Food Finds

There are so many new food and beverage products out there it gets pretty overwhelming.  I love trying new food products and the latest varieties of favorite snacks.  Variety is the spice of life, right?!  Expect to find all kinds of food products from beverages and snacks to more healthier food choices as well.  Here’s a look at some of this month’s food buys and tries.

Winners:

Pillsbury Caramel & Coconut Blondie Mix – Who doesn’t love Girl Scout cookies? And I have to admit, Samoas are my favorites.  When I saw this Blondie mix on sale at the grocery store, I had to try it.  My son actually  made these, with some supervision from me.  The bars were soft with lots of pieces of chocolate, caramel and coconut flakes.  Different and nice for an occasional treat.

Popcornopolis Organic Nearly Naked Popcorn – (popcorn sample provided by Popcornopolis) I am a big popcorn lover and was excited when Popcornopolis sent me their Organic Nearly Naked Popcorn.  The 14-oz. bags are being sold in Costco stores for $5.39 each.  But from April 19 – May 13, they will be specially priced at $3.49.  The popcorn is lightly salted and tastes great.  This has been a favorite family snack!

Sabra Mediterranean Black Bean Dip –  I found this dip next to the hummus at the grocery store.  The texture and taste is very similar to hummus.  The roasted tomato & smoked paprika flavor was tasty and was great for dipping veggies and pretzel thins (basically anything you’d dip in hummus!).  Other flavors in the bean dip line include Mediterranean Red Bean with Sundried Tomato & Basil and Mediterranean White Bean with Spinach & Roasted Garlic.

Snyder’s “Wholey Cheese!” Crispy Baked Crackers (Swiss &  Black Pepper) – These crackers are light, puffed, crunchy squares baked with real cheese.  I found them in the chip aisle, next to the Snyder’s pretzels.   I debated whether to put these crackers on the loser list.  Flavor-wise, these crackers are tasty and fill that salty, crunchy craving.  However, they are super fragile.  I don’t think that we were overly rough with the bag but when we opened it, it was mostly crumbs.  So, very disappointing in that respect.  I’d try these crackers again, but know to be super careful with the bag! Other flavors in the “Wholey Cheese!” line include Mild Cheddar and Smoked Gouda.

Losers:

Alexia Crispy Truffle Fries – I had such high hopes for these fries because truffle fries are my fave.  Unfortunately, these were a big disappointment.  They crisped up nicely in the oven.  However, there was absolutely no noticeable truffle flavor.

Baru Swirly Hot Chocolate Powder – Baru is a Belgian chocolate company.  We were excited to try this chocolate powder, which we received as part of a Christmas gift.  However, we recently tried it and were a bit disappointed.  Believe me, it’s not bad.  However, we weren’t wowed, like we thought we’d be by the chocolate-y taste.  The company makes other chocolate products like chocolate marshmallow bars and chocolate hippos that I’d like to try.  So not giving up on them yet.

Nestle Coffeemate The Cheesecake Factory Strawberry Cheesecake creamer – I am a flavored coffee creamer user.  I love trying new flavors so of course had to try the recently released  The Cheesecake Factory Strawberry Cheesecake flavor.  Let’s just say strawberry is not a flavor that you normally associate with coffee and there’s a reason why.  It just doesn’t go.  It’s unexpected and not necessarily in a good way.  I’m glad I tried it, but will not be buying this flavor anymore.

Tiki Gold (Hazelnut and Coconut Craze) – These chocolate bars come from Trinidad & Tobago. However, I found them in my local Shoprite.  These are wafer bars, similar to the texture of a Kit Kat.  However, the chocolate is “eh” and the coconut and hazelnut flavor tastes artificial (because it is).  If I’m going to eat chocolate, I want it to be good chocolate!

What new food products have you tried recently?

