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.

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.