Joe Joe's

Im not a huge fan of oreos persay. I think i've bought them twice in 12 years?
one of the times they would have been thrown out if my dad hadn't visited and eaten them all. LOL.
I'd heard joe joes were better than nabisco, but I figured that was damn hippy talk.
I was wrong. Very wrong!
I bought a box for the kiddos, being a mean mom they have had them once with me EVER....but I had to give em a try. and then I ate about half the box. ha!
The cream is creamier and squishy unlike oreos which have that firm styrofoam like texture. The cookies are delightfully chocolately and also a tad lighter which makes them easier to eat.
they are not crumby like oreos, you can easily bite into them when dry....and are very tasty! and CHEAPER too! huzzah.
I bought my second box last week :D

A

Potato chips cooked in olive oil

Ok, thats a rather long name for a bag of chips. TJs has a pretty wide variety to choose from - but these were good enough to have me go for them a second time. Never being a big chip fan until the wave of kettle versions started coming out....I find myself now a convert. esp since my second pregnancy where I have found myself craving CRUNCHY foods quite a lot. probably an iron thing.
A nice well cooked darker color these are golden brown, crunchy, and none of those bottom of the bag rejects that would cause me to throw away half a bag of chips (you know who you are *cough*lays*cough*)

B+

Frozen Garlic Naan

I love garlic. I probably use garlic too much. I love bread. Figured win-win, right?

uhhh...not so much. HUGE chunks of garlic. I cooked per instructions and then cooked double the time and was still cold and somewhat soggy in middle. I was burping some serious garlic breath for like 12 hours, despite eating foods to try and quell it.

I crave garlic when i'm sick (it's a natural antibiotic you know) so I will probably hang onto the rest until that point and eat them....but I won't be buying these again. I like the idea of having naan around however so I may try out the regular variety.

I can't believe these words are crossing my lips...but there was just TOO MUCH GARLIC.
(I'm in disbelief)

D

Cereal Bars

I used to buy the nutrigrain bars for myself back in highschool....and those things were PRICEY!
The kids were kinda meh on the box i'd bought (nutrigrain ones)...I ate most of them myself, but then hit TJs and bought all the varieties of the cereal bars they sold.
They have strawberry, blueberry, apple, and fig!
Fig isn't my normal MO...being a FAR FAR pickier eater than my kids even (I used to buy strawberry and apple NG bars) but I loved fig newtons if I didn't think about them too much. LOL.

The kids have loved all four flavors and I get no objections when I suggest they grab a cereal bar instead of a bag of fruit snacks for lunch/snacktime. Plus, how cute is that box?
and at 1.99 for a box of 6, and I suspect FAR healthier versions of ingredients than NG even provides....I'm hooked. Plus, FIG! yay!

I fully plan on keeping atleast 2 varieties onhand at all times.

A+

Jasmine Rice - Organic or no?

 

 

 



 

I reviewed the Organic frozen rice and was IN LOVE!!! I guess I didn't notice in the mad chaos that is TJs right now there was a regular version. The organic comes in a cello type wrapper that you can pull apart, the reg version comes in a thicker plastic bubble that you have to tear the top off to open.

 

The reg version was more broken, less fluffy. I actually didn't TASTE it as I had one organic left I gave the reg stuff to the kids and kept the organic for myself. Selfish I know but I appreciate good rice and the kids don't eat very much of their rice anyway. lol....

 

I gotta say, there is a price diff of 50c per box (3 packets of 2c of rice each) and I will be using the rest of the reg variety and buying only the organic version from now on. I know I know organic is much better for all parties concerned, but i grew up poor white trash and generally opt for price over "quality" unless there is a big diff in performance/taste/etc.

 

Here the diff in price is enough to make me choose organic over reg (I just wanted to see if reg was as good as) but also the taste/quality of the product is far superior.

 

 

Go Organic when you go jasmine!!

Cheesy Chedder dogs

The kids oddly enough thought these were awful terrible no good. And my kids are pretty darn adventurous eaters. Sushi? heck yes. Shrimp? absolutely. They prefer whole grain breads and have only ever eaten all beef hotdogs - usually prepared Chicago Style....

I'm aghast and amazed they wanted nothing to do with these? I'm confused. They were pretty darn tasty and I could see getting them again easily. Really not sure what the kids objection was. *headscratch*
That being said, they were not AH-MAY-ZING....and I like my dogs somewhat dry and snappy so I usually nuke mine til they are splitting and shrively so really couldn't tell there was cheese in there. but thats been my exp with all cheesefilled dogs in the past anyway.
I usually buy nathans or hebrew national, so I may just give their reg hotdogs a try and see how those are.
3.69 is cheaper than what I usually end up paying unless I get a good buy one get one, so not too bad. Dog itself acted like a better quality dog and was a good size.

May be trying this again - B

Unexpected Cheese

Cheese is never unexpected in my house. Nor uninvited. I feel like going all LOTR and speaking about my precious. Much like with red wine I'm not a cheese snob. I like pretty freak'n much everything. Not a fan of yogurt (it squicks me out, plus I don't like sweet with my savory, dammit...and cheese should be savory imho) nor blue cheese (first the look of it is pretty gross, but I actually really dislike the flavor as well). But i'll gnaw on a hunk of swiss, gouda, edam, muenster, asiago, etc. my fridge always contains ATLEAST one container of sour cream (its my mission in life to find more dishes that include sour cream!) and cottage cheese. It's unexpected only that I don't require a rascal to move my cheese laden body about. Moderation I suppose?

Either way, I ripped open the package and delved in. My main complaints are
A) MOAR!
B) It's kinda crumbly which is frustrating
C) MOOOOAAARRRR!!

I ate small chunks as they were broken apart. it acted like a parm, and was creamier and smoother than a parm like a chedder, but had little bits of salty crunchy goodness like you get when eating slivers of parm.

Cheaper than parm, creamier than parm, every bit as tasty as....
3.99 is the going price for this (making it 9.12 a pound) and i may end up with a chunk in my fridge at all times. YUUMMMM...

Also suspect that this would make for really tasty addtion to baked mac and cheese dishes, salads, and pastas. creamier and melty, but still kick you want.

Absolutely - A+

Journey to the center of the cookie

 

 

These i've seen get rave reviews elsewhere. I threw one into the oven per directions and waited exactally 60secs to cool. the cookie was somewhat hard and tasteless I thought, and the center wasn't gooey at all and tasted like melted hersey bar. I guess I was expecting something richer and more like a lava cake per the picture. Didn't do much for me at all. my homemade cookies and fudge brownies are much more of a treat.

at 2.99 for 2, they are pretty pricey as well.

 

Personally i'd much rather spend that 3 bucks on a package of pilsbury simply chocolate chip break-n-bakes. good for 3-4 servings depending on how many you eat, hot and gooey and melty and very tasty. just as quick too.

 

I won't buy these again, honestly. C