M&M Coconut

By now everybody has heard of these coconut M&M's, which have come out years before for a limited time only. Once again they were to be a limited time offer a couple months ago, but people liked it so much that M&M's have made it part of their permanent collection.

I was excited about these because I knew how much I loved coconut and chocolate.

They come in a nice white package with Ms. Green reclining in the front and Mr. Yellow Peanut hanging off a coconut palm in the back.

They only come in nice 1.5 oz individual packages, with only 210 calories per pack. There are specifically 23 M&M's in each package, making each M&M about 10 calories. This is a good deal and perfect portion. 23 may sound like only a little bit, but actually you'll feel very satisfied after finishing the pack. The size of each M&M is between a regular M&M and a peanut M&M. They come in brown, green, and white; also containing some little tropical pictures on each M&M.

It's sort of disappointing that they don't have little coconut flakes floating around these because that would have just made these so much better, in my opinion at least. The coconut flavor basically comes from the sugar coating that covers a pure milk chocolate center. It's not a heavy coconut flavor at all. To me it tastes just like coconut extract. I think they put too much of it though because there is a slight bitterness to this candy that does not come from the chocolate.

I expected more out of these, but they were delicious nevertheless. I feel like they tasted much better halfway through each package. They different, but I prefer peanut M&Ms.

Stride Mega Mystery

Stride is not the first brand that came out with this "guess the flavor" type thing and it won't be the last. It has been around for a while now, but I barely got my hands on a pack a week ago.

Although Stride has updated some of their main flavors, that update does not apply to this product in particular. I'm honestly only bummed out about the fact that the gum is not wrapped in foil so that it won't get damaged in humid conditions.

By just smelling this gum you know that it has a fruity flavor. As you masticate, the flavor that will most pop out is this citrus flavor, pineapple is what it reminded me of specifically but others say orange. I also tasted strawberry somewhere in there and possibly some mango. It's basically like some fruit punch mix in a stick of gum. So this stuff is not necessarily Mega Mystery. But overall, it does taste pretty good.

The texture of this stuff is perfect for popping bubbles, but unfortunately, it's flavor does not last as long as other Stride varieties.

I think it's a good product. I'm pretty sure it has become one of Stride's permanent collections because it has been around for a while. I would give it a go because it does have an interesting flavor.

Gloria Jean's Pomegranate Berry Fusion Tea

My mother was the one who showed me what the Keurig was. It honestly looks like an amazing product. No matter what you want to drink you can have it fresh instantly. I don't actually own one but my friend bought one. I took a visit to her house and she made me some Pomegranate Berry Fusion Tea, claiming it to be one of the best teas she have ever drank.

I reluctantly accepted her offer and asked for it to be iced. The moment it came out it released a wonderful aroma that filled the room with a strong berry scent mixed with fresh brewed black tea.

The tea itself was very smooth and was a nice deep black tea color with a reddish tint. It was a bit light for me, but my friend said she thought it was perfect. You definitely taste the berries and pomegranates in this, making it almost like a unique fruit juice without the calories. I did add a packet of Splenda to this for taste. No doubt the keurig did make this tea taste fresh.

This is no where near my personal favorite tea. I myself prefer "chai" spiced tea. I put quotes around that because in my mother language, and most of the neighboring languages, "chai" means tea in general; not just the spiced American version. But the spiced American version is my favorite.

Tuttimelon Red Velvet Cake & Cookies n' Cream

On another trip to the mall we hit the fro-yo shop, called Tuttimelon. They serve gelato there as well, which I have yet to try. My mom and I enjoy the sweet flavors so I got red velvet cake and she got cookies and cream. But we shared of course.


So the red velvet cake was better than I would have guessed it would be. The flavor was amazing, kind of like Betty Crocker's red velvet cake mix. It's as if I was licking the whisk while baking it. I enjoyed it plain better than with any topping. The toppings would definitely overpower this thing. Coconut would match well on this though.


I can't decide if I enjoyed the red velvet more or the cookies n' cream. They both had their own delicious taste. The cookies and cream tasted just as good as the cookies n' cream ice cream that you buy at the store.

Both flavors were very creamy and fresh, better than the old Tutti Frutti that was near my house. I didn't detect a single ice crystal.

The store's environment is actually pretty cool too. It's a great place to hang out.

Over all, I enjoyed this place. Sorry I don't have real pictures but maybe that will motivate you to go to Tuttimelon yourself.

See's Vanilla Nut Cream

See's offers so many flavors that it is impossible to try all of them. Why is it impossible? Because once you try one you feel the need to buy that one multiple times because you find that you love it so much. I don't think that I would ever get tired of any flavor of their chocolates.

This time I ended up trying the Vanilla Nut Cream. It's filled with vanilla butter cream and English walnuts surrounded by a nice milk chocolate coating.

Yes, it is just as delicious as it sounds. It sort of reminded me of the Maple Walnut kind, but it did have a different flavor to it. The nuts were fresh and crunchy. There was a perfect balance of flavor between the chocolate and the filling. The filling may be too sweet for some, but I have no complaints. It is absolutely excellent!

Starbucks Zucchini Walnut Muffin

Coming from our neighbor Mexico, zucchinis are wonderful vegetables that have a lot going for them. You can eat them in almost any possible way. My personal favorite is in these veggie patties that I make at home.

Zucchinis are a very low calorie vegetable. 100 grams of this stuff is only about 35 calories. Low in calories, yet high in fiber. These squash are also high in potassium which is known to reduce blood pressure and heart rate by counteracting the affects of salt on your body. Not to mention that zucchinis are chocked full of antioxidants that can get rid of those nasty free radicals that cause aging, cancer, and other diseases in your body. Not to mention the excellent source of vitamin C and magnesium that it has.

So naturally after hearing all that you gotta love this stuff.

Since my oven is broken I've been feasting off sweets from places other than my home for months. I think I would die without baked goods so I have to get them from another source. This time it was Starbucks. I chose the Zucchini Walnut Muffin, never trying the one at Starbucks before. I've never thought of vegetables in sweets as weird truthfully. When I was little my mother would make carrot cakes and zucchini cakes that were irresistibly delicious. When I visit my uncle in Turkey, he made us an olive loaf (which actually wasn't that fantastic, but kudos for being just good).



