Good & Gather Everything Cashews

Ah, it's time for Target's Everything but the Bagel Cashews. Oh, no wait. Must be thinking of another brand. 

These are Everything but the Girl Cashews, right? No? 

Everything but the House. That has to be it. 

Everything but the Kitchen Sink?

Nope. Just "Everything Cashews." 

Or "Everything Seasoned Cashews Made with Sesame Seeds, Garlic, Onion, Salt & Poppy Seeds" if you're not into the whole brevity thing.

Let's dive in. GAG has blessed us with another relatively tasty snack. If you're going to pick a single nut to mix with everything bagel seasoning, I think cashews are probably your best bet.

I feel like everything seasoning might clash with some other tasty nuts like almonds or peanuts, and nuts I'm not as fond of, such as Brazil nuts or pine nuts, would ruin the salty seediness of the everything seasoning. The rich creaminess of cashews balances out the potent taste of onions, garlic, and sesame seeds fairly well.

The everything seasoning adds a little bit of an extra crunch, too. I think most of the elements in the seasoning are crispier and harder than the texture of the average cashew. They tend to be soft, as nuts go.

The resealable bag is always handy and welcome. No matter what product it is in the package, it'll stay much fresher with that convenient ziplock seal. 

$5.99 for the 7.5 oz bag. That's a fair price point in my opinion. Cashews aren't generally cheap, since they only grow in frost-free tropical areas. 

I'd buy again if I were in the mood for cashews—and yes, I do think I prefer this seasoned version over plain cashews, just ever so slightly.

I give these nuts 7 out of 10 stars.

Good & Gather Roasted Artichoke & Spinach Hummus

Flavorful and fiber-rich, there's nothing like a good tub of hummus. It's so easy to eat, too. Just warm up a piece of pita bread, and soon you've got a makeshift Middle Eastern restaurant on your coffee table while you watch TV.

I usually don't even take the hummus out of the tub. I just dunk the bread right into the container, and when I'm done, I put it all back in the fridge. This product was no different.

I'm not sure if Archer Farms, Simply Balanced, or Market Pantry ever produced any hummus or not. If they did, I somehow missed it all those years. I'm a pretty big fan of the swirled chickpea delight, so I'm sure if I had ever seen it at Target, I would have tried it and probably reviewed it.

There's a subtle artichokey kinda flavor to this hummus, and like many other varieties and brands, there's a nice garlic undertone. I don't really remember tasting much in the way of lemon, capers, or spinach in the actual hummus mix. The peppers are mostly in the middle, where you'll also find bits of artichoke and spinach leaves. I usually feel like there aren't enough vegetable chunks in the middle of tubs of hummus like they did here. Sabra brand does something similar. But if you evenly disperse the center veggies throughout this product, there's plenty of them in this case.

There's nothing harsh about the taste. Sometimes there's just too much garlic or a nasty aftertaste with certain hummus. Not so here. It's got a refined mellow essence that makes it uber-noshable. Quality-wise, I'd put it on par with any other major hummus brand, and honestly, this flavor is probably one of the best combos I've ever tried.

All things considered, this is an extremely tasty condiment. $2.99 for the 10 oz container. I'd absolutely purchase again, and I'll be on the lookout for other flavors in this lineup.

I give this hummus 8 out of 10 stars.

Simply Balanced Sea Salt & Vinegar Roasted Chickpea Snack

I'm not sure if it's ever come up before on this blog, but I LOVE CHICKPEAS.

Honestly, I've always had a huge affinity for the nutritious legumes. While my childhood friends would pile up croutons and dressing on top of their salads, I remember stacking my plate high with a bed of greens and a massive tower of garbanzo beans. I'll occasionally snack on nothing but chickpeas with a little salt and pepper. In short, I'm a fan.

And recently, these dried chickpea-based treats have been popping up in different flavors from quite a few different brands. This is the second such offering that I've tried.

And unfortunately, I think this product might have scored higher in my book had I not tried a similar offering from Trader Joe's just a couple weeks prior.

