Idahoan Steakhouse Creamy Potato Soup

Soup! I love soup, when I'm not allergic to it and when I don't need to use a blender to make it. This was so easy and convenient. Just add water and cook. It also made a lot of soup! And it tasted pretty good; it was creamy as advertised and not too gross like mashed potatoes but wet would be. A tip for me: I shouldn't eat it all at once. Also it was a little monotonous, maybe I should try putting something in there (like carrot, or maybe broccoli or corn?). Anyway, it was good and filling, though fattening. I would buy it again if I ever saw it at the store, but I haven't seen it anywhere.




Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 7/10

Manitou Trading Company - Truffle Parmesan & Black Garlic Seasoning

Ehh, this was fine. Somehow I had a feeling I wouldn't love this, and the feeling came true. I was hoping this would be like a parmesan cheese mix basically, but instead it was kind of gritty weird tasting powder. Not sure what it would go good with, either. Not chicken and veg, it turns out! But it wasn't horrible, just a bit neutral. Not the point of a seasoning mix though, is it!

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 5/10

Grounded Snacks - Vanilla Chai Baked Grain Bites

So, I only ate these because they were about to expire, but honestly they were better than I expected them to be! Initially I wasn't that into them, but the blend of cinnamon, vanilla, and (I guess?) chai is really pleasant and sweet but not TOO sweet. It mainly tastes like cinnamon and vanilla. The texture is light and puffy; these chips are gluten free so they're made of rice and other grains (but not weird chickpea flour or any legumey stuff). It was very easy to eat the entire bag, but I guess there are less healthy snacks out there you could eat instead. These remind me a bit of the cinnamon twists at Taco Bell, in both taste and texture. They also seem fairly nut-free, aka they have a legit online allergy policy.


Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 7/10

Unique Sourdough Craft Beer Pretzel Rings

I never tried this brand before, but it appears to be nut-free. These pretzels weren't bad; they were super filling and very thick, and they didn't have an especially strong flavor. I thought they were a little too crunchy and hard to chew for my liking. There was perhaps a bit of a honey pretzel tastes, which might have been the hops(??) that are in there. Still not my favorite pretzel option, but OK if you're quite hungry.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

Just Add Dip - Classic Guacamole

I definitely like the idea of this packet (add to avo and you have guac!), but the actual reality was a dud. It had a really strong flavor, but it wasn't the garlic/lime flavor I expected, rather it was like a lot of sugar and onion powder and preservatives. I think a plain avocado would be preferable. It did mix in easily though, and maybe I should just use less and add some tomato and onions in. But that defeats the purpose of the "convenient mix"!

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 4/10

PopCorners Spicy Queso

I was pretty excited for these, but although the coating was good I think that I don't really like PopCorners in general. I've only had the kettle corn flavor in the past, so maybe it was weird for me to eat these with a non-sweet coating. The flavor on these was indeed like a spicy queso, which I like, but the chips themselves are weird and soft and I don't like the flavor of corn chips. I guess.

Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 5/10

Raindrops Candy Taco

This was weird. I once had a bad experience with a gummy burger, so I was nervous, but really this is just a bunch of types of gummies in one package. The shell isn't gummy. I enjoyed the little shoestring gummys on top, they tasted like pliable wheaty twizzlers (or like red vines, but not red). I also liked the skinny circle disc gummies because they had a nice texture, like a chuckle. However, the gummy bears and avocado looking pieces were way too firm/chewy, like a larger Haribo. It was a cute product and had a lot of candy in, but to eat it wasn't that great.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 5/10

Chef Paul Prudhomme's Magic Seasoning Blends - Poultry Magic

This seems fine, I used it a few times on combos of chicken & veg (peppers, tomatoes, etc). There are definitely herbs in there (parsley? oregano?) plus the usual spice mix flavors (garlic, salt). There's no MSG, not that I really care about that. I thought it tasted fine; nothing earth-shattering but surely better to have this seasoning then to have no seasoning. It went down pretty easy and wasn't too overwhelming. Plus the guy on the front randomly reminds me of a guy from Survivor, so I like that.

Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 6/10

Sweet Baby Ray's Hot Sauce

This was good! Not as good as their BBQ sauce, obviously, but for a sauce not loaded with sugar, it was really nice. It went on chicken and veg nicely, and was hot but not super hot, just a standard hot-wing type sauce.

Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 6/10

Idahoan Smokey Cheese & Bacon Mashed Potatoes

OK, the main thing to note about these potatoes for me is that the "bacon" in this flavor isn't real bacon at all, but bacon flavored soy protein. Normally I don't care about fake meat/cheese/flavoring, but I'm mildly allergic to soy protein, so this made me really anxious. I tried to eat around the bacon bits in here, but there are quite a lot of them and it still made me itchy. A scary experience. Other than that, I didn't think this tasted very different from the other cheese flavored varieties anyway. So I'd recommend you just get one of those instead, unless you really love bacon flavor. There is a light smoky bacon flavor here for sure, as well as some plain mild cheddar. Even ignoring the soy thing, I wasn't a big fan of this flavor. Easy to cook & cheap though!


Overall
Cost: 8/10
Taste: 4/10

Idahoan Cheddar & Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes

This was fine. Standard. As always, Idahoan potatoes are super fast and easy to cook, plus they are a filling meal and fairly low-cal compared to pasta or rice. The taste of these was really nothing special, though, even with added veg. Tastes like cheesy potato, which is totally serviceable but very boring after a few spoonfuls. A monotonous eating experience. But if you like plain pizza, plain bagels, plain donuts, and sauceless meats, you might love this (I do not).

Overall
Cost: 8/10
Taste: 5/10

Welch's Fruit Snacks - Superfruit Mix

These were OK - they sure came in handy during long days of work and travel, and for convenience it's great to just tuck a pack of these in your bag. But as for the actual product, it didn't "wow" me. The packs are really small, and I found the fruit flavor to be just generic "fruit" rather than any strong fruit flavors I could recognize. The texture is also more on the sticky/chewy size, so you don't get a nice firm bite, which is my preferred fruit snack texture. In all, not my favorite snack, although they're surely edible and totally nut-free.




Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 5/10

La Tortilla Factory Low Carb Flour Tortillas - Soft Taco Size

Soft taco size is a pretty freakin' big size - which is great, I like the space. And I did use them for tacos, which I always like. The tortillas themselves are kind of irrelevant, but these were honestly not that great tasting - a little wet and not...tortilla flavored? But they were big and didn't rip, and had a shocking amount of fiber (and are low carb I guess) so they're good enough for me. I ate 'em all, don't worry.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

Smashmallow Smash Crispy - Strawberries & Cream

Another product explicitly made in a nut-free facility! Count me in. Upon unwrapping, this looked kind of unappealing, though. It had weird dry brown berry(?) bits on just the top of it. But looking past appearances, it tasted good, with a nice strong strawberry flavor and a solid sweetness (but not oversweetness). A fun spin on a Rice Krispie Treat in a cute package.




Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 7/10

Vahdam Teas

This was a sample pack of 5 different teas, which is fun. I wasn't allergic to any of them (they listed the ingredients, thankfully) either!

India's Original Masala Chai Tea: At first I thought "this is too hot/this is too weak/blech/am I dying?" all at once, but after it cooled down it got to taste much more cinnamon-y and clove-y and just like a nice warm spicy juice drink. Not too shabby in the end. 6.

Turmeric Spiced Herbal Tea: This wasn't as spicy/sweet/flavorful as the chai tea from this pack. But, it didn't kill me and I couldn't really taste the lemongrass in it, which is good because I hate lemongrass. It was also yellow in color which was pretty fun. But the taste was very very mild. 5.

Himalayan Green Tea: This looks like water! Honestly it also kind of tastes like water. I.e. it tastes like nothing. A warm nothing, though, perhaps like a very watered down black tea. Did I make it wrong? Who knows! I guess it was OK. 5.

Darjeeling Summer Black Tea: Apparently, this is known as the "champagne of teas". Well, I do like champagne, and I do like black tea better than green or herbal tea, it seems. This just tasted like plain black tea, which is something I'm old hat at by now, so it was solid, comforting, and decent. Plus it has caffeine! 6.

