Keebler Cinnamon Roll Cookies - Caramel Pecan

Cookies are snacks I don't often find myself indulging in. Whenever I pass by an aisle that has Pepperidge Farms cookies, I'm slightly tempted to buy them, but I decide against it, and usually choose to buy chips and candy instead. I mean, I love Oreos and Nutter Butters, but I can't remember the last time I bought a box of them. However, I am up for novel ideas, and this next item seemed novel enough to purchase.

Keebler is a brand that I don't think I've purchased since high school. There commercials never appealed to me, and I always gravitated toward Chips Ahoy when I wanted chocolate chip cookies. However, how often is it that you see Cinnamon Roll Cookies that boast having "The Delicious Flavor of Cinnabon Cinnamon"? Cinnabon, like cookies, is another indulgence that I rarely find myself eating. Who doesn't love Cinnabon? If each bun weren't roughly 600+ calories, I'd certainly increase my Cinnabon intake. Notice that the bag suggests that you warm these up for a great taste.


The cookies are of below average to average packaged cookie size

I tried the cookies both straight out of the bag, and I also tried them warmed in the microwave. If you don't have 20 - 30 seconds to heat up the cookie, I can tell you that they're still pretty good. They're soft cookies, which is a plus, and they carry a strong cinnamon bun flavor and taste. When warmed, they are better, but that could be said of most cookies. Overall, I'd say that this was a good purchase, and maybe I'll start purchasing cookies more often.

Keebler Cinnamon Roll Cookies - Caramel Pecan: 8/10

Shrimp Snacks: A bitter start to 2013

The updates haven't been coming in. I wasn't planning to do another post until someone asked me if I was going to do another one, and I have a bunch of pictures and snacks, so I decided why not? The first snack that I'll be talking about in 2013 is one that my friend Josh and I had high hopes for:


Look at that. They have fried little shrimps all over that plate. I love shrimp. I love crispy fried foods. This seemed like it would be a winner. I don't know what the numbers mean though; maybe the bag is telling the reader that 100g serving contains 2900 mg of something. Who knows? All I know is that the picture looks delicious

As you can see, the actual snack itself doesn't look quite as appetizing. Whatever, though, right? Doritos come in triangles and triangles don't look appetizing, so looks don't mean anything when it comes to snacking. The texture was predictable: very crispy. The flavor, however, was a let down. It was slightly flavorless with a bitter aftertaste. There was no salty or savory aftertaste, but only slightly bitter. I would probably prefer snacking on little dried shrimp than snack on these again.
Shrimp snacks: 3/10

Riska Natto Rice Snacks

Usually when someone mentions the word "acquired taste", it means either, "You might not like it at first, but you'll grow to like it", "It's something you have to grow up with to like", or"You'll never like it how much you'll try it". A few foods fall into the last category; the first food that comes to mind is bitter melon. Many foods fall into the first and second category. Licorice certainly falls into the first category for me. Growing up, I never really liked it, but after high school I liked it more, except for that salted licorice my friends Chris and Brittany gave me. I think something like ume or natto fall into the second category. They're foods that belong to a certain culture and don't really exist outside of them. At first, I tried natto just because of the terrible descriptions people gave it. However, after a while, I kind of like it, or at the very least, I have a higher tolerance to it.


First of all, what is natto, you may be asking. Well, it's basically fermented soybean, and when it gets fermented, it's develops sticky webs not unlike a spider web.The flavor of natto for me is hard to describe. I can easily describe the texture, as it's a bit slimy and sticky. It's like if you ate gel or glue. I guess I could describe the flavor as having a subtle sweetness with hints of bitter. When I opened this bag of snacks, it certainly carried a very strong smell. I wondered if a natto flavored snack would taste a lot like natto or a just a little


A natto rice snack

Well the chip starts off with a sweet flavor, but as you chew, there's definitely some bitter to it. It also tastes like there was a bit of horseradish or wasabi flavoring, but this was not indicated on the ingredients list. After eating a few of these, it does give you the mouth feel of eating natto. The slimy texture that's left behind is one that is very unique. I can say that this snack is certainly not for everyone, and if you have an aversion to natto, you might not like it. Like I said, I haven't really gotten around to liking natto yet, but I am becoming much more tolerant of it.

Riska Natto Rice Snacks: 7/10 (much less if you don't like natto)

Hawaiian Typhoon Popcorn

Like Terrell Owens, I love popcorn. Popcorn can be a sweet or savory snack, depending on what’s put on it. It’s the perfect snack for the movies, watching television, or for most relaxation activities. The problem with purchasing popcorn at the movies has to do with the price. Everything is overpriced at the movie theaters due to convenience, and it’s not like you can pop your own corn while you’re there.

Meet Hawaiian Typhoon Popcorn, popcorn that has a price that is even more ridiculous than movie popcorn. While a large popcorn may cost quite a bit at the movie theater, some theaters give you a free re-fill. There are no refills with this popcorn unless you buy another bag. How much would that cost? Roughly $5 - $6 per bag. Trying to purchase it online doesn’t help either as you have to pay for shipping as well. I bought this bag to see if it was worth the price of purchase.

Hawaiia Typhoon Popcorn

The first thing I noticed when I opened the bag was the smell. It definitely had a sour cream smell to it, which I assume you can get by getting some sort of popcorn flavoring powder in stores. There are bits of nori on certain pieces of popcorn, but like movie popcorn and microwavable popcorn, not every piece is going to have all the flavoring. I was kind of disappointed due to the fact that I could have probably bought several packets of microwavable popcorn and a shaker of popcorn seasoning and gotten almost the same effect for less money. It’s a good popcorn, but I’d be hard pressed to purchase another bag of $6 popcorn unless I got free re-fills with it.

Hawaiian Typhoon Popcorn: 6/10 (7 - 7.5/10 if you don’t mind the price)