Tiffany – Page 8 – The Impulsive Buy

REVIEW: Philadelphia Cheesecake Crumble Desserts

Tiffany / February 22, 2021 / Reviews / 33 Comments

Self-care is Philadelphia’s new single-serve Cheesecake Crumble Dessert cups.

After nearly 150 years, the Philadelphia cheese mongers finally went beyond providing cheesecake recipes inside the package to give us the actual cheesecake!

OK, technically they call it a three-layer cheesecake with sauce, cheesecake filling, and crumble topping, but it’s all the same deliciousness to me. There are four flavors: Cherry, Chocolate Hazelnut, Original, and Strawberry.

These were so enticing and tasty that my partner ate them all before I could even write a review and he usually leaves my snacks alone. But, after I re-purchased and tried them for myself, I couldn’t blame him.

(From L to R) Original, Strawberry, Cherry, and Chocolate Hazelnut

There were two key thoughtful choices that made this dang good.

First, instead of a dense block of cheesecake filling, it was creamy and smooth with a whipped texture. Whipped cream cheese is my favorite form, but even if it weren’t, this was the right choice for easy eating with a spoon.

Second, the crumbles were very crOnchy. Yes, cronchy. As someone who always goes for the crust first, I appreciated that it maintained its texture. No soggy crust or crumble in this house please! The amount of crumble was also just right. I was concerned that there wouldn’t be enough just by looking at it, but it was plenty to ensure a consistent eat!

I’m also extra impressed by this because I know Philadelphia doesn’t make grahams or cookies on the regular. I mentioned cookies as the Chocolate Hazelnut flavor is the only one that comes with “rich cookie crumble” and not a “buttery graham crumble.” The graham tasted like regular, crushed up graham crackers and the cookies reminded me of Oreo.

As for the flavor – let’s start with the filling first. It’s truly like having a cheesecake slice in a cup. I got the expected slight tang from the cream cheese balanced by the perfect amount of indulgent sweetness. The chocolate one tasted more chocolate pudding cup-like than hazelnut, but I still was able to taste the tanginess.

Three of the four had an additional layer of sauce: cherry, strawberry, and chocolate flavored. I started with the cherry because I was the most skeptical of it – usually cherry-flavored foods taste like cough syrup to me. However, it definitely tasted like real fruit! It was a bit tarter than I had expected, but that was quickly solved by mixing the sauce and filling evenly. The strawberry, though, was just right for me and didn’t require any mixing! I ate the “layers” as-is.

As for the chocolate one, the sauce was negligible. I’m never going to complain about more chocolate goodness, but it was more of a visual difference given the darker color. I was hoping that this would be the hazelnut flavor part, but no dice. Regardless, it was still absolutely delicious. It wasn’t as much as a dealbreaker because unlike the fruit ones, the sauce wasn’t integral to delivering the flavor as the chocolate filling did most of that legwork!

All of this combined was like lightning in a bottle. I’m ready for a pumpkin cheesecake one for PUMPKINUNDATION season please!

Purchased Price: $3.99
Size: 2 – 3.3oz cups
Purchased at: Meijer
Rating: 10 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (serving size: 1 dessert) Cherry – 290 calories, 18 grams of fat, 12 grams of saturated fat, 0.5 gram of trans fat, 60 milligrams of cholesterol, 220 milligrams of sodium, 25 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of fiber, 19 grams of sugar, 16 grams of added sugar, and 4 grams of protein. Chocolate Hazelnut – 320 calories, 17 grams of fat, 11 grams of saturated fat, 0.5 gram of trans fat, 50 milligrams of cholesterol, 240 milligrams of sodium, 37 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 26 grams of sugar, 25 grams of added sugar, and 5 grams of protein. Original – 340 calories, 24 grams of fat, 15 grams of saturated fat, 1 gram of trans fat, 75 milligrams of cholesterol, 290 milligrams of sodium, 24 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of fiber, 17 grams of sugar, 16 grams of added sugar, and 5 grams of protein. Strawberry – 290 calories, 18 grams of fat, 12 grams of saturated fat, 0.5 grams of trans fat, 60 milligrams of cholesterol, 220 milligrams of sodium, 26 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of fiber, 19 grams of sugar, 17 grams of added sugar, and 4 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Lay’s Game Day Chili Potato Chips

Tiffany / January 18, 2021 / Reviews / 6 Comments

What are Lay’s Game Day Chili Potato Chips?

