I'm so ready for fall... bugs are such a PESTO!

Hey, there again!

I hope all of you are doing well.

My life has been really crazy lately between work and some stressers in my personal life, but here I am again. I'm writing, and that's what is important... even if what I'm writing is little fluff pieces about food. 

Today, I'm going to talk about another Tattooed Chef meal. I have talked about a couple, but wanted to throw another one out. So far, I am so incredibly impressed with this brand!

Today's topic is the Pesto Harvest Bowl.

 I LOVE pesto. Anyone who knows me knows that pesto is one of my favorite sauces. I know it's overdone according to a lot of people, but I don't care. If I'm at a restaurant and they have pesto on something, there's a very strong chance I will order it.

It doesn't look like much, but it's surprisingly tasty. There are hints of salt in there, and it just tasted like the earth in a good way. It's so earthy and wholesome!

The pesto flavor isn't as strong as I would like, but there's a touch of it.

I love zucchini, though. It's one of my favorite veggies, so I was so excited to have some in this.

The sun-dried tomatoes are a tad too sour to me, but other than that I very much enjoy this meal.

I would definitely buy it again. When I'm done eating it, I feel good. I'm full and don't feel the need to snack, which is so great for me! It looks like a small amount, but because the ingredients are so hearty, it really just filled me up!

I'd say 8/10. I recommend it!

Okie dokie... that's it for this one.

See you later! 

Bye! :)

Should we dim sum lights?

Weeeeelcome back!

Here's another found in Target post. I will probably have more of these than I have already posted because Target has a lot of options and I've only scratched the surface, so I'm very excited and inspired.

Also, I'm very well aware that all of my posts lately have been food related, and that's partially because I'm super excited about these new finds, but also because it's a bit of an escape for me. I don't want to get too deep into personal stuff because my personal life is a bit rocky right now. So please stay with me. I'm doing the best I can :)

I love dumplings. I LOVE them. If I go to a Japanese or Chinese restaurant, there's a very good chance I will get dumplings as an appetizer. I prefer steamed, but I'll take fried, as well. I just love them. Pork filled, veggie filled, etc.

So when I saw these Good & Gather Pork Soup Dumplings, I had to give them a try.

 I have never actually had a proper soup dumpling where there is soup broth inside the dumpling. But I've seen it all over the internet, and I have been wanting to try them. I'm sure frozen ones are not as good as fresh, but it's the closest I'll have in a long time.

One thing I'll note before I go any further is that this took wayyy longer to cook than the box stated. I believe the box said to cook in the microwave for 2 minutes, but it took more like 4 before it was hot.

Ignore the holes in the dumplings. The box states that you should poke holes in them after you cook them to allow the steam to be released. 

There isn't much soup inside, but there's plenty and it was HOT. I had to wait a while to eat these because it was quite hot. 

The flavor was quite good! The dumpling itself was thin but sturdy and the texture was lovely. The filling was a tad mushy, but not too terrible. It was still really good. I will definitely buy these again! I enjoyed them a lot!

I could definitely taste the pork and the scallions, but not much else, so I was slightly disappointed that I couldn't really taste the ginger, onion, or garlic, but the brother flavor was pretty strong, so it's not like it was bland.

If you like dumplings, these are good option. They're pretty tasty!

Total would be 8.5/10. I do recommend them!

Okay that's it for me on this one.

K thanks bye!

Casseroles.... because I'm from the Midwest

Welcome back!

Today, I'm going to talk about one of my absolute favorite frozen meal of ALL TIME!

There should be no surprise when I saw it's an Amy's meal. I absolutely love Amy's meals. I love their soups, pizzas, and frozen meals. All of them are vegetarian (to my knowledge) and a lot of them are vegan. I just absolutely love them!

My local grocery store I have always shopped at has carried these Amy's meals as long as I've been eating them. However, after the pandemic started, they started having really limited stock of flavors. My favorite one, the Chile Relleno Casserole, has been my favorite, but it's been out of stock for like two years.

I just kind of assumed that it wasn't being made anymore, or it just couldn't be delivered to my local grocery store. It was really upsetting because they just didn't have the variety I was looking for.

