Carmex Everyday Lip Conditioner

The past three weeks were not been good lip weeks for me. The weather has been very chilly in the morning, too hot for a jacket in the afternoon and in the twenties at night. My lips were cracked and dry. And it was embarrassing. I took some chapstick with me to work every day, but that was no help. I was just constantly alternating between dry lips and gooey, wax glazed but still cracked lips all day. My lips needed moisture and soothing.  

Relief came in the form of a package from the Carmex Blog Squad. They sent me two mini tubes of Carmex Everyday Lip Conditioner in orange. Carmex calls it "lotion for your lips." That is definitely accurate. You just unscrew the cap and squeeze gently until a dab of lotion comes through the hole in the contoured tube lip. Press the contour to your lip to evenly distribute the lotion. It dries quickly, but still leaves your lips feeling soft and lightly moist. Genius! The flavor of Carmex Everyday Lip Conditioner is amazing, too. It's that delicious scent of fresh oranges simmering on the stove at Christmas, to make the house smell good.  

I'll let you in on the secret of Carmex Everyday Lip Conditioner: It has lanolin, a matte finish and thirteen moisturizers. Which means softer lips and  you can wear your lip lotion with lipstick! I had been avoiding lipstick for the past couple weeks, knowing that gooey chapstick + lipstick would fail to hide or fix my chapped lips.  But now my lips are smoother and softened by Carmex Everyday Lip Conditioner; so my lipstick has made a comeback.  

If you're dying to try Carmex Everyday Lip Conditioner ASAP, I have good news. The Carmex Blog Squad gave me two tubes. So I will send the second tube to one lucky AMW reader. Just post a a picture or a link to your favorite recipe that uses oranges. AMW will randomly draw one winner on Monday, December 2, 2012 at noon EST. Contest runs from Thursday, November 29, 2012 at 4:10 PM EST to Monday, December 2, 2012 at 11:30 AM EST. One entry per person. I will email the winner for their address; if I can't contact you, the runner up will receive the prize. 

*Update: Congrats to Candace J! Please email me by 8 PM EST tomorrow (Tuesday December 3) with your address so I can ship out your prize. 

Orange Flavored Holiday M&Ms

Milk Chocolate M&M's. Orange. With Other Natural Flavors

Milk Chocolate. Orange. With Other Natural Flavors. Also Check Out (other side: Mint M&Ms). Doesn't list what type of orange it comes from or what the other natural flavors are. 

Pieces are dark orange, light peach-ish orange and white in color. They're all the same flavor of orange, as far as I can tell.

Yesterday I was browsing the seasonal candy aisle at Wal-Mart. I was intrigued when I spotted some holiday bags of M&Ms Orange Milk Chocolate. Normally I hate orange mixed with chocolate; I prefer lemon + chocolate or lime + chocolate. But I decided to give these a try anyway. 

Orange M&Ms have a lightly sweet, pleasant scent that wavers between orange sherbet and candied chocolate oranges. The shell has a light orange taste. I was worried it would taste like orange Runts, but I was thankfully proven wrong. When I bit into the chocolate center, I got a burst of tart, refreshing, realistic orange flavor. I even felt that sensation you get after you bite into an orange and a tart, wet bite of juice hits it. I don't know how they managed to mimic that feeling in M&Ms, but thumbs up! Orange Milk Chocolate M&Ms are a must have item for the holidays. 

Bimbo Rebanadas Frosted Toast

REBANADAS - FROSTED TOAST

"Crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. It's two slices of Bimbo's popular Toasted Bread with a sweet creamy vanilla spread in the middle."

While I was in line at a gas station today, I got distracted by a display of cashews and dried fruit. So I got out of line to browse the racks again. On the back of the display was Bimbo Rebanadas Frosted Toast packs, plus other Bimbo Bakeries products. My reaction was "This sounds ridiculous. And it looks like a not very appetizing cream cheese sandwich. But I have to try it anyway. I'm dying to know how this tastes." The cashier who rang me up gave the pack the side eye. He said "You'll be the first brave one in here to try this."

The banana shape is actually some sort of glimmering decoration on the bag. It's not a  shadow from my camera or lighting. 

Each wrapper holds two sandwiches. Note the frosting coming out of the bread.

