Campbell's V8 Golden Butternut Squash Soup

Since we announced the winner of the Campbells V8 Soup Give Away yesterday, I thought this would be a great day to bring you another V8 soup review!

I love butternut squash soup, and Campbell's has some big shoes to fill on this one. My all-time favorite B.S. soup (yeah, there's that 12-year-old again) was the soup served at the now-defunct Wolfgang Puck Café chain. (They were popular here in Southern California for about two weeks...in 1996). Well, let me tell you, it was perfect. That stuff that Wolfgang is selling in a can does not even come close. I don't care what they say, something is different.

ANYWAY...so let's talk about the Campbell's V8 version. (Did I mention that one of the advantages is that one bowl of soup gets you a full serving of veggies?)



The texture is creamy but not perfectly smooth. It's not lumpy, mind you...maybe "rustic" would be a good word for it. You get little chunks of veg and the slight grain of the squash. It makes it seem more like homemade.



The soup is sweet and mellow. You can really taste the carrots that are in it. The squash tastes fresh and ripe, like a nicely baked squash -- not at all like that nasty frozen squash puree that haunts the frozen food aisle (and my childhood nightmares).

One thing that stands out is the richness of the soup. I can see that there is cream in the base, but it's the flavor of butter that stands out. Again -- how could butter possibly be bad?! There is also herbage floating in the soup. If I had to guess, based on the label, I would say it's parsley. Honestly, I couldn't tell. But it looks pretty.

All around, this is about as good a soup as you'll ever find in a supermarket. Wolfgang may still have my heart, but this soup is definitely gunning for his spot.




PURCHASED FROM:
Sample From Company

hint Water: Watermelon

I love the idea of hint water-- spring water (aka no bubbles) with just a hint (get it?) of whatever flavor.

I have noticed that with all the various hint flavors I have tried, I have either loved them or hated them, with no middle ground. The flavors either come off as too weak or too bitter (as was the case with the apple). It's hard to criticize them for that because the flavors do seem pretty natural -- it has just not made me like them any more.

Watermelon should be a slam dunk, right? It's already got 'water' in the title, so you would think that you'd be halfway there. Or perhaps I may have been spoiled. You see, what feels like a thousand years back (but in reality was only five years), when I was living in Woodlands Hills, California, just down the street from us was a rotisserie place that had in fact been there forever (Chicks). They made fresh watermelon juice. Let me tell you, I can take or leave chicken (mostly leave) but that watermelon juice kicked ass. Since then I have searched for something that would be at least close to as good.

So how does the hint water stack up?

I drank the water both ice cold and at room temperature. Ice cold, the flavor was barely perceptible -- almost like drinking watermelon that was under-ripe. The basic flavor is there, but it's more like a shadow of what the flavor will be.

At room temperature the flavor is stronger, and the best way to describe it is to tell you to go get a piece of watermelon flavored gum. Chew the gum for about thirty seconds and then drink about a gallon of water. You know that sour, vaguely bubblegum taste that's left over? That's what this hint water tastes like.

It's not bad, or unpleasant in any way. It does in fact live up to the brand name, as it is only a subtle hint of flavor. I am starting to suspect I do not do subtle all that well...



PURCHASED FROM:
Some bodega (convenience store) whose name I can't remember, NYC

Purity Organic Apple Juice

OMG I didn't know apple juice could be this good!
Imagine biting into a perfectly ripe, juicy apple. I am talking about the kind of apple that was used to tempt Snow White (or maybe that made the pie in "American Pie"). Now imagine that some really smart person made a juice with that apple.

It's the perfect apple juice. It's sweet, but it's not like a syrup type of sweet or a honey type of sweet. It has tartness to it. It's the kind of tart that comes from eating the peel of the apple. It has a velvety thick mouth feel- without being chunky (I cannot deal with chunky)

AND if all of that weren't good enough the company does something that I thought was pretty interesting. They do limited pressings of the juice. Be sure to visit Purity Organic website for far more information then I can give.

Track this down!!

First Blush Chardonnay Juice

Juice made with wine grapes!

Genius.
Way, way, back about a million years ago when Gigi was but a wee loud, obnoxious kid (shocking that she grew up to be a loud, obnoxious adult isn't it?!) we had a family friend that made his own wine. And he often had grapes around that he would let us kids snack on. I couldn't begin to even guess what kind of wine grapes they were- about all I remember is that they were both red and white, as he made red and white wines. But, I can tell you that I loved to eat the grapes.
They were sweet and yet a little bigger. They had seeds in them (which I did not like) and the red grapes tended to stain. I remember that during the summer they would freeze some and use them as ice for the wine (what is it with Italians and red wine with ice?!- I swear at least half my family does it)

First Blush Juices are made with wine grapes, yet they are free of alcohol, added sugars and preservatives and they are caffeine free (but I won't hold that against them) and they are also high in antioxidants. All this reminiscing and blurbing is great but how does it taste?

I started with the Chardonnay because it has been hotter then hell here this past week (it's been in the 90's!) and I wanted something light and crisp.

