Made Good Soft Baked Mini Cookies - Chocolate Banana

These are definitely the best flavor of Made Good cookies I've had so far! Which isn't really saying much, but still. Banana flavor is strong here, and banana makes almost any (baked-good-type) thing taste good. It's really the only flavor note I get, and I'm fine with that. Texture is half dense, half crumbly, which isn't amazing but isn't terrible either. At least they aren't light as a feather like enjoy life crunchy cookies are. Chia still didn't kill me, so all is well there.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 7/10

Nature's Bakery Oatmeal Crumble Bars - Strawberry

These are solid sweet morning snacks! Of course I'm very familiar with the fig bar line, of which I am a fan, but these are similar in theory yet taste noticeably different (namely, no fig!) which is fun to experience. The downsides are that these are so so messy to eat (crumbles everywhere) and also a high sugar amount for your everyday, but they do taste good and sweet and are allergen-free! I'll definitely hit up the other flavors eventually. 

Overall
Cost: 6/10 (About 1$ per bar)
Taste: 7/10

Double Stuf Oreos

Ore-oh yeah! Oreos are solid. Actually, they are nowhere near as good as like, a regular chocolate chip cookie, but for the processed thing that they are, they're super tasty and fun to eat and addictive. Luckily I only had a 2 pack of these Double Stufs, which is already 140calos, so yeah. Apparently the regular + double stuf oreos are on a dedicated nut-free line too, which makes me like them a bit more. Tasty and the stuf is the best part so I like it more than the regular ones. 

Overall
Cost: 7/10
Taste: 8/10

A La Mode Speed Bump Ice Cream

I was expecting this to be less enjoyable than the chocolate covered ice cream bars, because I don't really like chocolate ice cream and so without the chocolate what's to like? But actually, and maybe it's partially a texture/comfort thing, I think I liked this pint even better! Definitely liked it more than I like regular ol' chocolate ice cream. And sure, there are tasty chocolate chip/marshmallow mix-ins, but even the ice cream was good. Kind of tasted like the brownie bites in Ben and Jerry's Half Baked (how I loved thee), very rich and cocoa-y. Which I like! I don't VANILLA like it, but I do like it! Interestingly there's a lot more fat in this flavor than in the other flavors, so maybe that's why it tastes so rich, but I'm glad it's that way. I would get this again for sure, maybe even over the pink/blue ones!

Overall
Cost: 3/10 (10$ at Wal-Mart!)
Taste: 8/10

2016 Realce Tempranillo

Look at the cute bird art! And the screw top! Good qualities in a wine. This was a little old but it didn't taste "off", so I'm impressed with its endurance.  Basically I got some notes of cherry and vague fruit, and otherwise I found this to be a generally solid red wine. I'm not familiar with tempranillo, but it seems to be a "filler" variety that's usually added to other reds like merlots or whatever. I like that, it's like an endearing background character finally getting a chance to shine! Also I'm learning that red wines seem to be better on day 1 (aka warm) -- am I reinventing the wheel in my wine experience? Maybe! I do it for you, readers.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

Cookie Crisp Cereal

Out of Kix, so I ate this. It was not as good as I remembered, and I don't even remember it being that good. This basically doesn't taste like food -- there's no real flavor here, and definitely not cookie flavor. It wasn't bad, but if something is tasteless it should be cheap, healthy, and filling, and this isn't really any of that stuff. The little cookie pieces are very cute, and they're crunchy even in milk if you like that (I don't really care about crunchy-ness of cereal), but the taste is just missing. Where did it go?! Allergy wise, it seems safe, but GM makes also Reese's Puffs, so there's potential for CC fear. Yet I endure.

 

Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 5/10

Barilla Veggie Rotini

 

This is perfect for someone like me who loves pasta but also tries to eat a veg every day.  The truth is, even though I was just saying the Barilla website is great for allergy info, I was still nervous to eat this because it turns out they also make lentil/chickpea pastas (even rotini shaped I think) and those aren't allergens they have to label but are bigtime allergens for me. So there is a CC risk probably for that. Plus, the color of these is nowhere near as dark green as the Ronzoni veggie pasta (although it is greener than regular Barilla pasta) so I was like "what if it's mislabelled!?", but long story short I ate it and was fine. Decent texture, a little firmer and less tasty than regular pasta (maybe?) but less different than the Ronzoni version (which I assume means there's less veg, but that's alright). This was fine with sauce but I also thought it was decent with oil/spices/1 string cheese, which is cool and versatile. About 7min to cook, about 5 one cup servings per box. No complaints and will probably buy again (or look for a different shape that isn't also a chickpea shape? If such a thing exists.)

