Puffs

I got a lovely sample of a pack of Puffs kleenex from Influenster and I have to say it is the best wipe I have ever used in my life. It is so soft on your nose and it doesn't give you a rash. It does have some moisture in it but you can't even tell. Sometimes some wipes that have moisture make you feel like you already blew into it. It is as soft as cotton. Truly a great product.

Mini Vitalicious VitaCake Fudgy Chocolate

It's been many years now that I have been hearing about Hungry Girl and her advertisements on the Vitalicious brand that I guess she promotes. To be honest, I am not exactly sure what she has to do with the brand and whether or not she does more than advertise for them. But because of her, I have been hearing about Vitalicious cakes for years and I am amazed that it took me this long to try some.

I guess I was taken aback for trying these because of the fact that they are sort of expensive and I figured that a diet cake will not taste as good as a real one. They usually run around $4.50 a box. But I finally found some on sale for about $2.00.

So the I happened to get the Fudgy Chocolate mini Cake. Immediately I thought of the Weight Watchers cakes that you can buy, only because they looked the same. They look like mini pound cakes. They come in the freezer section.

Vitalicious advertises their products as "vital and delicious," which is probably where they get the name for their product. Each cake has lots of fiber and some vitamins and minerals. Each of the fudgy cakes have 50 calories and 6 grams of fiber.

So now for the taste of the cake. As you can imagine, it is not going to taste like a brownie or chocolate cake. But it does have the essence of chocolate cake and it does not taste bad. I guess if you have a sweet tooth and you can handle not having the quality flavor of a chocolate muffin or cupcake, then this is a great option. There is just a weird taste to the cake that tastes artificial. There is also an overwhelmingly sweet-like flavor to it that does not come from sugar or the chocolate.

Overall, I guess it is a healthier dessert, but even though it is advertised as natural, I would say that it is just better to have some fruit for dessert. I can't imagine myself buying this again for $4.50, but maybe I will try the brand's other flavors if they end up on sale.

Extra Dessert Delights Apple Pie

Extra! The first sugar-free gum offered in the US. Who knew right? I just found that out.

Well, we're all familiar with Wrigley's gums, especially those of us who are old enough to know that these were practically the only gums we ever chewed until Trident, Orbit, and 5 Gum took over the shelves.

Well Extra Dessert Delights are something new (well, created in 2010) that Wrigley's created to satisfy those dessert cravings that many of us have. This product is obviously targeted to women who feel fat.

Their flavors come in:

1. Orange Creme Pop
2. Strawberry Shortcake
3. Key Lime Pie
4. Mint Chocolate Chip
5. Apple Pie

I've tried the Strawberry Shortcake and Mint Chocolate Chip and have to say that they are okay. I wasn't that stunned and didn't buy them again.

But then I saw the Apple Pie flavor, and after hearing so many good things about it from Hungry Girl, I had to try it.

It comes in a pretty cool looking pack (even cooler than the other flavors by Dessert Delights, though not as cool looking as 5-Gum). There are 15 sticks inside, all covered in the standard Wrigley's foil wrap, which is good if you live in a high humidity area - which I don't, but good anyways.

The sticks inside are green. Light green.

I must say I was impressed. Once I put the piece in my mouth it tasted quite delicious. I've never been a pie fan, so I don't know that exact taste of apple pie, but I have made plenty of apple sauce/jam/butter/cake to know that this stuff tastes pretty damn similar.

The flavor is sweet and strong and first but runs out way too quickly. The texture gets hard and the bubbles don't pop well after 20 minutes. I can only chew this gum for an average of 30 minutes, which is a drastically short time for me because I have been known to stretch out the flavor of a single piece of gum for hours. This Extra Apple Pie gum is cheaper than those other gums but, in the end it is more expensive because I have to chew 5 sticks in one sitting.

But the flavor is so delicious so it's worth it. It does not feel like gum though. It feels like I am actually chewing it to satisfy my sweet tooth. The other Dessert Delights don't make me feel that way.