In case you couldn’t tell by my blog name, I love to eat…..and cook.  Some nights both kids have different activities and there’s not a lot of time to cook or sometimes I’m just too tired to feel like cooking (c’mon, tell me I’m not the only one!).  It’s so easy to want to pick up the phone and call for a pizza or some Chinese takeout.  Not only does that get old after awhile (….and expensive!), but it’s also not the healthiest of options.  In the time it would take to call for takeout and wait for it to be cooked and delivered, you can make some of these packaged foods and have dinner on the table in no time.  When I don’t have time or just don’t feel like cooking a homemade, from scratch dinner these are some of our go-to packaged foods:

1.Simply Potatoes – Traditional Mashed Potatoes – My mom first introduced me to these potatoes several years ago when I had my wisdom teeth pulled and couldn’t chew. Well, let me tell you, these potatoes are amazing!  The first ingredients are potatoes, half and half, whole milk, and butter.  These potatoes can be microwaved and ready in about 5 minutes.  I buy these for convenience, so even though you can cook these in the oven or on the stove top we don’t go that route for the sake of speed.  These potatoes are super creamy and delicious.  Both my kids LOVE these.  Even my son who doesn’t usually like mashed potatoes (or maybe MY mashed potatoes!) asks for seconds when we have these.  Simply Potatoes also makes a variety of other types of potatoes including shredded hash browns, potato wedges and even macaroni & cheese.  However, we love the Traditional Mashed Potatoes the best.  These potatoes are found in the refrigerated section of the grocery store and normally retail for approximately $3.99 a package.  They are often on sale though, which is when I usually stock up on them!

2. Dole Chopped Salad Kits – In the past couple of years our kids have become salad fans.  Especially Caesar salad.  And as much as I love salad, I really dislike all of the chopping necessary to make a good salad.  This is where I pick up Dole Chopped Salad Kits or Caesar Salad mix.  I love how everything is already prepared and just has to be put in a bowl and mixed.  Plus, the kids can help mix everything and have become quite the expert “salad makers.”

3. Pierogies –  Growing up in my house, pierogies were a weeknight dinner staple.  While I don’t make these often, I do usually have a couple of packages in the freezer for when we are in need of a quick and easy dinner.  For those that aren’t familiar with pierogies, they are an Eastern European filled dumpling.  The frozen ones that I have found in the supermarket usually contain some type of potato and cheese filling.  However, traditionally, pierogies can be filled with sauerkraut, ground meat, or even fruit.  When I make them, I boil a pot of water, throw the pierogies in, when they float to the top in approximately 5-7 minutes I drain the water and eat them.  When I have extra time, I will saute some onions in a frying pan and then add the pierogies to the pan, after they are boiled, to brown them up a bit and give them some extra flavor.  This is my preferred method of cooking.  If you want to keep the meal vegetarian, you can cook up some veggies or make a salad to go with.  Otherwise, you can heat up some kielbasa to go with the pierogies.   I grew up on Mrs. T’s Pierogies that only came in one flavor, Potato and Cheddar Cheese.  Mrs. T’s now makes a huge variety of pierogies including their newest flavor Mozzarella, Tomato & Basil which we recently tried.  These were great served with marinara sauce!  Pierogies can be found in the freezer section of the grocery store and can range in price based on brand.  I prefer to buy Mrs. T’s Pierogies, and can often buy them on sale for $2.50 a box.  

4. Gorton’s Smart & Crunchy Fish Fillets – We recently tried these new fish fillets from Gorton’s and I was pleasantly surprised.  I baked them for twenty minutes, flipping them half-way and they ended up with a nice crunch.  I like that they have 50% less fat than Gorton’s regular fish fillets.  Pair these with the mashed potatoes and salad kit and you have a meal! I purchased this bag with 8 fillets, on sale for under $5.

