Macro-ron - Lidl Brownie Macaron Sandwich

Took a bit of a break, but I'm back, baby. 

Macarons are a lot of work. They're made with (expensive) almond flour, they need to be piped in uniform puddles, then you need to let them rest before tapping the tray on the counter to create the perfect "foot," all before baking and assembling. I sadly don't have the time, or the budget, to perfect a macaron in my kitchen. (Although I would love to one day.) So, for now, I buy them. Even when they come from Lidl. they still feel like a luxurious treat. 

Lately, I've noticed that macarons are getting Big-Mac-ified. Meaning, they are getting bigger, and more outrageous. Like those Milkshakes that were all the rage a few years ago. The ones that were topped with full-sized separate desserts and have glass vessels covered in chocolate. It's a spectacle more than anything else. (I mean, how are you supposed to eat the chocolate off the glass? It's such a waste.) It appears to be Macaron's turn. I've seen huge ones stuffed with ice cream and fillings, like ice cream sandwiches, or giant cake-sized ones meant to be cut up and served at parties. Then there's this smaller scale one I saw at Lidl. 

It's a macaron, filled with brownie chunks, vanilla bean crème, and salted caramel. In theory, it all sounds great, but will it be too much?

What's cooler than being cool? - m&m's Caramel Cold Brew

Caramel Cold Brew m&m's - Walmart

What makes a non-coffee product "cold brew,"-flavored vs. normal "coffee"-flavored?  

Is it a more concentrated coffee flavor? Was actual cold brew involved at all? I doubt it.

One from the Vaults

Do the photos look weird? Because they're from 2018, when Caramel m&m's were first released. In typical me-fashion, I took the photos and never finished writing up the accompanying post. Rather than scrap it, I figure I'd make a new mini-post, because in spite of the "share-sized" labeling, I have polished off countless bags completely solo.

Rabbit Season! Duck Season! Girl Scout Season!

This year I don't have a friend or family member participating in Girl Scouts, which is how I would normally end up buying a box or two. (Gotta support your friends!) So I thought I was in the clear, after all I still have a ton of other food to review, but they still got me! 

Every Friday night, a troop camped out at the train station and I could only resist for so long. It was a long week, the kids are there at the table trying to sell cookies, and everyone else is walking on by ignoring them...and they got me. I picked up two boxes of flavors I haven't had before. 

Adventurefuls and Toast-Yay!

Honeycomb, Hold the Honey - Van Leeuwen French Ice Cream

I thought I had already reviewed this, but I guess I never got around to typing it up. Since I've bought it twice, safe to say. I like it. 

But the funny thing is, there is no honey in this. 

French vs Icelandic - Yogurt De-stash Part 1

Yogurt is ugly. 

No one posts a photo of -just- yogurt. It's always covered with photogenic toppings, layered with fruit and seeds, or used as an accent. It's in the same boat as oatmeal. Something you enjoy, but don't brag about. 

That said, I've bought a decent amount of yogurt flavors, so here is part 1 of my (hopefully) fridge clearing-series. 

Rice Cakes: Food or Packing Material? - Two Seasonal Lidl Flavors

Did anyone else go through a rice cake phase in the late 90's to early 2000's? I remember eating chocolate flavored ones with mini chocolate chips all the time. I also remember eating them with little pods of apple cinnamon flavored peanut butter. After searching online for ages, I found it! It was Jif Smooth Sensations in Apple Cinnamon. Specifically the sample versions seen in this photo! My mom got a bunch of free samples but due to peanut allergies, she couldn't give them away to kids, so we were drowning in these things at home. (According to the 1999 commercial, I guess it was a fully realized product in jars?) 

Were rice cakes a universally popular snack in the late 90's? Or was this a personal quirk?

Anyway, Lidl released some seasonal rice cakes in their fall line up and I thought, why not?

Snackbusters: Stuff I really liked, but never got around to writing up

Snackbusters: Stuff I really liked, but never got around to writing up 

Long story short, I went to the beach for the day and got food poisoning, or I just ate something that just didn't agree with me. Either way, I don't have it in me to eat anything (and even if I did I might not be able to keep it down.) I didn't want to mess up my posting streak, so here we are!

