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Fall 2020 Treats & Snacks Food Reviews!

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Ta Daaaa – modeling a few fall foods!

Good Morning! ☀️

Now that we are in the thick of the Fall season, today I’m sharing my latest food reviews and they are all Fall themed! – More specifically, pumpkin🎃 spiced themed since that really is the biggest fall flavor.

If you are anything like me, then you love most everything that the autumn season has to offer, and that definitely includes all of the limited time fall foods! You can find me happily munching on candy apples, candy corn, and most pumpkin spiced flavored foods all season long.

Every year I’m soo excited to see all of the new pumpkin flavored foods in stores, so today I’m posting and reviewing what I’ve tried this season. We’ll review what’s good, what could be better, what you need to try before we move along into the holiday🎄 food season!

So let’s get into it!

 

Mother’s Farms Pumpkin Seed Tortilla Chips


First up, are these pumpkin seed tortilla chips that I found over at the good old New England bargain discount store: The Christmas Tree Shop. 

I wasn’t sure if I would really like these, because as much as I do like pumpkin spice flavor – pumpkin as a chip flavor sounded a bit odd. But I did really looove these chips and I think you will too!

These pumpkin chips were super enjoyable. They are light, crunchy tortilla chips made from pumpkin and pumpkin seeds. The flavor is lightly pumpkin spiced with a clear scent of cinnamon that is instantly recognizable upon opening the bag. There are also small amounts of honey and nutmeg in the ingredients list and these flavors helped to enhance the overall flavor of these chips.

up close & personal

I loved these chips on their own and with salsa & guac. They are a definite fall delight and would elevate your nachos this season!

delicious!

 

Archer Farms Maple Truffle Butter Cookies

Next up are these seasonal cookies from Target’s Archer Farms Brand. 

These cookies feature a buttery shortbread cookie with a maple caramel filling topped with a chocolate truffle coating. The maple flavor is subtle and just enriches the whole cookie without being too overpowering. 

I really wasn’t expecting to like these cookies as much as I did! These scrumptious cookies are the perfect treat on a cool night and would pair well with a delicious alcoholic coffee drink. A definite must-try fall inspired cookie from Target!🍪

ooo and they feature this majestic castle scene!

 

Pillsbury Grands! Pumpkin Spice Rolls With Pumpkin Spice Icing

First, I should mention that these rolls are made from Cinnabon cinnamon, which of course, is one of the best little bakeries to grace the entire Earth!🌎

Like most Pillsbury rolls products, these pumpkin rolls are a seasonal slam dunk. Although, I do think the pumpkin flavor could be a bit stronger. I’m not quite sure that anyone eating these blindfolded would necessarily know that they are a pumpkin spice roll versus a regular cinnamon bun. 

fresh out the oven!

And as a side note – does anyone ever think that they give enough icing for these refrigerated rolls?? I definitely don’t – so per usual I would have liked some more icing!

But nevertheless, these were outstanding and out of the 5 jumbo sized rolls that came in the package – I polished off 2.5 of them by myself over the course of a recent fine Sunday. Oops!🐽

I’ve seen these at couple of grocery stores – so they should be easy to find!

heavenly

 

Oui Pumpkin Caramel Yogurt

Oui is one of my favorite brands of yogurt because I love the creamy consistency.

Oui makes several different flavors of yogurt where the fruit (or, in this case, the pumpkin caramel) is on the bottom. Because the jar is so small, it was difficult to stir the caramel sauce into the yogurt thoroughly and the first few bites tasted more like plain yogurt than anything else.

But once I got a good mix going on and made my way down the yogurt jar, I found that I thoroughly enjoyed this seasonal yogurt. It could definitely be more pumpkin-y and and a heavier hand on spice would be welcomed, but the caramel flavor is spot on. Definitely a great limited edition yogurt to try! 

 

Cheesecake Factory Pumpkin Pecan Cheesecake

And I would just like to take a moment to say that if you REALLY want to experience a delightful fall treat then you must head over to the Cheesecake Factory and get the Pumpkin Pecan Cheesecake!🍰

It’s really a slice of heaven. It’s basically like pumpkin and pecan pie had a baby and combined to make the best fall-tastic cheesecake ever. It’s so, so good! You gotta go🚗🚗🚗

 

Oui Layered Dessert Yogurt?

