Good & Gather Caramel Apple Granola

Well we sure can't show any favoritism as far as fall foods are concerned, now can we? If we review pumpkin pie granola, we most definitely have to check out caramel apple granola, too. I can't imagine this stuff is too much more or less exciting than its pumpkinny predecessor, but what the heck, let's pour ourselves a bowl anyway.

Unexpected: there are little flake things throughout the mixture. It's not just tiny globs of granola. 

The flakes almost look like mini corn flakes, but they might actually tiny pieces of dried apple. Actually, I think there are both. There are little flakes and there are even smaller pieces of actual dried apple. It's satisfyingly appley.

I don't detect much in the way of "caramel" per se, but I must admit, the cereal is plenty sweet. There are just a few of those oversized asteroid-looking pieces that you get in pretty much any bag of granola. You just need to break those up with a spoon. No biggie.

I'm actually surprised how much I like this granola. It's adequately applicious. I'm not even in a good mood right now, so if anything, I'd be inclined to snub a product during a review right now. But shoot, this is better than that pumpkin stuff for sure.

I give this cereal 8 out of 10 stars.

Good & Gather Pumpkin Pie Granola

Well, it looks like it's that time of year again. And even if I decided not to partake of pumpkin products personally, the little missus will most definitely be trying them anyway. So since they're already in the house and all, I figure I might as well give them a chance. I'm usually pleasantly surprised once or twice a year, so let's see what our good friends at GAG have offered us.

I think this pumpkin pie granola is somewhat decent, but the wifey absolutely loves it. There's a vague pumpkin spice notion about it. It's mostly cinnamon and ginger I taste.

Hey wait...wait a minute. Since when is turmeric a pumpkin spice? Are we doing Indian pumpkin spice fusion now? 

Ah, well. Fortunately, I like turmeric. I guess it goes with cinnamon and ginger. And it's orange...

I don't know how I feel about pumpkin seeds mixed with pumpkin spice. I feel like all seeds, pumpkin included, should be salty, not mixed with sugar and cinnamon, and certainly not drown in milk. That's an odd combo to me. But yet again, the wife raves about it. She says the pepitas make the product balanced and complete. Meh.

This is our first pumpkin product of the year, so we're still in "hooray for everything fall" mode. I'd probably give this a lower score if not for the beautiful wifey telling me how wonderful it is. 

$4.59 for the 11oz resealable bag. I have a feeling the missus will definitely be purchasing this one again. I just hope she waits until next year to do so.

I give this granola 7 out of 10 stars.

Good & Gather Organic Strawberry Shortcake Whole Grain Bars

GAG is back with another orgasmic—er, sorry—organic snack offering. It's for sporty, active, healthy individuals, and you can tell because there's a blue bicycle bursting through a debris field of giant strawberries, chunks of cheese, and angular white razor blades on the cover. I, personally, would have added an explosion, a bit of blood spatter, and maybe a dinosaur or two. But either way, it's obvious that this snack is not for the faint of heart.

Honestly, it tastes like plastic a little. I mean, the bars are dense, moist, and filling, which is good. There are 12 of them in there, which for $7.29 is a so-so value, IMO.

They don't taste much like strawberry at all. The "shortcake" is predictably less like real shortcake and more like the bread in a typical cereal bar. But make no mistake, these aren't cereal bars. They are whole grain baked bars—that's baked, never fried, in case you were wondering.

And they're gluten free. How's that possible? Ah. Oats and oat flour rather than wheat. That's unexpected.

I, personally, wouldn't buy these again. I bet the wife will like them a lot more than I do. The "strawberry shortcake" moniker is a stretch. The texture is better than the flavor.

I give these bars 6 out of 10 stars.

Good & Gather Strawberry Shortcake Granola

While male children of the 80's were watching G.I. Joe and Thundercats, our female elementary school classmates were watching Strawberry Shortcake, a popular cartoon about a redhead that wore fruit-themed clothing and tended berry vines. So I always associated the term "strawberry shortcake" with something excessively feminine.

But years later, I realized that the dessert know as strawberry shortcake is completely delicious and certainly not just for girls. So now, from time to time, I'll buy berries, shortcake, and whipped cream, and have that for dessert or a special occasion instead of regular cake or pie or what have you.