When I went to Target, I saw it. I almost cried a little. They had 6 available in stock, and I bought them all. I felt a bit like an asshole, but it had been two years and I HAD TO HAVE IT!

So it's basically a veggie casserole and it's delicious! The thing that brings it over the top is the poblano chunks. It's make the casserole slightly spicy but adds this earthiness. It has the texture of bell peppers (which I love) but make it spicy.

My boyfriend usually has the same comment for all of my vegetarian/vegan meals: "It needs meat," but with this one, he told me that it didn't need it.

 

It looks super gross. I am very well aware of that. But I promise you that it is sooooo good! If you ever have a chance to try it, please do.

There is some cheese in it, but it's very minimal, so I can handle it. It has everything you could possibly want in it: rice, black beans (my favorite bean), corn, poblano chunks, and a delicious sauce.

In terms of frozen meals, there's only one other frozen meal that tops it, and that item is no longer available like anywhere, so it doesn't really even count.

In all, 10/10 for SURE! It's just so good!

Okay, that's it for this one!

Bye :)

Mac & Cheese but make it healthy.. sort of

Welcome back to another Target find!

I enjoy fun and weird frozen meals, as most of you probably know by now, but I also like sort of healthier ones because I don't eat all that healthy in general. 

One thing I've always struggled with is mac & cheese. I've only ever found one frozen mac & cheese that I've ever really enjoyed, and that's the CHAO vegan mac & cheese. I have a previous post on that if you're ever interested. I still keep that one on hand, but I save it for special occasions because it's VERY pricy for a frozen meal.

So when I saw this mac & cheese, I had to try it. This is the same brand that did the burrito bowl I reviewed recently and thoroughly enjoyed, so I had some high hopes for this.

Sadly, it isn't vegan, so there is a decent amount of cheese in it, but I can have a little bit of dairy, and I'm glad I did!

 

I know it doesn't look like much. After I stirred it and mixed up the cheese, it looked much better, but I didn't take a picture of that.

I was expecting something completely different. I don't know what, but it wasn't this. I've had some cauliflower mac & cheeses in my search for yummy and somewhat healthy mac & cheese, but none have ever been successful. This is the most successful so far!

The cauliflower was literally just chunks of cauliflower, which I'm not mad at. I love cauliflower!

When I was a kid, my mom used to make this cheese sauce that she would put on top of the cauliflower, and it was one of my favorite things she made for me, and this frozen meal was quite reminiscent of that. 

There are also breadcrumbs on top, which I don't have a lot of personal opinions about, but there's that. You can put this in the oven after microwaving it to crisp up the breadcrumbs. That isn't for me, but if you ever try this, it is an option.

The flavor is exactly what you think it will be; it's literally just cauliflower with a cheese sauce-type thing and breadcrumbs, but it's really good. I could probably just buy some ingredients and make it myself for cheaper, but meh. I'm lazy.

I don't foresee myself buying this often by any means, but it was really good, and I enjoyed it. I probably will buy it again.

Overall, I give it a 7/10. It was good, but not like mind blowing.

See you on the next one!

Byeeee!

Nostalgia made me go HAM

Welcome back, everyone!

Today's Target find is Pork Bao Buns.

These are really nostalgic for me. I went to China like 7 ish years ago on a school trip, and Bao Buns were included in a lot of our meals. I love how fluffy they are, and I love the fillings usually, as well. My favorite was the Buns filled with red bean paste. OMG that shit is bomb!

When I was at Target, I found this frozen meal, and I haven't had one of these types of buns since I was in China, so I had to try it. I was hesitant about the flavor because I'm not a huge fan of the barbecued pork sandwiches, but it was the only flavor and I had to try it!

 

I knew going into it that a frozen bun probably wouldn't be great. I knew that the texture wouldn't be what I wanted it to be because I literally microwaved it. It asks for a wet paper towel to be over top of it, so it's kind of like steaming but let's be real... it's not.

The texture of the bun itself was slightly fluffy, but not in the way I was hoping. It wasn't terrible, but as expected, it was not as I remembered. 

But the bun itself wasn't the problem. It was the filling...

