Baked Cheese Crunchies

This bag of TJ's Baked Cheese Crunchies boasts that these snacks have “33% less fat than regular fried cheese flavored corn snacks**”.  It took us a while to hunt around on the packaging to follow the asterisks after that statement to find what they connected to.  I finally found the mouseprint (did you know that is what teeny tiny print is called, isn’t that a fun phrase??) that told us: 
     -one 28 gram serving of TJ’s Baked Cheese Crunchies will set you back 6 grams of fat
     -whereas a 28 gram serving of Regular Fried Cheese Flavored Corn Snacks will ding you 9 grams 
       of fat.

All of that being said, I would posit that if you are worried about eating FAT, perhaps cheese doodles should not be on your shopping list.  There are much tastier "cheat foods" in my opinion!  Also, anyone who thinks that David is going to eat a 28 gram serving of Cheetos, be they “real” Cheetos or this Trader Joe’s version, is mistaken.  No, David is a Cheetos aficionado and once ate so many on a road trip that he barfed.  I think Cheetos are the only food he has ever done that with. 

Snack time

So, I recused myself from reviewing this product, since obviously David is the cheese doodle expert in our family.  I myself only eat Cheetos Puffy “Natural” Cheetos – the white ones.  And don’t lecture me, I knooooow they are not “natural”, ok?  But those are the ones I eat!

Here is what David said about this snack food:

“I will eat crunchy or non-crunchy Cheetos, because the crunch is amusing.  But these are not quite as amusing as a Cheetos brand baked crunchy snack.  These will do.  They have a bit less cheese taste than traditional crunch Cheetos.  Otherwise, they are fine. 

Does this man look excited to eat this snack food?  I think not.

I will go back to my fried puffy Cheetos “Naturals” and not get these again.  When you need a snack, these will do.*  I will give them a 3.5.”

Price:  $1.99

Rating:  3.5

*Editor’s note:  When David said, “When you need a snack these will do,” I pointed out to him that if you really neeeeeded a snack, a fried turd would do.  He stressed that he would give a fried turd a lower score than these TJ’s Baked Cheese Crunchies. 

EDITOR'S IMPORTANT NOTE:  I find this very funny: I just realized, after writing this review, that we have previously reviewed this product.  It is bound to happen, there are probably around 500 reviews in my blog.  But I totally forgot that we rated these way back in September 2015.  I am impressed that they got almost the same score back then, and also impressed that TJ's has not increased the price at all.  I smiled when I read a reader's comment on the original review (that I had forgotten) dissing name brand Cheetos.  Link to original review here:  Baked Cheese Crunchies Original Review

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

Day 254 - Baked Cheese Crunchies (Cheese Flavored Corn Snack)

I have recused myself from reviewing this product.  I like regular style Cheetos, but not the crunchy ones, and these just look too much like Crunchy Cheetos for me.  I fear my dislike of Crunchy Cheetos would negatively and unfairly color my review, so I am allowing a CHEETO EXPERT, David, to review these alone. 

David munching on Baked Cheese Crunchies while on a road trip ON HIS BIRTHDAY!

We picked up this snack in the Columbus (Easton) Ohio Trader Joe’s.  We saw this AWESOME sign there, which reminded me of another reason why I love TJ’s:

As if their good quality food, great prices, friendly employees, and clean stores weren't enough reasons to HEART Trader Joe's - here is yet another - THEY GIVE BACK TO THE COMMUNITIES they are in!!  Thanks TJ's!

Ok, on to the review of the product!

David:  (While snacking on these Baked Cheese Crunchies in the car on our drive home from Cincinnati) These are good…  They have less CHEESE and SALT taste than Cheetos.  But the bready taste of the actual corn thing-y inside is quite pleasant and flavorable.

Here is what the bag looks like

Susan:  Do you prefer THESE or the Crunchy Cheetos?

David:  CRUNCHY CHEETOS!  Cuz I like the salt. 

Susan:  Do these taste HEALTHIER than a Crunchy Cheeto?

David:  Yeah, I think they do…

Susan:  They come in a smaller bag.

David:  Yeah.  And it feels like I’m not eating as much powdered, flavored stuff.

Susan:  So what rating do you give ‘em?

David:  a 3.75

Susan:  Are they a good road trip snack??

David:  They are a good road trip snack.  IF you can’t get your hands on Cheetos…

Susan:  Have you ever eaten so many Cheetos that you threw up??

David:  Why, yes I have…

Susan:  (giggling) Last question – would you like a taste of this COCONUT WATER that I just opened to wash the Crunchies down with??  (giggle)  (Note - to read the super bad review Coconut Water got recently, look here:  http://traderjoes365.blogspot.com/2015/09/day-251-coconut-water.html

David:  …  I am good, thanks…

As you can see, he was not sure he would like them while we were at the store, but all turned out okay

Price - $1.99

Rating – 3.75