Another quickie post (said the girl who always gets carried away.)
I've had amazing homemade stuffing, like my aunt's which is my favorite stuffing ever and I look forward to it every Thanksgiving, but the boxed stuff has a special place in my heart (and stomach.)
It's quick, and easy, and comforting. (I especially love all the rehydrated bits of onion and celery.)
I also love Aldi's brioche bread, so this should be a match made in heaven.
If you're eating something Italian, and it's delicious, it's usually thanks to garlic and parmesan. This dynamic flavor duo is responsible for some of the most delicious things in the world, pasta, pizza, and best of all, garlic bread.
So, when Cheesy Garlic Bread won Lay's Do Us a Flavor contest when it was first introduced, I wasn't surprised. What did surprise me, however, is how quickly that new "permanent" flavor of chips would disappear. A year or two and they were no where to be found. Then, a few years later, a dupe would start rotating as a special buy item at Aldi, and then at Lidl, and now here? Well these aren't officially marketing themselves as "garlic bread," so that might not be a fair assessment, but...isn't it close enough?
Will these taste like kettle-style garlic bread?
I just got back from an overnight trip to the Jersey shore. I had a lot of fun, and ate lots of junk food, but now I'm home and I'm tired, and lazy. What better time to cook up a freezer pizza? Plus it has spinach on it, so I can lie to myself and say it's healthier than all the junk food I ate the other day.
More gluten free goodies! Aldi released their G-Free line about a year ago, and it's steadily been expanding to include all kinds of products. I think it's great, but "Gluten Free" foods like these tend to anger quite a few people. I partially understand why, to some this seems like a "hipster diet" or "trend," but there are people out there who truly need these products. I've mentioned this in other reviews, but I have a cousin with Celiac disease, so she and her two daughters (who also have it) can't process gluten. Having a food-related allergy or aliment and eating in a group setting can make a person feel singled out or isolated, especially when they're children at a snack or lunch table.
For that reason, I like checking out gluten free products so that I can find yummy foods to share with friends and family regardless of a food allergy, and hopefully break the misconception that these specialty foods are bland, boring, or expensive.
Okay, time to get off my soapbox and get to the food review. (Sorry for getting a bit preachy for a second there.) Time to stuff my face with chips!
Clancy's Cheesy Garlic Bread Potato Chips - Aldi
Cheesy Garlic Bread chips? Awesome, but you're a little late to the party, Aldi. Lay's debuted this flavor in their first Do Us A Flavor contest back in 2013, which it won, and it's been a permanent flavor ever since. (Which killed the chance for my beloved Sriracha chips ever returning.) I wasn't a huge fan of the Lay's version, but I thought I would still check this out. Is it a simple rebranding under a no-frills label? Or is this an entirely different product? Let's find out!
Time for another specialty buy item from my favorite grocery store ever, Aldi! This time it's a fancy flavored tortilla chip from their Specially Selected line. Admittedly, I had this sitting in my food review stash for a while, so I am not sure if it's still available in stores (first world food hoarder problems), but I thought this item was still worthy of reviewing. Who knows, maybe it'll reappear on the shelves next year, you never know with Aldi.
This has been in my cabinet for a while, so I'm not sure if Target still carries this, but I still wanted to post a quickie review. (First world food hoarder problems.) So my boyfriend and I cooked it up and ate it along with some homemade buffalo chicken spring rolls and garlic bread. (It was a very odds and ends kind of night.)
Remember these from my last food haul? The twisted shape looks just like Fritos Flavor Twists, reviewed here, but the name has me pretty confused. Are these made with peas? I figure the light yellow colored crisps can't be made with any kind of green pea, so does this mean these snacks are made with chickpeas? I guess we'll find out!
A bit of a seasonal stretch, but I thought I would add these Kale chips to my October reviews. Why? Because this specific flavor is called, "Vampire Killer" of course. (Yummier than a stake to the heart.)
I think this might be first time I have ever bought kale chips. Prior to this my family has always made our own at home using sea salt and our oven. While similar, these chips are a little different from mine. First of all they are raw, which means they are not dried using heat (like my oven method). Instead, these are crisped using a dehydrator that never goes above 115 degrees. Secondly, these are flavored with garlic and vegan cheese. I never though to flavor mine with cheese before. I definitely have to try that next time we make a batch.
The packaging is simple and clean. It's a clear clam shell container with a wrap-around label. I like the earthy brown color and faux texture on the label, but I feel like it's typography could be a little cleaner. For example, look at the 'B' in 'Brad." It seems so far away from the rest of the letters. Little things like proper kerning can really make a product look finished.
I’m sure most of you have seen (or heard) about Lay’s “Do Us A Flavor” competition. If not, here is the gist of it. Lay’s created a build your own flavor app on facebook. Users made their own flavors which were compared and voted upon. (I actually participated and submitted General Tso’s Chicken as a flavor.) From all the entries submitted, the final three flavors were actually put into production to be tasted and voted on by America.
The three final flavors are:
This favor was really hard to find! I finally tracked down a bag (thanks to my friend Sean who texted me about their location) and now here is the review!
- Sriracha (My Review)
- Chicken and Waffles
- Cheesy Garlic Bread
