My PC is back from the dead!

Welp, my PC died Thursday night, and it took me (and my amazing friend Anthony who is a technological angel) all weekend to get it back up and running. It started with my CPU fan dying and turned into a whole mess of problems. Fun times. 

Now that my PC (I named her Synergy, get the reference?) is back from the dead I'm writing up reviews to get things back on track, but in the meantime, you can see what I ate this weekend by visiting my Instagram page, @SometimesFoodie. 

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

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Sometimes Foodie is on TUMBLR: $6 Asparagus water?

I started Sometimes Foodie over on tumblr 3+ years ago, and it's still going strong!

This page on blogger is where I only post my original content and reviews, but my tumblr has all of that, plus food related links, GIFs, and news. Like this horribly failed attempt at stealing $6.00 from consumers for water with three stalks of asparagus in it.

If you're into food porn and fun food-related content, click this to follow me on tumblr! 

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

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

Good & Delish Dark & Sinful Pear & Almond - Walgreen's: Pennsauken, NJ

Good & Delish Dark & Sinful Pear & Almond  - Walgreen's: Pennsauken, NJ

If you've listened to our most recent Candyology101 podcast, you'll recognize this bar from my rants and ramblings about store-branded candy. Way back in July, I bought and reviewed THIS pear and almond bar from whole foods, which was a store-branded item, and I thought it was really delicious. Even though I liked it a lot, I rarely shop at Whole Foods because things can get pretty expensive, and it's a bit out of my way, so I hadn't had another bar since.

Flash forward to winter's ever awesome cold and flu season. I was at Walgreens picking up my cold medication and I noticed the same flavor combination was being offered in their Good & Delish candy bar line. Could these be the same bars? The Walgreen's version was really affordable, and I figured I deserved a little treat since I was sick, so I picked it up. Oddly enough we decided that our theme for the most recent podcast would be store brands, so this worked out awesomely. I know I already talked about it in the podcast, but I figured this item was worthy of it's own post.

Belvoir Fruit Farms Beverages - Whole Foods: Marlton, NJ (Photo Heavy)

Belvoir Fruit Farms Beverages - Whole Foods: Marlton, NJ

It's been a really long time since I've been to Whole Foods, in fact, I actually bought these and photographed them while ago, I just never got around to typing up the review. (So don't let that 2014 expiration date scare you.) I drank these back in November and wrote down some notes, now I'm finally getting off my lazy butt and typing it all up. This is going to be PHOTO HEAVY, so you've been warned.

Endangered Species Chocolate - Dark Chocolate w/Cacao Nibs -Whole Foods (What's Fair Trade?)

Endangered Species Chocolate - Dark Chocolate w/Cacao Nibs -Whole Foods

Now, this is a food blog, so I try my best to stay on topic and discuss foodie things, but every once and a while a food item touches on a little something else. In this case, 10% of the profits from this candy bar goes towards the conservation of various endangered species. I won't get all preachy on you (don't worry), I just wanted to say that I love all creatures big and small, but bats in particular hold a special place in my heart. I don't have any grand story to explain my love of bats, to be honest I have no idea what in particular attracted me to them in the first place, but I just adore them. How can I combine my love of bats and my love of food? With a bat-benefiting candy bar of course!

Dark Chocolate Pear & Almond Bar - Whole Foods: Marlton, NJ

Dark Chocolate Pear & Almond Bar - Whole Foods: Marlton, NJ

Unlike my last post, this was a food item that I was really looking forward to.

Pears are one of my favorite fruits and it's very rare to see them used in American candies, let alone mixed up in a dark chocolate bar. (Which is my favorite type of chocolate. The darker the better!)  Even though all of the the ingredients sounded really appealing, my track record with items from Whole Foods has been very hit or miss. Maybe this item will tip the scales in their favor?

Motto- Whole Foods: Marlton, NJ

Motto- Whole Foods: Marlton, NJ

Time for another green tea item, and this time it's carbonated! Looking back at my older reviews I haven't had much luck with beverages from Whole Foods, but I am hoping that this one will be different. Carbonated green tea? That has to be good, right?

Food Truck Festival - Whole Foods: Cherry Hill, NJ (Photo HEAVY)

Food Truck Festival - Whole Foods: Cherry Hill, NJ

Last Thursday I stopped by the Food Truck Festival celebrating the new Whole Foods that's being built in my area. Sadly the weather wasn't ideal, it had been raining all morning, so only three trucks participated in the festival, but I still got some yummy food and interesting photos!

