Consumer Report February 2022: The Good & the Not So Good

Let's start with the positive, shall we?

For those of us who are lactose intolerant, eating cereal can be off the table. (I take Lactaid pills, but they don't seem to be effective for milk & cereal.) My Mom came up to visit in October and she drinks lactose-free milk, so we bought it for her. 

Go figure. Lactose-free milk is not exactly a new item and if I'd been buying it, I could've had cereal back in my life much sooner!

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Fairlife lactose-free milk is spectacular! I (obviously) don't drink "regular" milk frequently, but I honestly didn't find a taste difference between the two. We use it in cooking and for cereal and it saves me a lot on Lactaid pills!

After having cereal for the first time with this milk and not feeling sick after, I wanted to break into song- "A Whole New World" from Alladdin. 😂 (Again, just annoying it took me so long to try it!)

Next up are Dill, Olive Oil & Sea Salt Triscuits. Love, love, love them! They are salty (but not too salty) and pair perfectly with all kinds of cheeses or are tasty just on their own! These are not your OG dry flavorless Triscuits! (They also have some other funky flavors which I've yet to try!)

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I feel like these are the (semi) healthy version of Brown Sugar Pop Tarts. Kellogg's Special K Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pastry Crisps are so tasty. Whenever I have a sugar craving, this definitely satisfies it. The drizzle of frosting and the brown sugar are the perfect combination- for breakfast, snack or dessert.

Now, the not so good.

Since I have a new lease on life in the cereal department, I immediately gravitated toward one of my all-time favorites, Cinnamon Life. I then happened to see on the box that there's Vanilla Life. 

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Since my regular grocery store doesn't carry it, I went out of my way to get it at another (more expensive) grocery store. What.a.letdown. 

See the "...artificially flavored" statement on the box? Yup, that's completely accurate. The vanilla flavor tasted very fake. It had an aftertaste, like artificial sugar. I don't recommend it. At all. ::runs back to grocery store to buy Cinnamon Life::

I feel like I may have complained about this next one already, so if I did in a previous blog post, sorry. However, it's SO bad that it's worth repeating how awful it is.

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I love love love love love (not enough loves) maple frosted donuts. It is my donut of choice at Dunkin. (I rarely go to other donut shops but if I did, it would be my donut of choice at those places, too.) I just happened to be Googling maple frosted to see what other recipes or products I might stumble upon and lo and behold I came across Maple Glazed Doughnut ONE Bar. 

Perfect! A nutrition bar (healthy!) that is frosted with maple goodness? Sign me up. My regular grocery store did have this and I almost bought an entire box, but (thankfully), I restrained myself and bought one bar to try. 

There really aren't many words for the taste of this. Artificial sugar is one problem, which comes with major aftertaste. Weird texture. This bar should not be using the phrase "maple frosted donut" on it's label- it's consumer fraud. Yuck.

Have you tried any new food items lately that you loved or hated?