Grilled Cheese & Tomato Soup Cheese Curls

Herr's Grilled Cheese & Tomato Soup Curls - Ollie's Bargain Outlet $1.89

Just like mom used to make. Well, not my mom, but maybe yours? We weren't a big tomato soup family, but that's something we'll get into later. 

Today's post is another foray into stuff that's supposed to taste like other stuff, brought to you by Herr's and Ollie's Bargain Outlet. Good Stuff Cheap! (#notsponsored) 

Of all the things I picked up at Ollie's (which included blue cotton candy flavored corn puffs), this was the product I was most skeptical of. I bought it anyway, because it was cheap, and there was an odd satisfaction in knowing I got the whole full set of wacky Herr's products. Well, all the ones sold at Ollie's anyway. They're are more flavors available than what you've seen on the blog, but those aren't on sale for a $1.89, so they'll have to wait.

As I put the Grilled Cheese bag into my cart, I cringed. It isn't the grilled cheese aspect of this flavor that's making me hesitant, it's the tomato soup part.

Lay's BLT Chips - Walmart

Lay's BLT Chips - Walmart

The new Do Us A Flavor finalists have been announced and all three options have left me cold. I normally try to keep a pretty open mind, but all three flavors feel a little too safe, and honestly...boring. Unless one of the new flavors happen to fall right into my lap, I doubt I'll be reviewing them, but when I was at Walmart the other day I spotted this smaller, snack-sized, baggie of the Limited Time flavor BLT chips in the checkout lane. These sound more interesting than the finalists, and they're a convenient snacking size, so why not check them out?

Ruffles All Dressed - Wegman's

Ruffles All Dressed - Wegman's

All dressed? What does that even mean? Whatever it is, it's being advertised as the #1 flavor of crisp in Canada.

According to the internet (know-er of all things foody), All Dressed is a melange of ingredients that include tomato, salt, vinegar, onion, sour cream, barbecue, a sprinkle of this and a sprinkle of that. It's the “everything bagel” of Canada.

Sounds pretty good to me! Okay Canada, I'm sold. Let's give this a try!

Pumpkin Chipotle Pasta Sauce - Aldi: Cherry Hill, NJ

Pumpkin Chipotle Pasta Sauce - Aldi: Cherry Hill, NJ

I've mentioned this in a lot of reviews, but I usually can't eat tomato sauce. I say it's because I'm allergic, which is not entirely true, but it's just the easiest way for me to explain things. Really, the problem isn't so much tomatoes themselves, as their acidity. I can have any other acidic food, but those little red suckers tear my stomach apart and make me puke my guts out. I come from an Italian family, so this can be a problem. (I call myself Fail-talian.) After a while, heavy cream and garlic sauces can get boring, so I'm always looking for alternatives, and I thought maybe this could possibly work. (Plus, it's pumpkin!) So let's see if this pasta sauce can survive my stomach.

Potato Wish Chips (Tomato flavored) - ??? : Chinatown, Philadelphia, PA

I am a slave to good package design. I bought these tomato flavored chips even though I am mildly allergic to tomatoes!

What do I mean by mildly allergic? My throat doesn’t swell up, but my stomach will hurt and I may or may not throw up. It all depends on the acidity levels and the amount I have eaten.

Two handy packs.

The product concept isn’t new, I mean these are simply more sophisticated looking Pringles, but the overall packaging is really well thought out.

First of all the colors really stand out on the grocery shelves. This package is able to pull off green and red designs without making me think of Christmas, and the photograph of the product is very appealing.

The container is a tall, irregularly shaped, cardboard box that contains 2 individually packaged stacks of baked potato chips. That means you can easily split this into two portions or toss a pouch of these into your lunch. Beautiful AND handy. I love it!

When I opened the first pouch I was actually a little horrified. The chips look absolutely delicious, but they smell like canned Spaghetti O’s. That is like poison to me. I could never eat them as a kid because I would very likely throw up, and these chips smell just like them. It’s that sweet, ketchup-y, canned tomato sauce smell.

Urg…

 I am not looking forward to this taste test.

Nice thick cut chips. Too bad they smell like tomato poison.

Well, I grabbed a chip and popped it into my mouth. Thank goodness these aren’t as strongly flavored as they are scented.

The chips are pretty thick, so they have a really satisfying crunch, and only once side is seasoned. The unseasoned side tastes like a normal, thick cut, potato chip, but the other side tastes like canned zesty pasta sauce smeared onto a chip.
This was NOT the most appealing flavor for me, but I like the concept and the packaging.

I will be buying more of these chips, but not in this flavor. I just can’t handle the tomato-y taste.

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

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