5. Store-bought Pizza Dough – Friday night at our house is usually pizza night.  Homemade pizza, that is.  We prefer the frozen pizza dough found in the bakery section of our local Shoprite.  If they don’t have any there we’ll get the refrigerated variety found by the shredded cheese.  Yes, you can make homemade pizza dough, but this store-bought dough is just so cheap and easy to cook!  We defrost the dough the night before in the refrigerator.  Then, a couple of hours before we plan to make the pizza we take it out of the refrigerator.  The dough is a blank canvas for whatever type of pizza we are craving.  The kids usually prefer plain, but my husband and I are always trying out new pizza recipes including Onion, Pear & Gorgonzola Pizza with Balsamic Glaze and Olive Potato Pizza.

What packaged foods make your dinner time easier? 

Here’s a look at some recent food finds that we’ve tried.  I have to admit, most of them are junk food and snacks, as most of these were bought and tried before I decided that I needed to start eating healthier.  Be on the lookout for some “healthier” selections in the next Food Finds post!

three twins organic ice cream:  sea salted caramel – Founded in 2005, three twins ice cream is a California-based ice cream company that uses only certified organic ingredients.  I love all things salted caramel, so when I saw this flavor in the freezer case of my local Shoprite I knew I had to try it.  This ice cream was super creamy and smooth.  It wasn’t overly sweet and had a hint of salty caramel.  The Weekend Chef and I were both fans of this!  Other interesting three twins ice cream flavors include Chocolate Orange Confetti and Dad’s Cardamom. For additional information, check out the three twins site here.

Alpina Café  Selections:  Vanilla Latte yogurt – Oh, how I had high hopes for this yogurt.  This line of Greek yogurts is the first to be infused with real coffee.  The cup of yogurt has 30-50 mg of caffeine, which is equivalent to approximately a half a cup of coffee.  I can’t eat dairy first thing in the morning on an empty stomach, so having this for breakfast was out.  The Weekend Chef and I decided to share it for dessert one night, though I was a bit hesitant, since I can be sensitive to caffeine and didn’t want to be up all night!  Well, after one bite of this yogurt I didn’t need to worry, since I really didn’t like it.  The yogurt itself was creamy and the coffee taste evident.   However, both the Weekend Chef and I found the taste to be bitter and unenjoyable.  There are too many other yogurts that we enjoy out there.  For additional information, check out the Alpina US site here.

Mighty Leaf Chocolate Mint Truffle Tea – I don’t remember where I received a free sample of this tea from.  I much prefer coffee over tea.  However, this tea is caffeine free and was perfect for a recent relaxing night of Netflix viewing.  While I normally add sugar to my tea, I didn’t with my mug of this.  The chocolate and mint flavor was very mild and barely noticeable.  I was hoping for a more pronounced flavor.  For additional information, check out the Mighty Leaf website.

Canada Dry Blackberry Ginger Ale – I have really tried to cut back on my soda consumption.  However, when I see something new I have to give it a try.  We only let the kids drink caffeine free, regular soda on special occasions or when we go out to eat.  They both have started liking ginger ale so we all tried this blackberry ginger ale.  We all liked it, though it had more of a grape taste than a blackberry taste.  I would definitely pick this up again. For more information check out the Canada Dry website.

Lay’s Kettle Cooked Greektown Gyro Potato Chips – Our daughter had us enter the Lay’s flavor contest.  We didn’t win, but these Greektown Gyro flavored chips were a finalist, along with Southern Biscuits and Gravy, New York Reuben, and West Coast Truffle Fries.  So far, we’ve only tried these and weren’t impressed.  They had a weird, lab-dill flavor that wasn’t very appealing.  Definitely not a fave.  Still have some other flavors to try though!

Have you tried any of these?  Do you have any recent food finds that we should try?!

We are always on the look-out for and love trying new food products.  Whether it’s a new flavor of an old favorite or a brand new food product, we are always game for trying and thought we’d share some of our recent eats and reviews!