The muffin was about the size of my fist, which is a decent size but it could be bigger. There was a couple walnut pieces stuck on the top and it smelled lightly spiced. I heard from somewhere that it tastes like their banana bread, which I have yet to try. This just proved to me more that Starbucks reuses the same batter for a couple of their desserts. For instance, their Blueberry Muffin and Very Berry Coffee Cake have the same exact cake batter. This is not a complaint, just an observation. Their cake batter is one of the best I've ever tried.

The muffin tasted delicious. The texture was very fluffy, as the description of he muffin claims. It was a little lest poundier than their Blueberry Muffin, yet still has thicker-than-cake feel to it. The description also doesn't lie when it claims this cake is "delicate". It was moist and fresh. If you examine the muffin you notice the little green zucchini pieces floating around. Mine didn't have very many walnut pieces though, which was a little disappointing. The spice was perfect and the batter tasted homemade.

I actually chose to eat this for lunch. Granted it is not the healthiest option, but I was in the mood for something sweet. Actually, it would be better for you metabolism to eat the "lunch" foods for breakfast and the "breakfast" foods for lunch anyways.

It's all natural with no artificial flavoring or preservatives. You'd think the low-cal zucchini would lower the stats on this, but you would be dead wrong. Just like how salads are not something you want to order at a restaurant.

Each muffin has 490 calories, 28 grams of fat, 52 grams of carbs, 2 grams of fiber, and 7 grams of protein. You may be better off with one of Uncle Harry's Bagels or a soft pretzel, but nothing would compare to the wonderful taste of these muffins. So I say eat less of other things for a day and taste one of these muffins.

See's Cashew Brittle

See's Cashew Brittle is one of the most exciting chocolates to try for me personally. It has cashews in it for one, which is one of the top greatest nuts on my list. It also had the magnificent coconut hinted in there, which you can never go wrong with coconut.

The moment I stuck this in my mouth part of me felt joy and happiness, while the pessimistic part of me felt bitter dissapointment.

If no one had told me I would have no idea that there was coconut hiding in this candy. The cashews were at least visible in their famous, delicious, perfectly-crafted toffee; but I couldn't really taste them with the toffee over powering their flavor. Unlike the California Brittle, whose almonds had a significant effect on the taste of the chocolate.

This honestly just tasted like a sweeter version of California Brittle, due to the white chocolate on top, but without the almond flavoring. I do prefer California Brittle to this though because it has a heavier chocolate and nut flavor to it.

But there is no doubt that I love this stuff too. I could eat it all day to tell you the truth. I would definitly include one of these in a custom mix box.

Trident Vitality Vigorate

On a trip to get my next gum fix I choose Trident Vitality this time. Hearing all about it I decided to give it a taste. I expected it to be great because my favorite gum is made by Trident.

I should start off by saying the package is the coolest thing ever. It has a cool flap thing that you can slip the gum package from.

The new thing about this gum is that it is fortified with vitamin C. It offers a nice 10% of your daily value. That's NOTHING. You can get much vitamin C off of half a leaf of lettuce. Eat a nice orange and get over 100% easily. But I guess it offers more than other gums. Chew the whole pack in a day and you get 90% of your daily value.

This stuff is said to be "a burst of citrus and strawberry with vitamin C", as you can read on the package.

I popped a first piece in my mouth and was amazed at the second bit. The first chew wasn't so great cause of that sugar-like coating that you find on M&M's and Skittles, but you did get an amazing burst of flavor from the second bite. It tasted heavy on the citrus and light on the strawberry. These flavors are a mixture of nature and artificial (I wonder how that works out?).

There is a refreshingly cool feeling to the gum at first but that eventually dies out off course. None of the Trident flavors seem to last as long as the Tropical Trident sticks.

Overall it is a good product, but it is over priced compared to other gums. But I might get them again for a change of scenery.

Fresh&Easy Peanut Butter Pretzels

On my trip to Fresh and Easy I decided to hit the snack aisle to find some portable snacks to take with my on the go. I saw that they had some peanut butter pretzels, knowing how much I liked Anderson's peanut butter pretzels, I picked up a bag of these. Fresh and Easy has some great products, so I figured they would taste just as good as Anderson's.

But I was wrong. For some reason the pretzel coating on top tasted a bit stale to me. I was so happy with the previous products that I bought from Fresh and Easy I really had high hopes for these because they were pretty cheap.

Their formula sucked. There wasn't even a decent amound of peanut butter filling. The only thing nice I can say about these are that they have no preservatives, artificial coloring, or flavoring. Other than that I wasn't satisfied.

Yes, I did check the expiration date and it was fine, I didn't pass it. Maybe I got an unlucky bag, but I'm not purchasing these again. I'll stick with the Honey Wheat Pretzels.

Trader Joe's Chocolate Almond Horns

There is only one Trader Joe's in my city and it's a bit far from my house, so I don't go there often. Plus the place is a bit expensive. But Trader Joe's and Whole Food's Market has some stuff that other stores don't offer, so sometimes I take my butt over there to have a look.

I take advantage of spending my gas on that trip to pick up some other things that look interesting. This time around I picked up a box of Chocolate Almond Horns. I've never seen almond horns in my life and had no idea what they were at first. But taking a look in the box they look like delicious cookies in a horse shoe form. But I have no clue why they are cold almond horns.

My body is a magnet to the bakery sections of grocery stores. So off course my visit to Trader Joe's had me over there looking at their sweet delights. They had much to offer but my eyes caught the almond horns. The top of the box said that these were "soft almond cookies dipped in dark chocolate". They sounded fantastic to me so I picked up a box.



The chocolate, only covering about a third of the cookie, was delicious, rich, and bittersweet. They really used the quality stuff. It was delicious. I loved it so much I left the rest of the chocolate part for my last bite. The cookie part was just at great. Topped with almond slivers, the outside was crispy and sort of tough, but the inside was nice and moist. Kind of like how churros are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, but not like the texture of a churro.

The flavor was amazing. It had a heavy almond extract taste to it that lingered in your mouth after you swallowed. If you don't know what that tastes like think of marzipan. In other words, it had a heavy marzipan taste. Basically, the cookie part was great, especially with the black tea I had it with.

The best part of the cookie was the chocolate covered piece which balanced well with the flavors in the cookie. Neither over powered the other. They were a match made in heaven when put together. They sort of reminded me of a cookie form of See's Dark Chocolate covered Marzipan truffles.