Therefore I feel that this gum is a success. Good job Wrigley's.

Tricuit Chili Pepper

It was a bright morning and I woke up to hungry tummy. But, unfortunately I had to run, so I grabbed my box of Triscuits Chili Pepper and ran out the door. Triscuits now come in weird, trapezoidal boxes that are supposed to be more snack-easy friendly. The box is supposed to fold over and shape so that you can easily stick your hand into it and grab some of your snack. Personally, I don’t find it any easier to eat this stuff.

These Triscuits are triangular shaped. There are 8 servings of 14 crackers per box; meaning 112 chips per bag. By the looks of it, it does not look like there are 112 chips, but looks deceive most of the time. Each serving of 14 crackers is 140 calories, 4.5 grams of fat, 21 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fiber, and 3 grams of protein. So, not the worst snack in the world.


Just because they are not the nastiest snack that I have tasted, does not mean that they were delicious. The flavor was clearly overpowered by this chemical –like artificial flavor. But once I finally got over that, they started to taste like they were supposed to taste. They were not very salty, but sweeter from the whole grain cracker. The pepper taste was not quite right, and slightly sour, but you clearly saw the red, cheese-like powder coating the chips. There were also some red speckles symbolizing the chili pepper on the crackers as well. The cracker was not spicy at all. It was no spicier than the cinnamon in your cereal, so it is kid friendly, and nothing, like Hot Cheetos. I feel like they should be eaten with something like cream cheese to taste better.

A box of this stuff is pretty cheap; about $1.80 -$2.50 in most , grocery stores. But, they are not worth the price. Although they are among one of the healthier packaged snacks, it is better to just eat an apple and get it over with. These chips did not even fill you up.

Cocoa Pebbles Treats

I like Rice Krispies today, just as much as I liked it before as a kid. As a kid my parents could never afford to buy me packaged kind so we always just bought the cheapest cereal on the shelf and mixed it with marshmallows and butter to make our own homemade krispy treats. Granted they were quite delicious, but one thing I hated about them is the fact that if you did not eat finish them within two days after they were made, they tasted stale. Oh how I wished we could just buy the packaged kind.

And now that I am all grown up I and can take my ass to the store, I can pick whatever the hell I want to buy. To tell you the truth, I did not set out for Rice Krispies on my last trip to the grocery store. I was just on the search for something new to try and review.

I found Post Cocoa Pebbles Treats, thinking they were a new product because they still had the "New!" sign on them. Turns out they aren't that new considering that they were invented in 2006.

Well I paid $1.50 for a box of them which contained 8 bars. While I was there I also chose the Fruity Pebbles version as well, which I will review in another post.

So I opened the box and these tiny ass things came out. They were smaller than Snicker's candy bars, and therefore can hardly be called a treat.

Nevertheless I opened one and noticed the lovely chocolate drizzle at the top. I almost protested that the chocoalte drizzle was a waste of calories, and should be taken out to simply increase the size of the bar. But we all know that they threw in that drizzle to make this crap look more appetizing - which it truly does. But then I took a bite and realized that, for once, the chocolate was not a waste. It actually added a nice burst of chocolaty flavor to the bar.




Despite the delicious chocolate at the top, the bar still lacked the delicious chocolate flavor that I was craving from the Cocoa Pebbles. One thing about Cocoa Pebbles cereal that I love is the heavy-chocolate flavor compared to, oh let's say, Cocoa Krispies. But I cannot say which is better: Cocoa Pebbles or Cocoa Puffs. I have never had both at once to compare. Another project for later =]

The texture of the Cocoa Pebbles Treats were just as chewy and delicious as Rice Krispies. Many people actually prefer these to Rice Krispies, but, even a chocolate lover like me, has to say that I prefer Rice Krispies treats (the plain ones not the chocolate ones).


There is something oddly salty about this bar. Obviously the answer is that it is completely artificial; containing all the hydroginated oils and unnatural sugars. You can hardly say this bar is a healthy snack.

