Good & Gather Elote-Inspired Mini Empanadas

I've reviewed empanadas before. And I've reviewed elote-inspired dishes, too. And I've tried each dish from street vendors and restaurants. But I've never ever heard of elote empanadas before laying eyes on this product. Mexican street corn stuffed into a little fried bread pocket? Sounds absolutely delish.

After a spell in the air fryer, some of the filling started popping out the sides of the little turnover pastries and flowing onto the bottom of our Ninja's basket. They smelled pretty good, though. And they looked decent, too: the breading turned crispy brown and the filling was full of corn and creamy cheese.

They tasted vaguely like elote, I guess. There was definitely some mayo in there, or "mayonnaise-type dressing" as it says in the ingredients list, as well as citrus flavors, corn—obviously—and some nice herbs and spices like cilantro, oregano, chili and onion powder. They had a tangy, creamy flavor. I wouldn't have minded more cheese in the mix. Although sour cream, cream cheese, and parmesan are all listed in the ingredients, they kind of just stayed in the background.

$5.79 for eight tiny little empanadas. Certainly not the best value at Target or anywhere else for that matter, but worth a purchase if you're looking for a unique appetizer or convenient snack. The packaging says it's two servings, but I could have demolished this whole package in a single sitting easily. I was nice and shared with the wifey for lunch the other day, so we had to supplement with other snacks, sides, and Thanksgiving leftovers. My score would have been higher if there had been more food in the box. As is, I might buy again.

I give this appetizer 7 out of 10 stars.

Good & Gather Italian-Style Smoked Chicken Sausage

I've never been a huge sausage guy. 

Wait.

That could be taken wrongly in a number of different ways. What I mean is, I'm not the biggest fan of the food known as "sausage" in general, although every once in a while I get a hankerin' and it's usually for the poultry variety. Unfortunately, this product does use pork casings, as many brands of otherwise turkey or chicken sausages do. 

And I've never been a big pig guy either. Heh. Big pig. That rhymes. Where my kosher peeps at? What?

Actually, I'm not kosher, mainly because I LURVE me some bottom-feeding aquatic creatures. And now that I've upset all the #BaconNation peeps as well as at least 2/3 of the adherents of Abrahamic religions, if you're still with me, please proceed to read the rest of this sausage review.

Because these sausages are actually pretty good. They don't have a ton of typical sausage spices—just enough to keep them interesting—and the meat seems to be very high quality chicken. They do well with run-of-the-mill condiments like mustard and ketchup, so you can eat them like that in the manner of a chicken hot dog, or you could go all out, chop them up and deck them with onions, peppers, and pasta sauce, serve them with spaghetti or what have you and either way, they're pretty tasty.

They come four in a pack for just about four bucks. Not a bad value in my opinion. Nutrition-wise, they definitely pack some serious sodium and cholesterol, but I'm pretty sure that's par for the course for most sausage, poultry-based or otherwise.

I'd even think about these as a side dish for a Thanksgiving meal. They're hearty enough and versatile enough that they'd go great with stuffing and mashed potatoes and other Turkey Day leftovers.

I might purchase again as is. Would definitely purchase again if they didn't go with pork casings.

I give these sausages 8 out of 10 stars.

Good & Gather Panang Curry Simmer Sauce

Whether you're scared of the virus or not, dining out in 2020 is significantly less practical than it was in the carefree days of yesteryear. I'm not saying the wife and I don't go out anymore at all, but I'm saying we eat out somewhat less, as is likely the case with most of you.

So, logically, it behooves us to find tasty, gourmet-ish alternatives to our favorite sit-down restaurants. Sonia and I looove us some good Indian and Thai food, so curry is something we like to have on hand at home. We love all the curries: red curry, yellow curry, green curry, Tim Curry—and we both prefer his Pennywise to Bill Skarsgard's. Sorry, Millennials.

But in all seriousness, I was under the impression that most curries were Indian rather than Thai, so I was a little surprised to find out that this Panang stuff is actually not Indian. Technically, it's not Thai either, although you'll often find Panang dishes in Thai restaurants. Penang is an island right off the coast of Malaysia. But Malaysia and Thailand are neighbors, so...close enough, right? Also, there just aren't enough Malaysian restaurants in this country.

