Monday, April 4, 2011

Tastefully Simple Reviews

It's currently 5:18a and I can't go back to sleep...we got phone calls (yes, plural) at 4:30a ...so after the phone rang for the 6th time, I was officially UP!  So, since I can't get back to sleep, I figured I'd do a post about some of the Tastefully Simple stuff we tried over the weekend and stuff we've tasted in general.


This stuff is pretty much amazing! We used this for some chicken that we grilled up and the taste was sweet, yet tangy. In fact, we actually mixed some of the jalapeno jelly in with this to give it some additional punch. When we BBQ again this coming weekend, I'll definitely be using this on my shrimp!



This is the stuff I was referring to that we mixed in with the Pomegranate Chipotle Sauce. It's fantastic! It's got just enough spice, and the sweet seems to counter-act it so it doesn't make you think "Eeesh, that's hot!". A friend of mine had it on some cream cheese and totally loved it. I'm placing an order later this month and I'll definitely be stocking up on this and the Pomegranate Chipotle.



Holy bajeezes, this stuff rocks! To be honest, I was rather skeptical about this stuff because I thought it wasn't going to be spicy at all. Man, I was totally wrong. This stuff is like a kick in the mouth with how spicy it is! The directions say to let it chill for two hours before serving, but I promise, if you make it the night before your party.. it gets even spicier over night. It's fabulous! Eric and I mixed it into our red potatoes and it added an awesome flavor. I think I have either four or five of these in my shopping cart right now...lol..seriously!





Bacon Bacon - Has a great, smokey bacon taste to it! When you make it into a dip, it pretty much tastes like a spoonful of bacony goodness. Eric goes nuts for it, then again, it's bacon. How can you go wrong with that?

Garlic Garlic - This is my ABSOLUTE favorite! I'm a huge garlic person and I literally hit the jackpot with this stuff. If I remember correctly, 1 tablespoon is equivalent to one bulb of garlic..so it's pretty potent stuff! When I make the dip, I let it sit overnight so it gets super super garlicy and I use it as a spread when I make sandwiches. Totally amazing stuff! And I use it to season my potatoes and veggies :)

Onion Onion - This has a great oniony taste without having to chop up a ton of onions and making your eyes water like crazy. It's got green onions, yellow & white onions in it as well as bell pepper, so it has a nice variety of taste. I usually put it in my ground turkey meat when we're making burgers and it adds some great flavor.



My son loves this stuff like it's crack. It's a great, all around "season everything" sort of salt. At this point, I can't really use it much since I have to cut back on salt in general, but when I did use it..I'd put it in my scrambled eggs, grilled veggies (asparagus, especially) pasta, salmon, etc. I think it's the sea salt that's pretty amazing :)



By far, one of the easiest ways to make soup! Delicious soup! Just add water and let it simmer for thirty minutes. I'll thicken up as it simmers, and has a ton of flavor..which totally surprised me. I was skeptical about it at first, but I'm very glad I was wrong about this. This is PERFECT for a cold night and you wanna curl up on the couch..I even add a little bit of Garlic Garlic to it for some extra taste :)



Red Lobster...eat your heart out! These totally remind me of their biscuits! When I make mine, I use Pepper Jack Cheese and it's out of this world! Eric and John end up fighting over them (which is hilarious), so I usually end up making two batches. John loves it when I mix the Seasoned Salt into a few biscuits for him, while Eric likes Bacon Bacon..how ever you end up making them, they're a massive hit!



This is like a "home" version of a Starbucks frappachino! It has a nice mixture of chocolate chips and the taste of coffee in it. All you have to add is water and ice, blend in a blender and you're good to go. Even with the water, it's excellent, but milk definitely makes it taste..uhhh.heartier? It totally fills you up, I'll put it that way! Eric is like a humming bird with this stuff, so I have a few bags of it ordered for him :)



A very nice, subtle taste of lime, which is nice. It's not overpowering and tangy, but it helps with a sweet tooth.


These little guys are awesome just by themselves! Sure, you use 'em with your cheese ball mixes, but they make great little snacks. They're crispy and have that great graham cracker taste, not over powering at all, and they're not completely loaded with calories.



I posted some pictures of this the other day. Ohhhhh my gosh, these were fabulous! Totally coconutty, soft and chewy, amazing flavor...this are definitely at the top of my "favorites" from Tastefully Simple! It only took, at the most, three minutes to make the batter, then you just toss them in the oven. Ridiculously easy! 




Items I DON'T like:


I wanted to like these SO much, but it's just not happening. The Very Vanilla Twists have VERY little, if any vanilla flavor. If you tried the "Cracklin' Bacon Crisps" from last season, these are made out of the same cracker , but minus the cheese & bacon and added a hint of vanilla. I mean, it's a very very subtle vanilla taste, and it's not even sweet. I dunno, for the price, I'm really disappointed.



I guess I don't really like it because the preparation really annoys me. I believe the packaging says it requires two eggs, but it actually needs three. If you only use two, it makes the batter VERY dry and it doesn't bake properly. Not to mention, the cinnamon kinda over powers the apples.



This stuff is AWFUL! I'm a fanatic about seafood, so I thought I struck gold with a crab ball mix...mannnn I was SO wrong! It's OVERLY salty and the imitation crab taste is over powering. When I had a tasting party, this is literally the only thing that was left pretty much untouched. THAT says a lot! I can't even give this stuff away and I have four packets of it here :( 



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