Day 270 - Inner Peas

They are reasonably priced,
but do they TASTE reasonable?

Inner Peas
The product I have been scared of

Truth be told, I have looked at this product a lot and always thought the name was fantastic.  It is just the kind of clever, witty name Trader Joe’s products are famous for.  These names usually get my attention.  Unfortunately, I had a bad experience with another fun-named product whose packaging looks eerily similar to Inner Peas, and that experience has haunted me and kept me away from putting Inner Peas in my shopping cart.  My friend Heidi and I got Embrace Your Inner Bean, these crappy bean things, in TJ’s in Overland Park, KS.  As you will see if you read the review, the product got 1 star.  (Read the Embrace Your Inner Bean review here )  We hated the bean crud (well she liked it better than I did) and only liked it to lift up and deliver tzatzaki from the tub to our mouths…  After that experience I vowed to never buy the seemingly “matching set” product to Embrace Your Inner Bean - these Inner Peas.

However, last Saturday night when we were in our local TJ’s and made friends with another shopper, Wendy, she raaaaved about Inner Peas.  She was buying 2 or 3 bags of them and said they are one of her favorites, that they were AMAZING and ADDICTIVE and that she has turned several friends on to them.  Wellllllll, Wendy seemed super fun, and sweet, so I figured “If Wendy likes ‘em, I have to put aside my bias and at least TRY them”.  So I got a bag.

Can you sense my unease???  Check out my POPE SHIRT!  I made it for going to the Pope Parade in DC the same day that I bought this snack.  Some people at the parade asked where I got it - they wanted to buy one like it.  :)

And I tried them.  Are you happy now Wendy, I TRIED THEM!  J

I opened the bag on a night that David was not home because I KNEW he would not be a fan of these.  And when I took one out of the bag, I was frightened…  Yes, they looked like peas.  But they looked like freeze dried peas.  Hard, soul-less, lifeless peas…  I tried one.

Here is a single solitary Inner Pea(s).

Not very pea-y.  More of like a cross between cardboard and Styrofoam.  I WILL say they are a touch better than Embrace Your Inner Bean, but that ain’t really sayin’ much.  I cannot imagine sitting down and just munching on these suckers right out of the bag.  And I also cannot imagine what I would PAIR them with to improve upon the taste.  (And honestly, should I have to PAIR something to “improve the taste”??  Shouldn’t it just be good when I take it out of the bag?)

I think these are a pretty hot seller at Trader Joe’s, so obviously other people like them.  It may be more of a texture issue than a taste issue with me on this one.   I only ate like five of these things (the bag says the serving size is a whopping 22!) and I have the rest of the bag to go.  I cannot imagine eating those really, so I think I will force David to try one.  Perhaps I will blindfold him and give him one!  YES – a plot has been hatched.  I will write the rest of this review after I do a “blind taste test” with him!

BLIND TASTE TEST ABOUT TO BEGIN!!

David:  (blindfolded, eating one Inner Pea) “It’s like a marriage of… Styrofoam and peas…  Yes.  It tastes a little bit of peas.  (Crunch, crunch, crunch)

Tasting Inner Pea(s) number one...

Susan:  “Do you want another one?”

David:  “Yea, it’s not really all that bad.  (Crunched 2 more)  They have enough salt and enough flavor to be tasty and more-ish, it is just that “peas” is not really a flavor that I tend to crave as much as CHEESE, even though they share a vowel sound.  But it is a nice change of pace in the Cheeto zone.  I would give this a 3.5.”

He wanted MORE!

HEY Mikey he LIKED 'em!!!

WELL THERE YOU HAVE IT FOLKS, GUESS I KNOW WHAT I AM GONNA DO WITH THE REST OF THIS BAG!  FEED THEM TO DAVID!

Price – $1.49

Rating – (average of my 2 and David’s 3.5) – 2.75