Anyway, my wife and I loved this stuff. It's mildly spicy. The base is coconut milk, cream, and peanut butter. It's thick and rich. The flavors here are so complex, yet so easy to appreciate. The notes of garlic, onion, and chili peppers come through, but don't overwhelm the sweet, creamy foundation of the condiment.

It says there are three servings in the container. We managed to finish it in two. This bottle was just enough for a single meal for both of us. We had it with tilapia and sliced bell peppers, served on white rice, and it was amazing. White fish is neutral enough to let the curry shine and be the centerpiece of the meal. We'd love to try it with veggies, shrimp, or chicken next.

This will absolutely be a repeat purchase for us. We're anxious to try the Pad Thai and Butter Chicken sauces in this Good & Gather line. Not sure if anything like this was available under the old Simply Balanced or Archer Farms monikers, but it gets a big thumbs up from me. I think this is the first thing we've tried from Good & Gather that really wowed us. The quality is top-notch and the flavor is restaurant-caliber all the way.

I give this simmer sauce 9 out of 10 stars.

Good & Gather Yukon Gold Mashed Potatoes

Mashed potatoes aren't exactly a summer food in my mind. They're more of a fall/winter side dish—a staple at Thanksgiving and Christmas time—but every once in a while, I get a craving for them just the same, even if it's hot outside.

We picked these up for the second time just recently. The first time we had them, it was around the holidays, and they had the luxury of being served with stuffing, corn, and cranberry sauce, all of which mixed together and helped their flavor a bit. This time around, we just had them as a side with some sandwiches we made. We added salt, pepper, and a few other random seasonings, which provided a significant boost in the flavor department.

It's not that they taste bad by themselves. They're just a bit on the bland side, despite the fact that there's "whole milk and butter" already in there. I guess you sacrifice a bit of quality and flavor for the convenience factor. You can taste a hint of butteriness, and they're also fairly creamy. They just lack the earthy root vegetable flavor you might get from freshly mashed homemade potatoes.

The texture is very nice. It's thicker than a lot of pre-packaged mashed potatoes. There are small chunks of potato throughout the mixture, which makes it feel a bit more rugged and hearty. Maybe that's where the "Yukon" factor comes in. You know? Nothing's smooth out on the wild Yukon frontier. Not even the mashed potatoes. Or maybe they harvested the potatoes from the Yukon...? 

There is an inviting warm yellowish hue to the taters, hence the "gold" part of the product title.

Here's a link to the nutrition facts, as the photo that we snapped of them was unreadable due to the glare-factor.

At any rate, these GAG Yukon Gold Mashed Potatoes are easy to prepare. They've got a pleasant look and texture, and while nothing to write home about in the flavor category, they'll do in a pinch, especially if they're dressed up with spices and/or gravy and paired along with other sides.

I give these mashed potatoes 7 out of 10 stars.

Archer Farms Hawaiian Style Pizza

I really wanted to like this pizza. I really did.

I was very hungry when I ate it, which usually helps a product's score. You know, I'm less critical when famished. A slice of plain bread seems pretty tempting when my belly is growling.

But this pizza was still disappointing. Many of you know I'm not a pork, ham, and bacon kind of guy, for the most part. However, even I like a good Hawaiian pizza every now and again. But this was not a good Hawaiian pizza.

This thing gives our 50th state a bad name. I mean, I'd still like to travel there some day—it's not our southernmost state's fault this weak excuse for a pizza has its name on it.

Unlike many other Archer Farms pizzas, this offering actually looks pretty good. One might ask for a tad more cheese, but there's a surprising amount of Canadian bacon and pineapple on it. Unfortunately, none of the toppings are particularly flavorful.

And the crust was the worst part. It was cardboard-esque—both in texture and in flavor.

Don't believe me on this one? Check out Target's own website, complete with unanimous one star reviews. Even I didn't think it was that bad. But then again, I might have found this product edible because I was extremely hungry when I tried it.

For nutrition facts, just click here.

I'll go with a 4 out of 10 on this one.

