Revolution Foods Meal Kits

A while ago, I had the opportunity to sample snack boxes from Revolution Foods.  These are packaged little snacks, aimed at throwing into a child's lunch box, attempting to be more healthy than other options on the market.

They focus on real foods, no artificial flavors, colors, preservatives.  But at the core, they are pretty similar to what I remember from growing up, Lunchables.

I had the chance to try three of their "jet packs", little meal/snacks that included a fruit snack for dessert.  I know I'm not the target audience for these, but Ojan and I packed them to bring on a flight.  Adults on a flight isn't much different from kids at lunch ... right?

I wasn't particularly impressed, particularly with the extensive, unappealing packaging, but the pizza kit at least was interesting.  But again, I'm clearly not the target market for these.

Turkey & Cheddar Meal Kit.

The box contained 4 separate packages, unlike a Lunchable where they are stored all in one tray.  I'll break my review down by component. The packaging however just wasn't appealing.  Slices of turkey in a vacuumed packed plastic bag just ... don't look good.

Sliced Turkey: "Mini Slices of nitrite/nitrate-free oven-roasted turkey raised with no antibiotics."
I didn't try the turkey, but Ojan said it was slimy.

Cheddar Cheese: "Real bite-size cheddar cheese slices, made with rBST-free milk."
The package contained a few little squares of very yellow cheddar.  It wasn't very good, not smoky, not aged, not distinguishable from any other cheese.  But, this kit wasn't designed for a cheese snob adult, it was for a child.  I'm sure it was inoffensive to a child.

Crackers: "Crispy honey wheat crackers."
These were slightly sweet, with a good salt level.  But they really were just wheat crackers, not something I seek out.

So far, perhaps it was better for me than a Lunchable, but, it certainly didn't taste any better, and Lunchables actually win on presentation.

Ham & Cheddar Meal Kit.

Next, we tried the Ham & cheddar kit.  It had the same cheddar slices and crackers.

The turkey from the previous kit was swapped out for "mini Slices of nitrite/nitrate-free* honey ham raised with no antibiotics".  Again slimy, and Ojan wasn't really into it.

The final item was the "dessert", a fruit bar.
"Wildberry fruit stripes, a 100% fruit snack"

This I tried.  It had a really good wildberry flavor, and actually tasted like real fruit.  It had a nice chew to it, but it also had seeds, and I didn't like the seeds.

So again, the cheese, crackers, and meat weren't great, but, the fruit snack was decent enough.

Cheese Pizza Meal Kit.

"Build your own ready-to-eat pizza.  Warming optional."

Now we moved on to the fun one.  Pizza!

The pack contained whole grain pizza crust, "natural" pizza sauce, and shredded mozzarella.  Oh, and a little spreader to spread the sauce on the pizza.

The most fun part of this was making the pizza, although there were a lot of small packages to open.  I think a young child might struggle with the dexterity required to open them.  The amount of crust to sauce to cheese was just right.

After assembling a pizza, Ojan and I tried it at room temperature.  The crust was rather cardboard-y, the cheese unremarkable.  I did like the tang to the pizza sauce.  Ojan wasn't impressed.

I needed to get creative, so, I turned on the toaster oven.  The instructions told us to microwave it for 30 seconds, but, um, microwaves are not my style.  Toast oven it was.

After a few minutes in the toaster oven, the crust softened up, the cheese melted nicely.  It was transformed.  It really wasn't bad.  I still thought the sauce was pretty tasty.  Ojan still wasn't impressed.

I think I mostly liked it because it reminded me of Ellios pizzas, which I used to love.  There was something very similar to the taste of the crust (although this was whole grain, I'm sure Ellios was not), and to the sauce.

I wouldn't actually get this again, but, it was far better than I expected.

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The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen

Ok, I'll admit it.  I've been to The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen a slew of times, and ... I've never had their grilled cheese.

Now that we've cleared that up, let me tell you about the place.  Yes, they are known for their grilled cheese.  When they opened back in 2010, the stories didn't stop about how the lines were always out the door.  Everyone was flocking there for grilled cheese.  And for good reason.

The owners opened after winning their 7th National Grilled Cheese Championship (yes, this apparently exists).  The head chef/owner has a Master’s degree in engineering from MIT ... and has taken an obsessive scientific focus to researching and perfecting grilled cheese making.

I'm sure they make excellent grilled cheese.  But I'm just not a sandwich girl.  If I were though, some of the grilled cheese options do sound pretty amazing, as you'd expect, they aren't exactly just simple basic grilled cheese.  One even has mac and cheese stuffed inside of its garlic-buttered bread.  Another has roasted mushrooms, melted leeks, caramelized onions, and thyme butter mixed in alongside melted gruyere.

