Signature Select Fresh Basil Leaves

This isn't what the container looks like, but whatever, it was bad anyway. I saw this at the store for 1 whole dollar cheaper than the fresh basil plant I usually get, and I thought "yeah, OK", but the container says not to refrigerate for over 24 hours, so I didn't, and then it completely went black and slimy in a matter of 2-3 days. So instead I had no basil at all. (Upside: turns out the lasagna tastes better without basil anyway, but it was the PRINCIPLE of the thing!)

Overall
Cost: 5/10 [2.50]
Taste: ???/10 

Signature Select Whole White Mushrooms

So, these were a little bit weird. They are bigger than the whole bella mushrooms, which is good because it's less work to clean & stuff them.  I think you get about 16 as opposed to 24 (which ended up being 14, since I lost 2 to molding). They're easier to see dirt on, which makes them harder to clean therefore. The taste was fine, but the texture was problematic, as they had a stretchy(?) membrane(?) on the top of each cap. What the hell is that?? Like eating a steak. Maybe I got a slightly old batch, but otherwise, back to bella we shall go.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10
Texture: 2/10 

Signature Select Whole Baby Bella Mushrooms

[Whole baby] bella mushrooms! And beautiful they are. Actually, I was worried they had gone off because they were a little slimy and a little brown/white mystery mold crust-y, but your girl was ready to take a gamble right before the whole state shuts down for a week+ due to weather. A gamble on stuffed mushrooms. I actually wanted way bigger mushrooms, and white-not-bella-which-is-also-white-but-not-really, but these turned out to work just fine. In 20oz ("family size"... a mockery) you get 26 mushrooms, which just about fills a baking sheet. Mostly the same size...ish. I like mushrooms even though they aren't a veg, protein, or a fiber. They just are. 

Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 6/10 

Signature Select Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs

Behold! My store now has chicken thighs! This is great news for protein-lovers, but mid news for allergy-havers, because store brand meat/deli/bakery stuff all has the same allergy disclaimer (processed with every ingredient you can name, and more). And there are nut-containing meats (mortadella), so there is a little bit of legitimate fear with something like this as far as shared cutting surfaces, counters, gloves, etc. Buuut this is just chicken (ingredients: chicken) and from inspection, there don't look like any non-chicken residues, so I figure it's a reasonable risk (even though I'd much rather any actual company > in-store(?) butchery). I also don't really need 8 thighs (that's 3.5lbs), even for a big crock-pot recipe, so I had to do the gross repackaging-and-freezing-and-labelling dance, but I guess these work out to like 1.75$/thigh, which is a good deal (certainly cheaper than the 5 breasts for 13-15$ bag). Thighs are also more delicious than other chicken parts (sorry to discuss chicken parts on main). And while we're at it, I also doubt the ethics of store brand chicken... but we all make our little choices. 

Anyway, taste is good. Nice moist chicken. Shockingly fatty after a full year of breast-only life (aha), but that's a plus for me. The "bbq" sauce I slow cooked it in was just like, tomato paste (in flavor), so that was a disappointment, and I may have cooked it a little too far into mushiness, but I think those were user error and not chicken failure.  

Overall
Cost: 5/10 [13$]
Taste: 6/10 

Signature Select Wild Wonders Medley Tomatoes

Some of my best friends are wild wonders! I guess it seems I'm on a bit of a tomato kick, but it's just that there's always a different brand at the store and tomatoes are in a lot of recipes. (Healthy orzo bake, this time.) These tomatoes were not quite as flawless as the last ones I had, but they weren't too bad looking (or tasting). Just a lil wrinkly, but I didn't have to toss any. The medley element is mainly: red ones with a few dark orange ones -- not that wild, but neither am I, so it was just fine.