Sahale Snacks:  Sing Buri Cashews – I found these at Home Goods and was so intrigued I had to buy them!  These came in a 5 ounce bag and cost $2.99.  From the Sahale Snacks website you can purchase a 6 pack of these cashews for $29.65.   The Sahale website describes these snacks as “Lemongrass, soy-glazed cashews, pineapple, peanuts, and sesame seeds, lightly dusted with mild Chinese chili, in an aromatic blend, reminiscent of a great Thai dish.”  With a description like that how could I pass these up?  The cashews were lightly glazed and came in small clusters of cashews, dried pineapple and peanuts.  They had a hint of spice that wasn’t too strong, as both kids ate these.  Each bite packed a mouthful of flavor.  While I’m not a huge fan of lemongrass, the flavor was evident, but not overwhelming.  Our family practically devoured this bag after first opening.  We recommend this snack if you are a cashew lover who enjoys big flavors!  This is one of the more interesting flavors of snacks that we’ve seen and tried.  These cashews are certified gluten-free, kosher and non GMO verified.  For more information, check out the Sahale Snacks site here.

Annie’s Naturals:  Goddess dressing – The Weekend Chef picked this salad dressing up at our local Shoprite.  The description from the Annie’s Naturals websites notes “In the 1920’s, the Palace Hotel in San Francisco honored actor George Arliss, who was opening in a play called “The Green Goddess,” with a salad dressing. But Annie’s Goddess dressing – a creamy tahini and lemon dressing with chives and parsley – is the real showstopper.”  This was not a favorite of mine or the kids, but the Weekend Chef likes it.  It is thick and the tahini flavor is strong, which would probably make for a good dip, as well as a salad dressing.  He likes the short and sweet list of all natural ingredients.  He also thinks it has an Asian flavor to it, which I disagree with.  There are no artificial flavors, no synthetic colors or preservatives and Annie’s Naturals only sources ingredients stated to be GMO free.   For more information, check out the Annie’s Naturals site here.

Haagen-Dazs Artisan Collection:  Tres Leches Brigadeiro – You will see a LOT of ice cream reviews here.  We LOVE the stuff and are always on the look out for new brands and flavors!  While Haagen-Dazs is definitely not a new ice cream brand, their artisan collection is fairly new.   The Weekend Chef picked out the Tres Leches Brigadeiro flavor.  We both found this flavor to be extremely sweet with only a hint of tres leches flavor and didn’t care for it as much as we had hoped.  While we applaud Haagen-Dazs’ attempt at collaboration with Paula Barbosa for this artisan collection flavor, for us, this one sounded much better on the package.  For additional information, check out the official Haagen-Dazs site.

Snyder’s of Hanover:  Parmesan and Garlic Bowties –  These new Bowties from Snyder’s of Hanover come in three flavors – Parmesan and Garlic, which we tried, Original and Everything.  These are flat, crispy pretzels, which are perfect for dipping into hummus or your favorite dip.  Unfortunately, we didn’t have dip or hummus and ate these as is.  The parmesan and garlic flavor was evident but not overpowering.  While the rest of us enjoyed them, our daughter wasn’t a fan.  I think it was the flavoring and if I end up buying these again, I’ll probably buy the original flavor to have with hummus or dip.  These are comparable to Snack Factory’s Pretzel Crisps, though these bowties are thicker and crunchier.  While these retail for $3.49 at our Shoprite, I bought them on sale for $2.50.  Check out the Snyder’s official site for more information.

Chobani Greek Yogurt:  Limited Batch Blended Concord Grape –  You will also be seeing a lot of yogurt reviews here as well.  While I’m not a big yogurt eater, the Weekend Chef and the kids love the stuff!  They are always trying out new yogurts and flavors.  Blended Concord Grape is a limited batch flavor.  Overall, the Weekend Chef enjoys most Chobani yogurts.  However, he was not a fan of this flavor.  He compared the taste of this grape yogurt to sweet Passover wine.  He understands why there has been no marketed grape yogurt to this point.  While the yogurt itself was smooth and creamy, the Grape flavor was a fail.  For more information on this yogurt, check out the official Chobani site.

*Please note, all products mentioned above were purchased by NY Foodie Family.

Stay tuned for next week’s review of other foodie finds!