Salty Goodness

Every now and then I break down and buy a bag of salty goodness. This time a bag of Chex Mix Jalapeño Cheddar met that craving. I felt like adding a little spice into my lunch and I certainly could not resist the fiery hot bag design. Inside one finds a mix of pretzels, 2 types of Chex, some little breadstick type things, and cheese triangle crackers. Yum, Yum!

The back of the bag reads: “Experience a FLAMING rush of TASTES and TEXTUES like never before. Chex Mix brings you the more interesting Jalapeño Cheddar snack EXPERIENCE. CHEX MIX IS A BAG OF INTERESTING!” I would venture to say this is stretching truth about the overall experience of eating the contents of the bag a bit too far. I definitely did not consume the product and immediately want to write how interesting and amazing my experience was in all capital letters. I did however enjoy my snack. I enjoyed the processed powdered cheese flavor, I mean who wouldn’t? It more than met my need for salty goodness with its 280mg of sodium per serving (the small bag has 3.5 servings). The salt flavor was not overwhelming but it is a prominent flavor. Just about midway into the bite I think, “Hey, these are a bit tangy…and spicy.” If you are looking for real jalapeño flavor this is not the product for you. I would venture to say no one buys a product like this for its natural or fresh jalapeño flavor. They could have easily be called it a spicy, tangy, hot sauce flavoring. I would have not known the difference. It is what it is. It is good at being what it is. The heat is a nice change from your basic cheesy Chex Mix.

As for the “Mix” part of the snack, I could have lived without the little breadstick things and the pretzels. Do not get me wrong, I love pretzels. Unfortunately they are lost in this bag. When popping the breadstick or the pretzel in my mouth I found they did not hold the flavor like the other pieces did. Like the bag suggests, they did add texture. What I would have liked was more crackers. My bag had only a few, perhaps other bags were luckier. The crackers added a nice softer and smoother texture to the mix. You may look at the picture I took ask “Hey, where are the cheese crackers?” The answer is simple. I ate them. I could not resist. My favorites were the Chex. I love how they are the perfect little vessel for flavor. I would have been just as happy if it was just Jalapeño Cheddar Chex and the “Mix” was dropped. 

I would definitely consider buying these again and would probably choose these over the other Chex Mix flavors because it is just that much more complex in flavor and in turn that much more enjoyable to eat. Natural flavors? Absolutely not. Good flavors? Yes as long as you are not looking for natural flavors.

Oh Christmas Tree...

Nothing says Christmas like…novelty Christmas tree shaped ice cream. These minty trees are a throwback to long ago (I’m not sure how long ago because I can’t find the history of these fun little snacks). Over the years I have seen a variety of these ice cream treats, everything from vanilla/strawberry  Santas, vanilla/strawberry/chocolate snowmen, gingerbread men sandwiches, vanilla bear cookie sandwiches, and of course the minty Christmas trees. They are made by different brands and I find them in different stores each year. In the past 5 years or so the novelty ice creams  seem to be harder and harder to find. Last year I stocked up on them but they do not do well in the freeze for long periods of time. This year I was only able to find the Christmas trees. I’m satisfied. I have had my novelty Christmas ice cream fix.

This year’s Christmas trees are brought to us by Dean’s. They come in a box of 6 delightful green trees. They are mint with little red and green sugar sprinkles. Each tree is individually packed in a plain white wrapper. This is the first year that I noticed that the box is marked “lowfat” and weighed in at 80 calories per tree. They didn’t taste any different to me so I doubt the changed the recipe, more like an added gimmick for sales. The purpose for buying these is simply for the fun of it. They have a good mint flavor but are in no way creamy or high quality. The texture is that of frozen frothy and crystalized milk. The sprinkles seem to be melted and smeared all over the packaging. They are difficult to get out of the package fully intact and come only in slice form without a stick. The trees are a bit messy to eat and if you are not careful the dye from the sprinkles ends up everywhere. Despite their short falls I come back to them every year, call it a tradition of sorts. So for now I will finish off my box of 6 (maybe another box if they mark them 50% off after Christmas) and wait for next year to see which flavors are released. For some reason like a child I get giddy just thinking of it.

Merry Christmas all!