Archer Farms Maryland-Style Mini Crab Cakes

As the packaging for this product suggests, Maryland is the crab cake capital of the world. Specifically, I'd pinpoint the center of crab cake-dom on earth to be Baltimore's Inner Harbor on the Chesapeake Bay.

I grew up just 15 minutes north of the Maryland border in central Pennsylvania, and about an hour and a half from the Inner Harbor, so I've had a decent crab cake or two in my day. And if I didn't know the difference between a good crab cake and a "meh" crab cake, I might have enjoyed these guys a little more.

But unfortunately, I found them a tad disappointing. I might have written off their blandness to the fact that they're pre-packaged and frozen, but alas, I've had relatively good, pre-packaged, frozen crab cakes.

Most disappointing was the lack of traditional crab seasoning. I didn't taste it at all. There are potato chips that taste more like real crab cakes than these things do.

Also very discouraging was the surprising

absence of the taste of real crab. I'm not saying there wasn't any crab in them, I'm just saying I didn't really taste it. All I tasted were some panko breadcrumbs and tiny bits of diced peppers—which, in this product's defense, were fairly good. Plus, a sauce might have helped enhance the flavor of these crab cakes: remoulade, tartar sauce, or cocktail sauce. It wouldn't hurt to throw a packet of sauce in there for version 2.0, Target.

For those of you who've never had a real crab cake, you probably wouldn't be nearly as disappointed with these as I was. Just don't think that these are necessarily what crab cakes are all about. They don't taste bad, they just don't taste like the crab cakes I know and love.

I'll be generous and give this product 6 out of 10 stars.

Archer Farms Eggplant Parmigiana Pizza

I'm always amazed at how nasty eggplant looks, but how distinctly delicious it tastes. There's no other vegetable like it. It's highly underrated.

Coincidentally, my wife brought home a couple of slices of eggplant pizza from a function she had attended in Center City Philadelphia just the night before we wound up cooking this Archer Farms pizza.

That pizza from Center City originated from an award-winning hole-in-the-wall Italian place called Gianfranco's. It was great. We reheated it in the oven to preserve the freshness, and I was pleasantly surprised.

And I was even more surprised when the following day, we heated this pizza in the oven and discovered that it was even better! This is definitely one of the best Archer Farms pizzas I've tried for this blog. Check out my reviews of the spinach and goat cheese pizza and the Mediterranean arugula pizza. I also took a look at the Genoa salami pizza.

This Italian treat flaunted big bites of eggplant cooked to perfection, parmesan cheese, and tiny pieces of onion that gave the whole thing a great balanced flavor. The texture was similar to other Archer Farms pizzas, and they're always just a tad too chewy in my opinion. But other than that, I can't complain.

If you're a fan of eggplant or open to new things, please give this pizza a try. It's well worth the money. If you hate eggplant, well, I guess you can always pick it off of the product. This is a great-tasting artisan-style pizza at a reasonable price. I highly recommend it.

I'm going to give this 8 out of 10 stars.

Archer Farms Shredded Beef Mini Tamales

I'm not a native Philly guy, but I've lived here long enough to realize that when Philadelphians see "Philly Cheesesteaks" being sold in other cities, they know that 95% of the time, what's being passed off as the genuine article is really an abomination—a sad excuse for the real thing.

Latinos probably feel the same way when they see pre-packaged frozen tamales being sold by a place like Target.

Strangely enough, our friends in Los Angeles shipped my wife a package of tamales from La Mascota Bakery for her birthday, just a few days after I purchased these. The tamales from L.A. were cold and well-preserved on their nearly 3,000 mile journey. And MAN, were they ever good. (Sonia was kind enough to share). Authentic. Great for us, but the odds were stacked against these Target tamales from the beginning.

But my wife, who is Mexican-American, and I were both fairly impressed with Target's offering. I can't lie and tell you they were just as good as the ones from La Mascota, but Archer Farms put forth a valiant effort.

They are indeed "mini tamales," much smaller than any I've had before. It's good if you don't want to have too much tamale at one time, but it's also inconvenient to unwrap each little item not only from its plastic sleeve, but from its corn husk wrapper as well.