Overall
Cost: 7/10 (1$ only!)
Taste: 6/10

A La Mode Cooks Ice Cream

I ordered this online from Wal Mart and it was like 60 bucks but I just wanted ice cream so badly. It's easy to judge, but if you don't have a nut allergy I don't wanna hear it! Anyway, this is a solid flavor. The cookies are mostly oreo-esque pieces, like in Cookies N Creme ice cream (thus, "cooks"), but there are a few vanilla (like graham cracker almost, or shortbread) cookie swirls to be found too. Plus, there are some swirls of hot fudge, which are excellent and taste just like the hot fudge in the Friendly's cups. If only these could add whipped cream and actual dense fudge on top, I'd be all over it! A lot of the tasty bits seem to sink to the bottom, but overall this is super good, the ice cream tastes like normal ice cream, and it's a reasonable calorie count. The plastic spoon they include is a little corny, but it does save on dishwashing and also helps me eat slower, so I don't hate it. Would definitely shamefully order this again, even for 10$/pint (lol). Still praying for a chocolate chip cookie dough or mint choco chip flavor to come out!

Overall
Cost: 3/10 (It literally is 10$/pint, but so is Jeni's and non-allergy people buy that crap!)
Taste: 8/10

Organic Valley Stringles String Cheese - Mozzarella

String cheese! So I recently joined this nut allergy facebook group and they're all like "Organic Valley isn't safe for peanut/tree nut allergies!!!" and I'm like "ahhhhhh" but this is string cheese, for god's sake, and it has no mention of nuts on the label, only cheese. So I ate it and didn't die. 23 more stringles (what a name) to go! This tastes just like string cheese tastes. It's got a good amount of string-y-ness to it and I have no complaints for now. 

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

Barilla Cellentani Pasta

I just noticed that Barilla's website site has amazing allergy info! They sure did a turnaround for me as a company. I'm also surprised I haven't reviewed this pasta shape yet, because it's one of my favorites. It's the same shape that my (former?) favorite noodle pack, Cheddar Broccoli, has. A fun curly noodle, like a carefree elbow or something. Works well with sauces, especially cheesy sauces, but all I had for today was a typical red sauce. Still good, quite filling, easy to fork. I think 1 cup is a generous serving. They do take 11 minutes to cook, but it's a worthwhile wait.

Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 7/10

Dunkin' Bottled Iced Coffee - Original

This is good, but there are two problems. One is that it doesn't taste like coffee, and two is the nutrition profile -- tons of added sugar and satfat. I just like regular Dunkin coffee, Dunkin! Why the 300 calorie sugar bomb?! Nevertheless, it tastes like a nice sweet milky drink, with a tinge of coffee flavoring, maybe. No weird bottle/metal/plastic flavor, which is good. In these corona times, it's a nice treat, but in general I'd say the juice isn't worth the diabetes. 

Overall
Cost: 4/10 (Oddly pricy, like 3-4$ per bottle)
Taste: 6/10

Chupa Chups Mini Lollipops

I remember having the whistle versions of these as a kid! Chupa Chups seem like such a cool, trendy, mysterious candy to me, I guess because of the Spanish origin and Dalí connection. Also, just like Mentos (owned by the same Dutch multinational corp) they are made in so many countries and forms that it's really hard to get reliable allergy info for them. I guess the same is true of like, Kit Kat and Mars bars, I just have more knowledge about those brands. Anyway, I am fairly sure that the American minis are nut free, or at least that's what Amazon claims. But is the one I have American? I don't know!! But it's a dang lollipop, so I ate it. These are pretty normal lollies; they have a hollow stick which I like but a difficult to remove without tearing it so you definitely can't read it wrapper, which I don't like. I prefer Dum Dums because they are transparent about their origins, but if I didn't have allergies these would be a fine pick.

