Taste Testing Tuesday #56 – Lunchables

It’s Taste Testing Tuesday time!! Gather around and let’s see what we have to taste test today. Hmm…what could it be? It’s Lunchables!! There are quite a few kinds of Lunchables in the cold section of your grocery store, so let’s take a look at 5 kinds of Lunchables today. 🙂

#1.) Chicken Dunks. This pack contains breaded chicken white meat nuggets, chocolate creme stuffed cookies and ketchup.

#2.) Turkey and American. You can make little cracker sandwiches with this one as it comes with turkey lunchmeat, American cheese, crackers and chocolate sandwich creme cookies.

#3.) Nachos Cheese Dip & Salsa. It comes with nacho cheese, tortilla chips and salsa. Sounds pretty tasty, doesn’t it?

#4.) Pizza with Pepperoni. This pack includes pepperoni, mozzarella cheese, pizza crusts and pizza sauce. (Mmmm! I think I know which one will get my vote for favorite Lunchables!)

#5.) Ham & Cheddar. Included is ham, cheddar cheese, crackers and vanilla creme cookies.

Ok, those are the Lunchables that were available at our local grocery store. Which one do you think would be your favorite? Would you like to try tasting them all and then pick which one is the best? I’m pretty sure the pizza one would be my favorite! Have fun and enjoy Taste Testing Tuesday! 🙂

Taste Testing Tuesday #53 – Raw Tomatoes

Welcome to another round of Taste Testing Tuesday! Its that time of year again when the tomatoes are getting ripe and there is usually an abundance of them. And tomatoes are so good for you! So for today’s taste test, let’s look at some ideas for eating tomatoes raw.

#1.) Try them plain with nothing on them. If it’s a ripe tomato, you might just like it as it is.

#2.) With salt and pepper. This is how I used to love them when I was a kid. (Yes, the little eggs are my salt and pepper shakers.) 😉

Doesn’t that look yummy?

#3.) With some sugar sprinkled on top. My grandmother used to fix sliced tomatoes this way.

#4.) Sprinkled with basil or even a little oregano.

I’m drooling looking at this picture!

#5.) With some taco seasoning added. This smells delicious!

#6.) Top the tomato with your favorite salad dressing. I used Ranch dressing.

#7.) Sprinkle some grated mozzarella cheese on top. Mmmm! 🙂

Of course, raw tomato is great sliced and added to a sandwich or chopped up and tossed in with a salad. I hope these suggestions will give you some ideas to try and you’ll find some new ways to enjoy raw tomatoes! 🙂

Taste Testing Tuesday #49 – No crusts, please!

“But Mom, I don’t like the crust on my sandwich!” Have you heard that one? I’m guessing a big percentage of moms have! LOTS of kids don’t like the crust on their sandwich. So you can…#1.) Make them eat it anyway, #2.) Cut the crusts off OR #3.) Buy Uncrustables! What is an Uncrustable? A sandwich with no crusts! Brilliant invention, right? What mom isn’t looking for a simpler, more peaceful way to have lunch sometimes?! So for today’s taste test, let’s see what the kiddos think of Uncrustables. (I can’t eat most kinds of bread because of a food allergy, so I couldn’t actually participate in the taste test this week.) I found 3 flavors of Uncrustables at our local grocery store.

#1.) Peanut Butter and Grape Jelly. Mmmm! 🙂

#2.) Peanut Butter and Strawberry Jam. (This would be my favorite!)

#3.) Chocolate flavored Hazelnut Spread.

If you’ve never seen these before, they are in the frozen food section. So are these super tasty? Are they better without the crust? Inquiring minds want to know!! 😉 Which is your favorite? I’d love to hear what your opinion is! Have fun and SMILE, kids, because there are no crusts on these! LOL 🙂

Extra note: After some research online I see that there are more flavors of Uncrustables than I found and some even have meat in them! Also, there are a gazillion youtube videos that show you how to make your own! 🙂

Taste Testing Tuesday #48 – Goldfish Crackers (Bonus games!)

Hi everyone and welcome back for another Taste Testing Tuesday! Today we’ll be tasting Goldfish. Waaaaait a minute!! Do we eat goldfish?? Yuck! Let’s try that again! Today we’ll be tasting Goldfish CRACKERS! Oh, that sounds like a much better idea!! We are testing 4 different flavors of Goldfish crackers today but there are more flavors available. Check your local store to see what they carry.

Let’s look at the 4 flavors we chose to try today.

#1.) Mickey Mouse Special Edition Cheddar.

These are super cool as they have the shapes of goldfish but also the shape of Mickey Mouse’s head.

#2.) Parmesan

These little goldfish are a very light, almost white color. They ARE pretty cute, aren’t they?

#3.) Vanilla Cupcake.

These goldfish are brown in color but oh, so yummy in flavor! Mmm!

#4.) Pizza

Who doesn’t like pizza, right?!

Here we go with our taste testing! Put at least 4 of each flavor in front of each person.

To go along with your taste test, make up a simple chart to record what everyone thinks of each flavor. Something like this works great.