Definitely worth getting. They are wonderful, delicious, and will definitely not sabotage your diet, if you eat only one of course.

Fresh&Easy Egg Nog

The first time I heard of egg nog was from the movie Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer. The first time I tried egg nog was in 8th grade when my teacher brought us some as a treat the last day before winter break. It turned out that I didn't like the stuff much at all. It had a taste to it that I just didn't attract my taste buds much. It wasn't vomit disgusting, but it wasn't great at all. It's been years since then, and I have never had a mug of egg nog since.



But during the holidays I took a trip to Fresh and Easy and they had egg nog for sample. I took one, thinking maybe I was wrong about egg nog all along and that it wouldn't hurt to try it again. I didn't expect to like it much, and for the first sip I didn't so much. But on the second and third sip it quickly grew on me. It was like an instant change of mind for me. I watched my life flash from anti-egg nog to pro-egg nog. I don't know about the special formula of egg nog that Fresh and Easy brewed up, but it converted me.

The egg nog was so thick and creamy; I almost wanted to eat it with a spoon. The flavor was amazing and strong, which was the best part of it. I love flavorful food. It was very sweet as well. I found that I wouldn't want to drink too much of it all at once, which is a great thing cause egg nog is high in calories. It's like chocolate cake, you love it at first, but after a few slices you get sick of it cause of all the sugar.

Another wonderful thing about this product is that it has not artificial flavoring, colors, or preservatives. It's just pure pasteurized egg nog.

I bought one container of it and enjoyed it very much. I filled it into a nice glass and sipped on it slowly while it was nice and ice cold. It was fantastic! I can't wait till they bring it back for the holiday season. If you can get your hands on some, go for it!

Anderson Peanut Butter Filled Pretzels

It was at my cousin's house that I first come across these peanut butter filled pretzels which I found in the bar that she installed in her house. I was a preteen staying at her house on occasions, with her demanding that I clean her house.

I always loved to dip pretzels in peanut butter so I decided to try them later as a snack when I got hungry. So I did get hungry and started snacking on them later while reading one of her magazines. I loved the little bite size pieces and, without realization, had eaten a significant amount of them. She laughed and said, "Yeah, that stuff is pretty dangerous."

They're the coolest invention. An easy way to make your peanut butter and pretzels snack portable. So I was at Costco and saw a nice barrel-like container of these for just under $8. I immediately grabbed it thinking they would be perfect on the go.

These stayed amazingly fresh all the way through eating them. I took a nice handful along with me everyday, eating them for lunch, since I don't like taking meals with me on the go. Usually I take a bunch of healthy snacks with me and pig out when I get home.

They are a wonderful, sweet and salty snack. They are a pretty filling snack, but no lie they are dangerous. Ten of them are 140 calories, which doesn't sound too bad but you can eat 10 in a heartbeat and eat 10 more without knowing it. Actually you could absent-mindedly eat the whole barrel once you have started. Which is why you should take these on the go so that you don't have access to the rest of the box.


The pretzel itself is amazing and there is a nice ball of creamy peanut butter hiding on the inside waiting for you.

They tastes best if you either crunchy the whole thing immediately. And if you let it sog in your mouth and then chew it in the end it taste's just as good. I love eating them with iced coffee.

They beat a lot of other snacks and they are amazing. Anderson's made it the best. I'm sure your kids would love them too.

They sell them everywhere and they come in various sized containers and bags. Not to mention their containers are very nice so if you need a container you can use it after you've eaten them all.

These are all around great so just get some before I mention how good these are again!

Dove Almond Milk Chocolate

I love chocolate. I love it in all forms. It's so wonderful and I think it is what made me chubby as a kid. My favorite is dark chocolate. The darker the better is all I have to say.

Today though I wanted some milk chocolate. Usually I prefer my chocolate without the nuts in it, but this time I picked Dove's Almond Milk Chocolate Silky Smooth Promises. Silky smooth promises don't taste any different from Dove in a bar form, they just come in smaller individually wrapped squares.

The smell was very sweet, just like most milk chocolates smell. The almonds inside were roasted, and when you bite in to them they are relatively crunchy. They just add a nice crunch to the chocolate, but you can't really taste them because the smooth creamy chocolate overpowers. This is the reason I prefer my chocolate without the nuts. Another reason is I like to let the chocolate lay on my tongue and melt on it's own so the flavor stays in my mouth for a longer period of time.

I do prefer a darker chocolate, but the milk chocolate was delicious as well. Nice and sweet with a hint of cocoa.

This is a enjoyable snack and good to have in a candy bowl for your guests.

Five of these squares are only 210 calories. Another thing that's great is that the ingredient list isn't as long as a lot of other candy products.

It's the best chocolate for a low price.

Nutella

In 2003, my mother and I went on vacation to Turkey to visit our family and friends during the summer. To add a little more context to this, my entire family from both sides of my parents were born and basically raised in Turkey. I was the first one from both sides to be born in America. We are not Turkish, we are full blood Armenians.

So now that you know that I can get back to my trip to Turkey. It was summer break, and I was out of school so we stayed there for nearly two and a half months to get the full benefit of our plane ticket.

We spent the first and last two weeks of our visit in Istanbul where my dad's side of the family is, but we traveled to Samandag, Hatay, Turkey and spent most of our summer there with my mom's side of the family.



We were eating breakfast one day and my uncle bought us Nutella. I've hadn't heard of it before but I saw that it had chocolate in it so I instantly spread it on some homemade bread, tandir ekmeği, and fell in love. Turns out that during the second World War, the creator found that he didn't have enough cocoa beans to make the spread, but he had endless fields of hazelnut. So he mixed them together and voila. An Italian Pastry maker, he had a dream to make cheap, affordable candy that was delicious, he put this Nutella blend into a candy that we love today, Ferrero Rocher.

When I got back to the land of the free, I only found Nutella exclusively in some local middle eastern markets. They were also the actual Nutella imported from Italy, which for some reason has a bolder taste than the one manufactured in the US. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the stuff. Nobody had any idea what it was. Actually, Nutella became really popular in my area two years ago. Three years ago people would look at me funny when I said that I had Nutella for breakfast.

Well now that everybody knows about it they have created National Nutella Day on February 5th. So celebrate.

