Who Knew?!?

Who knew Grocery Outlet would ever carry a gluten, wheat, casein, milk, soy, and nut free macaroni and cheese?  And for only $1.49?!?  (I've only seen one other frozen mac n' cheese like this and it cost over $4.00!)  

But last week I spotted this Ian's Mac & No Cheese in my Crown Hill Grocery Outlet's frozen food section and put a few in my cart to take home.  I bought one for myself and a couple for my friends with food sensitivities.  

Reviews for this product ended up being lukewarm.  The mac n' cheese had an okay taste, kind of like tuna noodle casserole without the tuna.  Or better yet, like that canned chicken noodle soup they used to make years ago, the one with the thick noodles.  

But the consistency of Ian's Mac & No Cheese was little mushy for me, and it didn't cook evenly in the microwave.  I suppose if you didn't know what real mac n' cheese tasted like or you've been on a restrictive diet for quite awhile, you would think it's pretty tasty.  Otherwise, I'd probably pass on this item next time I see it in the freezer section.  

-Kami

Read This Fishy Review!

A recent find of mine at Grocery Outlet was two different types of healthy, frozen fish sticks.  They were both from Van de Kamp’s, and I was curious to see what the difference was between them and more importantly, which one I liked better!

The first one was called Van de Kamp’s 100% Whole Fillets, Healthy Selects Crunchy Fish Fillets.  Two fillets had 170 calories, 3 grams of fat, 420 mg of sodium, and 9 grams of protein per serving. 

The second type of fish sticks were the Van de Kamp’s 100% Whole Fillets, 90 Calorie Crunchy Fish Fillets.  Two fillets (which was considered two servings) had 180 calories, 7.5 grams of fat, 340 mg of sodium, and 8 grams of protein.

Both types of fish sticks had similar nutritional information, except for when it came to grams of fat.  The 90 Calorie Crunchy Fish Fillets had more than twice the amount of fat than the Healthy Selects Crunchy Fish Fillets, but come on, 7.5 grams for two fillets of crunchy, fish stick-goodness doesn’t seem too bad to me!  

The 90 Calorie Crunchy Fish Fillets did stick slightly to the cookie sheet when I cooked them, but overall, I preferred their taste and consistency to that of the Healthy Selects Crunchy Fish Fillets.  But at only $1.99 a box, I would buy either box of fish sticks to have in my freezer for a quick weekday dinner.  (I recently saw similar Van de Kamp’s fish sticks at a local, independent grocery store for more than $7.00 a box!  Just another reason to love Grocery Outlet!)

Check out my Van de Kamp’s 100% Whole Fillets, 90 Calorie Crunchy Fish Fillets fish tacos and side salad. 

Besides the fish fillets, which ingredients did I get from Grocery Outlet?  Flour tortillas, organic salad mix (a large tub for $4.99), tomatoes ($2.99 for about 7 tomatoes), green onions ($0.50 a bunch), canned black beans, radishes (also $0.50 a bunch), and croutons.