Or, as is the case here, I'll try something strawberry shortcake flavored. I mean, it's really just a sweetened strawberry flavor, but if you add milk, I mean...that's creamy, right?

I think the product could have used more strawberry bits. You can always add your own freeze dried strawberries or fresh ones if you have them on hand, but by itself, this cereal is pretty decent, regardless. It's crunchy, berry-esque, and is mostly whole rolled oats sweetened with real cane sugar.

The missus liked it much more than I did and will definitely purchase again. I'll help her finish the bag, for sure, but I don't know if I think it stands head and shoulders above other Target brand granolas. We've looked at quite a few of them throughout the years. Just type "granola" into the Search This Blog bar above, and voila, there are at least seven other Archer Farms and Good and Gather whole oat cereals to read about.

I'd probably give this breakfast food about 7 out of 10 stars, all things being equal, but the beautiful wifey would give it more like a 9, so we'll split the difference.

I give this granola 8 out of 10 stars.

Good & Gather Organic Strawberry Banana Instant Oatmeal

This is some good oatmeal overall, but it needs more of the fruit flavors—especially strawberry. Fortunately, we had some freeze dried strawberries on hand, which improved the taste significantly. It's organic, which is good. No pesticides used on these oats.

There are teeny tiny little bits of dried bananas and dried strawberries in the mix. There's also "strawberry juice" listed, but both of the strawberry elements appear in the "2% or less" part of the ingredients list. In my humble opinion, sweeteners don't get better than "organic cane sugar," which is what we're looking at here. Also, it's the second ingredient rather than the first, falling just after "organic whole grain rolled oats." So...pretty darn healthy by my standards.

I'm starting to wonder if Favorite Day is replacing Archer Farms and if Good & Gather (GAG) is replacing Simply Balanced. The beautiful wifey pointed out the other day that most of GAG's oatmeals are certified organic and have pretty healthy ingredients, while Favorite Day is specializing in things like "indulgent trail mixes" that are loaded with calories and sugar and generally aren't organic.

$2.99 for 8 packs of instant oatmeal. The wife likes it more than I do, and she's made repeat purchases of this product. I'd probably steer the score toward 6 or so, but she'd definitely put it in 8 or 8.5 territory. For her sake, I'll split the difference and throw out 7 stars.

I give this organic oatmeal 7 out of 10 stars.

Good & Gather Organic Confetti Cake Instant Oatmeal

Ah, the never-ending battle to make plain old boring oatmeal seem exciting. Confetti cake, huh? Kinda gimmicky, but hey, it worked on me. Why not "birthday cake oatmeal," I wonder.

Well, Nathan, because you would logically only have birthday cake oatmeal one day out of the year and you can enjoy confetti cake oatmeal year-round. Okay. I'll buy it.

But you know it's pretty much nothing but rolled oats and cane sugar in there. There's a tiny bit of rice flour, potato starch, and sunflower oil in the "colored bits," but those are just the icing on the proverbial cake. There's a dash of sea salt at the end of the ingredients, and voila, you've got a complete breakfast.

Did I mention all the ingredients are organic? That's a plus.

They colored the bits with all-natural food products like turmeric, anatto, and vegetable and fruit juices. That's kinda Trader Joe's-esque of Target. I don't remember seeing such holistic colorings from Good & Gather or Favorite Day before. The colors in the actual product aren't nearly as vibrant as they look on the packaging, but I can live with that.

The beautiful wifey and I both like it. Good & Gather Confetti Cake Oatmeal somehow transcends its simple ingredients and tastes fun and festive. I'll throw out seven stars. Why not? The value is there at $2.99 for eight packs of oatmeal.

I give this breakfast product 7 out of 10 stars.

Good & Gather Sugar Cookie Granola

Sugar cookie granola, eh? How they gonna pull that off? Crumble sugar cookies all through a bag of regular granola? Will it just be extra sweet? Hmmm. It's worth buying a bag just to find out...

And it does seem sweeter than regular granola. There's definitely a sugar cookie vibe here. But a quick glance at the ingredients will tell you they didn't throw chunks of traditional wheat flour-based sugar cookies into the mix. They pulled it off with rice.

Kind of an interesting choice, but it works. There's rice flour and brown rice syrup in addition to the rolled oats and cane sugar you might have expected. I like it. 