Another genius Lay’s food scientist flex! They’ve been replicating our favorite dishes into a chip for nearly 10 years now. Inspiration not only comes from the crowdsourced Do Us A Flavor program, but also in seemingly random bursts of comfort food inspo like Grilled Cheese & Tomato Soup. Game Day Chili is the newest comfort food add!

How are they?

I was prepared to be disappointed when I opened the bag and mostly smelled a faint barbecue sauce scent. I continued to think BBQ as I looked at the seasoning’s reddish hue. I did make a note of the generous and ample seasoning, though!

While the smell and visual under-promised, the taste over-delivered! To be fair, I didn’t experience the full spectrum of flavor notes described “…tomatoes, chili peppers, onion, garlic, and Tex-Mex spices with a little back-end kick.” I got tomatoes, onion, garlic, and then straight into a nice bit of chili powder heat. It was a light burn that built up nicely and got my nose a bit runny after eating hand pincer after hand pincer of chips.

Anything else you need to know?

I usually tear into bags like nobody’s business, but the sheen on this one really caught my eye. Yes, I’m like a food packaging magpie. While I was admiring the luster of the blue, I noticed that the packaging looked more like the Flavor Icons bag with the plate of food on the bottom left, vertical color paneling, and white middle rather than the one-color “standard flavor” bag. It made me wonder if this was a Flavor Icon idea that didn’t make the initial cut, but someone important liked it, so it eventually made its way on shelves.

Conclusion:

If you left these out on the table during game day, it’d probably be mistaken for BBQ chips, but your guests would be in for a good surprise! It’s a worthy try for an upcoming tailgate of one (a.k.a. everyday snack time) or for the actual big game, but don’t forget to stock up for National Chili Day (Feb. 25)!

Purchased Price: $3.79
Size: 7 3/4 oz bag
Purchased at: Meijer
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 150 calories, 10 grams of fat, 1.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 180 milligrams of sodium, 16 grams of carbohydrates, 1 grams of fiber, 1 gram of sugar, and 2 grams of protein.

Chips Lay's

REVIEW: Pillsbury Snackable Cookie Dough Bites

Tiffany / January 8, 2021 / Reviews / 1 Comment

Update: So Pillsbury has changed the name of this product to Cookie Dough Poppins, which is a name that must make Poppin Fresh happy.

I thought Pillsbury was leapfrogging this edible cookie dough trend when it upgraded its existing Ready to Bake refrigerated cookie dough packs with a “safe to eat raw” seal and instructions to either eat OR bake them. It was pretty clever, but I guess even the Pillsbury Dough Boy couldn’t resist something in bite-form! So, three Snackable Cookie Dough Bites flavors rolled out: Birthday Cake, Chocolate Chip, and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip.

He may just be dipping his toe in the water as it doesn’t seem like they’re available nationally yet. Interwebz intel says it’s only at Meijer stores, a regional Midwest grocer, for now.

I hope all of these make it, but with some changes, though. These are overall enjoyable. They’re at the same price point and package size as Ben & Jerry’s Cookie Dough Chunks. But, with each piece at almost twice the size of Ben & Jerry’s offering, it somehow seems like a better value to me. The mind (and stomach) works in mysterious ways. Their texture is perfect right out of the bag – just like a freshly mixed batch ready to go into the oven. Another plus is that this form doesn’t require any utensils. That’s a win-win-win in my book.

In regards to specific tasting notes, I would rank the flavors from “STEAL IT FROM THE DOUGH BOY NOW – GO GO GO!” to just kindly ask him for a sample as follows: Birthday Cake, Chocolate Chip, and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip.

