2nd PINT: Ben & Jerry's Oatmeal Cookie Chunk

The Dominick's location that had carried this rare & sinfully delicious, chunk-chocked Ben & Jerry's flavor had phased it out of their freezer section earlier this year (WHY???!).

Fortunately, I came across a Woodman's that carried it (WHEW!!!!!). I was tempted to buy all of them lol, but I restrained myself and bought 2 pints. I liked that at Woodman's, they had manufacturer coupons taped up on freezer door for customers. I paid around $3 a pint, drove straight to my cousins' house to introduce them to this glorious flavor.

And it was just as amazing as the first pint I had.

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FOODVENTURES: Lito's Empanadas

+Choco Banana+

+Champinon Chicken+

+Chori-Cheese+

Pros: Colombian-style empanadas that were freshly deep-fried, crisp outer shell with a chew to the dough. Beautiful golden caramel color. Flavorful fillings that were well-executed for the most part, except for the champinon chicken; it was the clear loser out of the three varieties I tried because the inside filling was a little bland and the chicken wasn't very moist.

Cons: champinon chicken I could do without, but I'd recommend the other two, the choco banana especially to Nutella lovers.

Rating: 5/5

Price: about $2.50

Overall Thoughts: the choco banana was my clear favorite, and then the gooey chori-cheese.

REVIEW: Trader Joe's Organic High Fiber O's Cereal

Pros: high fiber, organic, very slight sweetness

Cons: boring taste

Rating: 3/5

Price: I can't remember T_T Will update later haha

Overall Thoughts: no one in my household likes this lol. I'd rather eat a bowl of oatmeal.

REVIEW: Trader Joe's Nonfat Plain Greek Yogurt

Pros: healthy, a lot of protein per serving compared to other yogurts (though the organic version of this has like 2g more protein per serving, but that one costs a dollar or two more)

Cons: none

Rating: 5/5

Price: $4.99

Overall Thoughts: this is a regular staple in our household. Love it in smoothies or eaten with frozen blueberries. Honey and crushed graham crackers if I'm craving a dessert.

FOODVENTURES: Cream Puff from Sugar Fixé Pâtisserie

Pros: lusciously thick custard had flecks of vanilla bean, and the choux shell stored it without going soggy. Each bite was glorious. I've already bought it twice this month lol.

Cons: none


Rating: 5/5

Price: $2.50

Overall Thoughts: the best cream puff that I've ever had. Beats the one I tried & loved in Japan. Beard Papa's cream puffs fall short too.

REVIEW: Häagan-Dazs Midnight Cookies & Cream

 

 

 

 

Well guys, it's been awhile since I let myself have ice cream haha. Also, it's been frikken cold in Illinois lately what with the snow and sometimes rain. I broke my ice cream fast when I snagged this flavor at Walgreens for around 5 bucks.

Pros: mild chocolatey base. Nicely-sized chocolate cookie mix-ins, and they were dispersed well enough so that each spoonful of ice cream had a piece of the brownie-like cookie. The mix-ins were the highlight for this flavor. Compared to the brownie mix-ins used in Ben & Jerry's, this had less of a flour-y taste to them, which I liked, but there weren't any outrageously huge chunks found like I usually find in B&J's.

Cons: none, but kinda boring, no surprises or an "OMG SO GOOD" reaction.

Rating: 4.5/5

Overall Thoughts: This was good, but I wasn't impressed. I didn't have trouble putting it back into the freezer. I can't think of a situation where I would buy this again, but I think that it performed well with the flavor and mix-in quality.

SIGHTING: Ben & Jerry's Oatmeal Cookie Chunk $2.29

I sighted it at Dominick's, but unfortunately, it was out of stock e.e

I hope that the uncommonly low prices for certain flavors weren't an indicator of them being phased out for that store...

REVIEW: Trader Joe's Strawberry Yogurt O's Cereal

Pros: yogurt chunks were tasty, though really sweet with some tartness to be eating them plain. Some of the chunks were massive haha.

Cons: yogurt-coated & plain cereal pieces were boring taste-wise. Few freeze-dried strawberry pieces.

 Rating: 2/5

Overall Thoughts: no one in my family likes this. We already finished two boxes of other cereal since buying this two weeks ago. There are better Trader Joe's cereal choices available.

REVIEW: Trader Joe's Crunchy Green Beans Snack

Pros: addicting as heck with a crispy texture where there's a satisfying crunch to each bite. Taste-wise, a slight sweetness to the peas balanced with the sea salt. Small pea kernels found in the larger green beans. High amount of fiber.

Cons: none

Rating: 6/5

Overall Thoughts: one of my favorite snacks! I could eat the whole bag by myself haha. Even my grandmother loves these (she took home 4 bags lol).

REVIEW: Trader Joe's Inner Peas

Pros: crispy, light texture. Not overly salted. Taste-wise, there wasn't a strong green pea or vegetable taste to the snack. Short ingredients list: cornmeal, sunflower oil, air-dried green garden peas, rice flour, sea salt, water).

Cons: not much nutritional value

Rating: 4/5

Overall Thoughts: a tasty snack that I've bought a few times, but no huge cravings. I enjoyed trying this, and they were pretty good packed with lunch.

REVIEW: Häagan-Dazs Raspberry & Vanilla Milk Chocolate Bars

Pros: thick chocolate shell. Raspberry flavor didn't overpower the vanilla, but rather added a welcome tartly-sweet flavor note to it. I didn't encounter the raspberry swirls until the 2nd bite.

Cons: none

Rating: 4.5/5

Overall Thoughts: delicious treat that gave me the sense of guilty luxury. I don't think it rivals the awesomeness of the 5-star heavyhitters, but I highly enjoyed this, would highly recommend. A large step up from the ice cream bars of my youth.

REVIEW: Häagan-Dazs Vanilla Milk Chocolate Almond Bars (Snack Size)

 

Pros: thick chocolate shell, liberal amounts of crunchy almonds, snack size encourages portion control, well packaged where the outer shell was fully intact

Cons: none

Rating: 4.5/5

Overall Thoughts: did a great job with the ice cream bar concept, but I don't think it belongs alongside the 5-star rated ice creams. I wasn't wow-ed by it. It was highly enjoyed, but it didn't drag my taste buds through euphoria. Maybe if it had chunks of their cookie dough in it haha, *wistful*.

REVIEW: Trader Joe's Organic Mini Cheese Sandwich Crackers

I had to try these because I'm a fan of anything outrageously cheesy (ie. Cheddar Jack Cheez-Its).

Pros: satisfying, cheesy taste. The cheese filling reminded me of the cheese powder used in instant mac&cheese, but in a good way. Definitely addicting. Organic too.

Cons: none

Rating: 5/5

Overall Thoughts: better than the original Ritz version. I tried the peanut butter version, which was good, but this one was the clear favorite. I want to try these crushed over a casserole or loaded mashed potatoes haha.

REVIEW: Ben & Jerry's Half Baked

Pictures don't do this ice cream flavor enough justice lol.

Pros: massive brownie chunks, satisfying hunks of cookie dough, excellent taste

Cons: none. There were more brownie chunks vs cookie dough balls, but that was fine with me haha.

Rating: 5/5

Overall Thoughts: Absolutely recommend this flavor. I finished this in 3 sittings in the span of 2 days @_@

SIGHTING: 5kg Nutella!

Approximately 11 lbs of Nutella haha. Sighted it at Caputo's grocery store.

THRIFT FIND: Men's monogrammed pants $5

I'm not sure what the brand of these pants are, but it looks to have quality construction. Love the cute embroidered whales. I scored these for 5 bucks at Goodwill ^_^