But the menu goes far beyond grilled cheese.  They have soups, salads, and sides (including a mac and cheese of the day).  They serve breakfast grilled cheeses with eggs.  But still, none of this is really what I go for.

You know me.  I love my baked goods.  And it turns out, The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen also knows how to bake.  They make their own muffins, biscuits, blondies, and cookies, with the flavors changing daily.  It reminds me a little of The Rib Whip food truck, in that while they are known as specialists in one area (BBQ -> grilled cheese)), they totally blow me away with incredible desserts (buttermilk pie -> blondies).

They no longer have crazy lines, not because people don't like the place, but because they have greatly expanded, into two locations, one large one in South Park, and another in the Mission.

The Space

Outdoor Seating: Mission.

Both locations have outdoor seating, but in the Mission, there are only a few tables on the small sidewalk.

Outdoor Seating: South Park.

In South Park, they have a lot more outdoor space, with tables filling a large area out front.

Inside: Mission.

Both locations also have tables inside, along with bar seating.  The inside space in the Mission seems bigger, with more tables.

Bar Seating,:South Park.

In South Park, there are only a few tables, the bar area, and outside seating, are the majority of hte seating.

Open Kitchen: South Park.

The Mission location I believe has a larger kitchen, as they offer up more items like fries, burgers, fried chicken, and crispy brussels sprouts.  At the South Park location, the kitchen is pretty small.  It is semi-open, with a window into the space.

Drinks

The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen offers a large variety of drinks, including a large selection of bottled drinks, beer, mimosas (tempting!), and housemade sodas and lemonades, with flavors changing regularly.  They also serve de la paz coffee, and one of my local favorites, T-We tea.

Green Apple Ginger Housemade Soda.  $3.06.

Ojan has tried many of the sodas and lemonades, and always quite liked them.

One time when I went, it was a ridiculously hot day, and the first thing I needed was a cold drink.  I was planning to get a hot coffee to go with my muffin, but given the weather, I changed my mind.

That day, there were two housemade sodas to pick from: blood orange or green apple ginger.  I never order sodas anywhere, but given my desire for something thirst quenching, I went for the green apple ginger.  It was sweet, but the finish was spicy from the ginger, which gave it the refreshing quality I was looking for.  But after a few sips, I found it just too sweet.  I also would not have identified it as green apple.  After some ice melted and watered it down a bit, I liked it again.

The person making my drink didn't seem to measure, she just combined the green apple ginger syrup and soda water, so I imagine there is some variance here.  Just a little less syrup and I think this would have really, really hit the spot.

$3.06 for a housemade soda seems about on par.

Decaf Coffee.  $2.

The coffee is from De La Paz, available in decaf or regular.

I always opt for decaf, which requires it to be fresh brewed (the regular coffee is pre-brewed and kept hot).  It always takes a little while to get a cup of decaf, because they do it pour-over style.  I don't mind the wait though, because the pour over technique works well with this coffee, and it is always pretty decent.

Skim milk or cream, and basic sweeteners are available.

A large coffee is only $2, actually quite a deal for a pour over!

Muffins

As I mentioned, The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen bakes their own fresh muffins, and the variety changes daily.  They post the muffin flavor (and other daily specials) to their Facebook page every morning.  I've been following them, and have been tempted by so many of the muffin flavors (peanut butter and jelly muffins, seriously, how great does that sound?).  They generally sound great.

Since I love my morning baked goods, it didn't take long for me to get in and start trying the muffins.

Apple Cinnamon Muffin.  $2.50.

On my first visit, I was really hopping that the peanut butter and jelly, or perhaps lemon and blueberry, would come up on the day I was going, but alas, my only option was apple cinnamon.  Not what I'd ever pick, nor really all that seasonal in the middle of summer.  It seems more appropriate for fall.

It was a decent muffin.  A large size, but not a total monster.  Very dense.  Inside were generous chunks of apple.  I really appreciated that they didn't skimp on the fruit.  There were a lot of chunks, and they were all a good size.  The fruit was cooked perfectly, not too soft and mushy, not too crisp.  The fruit made the muffin very moist.  If only I liked apples!  Had this been filled with berries, I think I would have loved it, and the plentiful fruit would have been wonderful.

The muffin base wasn't remarkable, fairly plain.  I didn't taste much cinnamon spicing.  On top was a nice crumbly streusel layer, a bit sweetened, and it added an enjoyable crunch.