Which are each the length of half a bag of holiday M&Ms

Yep, they weren't kidding about it being frosted toast. The bread is basically toast that's sat out too long and started to harden. The frosting has a tantalizing buttercream scent. The smell really lingers in the room once the wrapper is opened up. It's gritty and sweet tasting frosting, in a cheap, satisfying, random vending machine indulgence kind of way. Paired with the bread, though, it was an unsatisfying combination. All I could think was "I'm eating frosting. On bread. Why, self, why ? I can't with this nonsense. Peace out."

I was only willing to taste a small bit of Frosted Toast. I couldn't justify eating a whole lunch of frosting on toast. I know logically that Frosted Toast is butter, sugar and carbs. Which is neither better or worse than having your butter, sugar and carbs come from cake. All I know is that my instinct was telling me not to buy this again.  It's like when you see Krispy Kreme burgers on the Food Network or cookie brownie cheesecake sundaes on Pinterest; it makes you think "Holy cow, that is so unhealthy. Okay, I would take a tiny bite just to say I tried it, but that's it. Goodness, I need a salad now to feel less icky." 

Spotted at a restaurant

A friend and I were waiting in a parking lot for a restaurant to open for lunch. We were the only customers around. I noticed the truck pictured below a few feet away. I said to him "Look over there. Is that rolls of quarters on the dashboard?" I got out of the car to look, because I thought I must be seeing it wrong:

Yep, a dashboard full of rolled quarters. Hope that money doesn't belong to the restaurant 0_0 I'll refrain from naming the restaurant; don't want someone to get fired (it's not one of the restaurants I've reviewed on here). I'm just saying, be a little more careful about not leaving money sitting out, Mr / Mrs Truck Owner. 

Nicole's Cafe: Middleburg, FL

Nicole's Cafe In The Country
2216 South Mimosa Avenue 
Middleburg, FL 32068

As a follow up to this post : I had breakfast at Nicole's. I ordered French toast, bacon, eggs and hash browns. Here's the break down:

-French toast = Homemade and sprinkled with powdered sugar. Definitely not pre-made French toast from a box! It had a cinnamon scent
- Bacon = two super long, crispy strips cooked just right
- Eggs = Large portion of fluffy scrambled eggs. If you have a big appetite, you'll be mighty pleased!
- Hash browns = Big helping. Hot and crisp

Nicole's has a very good breakfast. It was hearty, down home and filling, without being heavy or greasy. Definitely worth having breakfast there again.

*11/04/2012: The cheeseburgers at Nicole's are huge and delicious. You could split one with a friend or take half of it home. Their moist carrot cake is homemade. The bottom of the cake has a satisfying slightly sugary crunch. It is topped with cream cheese frosting made from scratch. This is not that sad box mix carrot cake you've had at Golden Corral, where they've tossed in some carrot strips and called it a day.

*11/16/2012:
-Grilled shrimp and grilled catfish = Delicious and well seasoned. Shrimp were plump. Fish was tender and tasted fresh. Comes with two hushpuppies.
-Banana pudding = Not homemade. But then again, I've yet to see any restaurants out here that make it from scratch anyway.
-Big plate of tuna salad and chicken salad = Served with greens, carrots, broccoli, cherry tomatoes and cucumbers. Plentiful portion. Very tasty salads. Not too dry or too mayonnaise-y. Only suggestion is that they should add in a pinch of nuts and fruit to the chicken salad.
-Field peas mixed with green beans = Seasoned with ham pieces. It's got just the right amount of salt in it. Perfect for the cold weather.

Dove Cookies And Creme Bar

"Silky smooth"

I bought a Dove Cookies & Creme bar at the same gas station as the Betty Crocker Sweet Rewards . I had to try it became I'm crazy for white chocolate-ish candies, such as Hershey's Cookies 'N' Creme bars and drops.

I knew this candy wouldn't taste good when I smelled it. The scent is like an off-brand of candy mold melts. The white creme reminds me of the so-so Palmer White Easter Bunnies . It should be noted there isn't actual white chocolate in Hershey's Cookies 'N' Creme (anymore) or in Dove Cookies & Creme. Dove has a larger amount of chocolate crunchies inside, while Hershey's has better tasting crunchies. For me, Hershey's wins this particular flavor war.

