Quaker Granola Bites Cinnamon

I'm not exactly sure how long Quaker Granola Bits has been around, but I am pretty sure it is a fairly new product that comes in a box with six pouches that contain 90 calories worth of granola "balls", as I would like to call them. The come in three flavors: cinnamon, chocolate, and peanut butter. Now I have a fixation for all of this flavors but the cinnamon one was on sale, so in this recession, we need to go for the cheap stuff.

Although I love Quaker's flavored and plain oatmeals, and tasty breakfast bars; lately I have been unsatisfied by many of their products. Their chewy bars pretty much suck due to their crumbliness and lack of sugar and flavor.

Turns out these bites are freakishly delicious. The cinnamon and sugar flavor is amazing and honestly tastes natural. Obviously, each package of twelve bites is filled with foreign chemicals, it's pretty impressive that it doesn't taste like it at all. Each bite is the about 50% bigger than a Cocoa Puff with the same texture as a Cocoa Puff. They aren't as hard as granola and they sort of taste like cookies.

But I don't know how you can stop at one pack. Only 12 pieces? I need about 3 packs to satisfy my munchies. Once again, this product is overpriced.

Temptations by Jell-O Apple Custard Pie

Kraft seems to own just about everything these days and one of their newest line of products is Temptations by Jell-O. On their taste testing website, people have ranked the Apple Custard Pie flavor the least appealing flavor of the varieties.

Well I for one think that those people are idiots. From what I understand, the Strawberry Cheesecake flavor seems to be the most popular of them all. Personally, that flavor made me want to vomit along with Mousse Temptations. Both have a rotten and airy texture that is simply sickening.

So back to the Apple Custard Pie. I have never been a fan of pie due to the mismatch of textures. The stale crust does not go well with the watery inside. But lately I've been trying some delicious pies and it has been growing on me.

I've always loved apples and frequently make cinnamon-apple compotes and oatmeal that taste better than any apple pie I know of. So I was appealed to this particular flavor of Jell-O Temptations.

Turns out this stuff is amazing. There is a nice, thick layer of jam on top of the little black cup of pudding that has little chunks of apple in it. The bottom is an extra creamy vanilla pudding like substance that obviously represents the custard. It has the perfect amount of tart in it that reminds me of frozen yogurt.

The after taste is just like regular apples with an odd twist.

Temptations by Jell-O, nevertheless, still hasn't put a lasting impression on me. I keep buying them with hopes that each flavor is better than the next. So far I am in love with the chocolaty ones.

Fresh & Easy Spiced Apple Cider

As a little girl I always thought of apple cider as a hot version of apple juice. The first time I tried it was at the pool facility that is part of my aunt's condominiums. I was pretty much in love. For a while I even preferred it to hot cocoa (which is huge because I am chocolate obsessed.

Yes, that was a crappy intro, but I'm not in a creative mood here so bear with me. I'll just cut to the chase and make it short.

I bought a 7 cup/ 56 oz bottle of spiced apple cider from my local Fresh & Easy supermarket. It's a new product that contains organic apple and orange juices mixed with seasonal spices. It was quite expensive for $5, but I guess that's what you get for organic.

For some reason I thought that if it came in a bottle from the refrigerator section, it should be drunk cold. So I did. It was absolutely fantastic! I must say I was highly impressed with the almost perfect combination of spices, sugar, and juice. Yes, there is a tiny bit of pulp in the bottle, but shake it before you drink it and it immediately goes away. I don't know why people are afraid of the pulp anyways?

Well I drank about half the bottle before I realized that it should be drunk hot, so I warmed it up and it tasted just as good. Some might say better because it brought out even more of the sugar.

It's a great product overall...too bad it's so gosh darn expensive. Well if you compare it to a cup of Starbucks for $5, it doesn't sound so bad.

Smart Ones Double Fudge Cake

Of all the weight loss programs out there, I would say Weight Watchers is most probably the best. Their science-driven program really gives you a life changing view on healthy and normal habits. Too bad it is too $%#^% expensive for my taste, and you can lose weight without making a multi-billion dollar company even richer. I did it myself a couple years ago but losing 40 pounds.

Now, although I have never joined the Weight Watchers program, I have tried some of their products from the frozen food aisle. Today's review will be on Smart Ones Double Fudge cake. Each box comes with two cakes in a square paper-plate like box with a thin plastic wrap film on it. There isn't much description of the product other than the face that it has chocolate sauce and shavings on top of each cake; which ended up being true once you opened the package and looked inside.

I wanted to eat one as a snack so I took one out of the freezer and popped it in the microwave for 10 seconds, just like the package says. After putting it in the microwave I expected the sauce to melt over the cake, but it just stayed there like frosting. I didn't smell anything chocolate and it honestly reminded me of those Betty Crocker Brownie Bowls.