Overall, it was fine, but again, just not exactly what I wanted.  It reminded me a lot of a coffee cake, which just isn't my favorite style of muffin.  And particularly not when I don't have a coffee to pair with it.  But there were many redeeming qualities to this muffin, and I'll definitely return sometime to try another flavor, hopefully berry next time!

The $2.50 price tag was perfect for a muffin of this size, freshly baked.

PB & J Muffin.  $2.50.

On my next visit, the PB & J finally was available.  How could I not try it?

On top was the same as my first muffin, slightly sweet, streusel crumb topping.  I really liked the crunch it added, although, it again did make it feel a bit like a coffee cake, or a dessert.  Not a bad thing, but made it a bit hard to justify eating for breakfast.

Under the crumble topping was my favorite part: the crispy top.  I may be strange in this way, but I love my muffins and cupcakes to have crispy tops.  I want the inside moist, sure, but I like the top to have some bite to it.  So many places make their muffins and cupcakes all homogenous, which I guess is impressive baking skill, but, just not my style.

Inside the PB & J Muffin.

The inside was the real goodness.  Big gobs of both peanut butter & jam were hiding in here.  The cake itself was fairly plain, but moist, just like in the apple and cinnamon muffin.  This was totally fine, since the pb & j added plenty of flavor, and there was tons of it.  It tasted like ... well, yup, a pb & j.

So, let's step back here.  I like muffins.  I like pb & j.  I like streusel crumble topping.  So yes, I liked this.  I'm not really sure what it was appropriate for though, as it was a bit too ridiculous for a breakfast item.  But it wasn't really a dessert either.  I'm going with mid-afternoon snack?

My absolute favorite part of this muffin was the play of textures: the crumb topping, the crispy muffin top, the creamy peanut butter, the gooey jelly, and, the part I haven't told you about yet: the caramelized jam.  There were places where the jam had seeped out during baking, and it got all crusty and caramelized.  I loved those bits.

Overall, it came together exactly as I expected, and the $2.50 price for a large fresh muffin was totally reasonable.  I'm not sure I'd get another, but I'm very glad I finally got to try it.

(And yes, I intentionally interchanged my use of in both "jam" and "jelly" throughout this review, and yes I know there is a major difference, but since it was just listed as PB & J, I actually don't know which it was.  I'm pretty sure it was jam, which, is superior to jelly in all forms, except blackberry, due to seeds.  This was strawberry "J").

Cardamom Peach Muffin.  $2.50.

On my next visit, the daily muffin was cardamom peach.  I don't particularly care for cardamom, but I do like peaches, and, well, I wanted a muffin and had no other option.  So I got it, even though it looked a little ... deflated.

Inside the Cardamom Peach.

Once I took a few bites, it was easy to understand why the top didn't look properly risen.  It was certainly under-baked.  Inside wasn't just moist, it was raw, and quite gummy.  Not exactly enjoyable.  But just like the apple muffin, it was loaded up with fruit, large pieces of peach, which I did like.  And the top had a crunchy, sweet, streusel topping, although not as thick as on the other muffins I tried.

Overall, the least successful of all of the flavors I have tried, due to the improper baking, the flavoring I didn't like, and insufficient topping.

Maple Blueberry Muffin.  $2.50.

Next up ... maple blueberry!

The aroma coming off of this was amazing.  Sooo much maple.

I arrived right at 10am on a Saturday, when the muffins were fresh out of the oven, still in the muffin tin even.  It was piping hot.  Major bonus points for this.

Maple Blueberry: Insides.

On top was the same crumble topping as the others, slightly sweet, but for some reason, I really didn't care for it this time.  The top also wasn't crispy like I like.  Maybe it would crisp as it cooled?

Inside was crazy loaded up with blueberry, as you can see.  Points for having so much fruit, and this made it very moist, but, for some reason, I just didn't care for it.

So ... I didn't like the blueberry, I didn't like the crumble top, and maple and blueberry actually just didn't combine very well for me.  Not a winning flavor, but the appeal of a hot muffin was still there.

$2.50 was again a great price for a large, fresh muffin.  

Desserts

For desserts, they feature an assortment of homemade cookies (flavors changing daily) and blondies.  Neither of these are my favorites, but, eventually I had to try them.

Butterscotch Pecan Blondie.  $2.50.

Inside the display case with the muffin was a pile of blondies.  They didn't look like much, but I can never resist desserts, and I was already feeling a bit sad about the muffin choices.  I figured it wouldn't hurt to get a blondie for the road, just in case ...

