Archive for the ‘Food’ Category
Jun 7
Last week I decided to branch out and try a few new Hot Pocket flavors. I don’t do this often since with microwave things like this, it’s really hit or miss.
I was pleasantly surprised at how enjoyable the Cheeseburger Hot Pockets were! To me, they tasted like a Krystal burger. That’s probably the best description I can give you to get an idea of whether or not you might enjoy them.
I was super-hungry so I went ahead and ate the second one as well. I didn’t enjoy it quite as much–I can’t say for sure whether it was because I wasn’t as hungry or because there seemed to be more chunks of onions in the second one (I have a thing about onions when they contrast so obviously against the texture of the rest of the meal). Either way it was still pretty good.
These won’t make it to my regular Hot Pocket buys, but I’ll definitely have them again. They’ve got my picky eater seal of approval.
Jun 3
You may recall a few months back I gave Oreo Cakesters a try; sadly, they just didn’t do it for me! Within the last week or so, I caught a commercial advertising Nilla Cakesters. I had a feeling Nilla Wafers might fare better in this cake-like confection, and I was right!
I spotted them last night in our late-night sync cable excursion and snatched up a box. I think Heaven exploded in my mouth on the first bite! I’m strongly reminded of cupcakes while eating these–only, much batter cupcakes because the ratio of cake to icing is perfection!
I strongly recommend giving these a try! I love eating away the top layer, enjoying the cream filling, and then finishing off the final cookie/cake bit, but it’s just as tasty to eat the whole thing as-is! I’m torn as to which is the more satisfying method; you’ll have to try them for yourself and weigh-in!
May 27
Tonight I made my third trip to Chili’s. Three trips and I’ve yet to fall in love with Chili’s the way everyone else does. In fact, everything I’ve ever eaten at Chili’s I’ve thought, “Restaurant X has this same thing, only better.”
I started out risky. I tried Cajun Chicken Pasta, which was a stretch for me, but it tasted horrible! I gave them that one since I was taking a chance in trying it. Last time we had an Awesome Blossom, which severely lacked Awesome 
And I also had a bacon cheeseburger that just fell flat….I was trying to stick to something simpler and give them a chance to impress me…no good! There was no flavor whatsoever to that burger. So disappointing.
Last night I went as restaurant-basic as I could think to get. We had their Skillet Queso for a Starter and well, that just made me want to go to Moe’s for decent queso. For my meal I had a sirloin and loaded mashed potatoes. I enjoyed the potatoes, they were yummy, but I’d have much rather had the white cheddar mashed potatoes from Ruby Tuesday. My steak…well I didn’t eat very much of that at all. On top of being cooked nowhere near the way I asked for it, it was flavorless and seemed like it had been marinated in water. There IS such a thing as too juicy!
I haven’t completely given up yet. I signed up for a $5 coupon, so I’ll try once more eventually. Anyone have any suggestions? I’m running out of ideas of what to try on that menu to finally be able to say I enjoyed Chili’s!
May 10
Better Crocker Complete Meals are by far my favorite quick meal to cook. They have everything in the box, including the meat! I go for the Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo and the Three Cheese Chicken. They come packed with a can of Progresso chicken, which is top of the line when it comes to any sort of canned meat.
All you do is mix the ingredients in a small casserole dish, cover with tin foil, and put in the oven for about 30 minutes! Most come with alternate directions for the skillet or microwave, but I prefer this set it and forget it method. I usually just set a timer and head back to whatever else has been occupying my time!
I think they currently have 5 meals to choose from:
- Cheesy Beef Taco
- Chicken & Buttermilk Biscuits
- Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo
- Stroganoff
- Three Cheese Chicken
I definitely recommend giving them a shot!
May 4
In my quest to eat healthier, and cheaper I discovered these tilapia fillets at Wal Mart. I’m starting to really love fish!
I generally thaw two fillets by just leaving them in the sink with a little water for about 15 minutes. Then I sprinkle them with a little lime juice or cheap cooking wine (you can skip this step, I just do it to open it up a little and let the marinade soak in quicker) and then cover it in a good marinade to sit in the fridge for 20+ minutes–you can experiment with different types of salad dressing and such, but to get you started, I’ve found that soy sauce makes a good marinade and teriyaki sauce as well. I especially love the sweet flavor teriyaki sauce gives it. I don’t like teriyaki at all, but it give the fillets an amazing flavor! Then I just throw them on the Foreman while I make rice or mac n cheese or something for a side dish! Viola!
It something so yummy I actually crave it often! Which is great since there are 16-18 fillets in the box in my freezer right now!
Apr 14
This is one of those posts where I don’t have any real ‘review’ type things to say…I just wanna gush about how much I love Vanilla Coke.
I remember last March when Ryan, his mom and I all went to the Coke Pavilion I was so excited to drink Vanilla Coke again in the sampling area. You can’t imagine my excitement when I saw it back on the shelves just a few months later! It’s been back for about a year now, actually, and at least once a month I have to grab a case for my fridge. No one ever gets any of my Vanilla Coke. I’m absolutely stingy about it. I need to research and see if I can find it in a glass bottle…I bet that’d be sex in a bottle.