The taste of Nutella is amazing. It's definitely very thick and creamy. There is a perfect balance of chocolate and hazelnut, neither overpowering the other. It's also perfectly sweetened. I enjoy eating it in many ways. My cousin liked to eat it straight out of the jar. I basically like it on anything, but my favorite way of eating it is with Honey Wheat Pretzels. I just love dipping them together and consuming them as a snack or dessert. Another way I absolutely love eating Nutella is substituting it as jelly in my peanut butter sandwiches.



One thing that everybody should realize is that this stuff is not as healthy as the Nutella comercials make it out to be. It has nearly 0 nutritional value for the calories. People all over Europe understand this, and even they eat it in moderation as a treat. This product should be regarded as a treat and eaten in small quantities. I know it's hard and feel for you, but slow down. America's obesity problem does not need to get worse with this stuff.

This is probably the longest review I have written so far. It's not because I'm in a particular writing mood, it's just that I love this product so much. It just has so much to offer. It's like the best thing that can happen to a chocolate and nut lover like me. If I could have one single complaint about it, it would be that the oil separates from the spread. This problem isn't too bad in the colder months, but during the summer I sadly give Nutella up. I don't have air conditioning in my home so my Nutella will separate like colors in a lava lamp.

Lundberg Buttery Caramel Rice Cake

The first time I heard of rice cakes was in 6th grade when my class read books from the Fudge Book Series by Judy Bloom. I remember my teacher was surprised that I had no idea what they were, thanks to the fact that my father never let me buy packaged foods.

But now that I don't have to listen to him I can make my own judgements on what to eat and what not to eat. So I was at that local health food store and I found some of these Lundberg Rice Cakes. I've tried Quaker rice cakes before and thought they were okay, but not that great. But for some reason that day I wanted a pack.

So I chose the Eco-Farmed Buttery Caramel variety. Sounds good right? Let's discuss with what that 'Eco-Farmed' part means. Lundberg makes organic and eco-farmed products.

That's the basic chart on their website outlining it all. I figured it be easiest for me and for your understanding if I just post that up there. Basically, the eco-farmed products are a bit more eco-friendly.

Lundberg makes their rice cakes with freshly milled brown rice and packing almost double the amount of rice in one rice cake than other brands do. They pop them on their farm so it's not a factory based product.

They use simple and clean ingreients:
Eco-Farmed whole grain brown rice, dried cane syrup, unsulphured molasses, natural buttery caramel flavor.



All natural, eco-friendly, organic, fresh, how about now for the taste?

Well at first I wasn't too impressed. The buttery caramel flavoring was a bit too light, but you did definitely taste more rice. They were indeed fresh and crunchy. They seemed to have less sugar than the average processed brand that you get at the store, but they were quite fantastic for having such a short ingredients list.


I liked them. I have always liked simple foods. I think the American diet has way too many ingredients in them, as well as way too much sugar. I am ashamed to say that I have fallen for the sugar fever that America has, but I can proudly say that I love the low-sugared pastriess too.

So buy a pack of these, or one of their many other flavors, and enjoy.
I love them topped with peanut butter for breakfast.
Cream cheese or laughing cow sounds good on the saltier varieties.

Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Strawberry Cereal Bar

One of the first cereal bars that I tried in my entire life was Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Cereal bars. They used to be so popular that everybody was eating them. They had a phase, like the Pop tarts had a phase, and cupcakes had a phase.

But now they are sadly sitting on the shelves eagerly waiting for that one in a million customer to pick one of them up. I was one of those one in a million the other day. I decided to pick up the classic strawberry flavor.

I don't know why people still don't love these. They remind me of Fig Newtons, which are a love of my life. They are simple whole grain bars covering a sugar filled fruit center.

The strawberry one was lovely, and very sweet with a slight tart flavor to it. The filling didn't even taste that artificial.

Each bar has only 120 calories, 3 grams of fat, 24 grams of carbs, 3 grams of fiber, and 2 grams of protein.

For craving a sweet snack, these are a great choice. You can get a nice box of these for less than $2 at your local supermarket.

I say go pick them up. Reminisce on some memories.

Back to Nature Honey Nut Granola

On my trip to a local health store I found these cookies by Back to Nature in the clearance isle. They were there because their expiration date was coming in two days. I got a $4.79 cookies for 99 cents. I took advantage of my deal and bought them.

I heard of Back to Nature, but I have never actually tried their products. Their business started in 1960 from Pasadena, California. They offer cereals, crackers, nuts, and cookies. They got popular for making delicious snacks with simple ingredients that don't contain any preservatives, high fructose corn syrup, or hydrogenated oils. 100% natural with wholesome goodness, what's not to love?


So what I purchased was the Honey Nut Granola cookies. I honestly expected them to be crunch due to the granola part of the description. I didn't read the back though where it says:
" Chewy granola cookies with the delicious crunch of peanuts and a touch of honey. Sweetened with cane juice and fruit juice and baked with 100% whole grain, these cookies make a great snack!"
That gives away the chewy part doesn't it?

They have 12 grams of whole grain per serving. A serving is 1 cookie, so as you can imagine, these cookies are relatively big compared to Oreos. Each cookie contains 140 calories, 7 grams of fat, 18 grams of carbs, 2 grams of fiber, and 3 grams of protein. All the ingredients are all natural.

So I opened the cookies and they smelled wonderful, exactly like a peanut butter and honey sandwich. There were 8 of them in there and I already didn't feel like sharing. I took my first bite and fell in love. Screw Pepperidge Farm, these cookies are da bomb!

They were so moist and chewy. You can chewy on some of the grains on occasion. There was a heavy nut flavor which I love and you can easily savor the sweetness of the honey.

I'm drooling all over my keyboard right now. I must have some more!
They have tons of other varieties of cookies. I'm dying to try them all!
You have to buy these. They are mouth watering.
They bring warmth to your insides.
I can't stop raving about them
Go get 'em!

10/10 for sure!

Tuttimelon Frozen Yogurt

There used to be a frozen yogurt place near my house called Tutti Frutti. It closed down a couple months ago, most probably because it ran out of business. I heard of it from a friend who took me there. At first I thought it was the coolest place ever because you could pour yourself your own yogurt from the machines on the wall and pay for it by the ounce.