Betty Crocker Sweet Rewards, Part 2

As a follow up to a previous post: I found three of the Betty Crocker Sweet Rewards flavors at a gas station today.





Sweet Rewards: Chocolate Chip Cookie Bar
This bar had a thick layer of chocolate chip cookie dipped in "chocolatey coating" (or, as the ingredient list says, "chocolate flavored confectionery coating"). The amount of cookie, chocolate chips and coating were perfect. Unfortunately, the taste was on par with your average convenience store cookie: meh vanilla taste, not moist but not exactly dry, slightly crumbly, a forgettable brand of chocolate chips. The fake chocolate coating dragged down the flavor, too. Definitely not worth the $1.49 price tag, unless the recipe is improved down the road.





Sweet Rewards: Devil's Food Bites
I haven't bought cake balls yet, but I assume that's what Betty Crocker had in mind for this product. The Devil's Food Bites smell like a yummy batch of Betty Crocker chocolate frosting. The outer shell is chocolatey coating, while the inside is cake mixed with frosting. There is more cake and frosting than chocolatey coating, so the proportions are just right. The chocolatey coating works much better in this product than in the chocolate chip bar. Each pack comes with three pieces. The Devil's Food Bites don't satisfy my chocolate cake craving, but they do satisfy my desire for a rich creamy chocolate truffle.





Sweet Rewards: Buttercream Bites
The Buttercream Bites were my hands down favorite. When I opened the foil wrapper, it had the same enticing scent as a piece of yellow cake. The proportion of cake, frosting and chocolatey coating is the same as the Devil's Food Bites. The chocolatey coating is a good match for the yellow cake, although I would die of happiness if Betty Crocker upgraded this line with real chocolate coating. That would be total heaven! The Buttercream Bites actually satisfies my craving for a piece of moist yellow cake with chocolate frosting. This flavor is a must have for holiday stocking stuffers. I am okay with paying $1.49 for the Buttercream Bites and Devil's Food Bites because they are both high quality, flavorful and well crafted sweets.

I'm not likely to buy the Chocolate Chip Cookie Bar again. I will, however, stock up on more packages of the Buttercream Bites and Devil's Food Bites. Because past experience tells me the tastiest, most uniquely flavored products are the first ones to fall prey to "We don't carry that item anymore. Nobody bought them / or the company randomly discontinued them."

On a side note, I would suggest the following flavor ideas for the Buttercream Bites. Readers, feel free to share what flavors you'd like to see, too!
- Chocolate cake with mint buttercream
- Chocolate cake with coconut buttercream
- Coconut cake with vanilla buttercream
- Cherry cake with chocolate buttercream
- Vanilla cake with almond-vanilla buttercream
- Lemon cake with lemon buttercream or coconut buttercream
- Orange cake with white chocolate buttercream
- White chocolate buttercream with mocha-chocolate cake
- Butterscotch buttercream with white cake
- Caramel buttercream with yellow cake

Betty Crocker Sweet Rewards

I received an email today mentioning the General Mills site Find My Snack. I was excited to see a new product listed called Betty Crocker Sweet Rewards Bites And Cookie Bars. Only one store in my area is listed as carrying these, but I'll definitely look for them and try to do a review. The treats are available in convenience stores, according to the email. This is what FindMySnack says:



Betty Crocker Sweet Rewards - Triple Chip Cookie Bar
"Soft butterscotch cookie with chocolate, caramel, and rainbow chips, dipped in a chocolatey coating. 1.42oz."



Betty Crocker Sweet Rewards - Chocolate Chip Cookie Bar
"Soft cookie with chocolate chips dipped in a chocolatey coating. 1.42oz."



Betty Crocker Sweet Rewards - Devil's Food Bites
"Cake and frosting mixture dipped in a chocolatey coating. 1.5oz."



Betty Crocker Sweet Rewards - Buttercream Bites
"Cake and frosting mixture dipped in a chocolatey coating. 1.5oz."

*10/25/12: Oh duh, the Sweet Rewards Bars came out in 2011. How did I miss that ? *face palm* On a happier note, there are more flavors listed on General Mills Convenience, Convenience Store News and The Moxie Life:
-Sweet Rewards Fudge Crunch Bar
"Chocolate Cookie Base With A Chocolatey Fudge Layer"
- Sweet Rewards Turtle Bar
"Cookie base with caramel, chocolate and nuts"
- Sweet Rewards 7 Layer Bar
"Graham base with chocolate, caramel, nuts and coconut"

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.