This turned out to be a winning decision.  Sure, the blondie didn't look like anything special.  Just a blondie.  How good could it be?  Answer: amazing.

It was sweet, but not in a over-the-top cloyingly sweet sort of way.  The sweetness was a complex flavor, slightly caramelized, from butterscotch.  But there were no individual butterscotch chips, instead, the butterscotch flavor just permeated the whole thing.  There were chunks of pecans for crunch and a tiny pop of bitterness against the sweet.  It was perfectly cooked, and while it might have looked dry, it wasn't.  It was chewy in just the right way.

This thing really was amazing.  Yes, it was just a blondie.  But I'm quite certain it was the best blondie I've ever had.

It was also massive.  You could easily split this with a friend ... or two.  In my case, I meant to just take a bite when I got it, just to evaluate it at its freshest, and intended to eat it later and share it with Ojan.  I think I devoured half of it on the spot.  Whoops.

The $2.50 price tag was fine for such a massive treat.  I sorta wish they had a smaller size available, but then again, there is nothing wrong with eating half now, and half later.  I will certainly be back for another one of these!

Update: And indeed, I did return for another.  I was worried that now that I had expectations it wouldn't live up to them.  But, luckily for me, it did.  The blondie was still delicious, and still massive.  Since I had also picked up a slew of other treats, I only ate half of it, and stashed the other half away in my freezer.  I'm looking forward to the day that I decide to pull it out.  I think it would make be absolutely fabulous warm, topped with ice cream, a drizzle of caramel sauce, and whipped cream.  I can't wait!

Update #2: I pulled the chunk out of my freezer, let it defrost, and then put it in the toaster oven to warm it up.  I served it with a sweet cream ice cream with caramel swirl.  This was pretty much amazing.  Warm blondie and ice cream?  Oh yes.  The blondie sundae is a classic for a reason!  I now plan to get extra blondies whenever I visit, just to fill my freezer with them.

Peanut Butter Cookie. $3.

I'm not really a fan of cookies, but Ojan is, and he was craving peanut butter cookies, so he picked this.  I snuck a bite.

It was a hard style cookie, but the peanut butter flavor was strong, and I appreciated the bits of peanut in it.  If I liked hard cookies, I would like this.

Biscuits

Along with a muffin special of the day, and cookies of the day, The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen also offers up a biscuit of the day, featuring different cheeses, add-ins like ham, turkey, chicken, or even potatoes, and spicing like red pepper, thyme, basil.  I've tried unsuccessfully many times to get biscuits, as they are always sold out.  They seem to make a small number, and they are highly popular, at least, on weekends.  It took many visits before I was finally able to get one!

Jalapeño Cheddar Biscuit.  $2.50.

One weekend, I pulled chili out of the freezer to have later for dinner, and I really wanted a biscuit to pair with it.  I called ahead to find out what the biscuit of the day was.  Jalapeño Cheddar.  Perfect!  I was warned that there were only two left.  Now, it wasn't even 11am, and they only opened at 10am!  Less than an hour into service and only two biscuits left?  Ahhh.  So, I asked the person who answered the phone if she could set one aside for me, and promised I'd come claim it.  She happily agreed, and when I showed up an hour later, it was nicely set aside for me, labelled with my name.  The other one was long gone, so I think I made the right move.

Although I got it for my chili, I needed to try a bite on the spot.  The biscuit was good.  It didn't have quite the crumb I would have liked, as it was a moister style, and it didn't seem to have any buttermilk, which I always appreciate for the tang.  It was loaded with jalapeño though, nice size chunks, adding great flavor and something interesting to bite into.  The cheddar was also generous.  For a moist style biscuit, it was good, but not something I'd go out of my way for.

When I got home, I decided to heat it up in the toaster even, wrapped in foil, for a few minutes while my chili was simmering.  It transformed the biscuit.  The cheddar got all melty and totally, totally delicious.  Now it was a real winner, and something I'd certainly gladly eat again, although, only when warmed up.  It didn't even need the chili with it, it was good as is, or, uh, slathered with crème fraîche, which I may or may not have done.

The $2.50 price was fine for a fresh baked biscuit loaded with goodness.

Caramelized Onion, Fontina, & Thyme Biscuit.  $2.50.

As I mentioned, they are often sold out of biscuits, seemingly no matter how I early I arrive.  One day, I arrived around 11:30am, and there was one sole biscuit remaining.  I had to get it, because ... I could.  I wasn't even sure what I was going to do with it later, but I saw it as a rare opportunity, so I had to act on it.