It looked cheap too, only 39 cents an ounce, but who knew how fast those ounces add up to make each trip cost nearly $5. In the end I do prefer regular ice cream to frozen yogurt, but I like to mix it up once in a while. I walked back there twice before they closed it down.

It was sort of disappointing. Fortunately, I noticed a new place called Tuttimelon at my local mall that was almost like a replica of Tutti Frutti with an addition of gelato on the menu.

They do not offer as many flavors of frozen yogurt as Tutti Frutti, but they have some of the primary stuff. I poured myself a small serving of chocolate topped with coconut and brownie chunks.



It was quite delicious. It tasted exactly like Tutti Frutti and I enjoyed it. The yogurt itself tasted like a nice cold hot chocolate in a creamy form. But the toppings easily over powered it. The brownie pieces were a bit stale for me, but the coconut flakes added a nice touch. For future reference I won't add those again.

My mom also came along on this trip and she poured herself strawberry yogurt and topped it with some coconut. Her yogurt was a little too tart for me. I remember Tutti Frutti's being a bit better. But the coconut added a nice touch to her yogurt as well.

If you haven't noticed, loving coconut runs in my family.

Like I said, it's a bit pricey for me considering I'm not in love with frozen yogurt. I would prefer a trip to Baskin Robbins for the same price cause I like the thicker ice cream stuff. I would actually prefer a Starbucks Frappuccino to this. But for frozen yogurt lovers out there, have a go at it.

I will go back for the gelato though. It sounds good.

Yoplait Original Harvest Peach

For years now Yoplait has been bragging about the health benefits of their products. Obviously most people believe them because Yoplait is growing bigger and bigger as time goes by. It seems like every time I hit the supermarket they have come up with new flavors and products.

I lived my whole life on homemade yogurt. So when I saw the label on a Yoplait yogurt for the first time I laughed at the fact that it was even called "yogurt". There was so much crap in there that probably 10% of it was actually real yogurt. It even contained the evil high fructose corn syrup, which from my understanding, has been taken out of their products now. Nevertheless, I still don't see it as a health product, but more as a dessert or snack.

Not that I am completely against Yoplait. I mean, I've tried their stuff before at my aunt's house. When I was in elementary school they used to serve us Trix yogurt on occasions which for some reason was so exciting because it was in a package.

A friend of mine was giving these out a snack so I picked the Harvest Peach variety, recalling that I liked this flavor. I do remember disliking some Yoplait flavors due to the fact that they had a sickening chemical flavor to them, but maybe I misremembered.

The Yoplait Harvest Peach tasted like I remembered. I did like the flavor. It was very creamy and had some occasional tiny peach chunks. Unlike most packaged yogurts, the fruit chunks were not at the bottom, but dispersed all around. But they didn't really taste different than the yogurt itself and they were too small to really make a difference anyways. It was delicious.

Yoplait has made each container of these yogurts contain 50% of your daily calcium needs. I say that is fantastic because the youth of today don't get nearly enough calcium in their diets anymore. Most kids don't drink milk, and if they do it's the sugared/flavored milk that does give calcium along with 100 pounds of excess fat to the child's body. Which in a sense would be a negative affect for the calcium because the bones would be fragile anyways because of the excess weight that the person has put on.

Nutritional Information:
1 container
Calories: 170
Fat: 1.5g
Carbs: 33g
Fiber: 0g
Protein: 10g

Just like those milks, these yogurts are filled with sugars. There are over two tablespoons of sugar in each of these little 6oz servings. This makes the yogurt almost 20% pure sugar alone.

Overall, consider these things like a dessert or a treat. Think of them as portion controlled ice cream with added protein and calcium. They do have a wide variety of flavors to choose from and plenty of people love them.

Fiber One Oats & Peanut Butter

Most of us by now have heard of the popular brand Fiber One by General Mills. I myself heard of it three years ago from Hungry Girl. Now their products are all over the shelves trying to fill Americans with the proper amount of fiber. Most Americans do not get enough fiber from the foods they eat. Many of our diets have become filled with processed food and fast food that it primarily junk. The only fruits and vegetables many Americans get are the ones found it their fast food hamburgers and ice creams.

Fiber is indigestible by your body. It comes in two types: soluble, and insoluble. Insoluble fiber does not dissolve in water and stays as clumps in your system. These clumps promote digestive health by moving the bulk in your stool and keeping you regular. This is the kind of fiber you want to cure constipation, a illness many Americans have.

Soluble fiber does dissolve in water and turns it into a thick gel-like substance in your body. This slows down the digestive process keeping you full longer. It also lowers your glucose levels, providing slow steady energy. It's also know to lower your blood pressure.

Fiber One's Chewy granola bar line comes in many flavors. No matter which flavor you purchase you are going to get 9 grams of fiber per bar which is an estimate of what should be 35% of your daily intake of fiber. This is about the same amount of fiber that you would get from eating two medium sized apples. Sounds like some healthy stuff right?

The one I bought today was the Oats and Peanut Butter variety. These bars tasted pretty great. Taking a look at them from the top they have a nice peanut butter syrup drizzled on as decoration. On the backside they you see their peanut butter flavored chips spread out all over the bars. I picked off one of these to try alone and they were fantastic. I have to say they would be great in brownies.

These bars smelled fantastic too, exactly like baked peanut butter cookies. Their flavor was just as good. They were nice and chewy. They were heavy on the grains but that's what makes them fantastic. The chips sort of melt in your mouth and add moisture to the bar. It was nice and sweet.

Another great thing about this product is the packaging. It's wrapped in heavy foil so in humid conditions it won't sweat, deform, and get overly sticky.

This is an all around great product. It's not all that natural, but it's a good and handy way to get fiber on the go. They are kind of like a healthier candy bar. I wouldn't rely on these for my daily fiber intake, but I they are an excellent and low calorie treat.

Starbucks Very Berry Coffee Cake

Although I truly love Starbucks, and believe that they offer some great products, I have a full list of criticisms for them. One of items include that Starbucks isn't very classy. It offers a great shop and a good atmosphere, but it doesn't exactly have that true coffee shop feel like they do everywhere else in the world. If you got to a coffee shop in Europe they sit you down in a nice table, take your order and bring your drink in a nice fancy glass mug. I realize most people pick up a Starbucks because they are in a hurry and they need a quick java shot. Those people can have the paper cups. Just like at a restaurant, you either eat out of their plates or take the styrofoam box to go.