The Trader Joe's chickpeas were larger, they had a much better seasoning on them, and somehow they still flaunted more natural chickpea taste. These snacks were very gritty—almost sandy, and much harder to chew than the other chickpea snacks I've sampled. This Simply Balanced product was vaguely salty, but there was very little vinegar flavor, in my opinion.

On the plus side, there's still a good amount of fiber and protein here, and the resealable bag is uber-convenient, as always. Because of my love of the great garbanzo bean, I'd give another flavor a chance in the future.

But as for this particular chickpea snack, I can't go much higher than five out of 10 stars.

Archer Farms A Handful of Everything Trail Mix

A handful of...everything? Everything? Well, they seem to have left out a few things, including pork, nougat, caviar, shredded cheese, and orange juice.

Not that any of those ingredients would have made this a better trail mix. On the contrary. I'm just making sure readers know that by "everything," Archer Farms means dried fruit, yogurt-covered peanuts, chocolate, almonds, raisins, and coconut. As it is, it's pretty tasty.

At $3.99 a bag at my local Target, this is one of the least expensive trail mixes AF has to offer. They go all the way up to $7 a bag! For that price, there had better be caviar in there...or something else really gourmet-ish.

Most of the ingredients in this bag are relatively healthy, except for maybe the chocolate chips. My wife and I agree that the chocolate really isn't necessary here, nor is the moderate amount of added sugar. There's plenty of sweetness from the banana chips, raisins, dried mangos, pineapple, and yogurt chips.

Honestly, I wouldn't have minded a few more nuts in the mix to counterbalance all of the sweetness. But all things considered, this is a delicious, energizing snack that would be great to keep one's blood sugar up if hiking or biking or what have you.

I'll absolutely be trying and reviewing more of AF's trail mixes, so stay tuned. Keep those comments coming, check out and "like" our Facebook fan page, and as always, thanks for reading!

I give this trail mix 8 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.

Simply Balanced Cajun-Style Rice & Beans Lunch Bowl

This is the first lunch bowl I've reviewed that's got the new Simply Balanced packaging going on. I guess that's because it's low-ish in calories and fat but high in fiber.

I think my favorite lunch bowl is still the Sesame Teriyaki one. It had by far the best taste of all, but this one might be a close second. I was skeptical of it at first, mainly because "rice and beans" don't sound as exotic as Kung Pao Noodles or Bacon Carbonara, and both of those turned out to be disappointing. With 430mg of sodium, I'm not sure if you can call this health food, but one gram of fat ain't bad if you're looking to lose some weight.

The cajun spice was fine. Nothing to complain about. It was mildly hot. Nothing earth-shattering here, but not bad for a $2.49 lunch bowl. The product was a bit soupy after adding water right up to the fill line. When I first opened the packaging, the bean and rice packet looked very small and almost empty, but everything plumped up in the hot water. The serving size still appeared diminutive, but after I ate it, I felt plenty full...and I'm a gluttonous eating machine. Must have been all that dietary fiber and salt.

Overall, this product is worthy of 7 out of 10 stars.

Archer Farms Pumpkin Harvest Salsa

We finally found a pumpkin product at Target!

It's a unique salsa. I'll give it that. But I wasn't quite sure how well anyone could pull off pumpkin salsa. And just as I had feared, their strategy involved creating a condiment that doesn't taste all that much like pumpkin.

Granted, it tastes more like pumpkin than any other salsa I've ever had, but that's not really saying much. More than pumpkin, I taste tomato, and that's to be expected, since tomato and tomato derivatives are the main ingredients of this and most other salsas. But I also taste more butternut squash than pumpkin. And that's not so expected. But it's certainly not a bad thing, either.

To me, this tastes like a combination of traditional salsa and butternut squash soup. There is a hint of pumpkin puree, but it gets overshadowed in the mix. There's a fair amount of spiciness, mostly from the jalapenos as far as I could tell. The label claims a "medium" level of heat, and I'd say that's pretty accurate. I've never had a spicy pumpkin product before, but in this case, it actually kind of works. There are whole corn kernels, which really add to the texture, but not only that, they create a sort of "flavor bridge" between the traditional spicy salsa and the butternut squash and pumpkin flavors. Corn works exceptionally well as an ingredient in spicy salsas and it adds a lot to butternut squash soup.