Draw a face in the corresponding box that shows what you think of that flavor. A smiling face means “Yum!”, a straight face means “It’s ok.” and a frowning face means “No, thanks!” Look at the chart in the next picture and you can tell who likes the Vanilla Cupcake Goldfish crackers. 😉

There is also a place on our chart for you to write in which flavor is your favorite. 🙂 If you taste test the special edition Mickey Mouse cheddar goldfish crackers, there is a fun dot-to-dot activity on the back of the package that you can do.

And now for the bonus game! Take a few of each flavor of goldfish crackers and mix them up on a plate. One person closes their eyes and takes 1 goldfish. Be sure someone else sees which type of goldfish they picked up. Now the person eats the goldfish and guesses which flavor it was. How many can you get right?

Whatever flavors of goldfish crackers you decide to try, I hope you have fun doing this taste test! Have fun telling people that you ate goldfish and watch what their reaction is! 😉

Taste Testing Tuesday #47 – Fruit Snacks

One thing that most kids seem to like is fruit snacks! They come in many different brands, shapes and flavors. So which one tastes the best? We need to do a Taste Test to find out! For today’s Taste Testing Tuesday, we tried the Great Value Organic Fruit Smiles.

These come in 3 flavors…strawberry, raspberry and cherry.

And just look how cute they are! 🙂 It’s food that smiles back at you!

#1.) Strawberry. This flavor is the lightest colored one in the package.

#2.) Raspberry. Raspberry are the medium colored ones.

#3.) Cherry. The cherry ones are the darkest color.

Make sure everyone has at least one of each color/flavor. You might need to do a little swapping of flavors because each little package is not exactly the same as the next one. We had 3 of each flavor for each person.

Make a quick and simple chart so you can record what each person thinks of each flavor. Something like this chart works well.

Write each person’s name down the left side and the names of each flavor across the boxes at the top.

As each person does a taste test on each flavor, have them draw a face in the corresponding box. A smiling face means “Yum!”. And straight face means “It’s ok”. And a frowning face means “No thanks!”. Here is how our taste test went at our house:

Can you tell who liked the fruit snacks? And who didn’t like them? (Yea, Rick is not really a fan of fruit snacks.) 😉 I wonder what brand and flavors and shapes your fruit snacks will be? I hope you find your favorite! 🙂

Taste Testing Tuesday #44 – Ice Cream!

“You scream, I scream, We all scream for ice cream!” Have you heard that saying before? One tidbit I read said it came from the original “I-Scream Bar” or what later became known as the Eskimo Pie. Be that as it may, who is ready to taste test some ice cream?! Ooooo, ME, of course! There are soooooo many combinations when it comes to ice cream and ice cream toppings but for today, we will use Breyer’s vanilla ice cream and try 6 different toppings on it. Ready? Are you drooling? Let’s go!

#1.) We’ll start with plain vanilla ice cream. Maybe you don’t need anything else on your ice cream! Maybe you prefer it just as it is. 🙂

#2.) Hershey’s Chocolate syrup. Mmm! When I eat vanilla ice cream with Hershey’s chocolate syrup, it takes me back to when I was a little girl and I stayed at my grandparents house overnight. Grandma would often give us vanilla ice cream with Hershey’s chocolate syrup drizzled over it for a snack before bed. So yummy!

#3.) Caramel syrup. My husband is a big fan of caramel syrup.

#4.) Strawberry topping or fresh strawberries. We used to eat vanilla ice cream this way at my other set of grandparents. 😉

#5.) Chopped up Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Ooohhh, this is soooo good! (Ok, yep, this one wins first place for me!) Who can resist peanut butter covered in milk chocolate?!

#6.) Sprinkles!! Remember sprinkles make everything better, right?! 😉

#7.) Banana Split. In case you never had one, a banana split has pieces of bananas on the bottom, topped with ice cream and 2 or 3 toppings with nuts and whip cream. This one has bananas, vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup, strawberry topping and chopped roasted pecans. Yuuuuummmm! (Well, maybe THIS one is my favorite?)

Of course, there are many, many more ways to eat vanilla ice cream! How do you usually eat it? Which way is your favorite? Did you NOT like any of these toppings? I liked them ALL! (Which could be why my clothes are fitting tighter than they were! Oops!) I hope you’ll have an ice cream taste testing party at your house! 🙂

Taste Testing Tuesday #43 – Jello Gelatin

Hello again! Are you ready to take on another Taste Testing Tuesday? One thing that lots of kids love to eat is Jello brand gelatin! It’s easy to make and fun to watch it jiggle and wiggle on your spoon. 😉 But what flavor tastes the best? Hmm…we need to have a taste test! Here are a few flavors I found in our local grocery store:

#1.) Strawberry

#2.) Black Cherry

#3.) Orange

#4.) Lemon-Lime

Those are some of the pre-made Jello cups, but of course, it also comes in a powdered form in a box. And there are LOTS of flavors!! Let’s see how many more we can name…Cherry, Lime, Raspberry, Apricot, Lemon, Island Pineapple, Berry Blue, Grape, Watermelon, Mango, Strawberry Banana, Cranberry, Peach…WOW! Everyone must be able to find at least ONE flavor they like, right?! So what flavors will you use for your taste test? And which flavor will win the award of being your favorite?

