Progresso Vegetable Classics Hearty Penne in Chicken Broth

On my weekly perusal of the soup aisle, I found a new legume-free one! Holy wow! Sure, it's chicken noodle soup without the chicken, which sounds pretty boring, but I would love love love a safe chicken noodle soup. And this is safe! I ate it and didn't die! And my current horrible internal pain (IDEK guys) was not exacerbated by it, cause it's only like 150 calos and pretty mild stuff. Still it was filling to eat the whole can. So that's all lovely. Unfortunately, it tasted freakin' weird. Why? Apparently there's tomato powder in it. So it tastes like spaghettios but only a little bit and the rest like chicken noodle soup. That is very bad and not good for me. I abhor tomato soup. So, this was a bust and I wouldn't get it again. But I am grateful it exists! Just take out the tomato powder, guys! And also make one with chicken and no soy? xoxo

Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 5/10

Dunkin' Brownie Batter Donut Iced Coffee (Can)

This is pretty decent, maybe it deserves a 6.5. My first sip made me think: wow, it's chocolatey! So it does reflect the creamy, sweet, frosting of a brownie batter donut. At first. After that, you realise it's just a slightly more luxe version of any mocha-flavored canned coffee. The can taste slowly seeps in. By the time you get to the bottom of the class, you really notice the can flavor. Nevertheless, it's one of the better canned coffees I've had, and better than the other Dunkin' flavor of these I tried!

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

Progresso Spicy Italian-Style Wedding with Italian Sausage

I'm a huuuuge soup fan, but even if a soup doesn't have beans/peas/fish in it, it has soy protein in 99% of the time. But this one didn't! So I bought it! (Yes, I do check every new soup I see, just like Chinese food.) And it was better than I feared it might be, but not amazing. Probably a very standard soup, but I'm still looking forward to buying it again because it was a standard soup! It really was spicy, too. And decently filling for the calos. Noodles, broth, a few carrot/spinach bits, and some spicy meatballs (not very sausagey, more like meatbally). Thanks, Progresso.

Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 7/10

Starbucks Nitro Cold Brew - Pumpkin Cream

Let the pumpkinification begin! I must say, I prefer winter flavors (mint, ginger, hot chocolate) to fall ones, but the pumpkin beers and coffees are pretty solid. And this one is too! Only ("only") 80 cals for a sweet cold creamy pumpkin drink that you can tote around. I like that and I like the little baby foam on top. I don't like the man who works at my grocery store and makes a point to stare into every single thing I buy in the self checkout. But that's OK, it was worth it to buy a fun little drink. There is still a bit of that "can" taste, which I don't like, but it isn't too overpowering here. It's my favorite Starby's can anyway.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 7/10

Ocean Spray Jellied Cranberry Sauce

A Thanksgiving classic! My parents always think I like this version better than the whole-berry version, which is false. But it tastes the same, really; the only difference is in the texture. It's hard to eat a lot of this, since it's very sweet and homogeneous, but it goes great with turkey et al, and it comes in a convenient can shape. I'll never not put a little bit on my plate!

Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 6/10

Ocean Spray Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce

So I will admit, the picture on this can does not look super appealing and is oddly dark. But I do enjoy this whole berry sauce, definitely with turkey 'n the fixins but also on its own for a sad pseudo-holiday for one, too. I had one such event just last week to celebrate my July 14 in Quarantine. The whole berries make the texture a lot more fun than the no-berry type, and the taste is basically the same but maybe a tiny bit tarter/less sweet (although it is still very sweet). This is probably a good 4 portions. I think it is nut free and the antioxidants are probably in there or something. In general this is a nice tasty canned snack.

Overall

Cost: 6/10

Taste: 7/10

Signature Kitchens Super Sweet Whole Kernel White & Gold Corn

The packaging for these Store Brand Cans has changed to be a classier looking white and black can, so I actually bought this for once instead of assuming it would be gross. Not sure why I associate green can = bad, maybe because of past grocery problems at Superior/Smart and Final, but this corn turned out to be very good for the price. I've since bought it a few more times! It's nice and sweet and buttery. I'm a fan. Plus the can is bigger than Green Giant's.