Both the masa and the filling were a decent approximation of a fresh, authentic tamale. Now, I'm not saying they were exactly like the real thing. Even I could tell the difference between these frozen dealies and the genuine article in a blindfolded taste test. But, I mean, the Target version was like 85% of the way there. And that's not too shabby at all. Even the lovely Sonia was pleasantly surprised. And that should say something.

I give these tamales 7 out of 10 stars.

Archer Farms Sun-Dried Tomato & Grilled Chicken Flatbread Pizza

This is the least dessert-ish of the AF flatbreads we've sampled thus far: the Chocolate & Strawberry one being at the sweet end of the spectrum, and the Pear & Gorgonzola one being somewhere in the middle.

This one could be served as dinner or as an appetizer. It sits a bit heavy in the stomach, and the tomato flavor is pretty strong for me, and for those reasons, I would say it works better as an appetizer. But some people would probably disagree.

I've mentioned in previous posts that I'm not a huge fan of raw tomatoes, but cooked, stewed, or dried tomatoes I'm okay with. I also like most tomato derivatives like marinara sauce, ketchup, and tomato soup. The sun-dried tomatoes on this product are plentiful, and they taste a good bit like raw tomatoes. It wasn't a deal-breaker for me, but I think I would have preferred just regular old pizza sauce. You tomato-lovers would probably enjoy them. They're basically tomaisins, the tomato equivalent of raisins, with a comparable shrivel-factor, texture, and size.

Thus far, pretty much all AF pizza and flatbread doughs are apparently created equal. So, no surprises with the crust. There were little pockets of mozzarella and Gouda here and there, and there was a good amount of diced chicken breast. All the elements combined to make a nice, fresh-tasting chicken pizza. I'd say the product is a little too big for one person to eat in one sitting, and yet it's not big enough for a meal for two. So again, it works best as an appetizer in my opinion. You could probably couple it with soup and/or salad to make a well-balanced dinner.

I think it was around five bucks, and it heats in less than 15 minutes. All in all, it's not a bad purchase, though not quite as novel as the other flatbreads we've tried.

I give this flatbread 7 out of 10 stars.

Archer Farms Fennel Sausage & Roasted Peppers Pizza

It's been a while since we've reviewed a pizza. I was in the mood for something hearty, and this looked like the perfect selection, so I yoinked it right out of my Target's freezer. It was the last one in there, so I'm lucky I got there when I did.

I wasn't familiar with fennel sausage until I tried this product. It's apparently pretty similar to another kind of sausage that I am familiar with: chorizo. In both taste and texture, the two seem very much alike to me. They both work well as chopped up little dicey chunks, they're both full of spices and flavor, and they both have a similar texture. Of course, the spices in the fennel sausage tend to be European, particularly Italian, and although chorizo has European roots also, the varieties I've tried are full of Latin spices, particularly Mexican.

I've never been a big sausage fan, but I find both chorizo and fennel to be palatable. I'll try the wurst from German festivals, but I'm not into the American Jimmy Dean breakfast stuff so much.

As far as the pizza was concerned, it was good overall, don't get me wrong. I was just craving more tertiary toppings with this one. The sausage was good. The roasted peppers were fine. But I wanted extra toppings like onions, olives, and jalapenos on this one for some reason. Also, the cheese could have been more prevalent and there could have been a thicker layer of tomato sauce. But that could be said about most AF pizzas.

During my little research session, I also learned that fennel sausage is especially appropriate to serve during fall harvest months. Yay! What a happy accident. I love it when I eat foods at the correct time of year. That being said, I should also mention that I've heard rumors of Archer Farms pumpkin products. I shall be hunting these down on my next Target run. Stay tuned for pumpkin reviews!

I give this pizza 7 out of 10 stars.

Archer Farms Pear & Gorgonzola Wood-Fired Flatbread

This is what I might refer to as a pseudo-dessert. It's not quite sweet enough to be a full-on dessert treat in my humble opinion—oh sorry, I guess we hip blogger-type people are abbreviating that to "IMHO" these days. But anyway, it's not sweet enough for dessert, as I was saying, and it's a little too sweet to be dinner, IMHO.