Bee's Water (Lemon) - Whole Foods: Mt Laurel, NJ

Bee's Water (Lemon) - Whole Foods: Mt Laurel, NJ

Sorry for the breif and unplanned hiatus this weekend. My boyfriend is going out of state for two weeks, so I took the weekend off to spend some time together before he leaves. (Sorry about the lack of posts.)

Anyway, I'm back with another Whole Foods beverage review. I originally went to Whole Foods to get fresh salmon for my upcoming sushi bowl post, but I couldn't resist a trip down the beverage aisle. (I picked up another bottle of Jin-+Ja while I was there too!)

This time it's one of my favorite flavor combinations, honey and lemon!

Nature's Pure Organic Cherry Jubilee Cola - Whole Foods: Mt Laurel, NJ

Nature's Pure Organic Cherry Jubilee Cola - Whole Foods: Mt Laurel, NJ

I reviewed the Vanilla version a while ago, and I really wanted to like it, but I didn't. In fact, the botanical and medicine-like taste is what made me put off reviewing another flavor in this line for so long.

It's safe to say that I am not going into this soda review with high hopes, but I also don't like wasting food or money. So let's get this post started!

Nature's Pure Organic French Vanilla Cola - Whole Foods: Mt Laurel, NJ

Nature's Pure Organic French Vanilla Cola - Whole Foods: Mt Laurel, NJ

I've eaten out twice this week and, as EmmymadeinJapan would say, "my gut is officially busted." I love restaurant week, but these portions are so big! (Although they better be big if you're spending the big bucks.) To offset my oncoming food coma, I'm going to review a few different beverages this week. I have a few sodas and juices that I've been meaning to get to, so today we'll be looking at another fancy beverage from Whole Foods.

Chamane Coffee Energy Drink - Whole Foods: Mt Laurel, NJ

Chamane Coffee Energy Drink - Whole Foods: Mt Laurel, NJ

Time for another Whole Foods beverage review! This time I have something that I found very graphically interesting, but off putting flavor-wise. Chamane, pronounced Sha-man, is made with two things that I very rarely enjoy.

Carolina Honey Argo Tea - Whole Foods: Mt Laurel, NJ

Carolina Honey Argo Tea - Whole Foods: Mt Laurel, NJ

Remember how I used to complain about my local Whole Foods being in a really inconvenient location? Well I started my new job last week, and now I drive past it every day. This means I can grab some interesting items to review in the near future and it'll actually be convenient. (Any suggestions on items I should review?) Last week I tried to pick up a new bottle of the 100% Raw Tea, but it was nowhere to be found. (I hope Whole Foods didn't stop carrying it. It was a really interesting product.) Since I was there anyway, I decided to grab another fancy tea to review.

Jin + Ja - Whole Foods: Mt Laurel, NJ

Jin + Ja - Whole Foods: Mt Laurel, NJ

This is the last beverage I picked up at Whole Foods and, since I don't get up there too often, I'm not sure when I'll be picking up a new 100% Raw Tea to re-review. (It's a really inconvenient location, but I'm still interested in the product.)

As for this beverage, I like ginger, but only in small doses. So, why did I buy a ginger-based drink? Needless to say, the little award sticker suckered me in. Apparently this won Cold Beverage of the Year! (Which I honestly didn't know that was a thing. Is that a thing? Does that make me a bad foodie?) Ultimately I wanted to see what an award winning beverage tasted like, so I picked up a bottle. Although, the packaging also won me over.

This curvy bottle is pretty small, about the size of a classic Coke bottle, and it's made of clear glass. There's no texture or engraving on the glass itself and all of the design work has been printed on clear labels. I really like the bold logo and subtle swirls that decorate the bottle, but the bottle's neck seems a little empty. If it wasn't for the award winning sticker, the deign might look a little sparse and unfinished. Is there normally a design that goes up there? I tried looking for information online but there was very little to be found. 

Other than the official site and Bevnet, I couldn't find any product reviews, so I might be one of the first foodies to do so. (Boldly going where no blogger has gone before.)

100% Raw Tea - Whole Foods: Mt Laurel, NJ

100% Raw Tea - Whole Foods: Mt Laurel, NJ

I have been feeling sick this whole week, and what is better to battle a cold than tea?