Don't be fooled by the 6 vitamins and minerals that are contained by this bar. You can get the same and more of those vitamins from a 10 calorie bite of an apple.

Basically, go into this knowing that you are getting nothing more than a brownie would give you.

Don't be misguided by my negativity though. These are delicious, but would probably taste better dipped in chocolate (Doesn't everything?). I at the whole box, if that means anything.

Lambertz Coco-Fleur

Henry Lambertz is a brand that I have not heard of until this Holiday season. It's a German company that makes cookies. They create their products all year around but seem to distribute them more during the Holidays.

Well the first thing I tried by him is the Coco-Fleur cookies. As you can read on the box, they are "Coconut Cookies Topped with Semi-Sweet Dark Chocolate and Sprinkled with Coconut". Sounds delicious right? You'd expect it to taste like a Mounds bar minus the almond.

Well that's what it looked like when I opened the package. There were about 4-5 cookies in each little circle/cup distributed throughout the tray.

And that's the other side of it. They are thin, almost cracker-like. They are pretty small, but if you eat a couple of them nothing will happen.

They tasted pretty good. The only thing you really taste though is the dark chocolate, which is delicious no doubt. It is full of flavor, rich and creamy. You do get only the slightest nutty hint of coconut, but mostly you feel the big pieces between your teeth.

They say the cookie part of this cracker thing is supposed to taste like coconut, though I taste no coconut in it at all. It just tastes like a regular butter cookie, but you cannot really taste that anyways cause of the overpowering dark chocolate.

I liked it. It was a pleasant treat next to coffee. I would like to see Lambertz mail over some of the chocolate at the bottom as a bark of chocolate instead of in a cookie form. That, I would give a 10/10.

Slimfast Chewy Chocolate Crisp

SlimFast is never a diet plan that I ever imagined to go on mostly because their products are so expensive. Not to mention that they are all processed. But, as with South Beach, Weight Watchers, and NutriSystem products; I occasionally find them on sale and buy them to try them.

I thought bought a pack of these Slimfast thinking that they would be great as an on the go meal. They are only 200 calories but have 8 grams of protein and 5 grams of fiber to keep you full. Now that's some good nutrition from a processed bar for only 200 calories.



The bar itself is a pretty good size and has a nice chocolate swirls on top with some raw oatmeal sprinkled on top. It looks like a chocolaty Rice Krispie.

But they taste nothing like Rice Krispies. They have a much tougher, chewier texture. The chocolate flavor is nice and strong. There is that familiar whey sweetness in the background of the bar. A large part of the sweetness of this bar comes from that. I don't know if there is any artificial sweetener in this but the bar itself is quite sweet.

The chocolate flavor is deep, but not exactly chocolaty. It's just sweet. I wouldn't say it has much of a real flavor of anything. Just that protein powder like flavor. But it's good.

I was amazed by the taste at first. But after eating a couple more this bar got pretty predictable. Though I still enjoyed it every time I ate it.

But I would only buy it again if it is on sale. The box is $5 at Walmart with only 5 bars in it. That's means each bar is a dollar a piece, and that is pretty expensive.

Starbucks Refreshers Raspberry Pomegranate and Orange Melon

Starbucks Refreshers: Natural Energy from Green Coffee Bean Extract

Sparks (or at least sparkling juices) fly when energy and refreshment unite in a lightly carbonated blend of juices, vitamins, ginseng, and green, unroasted coffee beans. It's a delicious energy boost, without any coffee taste.

Starbucks Refreshers are a relatively new line of beverages that are advertised as giving you natural energy, which comes from the green coffee bean extract. Their line includes tea beverages that you can order in the shop, the powdered Via sticks, or they come in a can (which is, as you can see in the picture, the one I am reviewing today).