Simple, sweet, and not too far a cry from any type of classic granola cereal you have on a regular basis. The rice makes the whole thing a little lighter and crispier than typical dense, chewy granola.

There's a recipe for a holiday parfait on the back of the bag. It basically involves putting this granola on yogurt. Gee, I never could have thought of that myself, Target. But in the spirit of the holidays, I'll tone down the sarcasm.

It's a good product. I'd buy it again next year, although it may be repackaged by then under the Favorite Day brand. What ever happened to the Wondershop at Target? $4.49 for the 11 oz bag.

I give this cereal 8 out of 10 Christmas stars.

Good & Gather Organic Apple Cinnamon Instant Oatmeal

Let's face it: oatmeal has never been the sexiest food in the world, but because of its convenience, affordability, and nutritional value, it's still a part of most people's diets. It doesn't take much to make it palatable: some milk, a sweetener, and maybe some mix-ins of some kind, and you're in business.

Now if you've got instant oatmeal and the manufacturer has already made the mix tasty for you, then that's even better. And that's exactly what we have here. There's your usual whole grain goodness, plenty of apple cinnamon flavor with little bits of real apple, and the sweetness level is just about perfect, too. Just add water or milk.

Of course I add milk. It makes it much thicker and richer. About two minutes in the microwave, and presto: quick, easy breakfast. $2.99 for eight packets. 

How many other products are out there that will provide eight meals for three bucks? Not many. Not these days. Of course the milk is a little extra, but if I had to use water, I could live with it. I've had a lot of flavors of instant oatmeal in my day, and these are probably toward the top for a lot of reasons: taste, value, convenience. Would purchase again.

You ever met one of those people that refers to oatmeal as "hot cereal"? What's up with that?

I give this oatmeal 8 out of 10 stars.

Favorite Day Caramel Macchiato Trail Mix

If a person who makes alcoholic beverages is a bartender (or mixologist) and a person who makes coffee beverages is a barista, then what would you call a person who makes trail mixes? It's every bit as much an art form if you ask me. I think that person needs a fancy title. Hmmm. Let's go with "trailblazer." Trailmixblazer? Nah. Too clunky. Mixblazer? Maybe.

At any rate, this caramel macchiato offering takes the art of trail mix creation to a whole 'nother level. This is some fancy, tasty shizzle right here. The opened bag actually smells like fresh-brewed coffee. Maybe it's the coffee-glazed pecans. Maybe it's the coffee-dusted white chocolate coffee beans. I'll have the "coffee, coffee, pecans, white chocolate coffee beans, and coffee" please. In case you forgot to have your morning cuppa Joe, you can get caffeinated with this product for sure. And it's VERY tasty...

Chocolate pretzel balls: They're not really balls. More like oblate spheroids. But if you like chocolate pretzels, you won't be disappointed. It's kind of a dark-ish chocolate, fyi.

Coffee-glazed pecans: Sweet and full of rich coffee flavor. Also nutty. Who'd have guessed?

Coffee-dusted white chocolate coffee beans: These are literally coffee beans dusted with more coffee. Coffee-lovers, rejoice. Also, there's some white chocolate in there for sweetness.

Salted caramel praline almonds: They're not whole almonds. They're like miniature almond shards coated in some delicious caramel candy stuff. I wish they were way bigger.

Peanuts: Self-explanatory

Caramel cashews: They're salted cashews slathered in a thin candy glaze which actually does taste like caramel.

All together these ingredients make a fabulous indulgent pick-me-up. I'm honestly shocked how much I like it, considering I'm no coffee connoisseur. The wife concurs this is astoundingly good. I think we'll bestow it with only the second perfect score EVER on this blog.

I give this caramel macchiato trail mix a perfect 10 stars.

Good & Gather Organic Blueberry Fruit & Grain Bars

I used to be absolutely crazy about Nutri-Grain bars. I'm not sure why. I mean, most people will agree they're convenient and tasty as far as snacks or quick breakfast options go, but I used to excited about Nutri-Grain bars the way most people get excited about cheesecake or apple pie. I loved everything about them.

And I still do. But I'm more or less past my "Nutri-Grain bars are the best thing ever" phase. I'll still grab a box from time to time, or I'll try newfangled versions as they release them—you know, like when they started filling them with yogurt. We even saw a unique, gimmicky cereal bar from Target once before: the Market Pantry Banana Fudge Bars. I liked them okay, but I'd just as soon reach for a blueberry Nutri-Grain bar.