Now, I have no idea if this is a yogurt dessert. Meaning is it somewhat healthier than regular cheesecake because it’s partially made with yogurt? It’s made by Yoplait and is advertised as Oui Desserts, but no where on the label does it say that this is actually yogurt. It just says cheesecake sooo🤷🏻‍♀️

With that being said, I guess this isn’t really yogurt but it is pretty darn good. It’s a caramel cheesecake layered dessert consisting of a graham cracker crust, cheesecake, and caramel on top. The mix of the three layers is quite a delicious bite and this would certainly satisfy your sweet tooth. 

While the graham cracker crust is outstanding and I did enjoy the other layers, there was a tad too much caramel and it somewhat overwhelmed the other flavors.

But overall, this was a thumbs up!

Except, I happen to look REALLY carefully at the label to see if this was actually yogurt and LORD HAVE MERCY – there are 300 calories in one little teeny jar!!! Ok– definitely not a healthy dessert and definitely overly indulgent.

It’s good, but not 300 calories good.  I won’t be buying again and do not recommend. 300 calories is better spent at The Cheesecake Factory eating their pumpkin cheesecake!🧡

 

Mother’s Halloween Circus Animal Cookies

Lastly, are these adorable Halloween themed animal crackers that I picked up at Target. Are they very good? No, not really. But kids love them! They are ridiculously overly sweet because they are iced animal crackers and animal crackers are already sweet enough. But they are super festive and fun to have around during the Halloween season!🎃

 

That’s it for this round of Fall themed food reviews! What sounds most like a food you would want to try this season?! Let me know in the comments!🙂

Read my from post last year where I featured some of the best fall foods over at Trader Joe’s!

 

 

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The Other White Meat

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Hi Friends!!!

 

Today I am sharing a recipe featuring the other white meat, AKA pork. I personally love all pig products and I’m talking pork chops, ham, hot dogs (this is mostly pig, right?!?!), bacon, sausage, etc. I suppose I am a total carnivore! One thing I have noticed in my adult life is how many people have either: a. never eaten pork (and not for religious reasons), b. claim to dislike it, or c. just flat-out don’t want to try it. It seems like a lot of people didn’t grow up eating pork regularly and therefore, don’t really want to try it. I know it’s kind of strange to just start eating something that you never grew up with, but pork chops are seriously good stuff and y’all are missing out! I also think there is maybe a lack of delicious pork chops recipes circulating on the internet, so today I am sharing one of my favorite (and easiest) dinners that I make using pork chops!

I grew up eating a wide variety of dinners and this was one of the ways that my mom would cook pork chops. The tomato soup and Worcestershire flavor combine to make a delicious, mouth-watering sauce. This meal also smells so good while cooking, I used to love to come home and realize this was for dinner! We always used a large electric skillet to make this meal, but you could use a large frying pan if you were making a smaller amount of food.

I hope you enjoy! I’ve never known this recipe to really have a name so I am just going to call it Pork Chop Surprise since that sounds fun! 🙂

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The Softest Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Hi All!

Hope everyone is having a good week! Mine has been a little hectic, but it’s almost over! And today I am back to share one of my family’s favorite recipes: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Growing up, fall just wouldn’t have been fall without smelling these cookies baking up in my house each year. A heavenly aroma of sugar cookies with hints of pumpkin and cinnamon that simply tickle the senses and make me so happy! My mom would bake these all the time when I was little and now that I’m an adult, I make them year after year too.

This cookie is essentially a seasonal enhancement to the classic chocolate chip. The pumpkin and cinnamon add autumn flair and the end result is a delicious fall cookie that is not too overpowering in pumpkin flavor. They are also fairly easy to make from scratch and bake up super soft and delicious!

One bite and you will easily win everyone over, even those who claim to not be into pumpkin spice. And for those of you who already are pumpkin lovers, then you can rejoice with delight!🎃

So let’s get on to the recipe with some pictures!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar

1 cup canned pumpkin

½ cup oil

1 egg

2 cups flour

½ tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. milk

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°.

Lightly grease cookie sheets.

Mix together the pumpkin, sugar, oil, and egg in either a stand up mixer or with a hand held mixer.

 

Well blended.

 

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, salt, cinnamon, & baking powder. Then add to pumpkin mixture.

 

Flour mixture & pumpkin mixture combined.

 

Dissolve baking soda, milk, & vanilla in another small bowl.

Then add to pumpkin mixture and mix again until just combined.

 

Be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl & make sure all of the flour is mixed well!

 

 

Lastly, add in one cup of chocolate chips.

Stir in the chocolate chips.

 

Finished cookie dough – yum!

 

Essential tools for any baker!

