Mike and Ike Sundae Sweets - Jo Ann Fabric

Mike and Ike Sundae Sweets - Jo Ann Fabric

Did you know chinchillas like fleece? Neither did I!

Well, not until this June, anyway. That's when my boyfriend's daughter graduated and we got her a cuddly little chinchilla all her own. He's her baby, but seemingly overnight we've turned into crazy chinchilla people.

Segues are hard. 

So I'm at JoAnn fabrics, buying a few yards of fleece (which is on sale) to use in a chinchilla litter box (you know, totally normal food-blogger stuff) and this colorful package catches my eye. It's a cute box, and I like Mike and Ikes, but I LOVE all things banana. I figured I owed it to myself to check this out.

Flash forward to today, when I saw the very same box, a few cents cheaper, at The Dollar Tree. Kind of kicking myself, since I could have gotten it cheaper, but maybe it'll taste so good that I won't care anymore? Fingers crossed!

Just another minty Monday - Hershey's Mint Cookie Crunch Bar

Mint Cookie Layer Crunch Bar - Walmart

It's just another minty Monday...

Hershey's Layer Crunch bars have been out for a while and even though they're a new product, they're not very innovative. All three of the flavors are safe bets. Chocolate and vanilla? Classic. Chocolate and caramel? Been there, done that. Chocolate mint? The Girl Scouts called, they want their cookie back.

So yeah, these are new, but they're not new-new.

Even so, this candy bar sounded delicious, so I grabbed one at Walmart to munch on. I don't think there is any way for this product to be a failure, but you never know...

Tiny Fake Fried Chicken? - Fried Snack

Fried Snack? - Hmart

Interesting packaging strikes again! We've got cartoon chickens, a weird safari-ready mustachioed man with a glove-on a stick? There's a tiny chef, and the promise that these tiny little snacks will look like itty bitty fried chicken legs. How could I resist?

I tossed these into my cart the second I saw them, were they worthy of being purchased? We shall see...

Blueberry Pancake Swirl Bread - Walmart

Blueberry Pancake Swirl Bread - Walmart

Limited Edition breads usually don't interest me.

Every single month Thomas's releases something seasonal, and even though they all sound yummy, I usually pass them by. Until now. When I was looking for some new Twinkies this limited edition flavor caught my eye. My boyfriend loves blueberries, and his daughter loves French toast, so this was too perfect a product to pass up.

Christmas in July #TBT - Benton's Egg Nog & Hot Cocoa Cookies

Benton's Egg Nog & Hot Cocoa Cookies - Aldi, #TBT

I said I'm sorry, santa!
I never meant to hurt you,
I never meant to make you cry,
but tonight,
I'm cleaning out my pantry.

As most of you know, I recently moved, and during the packing process I found a TON of old food I never got around to. Being the frugal foodie *cough**cough* HOARDER *cough* you all know I am, I figured I'd enjoy a bit of Christmas in July for today's #throwbackthursday, before I end up shoving these in a cabinet and forget they exist. (Again.)

Lay's BLT Chips - Walmart

Lay's BLT Chips - Walmart

The new Do Us A Flavor finalists have been announced and all three options have left me cold. I normally try to keep a pretty open mind, but all three flavors feel a little too safe, and honestly...boring. Unless one of the new flavors happen to fall right into my lap, I doubt I'll be reviewing them, but when I was at Walmart the other day I spotted this smaller, snack-sized, baggie of the Limited Time flavor BLT chips in the checkout lane. These sound more interesting than the finalists, and they're a convenient snacking size, so why not check them out?

Coconut Almond Flavor of Hawaii Kisses - CVS

Coconut Almond Flavor of Hawaii Kisses - CVS 

I know that a decent chunk of the foodie community was hype about these "Flavor of..." items, but I'm not entirely sure why.

This new location-based series includes: California Strawberry Kit-Kats, Honey Roasted Reeses Cups, Texas BBQ PayDay bars, New York Cherry Cheesecake Cookies & Creme bars, and last, but not least, these Hawaiian themed Coconut Almond Kisses.

With the exception of the BBQ PayDay Bar (which I sadly couldn't find), this new series feels unimaginative. After all, Japan has had strawberry flavored Kit-Kats for years and honey roasted Reeses were out in 2003. Hershey Kisses previously released a coconut creme filled Kiss in 2007, and again in 2014, but those were milk chocolate based with a coconut center, so admittedly this is a new product, but it's not a new flavor for the brand,  and so far I've never had a cheese cake flavored candy that I could stand...so I'm left with maybe 3/5 that are truly new, and only 2/5 that I find worth checking out.

In spite of my Scrooge-like views on this line, my love of coconut flavored sweets won out and I decided to try these Kisses anyway. Just because I think they're unimaginative, doesn't mean they won't taste good!

Dunkin' Donuts Mocha Oreos - Walmart

Dunkin' Donuts Mocha Oreos - Walmart 

As a broke first time homeowner, Walmart (however evil it may be) is now crucial to my survival. 

I stop there several times a week to quickly grab things I never knew I wanted but now suddenly need to survive, like calamine lotion (I discovered poison ivy in the yard, with my knees) and teflon tape. While I'm there grabbing new-to-me necessities, I take a minute to relax and browse the snack aisles for some new limited edition goods. It keeps me sane. Some people buy clothes. Some people play video games. I buy junk food. Which has mostly been Oreos. A LOT of Oreos.  

So here we are again, another day, another Oreo flavor. In this over-saturated limited edition Oreo market are these still worth picking up? We shall see. (I have high hopes !)  

TGI Fridays Mac & Cheese Party Bites

TGI Fridays Mac & Cheese Party Bites - Ollie's Bargain Outlet - .99 cents 

Do you guys have an Ollie's in your area? If so, you really have to check it out!

