Calbee Baked Shrimp Chips - Yuzu and Black Pepper

The first time I had shrimp chips was back during my single-digit years. I even remember having them at school as part of my lunch when my mom forgot to send me off with my lunchbox. Back then I didn't realize it was an Asian thing - meaning something found mostly if not exclusively in Asian stores. I just thought it was something I had from time to time - just like potato chips.

Also back then I didn't really fully realize I was Asian. I just thought I was a kid... going to school... eating (mostly) whatever my mother put on my plate.

I never bought the chips myself. Usually, my mother or my aunt had them, and back then there was only one flavor... at least one that anyone ever gave me.

But now as an adult, there is not only more than one flavor but many brands of shrimp chips. I've tried other types - there was one that looks like puffed chicharrones - but I guess you can say I'm a Calbee girl at heart. I've also tried another Calbee flavor - Hot Garlic - which I'm blogged about back in 2014. (So yeah, I revisit my beloved Shrimp Chips often.)

They have since changed the packaging - the original having some kind of red and white gingham pattern as a border to the bag - but they've modernized the packaging since then (though the Calbee logo is still quite the same).

I saw these at an Asian Market I go to, and felt like snacking on something and found shrimp chips which I naturally gravitated toward. I wanted something light and would tide me over during the rest of my errands since I knew I'd be cooking dinner when I got home. I had naturally assumed that they were the original flavor but nope - to my surprise, the only flavor they had was Yuzu and Black Pepper.

Initially, I thought the combo was odd, but then I realized it wasn't. Yuzu is lemon, and I love lemon pepper tuna or chicken. I think I've even had it as a kind of soup. I think it was the yuzu that confused me, but when I remembered what yuzu was, I was fine. LOL.

I opened the bag when I got back to my car, and all I could smell was the pepper. I didn't get any of the lemon by scent, but I did get it when I ate it. The black pepper (and some salt) is what stands out, and then you get the lemon as more of an aftertaste. I basically ate them like I do fries (which is convenient since they're a chip that is shaped like a fry) - I started off with one trying to be good, but then I would grab two or more and shove them in my mouth as I drove.

I finished the bag when I got to Target.

The bag is 3.3oz, and according to the bag, there are 140 calories per serving... and the bag has three servings. (Who makes these portions? Chip bags are never filled to capacity so the amount in the bag that can comfortably feed 3-4 people usually will say something as silly - like a single portion is two chips. And if that were true, you'd be able to feed a whole classroom full of people.)

Can you tell I have an issue with portion notations on food? They just seem so strange. I mean, take candy - those portions are unrealistic.

In any case, I love shrimp chips and will continue to eat them as they continue to make them. But they are a sometimes food. In reality, I think I have some once every few months.

I wonder what other flavors they'll come out with.

https://calbeena.com/
https://calbeena.com/shrimp-chips/
https://calbeena.com/shrimp-chips-nutrition-facts/#yuzu-black-pepper

Later my lovelies.

Have Goodness!
Rae

The Queen of Tartes - Raspberry Pecan Coffee Cake

Every once in awhile, I crave something cake-like, but I can never find anything that is the right "cake" thing that I want. Or when I do, it's a huge cake thing that can feed several, and all I'm trying to do is feed myself.

In an attempt to sate this random craving when it reared its head recently, I stopped by a small market on the way home from IKEA. The main goal was cake and coffee, but since they didn't carry the coffee I was looking for, I set my sights for cake.

To my luck, they had a bakery area near the back. Around the bakery, they had little treats here and there, but the one that caught my eye was a dessert bar which I thought was lovely since I'm one person - that was a one-person serving - huzzah!

The brand name was "The Queen of Tartes" which immediately drew me to the treat even more. In the basket were several different flavors, but the one that instantly caught my eye was the Raspberry Pecan Coffee Cake.

I love pecans! So yes, that the winning factor out of all of the ones in the basket. Also, I thought the coffee cake would sate the proper cake craving I was feeling. So I snatched it up and headed to the cashier.

