Review of Belmont Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

As we are midway through summer, I have had my fair share of ice cream. I do not discriminate too much on brand labels of ice cream as we shop Meijer, Aldi, and occasionally Costco. Our ice cream brand range includes Hudsonville, Purple Cow (Meijer), Sundae Shoppe (Aldi), and most recently Belmont (Aldi). It was this past weekend I picked up a container of Belmont Mint Chocolate Chip.

As we are getting burned out on the traditional flavors of Vanilla, Chocolate, cookies and cream and a few others, the mint option sounded good. The Belmont mint ice cream is sold in 1.5 quart typical rectangular/”ovalish” shaped container. The green colored container with picture of mint spring is the subtle reminder that this indeed is mint ice cream, yet with healthy amounts of chocolate chips.

After grilling dinner last Saturday evening, we decided to put this dessert to the test. The taste was good. I liked the healthy amount of chocolate chips. I am always fearful some ice cream manufacturers will skimp on the chocolate. The mint flavor within the cream did not come off as too overwhelming. It was also kind of refreshing to purchase a box of mint chocolate chip ice cream that did not have a green colored tint. This 1.5 quart ice cream set us back around $2.50. A solid buy as we made four cones that evening and still had enough to probably make three more cones.

Review of Kirkland Signature Beef Dinner Franks

My latest product write up involves a Costco product purchase. We have held a Costco membership for many years since one opened up in our neighborhood about five years ago. Like Sam’s Club, warehouse club memberships are a brilliant concept as the main benefits include competitive gas prices, great bulk purchase items, and a tasty low cost food court that offers delicious pizza, frozen yogurt and quarter pounder hot dogs.

We recently purchased a package of the Kirkland Signature Beef Franks this past week at Costco. These hot dogs or “franks” are sold in the frozen foods section. There are fourteen franks to a large package. These enormous precooked franks are the same hot dogs sold in the food court.

The 3.81 pound of hot dogs cost $12.93.  That comes out to about ninety two cents per hot dog. Not too shabby for a quarter pound dog. Each frank is about the equivalent of two smaller sized Vienna style all beef hot dogs which go for approximately $5.00 for package of eight.  That comparable serving price would be sixty two cents per dog x two Vienna dogs or $1.24 for equivalent meal. The Kirkland dog is thirty two cents cheaper.

Do I consider the taste of a Kirkland frank to be better than Vienna? No. I don’t think any dog is better than a Vienna all beef dog. But the Kirkland frank is all beef and has a nice hint of garlic and other spices that give it a quality finish whether the dog is steamed, boiled, or grilled. This is a great option for outdoor grilling when someone has a taste for a large dog instead of building two separate ones. I like the Kirkland Signature Dinner Frank for my freezer. I would like these even better if Kirkland would come up with a way to package these in reseal able packaging. I rate this product a solid purchase.

Review of Johnsonville Beddar with Cheddar Smoked Sausage

A few weeks ago, I was on a quick trip to Meijer to pick up something easy to grill in under ten minutes as my focus was less on dinner prep and more on playing ball in the back with my kids. The original plan was to go with the usual five dollar flat of cheddar brats. I was quickly tripped up when perusing the line of pre-smoked or pre –cooked sausages. I usually go with grilling raw meats, but thought this might be a good  time to try something that cooks a little quicker and was a tad cheaper as this was on sale (most likely due to the forthcoming independence day weekend).

Preparation

No rocket science here. Once the propane grill was preheated, I just placed these links on the top rack and cooked about four to five minutes on each side. They received their customary grill marks. Be cautious when grilling as to timing and heat. One of the sausage links was in the early stages of splitting open and they were a healthy eight inches over heat source.

Taste

Going into this I had to remind myself that these were smoked sausages and not brats or Italian sausages. First bite of this revealed definite hints of smokiness and some spiciness that seemed more akin to a fall or winter’s meal of kielbasa than an outdoor grill experience. The tasteful cheese successfully held its course and did not escape the casing unlike other “cheddarwurst” products I have experienced. I was also a little taken back by the density and fineness of the pork sausage. When cooking raw brats or Italian sausages, I am accustomed to seeing real bits of pork within each bite. The Beddar with Cheddar sausage was of the same grit and texture as a Vienna beef hot dog. A tad disappointing when eating a grilled sausage.

Appearance

I was also probably influenced into purchasing this product by the allure of the patriotic stars and stripes packaging and decent coloring of the sausages. The dark reddish brown color maintained itself from uncooked to cooked stages. It even looked pretty professional on the bun. The downside was the skinniness of the links as these seemed more in line with the diameter of a red hot.

Price

I was baited by the sale price as Meijer held this one out there for a paltry $3.29 for a package of six (14 ounces).  My usual “standby” package of Meijer brand cheddar brats (raw) usually range from $3.99 to $4.99 depending upon sales.  The Johnsonville cheddar brats (raw) are also usually about five bucks. The beddar with cheddar price was far lower in comparison

Overall

I rate this product  as average. If you like smokiness, cheese and a fine ground sausage, then you might like the Johnsonville Beddar with Cheddar series. I will go back to my raw cheddar brats and take a little extra time grilling knowing I am getting real bites of pork.

Review of Aldi Benita Tortilla Chips

Tortilla chips need to always be on hand in our home. We use them with salsa, dips, hummus, you name it. We eat tortilla chips alongside sandwiches when we run out of potato chips or cheese puffs. We also have various recipes for which the chips are baked right into the dish; so very versatile!  When it comes to shopping for tortilla chips, I usually base the purchase on whatever is on sale at the local Meijer or Jewel. I am not so hung up on brand purchasing. I will buy just about any brand whether it is Tostitos, authentic Mexican brand chips, or even a “no name” or store brand chip (e.g. Meijer brand). Recently we decided to purchase a bag of Benita Tortilla Strips found at the local Aldi store. I shop at Aldi frequently as indicated in other posts here, but it is only until now that I have decided to try their Benita line of tortilla chips.

These chips sold for the super low price of $1.49 for 13 ounce bag. The chip has a unique rectangular shape with a restaurant corn sort of flavor. The chips within the bag were all pretty much intact and had an inviting white corn color. These chips fared as crunchy as most competitor chips whether it be Frito Lays Tostitos, El Milagro, and others. I even dug the cool brown bag with “see through” middle plastic window which allows the buyer to confirm he or  she is  not picking up a bag of broken up chips.

The best part of this chip is the tremendous cost savings without the sacrifice of quality. Tostitos 13 ounce bag will run $3.49 per bag putting it about twice the price of the Benita chips!

These chips are definitely a strong buy.

Review of Meijer Gold Kona Coffee

So my usual preferred choice of house coffee is the Dunkin Donuts original blend/roast coffee. I usually buy the enormous bag at Costco for about eighteen bucks. This is my favorite brand of coffee by far whether I am brewing it at home or hitting the drive through for a quick java.

When I do not have Dunkin Donuts coffee I usually go with a Maxwell house brand or try something different. Recently I decided to go with the Meijer brand Kona blend that was on sale for $4.99 for a twelve ounce package. The coffee was already ground and was packaged neatly in dark blue with the typical Meijer Gold script. My impulse to purchase this was driven by my overall good experiences with many Meijer brand products, so I decided to roll the dice with their Kona coffee.

The pleasant aroma produced by this first batch of coffee was supported by a quality taste. I was impressed by the slight Kona nutty yet refreshing flavor of this brew.  While it is not as good quality as Dunkin Donuts, this coffee fared much better than Maxwell House, Folgers, and the other mainstream coffee companies at a lower price.