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.

Review of Alexia Crispy Seasoned Potato Puffs with Roasted Garlic and Cracked Black Pepper

I fired up the grill a few weeks ago to make burgers. Grilling season is always something to look forward to; especially on the weekends. Picking the meat dish to grill is the easy part. I often struggle to come up with a side dish to prepare that requires minimal work.  When we get great Saturday or Sunday afternoon weather, I want to enjoy family backyard time, and spend as little time in the kitchen as possible. When I am out of ideas for an accompaniment to burgers or chops, I will occasionally defer to a potato item (fries, wedges, tots) that can be easily cooked on a cookie sheet while I am outside grilling.

My side dish at the time ended up being the Alexia Crispy Seasoned Potato Puffs with Roasted Garlic and Cracked Black Pepper. These were on sale at the nearby Jewel and I have tried this brand’s sweet potato fries before and enjoyed the flavor. The bag of tots or “puffs” were on sale for $1.99 and figured this to be an easy sell as I enjoy the flavor of just about any items that includes hints of garlic and pepper.

The preparation of these puffs is easy as I unloaded the full bag onto a foil lined cookie sheet. I use a full bag to feed our hungry group of five. The oven was preheated to 425 F and baked for about twenty seven minutes. If you plan on making half a bag, then bake for about twenty two minutes. Technically you are supposed to turn them midway through baking. I did not perform that extra task as I was busy outside with grill and kids.

The result of skipping the turning step resulted in a more brown finish on one side of the tot which was really no big deal. If I was inside, I would have taken the time to flip them. Skipping this step for with some ovens may cause the one side to burn.

The potato puffs had a pleasingly light crunch and zesty garlic and pepper flavor. Four out of five of us enjoyed the puffs to accompany our burgers. My five year old was not a huge fan as he detected the slight hint of black pepper and wasn’t a big fan. I would definitely prefer this puff over a basic tater tot as it has a great flavor. A recommend the Alexia Crispy Seasoned Potato puffs as a strong buy.

Review of Meijer Frosted Pastry Treats - Blueberry

I have been a long fan of the Kellogg’s brand pop tarts for quite some time. I am guilty of indulging in my fair share of pop tarts during my train commutes to work. For a quick breakfast, it really doesn’t get much simpler than toasting a pop tart for a minute while I prepare my “to go” coffee.  My last trip to Meijer, I spied the store brand alternative to Kellogg’s Pop Tarts; which is the Meijer Frosted Blueberry Pastry Treats. I decided to give them a chance at the $1.79 price which was thirty cents lower than the Kellogg brand.

Description

The packaging is similar to Kellogg’s as the items are sold in a small rectangular box containing five packages for which each package has two pastries or “tarts”. The packaging is a foil wrapper. The toaster pastries consist of a white colored cookie or pie crust covered with a blueberry paste entombed below the white frosting layer speckled with tiny multi colored sprinkles. The physical characteristics are very similar to the Kellogg‘s Blueberry pop tart version, though the sprinkles appear a little different or more sparsely dispersed and much smaller.

Preparation of toaster pastries

As mentioned above, there is not much to preparing these. I know some people eat these at room temperature; I am not one of those people. I like the paste, jam, filling, or whatever you want to call it to be heated warm. I set the toaster settings to a low to medium setting to allow the pastry to obtain a light brown, and then wrap it in aluminum foil to stay warm for my commute.

Taste

Okay, now for the real test. The first munch on the corner of the pastry was nothing more than “meh”. The frosting and filling tasted below average. The blueberry flavor did not come out at all. It could have been any flavor berry for all I know. The real disappointment to me was the flavorless pastry. Not sure what Kellogg’s does to make their tart crust taste good, but Meijer needs to look into creating a similar taste or at least providing taste to the pastry. My suggestion would be adding some vanilla, almond, lemon or some other flavor addition to inject some life into the pastry crust. Maybe add some extra blueberry flavor as well.

Purchase

Okay so the pastries saved me thirty cents;  not very good savings as I see myself struggling to  get through  the rest of the box over the next few weeks. This was a bit of a letdown as I have experience good luck with Meijer brand products over the past few years. These were a clunker. I rate this product a “do not buy”. Spend more and go Kellogg’s pop tarts or get the Kellogg’s brand when they go on sale.