Strawberry: Never a favorite flavor for me, but this tastes basically identical to the YumEarth lolly of the same flavor. Strong strawberry vibe, maybe a little too sweet for my liking, cute pink color. 6/10

 

Cherry: Usually a favorite flavor for me, but this version was a little weird. Maybe it picked up some flavors from a nearby soap or something. Tasted almost medicinal, but not enough to bother me, but not as good as other cherry lollies either. 6/10

Strawberries and Cream: Unique flavor, looks like it's literally half + half the strawberry lolly swirled with a nebulous "cream" half. I think I like it. The cream part is kind of like the cream soda dum dum, almost a little sourness or saltiness to it, or some sort of "bite" that pairs well with the strawberry. Like the tang of the basic frozen yogurt flavor at a froyo place. Pretty fun. 7/10

Overall

Cost: 7/10

Taste: 6/10

Mentos - Fruit

It was tricky to find out that these are peanut/tree-nut free, but they seem to be (as long as it's the Kentucky ones, who also make Air Heads)! I remember a time when I couldn't eat mentos because of an allergy warning. Life comes at you fast! Anyway, these are a good candy, There's only 3 "fruit" flavors, which are orange, yellow, and pink. Orange is orange, and it's good, like a creamsicle or orange sherbet. Yellow is lemon, and it's good. Pink is strawberry, and it's not as good. This is like a weird reverse situation of every other fruit candy, because usually pink/red are good and orange/yellow are bad, but I accept that mentos are a weird anomaly. And the pink aren't horrible -- they do taste like those strawberry hard candies wrapped up like strawberries, actually, but they have a tinge of artificialness for me, or maybe the flavor is just too strong. It's edible though! The texture of all them is a nice chewy inside with a hard outside, kind of like a big, starchy jellybean. In sum: a good texture, a fun oval shape, nut-free, explodes in sod(a)es, so I approve.

Overall

Cost: 6/10

Taste: 7/10

Dove Dark Chocolate Bar

All hail the safe candy bar! Apparently all the "ELZ" Dove chocos are nut-free, which is good to know, even though their labelling seems to be transparent enough. I'm not a huge dark choco fan, but I am a choco fan, so I'll take it. Sadly it's like 110 degrees in my house so I had to put this in the fridge, which was a smart move, but then I was too scared to let it warm up so I just ate it cold and it was too cold. Hard to bite into and couldn't taste it as much. What I did taste was tasty, it comes in like 12(?) little rounded squares smooshed together, like an ol' Symphony bar, so I like that. 220 calories isn't terrible for how much choco this is. I bet it's good with ice cream or cherries or pretzels, so now I'm sad she's gone!

Overall

Cost: 6/10

Taste: 7/10

Betty Crocker Au Gratin Potatoes

These are good! Sadly they require milk and butter to make, which is super unrealistic during this no-leaving-the-house time for me, but I had to pick up a prescription at the pharmacy recently and so I've had a few crazy days of dairy in my life. So these were exciting and good. The potatoes themselves were oddly firm, as in they didn't feel totally cooked even though they surely were, which I actually kind of liked as long as it doesn't signify they were old or bad or something. This has a nice nostalgic taste, fatty and distinct, almost like a hearty potato soup with cheese in it. No soy in here so no allergy worries. I made this in the oven because I didn't even realise there were other options like stovetop, but I think the oven worked well because they weren't too runny and had just a tinge of brown on top. Makes a solid 2 servings for me personally, even though it says it's 4.5 servings. Lol.

Overall

Cost: 6/10

Taste: 8/10

2018 Chai de Bordes Bordeaux Rouge

I haven't had red wine in a very long time (just white/rosé), so it was a fun change of pace to have this at first. In fact, I had a really different experience with this on each of the three nights I drank it. The first night it was a fun novelty, and I was pretty into it. The idea of red wine = healthy is also good for my soul. But on the second night, maybe because it was then cold or because I had mild heartburn, it was really difficult to take more than intermittent tiny sips of this. Quite acidic! Then on the third night, it was just a generic wine, not a challenge and not a chug. Just there. So I don't know what to make of this overall, I think I would say it's not a standout, but it might depend on the night.

Overall

Cost: 5/10 (17$)

Taste: 6/10