i'm branching out!

Hello there!  I've decided to broaden my horizons and work on a lifestyle blog instead.  Don't worry, my snack and other food reviews with crappy pictures will continue to live on.  

Hope on over to whatkarensaid.wordpress.com to check it out.  Thanks for reading and happy snacking!

speculoos cookie butter

What's better than a delicious cookie that is like the lovechild of a Digestive biscuit and a gingerbread cookie?  Why, the same cookie in a spreadable form, so it can be smeared on and enjoyed along with something else (like another cookie)!  

I have been keeping an eye out for speculoos cookie butter since I first read about it in the New York Times food section months ago.  I could never find it in any of the local grocery stores around here.  In fact, even now, I can't find the "original" speculoos cookie butter produced by Lotus Bakeries.  Instead, I settled for this version by Penotti that I picked up at Superstore.

The speculoos cookie is a shortcrust cookie that originates from Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany.  The cookiues are thin, slightly browned, and are mildly flavoured by spices including cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger, among others.  The cookie butter essentially contains crushed up speculoos cookies, more sugar, and an emulsifier, allowing the "cookies" to be enjoyed on other foods such as toast, pancakes, other cookies, on Triscuits (as shown above), or spooned directly out of the jar (guilty as charged).

The cookie butter looks thicker and dryer than peanut butter, but actually spreads quite easily.  The taste of the cookie butter is true to the original cookie itself...in other words, yummy!  I'm usually not a fan of the sweet-and-salty combo, but the cookie butter served on a Triscuit was unexpectedly satisfying (I'll have to credit my husband for that pairing).  I joked about eating the cookie butter directly out of the jar (okay, so maybe it wasn't exactly a joke), but if you choose to do so, indulge sparingly: the cookie butter contains all the fat, calories, and sugar of peanut butter, but hardly any of the protein. 

Buy again?  Yes.  I'm still going to rake the shelves at the store for the Lotus Bakeries version, but until then, consider me a repeat customer of this brand.  ~400g jar, C$3.99

knight's dark chocolate bar

My neighbourhood Save On Foods is really starting to fuel my snacking habits.  Each time I go to pick up a couple items, I can't help going down their snack and bulk food aisles.  Without fail, I always end up with a new item to try by the time I hit the self-checkout counter.

My latest purchase was a dark chocolate, almond and cherry bar by Knight's Fine Chocolates.  The humongous 350g bar had intially caught my eye, but I was very much relieved to find that the same variety was offered in a reasonable 70g package as well (I swear, I wouldn't have bought the 350g bar.  A girl's got to have some boundaries).

Knight's is based in Kelowna, British Columbia.  Their chocolate contains sour cherries that are grown on a family farm in Kelowna.  I went through a phase where I was scarfing down chocolate-covered dried cherries and strawberries like there was no tomorrow, so the combination of cherries, almonds, and dark chocolate sounded utterly perfect.

And it would have been perfect, if it wasn't for that chocolate.  The chocolate had a bit of a chalky taste to it and reminded me of a Hershey bar (which I am not a fan of).  It just did not deliver that rich taste and smooth texture that I have come to expect from a good chocolate bar.  The cherries and almonds did not disappoint, but that chocolate just brought the overall quality of the bar down several notches.

Buy again?  No thank you.  It's a no-brainer: the star of any chocolate bar should be the chocolate, and this just didn't happen here.  ~70g bar, C$2.99

Our chocolate is filled with the same type of sour cherries grown on the family orchard based out of Kelowna B.C. Each bite possesses a unique flavour mixed with a crunch of almond and chewy dried sour cherry. This dark chocolate comes without the traditional bitterness of other dark chocolate. In an attempt to satisfy health concerns, Knight’s supplies gluten-free chocolate in all types and sizes. - See more at: http://knightschocolate.com/#sthash.gopLXbLI.dpuf

Our chocolate is filled with the same type of sour cherries grown on the family orchard based out of Kelowna B.C. Each bite possesses a unique flavour mixed with a crunch of almond and chewy dried sour cherry. This dark chocolate comes without the traditional bitterness of other dark chocolate. In an attempt to satisfy health concerns, Knight’s supplies gluten-free chocolate in all types and sizes. - See more at: http://knightschocolate.com/#sthash.gopLXbLI.dpuf

full of beans deluxe kitchen sink soup mix

I know bean soup doesn't really count as a snack item, but it will be the last review to round out the items I received in my February Foodie Pages tasting box.

Full of Beans is a small, family-owned business in Ontario.  The products offered by Full of Beans pretty much came out of necessity: the owners' son was put on a wheat-free diet, so the mother learned to make gluten-free options for him.