Like before, I of course took a bite of it the moment I got it.  The overwhelming flavor was of thyme.  Not in a bad way, but, this was no secondary component of the biscuit.  Thyme was on the forefront, making it a very savory choice.

Also like before, I wasn't thrilled with it at room temperature, but, I brought it home and heated it up.  Again, instantly better.  The bits of cheese throughout got all melty.  I preferred the cheddar in my previous biscuit to the fontina, but the fontina wasn't bad.

The real reason I got this biscuit is that I adore caramelized onions, so I was really looking forward to those.  Sadly, I didn't really find any inside my biscuit.  I think there was one or two little pieces?  Certainly not a prominent ingredient.

And again, just like before, it was a moist style.  It didn't have the crumb I wanted, nor a buttermilk tang, but, it was a good biscuit, for this style of cakey biscuit.  I think it would be good made into a breakfast sandwich with a fried egg inside.

Sides

For side dishes, they have a basic salad, soups, housemade pickles, bags of chips, fries, crispy brussels sprouts, and a kale slaw.  Even if I didn't want a grilled cheese, I could still get sides, right?

Kale Slaw.  $4.50.

It may seem strange to go to a grilled cheese place to order a salad.  Particularly for me, as I don't really eat many salads.  But, I had a fantastic kale caesar salad a few weeks before, and I'd been craving kale salads ever since.  So the kale slaw just called out to me.

Described as "kale, jicama, fennel, red‏ bell peppers, red and green cabbage, and currants in a yogurt slaw dressing, toasted pepitas".

I actually wasn't quite sure what to expect.  I've had plenty of kale salads in my life, but most of the time, the kale is used like lettuce, in larger pieces.  This was actually chopped up for a slaw.

It was totally delicious.  There was the kale, obviously, and classic shredded cabbage (red and green), which you'd expect in a slaw.  Thinly sliced red peppers added a bit of sweetness and an additional pop of color.  I had mixed feelings on the jicama.  I like jicama, and I appreciated the juicy freshness it brought to the slaw, but, it also seemed soggy.  The currants were perfect for pops of additional sweetness, and I adored the crunch from the pepitas on top.  The dressing was light, didn't taste too much like yogurt, and was dressed enough to be juicy, but not overdressed.  I think there was perhaps some vinegar in there as well?  I was really glad there was no raw red onion.

Overall, this was pretty much exactly what I wanted, fresh and flavorful, a mix of textures and colors.  $4.50 for a large size side was fine.

Bread 'n' Butter Pickles.  $10.

I'm a pickle snob.  I freely admit it.  My great aunt makes the most amazing pickles ever, ranging from standard cucumber dills, to pickled beets, to the best dilly beans ever ... I could go on and on.  Her pickles are what I was raised on, so you can only imagine my confusion when I first encountered Vlasic or other store bough "pickles".  What?

Anyway, I always bring a stash of pickles back with me to San Francisco whenever I go visit home, and my mother kindly replenishes it from time to time, but I've really wanted to find some pickles out here that I like.  So, I try them all over the place.

I was intrigued by the bread and butters at The American, as my aunt's bread and butters are high on my list of favorites (although honestly, it is nearly impossible to pick a favorite!), so I grabbed a container to bring home and try out.

American Grilled Cheese's version are standard cucumber based pickles, in a basic vinegar and sugar base, with dill, tumeric, garlic, and horseradish.  This is fairly different from what I think of as bread and butters, besides the fact that they are sweet pickled cucumbers.  My aunt's version has peppers and onions, and no horseradish or dill.

The flavor was good, sweet but not too sweet, tangy but not too tangy, and it turns out, I did like the addition of the dill.  I didn't really taste horseradish distinctly.  They were sliced super thin, which makes sense for use inside the grilled cheese, but wasn't quite appropriate for munching.

$10 for a large container was a fine price for homemade pickles, and although I liked them, I wouldn't get them again, as they just weren't quite my style.

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Red Mango, Philadelphia Airport

Some might dread needing to eat their meals in airports.  Me?  I consider airports opportunities to try foods I don't normally have access to, or, I suppose, I don't normally seek out.

On a recent journey, I had a layover in Philadelphia, my first time ever.  I eagerly looked up all my choices.

I was overjoyed when I saw that every terminal there featured one of my favorite treats: froyo.  Terminal F even had one of my favorite frozen yogurt shops: Red Mango.  Back when Ojan lived in Palo Alto, there was a Red Mango near his house, and we visited ... frequently.  It was my favorite froyo at the time, and I have very fond memories.

