Gushers Blueberry Grape / Sour Blue Raspberry

Never has a fruit snack made me feel so foolish, and I struggled through the fruit roll-ups pizza construction in the 90s. IDK if it's because I'm colorblind or what, but all the gushers in each package here are the same color blue. The box shows two distinct blue colors, but it does not translate to the real deal. So then what flavor(s) am I eating!? You'd think I could tell via "tasting", but I'm not sure. Some are definitely grape-y, and those I like less. Some are a sort of sour berry (blue raspberry, I suppose), and those are delicious. Is blueberry part of the grape ones and each of the two BlueberryGrape and SourRazz are in each package? Or are there Blueberry & Grape packs and Sour Razz packs?! Or is every gusher a mix of Blueberry, Grape, and Sour Razz? The more of them I eat, the less I know, because the non-sour ones don't all have the same "grape" note, so I don't think the BlueberryGrape flavor, if that is indeed a flavor, is stable. Even without the mystery, this is one of the best gushers I've had. Well, there aren't that many different ones, so it's probably the best. That's all due to the sour berry flavor, whereever it resides! Gush on! The only downside is that if I eat these at school, my mouth is blue.

Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 7/10 

Fruit by the Foot - Splitz - Watermelon & Lemonade

I just bought a bunch of portable snacks because I'm about to spend the majority of my week kitchenless, away from comforts like Fridge and Microwave. Who could have forseen that I would eat a bunch of those snacks in my own Fully Kitchened home anyway due to weariness and/or curiosity?! (everyone). Anyway, this is too embarrassing to eat during meetings or even office hours, lol. But it's very good. The lemon(ade) flavor is sour, strong, and soapy-fresh (although it doesn't taste like soap; more like lemon soap always smelled kinda tasty to me). It smells kind of like fruit stripe gum, which is funny because it's fruit (by the foot) and has a big stripe on it. The texture is annoyingly thin compared to what I remember from my youth (cost cutting???) but the length seems about the same. Longer than a foot! Sweet, complex, a lil sour, very nice. Hopefully they don't catch me in a car accident unfurling my fruit snack scroll. 

Overall
Cost: 6/10 
Taste: 7/10 

Bluey Fruit Snacks

Do I have food poisoning? Covid? Stomach flu? Or is my diet just chips and fruit snacks and my body is in a full scale rebellion? It's not clear. But I did eat these, anyway. Compared to a Mott's fruit snack, these are stickier and sweeter. The taste is also more pineapple-y on the whole. They're more like candy, which I guess tastes good, but it hurts my teeth a bit. Also I'm vommy anyway. I do like Bluey though, so that helps.

Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 6/10

Betty Crocker Gingerbread Cake & Cookie Mix

Because I'm an idiot, I used this mix to make a sheet cake instead of cookies. This was a mistake! I don't know what I expected, but the resulting gingerbread cake (aka ginger Bread) was OK -- it tasted like a dense bread with ginger flavor. It needs something more, like cream cheese frosting. I did melt butter on top and add sugar, and that was good but still ultimately just a filling sweet bread. Very easy prep though, just required one egg. Probably would not make again. 

Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 5/10

Gushers - Strawberry Splash

I'm pretty sure this is the inferior gushers flavor, compared to the tropical one. It's so samey -- each gushers is identical! But, still a tasty nostalgia snack. A little bit like cherry pie filling as far as flavor notes, which is a nice sweet treat.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 7/10

Betty Crocker Supreme Triple Chunk Brownie Mix

This only requires an egg and oil, which I have!! Wow! Brownies in quarantine. I actually bought this to make for my boyf's birthday, which was stressful because every time I've made brownies in the past, he thinks they are too undercooked. So, I made these in muffin liners and cooked like 5-7min extra, and yet when I ate a tester, even after 2hrs cooling, the inside was actually wet (and not fudgy wet, like smeary wet). Oh no! But, left to sit overnight, they magically firmed up and all was well. Boyf even ate 'em, aupposedly. As for me, I liked them just fine even when undercooked - they're very chocolatey, and the chips or chunks of choco are fun even though they aren't super distinct from the brownie itself. Muffin liners were a good call by me so that I didn't even have to scrub a pan after. This is a really good dessert to work/money ratio, so I recommend it (or other BC brownies) to you. The label has may-contains and not nuts, so I feel good about it even though they obviously make nut flavors too.

Overall
Cost: 6/10 (about 2$)
Taste: 7/10

Betty Crocker Triple Berry Muffin Mix

These aren't that good. However, consider the following:

1. This cost 99 cents.

2. This is nut-free from a trusted labeller.

3. All you need to add is water! No egg, no milk, no butter.

4. It makes 6 muffins, which is great amount for a single girl like me.

So, with all those upsides, I would probably get this again, or try any other flavors BC has for me. The convenience is excellent and it's nice to have a "baked good" even if it's a baked mediocre. The only real bad part of these is the horrible fake berry pieces, which are obviously just coloring and cornstarch. They don't even taste like berry! But the muffin texture is nice and soft/crumbly, they smell good in the oven, and are a generally fun treat. If I could somehow get real berries in there (or a different flavor, like pumpkin?) it'd be lit.

Overall

Cost: 9/10

Taste: 7/10

Gushers - Tropical

I don't think I've had a Gusher since elementary school, but you know what, they hold up pretty well. Nut free as far as I know, and nice little packages of about 9 gushers, each chewy and sweet and fruity with distinct flavors. Who doesn't like Gushers? The only reason I don't get them more often is because they really have no nutritional value, but if I have 'em, I'll enjoy 'em.

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

Fruit Roll-Ups - Tropical Tie-Dye

This is a very nostalgic food (and flavor)! To be honest, it comes in a pretty annoying format, and never unrolls from the plastic correctly at all. Very sticky. Assumedly safe though. Tastes like sweet elementary school lunch snack.

Overall

Cost: 6/10

Taste: 6/10

Betty Crocker Cheese Pizza Mac & Cheese

Uhh, yeah. I saw this in the store, it looked new, and it was 1 dollar. So I bought it! Cheese pizza mac and cheese, huh? It smells like pizza combos, which I DO like, but it's kind of weird for a pasta dish. I thought this tasted pretty good, actually! Surprisingly good, like something I'd order at a low-price sit-down restaurant (ha ha). Very thick (perhaps due to the weird cooking instructions: throw everything in a pot; heat) and creamy. I didn't use the full butter requested, either! It was tastier than a noodle packet, but less stomachache inducing than, say, kraft mac and cheese. The pizza taste wasn't that strong, either, just vaguely garlicy. I'll probably try the other flavors if they stay 1$!

Overall
Cost: 9/10
Taste: 7/10