The portion size was your standard coffee house variety - you know, when you look in the case to get something to go with your tea or coffee. (The sticker on the wrapping looks to say 4.7oz - which upon a Google search, looks to be the equivalent to a single boxed soap.)

Unwrapped, the cake was sweet-smelling - but not overly sweet which was nice. And it tasted delicious. I believe on the website, it's described as "Tender buttery cake with a raspberry ribbon and pecan crumble on top. A guaranteed new addiction."

Oddly there are no nutritional facts listed on the cake, but I'm going to at least assume I ate a single serving. The label does list the ingredients: Gluten Free flour blend (rice flour, tapioca starch, potato starch, sorghum flour, arrowroot, guar gum, rice bran), eggs, butter (cream), flour, sugar, buttermilk, raspberry jam (raspberries, sugar, pectin), cinnamon, pecans, vanilla, baking powder, salt.

I hope all of that was correct because it didn't look like there were many visible commas.

Now truth be told the cake consistency I was looking for was a little denser than a coffee cake, but this tasty treat did me good in a pinch. I definitely need to go back to that market and try the other flavors they have.

https://thequeenoftartes.com/
https://thequeenoftartes.com/shop?olsPage=products%2Fraspberry-pecan-coffee-cake

Later my lovelies.

Have Goodness!
Rae

Seitenbacher Natural Cereal - Honey Chia Musli

Recently after running errands after work and heading home after an IKEA stop, I decided I would finally visit this shopping plaza I pass by ALL the time but never stop at... until now.

To be honest, I was craving cake or a cakey dessert of some kind, and I thought the store I'd driven by so many times would have a bakery area... surely, right? I was also looking for a specific cold brew coffee I had while out of town for the holidays. (Spoiler Alert - they didn't have it.)

In my browsing of this lovely little market, I came across a lot of things that piqued my "ohhh that looks interesting... I'd like to try that" - and one of those things was a bagged cereal.

They had a lot that I wanted to get, but I reigned myself in and only got a couple. One of them was a Honey Chia Musli.

I love cereal. I have a few boxes at home in various states of consumption, and in knowing this, I debated if I should get anything new. But the cereals are of the Cheerios, Special K, or Chex variety. You know - the mainstream stuff most any grocery store carries. (I'm also pretty basic in my cereal choices - like I usually get multigrain Cheerios, Special K with berries or yogurt and fruit, and honey-nut Chex. I also like Cracklin' Oat Bran - so yeah, from my cereal choices, you can see I'm the righteous party animal.)

I've seen "musli" cereals around, but upon my best recollection, I don't think I've tried any of them but have wanted to try them. So I went through the bags and came across a few that intrigued me, but I chose the honey chia since those are two things that I like.

When I opened the bag, it smelled like - I guess the best way I can describe it is your basic granola smell (it had oats, fruits, nuts... so kinda like a crumbled up granola bar). I poured myself a bowl, added my oat milk (I used to use almond milk, but I tried oat milk out of curiosity, and I like it - I get the same as almond milk - unsweetened original flavor).

Anyway - back to the cereal.

One of the pluses to this cereal is that there's really no worry about it getting soggy. Granted, I like pouring enough milk into my bowl to where I see the milk in the cereal. I'm not one of those "drink the milk after all the cereal is gone" people - and I don't want to be wasteful, so I pour just enough.

I really liked this cereal. Part of me doesn't want to constantly eat it since I don't want it to be gone. Yes, I can always go to the store and get more, but you know what I mean.

In reading the bag, it says "Musli is a ready mix of whole grains, fruits, nuts and seeds, eaten with yogurt, milk or juice." Now... that last part... juice? I have heard of people barely awake in the morning sometimes accidentally pouring orange juice into their cereal instead of milk, but I've never personally tried it myself. I'm assuming it mean to combine them since I would totally eat cereal with yogurt or milk, but the idea of subbing out juice is a curious one. Or do they mean eat it dry like trail mix and wash it down with a glass of juice? And will any juice do?

Oh, the questions and curiosities.

Also, the bag says to refrigerate after opening.

Now one bag is 16oz ounces with half a cup being the serving size (leaving 10 servings per bag). The calorie count is 170 per serving.