Or these. They're the exact same thing. Yep. Pretty much dead ringers for the original Kellogg's cereal bar product. I think Target used to make them under the Archer Farms or Simply Balanced brand name. There's nothing wrong with them at all. 

There aren't any improvements on the original, and there aren't any shortcomings, either. Well, I guess using certified organic ingredients is a step up from the originals. To the best of my knowledge, Nutri-Grain doesn't offer any organic cereal bar options. Price-wise, they're comparable, as well.

$2.69 for 6 bars. I would buy these again, but maybe I'll try a different flavor next time.

I give these fruit and grain bars 8 out of 10 stars.

Good & Gather Banana Nut Granola

Ah, another Good & Gather cereal. We used to try a different Archer Farms brand granola every other month back in the day. I don't know how many varieties we looked at on this blog. At least a dozen or two I'm pretty sure.

Anyway, this is only the second I think as far as GAG is concerned. Banana Nut. Yummy. Let's dig in.

We'll start with the negatives first and get those out of the way. Number one: some chunks of granola are enormous. They're way too big to shovel into your mouth and too big to fit on the average spoon. There's a good bit of breaking apart and size reduction to be done by smashing the boulders of granola. 

Second: if this is banana cereal, why not throw some significant amounts of dried banana pieces in there? The ingredients say there's dried banana, but I don't really see any dried banana. I mean I taste a banana essence of sorts, but to me this product is just begging for larger chunks of dried banana and/or full on banana chips.

Third: it could use a wee bit more chocolate.

Other than that, this is a solid granola cereal. The overall taste is very enjoyable. As aforementioned, there is a nice sweet banana essence. It's not overbearing or overwhelming, and it's not too sweet, either. 

There are a fair amount of almond slivers that fulfill the "nut" part of the equation. Why do most people put walnuts in banana bread and other banana nut products? Almonds are so much better. Nothing against walnuts. I'm just saying next time you bake banana bread, use almonds instead. They're at least as good, right?

The texture is nice and crunchy, even after a significant amount of time submerged in milk. Other than the enormous mountains of granola all wadded together, everything else is bite size and crispy.

$3.79 for the 12oz bag. The wife likes it even more than I do, although she doesn't think she tastes banana at all. Resealable bag is a plus. Would definitely buy again.

I give this granola 8 out of 10 stars.

Good & Gather Organic Peanut Butter Poppers

I'm sure I've mentioned it on this blog before, but I looove peanut butter. Always have. I love the condiment itself, I love peanut butter candies like Reese's Pieces, I love peanut butter and chocolate together, I love peanut butter ice cream, peanut butter cake, and even the recent Peanut Butter Falcon film, unfairly snubbed by the Academy this past year.

And of course, I love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I like peanut butter and jelly trail mix. I even like peanut butter and banana sandwiches, peanut butter and honey sandwiches, peanut butter and marshmallow fluff, AKA Fluffernutter. Pretty much anything goes with peanut butter...except peanut butter and pickles or peanut butter and bacon. People who enjoy those combinations should take a cold shower immediately and check themselves into the nearest mental health facility.

So I, like many of you, have my opinions about peanut butter. As much as I love the stuff, peanut butter cereals are a sketchy subject. 

While I wouldn't eat peanut butter solo with cold milk, I feel like peanut butter and chocolate desserts go well with milk. That's why cereals like Reese's Puffs work, at least marginally, in my opinion. Peanut butter dessert cereals are usually a safe bet. It's much harder to pull off a "healthy" peanut butter cereal, by my estimation. 

I like plenty of healthy cereals. Kashi, raisin bran, muesli, oats, and shredded wheat are all pretty decent in my book, so you can't accuse me of only eating junk food for breakfast. But in this particular case, I just feel like there needed to be a stronger sweet peanut butter flavor. The taste of the grains was too prominent against the taste of the peanut butter. I think it would have worked fine if it had been just an organic multigrain cereal...or if they'd pushed it just a tad in the direction of "peanut butter treat" rather than "peanut butter health food."

The texture was grainy and crispy, with just a hint of oily peanut butteriness. It was pretty similar to something like Kix. Not bad.

