Signature Select Broccoli Florets

Floret is a fun word. I got these because my usual cheapo frozen veggie mix ("winter mix") was out of stock, hopefully temporarily. In non-riced form, brocco is actually superior to cauliflower, so I liked this better -- but I feel I ought to consume as much veggie diversity as I am able. These brocco pieces are also huge compared to the wee ones (floret-ettes?) in the winter mix. One serving is like, 3 brocco stalkos. Kind of a fun change of pace, but not particularly practical for my usual mix-in purposes. Tastes fine (that is to say, tastes like brocco).

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

Green Giant Riced Veggies - Cauliflower Risotto Medley

Is this risotto? No, it is cauliflower with little bits of asparagus and mushroom in. But I can still like that thing for what it is (veg). I had this with some chicken and tomatoes and it was just fine. The asparagus bits are very starchy, which many reviewers complained about. And they are right to complain. But I didn't really mind it: textural difference makes it more interesting to consume! Because it's unseasoned, it's a great vessel for any sauce, seasoning, veggie, or fat you want to mix in. If these were a dollar I would eat them for every meal. Riced cauliflower is better than riced brocco, also.

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

Kellogg's Eggo Strawberry Waffles

Dang -- the last new Eggo flavor I tried was 5 whole months ago, when I noted that something was really wrong with my brain. And I was right! Time flies. Anyway, I toasted these for two cycles and that was just perfect. They smell like homemade pancakes (very eggy/oily) but they tasted like nothing. Eggy buttermilk dough I guess. The strawberry swirl isn't very prominent; you only get a few bites of mild strawberry flavor. But I do like these as a handy hand snack, plus they make me think about how far I've come (EMOTIONALLY) since my last wafflin'. I guess with syrup these would be a lot better, but that sounds like a lot of (sticky) work. Hand waffles are the way of the future.

Overall
Cost: 6/10 [3$ on sale]
Taste: 7/10

Utz Dipper Stix Pretzels

I have nothing in which to dipper these stix, but they're still solid. Nice and thick, not too firm, salty and malty but not overwhelmingly so. Plus the classic "nut free" label prose we love to see. These aren't particularly delicious, but within the genre of "plain hard pretzel", they are top tier. 

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

Spindrift Peach Strawberry

A little over halfway into my 4-month brain diet experiment and I've already tried a wee choco in a cookie, nearly died of vommin', and a week later thought "well, maybe we can introduce something else though?". All of my other beloved vices are even more closed off to me, so in the spirit of harm reduction(??) I am letting citric acid back into the game (of consumption). So far so good! And allowing citric acid opens up so many more drinks and sweets, two lovely categories of substance. I have a lot of good memories enjoying spindrifts with friends (etc) in the summer of '23. I never tried this (citrus-and-raspberry free!) flavor, though -- perhaps it is new? It tastes a lot like the mango one, although it is peach and not mango. A mildly sweet, mildly dank fruit puree. I like it a lot. I will drink these much more than the joyless peppermint teas I have been recently treating like the nectar of the gods due to lack of options.

Overall
Cost: 6/10 [6$ for an 8 pack]
Taste: 7/10

Foxy Strawberries

Strawberries are a tasty and versatile fruit. I don't quite have berry money on the reg, but since I've been going out not at all, I feel I can splurge on berries every now and again.

These particular strawberries were solid. I think I only lost 2-3 to mold and/or badness, and they taste like strawberries do. I worked up to trying the rest of my leftover cottage cheese with these and it was so, so awful, but that wasn't the strawberries' fault. I just don't like cottage cheese.

Overall
Cost: 4/10 [4.50$]
Taste: 7/10

Stauffer's Ginger Snaps

Ginger snaps! Of course! They're a delicious cookie without chocolate or raisins, and ginger is theoretically good for nausea (in practice it seems to have no impact on me, but hey, any excuse to eat cookies). I grew up in Stauffer's territory, but I remember at least the animal crackers having a nut warning. However, things have changed: according to their website* they are nut free since 2021! They're also owned by Meiji USA, which means Hello Panda is back on the table (teenage me would be very excited about this).

These taste great, but then again I've always been a ginger enthusiast. Good spice level, feels "not enough" at first but builds to a pleasant warm afterglow. Mainly clove and ginger forward, but the red pepper and cinnamon are definitely noticeable. There is nothing I would change about the taste, but the texture is just "eh" for me. They're firm, crunchy, but there is no "snap". I either want a fun bendy cookie or a fun snappy cookie, and this is just a rigid dry biscuit. That's OK though, texture is hardly the most important element of food (for me). They smell good and look nice, to round out the sensory repertoire. My dad's dad's mom had an excellent ginger cookie recipe which tasted very similar to these and I now have a renewed interest in tracking it down. (See? Sweets stave off depression!!)

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 8/10

*Their website FAQ is very charming, as it references other local St(o)uffer's and says kind things about them even as they clarify they are a different entity.

Signature Care Unflavored Electrolyte Solution

Well, this is awful. I'm not sure what I expected from a store brand unflavored electrolyte drink, though. It probably tastes like how you'd think it would taste (if you had taken time to think about how it would taste, self). But I've been vommin' and all the flavored electrolyte drinks have either artificial sweeteners or citrus (both forbidden by brain experts, and currently, me). It says "tastes best cold!" which worries me about how it tastes warm. Here we have a very salty water (so far so good), but it's also a little sweet. Oh no. I'm a little worried this will increase my vommin' more than it increases my electrolytes. But now we know!

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 3/10

DeLallo Shells

You'd think I would like shells as a shape: they look nice (objectively??) and are a reasonable middling size. But they eat troublingly. Even with plenty of extra cook time, wet wet spinach accompaniment, and a pregame meditation, I find them dry, sticky, and far too noodle-forward. In their defense, a thick cheese sauce (imagine!) or tomato/cream sauce might obviate those concerns. But those sauces are not a part of my wee universe at this time, and even if they were, I still think there are more pleasing pastas, especially for the (supposed) 11 minute cook time. Plus I'm confused about what a serving size is meant to be. I've gone with two fistfuls for a hearty portion, since I live alone and can scandalously measure things in fistfuls without being a contaminator. I think a fistful is about 3/8 cup, but again, this is an annoying serving size.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

Daisy Cottage Cheese

I'm not sure why cottage cheese is OK but yogurt isn't. Also, I'm not sure that it's really OK, because I'm lactose intolerant and have always found cottage cheesers pretty gross (I mean, what is that texture). But I used this blended with egg to make some veggie egg bites. They were fine. It does add a creaminess and is easy to work with. At the same time, I have absolutely no idea what to do with the non-egg rest of it. I guess I could try to eat it on its own sometime. But for now I am way too nauseous to consider that possibility, so stay tuned maybe.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 5/10