The other terminals all also have froyo shops, but they have Pinkberry instead.  I like Pinkberry, but we have one in SF, so I have visited and reviewed many times.  Red Mango however is somewhere I don't get to visit anymore, so  I was even more excited when I found out my flight was landing in the F terminal.

But I had a dilemma.  My ongoing flight was in another terminal, and the places I wanted to get savory food were also in that terminal.  There was no way I had the time to go back and forth.  So, I had to either skip the froyo (ha!), or eat my froyo before my lunch.  You know what I choose.

10 Flavors Self Serve.

The model here is self serve, which is different from the Red Mango I had visited in the past.  That said, I'm a fan, and prefer self-serve, so I can mix and match, and, most importantly, load it up with ALL THE TOPPINGS!

There were 10 flavors, spread out on 5 machines, each with two flavors.  They didn't have any of my favorites, like peanut butter, but it was a decent selection.  The flavors of the day (listed as pairs that could be swirled) were:

• Pomegranate & Original.
• Vanilla Bean & Slam Dunk.
• White Peach & Sonoma Strawberry.
• Blueberry & Raspberry Sorbetto.
• Coconut & Mango.   

 Unlike most self-serve locations, they do not have any sample cups, which makes sense given the airport location, but it meant I had to commit before tasting any.  How would I know which were any good?

The solution?  I made a massive creation, and got half of the flavors.  I skipped the Pomegranate, Original, Vanilla, and Sonoma Strawberry because they sounded the most boring, and the Raspberry Sorbetto, because, why pick sorbet?

The toppings lineup was impressive, but in my excitement, I failed to get a photo.  Whoops!

To start, there were assorted sauces (chocolate, caramel, etc), all in ridiculously sticky bottles.  To add some crunch, there were tons of different nut toppings, ranging from simple sliced almonds, to honey soaked walnuts, to sweet and spicy pecans.  For the healthy, some basic fruit toppings.  And of course tons of candy, including all the classics like Butterfinger, peanut butter cups, and sour gummy worms.  And sprinkles and popping boba in a multitude of colors.  And then all the good stuff like cookie dough, pieces of cake, and brownie bits..

I was like a kid in a candy shop.  I couldn't wait to create my cup.  This is why these places do well.

The price was a whopping 58 cents per ounce, almost 20 cents higher than I think is normal?  Yay, airports.

My Creation.  $4.50.

As I said, I picked half of the flavors.  And I added a slew of toppings, each targeted at different flavors.  My creation came out to about $4.50, not nearly as bad as I feared actually.  Good thing I picked the smallest cup size, I could have done some serious damage with a larger one!

And ... the froyo wasn't very good.  Almost all of it was too icy.

Flavors (from worst to best):

• White Peach: This was way, way too sweet.  The peach flavor might have been nice, but it was just sweet overload.  And it was icy.
• Coconut: Also very icy, slight coconut flavor.  Not awful, but not very good.
• Blueberry: A bit creamier, decent blueberry flavor.
• Mango: The best of the fruit flavors.  Still fairly icy, but the mango flavor was very nice.
• Slam Dunk: This was basically Oreo flavor.  It was the only flavor I tried that was remotely creamy.  The Oreo flavor was good.  My hands down favorite, and the only one I'd get again.  Had I sampled the flavors before purchasing, I certainly would have only picked this one, perhaps with a little mango on the side.

The toppings however were much better, and I was satisfied with all my choices.  Maybe I really just wanted a bowl of candy?  In order of preference:

• Sweet and Spicy Pecans: They weren't really spicy as promised, but the candied nuts added a great crunch.
• Almond Toffee Bits: Who doesn't like sweet and sticky crunchy things?
• Sour Gummy Worms: Standard, but I always love these things, and they weren't stale or hard.
• Ghiradelli White Chocolate Sauce: yes, the bottle was a sticky mess, but the flavor of this was good, and it went really nicely with the mango.
• Yogurt (or white chocolate?) Mini Chips: Also went nicely with the mango.
• Honey Walnuts: These were great.  Walnuts soaked in a sweet sauce (honey? maple?).  They saved my lackluster coconut choice.
• Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bits: And ... the winner.  Soft, buttery, perfect size bits.  Went great with the Slam Dunk.

Overall, I can't say this was a great success, but I did enjoy the Slam Dunk with cookie dough bits.

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Pure Protein Bars

Pure Protein makes protein powders, bottled protein drinks, and protein bars, aimed at athletes. Certainly not the sort of products I seek out, as I usually find protein sources like this to be pretty awful tasting, and I'm not an elite athlete, so I have no need to eat things like this.

