Review of Zatarain’s Jambalaya Pasta

Just about every week, the local Meijer store has one frozen food brand or another that is on sale at a ridiculous price that usually too good to pass up. I’m talking micro meals discounted down to about two to two and a half dollars that usually catch my eye. I typically try to limit consumption of these meals to maybe once or twice a week given the incredibly high sodium and preservative counts. Still, I can’t but help grab a few of these items and test them out given the decent price. The latest endeavor for my lunch time dining was Zatarain’s  Jambalaya Pasta at the very low sale price of $2.00 per bowl. This item was marked down significantly from the regular price of three bucks.

The meal weighs in at ten and a half ounces and only tallies up at a measly 380 calories. I usually try to keep the lunch meal in the caloric range between 500 to 800 calories so I was quick to supplement this smaller portion size with a banana and a few small cookies to keep me going until dinner.

The microwavable meal is packaged in a small bowl with plastic film wrap that requires a slit in the top and a modest cook time of three minutes, a quick stir, and an additional minute to heat up. The meal sets for a minute or two, and then the eating begins.

The meal includes the ingredients of chicken, sausage, ziti pasta, peppers and onions. I have to say I like the Zatarain’s rice and bean side dishes with chicken and fish, and this convenient microwavable meal did not fail me. I thought the ziti had a fun spicy taste and the meal left me craving more. I regret not purchasing five meals for ten bucks! I recommend this one a solid buy, even at three dollars, though be prepared to accompany this meal with a healthy side dish as the meal alone will leave you hungry.

Review of Millville Cinnamon Crunch Squares Cereal

Our family goes through a lot of cereal every week. Cereal is one of the best options during the hectic school week as kids can serve themselves and eat fairly quickly before they are out the door. I enjoy a good bowl of cereal every once in a while but am pretty picky about my choices. Our family prefers several General Mills brands such as Honey Nut Cheerios and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. The cinnamon cereal is our children’s favorite, but can be quite expensive considering a box is over three dollars and it may last two days tops. I have been on the hunt to find a more inexpensive substitution of this cereal and stumbled across the ALDI brand known as Millville Cinnamon Crunch Squares.

Taste

The little cinnamon toasted squares look identical to the General Mills version. The first bite of this cereal had me convinced I was eating the name brand version.  This cereal is absolutely delicious. It was a big hit with the family and was consumed just as quickly as the competition. I found myself reaching in the bag to snack on long after I finished my bowl of cereal. Each square looks quite identical of the General Mills square and has that same tasty dose of cinnamon in each bite.

Nutrition

A serving size consisting of three quarter cup yields 130 calories. The addition of milk obviously places this breakfast in the higher calorie bracket primarily due to the ten grams of sugar.  The high carbohydrates and sugars tend to make this cereal a better option for one or two days a week at most.

The cereal ingredients start with whole grain wheat, sugar, rice flour, and other sweeteners, vitamins and minerals. As sweet as the Millville cereal is, it is still a better alternative to donuts or coffee cake as it is absent of those dangerous Trans fats.

Price

Aside from the great taste, the price of Millville Cinnamon Crunch Squares cannot be beat at the low price of two dollars. The savings of at least a dollar over the competition makes this choice of cereal a no brainer. It is nice to know I can get about three boxes of this ALDI cereal for the same price of two General Mills boxes

Overview

I have tried to substitute other name brand cereals with Millville that failed miserably in taste. The Millville cinnamon cereal really passes with flying colors as the taste and price cannot be beat. I would definitely rate this product a very strong buy.  

Review of Meijer Diet Root Beer

We all know that diet sodas are not the healthiest items to ingest into our bodies, yet many of us are guilty of consuming the beverages as it is a very easy way to curb sugar, thus calories. I have a small select group of diet sodas that I find quite “drinkable” and consider just as good as the full sugar alternative. My big three “go-to” sodas are Diet Mountain Dew, Diet Dr. Pepper, and Cherry Coke Zero. To broaden my drink selection, I set out to Meijer and picked up a twelve pack of the Meijer brand Diet Root Beer to see it would fit the bill and join the other diet sodas worthy of drinking.

Taste

Once the soda endured a good chill in my garage refrigerator, I pulled a can to go with the evening dinner. The first taste blew my expectations out of the water. Unlike most diet sodas, I did not experience any sharp or bitter aftertaste whatsoever. The taste was like a regular root beer with a distinct flavor and creamy finish. I was dumbstruck how this generic soda tasted so damn good.  The second night, I grabbed another soda to accompany my dinner, but decided to pour it into a glass filled with ice. The poured beverage appeared just like an A&W or Barq’s root beer as the dark caramel color was full of carbonation and maintained a decent head of foam.

Price

My initial purchase plan was to try out the Barqs on sale at $4.00 for twelve, but the Meijer option was only $2.88 at the regular price. I decided to go with the Meijer brand as I did not want to be out $4.00 just in case I found out that diet root beer tastes awful. My gamble paid off and I was glad I tried the generic alternative.