In summary, if you think pumpkin and butternut squash sound like they could work in a moderately spicy salsa, then you should deffo check this stuff out. I assume it's a seasonal flavor, so it might not be around much longer. I think it would have benefited from some more pumpkin puree, but that's probably just nitpicking.

I give this product 7 out of 10 stars.

Simply Balanced Apricot Fruit Strips

When I was a boy, I had a dog named Apricot. She was an apricot-colored toy poodle. I chalk the unoriginality of the name up to the fact that I was only six years old when we got her. But she was a great dog, and she died while I was away at college, just shy of her 16th birthday. She's now buried in my parents' backyard in what used to be a small vegetable garden, with a little gravestone marker with her name and the years 1985 - 2001.

Whenever I hear the word "apricot," I think about her. But that being said, I was never really a fan of apricot the fruit. I would often try apricot-flavored things, thinking that it would be fun to have something with the same name as my dog, but it seldom was. I usually wound up disappointed and would ask my dad to trade my apricot-flavored thing for a cherry-flavored thing or an apple-flavored thing.

But I guess my tastes have matured, because I thought these apricot-flavored fruit strips were really tasty. Or maybe it's because less than 2% of the product is made with apricot. The rest is...apple! The orange-ish color goes a long way into fooling you that it's really honestly made of apricot. And there's an undeniable hint of something apricot-ish. But virtually all of the sweetness comes from apple.

And sweetness coming from apples is better than sweetness coming from most other forms of sugar. So I'm not complaining. These strips are low in fat and calories, and like other fruit snacks we've reviewed, they're hella sticky.

All in all, these are great, healthy snacks. It might be my nostalgic love of old Apricot talking, but I think I liked these even a little better than the recently reviewed Raspberry Lemonade Ropes.

Any other dog lovers out there? Click here to watch my current pups review a Trader Joe's product. Should they start doing Boots & Barkley brand reviews?

I give these apricot strips 8 out of 10 stars.

Simply Balanced Tuscan Herb Multigrain Crisps

Akin to other whole grain snacks like Multigrain Wheat Thins, these Tuscan herb-flavored crisps are head and shoulders above the recently reviewed Sun-Dried Tomato Popcorn Chips. These crisps are firmer, they have more flavor, and they're more filling, yet the nutrition information of both products is virtually identical.

Just a week or so ago, my wife discovered a delicious Tuscan-themed snack in the vending machine in our building. The same chips popped up at our local grocery store, too. The brand was Good Natured, and we both fell in love with them quickly. But I've gotta say these Simply Balanced crisps give the Good Natured brand a run for its money.

They're full of crunchy whole grains, and as I mentioned before, they're much more flavorful than popcorn chips. There's even a little heat from the Italian spices. It's certainly not enough to "burn" your mouth, but it does give the product an unexpected kick.

I haven't tried it yet, but I'm guessing these chips would go great with virtually any cheese dip or salsa, and I can also see them going well with salads and soups. I could absolutely feature myself buying these on a regular basis. In my opinion, chips don't get much more impressive than this.

I give this product 9 out of 10 stars.

Archer Farms Sunny Cranberry Trail Mix

I think this is the first trail mix we've reviewed with nothing but fruit, seeds, and nuts. No chocolate, no yogurt chips, no weird little crunchy sweet things. Just the good stuff...or at least, the stuff that's good for you.

The cranberries and raisins were plentiful and well-balanced. They were really moist, but they didn't leave a whole lot of residue on your hands. And there were plenty of sunflower seeds.

I think the only thing I'd change about this mix would be to throw in a few more almonds. I don't mind sunflower seeds or pepitas (pumpkin seeds), but I think almonds work a little better with dried fruit. They blend well with sweetness. That's why chocolate almond candy is popular, but you don't often hear about chocolate pepita candy.