Overall
Cost: 5/10 (~4$)
Taste: 6/10

Signature Select Cauliflower Florets

This is frozen cauliflower. For me, the main purpose of cauliflower is to be a veg that takes up space and doesn't intrude with its own personality. In this, it served its purpose. Got nothin' else for you.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

Signature Select Petite Broccoli Florets

Almost didn't review this, since I figured it's the same thing as the non-Petite version (the picture sure looks the same), but based on my comments, this actually is a different, petiter beast. One serving of this is like, 9 florets. Still tastes better than the winter mix broccos, even though I also bought this because they were out of winter mix. Maybe I should give up on winter mix and just go full brocco. But I need all the veggie diversity I can get! Anyway, this was good. I enjoyed it more than I expected to enjoy it, whatever that means.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

Signature Select Sliced White Mushrooms

"Review the mushrooms," says the devil on my shoulder. "Nothing wrong with reviewing Store Brand Mushrooms!" Sure, sure. Why not. I actually learned this week that the difference between mushroom options (white/button vs brown/bella) is a very small age difference. Like, days. Like 3 days. What?! So my previous method of "ignore mushroom specification, just buy whatever's at the store" feels way more legitimate with this knowledge. I do miss the other, lovelier mushroom types, but Acme has what Acme has, and that's probably for the best, fermentation-wise.

These are good. Sliced already, though not washed of course (I don't think any fresh mushrooms come washed?) and I always worry about it more than maybe I should. These aren't particularly dirt-caked anyway, not like the local ones that are probably from Ireland or something (even though I live 20 min from the Mushroom Capital of the World). Relatedly, on certain humid mornings the air by me smells like mushroom farms, and everyone around here hates it, but I love it. It's so comforting, like the noise of a train or cuddling up in a warm blanket. Maybe if they grew up smelling roasted peanuts and horse manure like I did, they'd put some respect on Mushroom Farm Smell. Anyway, I got a little off track. Mushrooms taste nice, especially when cooked in nice things like shallot and garlic and meat and oil and pepper and etc. I haven't had pizza in decades (months? who knows) but mushrooms are also my favorite pizza topping. All hail mushroom. 

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

Signature Select Frozen Artichoke Hearts (Quartered)

Artichokes have a lot going for them. Cool name (from Arabic! with an l~r sound change!); healthful; cool appearance; artichoke dip is a top tier appetizer (or so the recollections of teenage me indicate); my Canadian friendo used to insult me by saying I had an artichoke heart, which is apparently an actual French idiom. 

But, they taste bad. Sorry. Not like, olive-level inedible, but they have a sour flavor and no redeeming (flavor) notes. I get why they're often pickled because they have the essence of "pickle me". Even paired with spinach and chicken and etc, when you notice them you think "wish I weren't". These frozen ones cooked up fine and all, but they do come in their natural stacks (like in the picture), so you either have to spend time de-stacking them or suffer with occasional artichoke-heavy bites in your product. You can guess what I chose.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 5/10

Signature Select Cut Leaf Spinach

I had to decide between this and Signature Select Chopped Spinach. Both had the same price, same weight, and same nutrition, so it was very difficult. Are cut leafs not, in fact, chopped? I'm sure it's a size-of-chop thing, but these were pretty small pieces, so I really don't know if it's worth them producing two near-identical products. Do I like spinach enough to buy the other one next time and investigate? Based on this, it's kinda 50/50. I may switch to Birds Eye or Green Giant actually. I got 3 pounds(!!) of this stuff to make a creamed spinach dish, which was extremely "meh" (possibly because I didn't do a good enough job pressing the cooked spinach with towels, but still). It was also kinda gritty, and while I know spinach is just like that, this was next level. I thought for a moment I had dropped some eggshell in the pot even though there were no eggs involved. Also, there is a warning on the back that it has so much cadmium it'll give you cancer! Dang, spinach. On the other hand, good source of fiber and no allergies? :D?

Overall
Cost: 5/10 [3$]
Taste: 5/10

Signature Select Fuji Apples

Apples in a bag... apples in a bag.... We shall come rejoicing, apples in a bag...

I always mix up Fuji and Fiji. I blame Fiji water (Fuji water?!). These are good apples and very cost effective. They are small and mostly not moldy. Of course, they are also coated in icky resin from bug backsides. So it goes. They taste like a nice sweet apple. Crisp-ish, but a little too on the mealy side for my preference. 