Review of Fit & Active Raisin Apple Crisps

 
In trying my best to lose 15 to 20 pounds by June, I have successfully dropped about eight pounds since the beginning of March. The secret has been nothing more than keeping a calorie journal and using calorie calculators to lose weight. I like calorie calculators because even though they require constant monitoring of daily caloric intake, there is an upside. The upside is the ability to cheat or eating more treats during those times when I will be spending part of the day burning excessive calories through doing a lot of physical work or exercise. When I don’t have the time to work out and my calories limits are rigid, I choose to cut back on calories and try snacks such as ALDI’s Fit & Active Raisin Apple Crisps. Just how good is this snack? Read on to get the skinny on this ALDI product.

Taste

Sandwiched between two thin wafer or cookie layers, there exists a spread of raisin apple jam; made with real fruit. I consider it a jam because it doesn’t seem anything like the processed fruit newton filling that I expected. The flavor was actually much better and seemed to resemble a jam or preserve that the nice elderly lady down the street would bring over after a Sunday of canning fresh fruit. The taste exceeded my expectations and does not come across too strong in the apple or raisin flavors.

Appearance

The product consists of a green package containing five mini pouches (each approximately 1.5 ounces).  Each pouch has three little crisps.   The crisp or cookie outside is light vanilla colored with the dark raisin tinted apple jam in the middle. These will hold steady at room temperature and make a great snack to pack in briefcase or kids backpack. The calorie count of the Fit N Active Apple raisin wafers are 170 calories per package.

Price

One box of these wafers sets me back about $1.99. The unit breakdown is $.40 a pack for a mid morning or mid afternoon appetite suppressant. I sometimes even have one for dessert after lunch and keep the remaining two as a mid afternoon snack to carry me over to dinner.

My overall opinion of this item is that these crisps are a solid buy. These crisps are also offered with a wild berry filling which is average in comparison to the apple product. Just my two cents.

Review of Parkview All Beef Vienna Hot Dogs

My last trip to Aldi was focused on getting something fun for the grill as I was in outdoor cooking mood with warmer spring temperatures coming in this past weekend. With yard cleanup going on, I opted for something easy (with little prep), so I bought a package of Italian sausage and a package of Parkview Vienna Beef Hot Dogs. The sausage will be reviewed at another time. For now, here is the skinny on the how the Aldi hot dogs measured up.

Taste

Just to emphasize, these were the all beef Vienna hot dogs. The taste was exactly the same as if I was to go to a Chicago area hot dog stand and purchase one; though I heated the hot dogs via grilling method as opposed to steaming or boiling. The flavor was a home run. This skinny, yet dense hot dog paired up well with the tableside condiments and tater tots. The kids enjoyed them as well.

Appearance

These are not the Ball Park Frank Angus jumbos but the skinny dogs. That’s okay. If I want more hot dogs, I will simply have two. The Parkview Vienna Beef hot dog packaging even includes the authentic Vienna Beef logo so I knew these were legit when I picked them out at the store. Aldi newbies, don’t be put off by the foreign name of “Parkview”; as these are the same dogs as the Vienna Beef.

Price

This package of eight all beef hot dogs set me back $3.99.  I rate it a solid buy because of the exact same package of Vienna Hot dogs at the local Jewel or Meijer will cost around five dollars. Aldi does sell other types of Parkview hot dogs for even a few bucks cheaper, but I am pretty adamant about getting the “all beef” variety and willing to pay the $3.99.

Review of Meijer Steak Sauce

Okay. So I just replaced the outdoor grill’s tank of propane with thoughts of barbecuing, but there was no food (meat) in the fridge. I ran to the store with grilling pork chops fresh on my mind. I usually lather chops with a strong marinade or add some barbecue sauce.  I always keep a bottle of A1 steak sauce on hand for those in the family that do not want bbq sauce on the chops; namely, my wife. For some reason, she loves ribs, but does not to barbecue sauce on chops? Anyway, I was out of A1 so I decided to try the Meijer brand steak sauce as it was part  of the week’s 10 for $10 special being advertised.

The chops were served with baked potato and tomato cucumber relish (courtesy of my garden). The new bottle of Meijer sauce was on the table for testing to see if it could measure up to A1. Verdict? It passed. Not only did my wife find it passable, but I tried a little myself. The sauce while not as bold as A1, but has a very similar taste and consistency in thickness. Placing bottles side by side, the ingredients are identical. While we all enjoy A1, I would not balk at the Meijer brand sauce. It is a pretty decent substitute. The price of the substitute is hard to overlook. The sales special was only a buck, the Meijer normal price of their steak sauce runs at $2.69 for a 10 ounce bottle, while the name brand A1 goes for $2.98.