I'll be honest. I don't measure out my cereal per the "serving size" malarky. I tried it once, and it's most often a puny serving size. I once tried a cereal a long time ago where they had a suggested amount of milk in some kind of direction. Who doesn't know how to make cereal?

Needless to say, I think I'll be getting more of this when this bag is done... and perhaps I'll get another flavor while I'm at it.

https://seitenbacher.com/WPSHOP/

https://seitenbacher.com/WPSHOP/product-category/muesli/

https://seitenbacher.com/WPSHOP/product/muesli-cereal-honey-chia/

Later my lovelies.

Have Goodness!
Rae

Shiitake Mushroom Harvest Chips - BBQ Flavor

I have had mushroom chips before, and to be perfectly honest, I'm not sure if they were these.

I'd first heard about them in conversation with some friends, and then I had them later at a Halloween party.

So as you can tell, my knowledge of this topic is vast.

When I open the bag, I don't really smell anything - no mushroom or BBQ - nothing.

The chips themselves look like mushroom caps, but the stems are still there so from the drying out/baking process (not sure how they're prepped)...

[reads back of package]

Oh! "We lightly cook our BBQ flavored Shiitake Mushroom Chips using a vacuum frying process which uses a lower temperature to preserve the natural flavor and provide a crunchy texture making them ready for a snack or salad topper."

Guess that answers that then.

They feel like they're coated in some kind of seasoning, but the touch isn't too dusty or leave any mess. I don't really taste any BBQ flavor, but there is a slight sodium content - not a lot, but enough to taste.

They are quite crunchy, and for someone who likes mushrooms, they are quite tasty. I can't imagine adding them to a salad unless I crumpled them up a bit, but overall I like them a lot. I just wish they came in a bigger bag.

Speaking of the bag...

The bag is 1.7oz with 170 calories per serving. (A serving is half a cup which leaves two servings per bag.) That's why there need to be bigger bags dammit.

There it is. I've finished the whole bag. Two whole servings to myself. Sheesh!

https://paradisegreenfood.com/products/bbq-shiitake-mushroom-50g
https://paradisegreenfood.com/

Later my lovelies.

Have Goodness!
Rae

Tunnock's Snowballs

I like going to Cost Plus World Market.

I especially like the food section.

One day, I came across some lovely marshmallows. (I LOVE me some marshmallows.) There are usually a lot of marshmallowy treats there, but the ones that caught my eye had funny faces on them and then said "coconut covered marshmallows" - so yeah, I had to get them since I also love coconut.

Now I was a little surprised when the package said there were only four inside. I'm used to getting a higher count of marshmallows than that.

But when I opened up the box, that's when I realized WHY it was only four.

Each marshmallow is individually wrapped and roughly the size of a York Peppermint Patty... only puffed up and covered in coconut.

And there are happy faces on the wrappers. They're so cute.

The bottom of the marshmallows are a little inverted like a contact lens, but that's okay. They're still pretty big.

When opening the package, the only smell I get is the coconut - which I ain't mad at. Upon closer inspection, you can see there's a brown color the coconut is sticking to, but then when you bite into it, you can see that the marshmallow is coated in chocolate. Then when it breaks apart, the marshmallow oozes on out.

This treat kinda reminds me of a Snoball from Hostess, but those are not as pleasing. Well - those have cake in them as well as marshmallow and coconut, but I feel it's not the right mix. I've tried the marshmallow with coconut topping, and it's good, but not great. This little Tunnock's marshmallow is similar with the chocolate-coating, but if there was a tiny bit of chocolate cake in it, it might make a mini-Snoball.

The box is 4.2oz. As you could probably guess, the serving size is 1 and that there are 4 servings per the box size I got. 130 calories per each of those servings. I kinda want to make s'mores with these.\, but that might get a little pricey. Ha!

http://www.tunnock.co.uk/products/snowballs/
http://www.tunnock.co.uk/

Later my lovelies.

Have Goodness!
Rae

Combos Stuffed Snacks - Honey Sriracha Baked Pretzel

For every road trip, I stop by a gas station with a decent mini-mart and grab some drinks and snacks for the road as I fill the tank.