My normal posting process is, I buy stuff, I set aside time to photograph it, I edit the photos, and write down my thoughts, and then turn I turn that into a full post. Usually I eat the item as I write the full post to keep everything fresh, both food-wise and thought-wise. 

These two items never got to the full post stage...because I ate them all. Oops. Both items are definitely things I would repurchase, so I wanted to give them a shout-out regardless, and use the photos I took, so, here we are! 

Barbie-sized Ice Cream Cones

Senjaku Soft Ice Cream Candies - Hung Vuong

In spite of decorating my home with skulls and spooky objects year-round, I am not immune to pastel cuteness. That said, this is hella cute. (When have I ever said, "hella?" It felt right at the time, but now I'm getting early 2000's No Doubt flashbacks.) 

We have uniquely shaped packaging, pastels, stripes, confetti, and the promise of tiny ice cream cone shaped vanilla candies. I had to have it. 

As far as the candy inside, I wasn't sure exactly what to expect. The descriptor says "soft ice cream shaped cute candy," so it'll be ice cream shaped, but the "soft" refers to this being based on vanilla soft serve ice cream, so I wasn't sure what form the candy inside would take. Gummy? Mellowcreme? Turns out they're actually hard candies and they're 3D!

Feeling Salty? - Salted Caramel Brownie Oreos

Salted Caramel Brownie Oreos - Target

During quarantine, I made countless batches of salted chocolate chip cookies, and got into the habit of adding crushed up potato chips to them as well. So when I saw that Oreo was getting in on the trend, by salting their classic cookie, I had to taste the results for myself.  

A Trio of Summer Flavors - Krispy Kreme Carnival

Krispy Kreme Carnival Flavors 2021

Some days I come home, make a low calorie meal, walk my dogs, and then pat myself on the back for making good, healthy, life choices. Other days I eat 4.5 carnival themed doughnuts in one night, slap together a video review, and then lay on the couch munching on carrots while it renders at 1am. It's all about balance. 

Speaking of balance, I want to applaud Krispy Kreme for leaving the "c" in Carnival and not opting for a "K" to stay on-brand. 'Cause that's...that's just too many "k's." They knew it, and I knew it, so nobody went there and I am thankful for that. Kudos. 

These carnival themed doughnuts are available as of yesterday (July 19th) until August 8th. Normally I am way behind on trends, and my food hunting days are pretty much over, but when there is a Krispy Kreme right next to the train you take for work and candyhunting posts that these just dropped...it's a sign. So, if you haven't already watched the video I posted on Tuesday, let's jump into some more in-depth reviews and photos! 

Caramel Pumpkin Lay's (I Think?)

Caramel Pumpkin Chips - Hung Vuong Market

Halloween may be over, but we're not through with pumpkin-season yet. Although I pretty much ruined all things pumpkin related for myself, forever, I still can't resist new and wacky items, like these chips. 

I found them all alone in the snacking aisle with little to no English, so all I had to go on was a translated ingredient label, and the imagery, which made it seem like these were some kind of sweet caramel and pumpkin flavored chip, and I figured...why not give it a try?

You can check out the video review above, or keep reading for a fully written post and close-up photos.  

Feeling Salty

Sea Salted Caramel and Chocolate Truffle Pint - Lidl

I decimated the banana pint last week, so it's time to crack open something new. Let's see how the creatively named "sea salted caramel and chocolate truffle" compares.

Pocky: Salted Caramel vs Blond Chocolat

Blond Chocolat Pocky

I bought this a LONG time ago, and I am 100% sure it's "expired," but I'm going to eat it anyway. I like to live dangerously.

Oh, Fudge! It's Back! - Milky Way Fudge

Milky Way Fudge - CVS

Milky Way Fudge is back!

I live in a Snickers household, (I'm outnumbered, 2-to-1), so I don't buy Milky Way very often, but in my eyes, they are the superior candy bar. I'm just not a fan of peanuts in my candy. Peanut butter? Sure. Actual peanuts? It's like trail mix masquerading as candy. No thanks. 