The leftover milk wasn't particularly peanut buttery. It tasted more like the constituent grains: corn, oats, rice. Drinkable, but not in a fun way. These peanut butter poppers aren't inedible, but I probably won't purchase this one again.

I give this cereal 6 out of 10 stars.

Simply Balanced Organic Vanilla Bean Granola

Kind. Quaker. Nature Valley. Bear Naked. Even Archer Farms. There are a lot of granola brands out there these days. So what sets this one apart from the pack, other than Target's "Simply Balanced" moniker?

Not much. The ingredients here are mostly organic, which can't hurt. But flavor-wise, there's not really anything to set this above and beyond the myriad choices of vanilla-flavored granola gracing the shelves of Target and every other department and grocery store in America.

In a blind taste test, I doubt I could tell this apart from any Archer Farms brand selection from the very same shelf at Target. If anything, I think I might prefer the AF flavors I've had. But again, that certified organic label counts for something.

My wife's preferred granola has been Bear Naked for a while. That particular brand, too, was available on the very same shelf as this product at the last Target we visited. Although it's non-GMO, Bear Naked's version isn't necessarily certified organic.

The wife definitely prefers the taste of Bear Naked to this product for reasons she can't quite put her finger on. At first she said there might be an aftertaste here, but immediately took that assertion back. Then she said there might be a hint of something chemical-tasting in here. Odd, considering there are only a few non-organic ingredients. Perhaps it's the "mixed tocopherols"? Who knows?

Personally, I just taste another random vanilla-esque granola product. They tell me it's organic, so I believe them. I won't score it much higher or lower than any other vanilla granola we've looked at here or anywhere else.

While Bear Naked might collectively get 8 stars from the wifey and me, this product will score just slightly lower.

I give this granola 7 out of 10 stars.

Market Pantry Banana Fudge Soft Baked Breakfast Bars

It's been forever since I made a Target run. There just aren't many Target locations convenient to this part of South Jersey. In fact, our closest Target is in another state. I'd even go so far as to say that both Delaware and Pennsylvania have Targets that are easier for us to get to than our closest, most convenient location here in the Garden State. Of course, crossing the Delaware River involves a toll, so every once in a while, we brave the chaotic Camden/Cherry Hill traffic and head up towards Deptford or Sewell.

But this fun little breakfast find came from Christiana, Delaware. There's something odd about the food section of the Target there. No matter how crowded that mall gets—and it gets hella crowded on weekends—the food section there in Target looks like a ghost town. I mean, there's always food on the shelves, and as far as I can tell, nothing's expired. There's just something uninviting about it that I can't put my finger on. Nevertheless, I popped in and zig-zagged up and down the quiet aisles looking for something to snack on/review on my last adventure in The First State, and I found these interesting "soft-baked" bars.

In case you haven't figured it out yet, they're basically off-brand Nutri-Grain bars with banana fudge filling. We've seen something similar from Target in recent memory. Why that previous selection was "Simply Balanced" and these are "Market Pantry," I'm not quite sure. Maybe fudge is too indulgent for the "Simply Balanced" moniker..? Also, there's a pretty significant price discrepancy. The Simply Balanced offering was $2.99 a box. This product only cost me $1.39. They might have been on some kind of mark-down, but I didn't notice a special price tag next to the item. $1.39 is pretty cheap for something like this. I've never seen Nutri-Grains come close to that, even with coupons.

The bars are indeed soft. There's a good bit of fudge in the middle, too. I'd prefer a little less breading and a little more banana. As it is, there are just teeny-tiny little wads of banana hiding among the chocolatey center of the bars. The breading, though soft, makes the product seem drier than it really is. A bit less of the grain and a bit more of the fruit would go a long ways for both the flavor and texture of this product. As it is, it's not bad, and I'd absolutely consider a repeat-purchase—especially if they stay at that low price.

I give these breakfast bars 7 out of 10 stars.

Archer Farms S'mores Granola

Ah, s'mores. Nothing brings to mind camping, ghost stories, the smell of wood smoke, and fond memories of boyhood like s'mores. And now it's a cereal at your local Target.

Dessert for breakfast. I love it. Carbs to keep you going throughout the day, spiked with sugar to jump-start your heart and get your sleepy head in the game.