Also, the pepitas and sunflower seeds had a tendency to sink straight to the bottom of the bag, so they were slightly overrepresented toward the end of the trail mix. Yes, I am the king of nitpicking, but it's true. It's like a different trail mix by the time you get to the end of the bag. It's also possible

that I was subconsciously zeroing in on the almonds and eating them first since I like them so much, but I'm pretty sure that if you put a big vat of this trail mix in a centrifuge, the pepitas and sunflower seeds would sink to the bottom since they're tiny and dense.

But again, I'm getting off the subject.

As far as a "healthy" trail mix goes, I think this one's the best one we've reviewed so far. It would be a great energy supply for an actual hiker. If you're looking for a dessert-ish trail mix, my pick would be the Cinnamon Raisin Mix, and my wife would take the PB&J Mix.

I give this product 8 out of 10 stars.

Happy trails!

Archer Farms Organic Strawberry Pull-Apart Fruit Peels

Earlier this year, we reviewed AF Wild Berry Fruit Strips. They were tasty, moist, organic, and flavorful. And for the most part, all of that could be said of these strawberry dealies.

I think if you put me under extreme duress and forced me to decide which flavor was better, I'd go with the wild berry. But strawberry is very close. In fact, under most circumstances I'd say they're about the same.

One thing that is different about this product is the "pull-apart" feature. It's kinda like a slab of "fruit leather," but it's sectioned into 5 little fruit "straws." It's fun to pull them apart and all, and eating little straws is, for some reason I can't quite figure out, more appealing than eating a big flat strip. However, since the product is pleasantly moist, it's rather like dipping your fingers into a glass of syrupy apple juice each time you pull a straw from the sheet.

If you were having a picnic or eating these while hiking, you would probably want to just hold the product by the wrapper and eat it without contacting the peels themselves, otherwise you'd risk being eaten alive by ants and gnats and other insects that are attracted to fruit-covered fingers and such...you might even be pestered by larger animals like squirrels or, heaven forbid, bears. Unless of course you ate the product very quickly and were equipped with handi-wipes or something.

But how you eat them is entirely up to you. I'm just letting you know that these things are sticky, and the suggestion to pull these apart with your bare hands isn't particularly wise in my opinion.

I say all this in the most tongue-in-cheek manner possible, but seriously, I think I'd rather eat apple sauce with my bare hands than these things. They're freaking sticky. But other than that, they're pretty good.

I'll give 'em 7 out of 10 stars.

Archer Farms Summer Fruits Thick & Chunky Salsa

This might be the best fruit-based salsa I've ever tasted. It's definitely my favorite Archer Farms salsa so far. And I really enjoyed some of their other salsas, particularly the mango peach and black bean roasted pepper.

The main thing that sets this one apart from the other salsas is the fact that it truly is "medium" on the spice-o-meter, at least in my humble opinion. While the mango peach salsa was labeled "medium," it definitely fell short of the mark in the heat department.

Not only is this salsa moderately hot, but the heat doesn't get in the way of the fresh, sweet "summer fruit" flavors they threw into the mix, including strawberry, kiwi, and pineapple. And I guess technically tomatoes are fruit, too, but they're filed under "vegetables" in my brain. There are also chunks of jalapeno and bell peppers in the jar, and they all blend together better than I would have ever imagined.

I tried this sauce on some salt and lime chips, and it was brilliant. The lime enhanced the fruitiness of the salsa, yet the chip flavor was subtle enough to allow the salsa flavors to shine through like the summer sun.

I'm still on a quest to find that perfect Archer Farms food. The one that will get our first 10 star score. And while this comes darn close, earning our first 9 star score in the condiment category, it's not quite perfect. I would like to see a salsa that's truly "hot" and sweet, and the chunks of fruit could be just a tad larger. That's nitpicking, I know, but I'm a tough grader.

Bottom line: 9 out of 10.