If I were to sit down to a steak dinner and only one choice of sauce, it would still be A1. However, I use steak sauce in several dishes including marinades and mixing together hamburger patties. For heavy volume use, I would gladly purchase the Meijer brand sauce for value and decent flavor; it will still go well with the occasional chops or sirloin.

Review of Red’s All Natural Chicken Burrito

It feels like it has been forever and a day since I posted here. Well it has been about that same length of time since I have had the impulse to purchase a burrito in the frozen food section. The other evening, my supermarket short list was very short. My list only included a bag of dog food for my golden retriever and an onion. The sweet onion is for making a pasta sauce. While cutting through the freezer section I spied the usual frozen burrito brands as Monterrey and Patio. I then saw a new bold packaged brand known as Red’s. There were three to four varieties (Chicken, Steak, and Black Bean). I chose the chicken variety for my lunch the next day.

The burrito is much bigger than the competing brands and also has a much larger price at $3.49 at the local Meijer. The burrito is approximately eleven ounces and can be cooked via conventional oven, microwave oven, or even a Panini press (if you own one).  My method of cooking defaulted to the microwave as this was a next day lunch at the office. The microwave time is three minutes per side.

Now let’s see how this burrito measured up.  Thumbs up to Red’s for finally providing a decent size burrito that other brands always fall short. The down side of this large burrito is the rubbery hard flour tortilla exterior and the high amount of liquid produced from microwaving from a frozen to ready to eat state. The end of the cooking stage produced stiff yet pliable ends of the burrito and a small burrito soup at the base of my cooking plate. The burrito did contain decent size pieces of chicken and there were additional ingredients such as corn, rice, peppers. The flavor was average. I think it would be above average without the cumin overkill that so many burritos seem guilty of.  I did like the fact that Red’s touted its product as using chicken free of antibiotics and that there are no artificial ingredients. I will give this purchase an average buy grade. I will consider purchasing the steak or black bean variety, but under the pretense of preparing it in the conventional oven at home and also having a small portion of sour cream and shredded cheese on standby.

Review of Lipton Unsweetened Iced Tea

My guilty pleasure used to be sweetened carbonated beverages such as coca cola and fruit flavored sodas. I found these drinks a satisfying and tasty treat, but at the expense of gaining weight. One of the ways to drop pounds quickly was abandoning the sodas. It wasn’t long before I replaced my soda drinking with iced tea.  I prefer the unsweetened tea varieties such as Lipton, Tradewinds, or Snapple brands. I drink all three of these brands, but felt a review of Lipton Unsweetened tea was overdue as this brand is most commonly sold.

Description

The Lipton bottled tea is sold as six or twelve packs containing sixteen ounce glass bottles. The unsweetened selection is recognizable by the dark green wrap around the bottle. The tea has a golden honey brown color and is not too dark or heavy as some house brewed teas tend to get in a sit down restaurant. The tea is unsweetened so there are no carbs, sugars, and calories. The true benefit is the healthy dose of anti-oxidants in each serving.  

 Taste

The tea tastes really good and comparable to a homebrewed Luzianne brew. The trick for a tasty tea is to make sure the bottle is chilled and poured over a glass full of good quality ice. The slice of lemon adds a nice touch. The tea is light enough and refreshing and will pair off nicely with lemonade for a decent Arnie Palmer.  

Price

The cost of a six pack of this beverage is $5.99. That comes out to a buck a bottle. That price is pretty steep considering we are talking about water steeped in black tea leaves, then bottled.  The competition from Snapple does not fare much better. The cheaper routes are the Tradewinds brand which tastes as good as Lipton which runs about $3.29 per gallon.

Overall Satisfaction

I will defer to home brewed iced tea or purchase a gallon of Tradewinds tea instead of opting for Lipton Unsweetened iced tea.  The bottled iced tea market has very little competition as there are only a small group of players. This is especially the case when it comes to shopping for unsweetened teas. Needless to say I rate the Lipton brand and poor buy unless there is a serious discount or sale.

Aunt Millie's White Hamburger Buns - A Review

This past weekend was a blur with kids’ soccer games and birthday parties to attend to. Little room was left for meal planning so I stuck with one the quickest meals I could think of; burgers on the grill. On the way home from the game on Sunday I stopped at Meijer to pick up my usual ingredients of ground chuck, cheese, ketchup and buns. I decided to go with the Aunt Millie’s brand of hamburger buns. We usually purchase the Meijer brand buns when serving everything from burgers to bbq pulled pork. However, the quality seems to have trended downwards. We have found the Meijer buns to be extremely dry so a change was in order. I considered the Aunt Millie’s brand without question as we have had great luck with some of the other products such as sandwich bread and English muffins.

