Confectionary Fright-Flight? - Seasonal Sampler of Cotton Candy

Fun Sweets Seasonal Sampler - Walmart

A flight of seasonal cotton candy! What a great concept! 

Years of blogging has taught me that less is more. (As long as the price is right.) Buying entire packages of wacky flavored chips or cookies can be so wasteful. If limited edition flavors are released in smaller serving sizes, that's the way to go. That said, tiny tubs of novelty flavored cotton candy sounds absolutely perfect to me! 

Even though I've already tried and reviewed two of these flavors, the S'more and Candy Corn, I couldn't resist the idea of cranberry cotton candy. I pretty much bought this entire set just for that flavor alone. A wise decision?  We'll see...

You Bet'cha 'Bucha! - Lidl Seasonal Kombucha

Cranberry Cherry Kombucha 

Aldi used to have this house brand kombucha line that I loved, and my favorite flavor was the cherry cassis, but I haven't seen it in ages. In fact, a lot of my old Aldi staples have been MIA for a while now. No more balsamic glaze, no more pizza pockets, no more 3-packs of onions (one white, one red, one yellow), and now no more kombucha? Aldi, my love, where did things go wrong? 

With prices on the rise, and not being able to find my favorite products, I have been gravitating towards their competitor, Lidl, more and more. Not only does Lidl offer coupons, and mark products down as they near their expiration date meaning you can scoop up items for 30-50% off their already low prices, but they have a very healthy kombucha section with seasonal rotating flavors. Like this one.

Something Bubbly to Ring in 2022?

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?  

A Scoop of Seasonal Flavors - Thanksgiving Ice Cream

Salt & Straw Friendsgiving Ice Cream Pack

I have been super into Thanksgiving flavors this year, more than ever before. Normally I try and restrict my food purchases to in-person only, but these flavors sounded so perfect and fed right into my cravings. So I made an exception. 

This is the first time I have ever bought fancy ice cream from the internet. (They're available locally as a normal shop, but no where near me.) There were five different flavors in this release, and they came packaged in a recyclable cardboard box, with insulation that I am using in one of my winter cat shelters, and dry ice. Dry ice is so cool, and I have never gotten to play with it before, so I tossed some into a bowl full of water and added food dye to make fun videos on Instagram. 

 

I haven't had a spoonful yet, and I am already getting my money's worth out of this purchase. Let's jump right in. 

Bowl & Basket Shop Rite Seltzer Party! 6 different flavors!

6 Flavors of Shop Rite Bowl & Basket Seltzer

When compared to Aldi and La Croix, Bowl & Basket finds itself somewhere in the middle in terms of variety. La Croix opts for fancier, more exotic offerings, like Limoncello and Hibiscus, where Aldi sticks to citrus fruits for the most part. But what Aldi lacks in variety, they make up for in consistency. Of their main flavors, I don't think there is a dud in the bunch. I decided to grab a bottle of Bowl & Basket lemon lime, to have a better basis of comparison to my go-to Aldi seltzers, but otherwise grabbed new flavors I have yet to experience in seltzer form. I'm pretty excited to see how these taste (and to add a bit of variety to my bubbly sipping.)  

Still In The Festive Spirit? - Merry Mash-Up Mtn Dew

Merry Mash-Up Mtn Dew - Walmart

Can we take a moment to appreciate Mtn Dew, their marketing team, and their limited edition products? 

Limited Edition Stars and Stripes Cranberry Ginger Ale -

Cranberry Ginger Ale - Dollar Tree

I was at Dollar Tree grabbing holiday giftbags, (because if you're paying more than a dollar for a giftbag, you're insane,), and I spotted giant bottles of soda. They're like 2.5 Liters and only a dollar, so you know it's not the best quality, but they'll do in a pinch when you're having cheap at-home birthday party in the 90's. Anyway, I was going to walk right by them, when I noticed a limited edition flavor.

Since when has that been a thing? I was intrigued, and it was only a dollar, so let's see if it's any good! (At the very least it should make for a fun season-appropriate post.)

Aldi Thanksgiving Ravioli - Pasta meets leftovers

Turkey and Cranberry Ravioli - Aldi

Sometimes things just never make it to the blog, even when I have the best intentions to do so. Like these ravioli. I actually bought these, and the bourbon sweet potato flavor, last year and I photographed them and everything...but I never wrote it up. (I'm pretty sure I posted pics to Instagram though.) 