Nutrition

The nutrition of this produce is laughable. It is an empty calorie, empty fat product containing caramel color, aspartame a little sodium, and a few other ingredients. I don’t drink this by the gallons, so I am not too concerned about the adverse health effects.

Overall Opinion

This drink was a fantastic escape from the other zero calorie drink alternatives of unsweetened iced tea, water, and Diet Mountain Dew. I really caught a bargain with this regular price twelve back as I did not even break three dollars. For those that enjoy Diet root beer or even just regular root beer, I would recommend this one as a strong buy.

Wrigley’s 5 Rain Chewing Gum: A Review

The choices are endless as soon as one approaches the supermarket checkout counter and peruses the variety of chewing gum for sale. A shopper can be overwhelmed when trying to decide on a choice of gum to go with for the week. I recently decided to pick up a pack of Wrigley’s 5 Rain chewing gum. My decision was based on the product being on sale for $1.09 down from a $1.39 which was the stated regular price. Wrigley 5 Rain is actually a flashy label spearmint gum. My allegiance to chewing gum brands is non-existent as I will usually go with whatever is on sale and tastes half way decent. The purpose of mint gum is twofold for me: to deter myself from chewing nails and to act as a good after-meal breath freshener. 

Taste

When I popped in a stick of this green gum I noticed an intense spearmint flavor right away. The taste met my expectations and was decent enough. Like all other aspartame gums, I got that fake sugar hit right on the first bite, but that faded away quickly. The gum actually tastes better a few minutes later and seems to hold flavor for a few hours unlike Wrigley’s Doublemint gum that fades immediately.

Quantity and Packaging

The pack of gum holds fifteen sticks of green gum wrapped in a fancy green foil wrapper. The sticks are stacked in three rows of five within a fancy paper black box with a flip lid that open and closes easily with each use. Wrigley took things a step above Orbit and Stride with this fancy packaging reminiscent of a high end cigarette box with flashy packaging. This is a far stretch beyond the foil trays of tablet gums or the Dentyne or Trident foil wrapped minis. I like the concise shape of this box as it fits nicely in the small dashboard compartment of my car or even in my backpack.

Price

This purchase was a mild $1.19 per package with competition priced anywhere between $1.29 and $1.79 for a similar quantity of spearmint gum. The price was more than fair given I purchased this gum on sale, but I think the regular price of $1.39 is also well within market of competition.  

Overall Opinion

While I enjoy the packaging, look and price of Wrigley’s 5 rain spearmint gum, I will consider this average at best. I would definitely buy it again, but probably spend a tad more for the miniature sized gum pieces sold by Trident and Dentyne. I have a bias to the smaller pieces of gum as opposed to the long flat Wrigley gum that packs an aspartame wallop upon first chew.

Betty Crocker Whipped Milk Chocolate Frosting: A Review

Not too long ago, I got the urge to bake up a batch of cupcakes for the kids and so decided to make a run to the store for some yellow cake mix and a tub of frosting. I did not want to go with the usual thick and rich chocolate frosting but something a tad lighter. I noticed Betty Crocker made a “Whipped” Milk chocolate frosting that included the rich flavors of Hershey chocolate. I was sold on this label and so checked out of the supermarket with cupcake items ready for baking.

Preparation

The cupcake baking process went fairly quick as I prepared the batter and baked the dessert all within an hour towards the end of the evening. I then proceeded to allow the cakes to cool on a rack overnight. The next morning, I proceeded to frost the cupcakes in order to be ready upon the kid’s return home from school in the afternoon. As I opened up the tub of whipped frosting, I had realized upon the first dip into this icing how incredibly light and “airy” this chocolate spread is. I managed to frost all eighteen cupcakes with a lot of frosting leftover.

 Getting the right cupcake appearance was the biggest challenge with the Betty Crocker whipped frosting.  The frosting did not adhere that easily to the cupcake making the spreading process rather blotchy and irregular like a meringue pie. My solution to this lack of even spreading was by applying even more of this chocolate so that no section of the top of the cupcake revealed any “daylight” of yellow cake. I think this process would have gone much smoother (pun intended) if I would have taken the extra time to use a pastry bag and tip instead of a cake spatula which I typically use with the regular dense butter cream frostings.

Taste

The taste of this frosting was really delightful given the rich Hershey cocoa flavor present in every bite of these cupcakes. The lighter density of this frosting made it so much easier to get through a cupcake without the oily sugar overkill one experiences with the butter cream variety.

Quantity

If I would have decided to make a sheet cake, I am pretty sure this tub would have been enough to cover the entire cake. The tub of frosting for the cupcakes was more than enough as I had about a third of the container leftover. 

Overall Opinion

While this product unfortunately yields Trans fats (like all other premade frostings), I have to consider this product a once in a while purchase due to health reasons. When time is available I usually prepare my own whipped frosting using whipping cream, confectioner’s sugar, and flavors such as vanilla or chocolate syrup. I give Betty Crocker kudos for trying to come up with a product that tastes better than the usual thick traditional pasty frosting.