Ollie's Bargain Outlet is a big closeout store filled with wacky illustrations of it's mascot and tons of, "Good Stuff Cheap!" Which is the store's slogan that plays over-and-over on it's loud speakers and appears on almost all signage. The "Good" part may be subjective, but trust me, it IS cheap and I'm all about it! 

Along with awesome beach towels, rugs, and curtains, Ollies scoops up and sells all the limited edition and seasonal food stuff that's no longer cool enough to take up space on grocery shelves. Tiny Toast? They've got it. Wacky seasonal cereal? Yup! All those limited edition Pop-Tarts? You bet'cha! 

Seasonal sweets, snacks, and baking supplies all end up at Ollie's for 50%+ less than they once were in big-name shops. It's pretty awesome. I've gotten boxes of Maple Bacon Pop-Tarts for .70 cents each, seasonal candy, and bags of limited edition chips and cheese curls for less than a dollar each! I joked on Instagram that it's where limited edition food goes to die, but it's really a bargain foodie's dream! 

I grabbed a bunch of stuff to review on the blog, some good, some bad, some..intriguing, but all affordable. Where will these TGIFridays snacks fall on the spectrum?

Strawberry Nut m&m's - Walmart

Strawberry Nut m&m's - Walmart 

Years ago, when I was a collegiate foodie-fangirl drooling over Cybele's candyblog, she posted about these limited edition Strawberried Peanut Butter m&m's which were released as a Transformers movie tie-in. What did PB&J flavored candy have to do with Transformers? I have no idea, but I wanted them and I couldn't find them. I missed out. They disappeared without me ever being able to buy a bag, and it's been a foodie sore-spot for me ever since.  

It's pathetic (and neurotic) to admit this, but every now and again I do think about them. The limited edition m&m that got away. The one that echoed my favorite PB&J pairing of strawberry jam with peanut butter. I've read other (more fortunate) foodies reviews of them, and it seems they were just okay, nothing special, and certainly not delicious enough to make the masses rally together for it's re-release like other flavors have done. 

Flash forward to today, when Mars releases a sorta-similar product, Strawberry Nut m&m's. They're not quite the same, but I guess this will have to do. I'm really hoping that these will live up to the hype I've given this flavor pairing in my head.

Jelly Donut Oreos - Walmart

Jelly Donut Oreos - Walmart 

I know I'm not offering much in the way of variety right now (with all these Oreo reviews in a row), but I had these photos edited and ready to go, so I wanted to knock out this review while they're still (somewhat) relevant. 

Packaging has been discussed to death at this point, "pretty picture, hate the peel-top, etc.," so let's get right into the nitty gritty. Do these taste like an actual jelly doughnut?

New Oreo Thin Flavors: Coconut & Salted Caramel

Coconut & Salted Caramel Oreo Thins- Walmart 

It's been a minute since my last post, and since then my household has gained: a chalkboard wall, an 18" deep trench around the pool, a friendly baby chinchilla, and a thriving cherry tomato plant. I've also (unfortunately) discovered and destroyed a bunch of poison ivy in the yard (after kneeling in it, oops.), and I've managed to dismantle a small chunk of my cardboard-castle-filled living room. Who knew I had so much stuff?! (And so few chinchillas.) 

So yeah, it's been quite the adventure, but it's a fun adventure, so let's celebrate some slim victories with some slim cookies!

Cotton Candy Twinkies - Walmart

Cotton Candy Twinkies - Walmart

Three reviews in a row! I'm finally getting back on my feet!

With Summer in full swing I figured there was no better time to review these Cotton Candy Twinkies.

America POP flavored gum - Walmart

America POP flavored gum - Walmart 

'Merica Pop, that you can't stop
I know you chew this 'Merica pop
This must be, GUM

I graduated high school when "Dirty Pop" by *Nsync was on the radio, and now Justin Timberlake is voicing a blue CG troll. Life is weird.

Happy Fourth of July my fellow Americans! It's time for a holiday/seasonally appropriate review! In the past I've reviewed America themed Skittles and  Red White & Blue Tic-Tacs, but this year we've got America Pop gum from Juicy Fruit.

I had to buy a three pack just to try this flavor, so fingers crossed it's good!

Limited Edition Trolls Cotton Candy Jello & Strawberry Cupcake Pudding - Walmart

Being a late 80's baby, I caught the tail-end of the Trolls phenomenon. I had a few treasure trolls and a musical VHS tape that taught me that, "Trollies come from acorns, and that's how Trollies are born." Seriously, I didn't even have to look that up. It's a repetitive song that has been stuck in the back of my mind over 2 decades later out-surviving the troll dolls themselves whose glued-on hair and jewels popped off over time dooming them to yard sales and flea markets. (If you want to suffer along, here's a link. It's even worse than I remember.) Looking back, Trolls were are pretty weird concept and I didn't think it could be modernized to appeal to children today, and yet, here we are. 

I haven't seen the new movie, even though it's already on Netflix! (That was fast.) From what I've gathered from Cinema Sins take on it, Trolls have ditched their bejeweled belly buttons in favor of magical hair and glitter, but they still sing. Other than their hair, the characters don't really look like their retro-ancestors at all. (I think that they look like the Fraggles and Trolls franchises were mashed together with a sprinkling of Eureka's Castle.) Even though they don't appeal to me as a near 30-year old, kids are eating them up! We just went to a family event and a seven year old reenacted the whole fist-bump-gear-shift scene for me line for line.

I may not be all that interested in the movie, but these two limited edition Trolls items at Walmart caught my eye. (Plus they were cheap.) So, are these more universally appealing than the movie?