I would have loved to eat it with a spork (spoon and fork), but since I had non available I decided to go with a plain old spoon. The flavor was nothing like normal chocolate cake. It was actually quite sickening at first with a heavy-processed unnatural flavor. It wasn't very sweet either, even though the 10 seconds in the microwave made the cake warm. The warmer things are, the sweeter they taste.

The chocolate sauce was probably the worst part of the entire ordeal. But I was glad to say that I love the little chocolate shavings.

Well I did not want to waste the other cake so I decided to put it in with my to-go lunch for the next day. I took the last cake down to thaw in the morning. According to the package I was supposed to take the film off the top and thaw it for an hour. As a rebel, I decided not to take the film off so my bag doesn't get caked up and take it with me. Two hours later I popped open the film and took a bite. It's like Weight Watchers read my mind and slipped into my house and switched the cakes. The cake tasted amazing. Maybe it was just me and my thing for liking chocolate, and only chocolate, cakes cold. But the frosting was suddenly magical, and the already good tasting chocolate shavings tasted even better. It went great with my hot coffee.

But this stuff is nothing compared to the All American Chocolate Cake from Costco. I wouldn't say I would pay for this again, mostly because it is expensive; but it was nice to try it (cold off course).

Serving Size 62g
Calories 170
Total Fat 4g
Cholesterol 30mg
Sodium 260mg
Total Carbohydrates 31g
Protein 3g

Cinnabon Caramel Pancakes

We often hear that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I must agree. We all know that a healthy breakfast consists of a good balance of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. Which is essentially true; I know that when I eat a healthy breakfast I feel satisfied and prepared for my whole entire day. But many of us think that if you do not have a healthy option for breakfast, that you should not eat breakfast at all. At least half the dieters in this world would rather eat no breakfast than eat a doughnut because they believe it is healthier. This is a mistake. Skipping breakfast is about the worst thing you can do to yourself whether you are on a diet or not. You already don’t eat all night for 8-10 hours so when you skip breakfast your body thinks that you just could not find food and will start hoarding the fat in your body.
I remember this one time when I was a little girl – about 7 years old- and my aunt and cousin came over one morning. I was enjoying a brownie for breakfast and both started the shun this apparently “sinful” thing I was doing. My mom didn’t understand what was so bad about eating chocolate for breakfast, and my stupid family kept going “blah, blah, blah”. Well now they are obese and unhealthy. Clearly, eating anything for breakfast is better than eating nothing.
The reason I talk about unhealthy breakfasts is that I believe pancakes aren’t exactly the best breakfast for you They are just pure carbs with very little protein. Even whole grain pancakes aren’t the best choice. But they are one of the best tasting things in the world. I even had a phase last year that lasted two months where I wanted pancakes all the time. I usually make my pancakes but we all know that during business days we don’t have time to whip up a batch of pancakes. So I decided to buy a pack of Cinnabon Caramel Pancakes.
These pancakes are amazing. First of all, they have 4 servings in a box of 3 pancakes per serving. Each serving is in its own pouch so that (a) you have portion control, and (b) the pancakes don’t get a freezer burn as you leave it in the freezer. For only 270 calories, you get a delicious pancake experience. As you microwave the pancakes, which are supposed to be microwaved for 1 minute and 15 seconds, you get this wonderful cinnamon roll aroma in the room.
The pancakes are sweet enough so that you don’t even need to put syrup or jelly on them. In each pancake there are some white uncooked looking portions that are actually the cream cheese frosting that you find on cinnamon rolls. These little frosting balls make the pancake sweeter and actually add a good touch to the pancake. I have never tried Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls, but if they taste better than these pancakes, they must be heaven. There isn’t a strong cinnamon flavor in these pancakes, but they are definitely delicious.
The texture of these pancakes is absolutely perfect. They are chewy and soft at the same time. But if you aren’t into the chewy-ness of pancakes then one option would be to cook these pancakes for a less amount of time. These way the pancakes are more soft then chewy.
I love these pancakes and they are great for any time of the day.

Jell-o Mousse Temptations Caramel Creme

Before this day I had never tried mousse before. I had an idea of what it was, which is why I wasn't too eager on trying it. Mousse is like an aired out pudding. It just reminded me of whipped cream, so I wasn't too curious about it. But today at Walmart, I decided to pick up a pack of Jell-o Sugar Free Mousse Temptations for $2.98.



I have to say I was pretty amazing by the flavor. As usual, Jell-o knows how to make their puddings and snack packs taste good. The Caramel Creme is the only one I bought, and it honestly tasted a lot like Brach's Caramel Chews. The texture was almost exactly like Jet-puffed Marshmallows. I wasn't too wild about it; I prefer regular pudding to this any day.