If you're hoping for a breakfast that tastes exactly like a real s'more, you might be slightly disappointed here. There's not a lot of that graham crackery flavor in this breakfast cereal. It's more like granola with some cocoa-flavored pieces and mini marshmallows—the kind that you find in certain packets of instant hot cocoa. It's sweet, it's crunchy, and there's enough sugar and chocolate left in your milk at the end of the bowl to make it super-chuggable.

My wife loved this even more than I did. She thought there'd be too much chocolate flavor (is that even possible?) but was pleasantly surprised at how "well-balanced" the flavor was.

I just wish there were actual bits of graham cracker in the mix. The granola is fine and provides a good base for the cereal, but in my humble opinion, it's not grahammy enough to be authentically s'morey. Still a very tasty product.

I give this granola 8 out of 10 stars.

Archer Farms Blueberry Mini Muffins

When I was a very young lad growing up in Hershey, PA, my parents threw a grand soiree for their friends featuring home-baked goods to be shared by all the attendees. Only one other youngster was in attendance—my best friend at the time, whom we'll call Phillip for the sake of this blog post.

He and I were staying out of the way of the adults and were looking to get into a bit of mischief. We began sampling the desserts and pastries at opportune moments here and there when our parents weren't looking. There were pies, cakes, tarts, and a random assortment of cookies. At the end of the table, I spied a basket of blueberry muffins. I don't know what it was about those things, but I fell in love at first bite. I handed one to Phillip. His eyes lit up as he bit into the fluffy muffin. We were both completely enchanted by these treats. I was young enough that these might have been the first blueberry muffins I'd ever had. They were soft, sweet, and nearly perfect in every way.

Phillip and I consumed the entire basket within minutes, giggling as we devoured each one. We left only crumbs and blueberry stains across the bottom of the empty serving container. Suddenly, it dawned on me that our parents and their guests wouldn't be particularly pleased that there were no more blueberry muffins to be served at their party. Surely enough, as we hid out in my bedroom, we heard my mother scream my full name, middle included, and we knew we were in for it. I got a spanking and a stern lecture and Phillip was immediately escorted home. It was one of my earliest memories of corporal punishment—and certainly not my last—but at least in this case, I actually deserved it...all thanks to those delicious blueberry muffins.

These Archer Farms muffins were good enough that history almost repeated itself—except instead of getting in trouble with my parents, it was my wife doling out the corrections this time around. I had already eaten a few of the muffins for breakfast and I was exceptionally hungry after a long hike, and I wound up consuming the whole rest of the container. My wife did get a couple of the muffins in this case, before I managed to polish off the last few—and she liked them enough that she was hoping to go back for more.

It might just be because I was particularly hungry, or that I just always crave blueberry muffins ever since that incident when I was young, but I simply can't give these a low score. They went down pretty easily. Probably not the healthiest muffins I've ever consumed, but hey, it's the holidays. I'll take these blueberry muffins over Christmas cookies any day.

I give these muffins 8 out of 10 stars.

Simply Balanced Organic Cranberry Chocolate Flax Granola

It's been quite a while since we've reviewed any granola on this blog, though at one point, it was a very regular occurrence. I thought "cranberry chocolate" sounded kind of tasty, so I picked up this bag on my last Target run.

The base is the same style of granola we've seen in other Archer Farms and Simply Balanced products, but this particular flavor offers...you guessed it: chocolate and cranberries. It's fairly generous in the chocolate department, but extraordinarily stingy when it comes to the berries.

That's by far my biggest complaint about this product: a decided lack of cranberries. In fact, just look at the picture above. There's not a single cranberry in there. And I promise I didn't pick through the granola and remove the cranberries to prove my point. That picture is exactly the way the cereal poured into the bowl. There might be one or two bits of crantastic goodness hiding near the bottom, but that still isn't enough.

I've had two full bowls of the stuff and have only come across three dried cranberry halves in all that granola. I must admit that those three bites that contained cranberry were exceptional, but they're way too far and few between to enhance the cereal the way they should. Simply Balanced should either find a way to pack more cranberries into this product, or they should end the charade altogether and simply call this "chocolate flax granola."