The recent holidays were no exception.

Usually, I grab some of the usual things I know I'll enjoy, but I usually end up grabbing one thing I haven't tried before just to try.

Enter "Honey Sriracha Combos."

I'm not the best when it comes to heat. Back in the day, I wasn't able to eat anything with any modicum of spice, but as I got older, cravings changed, and during "powerloss" I started to crave spicy food. Now - not SPICY like the devil's ass or something, but spicy enough. (I remember hitting the local Del Taco and getting an order of deep-fried jalapeno slices with ranch dressing. I would get pretty far into finishing them and then either reach my limit or be full.)

My spice-tolerance has been PRETTY random. Like there are things that I never thought I'd be able to tolerate but end up enjoying. Or things friends can't eat because they think it's too spicy, and I think it's just fine. Or the worst is that I taste something and the first bite is fine, but I think it's so tasty, I eat it too fast and eventually the spice peaks catch up with each other and then it's wave after wave after wave... well, you get the idea.

Case in point - these combos.

Sriracha is a sauce that I eat, and I like, but I prefer it mixed with sour cream to make a nice orange sauce. It just spreads out the flavor better for me. When I saw these snacks at the convenience store over the holidays, I thought "Why not?" since it's honey AND sriracha. What's the worse that could happen?

The smell of the combos is salty to me, but I definitely get the spice hint here and there.

The tiny Vienna sausages of the chip world (described so by me due to their shape and crunch factor) look like your standard Combo - in this case, mini pretzel tubes filled with cheese with a faint dusting of sriracha-colored powder within the cheese.

Immediately I can taste the spice factor of this snack, but it's not too bad, and I can also taste the honey which is nice. You get the salt first, then the spice, and then the honey.

But here's my mishap - since the heat wasn't too bad after one, I started eating them at a faster pace than I usually do. There's small so it's easy to grab a few and shove them in your face (kinda like popcorn), but then the heat of each dose to my mouth has an eventual heat that hits, and shoving them in my mouth at such a fast rate, those hits build one after the other until they eventually all meet up to say "You really should have slowed down a bit, dear."

I'm not saying the heat was overwhelming, but it made me pause and sip my ginger ale.

Overall for me, the taste was okay but not my favorite - I'd probably prefer them in a Chex Mix situation with a few flavors mixed into together so then when I grab a few to eat, I get a mish-mash of a few flavors and not just the sriracha one, and I won't be overwhelmed (in a sense) by the build-up of spice.

The bag is 6.3oz with 130 calories per serving. And guess how many servings the bag says there are in it.

Go ahead - guess. I'll wait.

[insert Jeopardy theme here]

6. Really, Combos? 6? That's like... 1oz per serving. WTF with the portions, yo?

That's it. I'm done.

https://combos.com/

Later my lovelies.

Have Goodness!
Rae

Sinbad Specialty Foods - Roasted Beet Hummus

I think the first time I had hummus was after college. And since then, I was hooked.

My favorite hummus is garlic - though any ol' hummus will do. My hummus love is not biased at all.

Sometime after my initial taste of hummus, I found some edamame hummus during a late-night grocery run, and I was intrigued. I love edamame, and it looked appealing, and my curiosity getting the better of me, I bought it. And guess what? IT WAS DELICIOUS!!!

Since then I've noticed a variety of hummuses not made with chickpeas, and I've liked them all. (Once I brought up in conversation with a friend if you made hummus and replaced the chickpeas with something else, would you still call it "hummus". They said no since hummus is made with chickpeas. I had used milk as an example since we have non-dairy milk but they still say "milk" - like almond milk, oat milk, etc - but nope, my friend didn't budge on the hummus-name-thing. Me, however, I'm fine with calling it hummus - chickpeas or no.

Recently while at a grocery store, I saw some hummus in their deli cold case. All of them were hummus color - until I saw a vibrant pink one - Roasted Beet Hummus.

SOLD!

To be honest, I'm not the biggest beet fan. I know people that will have it solo - roasted or however they wish to cook it - but I'm not a fan. I do like shredded beet in salads, but a la carte? I'll pass.