The “some changes” mentioned above mainly falls on the peanut butter one. I love all things peanut butter, so I had high hopes. But it fell flat on the rich nuttiness I expected. I could tell it was different from the chocolate chip one, though. But it was mostly visual.

It looked like a brown paper bag saturated in grease, which I’m assuming was caused by the extra oils in the peanut butter. I mentioned these bites were larger, but size didn’t make up for flavor as Ben & Jerry’s packed more peanut taste in a smaller form.

The Chocolate Chip one is in the middle of the pack. While the size and texture were just right, it tasted a bit bland to me. Some additional chocolate bits would have definitely helped, but the dough wasn’t as flavorful, which may be a harder fix. I could clearly taste the vanilla, but it was missing another flavor note.

Determined to figure it out, I sat in my kitchen eating one Pillsbury bite, one Ben & Jerry’s Dough Chunk, and a spoonful of Nestle Toll House edible cookie dough in rapid succession. It validated the lack of that je ne sais quoi, so I read the ingredients and noticed that the Dough Boy omitted a critical component present in the other doughs: BUTTER. I gasped audibly at the cardinal sin. Regardless of whether you agree if cookie dough can be considered cookie dough sans butter, it was a satisfying lightbulb moment as it also explained why the peanut butter one didn’t taste as flavorful either.

Birthday Cake ranked at the top because it was wonderfully vanilla-forward, AND the confetti colors didn’t bleed into the surrounding dough, unlike others. The lack of butter in this one didn’t bother me as I wanted that pure sugary vanilla-y taste. I did find myself wondering why I wouldn’t just buy and eat Ready to Bake Confetti Cookie Dough, though. So, I did and found out that we don’t do that unless we want a mouthful of sugary grit. Well, that’s one way to ensure a shopper buys both. Tricky, tricky!

While there are other edible cookie dough bite options, Pillsbury is currently the only brand that offers a birthday cake flavor, which also happens to be the tastiest and most exciting of the Dough Boy’s offerings. The other flavors are truly not bad at all, but they could use some improvement.

Purchased Price: $4.49 each
Size: 8 oz pouches
Purchased at: Meijer
Rating: 7 out of 10 (Birthday Cake), 6 out of 10 (Chocolate Chip), 4 out of 10 (Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip)
Nutrition Facts: (about 5 pieces) Birthday Cake – 120 calories, 4.5 grams of fat, 1.5 grams of saturated fat, 0g of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 55 milligrams of sodium, 19 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 10 grams of sugar, and 1 gram of protein. Chocolate Chip – 120 calories, 5 grams of fat, 2 grams of saturated fat, 0g of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 65 milligrams of sodium, 18 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 9 grams of sugar, and 1 gram of protein. Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip – 120 calories, 5 grams of fat, 1.5 grams of saturated fat, 0g of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 65 milligrams of sodium, 17 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 10 grams of sugar, and 2 grams of protein.

Cookie Dough Pillsbury

REVIEW: Paqui One Chip Challenge 2020

Tiffany / November 13, 2020 / Reviews / 9 Comments

I derive great joy from eating foods that are much too spicy for my taste buds and stomach. Call me a masochist, but I always aspire to be like the host of Hot Ones (Sean Evans) but usually end up with tears streaming down my face while blubbering, “..but it’s so good!!!” I’m going to come right out and admit that it was my first Paqui One Chip Challenge and that the reaper bested me. But keep reading for snot, tears, and antacids.

Paqui’s challenge first launched in 2016, and it’s come back every year. Over that time, it’s transformed from what could be mistaken as Flamin’ Hot Doritos to an all-black, super edgy form. Talk about a glow up. The Carolina Reaper, the world’s hottest pepper, has been the inspo and main pepper since Day 1, but the added pizazz this year is scorpion pepper and Sichuan peppercorn. I’m very familiar with Sichuan peppercorn’s delightfully numbing qualities, but had never tried scorpion pepper before.