Smelling the juice it smells more like classic white grape juice then chardonnay.
The first taste... It lacks the sweetness of white grape juice. I can tell that there are some apple and peach notes. But that doesn't change the fact that the main thing it reminded me of was honey cough drops and morning breath. Oddly enough not the best combo ever. A saving grace maybe that I did notice as the juice came to room temp it tasted less nasty and more like regular grape juice.

I loved the idea of this juice and I am going to try the reds- the chardonnay just did nothing for me.

Butterball Oven Roasted Turkey Deli Meat

Who doesn't love a good turkey sandwich?
Heck, even I do and I have a love/hate relationship with poultry.
Let me explain. One of my favorite meals ever is a beautifully roasted whole turkey ala Thanksgiving dinner. In my family over the years I think we tried every possible brand but we always came back to Butterball. Is there a better smell to wake up to then that roasting turkey on Thanksgiving morning?

And of course who doesn't love the sandwiches that you get to have from the left overs?- well me. Now to be clear, I love the sandwiches made within the first 14 hours or so after the bird has been cooked. After that the meat picks up something that I call "leftover turkey taste". Since I only eat the breast meat I do not know if the dark meat picks this up as well (I would assume it does) but leftover turkey taste is best described as turkey that tastes like it spent time hanging out in a vat of "turkey flavoring" that was past it's prime and too heavy on the salt, then it sat in a fridge with the smelliest leftovers possible, picks up all those flavors- And then the meat gets dry yet slimy on top of all of that.

Even beyond that, who has the time to roast a whole turkey every time you want a turkey sandwich?. There are dozens of "lunch meat" turkey options to be found at the mega mart of your choice and over the years I am sure I have tried most of them. You can go to sandwich shop of your choice and get something made for you. It's not like there are not other options out there. The problem for me has been I had yet to find a market or a fast food version of turkey that I even remotely liked. The meat always seems too salty, too slimy and pumped too full of preservatives and other magic chemicals. And what is the deal with those weird clear patches that run through some of the slices?! is that fat?, some sort of gelatin binder to hold the meat together? Whatever it is it is just gross.

I was dying for a turkey sandwich the other day and Albertson's had Butterball Oven Roasted turkey on sale in the deli. This is one of the slice to order products so I got just enough to either satisfy my craving or not make me fill guilty about wasting food and money (depending on how it turned out). Was I pleasantly surprised!

The flavor really is about as close to "real" oven roasted turkey as I have ever gotten from a deli meat. It's not overly salty and doesn't have that taste that suggests it was injected or marinaded in "turkey flavor". And while I am sure they are there, the meat doesn't taste staturated in preservatives.
Texture wise it's moist without being slimy and has none of those weird clear jelly/fat/who-knows-what patches that lunch meat tends to have- I still want to know what that stuff is (and no, I never eat it. I will tear those patches out)

Now, if you'll excuse me after talking about it so much I need to go gobble (hahaha I am SOOOOO funny) down a sandwich.

PURCHASED FROM:
Albertsons Supermarket

Ciao Bella- Blood Orange Sorbet

Should I crank up the Dean Martin when I eat this?
Oh what am I saying! It is always a good time for Dean Martin.
The question is, is eating this worthy of Dean Martin.

The flavor is bold and very,very, very close to what it is like to eat frozen wedges of blood oranges. It was naturally sweet and yet it maintained it's tart qualities.
The texture is very icy, not nearly as smooth as the majority of sorbet's but it is just so good that you won't care.

Something else that I liked about the Ciao Bella was the ingredient list:
Blood Orange Juice, Orange Juice, Sugar, Pectin, Guar Gum.
It's not often that you find something so basic and natural that tastes this good. Excelient!

Yoplait Light Apple Turnover Yogurt

I am warning you guys now we are going to have A LOT of yogurt this week!
Warm weather gets me on a yogurt kick so I have stocked my fridge. The first one I tried was the Yoplait Light Apple Turnover.
I have noticed that light yogurt tends to be either really bad or really good so I was not sure what to expect. Luckily for me the Apple Turnover was on the really good side.

The flavor is light and sweet. The flavor reminded me of baked cinnamon apples. The yogurt it's self is creamy and smooth and surprisingly light on the tang factor. Because of that it made it more satisfying as a sweet snack. The little bites of apple brought some crunch and a slight bitter edge. My only compliant with this yogurt is that the amount of apple bits is pretty sparse.

Really tasty overall and for a 100 calorie snack that is also fat free and relatively good for you it is hard to do better. This gets a coveted 11!

Snapple Antioxidant Water Defy- Raspberry Acerola

First I would like to sat thank you to Chessia with Snapple for giving me the chance to review several of the new Antioxidant Waters
I am a huge fan of Snapple so I was pretty excited to hear from them.

The new Antioxidant Water line contain vitamins and electrolytes. This particular water was part of the Defy group and have vitamins A & E as well as grape seed extract.

