Review of Krusteaz Apple Cinnamon Supreme Muffin Mix

Every so often I get the taste for muffins or quick bread to go with my morning coffee. On that note, I recently picked up a box of the Krusteaz apple/cinnamon muffin mix. I usually try to make muffins from scratch but every so often I encounter a full schedule where a premade mix makes the job a lot easier. This time around I decided to go with an apple flavored muffin mix as opposed to my usual blueberry choice. The muffins were purchased at Meijer under their three boxes for five dollars sale. A box of the Krusteaz mix at $1.67s seemed like a pretty good deal next to competitive other brands at $2.30 per box.

The packaging is like your typical cake/pancake mix with the white background and red Krusteaz labeling. The package contents weigh in at 19.2 ounces and provide enough to make two trays of muffins or in my case one shallow loaf pan quick bread. I usually prefer to prepare quick breads as opposed to muffins since I dread cleaning muffin pans. I also think muffins are more susceptible to drying out during baking and cooling process.

The preparation of this breakfast item was easy as it was simply a matter of mixing premixed muffin mix along with 1 and ¾ cup of water along with the special apple jam like ingredient that was in a separate pouch. No oils needed! The apple compote item was the last ingredient that was gently folded into the batter.  I then placed the quick bread into a 350 degree oven for 50 minutes. The baking process left the entire upper level of my home smelling cinnamon apple fresh. Yes! 

Taste of Krusteaz Apple Cinnamon Quick Bread

As the loaf cooled, I cut ten decent size slices for serving. The slices were still moist and the apple compote was visible throughout the bread. The taste was an immediate let down. While I enjoyed the additional apple flavor, the parts of the muffin that did not have the compote were really flavorless. I was really looking forward to this breakfast and barely got through one piece. The dough needed to be sweeter or required a little cinnamon blast throughout, something………..anything.  The rest of the family also gave this breakfast item a thumb's down.

I am not going to give up on cinnamon apple muffins as I will search for another brand or search for a recipe online.

I rate the Krusteaz Cinnamon Apple Supreme Muffin Mix a weak purchase. 

Review of Clancy's Cinnamon Churros

You got hand it to Aldi, that store is good for bringing out seasonal products that are amazingly tasty and satisfying, only to learn such items are deemed seasonal and nothing more than a tease. I recently picked up a seasonal promotion bag of the Clancy’s Cinnamon Churros twists. The bag was surprisingly under one dollar! The choice to throw this bag into my cart was easy as I am a huge fan of getting my churro fix at White Sox games and at the Costco food court. (I have not even tried the churro breakfast cereal as of yet).

The Clancy’s snack brand has not really ever disappointed when it comes to getting a chip side kick for sandwiches or just getting some tortilla chips for dipping, so I figured to give the churro chips a fair shake.

The churro twists are sold in thin plastic bright red bag with contents weighing in at a mere three ounces. Due to the solid colored packaging, there is no way of getting a sneak peak of this snack by observing the chips beforehand. 

Taste of Clancy’s Churro Twists

Upon opening the bag, I noticed each chip resembles a small pretzel braid but a heck of a lot lighter and puffy. No wonder the entire contents weigh in at a paltry 3 ounces! The crunch is definitely audible. A thief in the night would not stand a chance of taking a few of these in the middle of the night without getting revealed. The crunch factor is times 10.

Flavor of the cinnamon sugar coating of each twist is pure churro-gasmic. Why, why, why Clancy’s can’t produce these churro twists on a regular basis is beyond me.

The price for a bag of Clancy’s Cinnamon Churro Crispy Sweet twists was a mere eighty nine cents at my local store. For the next “Churro season”, I may have to buy a pallet of these from the local Aldi just to stay ahead of the curve

I definitely recommend Clancy’s Cinnamon Churros Crispy Twists a strong purchase. 

Review of Meijer Sandwich Crèmes

In a last minute Sunday night run for a few food essentials, I was on a quest to find a package of the golden and chocolate sandwich style cookie for packed lunches for the upcoming week. Meijer ran a sale for a generous size package for $2.00.  This small purchase seemed like a deal so I opted to pick up them up and give it a try.

The cookies count totals about fifty two to a package. The total weight is one pound eight ounces; plenty of cookies to last, hopefully. I am a big fan of the Hydrox and Oreo style cookies so I was upbeat about this purchase.

