Hi All!
Today I am back with some new food and recipe reviews! I’ve tried a few new products and recipes out in the past couple of months and I am sharing all of the details below! You can find all recipes and products by simply clicking on the title name – I have linked them there!
So let’s get into it!
Food Reviews:
Duncan Hines Perfect Size for 1 – Candy Coated Chocolates
We all know that I have a tremendous love for mug cakes, so when I spotted these new Duncan Hines Perfect Size for 1 cakes, I had to try them out. They seemed even better than traditional mug cakes because you actually don’t even need a mug! The cake bakes in this handy little container that the powder mix comes in, which is great! Why dirty another dish if you don’t have to? I was pumped!
However, the celebration was short-lived because this was probably the least flavorful chocolate cake I’ve had in a loooong time, possibly ever. If you were blindfolded, I doubt very much that you would have any clue that you are eating chocolate cake.
On the bright side, the cake consistency was good as it is a moist, lightweight cake. But it just tasted sweet and there were no other discernible flavors. The candy coated chocolates were most definitely added to provide chocolate flavoring, since the cake itself was seriously lacking any.
Unfortunately, I would not recommend purchasing this product. Which is a real disappointment because this little cake cup seems like it would be super convenient to satisfy any late night sugar cravings!
Duncan Hines Perfect Size for 1 – Cookies & Crème
This cookies & creme cake tasted nearly identical to the chocolate one, which leads me to believe that all of these cakes taste the same despite having different names. Duncan Hines is trying to lead you to believe that you are eating chocolate cake or cookies and crème cake by simply adding these toppings to the cake.
In this case, crumbled Oreo cookies were provided which really added the only “cookie & creme” element to the dessert. The cake was simply just sweet with no other flavor.
I’m all set with these Perfect Size for 1 desserts because there are WAY too many other delicious goodies to be had and I’m not wasting my calories on bland cakes! I’d much rather have a Hostess cupcake and call it a day!
Lay’s Crispy Taco Chips*
These chips are so weird, but really good! It’s so amazing how they literally taste just like a taco. It’s not just added taco seasoning either, because I swear you can taste lettuce, tomato, and sour cream!
Which sounds so weird to put on a chip, but these are seriously addicting and delicious. Job well done, Lay’s! The only issue I have is that every time I eat them I end up wanting to actually make real tacos for dinner!
*Amazon is really trying to sell these chips for $11.79 a bag?!?! I found them at Target for $2.50!
Recipe Reviews:
Pasta Fagioli Soup
I’m a huge fan of soup. There is a local bakery that I frequent that makes delicious Pasta Fagioli soup! I grew up eating a lot of soup, but not Italian ones since I’m not of that nationality. However, this soup quickly became one of my favorites and I have been trying to find the perfect recipe to recreate this bakery’s version.
I’ve googled and googled, but most traditional Pasta Fagioli soup recipes have a tomato based broth and the one from the bakery does not.
After searching for a while and not really getting anywhere, I decided to just try The Barefoot Contessa’s recipe because typically all of her recipes are good! (She knows what’s up.)
This recipe was time-consuming and a bit of a challenge to gather up all of the ingredients, but it was worth it and delicious! It isn’t the same as the coffee shop version, but it is just as good in a different way.
My only caveat is that I did find it to be a touch on the spicy side, but I am a little more sensitive to spicy foods than most people. I would probably half the amount of crushed red pepper the next time that I make this – other than that, it was spectacular with a lot of rich flavor and I would definitely recommend it!
Pizza Macaroni & Cheese
My daughter is two and like most two-year-olds, she is a picky eater. Most of the time pizza and macaroni & cheese are some of her favorite foods, so when I found this recipe for pizza macaroni & cheese, I figured she would love it and set out to make it right away.
Well, while my daughter did like it, I didn’t love it! I think it would go over well at a party, but I personally found it to be a little too cheesy and the macaroni & cheese to pizza ratio seemed off. The recipe calls for two boxes of macaroni and cheese and then layer pizza sauce and pizza toppings before baking. I think one box of macaroni & cheese would be sufficient as there just seemed to be too much of it in this recipe. The next time I make this, I will definitely only use one box for a more even distribution of pizza flavoring to macaroni & cheese. In general, I think this would be a good crowd-pleasing recipe that would go over well at any gathering.
Peanut Butter Pie
I found this recipe on Pinterest (check out my boards here!) and although this no-bake pie was a three step process, it was still fairly easy to make. I would recommend doing one of the steps the night before and then finishing off the pie the next day. Also to cut down on time, I actually just purchased an Oreo pie crust instead of crushing up the cookies and making it by hand.
This pie was definitely tasty, but I found it be a little too cream cheese-y and would probably half the amount called for next time. I hate when a dessert recipe calls for cream cheese and then I can actually taste it. I feel like it is meant to cut down on the sweetness, but not actually be tasted. I could taste a hint of it in the peanut butter filling and that to me means that there should be less of it! Otherwise, this was really good and I would definitely recommend making it if you like chocolate and peanut butter!
If you have any questions, feel free to ask me in the comments!
I hope everyone has a great day!
xo
Holly
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