The Armchair Epicureans

A new summer means new ways to cool off. The armchair epicureans cast aside their usual beat-the-heat snacks and tried a few new things.

Flav H2O Aerated Flavored Water, peach and apple flavors, 99 cents a bottle, Price Cutter

While there are plenty of flavored waters on the market to choose from, the packaging on this product sets it apart. If a water bottle and a soda can ever got busy, the Flav H2O packaging would be the offspring. The peach flavor was overwhelmingly peachy. So much so that we forget that we were drinking water. We all agreed that the apple flavor tasted oddly like the lemon/lime flavor of Sprite or 7 Up.
Verdict: Buy this flavored water over the others to start a conversation about the bottle-can baby.

IttiBitz Ice Cream, cotton candy and mint chip flavors $.98 per serving, Wal-Mart

This treat looks exactly like Dippin’ Dots. The cotton candy consists of pink and blue balls that are appealing to the eye and definitely taste like cold, creamy cotton candy. The mint chip flavor has brown and bright green balls that combine to give the flavor that you predict it would: mint chocolate chip. But both flavors leave an aftertaste that I don’t remember from my Dippin’ Dots discovery days.
Verdict: Pretty colors and an enjoyable initial taste, but the aftertaste will stick to your palette.

Tofutti Horray! Horray!, $4.19 per box, Price Cutter

Not afraid to try something different, the epicureans gave ice cream sans sugar and milk a shot. We should have been wary of this treat because of the desperate packaging, “NEW! Taste Me Please…” When we unwrapped the product, we all said “ewww, GROSS!” and immediately looked for an expiration date. None could be found. Without going into too much detail, a frozen gooey brown substance surrounded the ice cream that could best be described as frozen potty water. The “ice cream” itself was grainy and tasted like coffee.
Verdict: Getting past the appearance is not worth it. Just because the box has exciting words does not mean the product inside is exciting.

Sara Lee Bites strawberry cheesecake, $2.93 a container, Wal-Mart

With these perfect little bites of graham cracker crust, cheesecake filling and strawberry swirl eliminate the need for forks or plates. This was by far our favorite food of the mix! If love were a frozen food you can buy at Wal-Mart, this is what it would taste like.
Verdict: Cheesecake perfection. But be careful, it takes an incredible amount of willpower not to eat the entire container. One bite WILL lead to another and another…