Birds Eye Voila! Garlic Chicken vs. Homemade

First up Birds Eye Voila! Garlic Chicken:

This bag of precooked pasta is so easy to make. First you buy a package for about $6.00 or less depending on sale. Then you open it and put into a non-stick pan, which I do not own so I lightly oiled a regular pan, and heat for about 15 minutes depending on pan thickness. After that you serve and eat.

It comes out very good and the corn makes it slightly sweet. Good texture and so simple I thought I could have made it.

Next Homemade Garlic Chicken Pasta:

I used snap peas since I like them better than corn in food. My chicken was cut a big fat and was not as flavorful. The pasta and chicken had to be cooked 20 minutes earlier. The peas and broccoli were fresh frozen and I threw them into the final pan after the chicken and pasta were done. Sauce was soy sauce and light spices with a bit of flour for thickening. After about 10 minutes it was done.

While it was edible it was not as good as the bag food. Granted it was enough for six portions the price and time seemed to be more than just buying three bags of Birds Eye. About $12.00 for the homemade but the time and lack of great taste made it a waste.

I am not a chef in any term but recreating a simple pasta dinner should have been easier. I may try again but as long as Birds Eye offers coupons and free samples I will keep buying bags of meals until I get married :) .

Recommendation: Buy it if you can. Avoid making it home.

Coco Cafe

It was a hot and sunny summer day on the not-so-mean streets of Brooklyn. After waiting an hour in an unshaded line to get to the Bushwick Block Party (technically Williamsburg) I was in need of some refreshments. I spot the free Coco Water booth but I hate the taste of coconut water so I start to walk away until I hear Latte.

Apparently the awful coconut water has been mixed with delicious coffee. These were chilled and very cold. I asked for the original latte flavor and braced for overwhelming coconut. Luckily the flavor was not there it was just a hint of coconut and smooth weak coffee. It tasted cold and refreshing but nothing was distinct. I actually liked the original latte enough that I would buy it in the future.

The mocha was not as good but I never been a fan of mocha drinks. There is always a bittersweet cocoa flavor to mocha drinks and his was no different. I really want to try the vanilla since that is usually the best but I am going have to wait until the next free stand at some local festival.

Very little information on the Coco Cafe website but the drink seem healthy enough. Some calcium and potassium and surprisingly a bit of protein. Vita Coco is the main site but that equally lack any detailed information.

Josh Rubin over at Cool Hunting thought it was good and raved about the hippie-ness of the the fair trade and natural stuff. I do not trust all the fair trade all natural stuff since it is more of a fad.

While over at Food Junk both the writer and visitors seem to miss the coconut kick and found it greasy because of the carrageenan which is a seaweed thickener that gives drinks a milky texture. Yes you feel that greasy quality to Coco Cafe but that was expected as the coconut water on its own is to sharp and watery.

Recommendation: Buy it if you can.

Chiquita Banana #4011

#4011 is the standard yellow variety officially known as the Cavendish Banana. While Chiquita is the number one world banana seller. Of course they sell other fruit but they are famous and sometimes infamous for their bananas.

While politics should rarely invade food blog you have to know that Chiquita has had past problems paying workers fairly. Also the sub-contractors have also been heavy handed when farming. I believe they have honestly been improving but are still far from a great company.

All that aside I did get these bananas because they were super cheap and the organic bananas I've been eating were not the best. Chiquita has perfected bananas especially with refrigerated shipping. While I tend to avoid imported, this is from Guatemala, items I have to say these taste great and worth the price. Hopefully Chiquita will continue to improve and the quality of their fruit will stay high.

See I eat food that has not been prepackaged just highly modified.

Recommendation: Buy it if you can.

Pirouline Chocolate Hazelnut Rolled Wafers

Rolled wafers are delicious crunchy cookies usually with some sort of creme in the middle. Cremé de Pirouline, America's only rolled wafers are all natural and Chocolate Hazelnut.

The creme versions of Pirouline wafers come in a tin and are also split into two foil packages. Even with that they tend to get soggy quick and the hazelnut smell is not the best. They are softer than I prefer and not overly sweet. Overall they are fine but not great.

At about $5.00 per tin that meant 32 wafers and 480% of you saturated fat if you eat the whole thing. The website has little information about the products but it is American made.

Recommendation: Try it for yourself.

PopCorners Kettle Popped Corn Chips

Just awful. I did not want you to wait for a full review to say how awful tasting these were.

PopCorners are pressed popcorn triangles coated in different flavors. While I cannot judge an entire line of products by one flavor this was not a good introduction. Kettle flavor is an awful mixture of super sweet popcorn and some odd salty powder on top.

There is slight hint that this could be a great tasting snack but this has the texture of a bad rice cake. I was expecting a salty snack but this is more of a sweet treat. Claiming to be all natural and gluten free are just buzzwords that I ignore. This is just a bag of sugar and salt.

PopCorners at Amazon are about $2.00 per bag but since these are relatively new they have been giving free samples across the country. I suggest taste-testing before committing.

Recommendation: Avoid it for goodness sake.