Good & Gather Sweet Cajun Trail Mix

Now this is Tex Mex Trail Mix...or rather Tex Mex as it was meant to be...

I might have been a little too harsh on the Tex Mex mix I reviewed many years ago. I know a lot of people love Tex Mex trail mix and Target's offering wasn't bad at all. I just wasn't vibing with it back then for some reason.

But this stuff? This stuff is as addicting as it gets. I think it's the sweet element that really keeps me coming back for more. And I think I enjoy the cajun spices a little more than the southwest spices in the Tex Mex.

This mix could use some more nuts and maybe fewer sesame sticks, but other than that I don't really have any complaints. Both this and the original Tex Mex trail mixes have spicy peanuts as one of the primary ingredients. This one also contains butter toffee peanuts.

They both have sesame sticks, too, although the ones here are both "cajun" and "honey roasted." While Tex Mex trail mix has almonds and pepitas, neither of which are present here, there are roasted salted corn kernels which add an extra bit of crunch and nuttiness.

The overall effect is sweet, spicy, and salty—in that order, by my estimation. I've plowed through the bag every time we've purchased it, which has been at least three times now.

As an aside: I can't detect any rhyme or reason why some of these Target brand foods are still Good & Gather and others have moved on to become Favorite Day. As far as I can tell they aren't changing recipes or suppliers, they're just changing the name. I hope this one sticks around anyway. Favorite Day Sweet Cajun Trail Mix, I'll be waiting for you...

I give this trail mix 9 out of 10 stars.

Favorite Day Neapolitan Sundae Trail Mix

Well if this doesn't fall under the category of "decadent or indulgent" trail mix, then I don't know what does. Target is trying to imitate the flavor of Neapolitan ice cream...with nuts, berries, and chips? This I gotta taste. Shall I break things down ingredient by ingredient?

The best and most unique elements by far are the "dried sweetened strawberries." I thought they'd be like super dehydrated berries with that weird, almost styrofoam-like consistency. Nope. These are whole strawberries, and they're actually chewy and moist, despite being "dried." They're also candied a little bit, so they're even sweeter than regular strawberries. I've never had a dried fruit anything like this before. They get a big thumbs up from me. It's worth trying the mix just for the strawberries.

Next, vanilla creme almonds. Nice. They're good. I think we've seen these before in another mix. Yep—in last year's Orange Creme Trail Mix. I wanted more of them in that mix. There are plenty of 'em in here. Another win.

Cashews. They're not candied in any way, but floating around with all those other sweeties, they inevitably have some sugar rub off on them. Slightly sweetened cashews = not a bad snack element.

Finally, there are three kinds of chips: chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, and strawberry chips. None of them really stand out as particularly flavorful or necessary, but all together, they add extra sweetness and creaminess to the mix. The strawberry-flavored ones are the most unique. I don't know that I've had strawberry chips before. There are a good many of the chips in the mix, but they're fairly well balanced with the nuts.

Once again, the beautiful wifey enjoyed this product a bit more than I did. I was on the fence about a re-purchase, but she's definitely in the "I'd buy it again" camp. All in all, it's a thumbs up. I wish there were more of those candied strawbabies and maybe a little less chips.

I give this trail mix 7 out of 10 stars.