Archer Farms Balsamic Vinegar & Herb Baked Potato Crisps

I'm kinda weird when it comes to vinegar on my food. I hate salt and vinegar potato chips. HATE them. The mere idea of them kind of triggers my gag reflex. But strangely, there have been exactly 2 times in my life when I discerned a distinct craving for them deep in my gut. Both times I had been working for a long time and had sweated a lot. No doubt I had lost a lot of salt, but I craved both salt and vinegar. Each time, I found some salt and vinegar chips nearby, devoured the entire single-serving bag in a matter of seconds, and the craving passed. And I mean it was GONE, never to return. The most recent of these cravings occurred about 5 years ago. Haven't had one since.

But balsamic vinegar, on the other hand, makes a great salad dressing. If there's a balsamic vinegar option for my salad at a restaurant, that's usually the one I'll pick these days. I often get a raised eyebrow or two when I ask for the balsamic dressing. I think people expect men not to order salads, and in the rare case that they do, they're expected to ask for ranch or some other more masculine dressing. Plus, they usually mix the balsamic with some kind of fruitiness: raspberry, apple cider, pear, or something along those lines. It usually works really well, and on the inside I'm like "Oooh! How delightful! Delicious raspberries with my balsamic!" But I just mutter gruffly, "Yeah I'll have the balsamic." The waitress repeats back, "You'd like the raspberry truffle balsamic dressing with your apple pecan salad, sir?" "Yep," I grunt coolly.

Thankfully, these chips offer simple herbs with their balsamic vinegar. A great combo. And of course they're salty, so there's an easy comparison between these and traditional salt and vinegar chips. But for me, the salt and vinegar chip hater, these Simply Balanced chips are head and shoulders above other salt and vinegar chips. I can't put my finger on why. They do taste like balsamic, not just regular vinegar. And there are a few other herbs to help round out the taste—particularly garlic, which I also love. Have some breath mints on stand-by.

Texture-wise, they're similar to all other baked potato crisps I've had. I really like those things. I'm not sure how fried potato chips are still so popular. I think the crisps are just as tasty, and of course there's less fat.

Curiously, my wife who loves regular salt and vinegar chips, was not as enthusiastic about these as I was. And she likes balsamic vinegar, too. She thought they were good, but wouldn't go out of her way to purchase them again. I disagree. I think they're the bomb. I considered giving these 9 stars, but I think I'll settle on a still-impressive 8.

I give this product 8 out of 10 stars.

Archer Farms Indian Inspired Samosas

I'm starting to think the frozen section of Target's grocery might be host to all kinds of hidden culinary gems and well-kept secrets. In my many years as a Target shopper, I only recently had the guts to shell out $5 or $6 to try the items there. These little guys were only $4, so I decided to give them a whirl.

I bought the Crab Rangoon a couple weeks ago and was pleasantly surprised. Next up: Indian Samosas. I've been a big fan of Indian food since I first tried it some 10 years ago. And although I wouldn't go so far as to say these are restaurant-quality, they're not a far cry from it either.

My wife absolutely adored them. She raved about them for hours after eating them and suggested that we pick up more on our next visit to Target. She likes vegetarian dishes more than I do. I certainly don't mind eating veggies, but I do crave meat and poultry pretty often, so I wouldn't have minded if these samosas had been filled with chicken as well as the potatoes, lentils, green peas, and onions that you'll find in this vegetarian variety.

In addition to the aforementioned veggies, you can actually taste Indian curry, and the coating came out of the oven crispy and flaky. They're quite snackable. One problem: I felt they wanted some kind of dipping sauce, and they don't come with one in the package. We looked up what might go with vegetable samosas. One site suggested eating them with mango chutney. But lacking mango chutney, we perused our cupboards for a suitable alternative. We decided a leftover packet of Polynesian sauce from Chick-fil-a would have the closest approximation to the tangy sweetness of a fruit chutney, so it became our dipping sauce for these tasty oven pastries, and it worked surprisingly well. I would use it again next time we buy them.

All in all, I'd recommend these to anyone who likes Indian food and veggie dishes, and maybe to those who are simply looking to try something new and different.

I give them 8 out of 10 stars.