Tootsie Pops

I am sick, so right now these sound terrible, but these are a classic candy and nut free too! They're actually quite good, and every flavor is decent, although I think I like the reds the best. Maybe orange is the worst, but still OK. The tootsie roll inside is kind of weird, but it's certainly better than gum (i.e. blow pops) because you can swallow it! Anyway, for a lolly, these are great.

Caramel: My mom got me a whole bag of caramel flavored tootsie pops for Christmas because she heard me mention the caramel apple pop once and got confused! Poor sweet mom. Sadly, I don't like the caramel flavor as much as the "traditional" flavors, but it isn't bad. A nice caramelly taste, but kind of marred by the underlying tootsie roll. Texture is also odd for caramel which I want to chew. But it's OK. 6/10

Overall
Cost: 9/10
Taste: 7/10

2017 Hidden Vineyards Zweigelt

Classic red wine. Honestly, I'm starting to think they really are all the same: volatile from moment to moment, but in exactly the same way. Then again, I might be drrrnk. I brought this bad boy to my parents' house for the Christmas holiday, so my dad had some too. I thought he didn't like it, but he later had a second glass, so maybe he didn't hate it too much (perhaps like me he finds them all equal). At first I thought this was really tart/sour/dry and it made my mouth pucker, but then it turned into a normal red. I enjoyed it with some holiday ham and fixin's. The history is such that this is a combo of two "varietals" from Austria that some doctor combined, so that's fun.



Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 5/10

Signature Kitchens - Broccoli Florets, Parisienne Style Carrots & Cauliflower Florets

Frozen veg are cheaper and last longer than spinach, so I've been rotating them in as my pasta/veg addition, but they really don't taste as good. Just so watery and tasteless. That said, this is a decent mix, and it steams in bag, which is good. They're usually only one dollar, so that's also quite good. The carrots are a little butterier than different styles of carrots, which is kind of fun. Still way too many carrots in this mix for my liking, though. It adds bulk to a meal, which is all we can really ask for. But don't eat this on its own, that's nasty!

Overall
Cost: 7/10 [1$]
Taste: 6/10

Idahoan Roasted Garlic & Parmesan Baby Reds Mashed Potatoes

I actually got potatoes again! They're so cheap and easy and filling, how could I resist. This sounded like the tastiest flavor to me, because I thought it might be lumpy and garlicy like the best mashed potatoes are. However, I failed to realise that fake mashed potatoes probably wouldn't (shouldn't) be lumpy. So they were smooth and not with skin in them, the picture is a bit misleading. The flavor was fine, garlicy and buttery and I guess cheesy. Honestly I could do without the cheese and if I get more potatoes, I will get a cheeseless variety. I put in some mixed steamed veg to make it more healthful, and it worked out pretty decently. 2 meals worth!

Overall
Cost: 8/10
Taste: 7/10

Pepperidge Farm Whole Wheat Hamburger Buns

These are good! They aren't super poofy like the picture, but I'm actually fine with that. They're sturdy enough to hold my massive pork burgers, and the flavor is pleasant but not overpowering. Just a lite wheaty flavor, not too sweet or earthy or unusual. Plus they have a little bit of fiber! I think PepFarm is making a play for my go-to buns - sorry, Martin's.






Overall
Cost: 5/10 [3.50$]
Taste: 7/10

2016 Sidekick Cabernet Sauvignon

Wine is fun, especially in the winter months. I like this label's ethos, even though I'm not sure if they're called Iconic wines or Sidekick. Either way, they use cute comic superhero girls, and I like that. The taste of this was a little bit "generic red" for me, but it wasn't too bitter or tart, and I liked that too. It did have a nice rich cherry flavor, which I'm starting to appreciate more and more in red wines - at least on the first day, by the 3rd day the flavor had started to acidify for sure. Still drinkable though! I thought this was solid but nothing to particularly seek out, in my opinion.

I also paired this with the recommended Chorizo Pork Burgers with Spanish onions and Manchego cheese, which was stressful because ground pork/chorizo never looks done. They were super super filling and fun to make into patties, but I probably won't cook with ground snausage/pork again for a long while. The onions were tasty and the manchego cheese was good, but tasted exactly like the Parmesan Cheese Whisps I had in the past - and it was like 10$ for a tiny wedge, so not really worth it. Fun to try new things though!

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 5/10

Uncle Ben's Ready Rice - Jambalaya

This was spicy! Or more than the other Uncle Ben's rices I've tried so far, anyway, which to be sure is a low bar. It also made my face tingly, but I didn't die so I don't think it was an allergy thing, just a random food/spicy/??? thing. I thought this was a pretty decent rice packet, especially for just 400 calories, 90 seconds, and 1 dollar (yay, sale!). I didn't even add any veg or meat or anything to this, just ate it straight, and it was filling enough even then.