Nicole's Cafe: Middleburg, FL

Nicole's Cafe In The Country
2216 South Mimosa Avenue
Middleburg, FL 32068







Clay County readers will be interested to hear that a new restaurant is opening. It is called Nicole's Cafe In The Country. The restaurant is in the building previously occupied by B's Family Restaurant & Smokey's BBQ. A drive to Nicole's Cafe confirmed that it isn't open to the public yet; however, a workman at the back door said his men were putting in the hoods today and he expected Nicole's to be open in one to two weeks.

B's and Smokey's both left big shoes to fill. Hopefully the food at Nicole's can match or exceed the quality and friendly service of their predecessors. Working in their favor is the fact that Choo Choo Bar-B-Que shut down their public restaurant ages ago. And the service at Stone E Cabin BBQ down the street leaves a lot to be desired.

I'll add more updates as they come in.

*10/28/2012: Nicole's is open now. Someone brought me a piece of Nicole's mandarin orange cake today and it is to die for X D I'll post a review once I eat inside the restaurant

*11/4/12: Updated post

Russell Stover Red Velvet Santa

When I stopped in Walgreen's tonight, they had the seasonal Christmas candy on the shelves. I spotted Russell Stover Red Velvet Santas In Dark Chocolate and just had to try them.

Each piece of candy is 1.25 ounces. When I opened the foil wrapper, the candy had a delicious red velvet / chocolate cake smell. The outer shell is a thick layer of dark chocolate (just the right amount, in my opinion). The dark chocolate was average quality, not great but not bad either.

The red velvet filling was a let down. The filling was the color of red velvet. But that was where the similarities ended. I assumed the filling would either be creamy or gooey, like many other Russell Stover candies. I guessed wrong. It had the thickness and pliability of rubber cement or putty; I was able to form a small ball with it in my hand. I honestly couldn't tell you what the taste reminded me of, aside from "definitely not red velvet." It seemed like someone started out with red icing and decided to add thickener until it was no longer sweet or stirrable.

Here's a partial ingredient list: Dark chocolate, Vanillan, White Chocolate, Red Velvet Cake Mix, Egg Whites, Condensed Milk, Butter, Cocoa Powder.

Would I buy the red velvet Santas again ? Nope. Would I eat them if somebody gave them to me for Christmas ? Yeah. I mean, they're not gross or funky tasting. I'd probably eat them for the sake of not wasting food or because there wasn't any other candy in the house.

Searching For Good Tea

I am picky about tea. I have a hard time finding teas that I like besides black, orange pekoe, English breakfast, etc. Plus I only drink caffeine free tea at home, since caffeine keeps me awake at night; I drink just 1 serving of caffeinated, unsweetened tea at restaurants because it's a pain in the butt finding caffeine free tea at restaurants + I'm cutting back on sugar.

I started a spreadsheet the other week to figure out what ingredients I like and dislike in tea. So far I've found that the ones I dislike have carob + vanilla, which tastes like a lollipop sans the fruit flavoring to me. Here's the breakdown so far:

- Celestial Seasonings Gingbread Spice = love it
- C.S. Safari Spice Red Tea, Red Rooibos = love it
- C.S. Sugar Plum Spice = On the fence about it. It's got a nice sweet fruit taste, but it has that gross carob and vanilla taste, too.
- C.S. Bengal Spice = It really tastes like a batch of fresh sweet tea. I don't like sweet tea, but I would serve it to people who do.
- Davidson's Coconut Vanilla = Another carob and vanilla tea. Yuck.
- C.S. Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride = Really smells like cookies, but but has carob and vanilla. Thumbs down
- C.S. Cinnamon Apple Spice = Tastes like some kind of wonky fruit scented air freshener. It has carob, too.

So I need ideas. Recommend some good teas for me to try

Carmex Blog Squad: NEW Pomegranate Flavor

August in Florida is something you have to experience to believe. The weather is alternating between afternoon thunderstorms (which leave the air muggy and humid) and tropical, sunny beach weather. The bank signs list the temperature at 95 degrees and climbing. This is the time of year where skipping skincare and lip protection leads to everyone at the office asking "Whoa, you are sunburned and your lips are chapped. Why didn't you slap on some SPF ?" Not a great way to end a fun in the sun weekend. That is why I wear sunblock, stay hydrated and protect my lips with Carmex lip balm. The Carmex Blog Squad sent me a fabulous summer lip care package that you guys will flip for.