That being said, a new flavor is a great excuse to grab some MilkyWays, and I was really excited that this flavor in particular. Milky Way Fudge had a limited run in 2018, but I missed out on it. But now it's back! (New candy is the best candy consumption excuse!)

Also, I found these at CVS when I was buying a bag of stress-Cheetos after a long, and rainy, work-week, and who doesn't want a bit of chocolate when they're in full melt-down mode? Let's see if this new flavor can usurp Midnight as my number one!

Funnel Cake Flavored Snack Balls: Because Everything is Better Ball Shaped?

Herr's Funnel Cake Flavored Snack Balls - Ollie's Bargain Outlet

No need to worry! These might be expired NOW, but they weren't back when I ate them. 

These pictures and notes were taken from November 4th. I actually have a bunch of half-started posts from the last few months I'll be finishing up, so keep that in mind before turning me over to the botulism police. 

Have you guys every been to Ollie's Bargain Outlet? Ollie's buys up all kinds of off-season stock (most recently all the leftover Toys R' Us) but they also get tons of junk food. I joke that it is where limited edition food goes to die, but it IS where limited edition food goes to die. The food related aisles are a seasonal graveyard. We're talking limited edition cereals, seasonal flavored Pop-Tarts, and quirky treats that maybe didn't do so well in grocery stores at full price, like these Funnel Cake Balls. 

Aldi's Take on Ben & Jerry's Phish Food (Only $2.00!)

Turtley Awesome Ice Cream Pint - Aldi $1.99 ($1.79 on sale!) 

Living with a food blogger isn't as glamorous as it may seem. First of all, my home is a dieters worst nightmare. I have candy and snacks in pretty much every room of the house. (Except the bathrooms because that's gross. They have food scented bath products and soaps instead #foodieforlife.) I have a freezer full of junk food and ice cream, and a pantry packed with limited edition cookies and chips. Which leads me to the other problem, which has plagued everyone I've ever lived with, "Is this safe to eat?"

I get the frustration, you see something yummy and you want to eat it. That's what any sane person would do, but we food bloggers are insane different. We need to photograph, write up, and post on social media. It's just what we do...when we have time to do it. 

So, the story is: I've had these Aldi pints in the fridge for a while, I didn't have much time to blog, and my family had been anxious to eat them..so this got eaten, a little bit. Normally I'm adamant about the food items I photograph being brand new and untouched, but we're just going to have to roll with it...

Again, we have so ugly packaging. It's not all that different from the others, and I've already said everything I have to say about it's looks, so let's get right into how this tastes.

Mike and Ike Sundae Sweets - Jo Ann Fabric

Mike and Ike Sundae Sweets - Jo Ann Fabric

Did you know chinchillas like fleece? Neither did I!

Well, not until this June, anyway. That's when my boyfriend's daughter graduated and we got her a cuddly little chinchilla all her own. He's her baby, but seemingly overnight we've turned into crazy chinchilla people.

Segues are hard. 

So I'm at JoAnn fabrics, buying a few yards of fleece (which is on sale) to use in a chinchilla litter box (you know, totally normal food-blogger stuff) and this colorful package catches my eye. It's a cute box, and I like Mike and Ikes, but I LOVE all things banana. I figured I owed it to myself to check this out.

Flash forward to today, when I saw the very same box, a few cents cheaper, at The Dollar Tree. Kind of kicking myself, since I could have gotten it cheaper, but maybe it'll taste so good that I won't care anymore? Fingers crossed!

New Oreo Thin Flavors: Coconut & Salted Caramel

Coconut & Salted Caramel Oreo Thins- Walmart 

It's been a minute since my last post, and since then my household has gained: a chalkboard wall, an 18" deep trench around the pool, a friendly baby chinchilla, and a thriving cherry tomato plant. I've also (unfortunately) discovered and destroyed a bunch of poison ivy in the yard (after kneeling in it, oops.), and I've managed to dismantle a small chunk of my cardboard-castle-filled living room. Who knew I had so much stuff?! (And so few chinchillas.) 

So yeah, it's been quite the adventure, but it's a fun adventure, so let's celebrate some slim victories with some slim cookies!

Caramel Apple Pop-Tarts - Walmart #tbt

Caramel Apple Pop-Tarts - Walmart #tbt 

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!