Review of Meijer Watermelon Flavored Water

Review of Meijer Watermelon Flavored Water

In my daily quest to keep caloric intake down, I realize one of the areas that it is best to cut back is when enjoying a beverage. I usually accompany daily meals with coffee, unsweetened ice tea, water, and occasionally diet soda for calorie free refreshment. I have recently noticed the assortment of fruit flavored waters sold at Meijer. I decided to try their watermelon flavored water.

The water is sold in seventeen ounce plastic bottle portions. Bottle opens with a carbonated “fssst”, and pours light and fizzy over a tall glass of ice. The sparking beverage is pleasing to the eye and reminds me of the occasional watermelon flavored jolly ranchers I sometimes enjoy at my desk.

Taste

First taste was crisp and delightful. While there are artificial sweeteners (sucralose), I did not really pick up on any heavy or negative flavor one typically associates with such products.

Price

The Meijer line of fruit flavored water is sold as 12 ounce single bottles. There are no six or twelve pack arrangements. A single bottle of the watermelon sparking water goes for eighty nine cents. Competitive fruit flavored labels of similar size go between $1.00 and $1.20.  

Overall Result

I love watermelon flavor so this was an easy thumbs up. I like the taste of this beverage and find it an excellent break from drinking diet soda or tea. I have also not seen this flavor of water carried by other companies so I rate this product a strong buy. 

Review of Aldi Baker’s Corner Fudge Brownie Mix

We recently hosted a playoff hockey party with a few extended family members coming over to watch the game and indulge in munchies.

The food planning was easy as 1-2-3 as I ordered some carry out pizzas and broke out a salad to go along with dinner.

Dessert? I had brownies on my mind. Brownies are so easy to prepare as one can simply mix a few ingredients, bake in the oven in less than one hour and viola, brownies are ready! I headed up to Aldi food store for a box of their brand of mix known as Baker’s Corner Brownie mix. Baker’s Corner is apparently the only brownie mix brand carried by Aldi, so by default I chose this box. I am accustomed to Betty Crocker and Ghirardelli from other stores, so I was expecting an average to below average result with this mix.  Bakers Corner, please don’t fail me!

Preparation

Like all quick prepared brownie mixes, this one was pretty easy to assemble. Besides the mix, I only needed two eggs, some vegetable oil and water. I mixed those items together in a large bowl before putting the brownie batter in a greased nine by nine baking pan. The brownies cooked at 350 degrees F for approximately thirty eight minutes. The baking process made the entire upper level of my house smell like a bakery. The yield was about twenty brownies.

Taste

After knocking out a very large pizza with very little salad, we were ready for the dessert taste test. I tried a corner square of the brownies. (I always like the corner pieces). The chewiness and fudge flavor were there, and I found these brownies to be as equally as satisfying as the Betty Crocker Triple Chunk mix with Hershey’s chocolate. A blind taste test would never reveal this was a “generic” brownie at all. One possible alteration full blown chocolate lovers would consider, would be to add a small handful of chocolate chips to the batter prior to placing in oven. Personally, I don’t think the extra chocolate was needed. My wife thinks otherwise as she puts chips in brownie mixes regardless of brands.

Price

One box of Baker’s Corner Fudge brownie mix only set me back $1.29 compared to a similar sized box of the Betty Crocker Triple Chunk Premium Mix at $2.29, a dollar savings.

Overall Result

There is no second guessing the value and satisfaction of the Baker’s Corner Mix. The brownies are enough to get my family through at least three desserts; assuming no one sneaks a square when I am not looking. This is a very strong buy.