Upon opening the inner package housing the single tortilla chip, the first thing I noticed was the unpleasant pungent smell. It was unlike anything that had EVER passed through my olfactory epithelium. The sour smell paired with the visual of what looked like charcoal for seasoning added to my already mounting trepidation.

The chewing experience was awful – not because it was immediately incredibly spicy but mainly because of the crumbly, stale texture. It felt like I was trying to chew through a mouthful of dried red pepper flakes.

As for the heat, it was the type of spicy that renders any talking, let alone breathing, impossible without wincing and choking. It was a very agonizing and intense 15 minutes of snot, tears, and saliva – even with milk. However, it was followed by capsaicin-induced endorphins. What added to this feel-good was the slight tingle from the Sichuan peppercorn. It was like Wrigley’s 5 Gum commercial vibes, but with peppers. This deluded top-of-the-world feeling almost made me feel like I could take another chip!

I’m glad I didn’t have another one on hand because it took a turn for the worst. Once the endorphins dissipated, I was left with lingering pain under my tongue and gums (oddly specifically just around my molars). Furthermore, my taste buds were absolutely blitzed. Everything I ate that day tasted less flavorful than usual. The cherry on top came three hours later. I was minding my own business when a roiling stomach pain came to play. It took a max antacid dose before I could begin to function again.

My ultimate measure, though, is how spicy it comes out the other end. Sorry not sorry for the TMI, but it’s important! It was surprisingly tame compared to the entire pre- and during-experience. Thank goodness.

I don’t get to proudly declare myself as The Paqui One Chip Challenge Champ, but I think I held my own. Bring it on, 2021.

Purchased Price: $6.99
Size: .21oz (6g)
Purchased at: Plum Market
Rating: 10 out of 10 (for challenge factor, but 2 out of 10 for taste)
Nutrition Facts: (1 chip) 30 calories, 1 gram of fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 25 milligrams of sodium, 4 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of dietary fiber, 0 grams of sugar, 0 grams of added sugar, and 0 grams of protein.

Chips Paqui

REVIEW: KIND Cereal

Tiffany / August 29, 2020 / Reviews / 14 Comments

2020 is the year of many firsts, including what I’m calling “fancy cereal.” Starting with General Mills’ $13 Morning Summit cereal that made headlines earlier this year to KIND’s newest $6.98 box of cereal. We’re on a new level of bougie cereal, y’all.

Best known for its fruit and nut bars, KIND has quadrupled down with four new cereal flavors – Apple Cinnamon, Cranberry Almond, Dark Chocolate Almond, and Honey Almond.

These sound like standard, well-known flavors, but they’ve been amped with super grains (sorry Paleo-ers, they’re full of sorghum, quinoa, and amaranth). Two of the four flavors – Dark Chocolate Almond and Cranberry Almond – are also bar flavors, so there’s added familiarity.

The shiny, expensive-looking packaging helped a bit with my initial sticker shock. Perception is such a funny thing, but the cardboard’s heavier weight and beautiful food images were very appealing and helped me begin to rationalize the price.

After examining all four flavors, the concept seemed pretty formulaic: same base flake with fruit and nut inclusions. These base flakes looked like thicker, brown, and lumpy corn flakes. I guess that’s what happens when it’s made of super grains! They were generally plain tasting – lacking even the toasted fragrance found in usual cereal grains like corn and oat. But, it was a proper backdrop for all the added goodies as it has a non-intrusive, but unmistakable grain note.

But the Cranberry Almond and Dark Chocolate Almond included an accompanying colored flake – pink and brown, respectively. This plays an important role as you’ll read on later, but these did subtlety taste like their respective flavors.

But back to the formula. Inclusions aren’t game-changing as we’ve seen cereal jazzed up with marbits, two scoops of raisins, etc. for decades now. I find the fancy nut inclusions, like the pepitas in the Apple Cinnamon flavor, are more like something I’d find in muesli or granola.

