Review of Meijer Gold Vodka Sauce

Of all the items that come to mind when I ask my kids what they prefer for dinner, they occasionally choose pasta and red sauce. I am surprised they choose this item over the customary nuggets, burgers or pizza. One of the sauces I have purchased lately is the Vodka sauce which is a marriage of tomato base and dairy (sheep or cow milk and cheeses). I decided to run with Meijer gold Vodka sauce and try it out served over a bed of ziti and the accompaniment of grilled Italian sausage.

Description

The sauce is sold in 24 ounce jar and has the typical Meier gold label. The sauce is a muted red color and pours pretty thick out of the glass jar. The servings  are definitely enough to feed up to a family of six people; probably a few more if one does not demand a ton of sauce on their pasta and meat.

 Taste

The first taste of this Meijer brand vodka sauce was love at first bite; especially with the children. The sauce had a smooth finish that was comparable to some of the pricier premade vodka sauces sold by the name brand companies that charge anywhere from five  to eight dollars.

Price

The cost of one 24 ounce jar of sauce runs a mere $2.99 which is a far stretch cheaper than the other brands. The sauce does have a heavier price tag than the marinara or prepared red sauces, but tastes much better as there is less acidity to contend with as one would meet with the all tomato sauces.

Overall Satisfaction

I rate this one a strong buy. This will be a once a month meal in our house. I like the relatively easy preparation required making this meal during busy times and the children seem to respect the meal as if they were eating at a five star restaurant.

Review of Meijer Candy Cane Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

As the Christmas season approaches I have noticed an influx of holiday baked goods at the grocery stores. One of these items I noticed from last year was the candy cane sandwich cookies by Meijer. These cookies were placed at the aisle end cap and drew my attention as I like most items that combine the tasty flavors of chocolate and peppermint.  The green and red festive package suckered me in pretty easily. My children are also huge fans of this flavor combination so I decided to pick up a package; hence the review.

Taste

The chocolate sandwich ends to the cookies are fair to good. I have yet to find a sandwich cookie of which the actual chocolate cookie portion tastes as good as the Oreo brand. Hydrox finishes a close second.

The crème layer comes off a bit thicker than the typical Oreo filling; almost double. The crème contains tiny white and pink bits of candy cane that have a refreshing wintery taste and are a tad fun as they had a slight crunch to just about every bite.  I

The downside to this cookie was the over excess of the thick crème layer. I think Meijer would have achieved success with a thinner layer of cream; though maybe this was their way of getting across enough peppermint flavors to be held in this thicker middle. Who knows?

Price

The cookies were purchased for a grand total of $2.49. That price covers a 17 ounce package of about 34 cookies.  I could not really make a comparison for price as Oreo brand does not carry a candy cane variety. The closest comparison for price would be the Oreo green mint filled cookies that run about $2.99 per package which is smaller. As this product stands alone and there is no competition, the price is fair.

Nutrition

These are cookies so I won’t boggle down too much on nutrition. The one serving of two cookies deals out 140 calories and six grams of fat (no Trans fats).

Overall Opinion

I think the cookie would be much better if the cream layer was not too thick. This cookie would serve as an excellent pie crust or even ground up and used as base ingredient of Oreo cookie ball recipe. I would consider this an average buy at best.

Chopped on Food Network: Arrogance of Chefs

I will take a break this week from rating food to discuss my opinion on a food show. For the past week or so, I have become more drawn into watching the Food Network catching up on such shows as Iron Chef and Chopped. For the most part, Chopped can be quite entertaining with the three rounds of elimination until the last chef is standing as all competition has been, well……………, chopped.  The magic of the show is attributed to witnessing these chefs from all diverse backgrounds trying their best to plate up a gourmet concoction that may include such likes as cotton candy, grouper, pretzels, and rhubarb. Yes, I made up these four ingredients, but the show does play that game. Regardless of  whether it is the first  round of elimination or the final round, just about every chef on the show is usually capable of pulling off these dishes in as little as a half hour before being judged by three accomplished chefs serving on a panel.  Aside from getting the taste to be palatable, the competitive chefs are responsible for creative plate presentation as well as taking time to explain their dish to the panel. All that said, the show has been for the most part entertaining.

The downside to this show during the last several weeks has been the “scripted” arrogance of the chefs that make it to the final round. It seems more than just a coincidence that in just about every episode, there is at least one arrogant chef you just love to hate. The trash talking seems over the top during the final stages as this scripted persona seems more at the urging of the food network. C’mon guys, just let the chefs be chefs and allow them to do their talking from the plate.  Just my two cents.

Review of Meijer Potato Chips

One of the end cap specials touted at Meijer is the bag of chips sold for a low price of two dollars a bag. I decided to run with the regular potato chips though the Meijer brand also carries sour cream and cheddar and a few other flavored varieties of chips. The low price of the 12 ounce bag of chips undercuts  competitive brands such as Vitners, Jays, Lays, Crunchers, and others by quite a bit. Comparable size bags of potato chips typically run from about $3.25 to $4.00 per bag. Upon first taste, the chips came across tasting pretty solid, though they possessed a definite greasiness that remains on the hands after popping a few in. This oily residue does not go over  well when having lunch at the work desk or while studying. Another peculiar trait of these chips was the brittleness of the chips. I think half of my uber cheap two dollar bag was broken into tiny bits which rendered many chips unusable unless I was considering a recipe that called for potato chips! The price is right, the flavor is good, but the messiness and weakness of the chip leave this item as a below average purchase. I will suck it up and cough up the extra buck to buck fifty for a more solid chip going forward.

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.