The flavor I tried was Raspberry Acerola. OK, I admit I had to Google Acerola. According to the Wiki entry they are a kind of cherry like plant that are well known for being very high in vitamin C.

The flavor of the water actually kind of reminded me of a weaker, more sour version of raspberry Kool-Aide. It has a nice sour taste without being bitter.
It was smooth and easy to drink. I liked that unlike some of the flavored waters out there it didn't seem to be sickeningly sweet from artificial sweeteners. All in all it was pretty refreshing.


PURCHASED FROM:
Sample From Company

Simply Orange Juice

My taste buds are back!
More or less. I won't be tackling anything too complex for a few more days but I have a few things in the works.

Anyway, since Ye Olde Publix was out of my normal OJ (I like the single serving bottles) but they did have the new single serving Simply Orange I gave it a try.

Simply Orange has been around for a few years now but I am really picky about my OJ and tend not to go out side of my stand by. Don't get me wrong I LOOOOVE freshly squeezed juice. Tat is just a taste you tend not to find in ready made products. Concentrate is ok (I am partial to Tropicana Pure Premium) but it can't hold a candle to fresh.

Simply Orange hook is that it is fresh squeezed not concentrated juice. It also comes in varying levels of pulp. I for one can't hang with the pulp and I went pulp free.
The first thing that I noticed is the smell. It has that same fresh smell of cutting into a juicy orange.

I have got to give Simply Orange major points. It is the closest to fresh squeezed I have ever had from a bottle. It's not overly sweet but at the same time not sour enough that your lips get puckered into the always attractive CBF. It has a smooth texture that avoids the thick syrupy quality you sometimes get (think Sunny D).

This is hands down my new official juice.
There are other Simply juices and I look forward to trying the Apple because I love apple juice.

PURCHASED FROM:
Publix Supermarket

Dannon Activia Yogurt- Prune Flavor

There are so many jokes that can be made they practically write themselves!

The Activia line from Dannon's hook is that it contains the active cultures "Bifidus Regularis" which if you eat the yogurt every day for two weeks is supposed to help regulate your digestive system. And of course we all know what Prunes are famous for. That's why the thought of the Ex-Lax of the yogurt world being made with the Ex-Lax of the fruit world just sort of struck my funny bone.

And well, maybe this should be no surprise but I like prunes. Yes, I am saying it loud and proud I LIKE PRUNES!
Even after the recent attempt at renaming them "pitted plums" they are still looked down on. Which is a shame. They're sweet, and juicy and well yes if you need a little extra help "getting the job done" well they are good for that too.

The yogurt is good- really good.
The texture is smooth and creamy. Flavor-wise it reminded me of a cross between plum and raspberry. There are small bits of prune mixed in.

It may seem like the worst idea ever but give it a chance because it is worth it.

Dove Dark Chocolate Mint Creames

I have to be honest. I did not notice these were sugar free until I got them home.

All in all not bad. The chocolate it's self is not as rich as the normal Dove dark but it does have a deep rich flavor. The mint is subtle at first but after two of the candies it does start to remind you of Mylanta.
The mouth feel is creamy and smooth. My only complaint with it is that it melts VERY quickly.

I like it enough that I would buy it again- IF it did not have two major drawbacks.

1. About 3 minutes after eating the after taste from hell sets in. It's like Mylanta and stale coffee.

2. The not so small print on the label:
"EXCESSIVE CONSUMPTION MAY HAVE A LAXATIVE EFFECT."

I know I always want my snack food to keep me regular.

Yoplait Whips- Creamy Latte

I've mentioned a few times that I really like the Whips line from Yoplait. Recently they added a coffee flavor to the line. I like coffee flavor but haven't been terribly impressed with coffee yogurt (Dannon's is just not good) but I tried it anyway...

Really Good!
The coffee taste actually does taste like a slightly sweet latte with a tart edge- and it manages not to have that bitter old gas station coffee taste that some coffee products have.
The best way to describe it would be to imagine coffee flavored cheesecake. If you want something sweet and low cal this is it!

Dannon Fit and Light Cherry Vanilla Yogurt

I am always trying to keep the sugar down and I love yogurt so I was excited to see I could try this.

I got the Cherry Vanilla. It was pretty good!. Not to sweet on the vanilla side and not too tart on the cherry. There are nice little bites of cherry premixed through out. And maybe I am just so used to it that I didn't detect it, but I also noticed so artificial sweetener aftertaste.

The only thing that I didn't really like is the texture/thickness. If you like a nice thick yogurt (like I do) you re going to be disappointed. It's smooth and not the least bit grainy which is good. But the thickness is more like one of those yogurt drinks (Danimals anyone?) or a really thick smoothie (I HATE smoothies so this is not a selling point for me). If you like yogurt dip for fruit this would be perfect straight from the container.

For 60 calories for 6 ounces and no fat you can't really complain (but that didn't stop me!) and I have to admit I got over the thickness enough to eat a couple more containers over the weekend. It's not Yoplait custard style but it makes a decent snack.