I received a beautiful yellow Carmex beach tote with sailor rope handles. Very chic! It even has a zippered pouch for storing Carmex lip balms. Bonus points for the pouch being tethered to the inside of the tote. You'll know where your lip balm, car keys and cash are at all times. This is great for forgetful people like me, who find themselves doing the "Oh no, where's my wallet / or phone" pat down after a purchase and hustling back to a store to ask if someone turned in my belongings.



Inside the tethered pouch were six Carmex SPF 15 water resistant sunscreen lip balms. The first balm is Cherry Everyday Protecting Lip Balm. Quite honestly, I am just not a strawberry person in any form. I have made someone get rid of their strawberry car air freshener in the past. I always pass on strawberry flavored sweets. There's definitely not anything off about the flavor and scent of the strawberry Carmex, it's just my tastebuds. The lip balm stayed on a long time and kept my lips very moist, though. I can tell that my sister, who loves everything strawberry, would like it. My previous review of Carmex Ultra Moisturizing Vanilla Stick and Carmex Ultra Moisturizing Lime Twist Stick can be read here.



These are the other three Carmex SPF 15 water resistant sunscreen lip balms. They are Cherry Moisturizing Lip Balm, Pomegranate Everyday Ultra Smooth Lip Balm and Original Moisturizing Lip Balm. The cherry balm glided on smoothly, had a light, fresh cherry scent and left my lips baby soft. The original moisturizing balm was a little bit gooey, but not messy or sticky. It did dry quickly, though. The original balm smelled like sunscreen, which is a scent I am nuts about! I think it would be great for summer party favors. Fill a cellophane bag with Carmex Original Moisturizing Lip Balm, a few pieces of tropical flavored candy and a beach themed keychain. Tie it with a ribbon and you're done. So easy and elegant to put together!



The newest flavor is Carmex Pomegranate Everyday Ultra Smooth Lip Balm. Like the other Carmex balms, it has "broad spectrum SPF 15" and is "sunscreen / water resistant (80 minutes)." Which is perfect for me, because I tend to spend one or two hours sunning on the beach, followed by reapplying sunscreen and lip balm and rehydrating at the cool, shady snack bar. I have bought fresh pomegranates at the grocery store. So I know how fresh poms should taste and smell. If you haven't tried one, pomegranates taste like blueberries mixed with floral and cranberry notes. Carmex Pomegranate tastes like I just drank fresh pomegranate juice. Yum! I've been wearing it while running errands and sitting in scorching hot traffic. Never a moment of trouble. My lips felt cool, refreshed and juicy. Plus there's something fun about whipping out a compact while traffic has been stalled, casually reapplying lip balm and nodding to the cute driver in the next car.

I am very impressed with Carmex Sticks and Carmex's new Pomegranate Ultra Smooth Lip Balm. Each variety was long lasting, mess free, had a great scent and had the added protection of SPF 15. What more could a happy, beach bound girl ask for ? Carmex has a list of stores that carry the balms on their website.

As a special bonus, Carmex is offering one lucky AMW reader a gift pack. Just like the one I received. You'll be the most stylish girl (or guy) on the sand. All you need to do is a leave your name, email address and a comment below; tell us which Carmex flavor you want to try most + one item you would take along if you were stranded on a desert island. One entry per person, please. Contest runs from Tuesday, August 14 at 4 PM EST and ends on Thursday, August 16 at 8 PM EST. I will pass the winner's address along to Carmex and they will personally mail out the prize. Good luck, everyone. And take care of your lips!

*Update: Congrats to Alice! You are the contest winner. Email me your full name and home address by 8 PM EST on August 16th. Otherwise a runner up will be chosen instead.