Jan 15
Oreo Cakesters are snack cakes. Oreo ‘cake’ on the outside, with a cream filling a’ la Oreos.
A week or two ago, Melony had some at work and let me try one. I decided to wait until I’d bought some of my own to form my opinion.
Last night, I saw a little 3-pack in the checkout line, so I grabbed ‘em.
My opinion was the same. The cake part gives off a sort of stale flavor. This is after trying them twice, so I don’t feel like I ended up with stale ones. They also remind me of another snack cake that’s already out, and been out for a long time, I just couldn’t put my finger on which one it was.
Now, for the second one, I decided to peel off the top and try just the cream filling—the cream filling is actually top-notch! I really like the filling a lot, and would love to see them sell it separately–similar to marshmallow cream.
Overall, I’d say they’re worth a try. The filling is incredible, so maybe you’ll get lucky and the cake won’t taste stale to you. Maybe I’m just weird!
Jan 3
If you’re a cheese freak like me, you noticed the change in Velveeta Shells and Cheese 3-4 years ago. It was enough of a change that I stopped eating it. It was a sad time.
After a while, I really started craving it, so I decided to try some things out. I bought a box ‘with bacon’ to try out. I figured maybe the bacon would distract me enough from the flavor….just enough to satisfy me.
What I found was that the cheese used in this variety, is much closer to the original velveeta flavor. So close that, I buy it on a regular basis.
So that’s just a little tip for those of you who also miss the old Velveeta flavor.
I’m not sure how flavors differ just in different packaging types, but I think you’ve all experienced that once or twice.
Nov 6
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I love all things cheese. Well, except, oddly enough, most cheesecakes. I’m really picky about my cheese as well, and generally lean towards the Kraft brand when it comes to my own cooking. There’s no quicker way to get on my bad restaurant list than to mess up macaroni and cheese. I think there are currently 3 restaurants in town I won’t dine at because they use really crappy cheese. Bleh!
I’ve found a new love for my sandwiches!
Kraft Select singles are absolutely yummy! I picked up a package one evening when they were out of my normal singles and I was absolutely satisfied! They have a much richer taste than normal singles.
Shortly before trying these, my neighbor, Josh, was talking about how he’s not a big fan of processed cheese (such as Kraft singles) so after I had thoroughly tried out this new cheese, I took him a slice to try. He’s not wasting anymore extra money on fresh, deli cheese. I’ve made him a believer in Kraft as well!
I haven’t tried it with bologna, or any really basic flavors in the sandwich meat department, but I have a feeling it’d still be good, but maybe a lesser cheese would be preferable in those cases. I find that stronger cheeses like this one sometimes overpower the lesser flavors in sandwich meats. This is incredible with smoked honey turkey though! And it’s perfect with Ritz crackers–this has become my ’snack’ lately. I’m trying really hard to stay away from normal junk food.
Oct 27
Generally speaking, I’m not a huge fan of ice cream. I like it plenty, and I won’t hesitate to dig in, but it’s not something that goes through my mind when I’m craving something.
Lately though, I’ve been on a huge ice cream kick, and I believe I’ve settled on my flavor. Rocky Road does it for me.
As for pre-packaged, I’ve gone through a number of brands, and the one that really stands out for me is Haagen Dazs. Why? It’s all about the marshmallow cream. That’s right, no puffy little marshmallows here, they break out the big dogs! They use almonds, which is a huge plus in my book, but they definitely use too many. I’d like to see them be a little more consistent with the amount of marshmallow cream they use, and a little less overindulgent with the almonds.
Edy’s brings in a close second with their incredibly gooey marshmallows. They also use almonds, but I don’t feel like they overdo it. If I remember correctly, they use marshmallows that are a little larger than average, and almost as gooey as the cream. Mmm.
We have a Marble Slab here in town; you may have one under the name Coldstone, or maybe something entirely different. They mix your ice cream and ingredients freshly, right there in front of you. This is a whole new game.
I’m working on perfecting my personal Rocky Road. Their basic is chocolate ice cream, crushed pecans, marshmallows and chocolate chips. For certain–mine has to be in a waffle bowl. [For those not familiar, this is a waffle cone, only it’s shaped to fit inside a small bowl–they’re much easier to eat, as you can just squeeze your little plastic bowl and viola, it’s broken up and easier to mix in with your ice cream!] Last time the only adjustment I made was to lay off the nuts. That was so close to perfection! The only problem is that the chocolate chips are too sweet for the ice cream. They overpower it, and there are too many. I believe next time I’m going to substitute in the chocolate sprinkles. [This will probably be sometime today since I now have Rocky Road on the brain…] Sometime in the near future, I want to also try adding in just a touch of the shaved almonds they have. Part of me feels they’d be perfect proportion-wise, but at the same time, with them being so thin, I can see them being overpowered. Only one way to find out though!
I think it’s safe to say that whether I’m going with fresh, or something pre-mixed, it’s the chocolate ice cream/marshmallow combo that really gets me.
Something about a s’mores ice cream caught my eye while looking things up, as I’ve also considered using graham cracker crumbles in place of the nuts, but generally, graham cracker crumbles end up being stale. So far though, I haven’t been able to find this ice cream. If anyone knows anything about it, give me a heads up!
