Reviews of Prepared Foods

My husband recently went out of town to a wedding (I was unable to attend), and the gift bags for the guests included some snacks.  One of the snacks was Newtons new Fruit Crisp bars.  We aren’t huge Fig Newton fans, but we like trying new things.  He tried one, our niece tried one, they didn’t like them – he brought the rest home and warned me, but I still had to try one for myself.  They don’t sound like an entirely bad concept – I like cruchy and fruity snacks – but the execution is horrible.

The crispy portion of the snack is like a really horrible generic cracker – think of a Saltine minus the salt.  It’s a very thin, crispy, tasteless wafer surrounding a bad, jammy filling.  The flavor is supposed to be Mixed Berry, but aside from a reddish-purplish color there’s nothing that screams “berries!” about these.  They turn to a kind of mushy paste in your mouth.    There are two crisps to a package, and the enitre package is only 10o calories, but they’re still a waste of calories.  I’ve never liked Pop Tarts, but these make Pop Tarts seem like a real treat.  I hope the hosts hadn’t tried the Fruit Crisps before sharing them - otherwise, I have to wonder what their guests did to deserve such treatment!

In addition to grabbing some inexpensive J.L. Jardine’s Peach Salsa on my recent trip to Marshall’s, I found Organic Apple Sauce with Cinnamon by Grandma Hoerner’s.  I bought a jar, but I was a little leary, only because I’m picky about apple sauce – I don’t care for unsweetened, though I’ll eat it, but I don’t like it oversweetened or overspiced, either. 

I like having apple sauce in the house because I’m allergic to many fruits when they’re raw/uncooked (weird, but true) so I’m always trying to sneak  more fruit into my diet in other ways.  Apple sauce counts as a serving of fruit (though I know it’s not as nutritious as the real deal), and since the apples are cooked, I’m good to go!

This is one of the best apple sauces that I’ve tried, and it’s organic, which is great, too (apples are thin-skinned so they easily absorb pesticides).  It has just enough cinnamon to add a nice flavor but not become overpowering.  It also  has just the right amount of sugar.  And, Grandma Hoerner’s apple sauce has a great texture, too – pureed, of course, but it seems to be more coarsely pureed than most apple sauces.  Even the color is more appealing than most jarred apple sauces.  T.J. Maxx and Marshall’s are supposed to be carrying more of the company’s products, including preserves, so I’ll be buying more apple sauce and maybe trying some of their other treats, too!

I try to eat healthy, but I have my guilty pleasures just like everyone else – and I’m not talking about an occasional piece of home-made cake, I’m talking about real junk food.  I don’t eat a lot of junk food, but I have an occasoinal craving for puffy cheese snacks like Cheetos.  This may be in part because I wasn’t raised in a junk-food house (thankfully) but cheese puffs were something I got at my birthday parties or as a very occasional treat.  I guess it’s sort of a nostalgia thing, and it’s a little embarrassing to admit to now.

So, when I was doing errands recently and found myself suddently starving and faced with the new Cheetos Flamin’ Hot cheese flavored snacks, I decided to try them.  I like spicy food and snacks, and we’ve established that I secretly (not so secretly any more) like Cheetos. 

I may have cured my Cheetos cravings for awhile with this one.  They are seriously bad.  I don’t know what the scary red-colored seasoning on these things is, but it doesn’t taste like any spice that I’ve had before.  It leaves a strong, almost bitter after-taste in your mouth and completely masks any of that fake-cheese flavor of the Cheeto itself (I know, I know, this probably doesn’t seem like a bad thing, but I wanted to taste the Cheetos).  And, for some reason, getting covered in red Cheeto dust seemed worse than getting covered in orange Cheeto dust (some things I just can’t explain).

My other beef with Cheetos is the website, and I guess Frito Lay is to blame for this one.  First off, the Cheetos direct website (which I’m not linking to as it slowed down my computer) looks like a scary video game.  The Frito Lay website looks like a health-food website.  Now, I’ve admitted to liking the occasional Cheeto but I’m not going to try to convince myself that they’re healthy – the snacks have little tag-lines next to them that say things like “Onion Free” and “Trans-Fat Free.”  But, seriously?  Trying to convince people that they’re healthy?  Showing a lady on a bicycle eating Frito Lay snacks does not make them healthy.  (The fact that they’re called cheese-flavored snacks and not cheese snacks should be our first hint).

Oh, well.  At least I won’t be reaching for any Cheetos – orange or red - anytime soon.

I think the expression “sweet heat” is overused…that said, I’m going to use it in this entry (but it’s the first time I use it on this blog, so I think it’s ok)!

I recently sampled some Peach Salsa by Texas-based D.L. Jardine’s in a kitchen store.  I didn’t buy it, but wished I had.  Then, I was wandering the specialty food aisles at Marshall’s (where I find great gourmet food deals, by the way) with my husband and I spied it again, much cheaper.  So, we bought a jar last weekend and it’s already almost half gone!

The salsa has medium hotness, which makes me enjoy it over some other fruity salsas that I’ve tried.  It has large chunks of green chili peppers, jalapeno peppers, and peaches and is seasoned with vinegar and brown sugar – I don’t normally like vinegar in my salsa, but the acidity balances nicely with the sweet fruit and sugar.  So it’s sort of a sweet-sour and slightly spicy salsa (try saying that five times, fast!)  I’ve been eating the chunky salsa with chips, but I think it would be great in a gourmet grilled cheese – I’m dreaming of it with melted brie, in particular.  So, next time you’re craving some sweet heat, try some!