Dorval Sour Power Belts

A random european candy! Looks safe nut-wise, and more importantly it's just gummy so it's unlikely to be contaminated anyway. I had two different flavor, the Quattro (four colors/flavors) and Watermelon. The quattro one was definitely better; it tasted like a typical sweet sour candy type. I couldn't really tell the four different flavors apart (though I didn't try super hard); it was kind of a generic sweet tape. The watermelon one was weird, it had the same texture but with some sort of off/bad taste in it. Perhaps it was old? But it wasn't expired, so I don't know. Didn't have a strong watermelon flavor either, just odd.

Overall

Cost: 6/10

Taste: 5/10 (6 for quattro, 4 for watermelon)

Miracle Whip

I know there's some Miracle Whip haters out there. Heck, I'm a mild mayo-hater myself. But I grew up with miracle whip (in moderation) and so I really like it where it goes. Here's where it goes: egg salad, deviled eggs, cold turkey sandwiches, sweet bologna sandwiches. I think that's about it. Maybe macaroni or potato salad, but I rarely make those things myself. Anyway, egg salad for me is just a scoop of miracle whip and 2 eggs, and it's great. What else could you want? Of course it's not super healthy, but it adds the perfect flavor to these limited foods. The little zest is so much better than just the tasteless oil blorp that is mayonnaise. I haven't gotten a turkey sub for takeout in a while, but when I do, if they have miracle whip available I like it so much more. For now, the at-home egg-salad has been a great treat for me, since I have tortillas and have gotten eggs in the mail. Praise be to the Miracle whip!

Overall

Cost: 6/10

Taste: 8/10

2017 Zazou Picpoul de Pinet

Ah, a nice wine with a screw top. That's what the people like. This was not bad, a little bit tart for my preference but I had no itchiness or major health repercussions, so I call it a success. Plus, the bottle looks nice. I wasn't familiar with Picpoul until this either, so I learned a new grape! Until I forget it in 10 days anyway.

Overall
Cost: 5/10 (17$)

Taste: 6/10

Stouffer's French Bread Pizza - Cheese

I never buy these myself, because they are single serving and yet only have oven cooking instructions that take like 30min. If I have 30min to cook, I don't want a 300cal frozen french bread pizza. You know? But my boyf is an oven fan and buys these like a weirdo, so I had one. It was fine. The taste was a little bland, the cheese isn't gooey and there's not much sauce, which is a rare complaint for me. Could use seasoning. Could use something. But not bad, I like pizza in general.

Overall

Cost: 6/10

Taste: 6/10

A La Mode Pink Sprinkles Ice Cream Cups

This is jolly good! No spooky soy protein shmallows, just plain pink ice cream (which basically tastes like vanilla; I'm not sure what the pink represents) with lots of sprinkles. The sprinkles are actually mixed throughout, rather than sitting on top, which I've never experienced before but I think I liked it. Lots of sprinkles. Fun. I love ice cream.

Overall

Cost: 3/10

Taste: 8/10

Barilla Angel Hair Pasta

I don't know what it is, but I'm really liking this angel hair pasta. It's very different from other pasta, which is fun. And seasoning and olive oil just make it so much tastier than they do for like, elbows. Plus, it only takes 4 minutes to cook!!! So yeah, that about sums it up. Goes well with zucchini, or brocco, or tomato or pepper or even nothing but itself. A nice delicate meal. Thank you for your sacrifice, angels.

Overall

Cost: 7/10

Taste: 7/10

Twinings English Breakfast Tea - Honey & Vanilla

This tea was fine. I think I prefer to have just their plain English Breakfast tea, without any vanilla flavor (or maybe it's the honey I don't like). Whichever it is, the flavoring tastes artificial and odd. Otherwise it is drinkable, basically just fine. I was never one for tea anyway. At least it is safe!

Overall

Cost: 6/10

Taste: 5/10

Sauder's Cage Free Jumbo Eggs

I am becoming a real egg connoisseur. These eggs are pretty good. They have all the things you want from an egg: no cracks, not poison, no nuts that are involved with them, expiry date on the package, cage-free, taste like egg. They are pretty big too, which I guess is the jumbo part. They had a slightly less plump/bulgy yolk than other eggs did, but this didn't result in any real issues. When scrambled, they didn't taste as good, but I think this is because I am out of butter/margarine. When hard boiled (and not undercooked this time) they were wonderful! And peeled easily, too. Great hard boiled product. I got another carton of these this week and they were in the hot sun for a little too long and I'm not sure if I should eat them, but if I do it will be because they were good before.

