Dunkin' Pumpkin Munchkin Creamer

A lot of people (online) talk about how coffee creamer is a major trigger for migraine/vertigo/etc, and I definitely have felt terrible after I consume it, but I don't know if that's fully Biological or fully Psychological, even though I'm trying really hard to be scientific about the whole enterprise (of my agonies). A tragic thing about living alone is that I have no one I trust to set up little masked studies for me! Anyway, the blessing in disguise is that this contains 63 servings but goes bad after 7 days, so I only sampled it a few (=7) times and now I can go back to my biological and/or psychological baseline. I can also feed the neighborhood mammals a lot of janky expired creamer; happy holidays kitten and squirrelfriends.

The flavor isn't even that good, or at least, it isn't good enough to vom because of. I don't usually get cream in my coffee regardless, possibly for vom-based reasons below my past level of awareness, and so this just adds a non-coffee note that I don't need. It turns coffees into desserts, I guess. I do like desserts, but there are many more delicious dessert options. It sinks to the bottom of the cup and so you just get vaguely tangy sweet-ish flavors until you get a sudden burst of "dunkin spice", which if you get a lot of Dunkin products you'll know what I mean. It's not super duper artificial, but it's a bit "off", a bit nutmeggy, sweet and creamy, sure, but not only. I don't know if I've ever had a pumpkin munchkin, but I've had their munchkins and their pumpkin donuts and I would say this is a pale imitation, as if someone sneezed over the pumpkin donut powder and it fell into a vat of expired creamer mixed with a cinnamon flavor shot. 

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10
Doesmyhousesuddenlysmelllikegarbageorisitjustmybrain: 10/10

Pirate's Booty Cheddar Blast!

Whew. This has been a really rough week for me (not health-wise, actually, just work-wise) so I didn't have time to cook any food; I could only eat this entire bag of mediocre snack product. And now, review it. It is mediocre. Although they claim there is a Cheddar Blast!, I perceived no cheddar presence (which is good 'cause I'm not supposed to eat cheese). Airy gritty small plump puffs, they are a fine substance but not a pleasurable one. If you yearn for Star Trek food, check this out.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

Quaker Oats (Quick 1-Minute Version)

I can't believe I didn't review this yet. Back in my peak medication-induced misery (August '24) my diet was essentially just chicken, rice, brocco, and sad, sad oats. These are said sad oats. They aren't even normie oats, because they cook in 1 minute and 44 seconds (yes, "1 minute oats" is a super misleading name!!) and are consequently hella mushy. But I was in such a bad state I couldn't even go to the store, so these are what got bought for me. And I was grateful! (Well, maybe not, hehe. But let the record show that I now am retroactively grateful!) 

The convenience is good, and the nutrition is fair. You can add toppings, in theory, like butter, cinnamon, sugar, fruit. But even so, the taste is not good. It is not BAD, it is simply not good. When people talk about "slop", I say I think of the big brother slop, but I actually think of these oats. That being said, it is a pantry staple that is smart to have on hand, since it is much quicker than rice/noodle/chicken. When I am done with this cylinder I will probably switch to a less "quick" version, though, however that works. (My oat knowledge is pretty minimal....for now.)

Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 6/10

Green Giant Riced Veggies - Cauliflower

Where Green Giant Riced Veggies go, I will follow. But I actually got this to put in a pear smoothie (which I agree, sounds gross), where it did what it was supposed to do, I think. Then I ate the leftovers as god intended (riced). So I had occasion to notice that the bag has a ziploc closure, which is nice since it isn't really a large portion. I also made the extra on the stove for the first time, which was fine. Maybe a bit less soggy, which is good, plus you can throw some fresh garlic in there. The taste is, of course, mild cauliflower, which is pleasant. Shockingly my main complaint is that this is too few calories (60)!

Overall
Cost: 5/10 [3$]
Taste: 6/10

De Lallo Spaghetti

This was actually quite enjoyable. A good cook time (solid 9 minutes, no gumminess), a good bite, pleasant. Even without spagbol I can enjoy a nice spag bowl. 

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 7/10

Haribo Goldbears - Wild Berry

I can't buy a little treat every time a new stressor emerges, because then I'd have infinite little treats and therefore no little treats. But if there's like, 50 new ones and I'm about to go to the store, I feel it's fair game. Plus this is a new flavor. Gotta check it out for the people.

Wild Cherry: Pink is a weird color for cherry. This tastes a lot like plastic and weird gummy. I'm out on Wild Cherry Haribo. 5/10

Raspberry: Tastes a bit like a cough drop. I'm out on Raspberry Haribo. 5/10

Blueberry: OK. Blue is a reasonable color for blueberry. 6/10

Blackberry: This one isn't great either. In fact I assumed it was grape, even though grape is not a wildberry (although it would be a wild berry). 5/10

Strawberry: This is pretty good. Better than strawberry usually is. 6/10 

Hmm. Maybe I'm just in a cranky mood. But at the same time, these are super firm, not very flavorful, and a little plasticcy. So maybe Haribo is to blame instead.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 5/10

Kettle Brand Spicy Pimento Cheese Chips

No, these are not on the approved list. No, I don't care!!!! 

Now that we got that out of the way. These really are spicy. I like a spicy snack. Good burn. The rest of the flavor is kind of "curdley cheese (aged)" and I don't care for it. Maybe it's because I was expecting Kraft Pimento Cheese Spread vibes and I'm getting spicy cat litter vibes, but if there were no spice they would be just no good. Luckily the spice is the extremely predominant note. Also, the brand is nut free and proud, and there have been a lot of high profile (allergy) deaths lately so I'm extra appreciative of that this month. 

 

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10