McCormick Chili Powder

What spices are in chili powder? Glad you asked. Other than the titular pepper, there's (according to McC's website): garlic, cumin, oregano, and salt. And maybe other "spices" left to the reader's imagination. The Q&A person on their website actually did a wonderful job answering the many submitted ingredient Qs (including when someone asked if there was paprika in and they said (paraphrasing): "so. paprika is a chili pepper. and there are chili peppers in here"), thus I know there isn't mustard (yay), and also not mace, or annatto, or corn, or tomato, or gluten. I really do appreciate that they answered the Qs publicly, but like....why not just write the actual spice names on the ingredient list????? My kingdom for transparent ingredient lists. Maybe in the 2030s. 

Anyway, other than mustard, anise, and fenugreek, I'm not really allergic to any "spices", but cumin stresses me because of its past peanut-containing scandalos. So I was worried about this even though I've definitely eaten chili and its powder many times. Naturally, it didn't kill me. Had a darker flavor than spicy - despite not containing onion, it did present with some sort of oniony? garliccy? vibe. I don't know, really. Anyway, I ate this, and you can too. (unless you are allergic to pepper!) 

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 5/10 

Spindrift Lemon Limeade

This is bottom tier spindrift to me (even if top tier colors). I guess 2% juice isn't quite enough % juice to do the job. Or lemon/lime isn't very stimulating. Either way, this is basically: I ordered water at a restaurant and it came with a lemon wedge and I squeezed it in the water. Uninspiring and most of the time I regret doing that and wish I just had water instead. So it goes. 

Overall
Cost: 5/10 
Taste: 5/10 

Primio Taglio Goat Cheese

I managed to go a pretty long time without having to resort to this fancified store-brand goat cheese, but it was the only unflavored option at my grocery this time around. Luckily, it worked out just fine. Melts easy, tastes good, didn't kill me. A little goes a long way, so I hardly ever use the whole 4oz in time. Too pricy for what it is, though. 

Overall
Cost: 4/10 [6$]
Taste: 6/10 

Birds Eye Mexican Street style Corn - Sauced

Another new frozen veg-type product! Granted, I haven't been to Mexico in a while, but I didn't expect this corn to be so Wet. There's a lot of sauce, and let's just say, it's not cotija. But I will admit that compared to yesterday's dill pickle potato, this corn is more successful in implementing its advertised flavor profile. It comes with stove and microwave cooking options, but since the front says "steams in bag" I went for the EZ microwave choice, and maybe that's why it's so soupy. Anyway, there are two types of corn in the ingredos: corn and fire-roasted corn (lol). It's true, about 1/8 of the kernels are browned, although you can't tell to taste it. There's also a good red pepper distribution; it's not too overwhelming but you definitely taste them. The sauce though. I dunno. It's not quite there. It's a parmesan/lime kinda deal, but (like the potatoes!!) I'm getting mainly a vinegar flavor, plus some wet microwave parm cheese sauce vibe. In the end you're getting a lot of corn, which I do like, and it is vaguely cheesy and vaguely limey, so the flavor profile is at least in the right ballpark. If they reduced the sauce by 50% and roasted the peppers and more of the corn, then maybe we'd be in re-buy territory. The reviews for this are very high, but I think there's some artificial inflation due to sampling programs (and I'm outta that game so -- this is THE HONEST TRUTH ABOUT YOUR FROZEN CORN!)

Overall
Cost: 5/10 [3$]
Taste: 6/10 

Special Edition Green Giant Dill Pickle Seasoned Roated Potatoes

It's pickle season, boys! Usually the frozen veg section is immune to limited edition flavors and seasonals, but maybe the jolly green giant is looking to change that. As a veg-desirer, I am very open to the prospect, even if what we're starting with is dill (mid) potatoes (mid). I was so open to it that I paid full price for them, lest they be disappeared before my grocery return. Was it worth it? I mean, no. But that's no surprise. Unfortunately they were worse than even I anticipated - pretty dry, smelling a little like a bad chain restaurant (plasticy vinegary vinyl booth seat vibes), and not really even that pickle flavored (more like citric acid/vinegar/salt flavored). Good texture though, and they look pretty.

It also should be noted for the stats fiends that these have a ton of salt (1.4k mg), but a decent amount of fiber (6g).  

Overall
Cost: 4/10 [4$]
Taste: 5/10

Spindrift Strawberry Lemonade

I'm rebelling against August Pumpkin Time by getting a case of Spindrift Lemonades. They are extremely similar to the non-lemonade spindrifts, but that's OK because I mostly like them all. This one has lemon, lime, and strawberry. The overwhelming flavor is strawberry (and lemon water, but that's just, like, all of them). It is good but not great. Something to imbibe. And I recently learned that all their products are pasteurized, so any OAS fears should be allayed. I am staring down the barrel of the semester and feeling sweaty. But at least I will be staying hydrated!

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10 

Like Air Drizzled Rice Cakes - Cinnamon Bun

More cinnamon! More rice cake! Gotta get these reviews out while I still have time, after all. So, despite being a different flavor, this is really similar to the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough flavor. Same overall buttery/sugary rice cake base. But there's a weird flavor note present in these that I didn't notice in the other ones - like a staple, or a cardboard box. Unpleasant. One other (positive) difference is the drizzle on these is some sort of cream cheese frosting deal instead of choco, and it tastes good and goes with cinnamon. There is also less of it, and it's more transparent, so the meltiness of it is less perturbing. I don't think the frosting is the source of the weird flavor. But then I don't know what is. Too bad. Maybe a bad batch?

One other random complaint: the front of the bag advertises that it is "80 calories for 24 pieces", but a serving is 34 pieces (=120calories). Just change your serving size, you freaks. God, I hate that kind of calorie-counter-pleasing ad copy.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10