Overall

Cost: 6/10 (Less than 3$!)

Taste: 6/10

Ocean Spray Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce

So I will admit, the picture on this can does not look super appealing and is oddly dark. But I do enjoy this whole berry sauce, definitely with turkey 'n the fixins but also on its own for a sad pseudo-holiday for one, too. I had one such event just last week to celebrate my July 14 in Quarantine. The whole berries make the texture a lot more fun than the no-berry type, and the taste is basically the same but maybe a tiny bit tarter/less sweet (although it is still very sweet). This is probably a good 4 portions. I think it is nut free and the antioxidants are probably in there or something. In general this is a nice tasty canned snack.

Overall

Cost: 6/10

Taste: 7/10

Fruit Roll-Ups - Tropical Tie-Dye

This is a very nostalgic food (and flavor)! To be honest, it comes in a pretty annoying format, and never unrolls from the plastic correctly at all. Very sticky. Assumedly safe though. Tastes like sweet elementary school lunch snack.

Overall

Cost: 6/10

Taste: 6/10

Vermont Smoke & Cure - Uncured Pepperoni Turkey Sticks

The company is smoke 'n cure...but this is uncured....so I guess it's smoked? Not sure on these technical details, but this is a good tasting meat stick. It's turkey, which seems healthier, and it's got a nice unique flavor -- really tastes like some spicy pepperoni. A good change of pace after the ham flavored sticks. The only concern I have about these is that a lot of reviews on them say that sticks were moldy or went bad or had air in them or weren't sealed properly, and the pics were pretty scary. I didn't have any issues like that, I don't think, but I did have one that tasted a little "off" (and I ate it anyway, lol) so now I'm a bit concerned. But ignoring that and just based on my experience, this company continues to be a hit for me. The nut-free portable protein is great.

Overall

Cost: 5/10 (Almost 30$ for a case, kind of pricy)

Taste: 7/10

Tostitos Salsa con Queso dip

This is probably the best chip-dipping goo I've had at my home for the duration of this pandemy. It's queso like you remember it from the movies, a little spicy and very salty, but only if you eat it cold! I was worried that having it cold (or tepid) would be dangerous but I think it was fine. Heated up is OK but you lose something somehow in doing this. Less flavor. Anyway, this is certainly terrible for your body but in small quantities I think it's a great treat. There's not really any "salsa" to speak of, it's just queso that's a lil spicy with occasional chunks of pepper (not many). Good stuff.

Overall

Cost: 5/10 (4$ish, kinda pricy for what it is)

Taste: 8/10

Vegan Rob's Brussels Sprout Puffs

OK Vegan Rob (aka Pirate Booty Rob), I like your product, but I hate that it's got no mention of nut allergens when it goes through every other allergen and certification. So frustrating. Even on the website! Anyway, these are nut free, and all the flavors of puff basically taste the same. So there is no real brussels sprout flavor here (and I assume no real veggie-related nutrition either, sadly). The taste is just generic vaguely cheesey (somehow) puffs. It's fine.

Overall

Cost: 5/10

Taste: 6/10

Dubble Bubble Gum

I have a mild hatred for gum (it sounds gross and hurts my jaw!) but this is a Tootsie product so I gotta support that. Also, it has real sugar and not some gross sweetener made of laxative chemicals, which is a big pro. The taste is just normal sweet bubble, the texture was a little bit tough (might have been old gum though), and the ingredients are even listed on the individual gums, which is legit. Nice work.

Overall

Cost: 7/10

Taste: 6/10

Tostitos Original Restaurant Style Tortilla Chips

Nice, some normal tortilla chips for to dip! These are a nice big size, and flat enough to dip into salsa or cheese. That's all I ask from a tortilla chip. Yes, they are bad for you (salty, calorie-y), but this is a huge bag and you shouldn't eat the whole bag at once! A serving is 7 chips which is a little unrealistic for me personally, but 2 servings is fine and dandy. If they sold these in smaller bags that would be awesome for me but I guess bad for earth. Anyway, they stayed crunchy for the week I had them, and went well with my queso dip and salsa dip. Good job, chips!