Overall
Cost: 8/10 [1$]
Taste: 6/10

Hershey-ets

Do I only like these because it's like a safe version of M&Ms, a candy I have been denied for too long? Yes, of course, categorically yes. These are what I remember M&Ms tasting like. No malty flavor like in Sixlets, no weird shape or size, just a straightforward copy (but just in red and green colors because they only come out at Christmas, as far as I know). But they're safe! And they're normal! They're also pretty easy to find and pretty cheap, and the lil candy cane is a cute decoration for the holiday season. The taste is just plain chocolate, it's not even that good, but the novelty is huge for me.


Overall
Cost: 6/10 (About 1$)
Taste: 8/10

Deep River Mesquite BBQ Chips

Another chip selection from the Bryn Mawr campus center! These were OK, but not as good as I had hoped. I guess I really like less crispy chips, they're so hard to bite into. Apart from that, the taste wasn't the type of BBQ flavor I like best, and also there wasn't enough of it! (Classic.) I think I prefer a sweeter flavor, or maybe less "mesquite"ness, whatever that means. I didn't get a strong flavor profile, but I also thought it wasn't what I expect from a Herr's or Utz type of BBQ chip.





Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 6/10

Knorr Chicken Rice

This was filling and fine, but fairly boring as a rice side. I expected a little more from this. It didn't have a strong chicken (or anything else) flavor at all. It did have longer vermicelli pieces, which added a little touch of fun to the experience. I added brocco to this and it was an acceptable, if boring, dinner. At least this only requires water and butter (no milk) so it's convenient to make.






Overall
Cost: 7/10 [1$]
Taste: 6/10

Hot Pockets - Ham & Cheese

A single serve hot pocket? Yes, that is what you're looking at here. You know you're in dire straits when you pick up one of these. In my case, I got it at the hotel lobby after a long day where I had no food except twizzlers. So I was grateful for this massively overpriced hot pocket, single serve. I think I just like hotels, to be honest. But anyway, it was really quick to serve, and the temperature of the inside was way better in this format than in the traditional 2-pack hot pockets with the "crisping sleeve". Crisping sleeve is a scam! The temp was good, but the taste/quality was like, not good (duh). But it was food related product, mostly crust, a little cheese type goo, a few ham-esque pieces, no allergy issue, no heartburn, filling, and convenient. A true five out of ten.

Overall
Cost: 6/10 (In this case, 3/10)
Taste: 5/10

Knorr Yellow Rice

I'm usually a huge proponent of all Knorr packets, but this one was just OK for me. In fact, though I recently had the Uncle Ben's chicken rice which I thought was sooo boring, I think this is even less desirable! The texture of it is good, it's nice and wet, which I like, but the taste is kind of funky. I'm not sure what exactly I find odd - maybe it's turmeric, or some sort of pepper, but I don't love it. This was certainly edible, and I did in fact ed it all up, but it's probably my least favorite Knorr rice pack yet! Woe! (I did like that the label was randomly Spanish/English bilingual though.)



Overall
Cost: 7/10 [1$]
Taste: 5/10

Campfire Mini Marshmallows - Fruit Flavored

Fruit flavored marshmallows, huh? I like sweets and these are appealing to look at, with the nice pastel colors. And gosh, they really were fruit flavored, and you could tell the different flavors apart. Sadly, it turned out to be kind of weird for me. I think I'd rather nosh on some regular marshmallow flavored marshmallows, instead. I did appreciate that they were unique and only 90 calories per bag, though.



Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 5/10

Artisan Tropic Plantain Strips - Sea Salt

Even though they sound cool, it turns out I'm not really a fan of plantain chips in general. They're basically like a heavier and oilier version of a plain potato chip, which I already don't love. These particular plantain chips seemed pretty standard within the genre - they're not objectionable on any metric, but just kind of boring and oily for my taste. The texture is also a lot thicker/crunchier than other types of chips, so it's more work to chew and less of a fun, lighthearted snack. The bag looks very healthful though!




Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 5/10

Uncle Ben's Ready Rice - Roasted Chicken

This was OK. It wasn't as good as the Spanish rice flavor, which was a letdown, but it was perfectly serviceable. The real perk to these is the convenience factor - 90 seconds with no added ingredients or prep is a miracle, especially for how decent the texture of the rice is. The flavor was just really bland for me, though, which I guess I should have predicted just based on the picture/ingredients. I was also a little bit sick while eating, so that might have impacted my tastebuds. I added frozen brocco to this, and it was a filling meal.




