Newman's Own Candy

Newman's Own Organics: Milk Chocolate Caramel Cups & Newman's Own Organics: Dark Chocolate Peppermint Cups

When I stopped in Publix today, I noticed boxes of Newman's Own candy in the discount bin. There were two flavors: milk chocolate caramel cups and dark chocolate peppermint cups. They were marked down to 79 cents; I don't know what the normal price is, although the San Francisco Chronicle says $1.49 a package out west. The Newman's Own site lists five flavors: Caramel Cup in Dark Chocolate or Milk Chocolate, Peanut Butter in Dark Chocolate or Milk Chocolate and Dark Chocolate Peppermint Cup.

Each pack weighs 1.2 oz and comes with three fun size candy cups. The front of the peppermint wrapper says "made with organic chocolate." The caramel wrapper says "organic milk chocolate" on the ingredient list only.







The milk chocolate caramel cups: The thickness of the chocolate was on point. The taste was not waxy or overly milky like many brands of milk chocolate. Also, it was nice to have the chocolate divided into three pieces, so I wouldn't it eat all at once. I did not care for the caramel filling, however. It was too liquid in texture, gooey and gritty. The filling was not rich, buttery and slightly thick as I prefer. The caramel had an aftertaste I had a hard time pinning down. It was something sweet, paired with odd cheese and butter notes (not a caramel-ish butter taste); cheese is of course not one of the listed ingredients.







The dark chocolate peppermint cups: Like the caramel cups, the amount of chocolate was good. The chocolate and the peppermint filling reminded me of an upgraded version of Russell Stover sugar free dark chocolate peppermint patties. The filling is thinner in texture than a York Peppermint Patty but slightly thicker than in Russell Stover peppermint patties. You won't mistake these for a York Peppermint Patty, but they are delicious and rich none the less.

The verdict: I probably wouldn't buy Newman's Own Milk Chocolate Caramel Cups again, unless it was a gift for someone who already likes them. But I will definitely buy more Newman's Own Organics Dark Chocolate Peppermint Cups. I hope to try Newman's Own Peanut Butter Cups soon, too.

Nabisco 100 Calorie: Oreo Mini Cakesters

"Experience the classic taste of Oreo in a soft snack cake – smooth, one-of-a-kind Oreo crème sandwiched between two luscious chocolate cakes."





Yesterday, I received a coupon for a free package of Oreo Mini Cakesters. You know how much I love chocolate cookies! So I headed over to Publix to buy a box.

Each Cakester pack came with three mini cookies. The crème tasted just like the original Oreo filling. The sandwich cookies were rather good, too. They reminded me of devil's food cake. Thumbs up for Oreo Mini Cakesters!

Ezekial 4:9 Cereal

I think I have a new favorite cereal. I bought a box of Ezekiel 4:9 at Publix last month in the organic / all natural aisle, aka the really expensive section ; ) This cereal is made from:

Organic Sprouted Whole Wheat, Organic Malted Barley, Organic Sprouted Whole Barley, Organic Sprouted Whole Millet, Organic Sprouted Whole Lentils, Organic Sprouted Whole Soybeans, Organic Sprouted Whole Spelt, Filtered Water, Sea Salt.

I'm betting that right now that most of you either thought "Yuck ! Pass the Lucky Charms !" or "*doe eyes* Mmmm, wheat, barley...." Count me in the second group. This cereal tastes like a slightly less crunchy version of Grape Nuts. And it's flourless, too.

The price is rather steep, but I would buy this cereal again. The taste is worth it.

Veggie Patch Meatless Sausage

I recently came across Veggie Patch's Spiced Apple Meatless Gourmet Sausage at Publix. I can honestly say this is one of the worst products I've ever tasted. When I opened the package, it smelled of artificial apple and dry cat food. Bleh !

The taste was even worse. The skin / casing was too tough. The filling was disgusting. It tasted too sweet and mushy. I also disliked biting into the dried apple pieces. [The package label lists dried apples, apple concentrate and pineapple concentrate.] Veggie Patch's sausage tastes and looks like someone scraped out the filling from a hotdog and made a poor attempt at replacing what they took out : X

There is a prominent sticker on the package that says "New ! Money back guarantee !" I wish I had saved my receipt, so I could take Veggie Patch up on their offer. Never again will I buy Veggie Patch products : P

Monk's Bread : Sunflower Bran

I bought a loaf of Monk's Bread yesterday at Publix. It turned out to be a great buy. This bread was absolutely delicious ! I loved the lightly sweet taste and the sunflower seeds. I can't wait to try the other varieties.

Yoki Cheese Bread

I've seen boxes of Yoki Cheese Bread mix at Publix for the past three years, but I never got around to trying it until recently. Basically, you're supposed to add eggs and water to the mix, roll it into small balls and bake until crispy. The resulting rolls were not what I expected; the middles were spongy, but not in an undercooked way or in the sense of being soft and delicious. It's hard to fully explain. Another element I disliked was the cheese flavor. It tastes similar to Cheeto's white cheddar cheese puffs. The ingredient list says it contains "cheese flavor" made from whey, milk and a few other items.That certainly explains the taste : P I definitely won't buy Yoki Cheese Bread mix again.