Starburst Fruit Creme

Sharing size? Be so for real, Starburst fruit creme. I ate these in approx 3 days during A Great Sadness. But I probably would eat them during a great happiness too, because they are pretty good. Better than regular, I think, because they're a bit muted. Like a Red Symphony Bar to normie Hershey's bar. The flavors are:

Peach: Yes, it does taste like peach. Turns out, not my favorite flavor. 6.

Strawberry: Yes, it does taste like (a creamified) strawberry. It's good, although maybe a bit less than the normal pink one. 7.

Grapefruit: Now this is a rare candy flavor! I like it, it's really fun. I like and miss grapefruits. This is accurate, citrusy and nice. 8.

Orange: This is boring, but better than normie orange because less sharp. Creamified indeed. 7.

I wish there were creme yellow (what's yellow, lemon?) and red (cherry?) instead of peach. But maybe next year. Always room to grow, in life and in Starburst.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 7/10 

Like Air Puffcorn - White Cheddar

Woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown: They're saying it's good for school lunches!!! 

This stuff is fine. Same company as those weird dessert puffed rices, but these are puffed corn, which is a much more canonical puff. Essentially this flavor (white cheddar) is simply pirate's booty, right down the random onion powder (whyyyy on a cheddar flavor) and yeast extract (obvi). The upside is, Pirate's Booty has gotten more and more evasive with their allergy info (esp regarding nuts), and this company is proudly nut free right on the front (for now). (Also gluten free! Two worlds collide... briefly!)

Maybe because of the onion, this tastes a little like a square school lunch pizza. One fun aspect is that the puffs aren't any particular shape, like sphere, but rather weird goobly octopus-shaped blobs. The packaging makes it seem like they're aiming to be popcorn shaped, but haha, they definitely aren't. Anyway, fun shape and size. Medium fine taste. Good allergy info. All in all I'm pleased with the experience (although I wish my store had Big Bag and not single serve tinybag, for earth and also My Deep Hunger).

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 7/10 

Giant Brand Tri-Color Rotini

As brands go, Giant Brand has always been dependable with allergy info - they're good users of the "may contain" statement (i.e. this one may contain egg). I don't know their legume situation, but in this case perhaps ignorance is bliss. Anyway, these noodles were weirdly skinny for rotini - am I crazy or do I just buy weirdly thick rotini? Not sure. The taste was fine, anyway, nothing special. 

Overall
Cost: ??/10
Taste: 5/10 

Nature's Promise Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil

I'm always fascinated by the products at my parents' house. They never bought this stuff when I was a kid! What's happening?? In 20 years, will I be so different? Will I stop mainlining Dunkin and start being a Peet's fan?! I doubt it, but check back in 2046 to find out (if blog still exists... woe).

Used this on my pasta + broc, as one does, and I didn't like it as much as my normie FB olive oil. Is that because it's (organic) EVOO and not just OO? Probably, actually. But it had a very strong flavor. I don't want a strong flavor! I want the most neutral fatty liquid possible. Shoulda gone for butter, maybe. But I wasn't allergic, so it was fine. I think is the Giant store brand, but the organic one. Isn't it weird that store brands have bifurcated in this way? Yes. OK... bye!

Overall
Cost: ??/10
Taste: 5/10 

Orange La Croix

I thought I had already tried this one, but no, that was tangerine! My parents clearly have a type. Like the tandʒo, this was pretty good. Like an orange seltzer ought to taste like. Not too artificial/candy vibe; refreshing. Made me miss the ocean.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10 

Carolina Whole Grain Brown Rice

Hey, a solid!! Stomachs everywhere rejoice. 

So, I usually buy "Ben's Original" for brown rice, but as is often the case with things I want, my store seems to no longer carry it. Instead they have only "CAROLINA" rice (n.b. neither grown or packaged in Carolina). Never heard of it, but it contains the single ingredient "rice" so seems OK as allergens go. Some people online even say this is their go-to rice brand! Well, I guess those people are looking for something different than me, because I used this in a soup and cooked it like 2x the normal time (i.e. over an hour) and the hull was still extremely.... hully. Very digestion-intensive rice. I guess if you want a quinoa/bulgur/ancient grain vibe, this could be good, especially since I can't usually eat that kind of stuff... but idk. I like a simple carb I guess. Still, it worked OK for soup, 'cause there's a lot of liquid surrounding it. Filling stuff. 

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 5/10

Canada Dry - Cherry Fruit Spash (Cherry Ginger Ale)

The fizzy drinks are escalating!! Somehow every day I gain 10-20 new obligations, so I am pounding sugar in exciting new forms so I don't pass out and die. This has no caffeine so it is truly just fizzy wet sugar. With a splash of cherry juice! Supposedly there is real ginger in this, but it definitely leans more ginger ale than ginger beer. Actually, it leans more cherry 7UP than anything (not that I've ever had cherry 7up, but it's the type of thing I'd be making in those Freestyle soda machines back in my resto days). One upshot is that even though this is 1% juice and 99% sugar, it doesn't have any artificial flavors or colors, so the redness is presumably all cherry, which is wholesome. A pleasant, very sweet, cherry flavored sodey pop. 

Overall
Cost: 5/10 [8-9$ for a case... which seems insane but apparently soda costs this now]
Taste: 6/10 

Raspberry Lime Polar Seltzer

This is another good seltz. Very crisp, clean taste. Bubbly, almost bitter.  The raspberry and lime are present but very subtle. Not a strong scent either (although my sniffer's a bit degraded presently). Makes me feel like I am on vacation. I don't have maladaptive daydreaming (let alone daydreaming), but I do have maladaptive consumption delusions.... maybe one more seltzer will fix me....

Overall
Cost: 6/10 [1.20$]
Taste: 7/10 

Polar Seltzer - Cranberry Clementine

Bears are cute. I wanted Polar seltzer today for unknown reasons, and was almost convinced my store didn't have it (amongst the bubly, spindrift, LC, waterloo, and store brand) until I thought to check the mixer aisle. Behold! What makes a seltzer a mixer and not a seltzer? Is it bottle v. can? Anyway, here she is in all her glory. Very carbonated, very strong scent, very mild taste. I guess I can pretend I'm pounding some vodka, which is a top interest of mine. 

Overall
Cost: 6/10 [1.20$]
Taste: 6/10 

La Banderita White Corn Tortillas

A non-Goya corn tortilla option has appeared at my grocery store! (Nothing against Goya as product, only Goya as politics). You wouldn't think there could be much variation in cooked small corn tortillas, but these have noticeably less structural integrity - they fall apart much more, and are thinner. I think that's actually good though, because I don't like the taste of corn tortilla that much, so it feels like you're eating less of it. Much better heated (naturally); a good vessel for cheese (naturally). (I tried adding a little of that jalepeno ranch to see if that'd be good, but it was horrible, ranch sucks). 

Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 6/10 

Gold Peak Slightly Sweet Iced Tea

No solids... only liquids... 

This tea brand makes me think of my students, because they love to call things "peak". Ah, the youth. It's owned by Coca Cola, but I thought they already had a different tea brand. Maybe they changed names. I'm too lazy to look into this right now, but the conceit of a sweetened-but-not-CRAZY-sweetened tea does appeal to me. It tastes pretty darn sweet though. But I like sweet things. It's only 33mg caff, which isn't that much, so I can drink this if I am very weary but already had a coffee. Not that that describes me or anything. It tastes like iced tea, and it is much better than plain tea (bc sugar) and the sweet tea I sometimes get from vending machines when I'm dyin (bc way less sugar). A good product. I don't really like the taste of tea that much, but this is probably one of the optimal iterations. 

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10