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.

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.

Minute Maid Raspberry Passion Light

What I thought about this product:

• I was initially disappointed because I expected it to be a thick drink
• The color was surprisingly lighter than I expected it to be. I thought it would be a dark red like those Red Delicious apples
• In the first sip, I felt like there wasn't much flavor-but now I am thinking maybe that was because it was too early in the morning for my taste buds to be awake yet.
• Later, after lunch, this drink tastes magnificent
• If you can't read in the pictures I posted on the bottles, it says 10% of the juice is a blend of pear, apple, raspberry, and passion fruit juices from concentrate
• That's what sucks about this drink, the juices are from concentrate
• But on the bright side it has 100% vitamin C per serving
• Vitamin C is cool because it aids in the burning of calories
• Many people may think, 15 calories per cup is a lot. But the whole carton (1/2 gallon) will be only 120 calories.
• An average glass of not-light juice is 120 calories
• You get 8 times more juice for the calories
• So drink away!
• They mixed natural fruit sugars with aspartame
• It leaves a good flavor in your mouth
• You definitely have a passionfruit taste going
• Apple is hinted in there but I cannot find the pear
• Good product, a little overpriced
• Not the best of Minute Maid's products

Vanilla Clodhoppers with Cocoa Bites

• delicious vanilla clusters that have a moist, yet crunchy texture to them
• flavorful
• leaves a sour-sweet aftertaste that is oddly tasty
• chocolate pieces taste as good as cocoa puffs
• pretty filling
• only thirty five calories
• low in fat
• low in fiber cause only one gram
• low in protein, with only 2 grams
• comes in a flimsy bag so hard to put in purse
• don't eat this in the summer cause the yogurt-vanilla coating melts off
• must have beverage near you, preferably coffee
• kids will love them
• served in schools
• from the Brookside Food Company Inc

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.

Captain Crunch Peanut Butter

Many say it is heavenly. Some are addicted to it. Others say they live off of it. It's kid friendly, adult friendly, and it can be found in my kitchen and probably yours.

Can you guess the riddle?

CAP'N CRUNCH PEANUT BUTTER!

Of all of the Cap'n Crunch products this is obviously the most popular. Stores cannot keep it on their shelves. It also is mostly found in gigantic boxes because people love it so much. It's been around since 1967.

An abundance of people love this cereal, but thousands also dis it. They claim it is the most unhealthy cereal you can find on the store shelves. Despite the fact that this cereal is fortified with 7 essential vitamins and minerals, and the website goes on and on about how important a healthy breakfast is.

It's obviously not the best choice of cereals but I think it's going a little far to say that it is the worst cerel you can buy. It's not too high in calories and it's actually a good choice when you crave something sweet. I just wouldn't call it a nutritious breakfast if you know what I mean. It's something I would eat as a snack or dessert.

Nutritional Information:
3/4 cup
Calories: 110
Fat: 2.5g
Carbs: 21g
Fiber: 1g
Protein: 2g

If you haven't ever taken a sniff of this stuff, it sort of smells like peanut butter cookies. Not exactly like peanut butter cookies off course, but it is the best simile I can think of.

The texture is highly crunchy. The product may be untruthful about the extent of it's health benefits, but not the crunch. Infact, it's so crunchy that if you don't chew it properly you may rip your mouth. The good thing about it though is that it takes a long time before it gets too soggy and slimy. Even if the outside is soggy the middle seems to retain its crunch. This way you have a bit more time to enjoy your food.

The taste is favorable. I don't think I like it as much as many others do. I adore peanut butter as much as the next guy but I would prefer Cocoa Puffs to these. I just may have a huge chocolate addiction as well. What I can't get over is the artificial taste of this cereal. The peanut taste is also a bit light for me.

I honestly just prefer to eat this stuff plain. They taste like deliciously sweet chips to me.

In the end I give it a 6/10.

I know I should be ashamed of saying that for some of you, but I'm going to openly say that I prefer a lot of other cereal to this.