But still - this was HUMMUS!!! So I was open to trying it.

Looking at the label when I got home, the first ingredient listed is chickpeas (the edamame hummus I had before didn't have chickpeas in them), so that was a surprise.

Ingredients: Garbanzo Beans (Chickpeas), Roasted Beets, Tahini, Lemon Juice, Garlic, Sea Salt.

Perhaps it's a consistency thing? Or a preference? Both chickpeas and edamame are "beans" - but I'm not going to think that much into it.

I can smell the garlic right away, and the consistency is of your standard hummus variety. But the taste? It's pretty good. I didn't really think I was going to like it one way or the other, but this turns out to be another way for me to eat some beets.

The package is 6oz, and doesn't offer any nutritional information, but the label states that it's vegan and gluten-free... and all the ingredients seem okay, so I could finish off the whole container if I so chose to... but I think I'll be a good girl and save some for later.

Okay, I'll leave here with a question: If YOU made hummus and replaced the chickpeas with something else, would you still call it "hummus"?

https://sinbadspecialtyfoods.com/

Later my lovelies.

Have Goodness!
Rae

Selma's Peppermint Stick Rice Crispy Treat

I LOVE RICE CRISPY TREATS!!!

I love me some rice crispy treats. All kinds. ALL KINDS.

When I was first introduced to these lovely treats, they were only made with the actual Rice Crispies cereal. Never having made any myself but eaten my fair share, I believe the preparation for the treats only consists of the cereal, butter, and marshmallow.

When I was little, they only had them in the basic small size, roughly the size of maybe a standard brownie, but then of course as time went on and food sizes have increased, now rice crispy treats are the size of bricks. (Now I'm not mad at this fact, but sometimes I look at a treat and think DAMN!)

I also remember thinking as a child why they never tried to make these treats with Fruity or Cocoa Pebbles cereal since they were essentially the same rice cereal consistency. Eventually, I saw treats made with these and other cereals - and I've had most of those I think, but right now, we're talking about the original plain rice cereal.

So I will admit that these treats are a sometimes food - especially now since they've grown in size equal to that of a third of your face, but I digress. With that said, when I saw this treat while holiday shopping, I snatched it up really quick. I think there were other flavors, but the peppermint one caught my eyes, and it was the holidays so... why not?

The treat even in the packaging feels pretty standard - sturdy with a little squish factor. When opening the package, you're hit with sugar and a dash of peppermint. The treat is mostly marshmallow treat with a layer of peppermint bark on top, so the marshmallow factor (at least the scent) overpowers the peppermint. The peppermint bark layer on top looks just like that - a white layer with crumbled candy cane chunks all throughout though they're thoroughly smashed which I like since bigger pieces could cause small candy shards poking your mouth and who wants that?

Now, the treat is WAY too large to get a full bite, so since the peppermint is only on the top, I tried to take a big bite out of a top corner - and DAMN!!! That is some PEPP-ER-MINT!!! The layer only is on the top, very thin but sugary and powerful enough to leave a flavor impact. Taking a bite out of just the treat brings me to my happy place. Oh the sweet scent of crispy treat nostalgia

The package says it's 6oz and a serving size is 1/4 of the treat - so there are four servings in one whole treat. Okay, really? I think that's a little excessive. As much as I love the bigger sized treats - which to be honest feels like it can be a whole meal - why make them so big? Can't you make a 6oz treat in one package?

In any case, I ate a bit and then bagged and saved the rest for a later time. (And to be honest - I ate maybe a third of it, or perhaps a little less than third, but I'm rounding up.)

All in all, it's good. I'm happy with a regular rice crispy treat, but the flavored ones so far haven't disappointed which makes me happy - and the peppermint one is definitely a WIN!

https://selmas.com/

Later my lovelies.

Have Goodness!
Rae

Hungry Buddha - Coconut Jerky (Teriyaki)

I'm of the mind that in most food situations, if an item is made up of things that I like individually, then together, I will most likely like it.