But that's just fine for folks like me, because I just graze all day long. I rarely eat actual meals. I grew up that way. I ate a "meal" with my family exactly three times a year: Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Other times, my "dinner" usually consisted of a bowl of cereal eaten on the piano bench in the living room, which I straddled like a horse with the food in front of me so I could watch television at the same time. So personally, I don't really mind food that defies categorization.

Likewise, this flatbread is about as dinner-like as a bowl of cereal. However, it's a bit more substantial. And it's actually really good. It might work better as an appetizer, now that I think about it.

There's not a whole lot of savoriness to it either. It's a very light flavor. Neither gorgonzola nor pear brings a heavy taste to the table. The bread, as well, has some flavor, but it's not at all overbearing. And because all flavors present are light, they blend together in a really nice way. Baking them all together sort of allows them to gel a little more, too. There's pear juice in the cheese and cheese juice on the pears—and let me state under no uncertain terms that I do NOT think fruit and cheese (like apples and cheese) is a very good combo, personally. But there are a few exceptions, as is the case with certain pizzas. In this case, think of the pineapple on a Hawaiian pizza, but not quite as pungent.

So whether you have it for dinner, dessert, or a random snack, there's a good chance it'll hit the spot. It's a unique flavor, and I think it's worth a try.

I give this product 8 out of 10 stars.

Archer Farms Italian-Style Four Cheese Macaroni & Cheese Dinner

I only know what the four cheeses in this dish are because I looked at the packaging just now. They are: parmesan, asiago, ricotta, and romano. Supposedly.

I just tasted a single, mild, pillowy white cheese with an unexceptional amount of tang and a decided lack of smack.

But it still beat the flavor of Kraft Easy Mac. No contest.

The flavor of this pasta was subtle, but it kinda grew on me. At first I missed that yellow, biting cheddar that comes in so many nondescript packets of mac and cheese sauce add-ins. But soon enough, the soft squishy sapor of the included mystery-cheese got the better of my more-attentive taste buds.

I'm not going to lie. It tasted better with Texas Pete. And even though the hot sauce dominated the flavor of the entire bowl of pasta, it was as if the dish had been created to host the fresh flavorful zip of that famous hot sauce.

It took me back to our Disneyland days, when we'd visit Pizza Port nearly every weekend, order the Count Down Chicken Fusilli, and drench it in that sexy sauce. And of course this dish lacked poultry, but it didn't need it.

The taste was clean, plain, and ethereal. It was a chance to cleanse the palate of all pretentiousness and enjoy pasta and cheese for what it was meant to be.

And it helped that Sonia boiled the shells for exactly the right amount of time. Another second longer and they would have suggested sogginess. A second shorter and they would have seemed sorely solid.

Upon first bite, I might have scored these morsels a measly six stars. But by the end of the pot, they earned an elite eight. To see a pic of the prepared product close-up, click here.

I give this product 8 out of 10 stars.

Archer Farms Genoa Salami Pizza with Spicy Peppers

Man, I just love a good Italian sub. All of those spiced meats, oregano, cheese, and peppers can really hit the spot sometimes.

Now imagine taking some of the best ingredients in an Italian sub and throwing them on a thin, crispy pizza crust and baking them to perfection in your oven. That's basically what we have here.

I've never tasted a meat that blended so perfectly with banana peppers as this Genoa salami did. The cover of this product mentions both "banana peppers" and "pepperoncinis," but I was pretty sure they were the same thing. You know, you always get them at Subway. Most locations label them as banana peppers, but regionally, they're also known as pepperoncinis. I certainly didn't see two types of peppers on top of this pizza, but enough with semantics. This pizza tasted great.

It also has whole milk mozzarella cheese, tomato sauce, and crushed red pepper already on it. Altogether, the two shining stars of this product are the pepperoncinis and the salami. You could throw a bit of those two ingredients on plain white toast and it would taste pretty good, in my opinion. The cheese and tomato sauce are present, and they certainly don't hurt the flavor, but they don't do a whole lot for it, either. Mozzarella is generally a mild cheese, and maybe AF's food gurus knew what they were doing when they made sure it played second fiddle to the meat and peppers, but I'd be very interested in finding out what this product would taste like with a bolder cheese.