I've always looked at getting a coffee as a social thing. Especially at Starbucks because it is so overpriced. I can buy almost a pound of fresh coffee at the store for the same amount that I would pay for a frappuccino at Starbucks.

So the reason I am bringing this up is because I was at the mall hanging out with my precious mom and we got a little hungry for a snack. So I picked up a Reduced Fat Very Berry Coffee Cake from the Starbucks stand for us to split. I chose this because I've never tried it before, and it looked like the most fresh item they had.

The instant they gave it to me, my complaint that I mentioned above came up in my head. I really wished they served this on a plate with forks. Or at least some paper plate or something. I am open to eating with my hands, to tell the truth I prefer to get down and dirty with my hands with baked goods, but this cake was one of the rare times when I wanted a fork and a plate.

Well, I still enjoyed it anyways. It tasted almost exactly like their blueberry muffins. I can bet my life on the fact that they took the blueberry muffin batter and added blackberries and raspberries to it. It seemed like it had more berry material than the muffin version anyways.

The cake had a heavy vanilla taste with wonderful sweet, soft crumbles decorating the top. I'm pretty sure the crumble part had nutmeg in it. It was dense, soft, moist, and fresh.

But when it got to the parts that were heavy in berry, it wasn't so pretty. The flavor was sickening. It just tasted like heated berries, which if you have ever tried, doesn't taste so good. I have experienced this before when I was baking and cooking with berries. I prefer to not use anything other than blueberries. The other berries don't work as well. This cake confirmed this fact to me.

Overall the cake had a wonderful taste and I enjoyed it, minus the extra berry parts. But in the end I would rather get the blueberry muffin. It has a much preferable taste, and no unexpected nastiness. It also easier to eat.

See's Maple Walnut

The thing about See's chocolates is that you can eat eat eat and eat more until your are sick and say, "Well at least gaining weight was worth it!"

That's is not a far fetched thought. I would commiserate over weight gain if I knew it was because of cheap fast food or something.

Now these maple walnuts are filed with creamed brown sugar, maple syrup, and English walnut pieces all covered in See's signature dark chocolate. This doesn't taste like the ordinary maple syrup in a bottle. The maple is fresh, strong, and a perfect compliment to the raw walnuts which also contrast perfectly with the extra sweet buttercream brown sugar filling.

Like the Marzipan, the filling is more crumbly than creamy. But it has more of a smooth crumble to it.

It has a truly interesting flavor.

See's Coconaut Special

Angel flake coconut held together with honey and covered with dark chocolate. Can anything sound more heavenly? I don't think it could.

Lucky for me I found four of these in my gift box. I could really get obese off of these.

Look at that filling, I'm drooling! The moment I deposited the first one in my mouth I think I heard inspirational music turn on, and I am pretty sure the lights in the room got brighter.

The filling is amazing, with chewy sweet coconut in every freakin' bite. The dark chocolate went puuuurrrfectly with the filling. I savored each bite and chewed on those coconut flakes for a long time.

If you love the person you are buying See's for, including yourself, put these in there.

See's Marzipan

See's Marzipan is filled with almond paste, honey, and powdered sugar and covered with dark chocolate. Like all of See's chocolates, the dark chocolate coating is smooth, strong and delicious. The filling of the marzipan tastes pretty fantastic, but it is not nearly as sweet as most of the other options at See's.

The filling is not exactly creamy, but more on the crumbly side. But it's still feels good in your mouth

The filling and the coating pair nicely. The only complaint I have is that it doesn't have much of an aftertaste. I would like it much more if I could savor the taste in my mouth for at least a couple minutes after it falls down my throat.

See's California Brittle

I found some California Brittle in the gift box someone bought me from See's. For those of you who may not know what California Brittle is, it is toffee with almonds covered in milk chocolate. It's probably called California Brittle cause it was invented here, although I wouldn't know for sure.

Turns out this is one of the most popular item See's candies sells. It's been said to be the best in the world.



I don't think I could disagree. The milk chocolate on the outside was flavorful and smooth. The filling was crunchy, yet tender. But it didn't stick in our teeth like most other toffee does. It had a fresh, buttery flavor.

I can't imagine even thinking anything from See's tastes okay.

See's Dark Chocolate Cherry Cordials

Remember your first encounter with a maraschino cherry? I do. I was 7 years old and excited to be in a restaurant. They brought me this pink lemonade with the most pure red and plump cherry that I have ever seen floating on the top. I thought it was going to be the highlight of my meal. I finished whatever I ordered and drank all the drink and saved that cherry all the way until the end so I can top off my meal with something wonderful.

The time came and I slowly put it in my mouth, deciding to savor its taste. My smile turned into a frown as the nasty chemical taste of the cherry filled the sensory receptors of my tongue and nose. Yuck!

Maraschino cherries are the most deceitful foods out there.



Until this chocolate of course. I just pick this one out of the box that I had got as a present, having no idea what the filling was. I took a pinch of the corner just to see what I was getting into, and boy was I dissappointed to see that maraschino cherry sitting in there. I was kind of angry at myself for picking what I thought would be the nastiest one out of the whole box as my first chocolate.

But I ate it anyway, assuming that somebody must have liked it for it to be produced. It did also help that my parents taught me never to waste food either. So I ate the rest of it and it turned out that maraschino cherries have deceived me again!

This is one of the best chocolates I have ever tasted. The dark chocolte covering was smooth and delicious. The bottom of the filling had some nice thick cherry paste that the whole maraschino cherry rests on. Bite into it, and a delicious syrup coats your mouth as the chocolate slowly begins to melt in your mouth. The cherry is sweet, flavorful, chewy, and a the true highlight of this product.

Starbucks Cheese Danish

As I have said previously, I'm much of a moist baked good love than a flaky one, so it was kind of a spontaneous thing getting this Danish. At the moment, it looked really good.

I've thought and Danish was from Denmark. And I was right in the fact that Danish people do come from Denmark. I was wrong when it comes to the pastry though. Although it's like the donut of Denmark today, danishes originated in Austria. Specifically, in Vienna, Austria.

Interesting fact no?

So my Starbucks nock off of a cheese danish is described by Starbucks as 'A flaky pastry folded around a generous serving of cream cheese filling.' Was it as rich and flaky as Starbucks claimed?