Cookie Scoop

Silpat Mat

Scooped & ready to go in the oven.

 

Perfectly baked after 8-9 minutes!

 

Be sure to transfer cookies to a handy cooling rack.

 

And now consume with a tall glass of milk like so!

Delicious!

Just a side note about the essential tools for any baker picture. I grew up baking quite often because my Mom was an avid baker. An avid baker who never used a cookie scoop or silpat mats! I actually don’t know how her cookies used to come out so good because I feel like before I got these mats it was SO easy to burn my cookies, or have them come out flat, or not be able to figure out what the heck went wrong. Anyway, my point is that these items have really helped me to create perfect cookies.

The cookie scoop is really just handy, it’s not a necessity – my mom would use two spoons- but it’s faster to use a scoop and your cookies come out more uniform.

The silpat mats, though, are life changing in baking land. I love these for a couple of reasons. One, I never have to bother getting out the Pam to grease the cookie sheet. The mat is nonstick and really works! The second reason is that they make clean up a snap! You simply wipe down the mats with a wet sponge and the cookie sheets are protected and don’t even need to be cleaned. No more burnt on cookies. They are like magic and they last a while. I have one that is probably 5-6 years old that I feel like it is just now on it’s last leg (the nonstick is wearing out). I feel that is a good amount of time that it has lasted especially considering how much I use them.

 

Below are step by step instructions for easy reading for when you make these cookies!

  1. Preheat oven to 375°.
  2. Lightly grease cookie sheets.
  3. Mix together the sugar, pumpkin, oil, and egg in either a stand up mixer or with a hand held mixer.
  4. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, salt, cinnamon, and baking powder.
  5. Slowly add the flour mixture to the sugar, pumpkin, etc mixture.
  6. In a small separate bowl, dissolve the baking soda, milk, and vanilla. Then add to the rest of ingredients in your main mixing bowl and blend well.
  7. Lastly, add the chocolate chips to the batter and stir in.
  8. Drop lightly onto your lightly greased cookie sheet.
  9. Bake approximately 10-12 minutes.***
  10. Cookies will be soft & moist!

Yields roughly 3 and a 1/2 dozen cookies.

*** I would first check these after 8-9 minutes. I did 9 minutes for my first couple of batches and then 8 for my last one. It’s always best to check a little early since burnt cookies are the worst! 😉

Do you like pumpkin flavored foods?! I sure do – but I wouldn’t say I’m a fanatic. I like pumpkin spice lattes, but not really pumpkin coffee so I would say I’m picky about the flavoring. Let me know in the comments what pumpkin seasonal foods are your favorites!

 

Hope you enjoy making and eating these as much as I do! 🙂

xo

Holly

 

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Food, Lately

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I spend a good chunk of my time thinking about food and recipes. I do all of the cooking in my house so I am constantly thinking about what to cook and eat next. So today, I am sharing a couple of recipes and recent food reviews of a couple of things I’ve tried recently. Hope you enjoy reading about them!

Food Reviews:

  1. Lays Ketchup Chips

Full disclosure: I LOVE KETCHUP. I’m that person that needs roughly 10 ketchup packets for a small fry at McDonald’s. So needless to say, I’ve been waiting years for these chips to be made! So I was REALLY excited to see these in my local grocery store AND on sale. Seconds after I put away all of my groceries, I ripped the bag open to try these and I was actually shocked to find that I did not love the first bite! Totally let down! I was overwhelmed by this intense taste of tomato, vinegar, and what seemed to be paprika. (A quick flip of the bag to view the back and scan the ingredients did confirm that paprika is in the chips.) I was so saddened about not loving them immediately that I kept eating my feelings and then strangely enough, as I kept tasting them, I realized that I was beginning to really enjoy them. After about 3-4 bites, the taste no longer felt intense but most enjoyable and flavorful and several handfuls later I told myself to get out the chip clip and put them away. It took me less than week to polish off this bag and I will definitely be repurchasing, but I think this is probably a chip you would only like if you already enjoy ketchup.

 

2. Thomas’ Maple French Toast English Muffins

 

English Muffins are a staple in my house and Thomas’ is definitely my favorite brand of them – I think the nooks and crannies are delightful. I also love all things maple flavored, so when I spotted these in Target, I snapped them up to try. For my first time trying these, I simply toasted and added butter. Although it was good, I would say they were maybe a tad too sweet for me to just eat for breakfast. It hit me later in the day that I should have used it as the bread of an egg sandwich. The next day I made an egg and cheese sandwich on it and it was delicious – the combination of the sweetness of the muffin and savory in the egg and cheese was a win-win in my book. I’m certain it would be even better with bacon or sausage added to it, because what isn’t?