It was basically mush. I tasted no garlic, no onion, no pork. All I tasted was sweet mush. The barbecue flavor was fine, but way more American-style barbecue sauce. And the mush was just not great. It was slightly dry with no distinctive ingredients.

Overall, I'm just not impressed. If Target had the buns with other flavors inside, I would definitely give it another try because the texture of the bun wasn't horrendous. I can't say I liked it, but I think that's because the filling was so not great.

So overall, I'd give this a 3/10, only redeemed by the okay bun. If you like barbecue flavor and mushy pork, then you might enjoy this. My boyfriend sure didn't but you might...

That's it for this one! See you on the next one :)

Bye!

Nothing is IMPOSSIBLE... except this not-meat

 Hello again!

I have enjoyed some of the impossible meats or plant based meats in the past from different restaurants or brands, however, with frozen meals, it's hard to find good ones. They often taste weird or have a really terrible texture in my opinion.

When I saw this Burrito Bowl at Target, I had to give it a try. I am always up for trying new brands that I haven't had before, and this one was extra exciting! I looove burrito bowls... they're what I always get at Chipotle.

I honestly didn't even notice that it was vegan. It didn't taste vegan to me. The "beef" had a different texture because it obviously wasn't really beef, but it wasn't an offputting texture. 

It was a bit bland at first, but after adding salt and pepper, it was absolutely delicious.

The texture of the entire thing was surprisingly lovely, and the flavors all mended really well together.

I don't have a lot to really say about it other than it was really good, and I'll definitely buy it again. It seemed like a small amount when I first saw it fully cooked, but it was more than enough. It filled me right up, and I've really pleased with it.

So yeah, I highly recommend it! If you're interested in trying some vegan stuff, this would be a great place to start. Not that I'm a vegan so I don't actually know what I'm talking about, but this seems like it would be a good start.

Even if you just want to try it out and you're not a vegan, I saw you should. It's yummy!

9/10 for sure!

Okay that's it for this one! See you all on the next one!

Byeee!

I should probably take a brie-ther

 Well hellooooo again!

I have not been a fan of Target before. I don't feel classy enough to shop there, so I've never really done much shopping there in the last decade.

However, my local grocery store has been really uninspiring lately. I like new and fun things that I can try. That's part of the reason I started going to Aldi sometimes, but unfortunately, Aldi has had mostly summery things like ice cream as their specialty items, so I haven't really gotten much from there lately, either.

My local grocery store used to have so many awesome frozen meals that were new, and I was always soooo excited. But after the pandemic started, they are started stocking less and less of those items, which has been really disappointing. I thought all places would be like that.

But I went to Target, and found my favorite frozen meals that my local grocery store hasn't had in like two years.

So I will be shopping more often at Target now! It's very exciting!

The first thing I got is something I shouldn't have because it's a loooot of dairy, but I was just too damn excited not to. 

Brie is my favorite cheese ever, and whenever my boyfriend and I have a charcuterie night (very rare nowadays), I LOVE having brie and lingonberry jam on some bread or crackers. It's one of my favorite parts of the entire experience. So when I saw these, I had to give them a try! I like pastry and brie and berry jam. So why not?

I've also never had Target's brand before, Good & Gather, so this seemed like a good thing to try before anything else because it has the most hope for me.

Let me tell you! They did NOT disappoint!

They don't really look that appetizing, but they were so good! They were savory from the brie with a hint of sweetness from the jam. The pastry was super crispy and light. They flaked a lot as you can see in the photo, but I didn't mind. 

The only complaint is that there could have been slightly more jam in there, but otherwise, I highly recommend this.

It 's super easy to make, too. You just pop it in the oven for like 15 minutes at 375 degrees in a foil lined pan. Then just wait for them to cool. 

So yeah, highly recommend. 10/10! If you like brie and jam, please give these a try.

Well done, Target. You got yourself a regular customer! :D

You'll probably see more of these types of posts coming soon because I went a bit ham at Target. I hadn't seen my favorite frozen meals in so long, so I HAD to get a bunch. They also had so many healthy-type meals, too, that I hadn't seen before. So I really did have to try a bunch of stuff out!

Okay, byeeee!