I'm aware that the majority of reviews this year have been negative, and I don't know if it's because after all these years my palette has become more discerning, or if food companies are totally phoning it in. If it's the latter, is it an American-exclusive issue, or a worldwide epidemic?
To test that theory, here we have two flavors of Korean Cheetos: White Corn Soup and Smoky BBQ.
Last week was intense! Between my 9-5 graphic design day job, house hunting, being a guest artist at a local school, teaching 4-art lessons there (kindergarten, 1st, 3rd & 6th), attending a wedding, and running my Etsy shop...I barely had any time to sleep, let alone blog. On the bright side, I may have finally found a new place to live! (Fingers crossed! Please send me all your good house-buying vibes!)
I have a few hours of free time tonight, so I'm going to type up as many reviews as I can and schedule them to post this week. No more missed days!!
It's been really rainy and gloomy here in NJ, since fall has hit us like a ton of bricks, so I have some warm and soothing soup for today's #meatlessmonday desk lunch.
A few months ago Panera removed a bunch of their beloved menu items and people lost their sh*t.
Among the items removed were the whole grain baguette, the Chipotle Chicken sandwich (one of Panera's only spicy offerings), and their French Onion Soup. When I was in college I worked as a trainer at Panera bread for several years, and I saw a lot of products come and go, but these things were menu-staples! I would sell countless Chipotle sandwiches everyday, we had customers who only came in for those whole grain baguettes and modified their sandwiches to come on them, and that soup? That was an every-freaking-day soup! What in the world possessed them to remove it?
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| Photo © Panera Bread Co. |
Here we go again. After my last review I hadn't planned on trying another Chunky soup for a while, but it was so cold and rainy today I thought I might as well try the other soup I had in my cabinet. It's perfect soup weather, so it'd be a shame not to. (Plus I was lazy and didn't feel like making dinner.) I bought both of these flavors at the same time, and even though I wasn't a fan of the last one, I'm going into this one with slightly higher hopes. I mean a canned pizza soup with giant dough wads? That's not my idea of a good time. When you compare canned jambalaya to that, this already looks like a winner.
I woke up this morning, looked outside my window, and everything was covered in snow. We only got two inches, and I know many of you get a LOT more snow in your area and my piddly little amount is nothing to complain about, but I just hate winter. I'm a total Scrooge about the holidays and I hate being cold. Snow is fun when you're a little kid. You sometimes get out of school, you have snowball fights, build forts, it's magical and whimsical and fun. Once you have your own car, and your college or job won't close unless it's the end of times, and even then you're lucky if you get a 2-hour delay, snow looses a lot of it's appeal.
Since it's cold and snowy, what better way to warm up than with a bowl of soup?
We got a few more inches of snow, so I thought it was the perfect time to make some homemade soup.
I looked through my Pinterest recipe board, since I am still trying to make all of the recipes I've pinned, but I wanted to use ingredients I already had on hand. (Why go out and buy more food when I have a full pantry?) I had 2lbs of frozen broccoli and a full bag of shredded cheese (both from Sam's Club), so the most logical soup choice would be broccoli cheddar, and since I am a total Panera fangirl, I just had to try this copycat recipe.
I have mentioned this in several posts, so a lot of you know this already, but I used to work at Panera Bread. Food service jobs can be stressful and difficult, but I really loved working there and it was a fantastic job while I was in college. Not only was I able to work with really fun people, but I was surrounded by yummy food. During my time there I tried every single soup we served, but I had never seen this one before. I am guessing this is a new offering for the Panera grocery store line, since I haven't seen this served in any restaurant, but I am not 100% sure. (It might be served at specific locations.)
I was really curious about this flavor, so I picked up a container and headed to the checkout line.
When compared to other heat-and-eat soups on the market, the packaging is simple but sophisticated. The clear plastic tub allows you to see the product while still serving it's purpose, and the designs are bold but simple. Text is kept to a minimum while a large appetizing photo does all the talking. I have to say I was hungry while I was shopping, which is always a bad idea, and this photo really sealed the deal on this purchase. I was cold and hungry, so a warm bowl of buttery soup was a welcome sight. I may be a little biased, due to my love of Panera, but I feel like this is a pretty nice packaging design.
I don't know what the weather is like in your area, but right now it's cold, snowy, and miserable in southern NJ. I figure that this is the perfect time to review some spicy instant soup!
The packaging is simple, and typical for a instant soup product. All we have is a cardboard cup (with some waxy/plastic coating) and a paper lid. Nothing fancy, but it works. As for the design, the color scheme and layout are pretty sophisticated, but it feels more like an American or European product than a Thai one. I have had Thai instant noodles before, and the packaging is usually very bold with bright colors and imagery. If this design is meant to appeal to the American market, I feel like it's a success. If not, Aldi needs to spice this product up a bit to better represent the origin of the product.
Sorry for the delay, but here is today's pumpkin post!