The after taste of this stuff wears off pretty quickly. I actually feel something pasty going on in my mouth, which isn't too pleasing. I am assuming it is the sugar alcohol they used to sweeten this cup.

Despite the fact that the packaging looks cool - in a nice black 4 oz cup - I would have expected way more from Jell-o

Newton's Fruit Thins Fig and Honey

Once again I review a product from the ever-so-famous Nabisco company. Fig newtons have been around for a long time. But it wasn't until Nabisco created their version that it was sold in markets. Nabisco created the popular Fig Newtons name. What strikes me as odd is that most other generic brands still call these cookies Fig Newtons. I don't know if there was just a lack of creativity in naming the generic brands or maybe it was thought that Americans would be confused if they called it Fig Cookies or Fig Bars instead.

Nevertheless, Newtons have been a success, and I must say I am a huge fan of them. I love anything to do with figs, to tell you the truth. But since Fig Newtons, Nabisco has added flavors like Strawberry and Raspberry, created Fruit Crisps (which I have never tried yet, but I can guarantee that the taste something like Kellogg's Nutri-Grain bars), and their most recent addition was Fruit Thins. Newton's Fruit thins are thin crispy cookies that contain whole grains and are baked with real fruit.

I have to admit, the first time I saw these in stores, I dismissed them because who would want to eat a thin crispy cookie when you can have a thick chewy one? But that was until I sampled some and fell in love. From what I hear, people have been downgrading these cookies a lot. They are awfully delicious and quite addictive to my taste buds. So I bought a pack of Fig and Honey to try this time.

The flavor is amazing and it really does taste homemade. It tastes very similar to this Mediterranean pastry that my family makes on the holidays. Many people compared it to the Fig Newton; but I ask why? Obviously the company would not make two different products that taste exactly the same.

The fig pieces were prevalent. They were extra chewy and added a nice dried-fig flavor the to cookie. The only thing that would make these cookies better are those little fig seeds that are crunchy and delicious.

Thirty cookies come in each bag for about $3.50. It is a bit pricey for me, especially because I ate 15 of those cookies in one sitting; but cheap when you think about spending $5 on Starbucks. I would definitely get these cookies again.

100 Calorie Packs Honey Maid Cheesecake Delight Bars

At the beginning of the 20th century, in 1901, the name Nabisco was born. I can bet an arm and a leg that you were not born before 1901, so you probably have eaten something from Nabisco in your lifetime. Nabisco produces some of the most classic, and popular snacks that Americans have been enjoying for over a century. These include Chips Ahoy!, Fig Newtons, Oreos, Ritz Crackers, Triscuits, Wheat Thins, Nutter Butter, and other classics.

Some of their more recent inventions have been these 100 calorie packs. 100 calorie packs are a dieters favorite, because people have the allusion that if it doesn't say 100 calorie pack on it, it must not be a diet-friendly food. While many granola bars and packaged snacks have around 100 calories, people tend to go for the more expensive 100 calorie packs.

Well, I found them on sale, so don't accuse me of being a hypocrite. I ended being the lucky person to grab the last box of Honey Maid Cheesecake Delight bars. What can I say? I was hungry for a little dessert.

I must say, I was amazed by the taste of these. The flavor was EXACTLY like a cheesecake's. The cheesecake part of the bar was both tart and sweet. The graham cookie bottom was one of the best parts. If they made cheesecake crust with the same batter I would be in heaven.

It was pretty impressive. All I have negative to say is that it is too small and expensive. I ate the whole box in one sitting, so I am thankful I did not have to pay $3 for it.

Temptations by Jell-o French Silk Pie

• For a 140 calories, I am enjoying a French Silk Pie from a cup. Who would have heard that sentence before? I totally believe there is a way to make delicious things taste great for a low calorie count.
• I am pretty sure each Temptations cup is 4 oz, which I personally think is too small
• Each temptations is different. The Strawberry Cheesecake looks like it has a liquid-y gelatin on top with a foamier cheesecake part at the bottom. Whereas this French Silk pie has the mousse on top with extra thick chocolate pudding at the bottom
• the mousse on top tastes exactly like hot cocoa
• The chocolate on the bottom tastes exactly like Jello chocolate fudge pudding that is extra thick and creamy
• The chocolate flavor is the best
• Most people prefer the cheesecake, but I have to say this tastes better.
• The texture resembles ice cream
• No pie crust in there, so that sucks for the pie crust lovers
• It wouldn't be far fetched to say it is like fudge
• Tastes just like French Silk Pie

Jell-O Pudding Snacks Banana Fudge Supreme

What's not to love about pudding. Though most of us know what it is, and like to eat it, no one seems to know how to make it from scratch. And even if you do, you find that Jello offers an easy and delicious way to make it for a cheap price. Now I was talking about the instant powder; but Jello has long since also invented the little snack packs to pack with your lunch. How difficult our lives are...