The buns are eight to a package and we purchased them at the low sale price of $1.25. Upon opening the package, the buns were extremely soft and fluffy which was a real good sign.  The buns even had a glossy golden shine on the tops as one would expect in a quaint little bakery! After I pulled the burgers off the grill we quickly knocked down our dinner and quickly realized how delicious the Aunt Millie’s white hamburger buns tasted. I do not recall what the regular price of the buns is, but I will certainly consider purchasing them again. I would rate this purchase a very strong buy.

Review of Baileys Toffee Almond Coffee Cream

I can’t seem to start a day off without a satisfying cup of coffee. I usually brew various brands of coffee. My first preference of morning coffee beans is the Dunkin Donuts regular roast which I usually choose the giant size bag at Costco that gets our family through for about five to six weeks.  I have also recently really enjoyed the Meijer Gold Kona blend that is pretty darn tasty (see previous review). I usually compliment the brew with a small amount of cream or flavored cream. The selection for coffee creams in the dairy case is pretty overwhelming. For example, I can always spy about four to five different brands that carry the common hazelnut and French vanilla flavored coffee creams.  Sometimes the purchase decision comes down to basically which brand is throwing out an eye catching sales price.

This past week I picked up a small bottle of Bailey’s Toffee Almond Cream coffee creamer. Yes, that is the same Bailey’s brand that produces that very tasty Irish cream that goes great in evening cocktails and coffee cordials.  The Bailey’s coffee creamers are void of any alcohol, but taste extremely good when added to the everyday coffee brew. We picked this sixteen ounce bottle of coffee creamer at a ridiculously low sales price of $1.49; though the regular price hovers slightly above two dollars. I choose this flavor because I really enjoy the flavors of toffee and almond and was getting a tad burned out with hazelnut.

Now it came down to the test. I made my standard large sixteen ounce cup of coffee and added a tablespoon of this creamer after I had to remove the foil safety top under the lid and gave the bottle a good shake. The first sip was a winner as I instantly picked up the almond flavor (more so than the toffee flavor). Tasters beware that this creamer does contain 5 grams of sugar per serving of one tablespoon. Sugar is actually the first ingredient listed!  Those that normally add cream and sugar to their everyday brew can actually skip the step of reaching for the sugar bowl; the sweetness is already there.  I would definitely buy this Bailey’s brand again as I enjoy the taste and would even consider some of the other flavors at the higher price. This cream would be good to have on hand when hosting a party or get together with friends.

Review of Meijer Honey Wheat Braid Pretzels

An occasional late night of television or sports usually goes over best when accompanied by a cold refreshing beverage and a small salty snack be it peanuts, popcorn or pretzels. I am a huge fan of pretzels whether served in form of being dutch, stix, rods, or braids. It appears my affinity for salty food has increased with age, though that is probably not the healthiest snack items to pursue; alas that is a post for another time. The latest review on brand x food reviews involves my critique of the Meijer honey wheat braid pretzels.

Description

The Meijer line of pretzels comes in a bright orange bag with see through window that allows one to see   these small honey braided rods look like. The bag is a tad smaller than the usual bag of pretzels as it boasts approximately 10 ounces of pretzels in one package. I would imagine a decent size family or three adults could easily knock down a bag of this snack over a sporting event or movie without any problems.

Taste

For those that crave the heavenly combination of sweet and salt, the Meijer honey braided pretzel is for you. The pretzels are extremely delicious and not overly hard or delicately brittle. Because these small braids have a hearty flavor, it is an exercise of self-discipline not to exceed about twenty to thirty of these in one sitting.  For this reason alone, I frequently opt for a bag of popcorn instead to keep calorie counts down as I might crack the calorie ceiling eating the honey braids.

Price

The allure of this product was a cost decision as the regular cost hovers around $1.49 per bag. Fortunately Meijer frequently advertises this item in the ten for ten dollars promotion. I usually snag about five bags for the pantry.

Overall Satisfaction

This purchase is a strong buy.  The gold and glossy braided pretzels are a sure fire hit after a stressful day at a very reasonable price.

Review of Meijer Cranberry Juice Cocktail

During the holidays and remainder of the winter I like to keep a container of cranberry juice cocktail readily available for myself as well as guests. This juice tastes refreshing on its own merit and packs a punch full of much needed vitamin c. The drink also makes a splendid evening cocktail when mixed with the right amount of vodka and ice and served in a tall glass. The last couple of years I have purchased the Meijer Cranberry Juice Cocktail and it has been a winner. I usually buy the 64 ounce portion size which goes for $1.99. That is about fifty cents cheaper than the competing Ocean Spray brand.  The Meijer cranberry product line not only sells original cranberry, but other cran juice blends that are mixed with such flavors as raspberry and grape. 