I guess, I mean the outer part tasted like a croissant, which is what it essentially is. The croissant was fresh and the real, natural cream cheese in the center was very thick. To tell you the truth I was a bit disappointed in the fact that I wanted something sweeter. I think I was craving something sweet at the moment though.

The thing finished way to fast for me. But it was delicious. I didn't get a coffee with it because I brought some iced tea along with me already. It went okay with it buy I think it would have tasted better with hot coffee for breakfast.

Mine didn't look like the Starbucks picture either. The middle with cream cheese was completely exposed for the world to see; it didn't have that extra croissant covering like in the image. I wish it did. It seems like it would have made my experience with it better. It may have reduced the contrast of nice flaky outside to the densely cream cheesed inside.

In the end I will save my money and invest it in a bag of croissants and a container of cream cheese to enjoy the experience I had with this danish.

But like all baked goods at Starbucks, it had a pretty great taste. It's just not how I roll when it comes to pastries.

Post Raisin Bran

As a little girl I loved fruits and vegetables. My mother ate plenty of them when I was growing in her tummy and she also made sure she fed me them until I was able to feed myself. How wonderful for my mom right? I enjoyed to eat those foods so she didn't have to force them on me like other mothers, or come up with funny ways to stick them in.

Well it wasn't that easy for her. To tell the truth, she just made it harder for herself. When I was a little girl, I loved fruits and vegetables FRESH and only FRESH. NOT cooked. I hated them fully cooked, steamed, in soups, out of soups, even slightly warmed up. They were disgusting to me. The only cooked fruit or veggie I ate were potatoes. For some reason the other stuff made me want to vomit. Same with raisins. They weren't fresh so I didn't eat them.

This persisted until one time I had to eat my cousin's steamed broccoli because I didn't want to be rude. I liked it and my liking for cooked veggies grew from there.

As for raisins, I discovered I liked them when they served them for lunch at school. Even then I liked trying things so I tried them and liked them. The next time they served them I was Student of the Month. When you are Student of the Month they give you an award and feed you a Wendy's meal for lunch at my elementary school. That's what they used to do at least. I remember asking my teacher if I could have the raisins. She laughed and said, "You would rather eat raisins than a fast food meal?!" No, I did not give up Wendy's, but it was interesting that it crossed my mind.

So up till that moment I hated Raisin Bran. I couldn't imagine why anyone would like it. But then it grew on me. So this time around I was at Target and I saw that they put the Post Raisin Bran on sale. I needed some cereal anyway so I picked up a box. I had never tried Post's Raisin Bran, but I didn't figure there would be much of a difference.



In the end there wasn't. The flakes were bigger than I was used to. The raisin's were also chewier. It wasn't as sweet as Kellogg's though. I felt like it could have used more sugar until I got a raisin piece in my mouth and changed my mind. The sugar on the raisins didn't seem to sweeten the cereal. By the way, that sugar is used to prevent the raisins from clumping because grapes are high in fructose.

The wheat bran didn't sog as fast as Kellogg's either, but it still slogged a little fast for me. I did try a plain bran cereal once that seemed like it would never sog. I kinda wish they put that bran in this cereal. If they did it would have been perfect. The bran did taste good though, leaving a nice grainy aftertaste as well.

This cereal is very healthy for you. Made with 100% Sunmaid California Raisins, it has a great source of fiber and protein to make it a filling breakfast, snack, or dessert. It provides about 32% of your daily fiber needs.

Nutrition Facts:
1 cup
Calories: 190
Fat: 1g
Carbs: 46g
Fiber: 8g
Protein: 5g

See's Lemon Truffle

Rich smooth truffle center of white chocolte and lemon covered in dark chocolate and decorated with white chocolate lace.

The flavor is as interesting as the description sounds. Most of you may have never imagined lemon and chocolate together. It's not a common mix, but you may think it should be after trying these.

The smooth chocolate covering the creamy center is amazing. The lemon flavor inside isn't heavy, but it's there. It honestly has a fresh picked lemon taste to it. There is sort of a lemonade with chocolate chip cookies to this truffle.

It's actually a favorite of many. It may not be my favorite, but I absolutely loved it!

See's Raspberry Creme

See's candy has dominated the West Coast of America by having some of the widest variety and best tasting chocolates around. People run to these chocolates for every special occasion. They have over 100 choices you can make, even plenty of options for the chocolate haters out there.

Like all quality chocolate sellers, they have their own shop. They actually have multiple shops in my own town. Don't have one near you? Too lazy to go to their shop?
Purchase them online for the same price.

This time a tried the Raspberry Creme described as: 'Heavenly dark chocolate covers a tangy, rich raspberry center to create this melt-in your mouth piece'
I must start off saying that See's chocolates actually look as perfect as they do on the pictures.



Of all the varieties they offer it may not sound like something you would add to your custom box, but it should be! The raspberry filling is so creamy, sweet, and has just the right amount of tartness. The color itself of the filling is beautiful enough to make you drool.

Try it and it just may be your favorite.

Sweet Home Farm Maple Pecan Granola

Granola was created in the late 1800s by a man named John Harvey Kellogg. At his time granola was only rolled oats baked to a crisp. It wasn't until the hippie movement that they added fruits and nuts to make the granola that we all so much enjoy today.

Back then there were two brands of granola, and the basically made the same exact thing anyway. Today, for us, we just have a myriad of options that it makes it a difficult task to choose a simple cereal. Some granola are crispier than others, some are sweeter. Some have nuts, others have fruit. Some have fortified vitamins and minerals, others are lower in calorie. There is honestly something for everyone.

On my last trip to Winco I noticed that they put the Sweet Home Farm Granola on sale. I've tried this brand months, maybe years, before and remembered being very satisfied with it. I didn't continue eating it though because a container of it was close to $5.

But on this trip I noticed the price was lowered to $2.78. My first thought was to check the expiration date to find that it wasn't going to expire until next year. They came in French Vanilla, Honey Nut, Maple Pecan, and a low fat version of granola with raisins.



I obviously chose the Maple Pecan, as you can see in the title of this post, because I have a secret crush on pecans. They add some of the most delicious flavoring to foods.