I would definitely buy these again. The only downside to Thomas’ english muffins is the price. I have NO IDEA why they charge $4.50 for ONE PACK of english muffins. Even though generic english muffins are not good, I only buy Thomas’ when on sale. These were good but not good enough for me to pay full price. (However, I did recently see these at Walmart for the low price of $2.28!)

Recipes:

Next, I’m sharing two of my favorite meal and dessert recipes. I’ve made both of these recipes countless times and they are always crowd pleasers! The first one is from the Food Network website by the Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten. Her recipes are always really tasty so I frequently browse her recipes and bookmark them.

This Summer Garden Pasta recipe is absolutely delicious and really easy to make. The only hard part is that you need to remember to cut and soak the tomatoes for 4 hours before putting the rest of the dish together. I try to plan my meals out for the week and then just set myself a phone reminder to soak these tomatoes by early afternoon on the day that I want to make this meal. This recipe also calls for fresh basil leaves, but when basil isn’t in season (or I’m feeling lazy) I just use about half a tube of this Basil Stir In Paste (you can find in the produce section in your local grocery store.) It tastes just as good and it’s much less work!

I make this for dinner but it would also be a great side dish. I honestly can’t stop eating it once I make it so I just use this as a whole meal and serve it with some Texas Toast. Make sure to follow all the recipe’s directions, including adding a lot of salt to the pasta water, as it really does enhance the end flavor of the dish.

Combine the cherry tomatoes, 1/2 cup olive oil, garlic, basil leaves, red pepper flakes, 1 teaspoon salt, and the pepper in a large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, and set aside at room temperature for about 4 hours.

Just before you’re ready to serve, bring a large pot of water with a splash of olive oil and 2 tablespoons salt to a boil and add the pasta. Cook al dente according to the directions on the package (be careful – it only takes 2 to 3 minutes!). Drain the pasta well and add to the bowl with the cherry tomatoes. Add the cheese and some extra fresh basil leaves and toss well. Serve in big bowls with extra cheese on each serving.

*****************************************************************************

This second recipe is one of my favorite desserts to make. First, I try to always keep packaged chocolate chip cookie dough in my fridge all the time. I just find it is always handy to have because eventually I will either a) want cookies and not want to leave the house, b) want cookie dough and not want leave the house, or c) need it to make a dessert for some cookout, party, etc. It lasts a couple of months unopened in the fridge and I try to make a mental note to remember the date and use it before hand.

A few weeks ago I realized I had some in my fridge that I hadn’t yet used and decided to make my favorite thing out of it – chocolate chip cheesecake bars. This is a Pillsbury recipe and I find that Pillsbury.com always has really quick and easy recipes. This one has got to be the best dessert one in terms of taste and simplicity. It is literally 4 ingredients and only requires the use of hand mixer! The hardest part is remembering beforehand to thaw out the cream cheese, but you could always zap it in the microwave if you had to. These are super easy to make and always go quickly. I like to chill them all the way up until right before serving because they become gooey easily if it is hot out. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do 🙂

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars by Pillsbury

Ingredients

1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened

½ cup sugar

1 egg

1 roll (16.5 oz.) chocolate chip cookie dough

*The Pillsbury recipe says that you can add coconut if desired. I love coconut, but I have never tried adding it in because I think it tastes so good as is. Why change perfection??

Steps

1.
 Heat oven to 350°F.

2. In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar and egg until smooth.

3. In greased, 9- or 8-inch square pan, break up half of cookie dough. With floured fingers, press dough evenly in bottom of pan to form crust. Spread cream cheese mixture over dough. Crumble and sprinkle remaining half of dough over cream cheese mixture.

4. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until golden brown and firm to the touch. Cool 30 minutes. Refrigerate at least 2 hours or until chilled. For bars, cut into 4 rows by 4 rows. Store in refrigerator.

In the original recipe, it says to leave the pan ungreased. I NEVER do this. Every time I try to follow recipe directions and leave the pan ungreased, I am left cursing under my breath as I scrap the sides of the pan while trying cut out said baked good. So, I always grease the pan using this Pam Baking Spray With Flour which smells like heaven (re: freshly baked cake) and I am a huge fan of.

Bon Appétit!! It’s time to eat 🙂

 

 

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