Overall
Cost: 8/10 [1$]
Taste: 7/10

Campbell's Chicken with Rice

This is great to have on hand when you're sick and every food hurts you. However, I had one on hand and ate it when not sick, because I was very hungry and lazy. It was not very good in that circumstance. The rice is a little buttery, which is nice, but of course it's mostly (bland) broth and tiny tiny pieces of soft carrot/chicken/celery. Just really tasteless and not much content. Which is, again, good if you're sick, but really disappointing if you actually have an appetite and taste buds. So future-me will now know better and will save this for sick-futurer-me.




Overall
Cost: 7/10
Taste: 5/10

Cold-Brew High Brew Coffee - Double Espresso

This is one of the better pre-made coffee can/bottles I've had. At first sip, it's real watery, but that's because I've grown used to the terrible milky-ness of your starbucks&etc bottled drinks. This is mainly water, coffee, with just a little milk and sugar. But it's cold (or room temperature in my case), with no ice, so it's a little unusual for someone used to that Dunkin life. This plus is that this is super convenient -- I always like thin stylin' cans. And it's only 50 calories! The taste is a pleasant bitter coffee, but smooth, and not acidic. There is a bit of an aftertaste (metal? milk+metal? I don't really know what it is, but all the can coffees have it), but it's not as unpleasant as the other canned coffees I've had. Overall - this is nice.

Overall
Cost: 5/10 (2.50$ at the store seems a bit much, I'll just buy coffee coffee)
Taste: 6/10

Giant Eagle Candied Yams

This is the pinnacle of candied yam. I'm not sure what my childhood yam brand was (I know it can't be these, because we didn't have Giant Eagle by me) but these taste just like it. Way better than Bruce's or whatever the common canned sweet yam is. This is the perfect holiday side dish. It goes great with ham, turkey, and rolls, and the sauce is so sweet and lovely but not in a gross way like some yams. The yams are so soft and dense and not really potato-y at all, which is what I want. You can smush them down into a little yam mush if you want. And they're so easy to cook! I really wish I had a Giant Eagle nearby just for these. The flavor is slightly pie-spicey, I suppose (cinnamon? nutmeg?) and a with a lot of thin, sweet sauce. It isn't syrupy or cloying at all. Long live these yams!

Overall
Cost: 7/10
Taste: 8/10

Green Giant Super Sweet Yellow and White Corn

 This is my #1 favorite corn! (Second only to perhaps baby-corns or on-the-cob corn). It's sweet and crisp and buttery, but not overly so or overly salty or watery. Plus it goes great with everything from pasta to meat to other veggies. Yum!

Overall
Cost: 7/10
Taste: 8/10

Campbell's Kickin' Buffalo Style Chicken Soup

It had been a while since I had canned non-chicken-noodle soup, so I thought I was due to give it a try. I regret this! Soup is gross. I wasn't even allergic to it (no peas, not that much soy I guess) but it was just really bad. It even looks gross! Don't buy this, you guys!!

Overall
Taste: 4/10
Cost: 5/10 [3.00]

Dole Tropical Fruit

This is my favorite canned fruit -- I don't know if that says much, but sometimes I get in the mood for canned fruit and this is what I reach for. It's definitely convenient in case all your fresh fruit is rotten! Which does happen from time to time. This has pineapple, papaya, mango, and possibly  some other yellow-y cube of fruit in it. I don't really know what's in it, because they all end up tasting pretty much the same, but it's a good flavor. Not as sweet as regular fruit cocktail, and still a nice variety of textures (although there are no smushy grapes, which no one really likes anyway, right?). A good little snack or side dish.



Overall
Cost: 6/10 [1.00]
Taste: 7/10