The taste of the cranberry cocktail is light and refreshing and is as good if not better than the Ocean Spray juice. I like the fact that I can get a comparable product for much cheaper. I also have tried the cranberry raspberry blend and have enjoyed even more. Another great drink option using the Meijer cranberry juice is to mix it with a lemon lime soda such as Sierra Mist or Sprite. This is a nice alcohol free alternative for those that prefer a light cool drink with a little fizz.

I rate this product a very strong buy as it serves as a good morning juice on its own or a great standby for mixing with other items.

Review of Nabisco Golden Chocolate Oreos

 My appreciation of the original Oreo cookies peaked my interest in the Golden Oreos product line as they were on sale this past week. I picked up a package of the Golden chocolate Oreos and the results are in. This review does not offer description or analysis of the nutritional value.

Description

The yellow plastic package of golden Oreos contains 15.5 ounces (VERIFY) of cookies. The outside sandwich layers or actual cookies are golden or yellow color and with a vanilla flavor. The cream is chocolate and the exact same thickness of the traditional Oreo cookie filling. The package is pretty nifty as there is a peel back tag on the top of the package allows access to the cookies and peels back on or re-attaches to the package to reseal the cookies and keep them fresh.  Good thinking Nabisco.

 Taste

I somewhat had my doubts purchasing this cookie as I made the purchase decision based on sale price and I was looking for something interesting to put in the kids school lunches for dessert. The first taste of the cookie was a winner. The chocolate cream is decent enough though it appears to get somewhat lost in the delicious flavor of the vanilla cookie outside layers. When I eat these sandwich type cookies , I do not  peel them apart so I captured the chocolate flavor at the very end which was pretty mild.  

Price

The cost of one package on sale was $2.79 which is down from a heftier price of $3.19. The sale price still seems kind of high but then again these are Oreos and the manufacturer knows if you build it, they will come (regardless of price).   

Overall Satisfaction

This cookie is an easy treat to knock down. The golden cookie alone is delicious and makes me want to try just the plain golden Oreos with the vanilla cream. The chocolate filling was “meh” in my opinion. I don’t think it really added too much to this cookie. The price of golden chocolate Oreos is a little pricey and I would most likely buy just the regular Oreos if I want to spend this price for a package of cookies. I would rate this Oreo variety an average buy and may or may not purchase again in the future.

Review of Edwards Boston Cream Pie

When looking for a quick after dinner dessert treat, there is nothing more convenient than ice cream or pie. I recently picked up a thaw and serve pie by Edwards as we were craving a custard/chocolate/cake combination. To this day, I am still not sure why this dessert is even referred to as “pie” as there is no crust, but rather two rounds of yellow sponge cake. Should it not be a Boston Cream Cake? Enough of my muttering, I shall proceed with my review.

Description

The pie is sold in the frozen foods section and in a large paperboard box. Within the box, is a plastic snap lid container that does not snap on so easily once you want to put the remaining pie back in the refrigerator. The round dessert has a lovely rich topping of chocolate which covers two layers of golden sponge cake and a healthy layer of custard in between. The dessert requires the consumer to thaw in refrigerator for a few hours before serving. I skipped that step and went to thaw the dessert on my counter top for a few hours as my refrigerator is pretty cold and could not imagine the pie would thaw that quickly. The pie took about two and half hours from its frozen state to actually thaw to the point where the custard was no longer like ice cream.

 Taste

The first taste was pretty much what anyone would expect of a Boston cream flavor. The sponge cake had a surprisingly moist delicate consistency with the rich flavors of the custard and velvety chocolate giving it a delicious finish.  This cake was pretty solid but did not come compare to the homemade variety that I simply did not have time to prepare.  

Price

The cost of one 27 ounce Edwards Thaw and Serve Boston Cream Pie set me back eight dollars. I am sure I could nab this dessert on sale at some point which I think would make it a solid buy. At the eight dollar price, I think this a costly buy for just an average dessert. I bought this as a treat for our new years day dinner; though I wish I would have saved the money and made time to make the homemade version.

Overall Satisfaction

I have buyer’s remorse on this one. I like the flavor and texture but this dessert did not measure up to eight dollars of satisfaction.  I would pay no more than six to six fifty for this dessert and will most likely buy again only if there is a sale.