So by that rationale, this item would be perfect. I mean... I love coconut. I love jerky.

When I opened the bag, the smell was... interesting. I think it was more faint teriyaki than coconut, but it wasn't strong or anything so it didn't bother me much.

The look of the coconut jerky reminds me of the pig ears or bone treats you give dogs to chew and gnaw for dental health. The pieces are dark brown and appear to be hard... and some of the pieces are but once you break off a piece, you can chew it. In comparison to coconut chips, they are considerably larger in size. I guess the best size description I can think of is if you've ever had dried fruit slices like pineapple rings or apples. They're roughly that size.

The flavor is not jerky. I say that here because most of the time when I try something that claims to be one thing but an alternate version of that, the flavor profile is roughly similar to the original item. Case in point, I've had beef jerky since I was little, and all the brands basically taste the same even if one brand has a leaner cut and another a thicker cut. I've also had other meat types of jerky - turkey, fish, etc. And they all taste and feel like "jerky."

Now perhaps it's because this is a fruit and not a meat that this rule doesn't seem to apply. With that said, this is in no way (in my opinion) jerky-ish at all. The texture is off, but then again, it's coconut so the process could obviously affect the end result. The flavor profile is off for me as well. I can taste a little bit of both coconut and teriyaki, but those two components mixed together with the other seasonings are just not making my palate very happy.

The bag is 1.4oz - with one serving being half the bag (90 calories per serving).

I'm open to trying other coconut jerky types/brands or other coconut jerky flavors by this brand, but this particular flavor wasn't happymaking for me at all.

https://www.buddhabrandscompany.com/hungry-buddha/

Later my lovelies.

Have Goodness!
Rae

Snacktime Express - Dill Pickle Popcorn

One time on the way home from visiting a friend, I stopped off at a gas station to fill up my car and fill up on snacks for the drive. There I found pickle-flavored chips. Since then I've seen a variety of brands make pickle chips, and most of them I've tried and have loved.

The Counter has deep-fried pickle chips that are SO yummy.

And I've even made and eaten peanut butter and pickle sandwiches. (Yes, you heard me correctly.) I don't have them often, but they are yummy, and usually are a random craving that I usually sate when I have it.

Needless to say - I like pickles. I think that goes along with my love of sour gummies. With the pickles, I like the sour, vinegar taste mixed with whatever other flavorings there may be, (I once had spicy garlic pickles - DEE-LISH-US!!!)

So while out holiday shopping, I came across the food section at Home Goods and passed some popcorn. Usually, around the holiday season, there are TONS of popcorn tins filled with regular, cheese, and caramel popcorn. Some even have the caramel/cheese combo which I don't particularly like but hey - to each their own.

For the holidays, they even had colorful popcorn advertised as holiday-themed due to be different colors of Christmas tree lights. There were also a lot of popcorn bags where everything was covered in chocolate. (Don't get me wrong. I like me some sweet popcorn, but I wasn't there shopping for me.)

But then I found Dill Pickle Popcorn.

Yup. You heard me. I've had it before. A variety of popcorn vendors have made dill pickle popcorn before, and I've had maybe at least three or four, but I hadn't had this brand yet.

Oh and how yummy it was and happy it made me.

It wasn't overly salty - which is a plus - and the dill pickle flavor was just enough.

The bag is 7oz and the "nutritional facts" on the back says that a serving is two cups (which is 180 calories). For the size of the bag, there are about four servings per this size bag... and looking at the bag now, I think I've eaten at least one serving... or maybe one and a half.

Checking out their website, there are A LOT of flavors that they make and quite a few I would like to try. They also have a selection of cinnamon glazed nuts to choose from (though that selection is less extensive than the popcorn) as well as subscription box service.

One bag is good for me for a while even if it's a flavor I love, but I would definitely buy more - especially since there are flavors I'd like to try (a few of which come to mind during my PMS days).

https://www.snacktimeexpress.com/
https://www.snacktimeexpress.com/collections/best-sellers/products/dill-pickle-popcorn
https://texaspopcorncompany.com/ [listed on the back of the bag]

Later my lovelies.

Have Goodness!
Rae