To be honest, I picked this up because I am obsessed with Laura Miller. She is a cook, and Youtube personality, who creates recipes that adhere to a raw diet. The raw food movement is something that has been popularized as of late, but it has been around for quite a long time. I really like the concept, but I could never fully commit to such a lifestyle. (I like cheeseburgers and all sorts of cooked foods way too much.) However, I do like her recipes and I plan on making some (and reviewing them) in the near future. 

In the meantime, I saw the word "raw" on this bottle of tea and thought it was worth checking out. Like all raw foods, this was created without heat. (Although raw foods can use very low heat, 110 degrees F or below.) These tea leaves were picked and blended up in chilled water. Sounds like an interesting concept, and I'm excited to see how this tastes.

The design is really bold and eye catching, and I love the earthy color palette, but turn the bottle around you're hit with a wall of text. So the packaging is a bit wordy, but that can be a good thing. I can see myself reading this during a lunch break, a bus ride, or as I sit here writing this review. It looks busy, but it is informative and pretty interesting. Everything from the tea's story, to the raw diet, to packaging is discussed. I like it.

Victoria's Kitchen Sweet Almond Water - Whole Foods: Mt Laurel, NJ

Victoria's Kitchen Sweet Almond Water - Whole Foods: Mt Laurel, NJ

Return of the black background! Some of you might recognize this bottle from yesterday's video.

I don't shop at Whole Foods. It's not that I'm opposed to the company, or organic foods, it's just really inconvenient. The closest location is on a very busy highway filled with traffic (and the parking lot is a deathtrap). Driving all that way just doesn't make sense when I have 6 different grocery stores close to home with organic options. (Some are even walking distance.) So when I went to Whole Foods for a lunch date I took advantage of the situation and explored the entire store.
There weren't any food items that caught my eye. (Although I did find more flavors of Brad's RAW Kale chips!)I feel like a lot of the foods I have been reviewing lately have been mediocre, and I really wanted to try something new and different, so I picked up a few beverages that I had never seen before. One of them was this Sweet Almond Water.

Sweet is the perfect way to describe this design. Just look at it! The product looks simple, inviting, and a bit rustic.

Talking to a Camera is Weird: Mini Haul Video

I got a fancy new video camera!

I'm no expert, I obviously need to play with the white balance, but I can make much sharper videos now. (Yay!)

Check out the video above to see a little haul of the items that will be reviewed later this week.

Organic Milk -VS- Grocery Store Milk

Trickling Springs Organic Milk - Whole Foods: Mt Laurel, NJ

Whoa! Black background is black. As you can see, I finally had to switch my white background out for a black one. (Or else none of you could see this product.) The black creates a bold and graphic look, which I like, but I also feel like it makes the food look dark and gloomy. I think I'll stick with the white background and use the black when I have to.

This post is a little bit different than my typical reviews. Normally I find items I have never had before, taste them, and review their packaging. Well, I think most of you know what this is, it's just a bottle of cow's milk. I have been drinking cow's milk since I was a toddler, so this is nothing new, but it is a bit different than what I'm used to.  

I usually buy the big, generic, plastic jug of milk from the grocery store, but what we have here is a beautiful glass bottle filled with organic milk from grass fed cows. The milk I traditionally buy at the grocery store doesn't boast that it's organic or grassfed, and I very much doubt it is, so I was wondering if this would really taste any different.

Time for a milk-based experiment. 

Does organic milk taste any different from grocery store brand milk?

(I'm utterly excited to find out. I'm sorry.)

Pure Honey - Mill Creek Apiary: Medford Lakes, NJ

Pure Honey - Mill Creek Apiary: Medford Lakes, NJ

To kick off the new year I wanted to photograph something that was really beautiful, and what's prettier than honeycomb?

I absolutely love honey, but that fake, syrupy nonsense that comes in a plastic bear just won't cut it for me. I need the good stuff. I usually buy jars of organic, unprocessed, honey, but my boyfriend totally one-upped me. He picked up this beautiful package of local honey and it includes a HUGE chunk of honeycomb! (I think he might of picked it up at Whole Foods, but I'm not sure.)

This slab of honeycomb is so beautiful that it doesn't need any fancy packaging. The clear plastic container works just fine. Although, I will say that the product sticker is in need of a major makeover. The label looks like the generic mailing address stickers you can order out of catalogs. When compared to some of the more trendy packaged honey products, this could easily be overlooked.