Overall

Cost: 6/10 (4$ for a big bag)

Taste: 7/10

Barilla Fettuccine

Can't go wrong with a good noodle! I've been eating these all week, with pasta sauce and sometimes peppers. They take a long time to cook (12 min!) but are tasty and easy to fork. The box came pretty beat up in the mail, but I haven't noticed any consequences of that. A more satisfying pasta shape than I anticipated.

Overall

Cost: 6/10 (About 1$)

Taste: 7/10

Prego Traditional Sauce

Alas, this is too much sauce. I think it lasts about a week in the fridge, but this container I got is 15 servings and I am one human girl. I rank waste > overeat in my new covid-body, so I probably won't finish 'er off. But it was decent while it lasted. I was worried because Prego doesn't have a great reputation, this flavor sounds boring, and there's sugar in it and no real veg chunks. But even though all that is true, the taste was OK. It was sweet and a little boring/acidic/unremarkable, and I deeply miss my store-brand mushroom sauce from pre-covid times, but this is definitely tastier than no pasta sauce and it goes nicely with bell pepper. And there are mild occasional tomato(?) pieces mixed it, which are a blessing. Would buy if it were the only option (def better than canned sauce), but prefer other options.

Overall

Cost: 6/10 (About 4.50, but for a huge tub)

Taste: 6/10

A La Mode Partly Cloudy Ice Cream Cups

These are blue and supposedly cotton candy flavored, but lucky the flavor isn't super strong. And there's big chewy marshmallows in here too! This comes with an ineffective plastic color-changing spoon (I mean, it is effective at color changing, but it is not great at scooping since it is flat). I actually like this because it slows down my eating, and this is something I enjoyed more as I ate it! At first I was disappointed in the blue flavor, but it got more vaguely-vanilla-y as it melted, and the shmallows are fun once I knew they wouldn't kill me. Very fun and only 160calos.

Overall

Cost: 3/10 (No idea but probably expensive)

Taste: 8/10

Reginato Sparkling Rosé of Malbec NV

So this is a sparkling rosé malbec, which tells me I still do not understand wine one bit. But I like rosés because they don't smell as strongly, and a sparkler is always exciting. Actually I hate opening them and I hate the waste they create, but the actual product is more fun. I also had some struggles with this leaking in the fridge, even though I put a cork in tightly to re-seal it. Then I couldn't get the cork out and had to pop it in instead of out. A lot of technical difficulties with this 2nd wine in a long time!! I didn't pound it down but I still had a vommy feeling on the 2nd night with it, but maybe just due to a lack of food/water. So this is the very rare wine that I didn't enjoy more with time. Anyway like I said the bubbles are fun, and the taste was pretty pleasant too - it did taste fruity and sweet and a little bit like the smoothie LaCroix mentioned in the wine mag prose. I can't eat sushi so I paired this with .... taco bell. Quarantine and chill!

Overall

Cost: 5/10

Taste: 6/10

A La Mode Speed Bump Ice Cream Bars

Ice cream!!! My kind and risk-taking boyf picked these up at his local Giant. I am still not going to the store, but I went to his house to eat these. :P Ice cream is one of those foods where most brands have a risk of nut contamination but they often won't list it, and since the pandemmy I've gotten even more cautious with what I'm willing to eat, so all the usual brands I love (Ben and Jerry's, mainly) are on the no-go list. But this is a special nut-free ice cream brand that still uses milk like normal humans. No eggs either, but I don't think that really makes a big difference in the taste.

So, these are chocolate covered bars of chocolate ice cream. Chocolate is my least favorite ice cream flavor, but with the mix-ins here it's actually good. The mix ins are white/milk chocolate chips and marshmallows. Now the marshmallows have soy protein, which I usually avoid, but since I wasn't alone I took the risk of eating it anyways and I was fine. So I think it's probably a really small amount. The marshmallows are the biggest mix-in, and they are super chewy which is a fun difference in texture. The white chocolate chips taste great and are nice and firm (another textural fun thing). The milk choco chips are a lot less noticeable but also probably good. This was super fun to eat and not healthy, but only 200 cals and feels like a decent size! What a fun treat!!!

Overall

Cost: 2/10 (IDK about in stores, but it's very expensive to ship online, like 20$)

Taste: 8/10 (If it were vanilla ice cream, would be 10/10)