All the many bites that don't contain cranberry are just fine, in fact, I'd consider this an above-average granola selection. But it's the principle of the thing. It's almost like a "bait and switch" tactic. They get you all pumped up for cranberries and chocolate and then make you settle for chocolate alone.

I'm torn between 6 and 7 stars. I guess I'll go with 7 since this product really is good with or without cranberries—and the bites that do contain cranberries...I'd give those a solid 8.

Bottom line: 7 out of 10.

Simply Balanced Blueberry Fruit & Grain Bars

If you've ever had a blueberry Nutri-Grain bar, then you know exactly what you're getting here. Nutri-Grain and Simply Balanced look and taste extremely similar.

In fact, it amazes me how generic food products can imitate the original name brand, right down to the style and color of packaging, and not be violating some kind of copyright law.

In the art world, it's different: duplicate a song or a film with a certain level of similarity, and you're violating what someone has already claimed as their intellectual property.

But with food? Seems like anything goes. Lucky for store brands like Market Pantry, Archer Farms, and Simply Balanced.

This Simply Balanced version flaunts organic ingredients, and strangely, 10 more calories per bar, but other than that and the packaging, the two products are virtually indistinguishable. Both this product and the traditional Nutri-Grain offering are soft, sweet, and individually wrapped for breakfast on the go.

They were $2.99 at the Target I found them at, which is pretty close to what you'd normally pay for the name brand at full price. One unique, original thing about the packaging: that one-eyed blue guy on the cover art. I guess he's a blueberry person. He looks like he belongs in Monsters, Inc.

If you're interested in the nutrition info, here's a link for calories, fat, etc.

I give this product exactly the same score I'd give to blueberry Nutri-Grain bars: 8 out of 10 stars.

Archer Farms Cinnamon Churro Coffee

I think the first time I ever had a churro was while I was living in California, during a trip to Disneyland with friends. One churro cost something like $10, but I didn't even care. I was amazed. How could something so delicious have eluded me for so many years? I don't think I'd even heard the word "churro" until I was in my mid-twenties.

Scrumptious.

I started buying churros and mini churros from El Pollo Loco, Jack in the Box, street vendors, and anyplace else I found them. My wife, Sonia, loves churros too. They were a staple in her Southern California diet long before I ever came into the picture.

And since she's a churro expert, AND she loves coffee...for the first time ever on this blog, I'm going to let her do most of the reviewing, and I'll defer to her for the product's final score.

She liked it overall. She thought it tasted more like just plain cinnamon than an actual churro, but she admitted that there were hints of something churro-esque. It didn't require any more or less sugar than her normal cuppa, but she did make sure to use brown sugar for a more authentic churro-y taste. As you can see from the photo, she brewed the coffee in a French press and was pleased with the results.

Overall, it's a pleasant flavor, but there's quite a ways to go until it's unmistakably churro-tastic.

Sonia gives this product 7 out of 10 stars.

Archer Farms Old-Fashioned Cruller Donuts

I've had crullers in the past, but I never really looked into their history before now. Wikipedia states that they've been eaten in New England since the time the Pilgrims lived there.

Although, perusing the photos on that page, this Archer Farms offering seems to most greatly approximate the "French cruller," as have all of the previous incarnations of crullers that I've tried. In fact, I think most of those former specimens were actually labeled as "French crullers." Why Target doesn't directly credit our amis les Français in this case, I can't say.

Aside from the obvious braided look about them, there doesn't seem to be a substantial difference between these and traditional glazed donuts. They're slightly less puffy, and thus, seem a little more dense than other common donut selections.

They've got a lovely, sweet flavor, with perhaps just a tad more sugary glaze as I would have preferred. There's also a nice taste to the dough, and I think a little less sugar on the outside might have brought that flavor out more. But all in all, they're very good, flavor-wise.

As far as the texture, they're a little stiff on the outside and softer on the inside. I think they're supposed to be that way, but that's just a layman's guess. I'm certainly no pastry aficionado.

When I hear the word "cruller," I can't help but think of that awful 80's sci-fi movie Krull, featuring a young Liam Neeson. Wouldn't the inhabitants of the planet be called Krullers? Even the swirly throwing-star type weapon on the cover art seems to echo the twisted braided look of the cruller donut. I'll take "Science Fiction Films Inspired by Pastries" for $1000, Alex.

Please forgive my digression.

I give this product 8 out of 10 stars.