Stride 2.0 Spearmint

Gum is a must have in my life. It is truly one of the miracles of the world. You can stick it in your mouth and chew chew chew. It will get rid of your hunger, bad breath, and sugar cravings. Many gums can also clean your teeth. Most gums are sugar free and less than 5 calories per stick. What's not to love?

Stride has always been one of my favorite brands of gum. The gums is, as they say, long lasting. I like both fruity flavors and minty ones. I have no preference for either, it just depends on my mood at the moment.



So I needed to pick up some gum and I got the new Stride 2.0 Spearmint flavor. If I choose mint gum I usually get the spearmint kind because it is truly the best. Before that day I had no idea that Stride even upgraded. Apparently they were reading our feedback and they upgraded their products so we can enjoy their gum more.

Part of the upgrade included the packaging. They claim it's "cooler" without the excess "mumbo jumbo". I really didn't really care for the package upgrade, but I did like the gum wrapper upgrade idea. They switched to foil wrapping instead of paper so that our gum won't sweat or moisten in humid conditions. This is a definite plus.

They also changed the flavoring a little. It's a subtle change, but a change nonetheless. The taste of the gum is the same as the original for the Spearmint kind. It starts off with a good strong, but not too strong that it burns, spearmint taste that quickly dies down to a sweet and delicious minty-ness. But unlike the original, the flavor wanes a bit after a half an hour and the flavor seems to begin to disappear and change at the same time. The delicious sweetness is going away and leaving it to taste like plain mint. I remember the original kind not doing that.

In addition, the original kind used to pop the best bubbles in the whole wide world. This one pops okay, but I miss the old one.

Overall, the flavor at first is still the same, and it does last long in the fact that it doesn't deteriorate in your mouth. The only improvement that I liked was the gum wrapper. I say keep the gum wrapper, and bring back the original gum.

I give it a 6/10

Nature Valley Maple and Brown Sugar

Before going on a diet I almost NEVER purchased granola bars. I honestly did not really know that so many of them existed. I ate the more dense stuff like Snicker's or Twix. But boy were they a positive slap in the face when I had to cut down on calories.

The honest reason why I bought these granola bars at the store was because they were on sale for $1. You can't beat that considering how expensive granola bars are. If you honestly look at what's in the stuff you're buying, you'll realize how much you are being ripped off.

For those of you who may not know, these bars are crunchy. I prefer the soft and chewy bars, but the crunchy ones seem to last better during the warmer seasons. If you don't know what I am getting at, the crunchy bars stay nice crisp and fresh no matter what's going on with the temperature. On the other hand, the chewy bars tend "sweat" or "melt" and disfigure themselves through minor temperature fluctuations.

When this bar first hit my tongue, it didn't taste like much until it sat there and sogged for a while. Then the maple and sugar flavor hit with a fantastic burst. They tasted pretty good.Nevertheless, I was disappointed for the first second that they were in my mouth. I happily finished the package and craved a little more.

So we can say that these bars tasted good. Are they really healthy? Well nothing packaged really is, even though these bars claim that they are 100% natural.
IngredientsWhole Grain Rolled Oats, Sugar, Canola Oil, Crisp Rice With Soy Protein (Rice Flour, Soy Protein Concentrate, Sugar, Malt, Salt), High Fructose Corn Syrup, Maple Syrup, Brown Sugar Syrup, Salt, Soy Lecithin, Baking Soda, Natural Flavor, Peanut Flour, Almond Flour, Hazelnut Flour, Walnut Flour, Pecan Flour.
It's not to say that they are all bad; you will get SOME health benefit out of this (like some instant energy and some whole grains). But that high fructose corn syrup doesn't look too good to me. The rest of the stuff looks fine though, at least I can pronounce it.

Overall, these bars aren't fantastic. They are just a good snack that's not too sugary. They aren't anything memorable. They are pretty low on the stats as well, with only 190 calories per bar.
I would give them a 6/10.