Iced Pumpkin Scone Cookies - Trader Joe's VS Aldi

Iced Pumpkin Scone Cookies - Trader Joe's VS Aldi

Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Americans! I know the history behind this National holiday is bloody, and horrible, but hopefully you're able to take advantage of this day off to spend time with your families, relax, and eat some yummy food. (Also, don't you dare go out shopping today! Stay in and play X-box with your cousins or something.)

Today I have a special post for all you Aldi haters out there. Guess what? Aldi and Trader Joe's are "Sister companies," that's right! They're related, and the last few months, Aldi has been getting all kinds of Trader Joe's goodies as a lower price point! Don't believe me? Well check this out.

Pumpkin Gnocchi - Aldi

Pumpkin Gnocchi - Aldi

More savory pumpkin treats! Thank the foodie gods! I love the crazy influx of pumpkin related goods each fall, but almost all of them are desserts. After a few years, all of these pumpkin spiced sweets are slowly killing me! Where's the variety?  Thankfully Aldi really delivered this year. I got pumpkin pasta sauce, 3 different kinds of ravioli, stuffing, croutons and gnocchi! How awesome is that?

The ravioli have been a bit hit or miss as far as savory fall dishes are concerned, but I have high hopes for these gnocchi!

Specially Selected Pumpkin Ravioli - Aldi

Specially Selected Pumpkin Ravioli - Aldi

Is that fresh basil from my surprisingly not-dead herb garden? Why yes, yes it is! We're getting fancy with our plating today on Sometimes Foodie!

Pumpkin Spelt Risotto - Aldi

Pumpkin Spelt Risotto - Aldi

Something is wrong with me. I can't stop sleeping! Am I trying to hibernate or something? For example, last night I came home from work, it was cold and rainy, so I snuggled up with a blanket to have a little nap....and I didn't wake up until 6 AM this morning. I slept for nearly 12 hours! This is completely unlike me. I'm a night owl, and I sleep maybe 5 hours a night on average, but the past few weeks I've been sleeping like a normal person or sleeping way too much. Am I getting old? This sucks! I like staying up late and getting things done, like writing reviews, editing photos, and doing commissioned work. I normally feel really focused at night, but now I'm sleeping all the time! To be honest, all this sleep is making me feel really awesome and rested, but I'm not getting anything done!

Maybe this is a sign that I need to start drinking coffee...but it's been a day or two since my last pumpkin-related post, so I'm going to review some Pumpkin Spelt Risotto instead. (Segways are hard.) 

Little Debbie Pumpkin Delights - Walmart

Little Debbie Pumpkin Delights -  Walmart

I'm a cookie/pastry snob. There, I said it! I don't like Tastykake, I don't like Entenmann's, and I don't like Chips Ahoy. Those are three hugely popular items, and all of my friends loved them growing up (my family too), but I never understood it. Even as a little kid I preferred my pastries and cookies to be homemade, but the only exception to my processed pastry pickiness was Little Debbie's Oatmeal Creme Pies. 

There was just something about that whipped waxy frosting and that dense flying-saucer-like cookie-pie that always put a smile on my face. With that being said, I had to try their pumpkin version. Plus, they look like little Jack-O'-lanterns!

S&P Pumpkin Custard - Asian Food Market

S&P Pumpkin Custard - Asian Food Market

Every fall I like to go off the beaten path and try a few pumpkin products from the Asian Food Market and H-Mart. Unlike all of the seasonal products we have here in the states, these are available year round and a lot of them use actual pumpkin and not the pumpkin pie spices. (Which seems to be a purely American obsession.)

Last year's Korean Pumpkin Porridge did not fair so well, but I have high hopes for this Pumpkin Custard from Thailand!

Pumpkin Pie Spice Cookie Butter - Trader Joe's

Pumpkin Pie Spice Cookie Butter - Trader Joe's

How can you make cookie butter even more trendy? You make it pumpkin pie spiced of course! The brilliant marketing team at Trader Joe's took their ever popular cookie butter and spiced it up for the fall season. After all, everyone loves cookie butter and everyone loves pumpkin spice, so it's gotta be good, right? Let's find out if this is a tasty product, or a seasonal marketing ploy.

Pumpkin Spice Oreo Shake - Burger King

Pumpkin Spice Oreo Shake - Burger King

I'm back from Baltimore! After a very long drive back to Jersey (caused by the  #@$%! Ravens game), I decided to treat myself for not succumbing to road rage by stopping at Burger King. At first I was just going to buy the new Halloween burger (with the black A-1 infused buns), but they also had this new milkshake...so I grabbed both! (After that drive, I deserved it. Treat yo' self!)

Classic chocolate Oreo bits and pumpkin spice? I don't know about this one. Let's see if this shake is tasty, or just a gimmick. (The Halloween burger review will be up next!)

Pumpkin Spice Tastykake Cupkakes - Gift

Pumpkin Spice Tastykake Cupkakes - Gift

Foodie confession time! I hate Tastykakes. There, I said it. They're an iconic product, and east coast staple, but I've never understood the obsession. I hate their dense texture, the oily residue they leave on your fingers, and their artificial flavorings. As a kid I would sometimes eat the sponge cakes with the jam filling, but I only ate them because Tastykakes were the only sweets my grandpa would keep in his house.
 

With that being said, I did not buy these for myself. These were a gift from one of my awesome friends, and while I totally appreciate the gesture (he's a super awesome guy), I am not going into this review with high hopes. I'm actually dreading it to be honest. Well, no more stalling. Let's get this over with started!

Pumpkin Spice Latte m&m's - Target (Pumpkin Haul 2015)

Pumpkin Spice Latte m&m's - Target

Basics rejoice! It's the time of year when everything is pumpkin spiced, and Mars has (thankfully) switched things up this year. Instead of offering their normal Pumpkin Spice m&m's (reviewed here) they've changed their formula and added coffee to the mix for this seasonal re-release!

If you want to read last year's review of the plain Pumpkin Spiced version, it's right HERE, but (spoiler alert) I'm happy they're gone. I have high hopes that this new version will finally win me over.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Square Doughnut - Dunkin' Donuts

Pumpkin Cheesecake Square Donut - Dunkin' Donuts 

Oh man, that long weekend wasn't relaxing at all! I don't know about the rest of you, but I am super sore and more tired now than I was when I left work on Friday. Then again, I did go to First Friday in Philly, and the next day I hosted a BBQ where I cooked a ton of food, and the day after that I went back to Philly to paint a room in my grandfather's house (including the ceiling) and to top it all off, yesterday I went through my giant backlogged food-hoard and photographed a ton of stuff to get ready for the upcoming pumpkin-fest that is fall. 

Oh well, at least this will be a short work week. 

We're all heading back to school and work, and what better way to celebrate than with a doughnut for breakfast. 

Jif Pumpkin Pie Spiced Whipped Peanut Butter - Target: Marlton, NJ

Jif Pumpkin Pie Spiced Whipped Peanut Butter - Target: Marlton, NJ

This was one of those seasonal products that no one really asked for, it just came into existence, and food bloggers like me decided to give it a try because, well, it's a pumpkin spiced peanut butter! It's new, and different, and people like me wonder, why would you want to combine these two flavors? Will it actually taste any good? I don't know about the rest of you, but I wasn't exactly thrilled to see this product, and I thought about skipping it entirely, but (like most seasonal products) it went on sale, and I couldn't resist.