But, what really stood out was the consistent delivery of each component with every pour. Usually, it’s a slim ratio of the expensive stuff to cereal bits, but there’s no skimping here. This is crucial because I found that the flavor comes from these inclusions — from the sweet pops of dried fruit to the rich, nutty almond notes.

With all the different textures from the dried fruit, nuts, and the super grain flakes themselves, it was quite crunchy. Even when I left it sitting just a bit longer, it didn’t turn immediately into mush. As an ice chewer, I personally enjoy texture over soggy cereal!

There was truly no bad egg of the four. However, the two that surprised and delighted me the most were Cranberry Almond and Dark Chocolate Almond.

As I mentioned earlier, each of these included a different color flake and the plain base flake. The natural coloring washed into the milk and produced millennial pink-colored and chocolate-colored milk. So fun!

The Cranberry Almond pink was purely visual as the subtle cranberry flavor was overpowered by the milk. The chocolate one seemed more indulgent as it did actually create chocolate cereal milk. The little, semi-sweet chocolate rectangles added a nice extra bit of choco-goodness as well.

Honey Almond, surprisingly, didn’t give me as much delight as the previous two. While it clearly listed toasted coconut as an ingredient on the box, I didn’t expect that to be the dominant flavor. I know they probably wanted to be consistent in saying that almonds are the number one ingredient across all four, but they should’ve at least named it Coconut Almond to reflect what it actually tastes like!

Apple Cinnamon was more middle of the road for me – not offensive but didn’t surprise and delight like the others. The base flake did slightly deviate from the rest as it was the cinnamon flavor source, but it was very lightly flavored. So, it reminded me of good ol’ cinnamon Cheerios.

I didn’t think that I would like dried apple pieces in cereal, but I was proven wrong. Also, unlike the other varieties, there were some red puffed rice pieces. I was unclear what purpose they served as they didn’t really add any additional flavor or visual interest.

If I’m going to gripe about anything, it’s the prominent touting of 5-6 grams of protein per serving. Is that supposed to be a lot?! My usual nowadays, Special K Protein, is three times that! So, the nutrition isn’t quite there to replace my go-to, but a Dark Chocolate Almond bowl as a regular treat sounds like a great plan to me.

Purchased Price: $6.98 each
Size: 15 oz boxes
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 7 out of 10 (Apple Cinnamon), 8 out of 10 (Cranberry Almond), 9 out of 10 (Dark Chocolate Almond), 7 out of 10 (Honey Almond)
Nutrition Facts: (55 grams) Cranberry Almond – 230 calories, 8 grams of fat, 0.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 2 grams of polyunsaturated fat, 4.5 grams of monounsaturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 75 milligrams of sodium, 37 grams of carbohydrates, 4 grams of fiber, 12 grams of sugar, and 6 grams of protein. Dark Chocolate Almond – 240 calories, 10 grams of fat, 1.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 2 grams of polyunsaturated fat, 5 grams of monounsaturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 75 milligrams of sodium, 36 grams of carbohydrates, 4 grams of fiber, 10 grams of sugar, and 6 grams of protein. Apple Cinnamon – 220 calories, 3.5 grams of fat, 0.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 1 gram of polyunsaturated fat, 1 gram of monounsaturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 95 milligrams of sodium, 44 grams of carbohydrates, 13 grams of fiber, 13 grams of sugar, and 5 grams of protein. Honey Almond – 250 calories, 11 grams of fat, 4 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 2 grams of polyunsaturated fat, 4 grams of monounsaturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 80 milligrams of sodium, 35 grams of carbohydrates, 4 grams of fiber, 10 grams of sugar, and 6 grams of protein.

Cereal KIND

REVIEW: Philadelphia Cheesecake Crumble Desserts

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REVIEW: Lay’s Game Day Chili Potato Chips

What are Lay’s Game Day Chili Potato Chips?

How are they?

Anything else you need to know?

Conclusion:

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REVIEW: Pillsbury Snackable Cookie Dough Bites

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REVIEW: Paqui One Chip Challenge 2020

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REVIEW: KIND Cereal

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