The crust seemed crispier and less chewy than many other AF pizzas. I don't know if that was solely because we cooked it a tad longer or whether the crust is actually made differently in this pizza. Either way, it was pretty close to "New York-style" and it worked well with the toppings.

My wife and I both agree, this is tied for the best Archer Farms brand pizza we've had so far. We'll put it up there with the Eggplant Parm.

I give this pizza 8 out of 10 stars.

Archer Farms Bolognese Pizza

If I had to guess what this pizza was all about just based on its name, I would of course assume that it had bologna as a topping. Which, of course, would be wrong. It does, however, have a "beef Bolognese sauce." Yay! Meat, right?

Well, sort of. It's more like a "meat-flavored" sauce than a topping that contains actual chunks of beef. Don't expect a meat-lovers pizza here and you might not be too disappointed. Apparently a Bolognese sauce is a traditional pasta sauce originating from Bologna, Italy, and it's only supposed to contain very finely-chopped or minced meat—not meat chunks. If I had educated myself before purchasing, I might not have felt so let-down.

But on a more positive note, the mozzarella and fontina cheeses taste great. If you've had any other AF pizzas, you know more or less what to expect from the crust. This one boasts that it has a "hand-stretched crust," but then again, so do the Eggplant Parm Pizza and the Spinach and Goat Cheese Pizza. But to me, the crusts all taste pretty much the same as the Mediterranean Pizza, which supposedly does not have said "hand-stretched crust."

Overall, the typical AF crust, the semi-meaty tomato sauce, and the two unique cheese flavors come together to make a fairly snacktastic pizza. It doesn't have a heavy, overwhelming flavor at all. Think of the delicate flavor of a nice, fresh mozzarella cheese and add to it a mild meat-flavored pasta sauce, and you can pretty well imagine what this pizza tastes like.

This pizza earns 7 out of 10 stars.

Archer Farms Spinach & Goat Cheese Wood-Fired Pizza

This pizza certainly has more flavor than the Mediterranean Pizza. That's mostly due to the goat cheese. And for most Americans, goat cheese is an acquired taste. It's a bit more pungent than most cow-cheeses that we're accustomed to, and it's a bit sour.

When I was a kid, I had really bad food allergies, especially to very common foods like wheat and milk. One of the strategies we employed to defeat the allergies was to rotate our foods. I could only have cow's milk and dairy products one out of every 4 days. The other days, I had dairy substitutes like soymilk or goat's milk. And on those "goat milk days," I also had some goat cheese with my sandwiches, etc. It took a while, but I really grew to like it.

My wife Sonia likes it, too. She grew up in L.A., where there's a plethora of fine dining establishments that find ways to incorporate high-quality goat cheese into their offerings. So between the two of us, this pizza was a pretty big hit. But make no mistake: if you don't like goat cheese, or if you've never had goat cheese, there's a very good chance this product won't agree with you.

There's also spinach, basil, tomatoes, and regular cheese on the pizza, but most of its flavor comes from the aforementioned goat cheese, which comes in thick, round slabs, as depicted on the packaging. Sonia and I wish the goat cheese were a bit more evenly distributed. A few bites will have massive goat cheese taste, and then the next few bites will have none of it. I suppose it would have been possible to manually redistribute the goat cheese with a knife or something, but we were both quite hungry and in the middle of a "feeding frenzy" of sorts, so we just plowed through the entire pizza in a matter of minutes.

Between this one and the Mediterranean pizza, I'd say this one is the victor. My wife agrees. But again, you really have to like goat cheese. Otherwise, you might find yourself scraping the little slabs of goat cheese off, and in doing so, you'll eliminate this pizza's primary source of flavor and uniqueness.

This product is worthy of 7 out of 10 stars.

Archer Farms Southwest-Style Orzo

For those of you not familiar with orzo, it's basically the illegitimate love-child of pasta and rice. It's wheat-based, but it's tiny like little grains of rice. It's usually cooked with some kind of oil, and it winds up tasting and feeling like something in between an actual grain and a small piece of pasta. One tasty brand to check out: Delallo 89508-8pack Delallo Orzo Whole Wheat Pasta - 8x17 oz. (Google Affiliate Ad).