The cookies are sold in thin plastic tray at three rows of approximately fourteen cookies with a thin plastic semi transparent wrapper. The wrapper is cheap and non re-sealable much like the Oreo brand. I believe Oreo might be the only sandwich cookie I am aware of that has a cool re-sealable wrapper to keep the cookies fresh. I proceeded to move all cookie contents into our jumbo cookie jar to prevent them from going stale.

The cost of these cookies is tough to beat as they averaged at about four cents per cookie. The two cookie serving is what we pack in the lunches at a pittance cost of eight cents. Not too shabby. The value is definitely there, but is the flavor?

Taste of Sandwich crèmes.

Ok. The first test was the chocolate cookie. Nothing like an Oreo. The cookie disintegrated upon first bite with bits flying everywhere all over my mouth and onto my desk. The cookie itself really didn’t exhibit any cocoa or chocolate flavor. The golden cookie held a little more vanilla flavor but still not a lot going on there. The only upside to this cookie was the crème filling which tasted surprisingly decent.

The cookie is barely passable, but would consider going with these again if considering grinding up and using as a cheesecake liner or a cookie pie crust.

I rate the Meijer Sandwich Cremes a weak purchase. 

Review of Millville Sweet & Salty Nut Granola Bar

There is that dead zone part of the day, whether mid morning or mid afternoon which one craves that 100 or 200 calorie snack just to get by for the next few hours. This snack is critical for energy replenishment, if not more or less to serve as a bridge to that next meal.

One of my “go to” snacks are granola or chewy bars. Our latest trip to Aldi included picking up a box of Millville Sweet and Salty Nut Granola Bars.  The flavor choice we went with was the combination of peanut, almonds, and dark chocolate chunks. A box of six of these bars was listed at $1.89. The bars are larger and much denser than the 100 calorie Quaker chewy bars which I do purchase on occasion.  Calorie total of one bar is 170.

The individual bars are packaged in chocolate brown colored wrapper with an alluring picture of the snack bar on the wrapper. The unveiled actual bar resembles the picture; go figure! Usually most advertised pictures couldn’t be further from the truth when it comes to representing the actual product.

The top half or two thirds of bar is a conglomeration of chopped peanuts, almonds, and granola. The bottom layer is a decadent blend of dark chocolate. The whole bar is a slam dunk that reminds me of the Hershey Whatchamacallit; though at much lower calorie count. From the initial taste to the last crumb, I enjoyed this snack to the nth degree. I cannot imagine picking up a box of these bars  at least once a month. Averaging at thirty one cents a bar, I declare the Millville Sweet and Salty Nut Granola Bar a strong buy.

Review of Meijer Premium Macaroni and Cheese Dinner

On a recent trip to Meijer I picked up a package of dogs and macaroni and cheese for the kids for lunch. I was burned out on potato chips so I opted for a little mac and cheese to accompany the hotdogs. We usually prefer homemade macaroni and cheese as it is the best. Time was short and we had a Sunday afternoon of activities planned so homemade prepared pasta was out of the question. I was feeling nostalgic for the Kraft Macaroni and Cheese dinner but decided to try out the Meijer premium brand as I have had good luck with most Meijer products measuring up  to the brand name competition. That leap of faith could not have been more misguided.

 

Cooking

Same process as all stove top macaroni and cheese. Bring water to boil, add pasta and cook until tender. Drain, add the powder, butter, and milk. The process flow was simple as it gets.

Appearance

The overall appearance of the macaroni noodle was decent and the orange tone of the sauce seemed to match other brands. Several noodles did seem to tear and flatten upon mixing the ingredients during final stage of cooking process. I took this as a bad sign.

Taste

Upon first taste of this item, I knew it was a miss. The cheesy taste was absent leaving nothing but lifeless, creamy, mushy pasta.  At this point I really desired our homemade oven baked macaroni and cheese. I would have even settled for the Kraft version as this point for which there was even a slight taste of cheese.

Don’t recall the price, though I believe it hovered around one dollar. Next time when I am in search of store bought macaroni and cheese I will opt for the Stouffers microwave variety or even the Kraft. I rate the Meijer Premium Macaroni and cheese a poor buy.