Go Picnic, Part 2: Turkey Pepperoni and Cheese

A few months ago, I spotted a line of ready to eat meals called Go Picnic on Amazon. I immediately added them to my Amazon wish list, because they sounded so tasty. I bought two varieties of Go Picnic after spotting them at a chain drugstore today. Because it's so picture heavy, I'm breaking this review up into two posts:

Part 1: Peanut Butter and Crackers: All Natural Meal

Part 2:

Turkey Pepperoni and Cheese: Classic Deli Meal
"A balanced meal featuring Bridgford Turkey Pepperoni Slices, Crunchmaster Multi-Seed Crackers, Copper Cowbell Asiago Gourmet Cheese Spread, Mariani Dried Cranberries & Pineapple and Brown & Haley Almond Roca Buttercrunch Toffee. Gluten Free."

"Just when you thought your hunger would win"
This turned out to be unintentional irony. Keep reading.

Crunchmaster Multi-Seed Crackers
"Crunchy oven-baked 100% whole grain crackers. Crispy and delightful"

The Crunchmaster crackers were glossy and had a great sesame taste. The ingredient list included sesame seeds, flax seeds, quinoa seeds and amaranth seeds. I would buy these crackers.

Mariani Dried Cranberries & Pineapple
"Great benefits never tasted so good. Only the best cranberries and pineapple make up this mix."

I love dried fruit. Normally I could eat it by the handful. The Marianu fruit, however, is another story. The dried pineapple had a ridiculous amount of powdered sugar coating it. Plus it bordered on being crunchy. And I mean in an overly sugared way, not as in stale. The pineapple had a very unpleasant as a result. The dried cranberries were not as coated in powdered sugar, so the natural cranberry flavor was able to shine through better. The cranberries were still kind of crunch, unfortunately. On a side note: I have had Mariani fruit in the past and it never tasted sugary and crunchy. I'm not sure what happened with this product.

Copper Cowbell Asiago Gourmet Cheese Spread
"A smooth, rich gourmet cheese spread with classic Asiago flavor from Copper Cowbell, GoPicnic's exclusive brand."

The asiago cheese was super shiny. Some of the ingredients included cheddar, water, cream, milk, whey, natural flavor and cheese cultures. It tasted and smelled like an oily paste made from parmesan. You know it's pretty bad when I won't finish off a sample of cheese.

Brown & Haley Almond Roca Buttercrunch Toffee Candy
"Delicious buttercrunch toffee. A true original!"

The Almond Roca came in a pink outer wrapper and an inner gold foil wrapper. The inside tasted like a too chewy mix between a Butterfinger and toffee. The outside was coated in chocolate and almonds. I didn't care for that part. Plus there wasn't enough chocolate. The Roca was greasy and not tasty to me. Wikipedia tells me it's been around since 1923, so I guess a lot of other people enjoy it. It definitely is not my cup of tea : P

Bridgford Turkey Pepperoni Slices
"With 65% less fat than regular pepperoni but all of the flavor."

This is the turkey pepperoni, plus a popsicle stick to scoop up the asiago cheese. I really, really hated the pepperoni. As you can tell, it is extremely greasy. It's actually greasier than regular pepperoni I've bought. And yes, it's more so than regular pepperoni straight out of the package and regular pepperoni that's been baked in the oven. It's that oily. The Turkey Pepperoni didn't even taste like pepperoni. It was more like someone combined beef jerky fat and cheese fat, rolled them out into slices and then dipped them into grease : X Absolutely disgusting. The pepperoni packet had no tear strip and was hard to open. I had to look for scissors to get it open. Which is problem for those of us that thought "Oh hey, I can take this meal on a plane and have a fun snack." Between that and the grease it leaves on your fingers, this variety is definitely not a travel friendly snack.

Allergen Details
-Multi-seed Crackers: Contains: soy.
-Asiago Cheese Spread: Contains: milk.
-Dried Cranberries & Pineapple: This product is packed on equipment that also packages products that contain milk, soy and tree nuts.
-Buttercrunch Toffee: Contains: tree nuts, milk products and soy. Manufactured on shared equipment that processes peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, soy and wheat.
-Note: All items are individually wrapped and are manufactured and packaged in separate facilities.

The only part of the Turkey Pepperoni and Cheese: Classic Deli Meal I liked was the Crunchmaster Crackers. My rating for this variety is a D. Even excluding the Almond Roca (which some people obviously like), it was an unsatisfying meal that I could not finish. The dried fruit needs less powdered sugar. The pepperoni is too greasy and difficult to open. The cheese needs a more natural flavor. Like I said in the previous review, this is still room for improvement.