Overall
Cost: 8/10
Taste: 6/10

Signature Select Broccoli Florets

Floret is a fun word. I got these because my usual cheapo frozen veggie mix ("winter mix") was out of stock, hopefully temporarily. In non-riced form, brocco is actually superior to cauliflower, so I liked this better -- but I feel I ought to consume as much veggie diversity as I am able. These brocco pieces are also huge compared to the wee ones (floret-ettes?) in the winter mix. One serving is like, 3 brocco stalkos. Kind of a fun change of pace, but not particularly practical for my usual mix-in purposes. Tastes fine (that is to say, tastes like brocco).

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

Signature Select Frozen Sliced Peaches

I was pleased enough with frozen blueberries, so I tried these frozen peaches. I like fresh peaches! But these tasted like nothing. To be fair, I made a peach milkshake with them, and so maybe the recipe was just bad or I didn't blend it enough or defrost them or something. But I was definitely disappointed. Maybe if I baked them into a pastry they would be more delicious. 

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 5/10

Signature Select White Corn Tortilla Chips

I got these for free so I can't be too mad at them. In fact, they actually taste decent (I say "actually" because some of this store brand stuff is dire)! A little bit different than Tostitos -- maybe more "burnt" flavor? Slightly thicker, with less salt? Not a radical difference from other chips, but something. They hold up well to a brief cheese-melting microwave, too.

Overall
Cost: 8/10
Taste: 6/10

Signature Select SuperSweet Golden Corn

This is more bittersweet than supersweet, 'cause looking for this corn led me to discover my fridge wasn't fridging. But I ate it anyway, and I didn't even have to heat it! It was basically thawed! Woo! This was good for a salad, and I would consider frozen corn again in the future. If I ever am able to freeze anything again. Woe, woe, woe.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 7/10

signature select - california style vegetables

Frozen veggies, hooray! I'm out of fresh veg for now, and will soon be out of frozen veg, so I'm treating these like frozen gold. And they're fine, not quite as high-quality seeming as the other frozen carrot/broc/cauli mix I've bought, but certainly fine. I added a cup to some noodles, added a little pepper and olive oil, and it did the job. The veg didn't add much flavor or texture though (maybe I overcooked em), but I hope they added some vitamins.

Overall
Cost: 5/10 (who can even remember)
Taste: 5/10

Signature Select Vodka Sauce

So many "signature" store brands, I can't tell the difference between them! I guess "select" is the pasta sauce line. It's pretty solid. I wouldn't say that this is very different from other vodka sauces I've had, which is great as it's the cheapest one. I used about 1/3 with my pot of noodles (and veg), and that seemed just right. It's creamy and fatty (750 cals per jar!) and has little tomato chunks in which are tasty and evoke the flavor of the Signature Select plain pasta sauce. It isn't too sweet or salty and didn't make me ill (yet). Overall, I'm a fan, although I try not to go too hard on vodka sauce (or vodka).




Overall
Cost: 7/10
Taste: 7/10

Signature Select - Winter Mix Vegetables

 This is good frozen veg! It's store brand, so it's cheap (usually 1.50ish) and it steams in bag, which is nice sometimes. They always come out tasting like pleasant cooked broc/cauli, and not like weird freezer burn or other odd things I've experienced in the past with veggie taste or texture. They make a great mix in with pasta, rice, potato, or probably pretty much anything that could use a veg. No complaints.



Overall
Cost: 6/10 [1.50]
Taste: 7/10

Signature Select Mushroom & Onion Pasta Sauce

This was on super sale so I tried it out. I think I liked it, actually, although the price helped me think so. It wasn't as sweet as other jar sauces, it was thicker and a darker red, more like tomato paste with a strong tomato flavor. A few small chunks of tomato in there too. Reminds me a little of my grandma's homemade sauce minus the meat, which is a compliment. Also, tastes a tiny bit cheesy even though there is no cheese.

Overall
Cost: 7/10 [1.50 on sale!]
Taste: 7/10