The powder/sauce for this stuff is pretty much the same as the sauce on the Southwest-Inspired Couscous that we reviewed recently. The southwest sauce was my favorite part of both of these dishes—it has kick and good taste—though the orzo itself impressed me a bit more than the couscous did.

The orzo came out soft, with just the right amount of sauce to flavor it. Since it's being cooked and stirred on the stove top, it was easy to manually distribute the sauce evenly. It would be very hard for me to distinguish Target-brand orzo and another gourmet brand in a taste test. I think Archer Farms did this one pretty well. No major complaints. 

The price was something like $2. Unlike the couscous, it doesn't come with its own preparation bowl, and it's not supposed to be microwaved. It might take a bit longer to make, and you might dirty a pot and a dish, but in my opinion, it's worth it. If you're having something at home, I'd go with the orzo over the couscous. But if you need something for the break room at work, you might have to look for something else.

I give this product 7 out of 10 stars.

Archer Farms Mediterranean Arugula & Tomato Wood-Fired Pizza

The mozzarella on this pizza was quite possibly the blandest cheese I've ever eaten. The "Italian tomato sauce" wasn't flavorful, either. The crust had a nice texture for a frozen pizza and tasted like it could have actually been "wood-fired" as the packaging claims, although, it too, lacked flavor overall.

The only part of this pizza that my wife and I definitely tasted was the arugula. And arugula is bitter. It can add some depth to the flavors of certain pizzas, but in my opinion, you don't want it to be the dominant flavor.

This pizza's a decent size. Enough to cut 8 good slices from it. And I'm quite certain I've had very tasty frozen pizzas from Target before, but this was among the worst. I love Mediterranean dishes, and I'm pretty adventurous when it comes to trying foreign foods and experiencing unusual flavors. But I've simply had too many good Mediterranean-type foods to completely fall in love with this one. It looks like an artisan pizza, and it certainly didn't smell bad coming out of the oven, it's just that it needs more kick, more taste, and a bit more flair if you will.

I'll be trying more of these pizzas in the days and weeks to come, so stay tuned. I know there are some good ones. If you've tried this pizza and you love it, please let me know in the comments below. I welcome dissenting opinions, and I have been wrong once or twice ;-)

I'll give it a 6 out of 10.

Archer Farms Crab Rangoon

I don't know what a "rangoon" is, but I'm guessing it's an Asian-inspired oven-pastry type hors d'oeuvre, because that's exactly what we have here. To date, this is the most "risky" item I've tried from the Archer Farms brand. And, other than the price, it's a big thumbs up.

There are no actual chunks of crab meat that I could detect. It's a creamy, crab-infused filling, but it's really tasty. It's almost like a seafood bisque baked into a flaky golden shell. I was thoroughly impressed with the overall taste and quality of this product. 

On the down side, $6.99 is a bit much to pay for just 12 small pieces of an appetizer, no matter how delicious they may be. This box happened to be on sale for $5.99, and although I've learned to be wary of discount seafood, I decided it was a chance worth taking. Also slightly disappointing and misleading was the lack of a dipping sauce, despite the prominently featured bowl of tasty-looking sweet and sour or whatever on the front of the packaging. Marketing people can get away with bloody murder via that "serving suggestion" loophole.

All in all, I guess the price isn't that bad considering you'd pay 50% more at a seafood restaurant, and honestly, the quality of these is almost on par with Red Lobster-style appetizers or Hancock Gourmet Lobster Company's Maine Shore Dinner (Google Affiliate Ad). I didn't really miss the sauce once I started eating them, because they are quite flavorful. If you like crab, you'll most likely be a fan of these.

Trust me, I don't get paid by Archer Farms or Target. I'm being honest and objective, and if you keep reading this blog, you will eventually see a thoroughly negative review. But for now, I'm going to have to sing AF's praises for rewarding me with a tasty treat for dinner last night. I took a risk, and it paid off.

I give these 9 out of 10 stars.