Overall
Cost: 5/10 [2.22$, which is OK but 2x a Knorr packet]
Taste: 6/10

Annie's Cookie Bites - Chocolate Chip

These lil cookies are much tastier than the gluten-free everything-free cookies I often get from Enjoy Life, although they aren't as tasty as a fresh homemade cookie, of course. Even though they are like a small and slightly healthier Chips Ahoy with dark choco chips, they are still a good, sweet little snack. The flavor is unremarkable, the texture is crunchy but good, the packaging is reassuring about allergies. Not bad.






Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 7/10

Pepperidge Farm Cracker Trio

You go, Pepperidge Farm! This cracker trio is great. It used to be a quartet with gross sesame crackers, and now it's just their 3 classic cracker flavors. All really thick and firm, so good with cheese/dip/toppings but also tasty on their own, for the most part. A classic for the holidays.

Harvest wheat: these are my favorite, as they have the most flavor. They're a bit sweet, a bit savory, like a pillowy wheatable. 8/10

Butterfly crackers: A crowd favorite, these are buttery and light. A good generic base. 6/10

English water cracker: These are hilariously less tasty than the other types, but have basically zero flavor so are a perfect conduit for good spready cheese. I always eat the most of them because they're so plain! 5/10

Overall
Cost: 6/10 (About 4$)
Taste: 7/10

Deep River Snacks - Rosemary & Olive Oil Chips

These were pretty good! They definitely have more flavor than your plain ol' salt and potato chip, and we already know I'm a fan of the company. Even though I generally don't like rosemary, I guess it's OK in small doses, as in these chips, although really I'd call this flavor more "herbs and spices" than just rosemary - I get a real "savory seasoning bland" vibe instead. It's good though, even if it's not my top tier chip choice.






Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 6/10

Taco Bell

Wait, I've never yet reviewed Taco Bell!? I guess I just suck at thinking outside the bun. But I love Taco Bell. It's like Arby's and Burger King AKA my top fast food tier. Everything basically tastes the same, which is delicious, and it's all very cheap. It's also terrible for you, but I feel better after Taco Bell than I do after Firehouse Subs for instance. Plus they have a fun druggie reputation, and are inexplicably always crowded. :D?

Fiery Doritos Locos Taco: I love these! I hate doritos but these are nothing like Doritos. 3 is the perfect meal, and 2 is passable. These are beef/cheese/lettuce inside a salty red shell. So salty but slightly fiery, not crispy taco but actually a soggy taco shell. So good. 8/10

 Potato Burrito (breakfast): This was great, a good 1 item to get, to be honest. Just cheese sauce and potato mainly. So good, so cheap, so bad for your health. 8/10

Mini Scramble Bowl: Fine and cheesy, with a little salsa randomly in there with egg and potato, not as good as the burrito though. 7/10

Cinnabon Bites: Honestly the greatest thing ever, so soft and sweet and good. 9/10

Orange Juice Mountain Dew: A bit weird in concept but to be honest, not bad for a soda. Tastes like orange soda and sunny D combined. 7/10

Cheese Quesadilla: Sadly not as tasty as the chicken quesadilla, it was overall just kind of 'eh'. 6/10

Double Chalupa Box: Yooo this was good. It randomly came with chips and queso instead of cinnamon twists, and the chips tasted really bad and fishy (I didn't eat them) but the queso was great for me, just like movie theater cheese product (note: probably not great to most people). The crunchy taco was your typical crunchy taco and the chalupa (beef) was great -- maybe too much sour cream on it but otherwise quite good. Like a taco inside in a soft fried(?) shell. Hello gluttony! It's your girl! 8/10

Steak Quesarito Combo: Haha. This is so bad for you, but it tasted very good. The combo is a hard taco (good, solid) and a drink (who cares) with the tasty tasty steak quesarito - a quesdilla rolled up like a burrito. Inside is rice, cheese goo, spicy creamy sauce, maybe sour cream, and odd flay/jerkyish steak bits. The taste is very good. But the afterbuzz is...less so. 7/10

Cheesy Roll Up: This looked pretty tragic, but it was better than I thought (for 1$)! The cheese is a mix of white and yellow, like in their quesadillas. It is easy eatin' and pleasant, but nothing special. 6/10

Beefy Fritos Burrito: I don't like fritos, so I should have known that this wouldn't be my favorite. The meat and cheese is good, as usual, but the fritos were weird and soggy. And rice didn't really "go" in my opinion, even though I normally like rice. This is far from my top taco bell item, but if you take the fritos out it is still a good bang for your buck. 5/10