Chamomile Mint Citrus Green Tea: This smelled pretty gross upon teabaggin', but it tasted mainly of mint with a touch of floral flavor. It was fairly refreshing. 6.

Turmeric Ginger Herbal Tea Tisane: This was loose-leaf, and it's just turmeric and ginger! (No tea at all, really). I made it in my cool see-thru brew bottle, and it's super orangey in color which is fun. Classic Turme I guess. The taste is fine, nothing crazy good but it mostly tastes like ginger to me, which I do like. Warm, watery, and a tiny bit spicy. 6.

Turmeric Pepper Herbal Tea Tisane: This was loose-leaf also, and has turmeric, black pepper, cloves, and cardamom. It ended up being a pretty orange-ish brown color. It had a little bit of spice flavor, which is nice, but it could use ginger and cinnamon in my humble opinion. A little plain for my taste. Can't really taste the pepper, which is probably for the best. 6.



Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10, on average

Dave's Gourmet - Ginger Citrus Creamy Hot Sauce

I was hovering between rating this a 4 and a 5, but because I really only ate it on raw veggies (brocco/cauli) I rounded up. They recommend trying this with chips (?!) and I think I should try it on some chicken, my go-to sauce sponge. I just haven't gotten around to it yet. Anyway, this is "creamy" but also vegan, so you know it's gonna be a little bit funky. I found it to be quite hot/spicy, with a vinegary flavor. It got to be a little too much for me after a short while, not in terms of heat but just in terms of the flavor. I guess the combo of vinegar/cumin(warning for nut allergy people?)/hot pepper isn't my favorite. I will say I emailed the company to ask if this was safe for me, since they also sell nuts, and they said that basically the nuts were a separate line and I'd be fine. I wasn't super convinced but at least they answered me quickly, and indeed I didn't die, so I guess the story checks out.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 5/10

Uncle Dougie's Sweet & Snappy Small Batch BBQ Sauce

BBQ sauce is a good sauce to have around, for cooking and dipping. This is more of a cooking-only sauce, though, I think. Compared to Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce (the holy grail of BBQ sauce) this is much thinner and less sweet. I cooked chicken in it and I still thought the sauce was a bit too watery. But, when I left the chicken in the fridge it kind of firmed up and was tastier and more BBQy. So it could work in a long term marinade situation. Probably good in the slow cooker, too. The taste was fine, but not as sweet or tomatoey as I think I like. It was more savory/smokey, but not super strong either. Overall fine, I'll probably finish this off eventually since it keeps for a long time. Nice jar/packaging too.


Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 5/10

Pirate's Booty - Aged White Cheddar

I first discovered Pirate's Booty in college, where it was all the rage. Even though it's not so trendy anymore, I still think it's a great snack. They even have a sneaky line on the back of the bag that says "Made in a facility where nuts are NOT present" which I find delightful. The taste is good, a nice white cheesey powder on a very light puff. They're kind of in funny small twisty ball shapes, very unique, but they mostly just taste like a standard light cheese puff. A pleasant snack and safe for most eaters, plus a funny pirate logo. Who could dislike such a product?




Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 7/10

Campfire Mini Marshmallows - Fruit Flavored

Fruit flavored marshmallows, huh? I like sweets and these are appealing to look at, with the nice pastel colors. And gosh, they really were fruit flavored, and you could tell the different flavors apart. Sadly, it turned out to be kind of weird for me. I think I'd rather nosh on some regular marshmallow flavored marshmallows, instead. I did appreciate that they were unique and only 90 calories per bag, though.



Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 5/10

Grounded Snacks - Cinnamon Sugar Red Rice & Quinoa Tortilla Chips

A tortilla chip that isn't made from corn is a pretty cool concept, now that I think about it. The fact that these are all organic/non-GMO whatever and made out of quinoa, I thought maybe they'd be super healthy (not so) or taste really unique (not so). But these are a decent sweet snack. They're just standard tortilla chips without a strong corn flavor, with a nice dusting of cinnamon sugar. Good crunch, nice brown color, and not too savory (I don't like those sweet/savory mixes). I wouldn't ever really seek this out, but it's totally fine and enjoyable enough to snack on (I went through almost all of it watching some late night Grey's Anatomy).


Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10