First off, this granola is great in the fact that it is 100% natural: free of preservatives, artificial flavors and colors.
Ingredients
Whole Rolled Oats, Milled Cane Sugar, Vegetable Oil (Canola and/or Safflower and/or Sunflower Oil), Rice Flour, Maple Syrup, Cornstarch, Pecans, Honey, Natural Flavor, Salt, Barley Malt Syrup.
All ingredients were produced in the USA and made without GMOs. GMOs are genetically modified organisms, which are organisms who had their DNA altered by some sort of genetic engineering. This stuff is bad for your health as well as your ecosystem.

RANDOM FUN FACT: The member of the hickory family, the Pecan tree grows over 100ft tall and bears nuts for more than 300 years. the pecan is the state nut of Alabama, the state tree of Texas and the only nut native to North America. WOW! I knew pecans were amazing.

So now to the grub. This granola smells divine, kind of like pecan pie. Taking a look inside you don't see loads of pecans but they are in there, and there are enough to flavor your cereal with delicious pecan goodness.



The taste is marvelous. I chose to pack it for an on-the- go snack, which I think granola is perfect for as well as nuts. Why? Because it doesn't mash in your bag like regular cereal and other stuff like cookies. It also doesn't take up much room. It was great by it self and very crunchy! The density of this granola is perfect, unlike the light crispy texture of the other granola I have tried. I also LOVE to eat it with almond milk. The longer it sits in the milk the better it tastes. It never gets fully soggy and slimy! I can take my time eating it as I please.

It's pretty healthy too. It is a high energy snack and does pack on some extra calories for the size, but it is well worth it.

Nutrition Information:
2/3 Cup
Calories: 250
Fat: 8g
Carbs: 40g
Fiber: 3g
Protein: 5g

This product is definitely something a cereal/granola lover should try. As I said it comes in other flavors so you can pick what kind you are in to.
I give this product a 10/10

Costco Braided Apple Streudel

It's almost a crime if you hit Costco and don't pay a visit to the bakery section. Today the Braided Apple Strudel was one display. A nice sweet woman was giving two-bite samples of them. I found myself wishing she was my grandma cause she insisted on calling me "sweety" and "honey" with a wonderful grin on her face. See what not having a grandma figure around does to you?

I have seen them before. The Braided Apple Strudel look delicious and fancy. I was never into the flaky desserts, I mostly prefer the moist stuff so they never really caught true attention until they were given out. Taking a good look at them really made me crave some. Lucky for me the woman was offering them.

They were better than I expected, but still not that great. They weren't sweet enough for my liking. Although I bet they would have been better with vanilla ice cream; a popular way to serve apple strudel in this country.

The texture seemed to me as good as it could get for a flaky pastry. But for most I think it would be soggy. If that is a problem for you, you can place these in the oven for 12 minutes and they crisp up. There is a generous amount of apple filling with real apple chunks. There was also some sugar crystals sprinkled on top of it.

The smell was sort of like apple pie. Matter of fact, the taste was like an apple pie. Kind of like a portable apple pie if you can imagine.

They were a bit pricey as well. It was $6.99 for a box of 8 pastries, making each pastry just under $1. Granted they are a decent size, even for the calories.

It's one of the worse tasting Costco bakery products, but it has probably one of the best nutrition stats for the size

Nutrition Information:
1 large pastry
Calories: 390
Fat: 16g
Carbs: 58g
Fiber: 3g
Protein: 5g

This wasn't bad tasting if you like puff pastry type of stuff
Since I'm not into it much I give it 4 points
Don't get me wrong, it's not disgusting at all and perfectly edible.

Chex Mix Turtle

One thing that I really dislike about Betty Crocker is her Chex Party Mix recipes. Every single one I try comes out soggier than the next. I look back countless times to make sure I got the recipe and timing correct, and I did! Not working for me. I just gave up on those because I realized it was cheaper, more efficient, and tastier to just buy the pre-made packs of General Mill's Chex Snack Mixes.

This time I chose the turtle variety. In this mix you can find pretzels, chocolate chex mix pieces, caramel popcorn, honey roasted peanuts, and little chocolate M&M like candies. It's a nice combination of sweet and salty.

When I first opened it I had no idea that there were even peanut and chocolate pieces in it because they were all stuck at the bottom. Well this stuff smelled great and tasted wonderful. They sort of had the affect that peanut butter filled pretzels have: once you start you cannot stop. Once you open the bag, before you know it you have finished it. Don't be fooled by the "50% less fat that regular potato chips" on the package. These chex mixes generally have a small serving size so if you are on a diet, stay clear from these.

But honestly, although the serving size is small, they last pretty long because they are so crunchy and take a long time to chew. I would recommend not eating them in a quiet place though. They get pretty noisy.

Everything inside the mix tasted pretty good. The best things were the caramel popcorn and the honey roasted peanuts. The chocolate cereal had an artificial taste to it and the mini chocolate candies sort of just tasted like pure sugar. The pretzels could have used a little more salt too.

Another positive thing about this product is that it is made in the USA.

I rate this a 8/10.
It has room for improvement but it is definitely delicious.

Chex Mix Caramel Crunch

I think I was genetically predisposed to like cereal and anything to do with it. Chex Mixes go along those lines. The Caramel Crunch version is the one I wanted to try this time around. It has wheat chex, corn chex, pretzels, and little swirl cookies all covered in a light invisible coating of caramel.

I decided to eat it for breakfast. The instant I open the bag I fell in love. The smell was amazing. I couldn't resist but try the little swirld first. They looked the most interesting to me. They sort of had a shortbread taste, heavy in vanilla with a light caramel twist.

All the other pieces tasted wonderful too. This was considered a "sweet and salty" snack, although I didn't feel the "salty" part. I figure that was supposed to come from the pretzels, but the pretzels had no salt on them. They were just crunchy bread, which was tasty nevertheless.



This is the best Chex Mix flavor I have ever tasted. Up till now I've thought the Honey flavored was the best, but boy was I wrong. Even though I've only tried maybe about half of their varieties, I'm pretty sure this will be my favorite all the way through.

Once you start the bag you cannot finish. That's the bad thing about these. They pack on a lot of calories and are pretty much "junk food" all the way through. Ignore the 65% less fat than potato chips sign on the front. Fat has nothing to do with calories. There are plenty of carbohydrates in the bag to add calories. It's not exactly filling either.

But it's delicious so what the hell.
9/10