Category: Product Reviews (Page 13 of 19)

Product review: Trader Joe’s Chile Mango Popsicles

Chef JimTrader Joe’s is awesome. There, I said it. They have great, fresh food at very reasonable prices. It’s sort of like Whole Foods with less selection and at far better prices. They also have some unique food items, and last week I took a chance on another one of those–Chile Mango popsicles.

You might think, why would a food blog geared toward dudes be writing about popsicles. But note the first word–chile. These are mango and hot pepper frozen treats, and they are awesome.

Trader Joe’s makes excellent frozen fruit desserts like this, and this chile-mango combination is a great blast of cool, sweet and then spicy that makes for an amazing taste explosion. And I do mean explosion, because they are about a 6 out of 10 on the spice scale, something you wouldn’t expect from a popsicle. In fact, I had to make a concerted effort to keep these away from our 4-year old son.

But for the rest of you, go grab a 4-pack of these and serve them up during Sunday football. It might not go with beer, but hey, maybe I’m wrong!

Product review: Planter’s Tailgate snacks

Chef JimFootball season starts next week–next Thursday night to be exact, with the Super Bowl champion Packers hosting the Saints. Then the Sunday after that, it’s the first NFL Sunday. Of course, this weekend marks the start of the college football season. And fans of both college and pro football share one thing in common–they love to tailgate, and that means lots of good food and good drink.

So with that, Planter’s is putting out some great new products for you to enjoy munching while watching the games, and they were kind enough to send a few for me to try…..

Honey Smoked Tailgate Almonds–Smoked almonds have long been a favorite of mine, but these are unique. They combine the smoky flavor of smoke-flavored almonds with the glazed sweetness of honey roasted nuts. So you have a sweet and smoky combo that, quite honestly, makes it hard not to eat the whole can. Good thing they sent me giant 19 oz. cans!

Tailgate Nut Mix--This is a smoky, salty combo of chipotle almonds and peanuts, corn nuts and pretzels. This has more of a subtle smoky taste, but there is more of a savory, almost tangy flavor that makes this just an explosive (though not spicy) snack. And again, I”m glad there are 19 full ounces of this stuff!

There is also pumpkin spice almonds, which are not my thing, but definitely a fall season item.

So go grab a couple of these cans and happy football season to you all!

Product review: Wheat Thins Stix

Wheat Thins have always been an under-the-radar, good snack–at least in my opinion….with a salty, slighty nutty and sweet taste that makes it hard not to eat half the box. So when I was approached about two new flavors of Wheat Thins Crunch Stix, I happily obliged. I’d never had the Honey Wheat or Fire Roasted Tomato flavors before, which came first, so I was trying these two new flavors first.

Before I talk about these flavors themselves, first let me say that I was pleasantly surprised that whole grain wheat is the first ingredient, something you don’t see often in snack foods (and there are a whopping 11 grams of whole grains per serving). There is also no high fructose corn syrup, another thing you don’t see often in snack foods these days. It also comes in a cool shaped box that you can open like a tub of popcorn. And now for the taste test…..

Chipotle Pepper--A mildly spicy and smoky taste, with a nice balance to the slightly nutty and sweet flavor reminiscent of Wheat Thins crackers. There is a faint tomato taste as well and since tomato powder is one of the ingredients, my taste buds did not deceive me. However, if you’re looking for these to knock your spice socks off, that isn’t going to happen. But that means more people in your family will enjoy them.

Cinnamon Kick–Amazingly, these might be even spicier than the Chipotle flavor, courtesy of jalapeno extract. But the combination of salty, sweet, spicy and of course cinnamon are a really pleasant flavor explosion. Imagine having a cinnamon roll with a hint of cayenne, and that’s these snack stix in a nutshell (well, not literally).

Anyway, if you’re a snack food junkie (and that I DO mean literally!), you should check these out.

Fried chicken

I’m thinking of doing fried chicken week at Mikey’s Kitchen sometime soon. I also still want to do bacon week. But before any of that, I wanted to talk about how perfect this meal of fried chicken, fries, cole slaw and a roll was at Hubbard Avenue Diner here in Middleton (a suburb of Madison). Fried chicken sounds easy, but while I’ve never actually tried to make it (that will change soon too), I almost have to order it when I see it on a menu. And I did just that recently for lunch on a Saturday at Hubbard–and they have it on special Thursday and Saturday.

This chicken was so perfectly crispy and moist, the fries were also perfectly crispy on the outside and soft inside, and the cole slaw was creamy and more importantly, had no onions in it. The roll was kind of eh, but I can let that slide.

If you live in Madison, chances are you have eaten at Hubbard Ave. Diner (note: they have not offered me a free meal or anything to post this–it’s truly on my own), and it’s almost always exceptional. They have great burgers, sandwiches and mac & cheese as well as killer breakfast items. Two other favorite items of mine there are pie (many different kinds, which they are known for) and quite possibly the best bloody mary I have ever tasted.

But now that my mouth is watering after seeing that pic of fried chicken again, I realize that today is Thursday and Hubbard Ave. Diner is 15-20 minutes away. See ya!

Review: High Plains Bison

I ran this review on the Bullz-Eye blog and wanted to share it with my Mikey’s Kitchen readers too.

I was a bit nervous about trying what you might consider more of a game-type meat, but the parallel to beef in flavor was remarkable and maybe even better, and with the exception of the sausage, much lower in fat content.

So consider trying High Plains Bison, it’s worth checking out!

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