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Wednesday, May 13, 2020

Good & Gather Organic Peanut Butter Poppers

I'm sure I've mentioned it on this blog before, but I looove peanut butter. Always have. I love the condiment itself, I love peanut butter candies like Reese's Pieces, I love peanut butter and chocolate together, I love peanut butter ice cream, peanut butter cake, and even the recent Peanut Butter Falcon film, unfairly snubbed by the Academy this past year.

And of course, I love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I like peanut butter and jelly trail mix. I even like peanut butter and banana sandwiches, peanut butter and honey sandwiches, peanut butter and marshmallow fluff, AKA Fluffernutter. Pretty much anything goes with peanut butter...except peanut butter and pickles or peanut butter and bacon. People who enjoy those combinations should take a cold shower immediately and check themselves into the nearest mental health facility.

So I, like many of you, have my opinions about peanut butter. As much as I love the stuff, peanut butter cereals are a sketchy subject. 

While I wouldn't eat peanut butter solo with cold milk, I feel like peanut butter and chocolate desserts go well with milk. That's why cereals like Reese's Puffs work, at least marginally, in my opinion. Peanut butter dessert cereals are usually a safe bet. It's much harder to pull off a "healthy" peanut butter cereal, by my estimation. 

I like plenty of healthy cereals. Kashi, raisin bran, muesli, oats, and shredded wheat are all pretty decent in my book, so you can't accuse me of only eating junk food for breakfast. But in this particular case, I just feel like there needed to be a stronger sweet peanut butter flavor. The taste of the grains was too prominent against the taste of the peanut butter. I think it would have worked fine if it had been just an organic multigrain cereal...or if they'd pushed it just a tad in the direction of "peanut butter treat" rather than "peanut butter health food."

The texture was grainy and crispy, with just a hint of oily peanut butteriness. It was pretty similar to something like Kix. Not bad.

The leftover milk wasn't particularly peanut buttery. It tasted more like the constituent grains: corn, oats, rice. Drinkable, but not in a fun way. These peanut butter poppers aren't inedible, but I probably won't purchase this one again.

I give this cereal 6 out of 10 stars.

Tuesday, April 7, 2020

Archer Farms Carrot Patch Pretzel Rods

I could see how you'd wanna dress up something like a carrot and make it seem fun or dessert-like in order to get kids or immature adults to eat them. 

I find it pretty funny when they do the reverse. Pretzel-rods dipped in fudge aren't particularly nutritious, but with products like this one, you might subconsciously believe you've consumed a serving of vegetables.

Ah, I'm just kidding. Stuff like this is quirky and enjoyable. I'm assuming it's an Easter thing, since rabbits eat carrots. You get the kids bouncing around the house pretending they're the Easter Bunny, sprinkling pretzel crumbs all through the carpet. 

Sometimes I'm so glad we don't have kids. I manage to create enough crumbs just by myself. I digress.

These carrot patch pretzel rods are just as tasty as any other chocolate-covered pretzels. They're salty, sweet, and crispy. The serving size is just about perfect for a little mid-meal pick-me-up or post-dinner dessert. 

The presentation is cute, I guess. Each rod is just solid orange. There aren't any green leafy bits or brown "dirt" left on these carrot sticks. Limited edition. Spring-ish enough. They still aren't rolling seasonal products like this one over to the Good & Gather line yet. Not sure if we'll see these around next year or not.

$5.29 for six sticks. That's a little steep. Each piece is individually wrapped, so there's a good bit of packaging.

The wife and I won't have any trouble finishing this pack, but I don't think we'd ever re-purchase.

Happy Easter!

I give these "carrot sticks" 7 out of 10 stars.

Monday, March 23, 2020

Archer Farms Raspberry Truffle Cookies

Just in case some of us survive the coronavirus, there will be the matter of celebrating Easter next month.

It's just about three weeks away. We probably won't be able to wear good suits, dresses, and bonnets and show them off at church or attend big Easter egg hunting events, since we'll all still most likely either be drowning in our own lung fluids or at least self-quarantining and social distancing and all that, but that doesn't mean we can't have a little Easter celebration right at home with the immediate fam.

I'm not saying these are specifically a type of Easter candy, but they could be. They were in a section of other more Easterrific treats like Peeps and bunny-themed snacks, one of which we might look at here before Resurrection Sunday. Anyway, the packaging has kind of a lavender-purpley color, and I'd make the argument that the zig-zaggy lines on the box are inspired by Easter egg designs. Fancy.

The product within is even more impressive. Each cookie is a sweet white biscuit—that's one of my wife's nicknames for me, incidentally—with a layer of milk chocolate on top. But the truly unique element is a thin glaze of raspberry jelly in between the other two layers. The balance of flavors is epic.

The wifey and I both agree the raspberry jelly absolutely sets these sweet treats way above most sandwich cookies. Just imagine eating a Nilla Wafer with a milk chocolate coin and a dollop of sweet red raspberry jam all in one bite. Delicious. Not sure why this type of cookie isn't more common. I've never heard of anything like it before. I'm also surprised there's not more of a buzz about them on social media.

Just the two of us plowed through the box in short order. I found they went down even better with a glass of cold milk. This is exactly the kind of food product that makes me fat. Fortunately, they'll be sold out of these (and most other food items, most likely) on my next Target run. My only complaints: they should make them with white chocolate. Also, they should try to formulate a soft and chewy variety.

I give these cookies 9 out of 10 stars.

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