Chips and Pico de Gallo: This was way better than the last time I got chips! They only give you a small portion, which is actually perfect for me. I enjoyed every chip (~10 chips?) and the whole little cup of pico, which is nice and fresh and cilantro-y. Good side dish. 7/10

Shredded Chicken Quesadilla Melt: It's no chicken quesadilla. Somehow this tastes less like the tasty goo in the regular dilla, and more like unspecified fast food glorp. It was only a dollar and it was filling, but not my fav item either. 6/10

Chips and Guacamole: Uh oh, this is no Chipotle level guac, that's for sure. It was super smooth, somehow sweet, and way too tart. Not what you want in a guac. If it weren't a veg, I'd throw it out. The chips were good but the guac was bad. 5/10

Chips and Nacho Cheese Sauce: Wow OK, this was actually really good! Definitely the best of the "chips and" crew. The chips were in fine form, and the cheese was just enough and like perfect movie theater nacho cheese. Warm and a tiny bit spicy. Love this stuff. 8/10

Chicken Quesadilla Combo: This is good, my favorite quesadilla along with a solid crispy beef taco (no beans or sour cream!). Also comes with drink with I split with my boyf. A tasty journey, but you feel a bit bloated afterwards, you know? 7/10

Loaded Taco Grande Burrito: I picked this out myself to go with chips and cheese. It was only 1 dollar, and had red tortilla strips in it that I hoped would be like fiery doritos shell, but they weren't. Just tasted like regular soggy shell bits. The rest is sour cream (but just a little), tomato, lettuce, and beef, but it didn't real super loaded. Just a little, which was nice. Unfortunately I was in quarantine at the time and can't really enjoy it because of that. 7/10 

Soft Taco Supreme: I didn't get the combo because I wasn't hungry enough, but I got two of these without sour cream (for my sensitive boyf). They were good! Soft shell, taco beef, lots of lettuce, nice tomato. I don't love the cheddar cheese but it's OK. 8/10

Note: with sour cream added, they are even better! Tacos are good. 9/10

Crunchy Taco: My boyf ordered too many tacos so I ate this for him. It's no soft taco. The shell is so tasteless, no spice or even salt. Blech. The inside is great though, beef and lettuce (and tepid cheese). It's OK but I would never pick it out on my own. 6/10

Pineapple Whip Freeze: I got this with a combo for an upcharge of 80 cents, and they gave me a Large which is too big! But I was glad to finally try this. IDK if I definitely got the "whip", but there were vague white spotches at the bottom of the cup (but only just). Anyway, even if it's just a pineapple icee that melts really fast, I liked it. It tastes just like the brown/yellow swirled slushies I (aka my dad) would get from Sheetz when I was a kid. Definitely bad for you, not super cold, a lot of syrup, kind of Tangy?? like a coke slushy but more pineappley. I wish it had more whip, I think. But it was good and made me smile even though a smaller size is better. 8/10

Grilled Cheese Burrito: Good God, it's another item I ate (half of) that my boyf foolishly ordered! Even though I didn't eat the whole thing, I regreted it deeply. It was so filling/dense, but I don't like the spicy chipotle sauce that they use. Not because it is too spicy, but because it is too mayo/ranch-y. Like the one at Jersey Mike's. I will say that the shell with the cheese on it is good. Without the chipotle sauce it would be decadent for sure. 5/10

Cinnamon Twists: These were honestly better than I remember, even though most other dessert items are still superior. These are just a light, crunchy bag of cinnamon-sugar coated dough. A fun little treat and less likely to give you regrets than the cinnabon balls -- but also way less tasty. 6/10

 

Baja Blast Mountain Dew: People love this stuff, but I don't quite get the hype, though I was never a soda lover in general. It mostly tastes like blue raspberry liquid suspended in a small amount of Mountain Dew regular. It's OK. 6/10

 

Crunchy Taco Supreme: My well-intentioned boyf ordered me this on a solo TB run. It is not my favorite taco, as you may know, dear readers -- I am a soft taco girl. Honestly, Taco Bell's crunchy tacos are just much worse than anything you can get in a tortilla or a bowl and that's all I can notice. The shell has bad texture, bad flavor, and is hard to eat!! But at least these had sour cream, which makes them a tiny bit better than the plain crunchy taco... I guess. 6/10

Quesalupa: Yeaaah buddy. This is a chalupa (fried dough shell) with cheese on it. The cheese was sadly not at all melty, but the shell is still so good and fatty. I got this with chicken which I didn't know was an option, and I think that was very good. Some heartburn upon eating (no surprise) but very tasty. 7/10

Overall
Cost: 9/10
Taste: 8/10

Q says: It's fine. 6/10