Archive for the ‘Vegetarian’ Category

Smart Stuffers Turk’y with Cranberry Stuffing

Friday, October 16th, 2009

Today’s Food In Real Life is LightLife’s Smart Stuffers, comes courtesy of my brother Aaron. (You might remember the LightLife brand from their previous appearance on FoodIRL via SmartBacon. You probably don’t remember my brother Aaron, since you’ve never met him.)

Smart Stuffers Turk'y - Ad

Smart Stuffers Turk'y

Looks: The colors are pretty much spot-on, but there are not nearly enough cranberries in the cranberry stuffing. The ratio of turk’y to stuffing is as advertised. 4 out of 5

Taste: I was pleasantly surprised by how much the stuffing actually tasted like real stuffing. I mean, that sort of thing can’t be easy to fake. I expected it to be really dry, but it wasn’t. It also had the right texture and an appropriate amount of spices. I bet you could give it to someone who eats stuffing every day, and they wouldn’t know the difference. Oh, and the turk’y tasted more like chik’n, which was fine with me. 5 out of 5

Kashi Baked Apple Spice TLC Bar

Thursday, October 15th, 2009

Kashi Baked Apple Spice Cereal Bar - Ad

Kashi Baked Apple Spice Cereal Bar

Looks: Nearly identical to the one on the box, minus the flying. A little bit darker, probably a little drier. 4.5 out of 5

Taste: How do I say this nicely… This TLC (“Tasty Little Cereal”) bar is, how you say, NVG (“Not Very Good”). It’s really dry, and the apple spice filling doesn’t have much flavor. It’s not a complete loss, as it’s still gives you something mildly flavored to chew on, but the “T” in “TLC” is a definite misnomer. 1.5 out of 5

Velveeta Shells & Cheese Cup

Wednesday, October 14th, 2009

Velveeta Shells and Cheese - Ad

Velveeta Shells and Cheese - 1

Velveeta Shells and Cheese - 2

Looks: I’ve always been wary of Velveeta macaroni products, if only for the reason that after you add the cheese sauce (but before you stir it in), it looks like Chester Cheetah has taken a dump on your lunch. But I do have to say that after stirring the cheese “sauce” in and waiting the recommended two minutes, the macaroni inside does look very similar to the shells on the package. Maybe a little waterier, but very close. 4.5 out of 5

Taste: About eight years ago, I tried Kraft Easy Mac for the first time, and I hated it. Ever since then, I’ve completely avoided microwave macaroni and cheese cups. There must have been great scientific advances in the field of microwave macaroni since then, because this Velveeta Shells cup is actually very good. There’s not very much of it (only 220 calories worth), but it tastes as good as if you made it on the stovetop. 4.5 out of 5

Ore Ida Bagel Bites (Cheese)

Saturday, October 3rd, 2009

Ore Ida Bagel Bites - Ad

Ore Ida Bagel Bites

Looks: Besides the cheese not melting evenly (you can still tell that it was sprinkled on in mini-cube form), their size and mass are advertised appropriately. 4.5 out of 5

Taste: First off, what is Ore Ida doing making both pizza bagels? Isn’t potatoes their game? Secondly, when eating Bagel Bites, I always have the same dilemma: do I try and bite the mini-bagel in half, getting sauce and cheese all over my lips when I invariably can’t bite cleanly through the bagel, or do I stuff the whole thing in my mouth like some kind of bagel-crazed giant? The answer is b, the bagel-crazed giant one.

I think Bagel Bites are great. They’re chewy, cheesy, and a box of them is exactly the right size for one person to eat as a meal. They are even customizable! If you like them crispy, cook them in the oven; if you like them soft and bendy, cook them in the microwave. If you like them really crunchy, just eat them straight out of the freezer. 4 out of 5