But ... I was at an expo, and they were giving out bars.  I'll try anything.  Spoiler: I wish I hadn't.  To be fair, I only tried one bar, and they make a slew of different varieties, some of which sound tempting, like S'mores, Peanut Butter Caramel, Chocolate Peanut Caramel, Chocolate Salted Caramel, or Dark Chocolate Coconut.  They also make canned shakes, in flavors that don't sound awful: chocolate, banana cream, strawberry creme, vanilla cream, and cookies 'n creme.  But ... I'm not about to go try any more of these products.

Strawberry Pure Protein Bar with Greek Yogurt Style Coating.

"These unique and delicious bars feature Greek Yogurt style coating and real pieces of strawberry for a truly amazing taste!"

For bars, Pure Protein makes three different product lines: the originals (made from a protein blend of whey and soy protein isolate), fruit & nut bars (these actually have real dried fruit and nuts in them), and Greek yogurt (coated in Greek yogurt).

I was given a Greek yogurt bar, certainly not what I would have picked, but, again, hey, I'll try anything.

Like most of their bars, the base is a "protein blend", made from whey protein.  Of course, there is soy protein isolate and soy crisps in there too.  These ingredients never turn out tasty, but, I tried it.

It was exactly the sort of bar that gives protein bars a bad reputation.  It tasted horrible.  The texture was horrible.  Shutter.

Yes, inside were little tiny bits that did taste like strawberry, but they couldn't mask all the protein stuff.  The "Greek Yogurt Style Coating", featuring maltitol and palm kernel oil, didn't really taste like anything, and certainly didn't add anything to the bar.  I appreciate that htey didn't even try to call it "Greek Yogurt", and opted for "Greek Yogurt Style" instead.

This was nasty.  I can't imagine a scenario under which I'd want to eat this.  There have to be better ways to get 20 grams of protein, if you really need it.

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Milkshakes ... from Pinkberry?

You know me and birthday freebies, I can't resist!  Particularly when they are for awesome things like frozen yogurt at Pinkberry.  I really like Pinkberry, and you can read all about past Pinkberry froyo creations, such as my first ever visit when they opened in SF, my return visit a few weeks later,  my 2013 and 2014 Pinkberry birthday outings, and other visits.

So when my birthday rolled around this year, I picked the first hot day, and eagerly set off to Pinkberry, excited to see my 6 flavor choices.  And then ... I saw them.  Hmm.  Not exciting.  As always, they had classic tart and chocolate hazelnut, both pretty boring.  Next came two fruity flavors: blood orange and pear.  I tried the blood orange and it was crazy sweet, and not in a good way.  Pear was a seasonal offering, creamy, decent enough, but not really for me.  Next, dairy-free peach passion.  This had a decent flavor, but was just sorbet (sorry those who are dairy-free, but I'm all about the cream).  The final flavor was another seasonal one, pumpkin.  It too was decently creamy, but I didn't care for the spicing.

I was a bit dejected.  I didn't like any of the flavors.  The birthday freebee is only good for the month, and I was gone for most of August, so I had no more time.  I had to use it, or lose it.  And I couldn't lose my freebie!

Then, the helpful staff member who was taking my order chimed in, "you can also get a smoothie or shake if you want?  Anything that is the same price as a small with toppings ..."

I had no idea that Pinkberry even had these on the menu.  At one point they experimented with offering greek yogurt, but that didn't last long.  All anyone gets there is froyo with toppings.  But since I wasn't loving the froyo flavors, maybe a shake wasn't a bad idea?

I eyed the shakes and smoothies menu.  Smoothies are made with greek yogurt and fruit, all healthy sounding, and none of the exclusively fruity flavors jumped out at me.  The shakes however are made with froyo.  They have only three flavors: strawberry pomegranate, chocolate banana, and chocolate peanut butter.  Chocolate peanut butter you say?  Well, hmm.  Chocolate and peanut butter are always a great match in my book ...

Chocolate Peanut Butter Shake. $5.25.

"The perfect twist on a classic milkshake, made with the goodness of yogurt."

I felt bad as soon as I ordered it, and saw how much work my server had to do, compared to a standard froyo order.  A swirl of froyo, pack on a few toppings, done.  But a shake?  That took effort.  But she did volunteer the fact that I could get one, right?  Maybe it was nice to do something different?

My server immediately told me that she'd be back in a few minutes, and retreated to the back of the area.  She pulled out a gallon of milk and a tub of peanut butter.  She pulled out a blender.  And she got to work.