I actually know how to make pudding myself, but like most Americans I choose to buy the sugar free Jello pudding mixes. Never before have I bought a snack pack with my own money. But this time, I decided to try the Banana Fudge Supreme. I am bananas for bananas, and crazy for cocoa.

So the top layer of the stack is a nice, deep chocolate-looking pudding, but actually turns out to taste more like banana than chocolate. My favorite sugar-free pudding mix was the chocolate, so I was pretty disappointed when it first just tasted like banana. Well, I wasn't disappointed for long because this product tastes great.


The texture mostly reminds me of the frozen yogurt from Costco. Or ice cream that is not exactly melted yet, but really soft. The texture is so creamy and smooth as well.

The pudding is sweet enough, but not flavorful enough. You definitely taste the banana with a hint of cocoa, but I feel like the flavors should be stronger.

Overall, it's a great guilt-free snack for 60 calories and 1 gram of fat.

Fresh & Easy Pumpkin Pecan Coffee Cake

There is a lot to like about coffee cakes, especially if you have my taste buds. The wonderful thing about coffee cakes is that they are denser than cake, yet they are still moist, unlike a bagel. Now, this is not to say they I do not like cake, I just prefer the thicker stuff like muffins and brownies.

At the beginning, I thought that coffee cakes were cakes that were flavored with coffee. In other words, cakes that tasted like coffee. That was until, well I do not know when, all I know is that I realized that coffee cake applied to other types. I think it was Starbucks that brought me this epiphany. As I am writing this blog I realized that I sound very boring. As the famous Gerard Brenan once said “Everyone is a bore to someone. That is unimportant. The things to avoid is being a bore to oneself.”

So I guess since I have nothing really interesting to say, I’ll just cut to the chase and talk about these Limited Edition Pumpkin Pecan Coffee Cake squares from Fresh and Easy. Fresh & Easy has sprouted everywhere in my town, and there are many things I love about shopping there. For one, most of the stuff there is delicious and sold at a decent price. I also love their reduced price rack. But my favorite thing about the place is their limited edition holiday foods. Like their cakes, cheesecakes, coffee cakes, muffins, gingerbreads, fruit cakes, apple ciders, pancake mixes, and other foods that have that sweet and pumpkin spice flavors. I especially love the pumpkin products.

While I already tried the Fresh & Easy Pumpkin Spice Muffin (review is also posted on this blog), I felt the urge to try the coffee cake as well. Good thing I did because it the end it turned out to taste way better.

It came in a box with 16 little 3-bite squares. Two squares were the serving size on the nutrition facts, which came out to be 230 calories; so 113 calories each. I do not have the nutrition facts on hand, but from what I remember there was less than a gram of fiber per cake square, and each cake square had 1.5 grams of protein.

The texture of the cake was amazing. I do not think it could be more dense and most at the same time. It sort of reminded me of the texture of Halva, for all you Mediterranean people who have tried halva. The sweetness was perfect and the spice and pumpkin flavors were nice and strong, leaving a great aftertaste that was not sour.

The strudel on top is where the pecans were located, but there were not that many pecans on the strudel. It is almost a lie to call it Pumpkin Pecan. It should just be Pumpkin Spice. I ate a square of the cake the moment I got it. The weird thing about the strudel was that, at first, it was pretty crunchy with the brown sugar packed on top. But then, right when I got home, I ate another one, and the strudel was, well, watery. Maybe watery is not the right term, it’s like all the moisture rose in the cake and wetted the strudel. Whatever it was, it worked out because the crunch from the sugar was gone.

These cakes were superb, and perfect for teatime, or coffee time, especially if you are inviting guests over for a party. Even if it is for yourself, the small pieces force you to eat a smaller amount. Two cakes end up being perfectly satisfying. Another great thing about this cakes is that they stay fresh and flavorful for up to a week.

The only bad thing I can say about this product is that it is expensive. A box of 16 squares for $3.99

Sour Patch Kids

• Sour then sweet, just like it says on the bag
• 16 of them are only 140
• Red is the best
• Then Orange
• Then Green
• Last is yellow because it just tastes sweet, very light lemon taste
• The orange is the best because it actually tastes like a sweet and sour orange
• Great candy with loads of flavor
• Now I see why American love to get it when they go to the theater
• soft then chewy
• Not tooooo sour
• Perfect treat for parties because you can share with friends
• Each candy leaves a great aftertaste
• A classic