Carrington Farms Organic Toasted Quinoa

I've had cooked quinoa a few times (only a few because it's so much work) and I really like it, but this is a totally different beast. Toasted quinoa touts its "nutty flavor" right on the bag, which sketches me out, but the ingredients here are 100% quinoa, so it is safe. You also don't need to rinse or boil or mess with this in any way. OK, cool. So right out of the bag, initially, I was like "this tastes like bird food, blech", but then I started to get hungry and I got into eating this by the spoonful. It is a little bit nutty (I imagine) and grainy. As you might expect, I suppose. But it feels healthy (ha ha) and filling and is very convenient. The actual balls are super tiny, but not so tough that you can't chew them (they aren't popcorn husks). I might try popping this in some yogurt or stuffing or something later, but even on its own I could probably eat this whole bag. I'm not really lacking for protein or fiber, but if you are veg, this could be super convenient to just throw in different meals.

Overall
Cost: 3/10 (It's like $7.50 dude)
Taste: 5/10

Yum Earth Organic Lollipops

So, these lollipops really get around in the gluten-free/organic/whole foods sector, but they're also nut free, and therefore I am interested in them. From YumEarth (originally called Yummy Earth -- good change, I think), these come in a bunch of different flavors, but each pop is about 70 calories and a nice size.

They are also made with real fruit extract, but like....it's still a lollipop. Health food this is not.

The flavors (at least as of now) are: Strawberry, Grape, Mango, Peach, Berry, Pomegranate, Watermelon, and Cherry. I like the Cherry, Grape, and Peach best, they all have bright, strong flavors. The berry is fine, but I'm not really sure which berry it's supposed to taste like. Maybe the always mysterious blue raspberry? The pomegranate, strawberry, and watermelon are OK, but not amazing. Mango is the prettiest colors (yellow and gold!) but it's not as good as the others. The nice thing about these is that they're pretty easy to buy both online and in stores, and they aren't super expensive even though they're gluten-free/organic/etc. A nice treat for the common folk, if you will. I'm happy to have a few of these a month; they're a nice sweet treat that doesn't make you feel like I-just-ate-a-box-of-oreos garbage.

Sour Apple Tart: So this is a flavor I had never seen before, but I got one and it had the (very very old?) YummyEarth labelling. However, it's a freakin' lolly, so I ate it regardless of the fact that it was probably 5+ years old. And it was good! Probably the best of the flavors -- not too sweet, just a nice strong sour apple, kind of like a Jolly Rancher. Alas, I'll probably never have it again. 7/10

Overall
Cost: 7/10
Taste: 6/10

Good Boy Organics Sea Salt BOPS

A gluten free organic product that doesn't contain nuts! How wonderful. Also wonderful: BOPS stands for "baked organic potato snacks". Hee hee. Anyway, these are decent, but not amazing/as good as most "normal" chips like UTZ or Bickels or those sweet potato chips I like. The flavor is good, salty but also a little creamy, maybe because the texture of the chip is a little mushier than a standard crisp. Kind of a weird little corn(?) aftertaste. Corn and salty sour cream flavored BOPS, maybe. I'd be interested in trying the other flavors! And the fat content isn't too bad.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10