Thankfully, both products returned this year, giving me a second chance to share them with you! Also, like HalloWEEK, I'll be posting a new review every day this week for Thanksgiving! So be sure to check back every day to see what I'm munching on! 

4 Flavors of Fit & Active Fruit Bars - Aldi

4 Flavors of Fit & Active Fruit Bars - Aldi (Clearance .99 cents each)

I love food. I love cooking food, finding new foods, photographing food, eating food. Food makes me irrationally happy, and it's why I started a food blog, but every day I scroll through my Instagram feed and I see tons of people eating meal replacement bars, protein puddings, pro-gurts (protein yogurt), and other things that just look like soylent-protein-power-monstrosities. If it makes other people happy I'm all for it. I'm not knocking their lifestyle (especially since they seem far healthier and more active than I am) but eating that stuff would be torture for me. It takes all the fun and texture out of food!

Along with my lifelong love of food, I'm also a frugal shopper. I love a good deal, so when I saw that these Fit & Active bars were on sale at Aldi for only .99 cents a box, I thought this could be my version of a meal replacement bar. I typically don't eat breakfast, and I don't eat lunch until 1-2PM, so eating one of these for breakfast is probably a good idea, right? Then again, will a "healthy" fruit bar that only cost me .20 cents each taste good?

Snapple Fall Spice Tea - Target

Snapple Fall Spice Tea - Target

I've reviewed a lot of fall products, everything from pumpkin-based pasta sauces to seasonally spiced chewing gum, and I've even reviewed some fall themed teas...but they've always been in tea-bag-form to be brewed at home. Not bottled, and especially not iced. Since it's been a while since Snapple has done anything new, they were kind of flying under my radar. When I saw that they had released a fall themed product, I was really excited because it seemed to come entirely out of left field. I mean, I haven't done my homework, but I think this is the first time Snapple has thrown it's hat into the limited edition fall flavor ring, and I think they might be the first American company to release a fall-themed iced tea as well. 

It may not be pumpkin spiced, but let's give this seasonal Snapple a try!

Cranberry Almond Thins - BJ's: Marlton, NJ

Cranberry Almond Thins - BJ's: Marlton, NJ

I took a chance, and bought the big box of the Pistachio Thin Addictives from Nonni's a while ago, and I loved them so much, I thought I should grab this bis ol' box of Cranberry ones too. Cranberry seems like a winter-y flavor, so I might as well review this now before Valentine's candies start taking over my blog.

Jelly Belly Holiday Favorites (Pumpkin Pie) - Target: Marlton, NJ

Jelly Belly Holiday Favorites - Target: Marlton, NJ

Back to pumpkin posts! (Kinda.) There's a pumpkin pie bean in here, but I figured I would just review the entire bag and get it posted before the holidays are over. Let's see if any of these beans can live up to the real thing!

Cranberry Sauce - Youtube Recipe Review

Cranberry Sauce -  Youtube Recipe Review : Video

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
I hope all of you are safe and sound at home with family eating tons of food. (I don't know about the rest of you, but there is an Adventure Time marathon today, and I am totally watching it!)
My Uncle is hosting Thanksgiving, which is a tradition in our family, so I made a few side items to contribute.

• Homemade cranberry sauce
• A loaf of fresh baked crusty bread

I used Food Wishes recipe for the cranberry sauce, but (as always) I made some changes:

No Walnuts: I know, I know, it's in the recipe's name, how can I omit it? Well, I figured it's be better to be safe than sorry with food allergies. (Family members bring significant others and I don't know if they have any food related allergies.)
No Ginger: In the recipe, Chef John even warns the viewers not to omit the ginger, but... I did anyway. (I'm such a rebel.) I have cooked with fresh ginger in the past and my family hated it. Since it is such a strong flavor, I didn't add that either.

Everything else was done according to the recipe, and the results were delicious! This cranberry sauce is sweet, tangy, and it has a healthy dose of cinnamon. If you're not a big fan of cinnamon, you might want to use half a stick instead of a whole one, personally I love the flavor.

What recipes are you making this year?

I hope you all have a fantastic Thanksgiving and I'll see you tomorrow!

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

Like me on facebook to keep up with all my adventures!