Frosted Mini Wheats stocked at all times, but I figure my family might appreciate some variety, so I've been buying these limited edition releases to keep things interesting...but that hasn't really worked out.
These seasonal cereals are the last ones picked for the breakfast-kickball team. My family just doesn't want to eat them. After one bowl the novelty has worn off and they rather go back to a tried and true favorite. (Except for those seasonal Lucky Charms, they were decimated in less than a week.) As I type this I have two boxes of seasonal pumpkin spiced cereals in our pantry, practically untouched, but since my boyfriend and his daughter like apples I thought this flavor might be a winner. Was I right? I guess we'll find out!
I posted these on Instagram and they got a moderate amount of attention, so I picked all three up to review...and then didn't review anything for, like, a month. (Or two.) What can I say, I sucked at blogging in 2017. I debated on saving these for a #tbt post, but they're still available at my local Aldi, so I might as well share my thought in case any of you have been wanting to check these out before they disappear.
No need to adjust your screen, you're not entering The Outer Limits, and we're definitely not in the Twilight Zone because I don't hear the velvety smooth voice of Rod Serling ominously narrating my current situation. (My mom and I freaking love the Twilight Zone, and Black Mirror. So good!)
I'm back today with another, equally beige, Oreo. Both these and the Cookie Butter Oreos are currently on display at Walmart and, at a glance, they look nearly identical. I don't think Oreo has ever released new flavors that were this visually similar before. Both bags feature tan-colored foods, both have blue backgrounds, and both have graham flavored cookies. If I'm not paying attention, I can easily mistake one package for another, but once you peel back the plastic it's clear that this is no Cookie Butter Oreo.
I know it's not Thursday but...I GOT THE HOUSE!
I have been working with lawyers, realtors, and banks since the beginning of October to seal this deal and my short sale journey is finally at it's end. We start the closing proceedings next week and then I have to start tackling repairs and cleaning before I can move in, but still...I'll have a HOUSE!
This also means I need to bust through as much of my food-hoarding-stash as I can to lighten my future moving-load, so expect a lot of off-season throwbacks!
Let's kick off the throwback frenzy with these Pop-Tarts!
Winter sucks, but big hearty breakfasts make leaving the comfort of a warm bed a little easier. Our weekend go-tos are usually pancakes, french toast, and waffles. To keep things interesting, while also pleasing even the pickiest of eaters, I usually don't mess with the batter recipe, instead, I change things up with different toppings and syrups, like this Apple Butter syrup from Aldi.
It's been ages since I've had apple butter. My maternal grandfather (who is Hungarian) always had jars of this on hand and we used to eat it on everything. It's great on toast, it adds a ton of flavor to oatmeal or cream of wheat, and it makes a really lovely glaze for pork roasts and other cured meats, and I bet it'd taste AMAZING on breakfast foods, but it's a little too thick to be used as a syrup-replacement. Until now!
Yesterday's Christmas post was a throwback, but these limited edition fall Cupcakes take the CAKE! (Lame joke was lame, and lame meme reference is even lamer.) I took these photos and wrote down some snacking notes back in SEPTEMBER, so it's been a while, but I still have one caramel cupcake left in my snack drawer. So let's dig it out and get this review started with a fresh (but possibly stale?) perspective!
Three Colors. Crunch Ball. When I saw this adorable pastel and pink package at H-mart picking it up was a no-brainer.
I couldn't find these on their own, so I had to buy a giant bag of Wonka Halloween candy just to review these seasonal flavors. Which means that if these suck I'm stuck with a lot of them. Well until Halloween anyway. (That's right, I use Halloween as an excuse to get rid of the B-team candy that get lackluster reviews on the blog. But last year I also handed out Giant Pixie Stix, so I think my candy karma balances out.)
There's really not much for me to review packaging-wise, so let's read some terrible jokes and then get right into the review!