My shake was made with the chocolate hazelnut froyo, which she dispensed right from the froyo machine into the blender, plus milk (I think whole milk? I wasn't given a choice of milks, and I can't imagine they really have options), and a very generous amount of Peter Pan creamy peanut butter.  I'm pretty sure that is all that went into it.  

Anyway.  The consistency was really great.  Super thick, almost too thick to drink with a straw at first, but it melted quickly, so this wasn't actually a problem.  I also grabbed a spoon to enjoy a little that way as well.  The consistency was basically that of froyo, just slightly watered (er, milked?) down.  It reminded me of a Frosty from Wendy's, although I haven't had one of those in years.

The flavor was very, very rich.  It was too rich for me at first.  I love peanut butter, but I think she went overboard on how much she added.  As the shake melted it got a little less intense, plus, it grew on me as I became used to the richness.  But it would have certainly been better with slightly different ratios.  I had about half left when I got back to my office, and I quickly cut it with some soy milk, which worked wonders.

So overall, this was actually pretty good.  Clearly a different experience than getting a froyo loaded with toppings, but if you are in the mood for a shake, it turns out, Pinkberry can do a decent job.  I'm not sure why the shake menu is so limited though, as they do have plenty of ingredients with which they could make some awesome shakes.  I wonder if you could customize one?

I also really wanted whipped cream on top.  And I kinda wanted chocolate chips mixed in for some texture, like you can get in Starbucks frappucinos (another freebie I got for my birthday ... stay tuned!)

The regular $5.25 price seemed a big high, but it was a very large shake.  This is the same price as a small with toppings, and compared to that, a shake is a much greater value - it has far more froyo in it than a comparable small dish, and the server spends much more time mixing it up (and then cleaning the blender out).  I'd get it again in similar circumstances, but I wouldn't necessarily seek it out.

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Monster Munch

On Fridays, I mostly review snack foods.  That is because I love munching on things.  I'm an avid snacker.

One of my favorite parts of travel is that I get to try snacks from around the world.  On a recent adventure, I discovered Monster Munch.  New to me, but it has been around in the UK since 1977, manufactured by Smiths, whose products I have reviewed before.

Monster Munch is baked corn snacks, in fun flavors, with, uh, monsters as the selling point.  I think it is aimed at kids?  Each flavor has its own monster to represent it.  Over the years, the flavors have included ridiculous things like "beef burger", "spaghetti sauce", or "vanilla ice cream".

I only tried one variety on this trip, but I'll certainly seek them out next time I'm in the UK!

Pickled Onion.

These are basically puffy, baked corn snacks, in fun monster shapes.  They have a nice crunch, really light, with satisfying air pockets.  The texture was just right.

The flavor was crazy though, dubbed "pickled onion".  It was slightly onion-y, yes.  And tangy.  I didn't really taste "pickles".  But, I liked it.  I think.  Such a strange flavor.

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Cupcakes from Cupcake Cove

You may recall that several years ago, I reviewed a tiny little bakery in the Financial District called Cupcake Cove ... for their cookies.  Yup, cupcake is in their name, and I only had their cookies.  I just don't seek out cupcakes often, as I'm rarely impressed (as you probably know from reading my cupcake reviews).

But recently, a co-worker brought in a box of assorted cupcakes from Cupcake Cove.  While I may not seek them out, I'll obviously try any that are brought to me!

Sadly, for a namesake item, they were not very remarkable.

Assorted Cupcakes.  $3 each, $30 / dozen.

The box contained an assortment, but I had to guess at flavors, referencing the Cupcake Cove website as I went.  I didn't get a photo until several had been snagged (including by myself, whoops), so there are a few missing, but I think our box contained one of every flavor offered that day.

The cupcakes weren't the most exciting flavors.  All had either vanilla or chocolate as the base cake (except for the carrot cake), and frosting varieties were vanilla, chocolate, peanut butter, and coconut.  There were no interesting fillings nor toppings, no embellishments.

I started with a dark brown cake with light brown frosting, not pictured here, since, uh, I already took it.  I think this was the "Peanut Butter Frosting / Chocolate Cake" option.

The cake itself was moist, gummy, and not very interesting.  The frosting was rock solid, and had no real flavor to it.  I'm guessing it was the peanut butter, since it was lighter colored than what I'm guessing was chocolate, but it didn't taste like peanut butter in any meaningful way.

I moved on to the unique one, the "Cream Cheese Frosting / Carrot Cake".

It was much better, a decent carrot cake base, loaded with nuts and bits of carrots.  The cream cheese frosting was fluffy, generously applied, and had a nice cream cheese flavor, so that part was quite was good.  But, at the end of the day, it was just a standard cupcake.  

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