The Kitchen Sink soup mix contains a blend of 12 different types of beans (13 according to their product description, but 12 per their ingredient list.  Odd...) and additional seasonings.  The package they came in sure isn't lacking in colour.

I soaked the beans overnight and ended up cooking them in the slow cooker.  I made a few modifications: no tomato (as I didn't have any at home), but I added some sausage and mixed baby kale at the end.  My soup turned out to be more of a brownish-grey colour, and not like the version shown on the product page online.  I found the beans did not really preserve the vibrant colours they held in dry form.  As for taste, the soup turned out as I expected.  Keep in mind I am generally not a big fan of beans, so when I make something like this, I don't expect to be blown away by the taste...and I wasn't.  Truthfully, as pretty as the 12 types of beans are, I probably could have done something similar using 4 or 5 different kinds and my unrefined bean palate would not have noticed the difference.

Buy again?  No.  Nothing against Full of Beans, but I am just not a fan of beans in general.  However, I would be interested in trying out their baking mixes, such as the one for these gluten-free brownies, in the future.  ~500g bag, C$5, available on foodiepages.ca

 

be.better oven baked pistachio nut crunch

Be.better is a line of products offered exclusively by Rexall.  According to Rexall's website, the brand contains "over 100 products designed to help Canadians live, feel and be better."  The line includes snacks, cleaning products, vitamins, probiotics and hair care products.  

I had gone into Rexall to mail out a couple items at the Canada Post kiosk and found mysef meandering down the snack aisle on my way out.  The brightly coloured baked nut crunch and rice crisp snack bags caught my eye.  After doing a quick once-over of the nutritional information on each, I picked up a couple and headed off the the cashier.

The pistachio baked nut crunch(es) are clusters of dry-roasted almonds, cashews and pistachios.  Each cluster is about 2x2 cm and all you see are nuts.  The clusters are lightly glazed for sweetness.  Now, I'm not usually a fan of the sweet & salty combo, but these little clusters were delicious.  The taste reminded me a little of the honey roasted peanuts that airlines used to give out on flights, but better.  The nuts were satisfyingly crunchy with just a hint of sweetness.  I wanted to scarf down the whole bag, but restrained myself.  These delightly little clusters are calorie-dense; a half-cup serving (roughly half of the 100g bag shown above) clocks in at 290 calories and 20g of fat.  Aw, nuts...(pun intended)!

Other than the nuts, the nut crunch contains only a few simple ingredients: rice syrup, cane sugar, and sea salt.  That's it.  No weird, difficult-to-pronounce ingredients.  

Buy again?  Yes - I'm a fan.  Provided that I stick to the suggested serving size, these little nut clusters would be great for getting my through the afternoon slump at work.  ~100g bag, $2.99, available at Rexall pharamcy locations.  

cadbury dairy milk chips cookie dough bar

I was browsing around the chocolate section at my local Save On Foods when this package caught my eye.  I have a soft spot for Cadbury chocolate bars (though hubby rolls his eyes at this, as he prefers Hershey chocolate.  Come on...really?!) and when I saw this version, I just had to try it.

The bar, as a whole, looks like an ordinary Dairy Milk bar.  However, hidden inside are little nuggets of chocolate chip cookie dough goodness.

When I buy chocolate bars like this, I like to savour each square by letting it melt in my mouth.  This is probably to stretch out the consumption as long as possible so I don't eat the whole bar in one sitting (this technique is surprisingly ineffective for that purpose).  I did the same for this bar and was left disappointed.  After the creamy dairy milk chocolate melts away, I am left with soggy bits of cookie dough, which had a gritty, unpleasant texture.

Buy again?  No.  I can tolerate adding raisins or nuts to good old Cadbury Dairy Milk, but the cookie dough bits just didn't work for me.  ~100g bar, C$2.50.

meiji almond slice

Meiji is a Japanese company that makes an almost overwhelming assortment of snacks.  I vaguely remember trying a couple of their products in the past, but have generally refrained from buying too many since they are a little pricey (I think most of the cost goes to the pretty packaging).  However, I went to T&T to pick up some groceries around Valentine's Day and saw that a special display of Meiji snacks had been set up (um...last-ditch present, I guess?).  I couldn't resist, so I ended up with a pack of Almond Slice.

 

The package contains 8 individually-wrapped pieces of chocolate (see what I mean about pretty packaging?).  I do give them points for portion control.  However, as great as this product looked from the outside, the actual chocolate was just so-so.  The milk chocolate didn`t quite have that smooth, rich texture I look for in chocolate.  And as you can see in the picture below, the actual quantity of almonds in each slice doesn't quite add up to what is shown on the box.

Buy again?  No.  The sub-par quality of the chocolate isn't worth revisiting. ~8 x individual portions, C$3.99.