AquaFina Flavorsplash Sparkling Berry Loco

I’m always on the hunt for a new flavorful zero calorie beverage. I enjoy water, but sometimes it can get plain old boring … so I picked up the new AquaFina Flavorsplash Sparkling Berry Loco which is a four berry blended sparkling water. I’m not the biggest fan of sparkling waters, but there are a handful that I truly enjoy … and since this was a different flavor I had high hopes.

Unfortunately those high hopes were smashed to smithereens after the second sip. The first sip I thought it tasted okay … the second sip brought on a wave of complete and utter disgust.  It’s mildly bubbly carbonated water with disgusting artificial flavoring. It was so bad I screwed the cap back on the bottle and threw it right into the garbage.  I’m glad I only purchased 1 bottle to try because I won’t be wasting money buying any more flavors.

Of course a bottle of 0 calorie or 0 points plus.

Trader Joe’s Caramelized Onion Dip

After trying the Trader Joe’s Bacon Cheddar Ranch DipI decided to pick up the Trader Joe’s Caramelized Onion Dip to give a whirl. Just by looks it looked like one of my favorite dips that can be made with Lipton onion soup mix … but the caramelized onion made it seem that more enticing.

One day I decided to pull this out of the fridge because I was in the mood for a snack. Opening the container it definitely resembles my beloved favorite ‘homemade’ dip although I could see small pieces of caramelized onion throughout it.  I took out two tablespoons and took a bite with one of my chips … and my face puckered. I was overwhelmed with an overpowering salt flavor. At first I thought perhaps it could’ve been the chips … so I ended up dipping a raw carrot into it and found that overwhelming salty flavor was still there.  I’m not a big salt fan, I only use it very sparingly in cooking to boost flavoring in cooking.  This was just so jam packed with salt that I couldn’t even offer it to guests because I would have felt bad.  Needless to say the container ended up finding a permanent home in the circular file (i.e. the trash). I’ll definitely stick to the bacon cheddar ranch dip because that is flavorful and not salty.

A serving is 2 tablespoons which is 70 calories or 2 points plus values.

QUESTION:

Have you tried any of the dip selections available at Trader Joe’s?

Yoplait Light Mocha Mint Yogurt

Yoplait comes out with special limited edition yogurt flavors depending on the season.  Since I’m a big yogurt fan, I tend to try the limited edition flavors because typically they’re a nice change to the norm.  So while at Target I spotted and picked up the Yoplait Light Mocha Mint Yogurt.

Usually I buy fat free yogurts, the exception being some Greek yogurts.  Yoplait can be spot on with their flavors, so I went into this with high hopes … although I admit I was slightly afraid. Finally I pulled a container out of the fridge and upon opening it up I was rather afraid to take a bite because of the grayish look to the yogurt. Two bites in and I couldn’t handle it. It was a minty yogurt flavor that was slightly chocolaty but had a tart yogurt flavor to it. which was all around repulsive. I was NOT a fan and since I found it to be so gross I couldn’t even offer it up to family/friends so I threw the yogurt and the other three in the package in the garbage.  I’m gong to keep a mental note to not purchase anymore “mint chocolate” flavored yogurts.

A serving is 60 calories or 2 points plus values.

QUESTION:

Have you tried the limited edition flavors by Yoplait for December/January?

Starbucks Via Pumpkin Spice

The moment fall is close to coming into the picture, fall items start arriving. One of the drinks I absolutely love, but don’t order very often is the Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks.  It’s pumpkin, its latte, and it’s pure magic. So when I spotted the Starbucks Via Pumpkin Spice packets on the shelf at Target, I quickly scooped up a box.

I heated up 1 cup of milk, added in the Via packet and stirred it up … and it was HORRIBLE!  Now, I love coffee, but this has a very, very bold coffee flavor to it. I actually picked up more of the coffee flavor than I did any pumpkin.  The packet of mix smelled more of pumpkin in powder form than it did when it was mixed in with my milk.  Once I mixed it with the milk it just smelled of very, very bold coffee.  Now, I admit, I love coffee BUT I’m more of a light and occasional medium roast coffee fan. This was so bold I’d have to water it down to make it palatable, but by then I’d probably end up just drinking 1-2 cups of milk with a mild flavor in the background. I’d have to give it a nice dosing of sugar free pumpkin syrup and a few Equal packets, plus some additional milk to maybe even get a pumpkin flavor.  Needless to say … I was quite bummed, especially since the Via packets are not cheap.

Each pack has 60 calories to it, which is 2 points plus values. You then need to add in your points/calories associated with the type of milk you use.

QUESTION:

Do you like any of the Starbucks Via packets?