My mini pumpkin haul from Trader Joe's hasn't really lived up to my expectations. I absolutely loved the pumpkin macarons, but the granola was nothing to write home about. With Trader Joe's having such a huge following, I might have set the bar a little too high. Let's see if this pumpkin soup will make a difference.
My first thoughts were that this box is pretty small. When I picked it up it felt like I was holding a box of Pop-Tarts, but it actually contains about three servings of soup. For $1.79, that's not too shabby. The price may be right (ha) and the portioning is decent, but the design is a little lacking. This box is stuck in between modern packaging and vintage design, neither one is fully realized and the whole box suffers from the same monotone color issues as the pumpkin macarons. It's safe to say, I don't care for the package design, but as far as functionality, this was super easy to open and pour.
I read the ingredients list in the store before I purchased the soup and I saw onions, pumpkin, and various spices. I assumed that this was going to be deliciously savory, but it wasn't. When I opened the container I could smell pureed pumpkin, and that was it. The aroma was sweet and nutty, which was enjoyable, but it was definitely not what I was expecting.
Here are two pumpkin items I combined (with a few other ingredients) to make some yummy vegetable soup.
- A packet of Pumpkin Soup Mix
- A bag of Goya Pumpkin Pasta
The pumpkin-ing has begun! (insert evil scientist laughter here.)I recently filmed a video where my boyfriend and I tested 4 pumpkin spiced lattes from different locations. (It'll be up sometime this week.) One of those locations was Panera, and while I was there I picked up a bowl of the new Autumn Squash Soup which is made from squash, apples, and...pumpkin!Since the packaging for soups hasn't really changed, I'll skip the aesthetic review and get right into the good stuff.
I have had frozen Bertolli dinners before, but never a soup. When I saw this at Target I got really excited. My boyfriend loves seafood and I usually share everything I review with him, so I thought this would be something yummy and fun to do together.
The packaging is pretty busy for an American product. (Especially one aimed at adults.) I think that the company was going for a warm Italian kitchen feeling, but it’s just too much. There are too many different colors topped with bold red banners. I think they need to step back and tone it down a little. That would make it appear a little more high end and sophisticated.
When it came to making it, this was super easy to prepare. All you have to do is pour the contents of the bag into a medium sized pot with one cup of milk. Top it off with a lid, heat it up, and you’re good to go.
I love Panera’s Summer Corn Chowder soup. When I worked there, I could easily feed my corn chowder cravings. Now a days my career has evolved and I moved on to teaching, so I have been looking for a recipe to make my own supply, and I may have finally found one! It isn’t 100% perfect, but this is REALLY close to Panera’s seasonal soup!
Like always…I made a few modifications:
My sister and I went out to lunch today, and since I was craving sushi, we decided to go to Mikado. (I actually reviewed this place before and talked a bit about the atmosphere, here’s my last review.)
I ordered:
- 1 Amanda Roll
- Chicken Teriyaki Lunch Box
Mikado has an amazing lunch menu. (Plus you get a LOT for your money.) The “lunch box” special is $9.00 and there are a bunch of options to choose from: curry, sushi, teriyaki, yakitori, and many more. With that, you get a salad, miso soup, a spring roll, 4 California rolls, and white (or brown) rice. I chose the teriyaki style chicken and my sister picked the yakitori chicken. That was plenty of food already, but I HAD to get the Amanda roll. My sister’s name is Amanda, so it was too quirky a coincidence to pass up.
The food was delicious. (I’ve already raved about the ginger carrot salad dressing, so I’ll skip over that.)
I was such a fan of the (imitation) chicken flavor, that I bought another package of Mì Lẩu Thái instant ramen. This time I have the seafood flavor variety.
The packaging is bright and eye catching, just like the other flavor. I love the photo on the front. Even though I know my ramen won’t look anything like that…it makes the soup look spicy and delicious.
I have been making this soup for several years. Although I love Ina Garten’s recipes, I always modify this specific recipe. The first time I made this Mexican chicken soup, it wasn’t very spicy, and it was very tomato heavy.
The changes I make:
- I add corn (usually half a bag of frozen corn)
- I add 4-6 jalapeno peppers (Not 2-4)
- I add almost double the veggies
- I use a little less than half of the required crushed tomatoes
- I add about 4 drops of hot sauce
- I add a teaspoon of chili powder
- I double the cumin to 2 teaspoons
- I add a teaspoon of onion powder
I am actually (mildly) allergic to tomatoes, too much tomato can make me physically sick. That is why I cut the amount of tomato in half. This is also why I eat my pasta with Alfredo, or blush sauce. I may be Italian, but tomatoes and I aren’t friends. (I say I am fail-talian.)
If you’re looking for a different take on chicken soup, give this recipe a try. It’s especially yummy with broken tortilla chips on top. (Which is a GREAT way to use up all the broken chips at the bottom of the bag.)
© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net
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