What if you like LOTS of flavors of Jello? Welllll, maybe you could help a grown up make this awesome Jello dessert! Look how many flavors it has!!

Ooohhh that looks soooo yummy! If you’d like to make it, just follow this link to the recipe:

7-Layer Gelatin Salad

Now I want to go eat some Jello! How about you? 🙂 Have fun taste testing Jello!

Taste Testing Tuesday #42 – Canned Fruit

Taste Testing Tuesday is here once again! Today we’re trying some canned fruit. Sometimes fresh fruit just isn’t readily available or canned fruit is simply easier to pack in a lunch. Canned fruit can by purchased in larger cans to serve more people or in individual cups size servings. Whatever your reason, canned fruit is good to eat! There are quite a few kinds of canned fruit to try but today we will be looking at 4 kinds for our taste test.

#1.) Peaches.

#2.) Pears.

#3.) Mandarin Oranges.

#4.) Grapefruit.

I have to say I think these are ALL delicious! Give each one a try and see what you think. Remember, you can make your taste test even more fun by making a chart and adding a face in each box that shows what you think about each type of fruit. A smiley for “Yum!”, a straight face for “It’s ok.” and a frowning face for “Umm, no thanks!” For an example, here’s the one we used when we taste tested carrots in an earlier blog post.

Other canned fruit you might want to use for your taste test could be pineapple, cherries, apricots, mixed fruit, plums, prunes, etc. Sooooo……drum roll!! Which type of canned fruit wins?! 🙂 Each person’s favorite might be different and that’s ok! I hope you have fun with your Taste Testing Tuesday today! (Ha! Say that fast 5 times! LOL) 😉

Taste Testing Tuesday #41 – Yogurt Drinks

Happy Tuesday to you! It’s another Tuesday for having fun doing a taste test! Today we are looking at some Chobani Greek Yogurt drinks. Our local store only had 3 flavors today so that’s what we had to use for our taste test.

If your kids are so busy playing that they don’t take time to sit down and eat, this might be a good suggestion for a way to get a little more goodness in them. Shake it up, open it, stick a straw in and down the hatch it goes! 😉 Let’s look at our flavors…

#1.) Mixed Berry. This one has blueberries, raspberries and blackberries in it. It’s a cool light purple color. 😉

#2.) Pina Colada is a pineapple coconut flavored drink with pineapple juice in it. It’s a pretty yellow color when you pour it in a cup.

#3.) Peach. As you might expect, this one has peach puree in it and is a nice light orange color.

I believe Chobani also makes their Greek yogurt drinks in other flavors such as Mango, Strawberry Banana, and Cherry Vanilla. Maybe you can find these flavors in your local store. Ok, does everyone have a little taste of each flavor in a cup now? Let the taste testing begin! 🙂 Do you like the Greek yogurt drink? Which flavor is the best? Of these 3 flavors I would say I like the Peach the best, then the Pina Colada and lastly the Mixed Berry. My favorite one is the Cherry Vanilla, so I hope you can find that one and give it a try!

Happy Taste Testing Tuesday!! 🙂

Taste Testing Tuesday #40 – Raisins

It’s Taste Testing Tuesday time once again! Gather ’round for another exciting tasting adventure! 😉 Let’s checkout raisins today and some delicious ways to eat them. So what is a raisin? A raisin is just a dried grape. They can be used raw or in cooking and baking. Raisins come in a variety of sizes and colors, but the most common are the brown raisins and the golden raisins. You can buy the general type of raisins or you can buy organic raisins. So how do people like to eat raisins? Straight from the box is a great way!

There are vanilla yogurt covered raisins.

And even Chocolate yogurt covered raisins.

Have you ever tried “Ants on a Log”? It’s simply a banana sliced in half lengthwise, topped with peanut butter and then a few raisins added on top for the “ants”. 😉

Trail mix is a popular way people like to eat raisins. You can pretty much mix together whatever nuts and dried fruit and candies that you like and call it Trail Mix. The one I made has walnuts, pepitas (pumpkin seeds), almonds, pecans, dried cranberries, raisins and M&M candies. It’s a nice mixture of sweet and salty, crunchy and chewy, and (minus the M&M candies) fairly healthy.

Here are a few other ways to use raisins…my mom used to bake them in cookies; some dry cereal has raisins in it, like Raisin Bran; oatmeal is really good with raisins; they are great in salads, especially in a broccoli salad; and cinnamon raisin bread is a favorite of mine! A funny story my husband tells from when he was a little boy is that he used to stuff his cheek full of raisins and then spit the juice on the ground like he was chewing tobacco. Haha! (Ok, so that’s kinda yucky, isn’t it?!)

Here’s our little plate, ready for taste testing!

I hope you’ll have fun doing a taste test with raisins and maybe you’ll find a new fun way to eat them! Leave a comment and tell me what is your favorite way to eat raisins! 🙂