So let's get started on green coffee bean extract itself. No there isn't separate color of coffee bean that you can buy, for those of you who don't know. It's not like regular beans where they come in a red, white, and black eyed variety. Green coffee beans are just like the regular coffee beans you buy at the store, but they are the raw version. When you pick coffee beans from the little plant, it looks like you are picking some sort of red berry. But the seed inside is a coffee bean and it is a nice bright green color. 

So why are they better for you than regular coffee? Isn't regular coffee still natural even if they roast it? Hell yeah it is. But some benefits are lost in the coffee bean through the roasting process. This includes some special antioxidants and something called chlorogenic acid. Chlorogenic acid will help you lose weight because of the way it helps your body metabolize some of the sugars you have eaten throughout the day. Suppliers of green coffee bean pills claim that you can eat as you please as long as you take the green coffee bean supplement. Apparently it has helped people lose weight and is completely safe to use as far as we know. Dr. Oz even recommends it. This acid is what has made green coffee bean the new superfood/weight loss supplement on the market. People are crazy about it and I am starting to see it everywhere. Just like the acai berry, green tea, and greek yogurt craze before; companies want to add it to anything and everything to make people buy their products which they advertise are healthy. Side rant: Greek yogurt ice cream, or any frozen yogurt type of ice cream is not healthy for you. It is not even a healthier alternative to the real stuff. So what, you get 2 more grams of fucking protein than the regular ice cream? Let me tell you this, at the end of the day those 2 extra grams are not going to matter. Especially next to all that sugar in your frozen yogurt.

Well back to coffee beans. Why not just eat them raw and whole? Well cause they are bitter as hell and you won't be able to eat them no matter how well you trained your taste buds to bitterness. So you can either take it as a supplement, buy it as a powder, or buy it in prebottled beverages.

Now let's move along to the refresher. Raspberry pomegranate is the flavor I am reviewing. So I pop open the 12 oz can, which is an average of $1.99 wherever you buy it, and I do get a raspberry pomegranate smell. The can is all cool looking, nice and skinny and long. How does it taste?

Well it tastes pretty okay. Nothing special. It has the raspberry pomegranate taste you are looking for but it doesn't have such a strong flavor of it though. I was hoping for a heavily flavored juice with a nice aftertaste, but after it goes down your throat you feel like you drank just regular old soda.

The carbonation is not very heavy, as they have stated, but it does not taste like flat soda either. It is pretty smooth and the carbonation is preserved in the can pretty well. 

Like they said, no coffee flavor, which I actually prefer the coffee flavor but that is just me. I love the java. But this is more like a juice like substance.

Overall all I give it a 4/10. I mean, it is nothing special and the health benefits are almost none. I do like how there isn't any artificial sweetener in it, but there is too light of a flavor for me. Not to mention, it is ridiculously priced.


Now for the Orange Mango flavor, which I decided to add to the end of this post because I also had it today. I am a bit of a caffeine addict since I had two cans of this stuff today in addition to my giant pots of coffee sipping all day.

So the Orange Melon flavor is alright. Like the Raspberry Pomegranate the flavor is really light. But it also has a decent Orange and Mango flavoring, which apparently is from real juices since 1/4 of the can is real juice. I actually prefer the Raspberry Pomegranate which seems to be a little heavier in flavoring. Usually I prefer the tropical flavors though. But I do like how well the flavor of the fruits are captured in these two refreshers.

Sorry for the crappy camera pics.

180 Snacks Pecan Trail Mix Crunch

General Information:

• 180 Snacks is a relatively new brand of snacks that makes nut clusters like True North.
• I got this little snack pack from the vending machine and it is about 1.25 oz of nut clusters
• All natural 
• gluten free 
• oven baked
• kosher
• 100% vegan
• No preservatives
• Ingredients: Oven Baked Nuts (almonds, cashews, pecans), pure can sugar, rice syrup, sea salt
• Nutrition Info: 180 calories, 15 grams of fat, 13 grams of carbs, 2.5 g fiber, 6 grams of protein

My Opinion:

• A bit small for a snack in my opinion but some people may like it
• Not enough pecan smell - I personally love pecans so it needs more in my opinion
• Mostly almonds and cashews
• Heavy cashew flavor which is also delicious and fantastic
• Slight sweet- like how wheat bread is slightly sweet
• Not salty at all, needs more salt in my opinion
• Pretty filling. Kept me for 3 hours till dinner
• Crunchy and fresh taste
• Creamy flavoring
• Great with a coffee
• Overall, good snack but needs to be bigger
• Should sell it in big backs 

That is how much comes out

Sorry for the crappy pictures...didn't have a good camera with me at the time

V8 V-Fusion Sparkling Black Cherry and Pomegranate

V8 vegetable juices have been around for as long as I could remember Surprise, surprise, it is owned by the Campbell Soup Company. As a kid they were always one of those things that you see in the store and you never buy. I remember looking at the original V8 juice and wondering how people could drink tomato juice. Now I like tomatoes, but I still don't like the idea of having them in a juice.

Well anyways, I found these Sparkling V8s on sale for 25 cents a can so I decided to give it a try.

The cans look like a small Starbucks Refreshers can; thin and tall. The flavor I got says: A sparkling black cherry and pomegranate flavored blend of 5 fruits and vegetable juices from concentrate with other natural flavors. Each can is 8.4 oz, 60 calories, 14 grams of sugar. I would think that V8 would have some sort of vitamin health benefit, but the can only contains 20% of your daily vitamin C needs. Which is nothing cause you can get over 100% of your vitamin C needs if you just had a tiny orange every day. Not to mention, juice from concentrate is not as awesome as real juice. All in all, this is an unhealthy snack.

So now for the taste, my mother thinks it tastes like medicine. I personally think it tastes just weird. I don't like it, I don't hate it. It's whatever. It reminds me of black cherry soda, and you do kinda get a hint of some pomegranate flavor. But somewhere in there is this funny vegetable flavor. It is bubbly, but not as bubbly as regular soda. It's truly "sparkling". On the bright side, it is much more flavorful than regular soda, and it leaves an aftertastes that is not entirely pleasant, but sweet nonetheless.

Personally, I don't like vegetable juices in general. Vegetables are sort of a salad, and food thing for me - not smoothies and juices. I do want a Jack Lalanne juicer one day though.

I give this a 3/10

Sambazon Protein: Chocolate

So I was at Whole Foods when I saw that they had  a sale on Sambazon drinks. I've never got into the acai hype that occurred two years ago because the products were so expensive. But since it was on sale, I was interested in splurging and trying something new. Plus, I'm in a position where I do not have a blender and thick drinks are something I crave at times. 

This particular shake is in their protein line, but you should not be expecting too much protein out of it. The bottle only contains roughly 10 grams of protein, which you can get for cheaper out of a glass of milk. But then again it is enough protein for this drink to be a little snack, along with almost 7 grams of fiber in this drink. The protein in there is hemp protein. 

It is made with over 100 acai berries which are blended in there. I don't know how big acai berries are but it can be hard to believe that there are 100 of them in there, but a company would not lie right? =/

Okay so texture wise, it is super thick, and slightly gritty. But the grit clearly comes from the berries and not the protein. It tastes chocolaty, but not too heavy in chocolate. It's dairy free so they use soy milk and chocolate powder to get that flavoring. You honestly do taste that soy milk in there, but it is super thick. I personally do not like soy milk that much, I've tried it many times but I can only down so much of it before I start getting sick of it. It's too think for me, but mixed with all this berries and whatever else is in there, it tastes delicious.

There is a slight berry - ish flavor associated with the chocolate. Not too heavy at all though, but you can recognize it in the background. 

It is pretty filling I guess. It will hold you out for another hour or two. I would consider it a good snack, not as a meal replacement. Each bottle has 250 calories. 

It's all natural, organic, vegan, and pretty good. I give the product a nice 7/10. I would give it an 8, but it is on the pricey side whether you buy it on sale or not. Let's just say you don't get in on sale, it would be $2.99 regular price.