foodie finds (part 2)

Here’s another installment of “Foodie Finds!” – various things that don’t warrant their own post filled with products and foods I’ve tried out recently.

There’s a Fresh n’ Easy near my work and I stop by there sometimes to pick up a few things. I spotted some “old time” looking candies. The first one: the Goo Goo Cluster. The Goo Goo Cluster was invented in 1912 by Howell Campbell in Nashville, TN. It was the first combination candy that had several types of candy in it – not just a plain old boring chocolate bar. It has marshmallow nougat, caramel, peanuts and milk chocolate. 

This is like a peanut cluster on steroids with the extra caramel and marshmallow nougat in it. It’s quite sweet and has a nice amount of gooey-ness. My favorite part was the peanuts. I actually didn’t know the bottom layer was marshmallow until later – it just tastes like sticky nougat. 

My favorite little historical tidbit about this candy is that in the 20’s and 30’s, they used to advertise Goo Goo Clusters as “a nourishing lunch for a nickel”. Back then they were more concerned about people, especially the working class, not getting enough calories in their diet so high-calorie candies were promoted as “valuable and inexpensive sources of food energy”. Fill people up with sugar! Oh man. 

The other old time candy I found at Fresh n’ Easy was the Idaho Spud. The Idaho Spud has been around since 1918 and is made by the Idaho Candy Company in Boise, ID. Mostly it is sold in the Pacific Northwest but for some reason it was here in San Diego! 

I don’t think I have ever actually seen this one in person before I picked up it, but I know I’ve seen it on TV. It’s shaped like an Idaho potato and it covered in compound chocolate (basically, a cheaper “put together from other stuff” alternative version to real chocolate) and coconut flakes. 

I read that people usually freeze it before eating which I wish I had read before I actually took a bite. I felt like the thing was going to melt and fall apart as soon as I took a bite. The center seemed a little too liquidly/melty. The filling is a cocoa flavored marshmallow fluff – very light and airy. I imagine that if it was frozen first would hold together much better. I didn’t really like that much. The flavor was just “okay” and the center was a little too gooey/soft for my liking. 

Cold brew is my new favorite thing and I recently found these High Brew Coffees (also at Fresh n’ Easy) for $2.49 a can.

I have tried the Mexican Vanilla, Double Espresso and Dark Chocolate Mocha flavors so far (there’s one other flavor: Salted Caramel). 

All of them have a little bit of reduced fat milk and are lightened sweetened. The Mexican Vanilla has a nice smooth flavor and that hint of vanilla tastes lovely with the coffee. The Double Espresso I found to be quite strong – actually a little too strong – but it was still smooth and not bitter. The Dark Chocolate Mocha reinforced that I don’t enjoy dark chocolate all that much, but it was still creamy and smooth. I’m thinking the Mexican Vanilla will be my go to flavor though I still need to try the Salted Caramel.

Darlene recently did a post about a few other coffee finds that I hope to try out soon! 

I’m totally realizing right now that practically all of these recent finds are from Fresh n’ Easy… so thanks, Fresh n’ Easy, for stocking new and exciting things for me to try! Or at least stocking things with pretty packaging that lure me into buying them. Hm. 

Chobani has some crazy new yogurt with steel cut oats mixed in. I like yogurt. I like steel cut oats. LET’S DO THIS.

There are four flavors to choose from: Blueberry, Cranberry, Apple Cinnamon and Banana Maple. Fresh n’ Easy didn’t have the cranberry. 

Usually I only eat more plain flavored yogurt – vanilla or honey – but I decided to try out this blueberry flavored one. The blueberry and oats are all mixed in already. You can see the oats above – they are those “lumpy” looking bits. This had the consistency and texture of rice pudding but with less “stuff” in it. I like the chewy oats in the yogurt, but I thought that it was too sweet. If they could tone down the sugar or offer a plainer flavor I’d be more into this. 

 We went to Firehouse Subs over the weekend for sandwiches (which… sadly… were not as tasty as the last time we had them) and I got this bag of Lattice Cut chips.

It’s like waffle fries! But in chip form! Though this chip above is more like a concept since you barely see any of the holes. I liked the flavor of these chips a lot – the aged cheddar was nice and sharp and that bit of black pepper gave it a little oomph. I’d get these again! 

A stop at Donut Panic was in order so I could finally try the Chocolate PB Oreo vegan donuts that I kept seeing on their Instagram feed. I mean…. hello…. chocolate and peanut butter…. on a donut. Just take all of my money! TAKE IT. 

I love how chewy and airy the vegan donuts are at Donut Panic. It’s important to get them fresh though – they taste much, much better when they’re fresh. I got these at about 10AM on a Saturday. It was totally delicious and yummy and I felt like I was having dessert for breakfast (I kind of was). If you haven’t tried the vegan donuts – DO IT. But do it early in the morning, okay? 

Kirbie’s new book about mug cakes is out and my copy recently came in the mail. My friend was over so we could try and catch up on Downton Abbey and after dinner we made mug cakes! She did one of the ice cream ones using some Cookie Batter ice cream I had in the freezer while I did the “lava” chocolate cake with melted chocolate in the middle. I kind of want to use smaller mugs next time so they look more dramatic, but I was pretty happy with how the mug cakes turned out. Delicious, easy treats! 

Not a foodie find, but I recently made homemade nachos. I grilled some chicken using my new favorite method (Alabama style chicken), made my own cheese sauce (needs work) and topped it with things I love: sour cream, chunks of avocado, lots of cilantro and chopped onions (I loves me some onions). 

 And because my dog is cute…

Photos of Maya wrapped in a towel. Awwww. 

Happy Thursday!