Bzz! Kroger's Private Selection Frozen Pizzas!

My family and I had the opportunity to try Kroger's Private Selection Pizza as part of Kroger's latest BzzCampaign. I took my coupon to the store to pick out the Private Selection pizza of my choice, and bought the Fire Roasted Vegetable flavor. Admittedly, I was disappointed in the selection. It was either the Fire Roasted Vegetable pizza, or a Pepperoni and Garlic. Apparently they also offer BBQ Chicken and Margherita (my favorite kind of pizza!) but not at my store. Total bummer!

The Fire Roasted Vegetable Pizza is described as having "thin and flaky crust topped with delicate italian style tomato sauce, roasted zucchini, red and green peppers, garlic, yellow onion, mozzarella and garnished with basil." Personally I don't understand why everything that tries to be "artisan" needs to contain garlic (which I hate), but I was glad to find that this pizza didn't taste overwhelmingly like garlic as many do.

Overall, the pizza was really well received. My mom, who was a bit leery about a roasted vegetable pizza was surprised by how much she liked it. My dad mentioned how little sauce there was on the pizza, but I love pizza to be light on the sauce, so it didn't bother me. My brother and I both liked the extra crunch that the vegetables gave the pizza- I love a pizza with some consistency!

Aside from the lack of selection in the grocery store, my only complaint is in regards to the cook time. The pizza is supposed to cook at 425F for 8-9 minutes. Most frozen pizzas take about 15-20, so this seemed odd to me. As it turns out, I was right to find it odd, since the center of the pizza was still cold 9 minutes later. We ended up having to stick it back in for longer to get it to an edible temp! Otherwise, I really liked the pizza! They'll have to get some more flavor options before I run off to buy another, but for only $5, it won't set back my wallet much!

Bzz! Kroger's Private Selection Appetizers

I recently blogged about a BzzCampaign for Kroger's Truly Awesome Chocolate Chip Cookies... I was also invited to participate in another BzzCampaign from Kroger to try their artisan-inspired frozen food line, Private Selection. As a BzzAgent, I was sent a set of coupons that allowed me to get one appetizer, one entree, and one dessert.

When I went to the store, I had a few appetizer options- Mediterranean Inspired Hors D'Oeuvres, Southwestern Style Chicken Trumpets, Mushroom Walnut Profiteroles, Petite Quiches, or Spanakopita. Selections vary by region, so you might be able to find some other options near you!

We (my family and I) decided on the petite quiches, primarily because there were nine in the box, and I wanted enough to share with the fam and get some opinions, but also because I'm a picky eater and they sounded yummiest! According to the box, "Private Selection Petite Quiche Collection is an array of appetizers individually handcrafted in the French tradition with unique and classic ingredient combinations in buttery shells." I seriously doubt someone is in a kitchen somewhere cranking out thousands of quiches a day to ship out to all of the Krogers, so I find the use of the word "handcrafted" to be a bit of a stretch, but that's not important... The box had three flavors:

Classic Quiche Lorraine- Velvety smooth custard with Gruyere cheese, cream and bacon in a buttery shell
Spinach Florentine Quiche- Spinach and heavy cream mixed with Gruyere cheese in a buttery shell
Mushroom Quiche- Finely chopped mushrooms and diced onions in a buttery shell.

The Classic Quiche Lorraine was my least favorite, but I dislike bacon cooked into my food. Everyone else enjoyed them, and in my dad's words, "Yep... Tastes like Quiche Lorraine!" So at least you know it tastes right (I wouldn't know, as I've never had it)! The Spinach Florentine Quiche was my mom and my favorite. We both love spinach though. Dad, on the other hand, was just "Eh..." about it. I alo enjoyed the Mushroom Quiche, however the first thing out of my brother's mouth was, "Their idea of 'finely chopped mushrooms' and mine differ significantly." Dad said, "It's good because it doesn't have an overly strong mushroom flavor." Mom, who doesn't like mushrooms in her food even liked them a little. For the most part, my older brother enjoyed all of them (although he's a 26 year old guy, so food is food to him).

Overall, everyone really liked the quiches! They had good texture and flavor, and the buttery shell was delicious! Everyone had their favorites, but we definitely liked all of them! The appetizer options only run $3-$7, so they're a great deal! I could definitely see us getting them again in the future when we entertain guests or something!

Bzz! Are you Smarterer?

Have you heard of Smarterer? It’s a website full of tests on the most popular digital, social, and technical skills of the day. Think you know Microsoft Word? Or Tumblr? How about Facebook? Smarterer uses the crowd-source method of developing questions, meaning you can submit questions for others to answer. As you answer questions, you can improve your rank overall as well as earn badges.

BzzAgent asked me a while back to have a go with the website and weigh in... We were asked to play the BzzAgent Smarterer Quiz, which drills you on every possible bit of info related to BzzAgent. Some questions were fairly obvious, such as "What level comes after Busy Bee?" while others were incredibly hard such as, "Where did the BzzAgent company outing recently take place?" (How should I know that?!).

I suppose my biggest question about this site is, “What’s the point?”

Crowd-sourced tests are popular around the web- you can answer thousands of questions on GoodReads about books and see where you rank on your book knowledge, or even take silly tests around the net to determine which Disney princess you would be or which Hollywood hottie you’d be best matched with. The thing is, whereas comparing my book knowledge against others seems appealing (Goodreads), I can’t say I care too much about how well I know Twitter in comparison to my peers. Maybe it’s because I know I don’t know jack about it... I use social networks on a basic level, and have no desire to know more. Social networks are not the most important things in my life (gasp!).

I am also not a huge fan of crowd-sourced tests... Any Tom, Dick, or Harry can post a question and the answer they believe to be correct. Unfortunately, you end up with contributions from people who are far from being pros on the subject matter themselves. You can mark a question if you know it to be incorrect, but if someone submits a seriously obscure question like “In what year did blahblahblah establish the blahblah part of the blahblah website?” how would most people even know whether it was them or the question author who was wrong?

I suppose social networking enthusiasts and geeks would love to see how they compare. Maybe there is someone out there who truly cares about how well they know Microsoft Excel compared to their peers. For me, it was interesting to toy with, but I doubt I’ll jump onto that site when I’m bored or procrastinating.

Bzz! Maybelline Baby Lips & Lots of Lashes!

As a BzzAgent, I often get to try awesome products, as well as share some with friends. On this occasion, I had the opportunity to participate in the Maybelline campaign and try their new Baby Lips Repairing Lip Balm with SPF 20 and Lots of Lashes mascara.

I was actually pleasantly surprised by the amount of stuff that arrived from BzzAgent for this campaign- A whole box full of lippy and mascara! Plenty to share with people as I bzzed about it! I received five sets, so I kept one for myself and shared the other four. And of course, I had first dibs on the flavor!

I liked the “Great Little Grabber” brush for the Lots of Lashes Mascara. It has a good shape that makes applying the mascara easy and quick. It's a washable mascara that they claim builds volume with each coat. It's also labelled as "contact lens safe". The mascara looked really good, although I wish it was waterproof. I had a good laugh the other day and ended up looking like I’d been punched in the eye!

The lippy is awesome! It's clinical strength, and according to the packaging, it'll make your lips 82% visibly less dry, 94% less rough, 77% more supple, and 77% better looking (based on a 4 week clinical study). It also protects from sunburn with the SPF 20! I kept the fruit punch flavor for myself. I love the flavor, although the baby pink color isn’t exactly the best shade for me... My cousin tried the cherry flavor and loved it! She said she loved the color because it was just enough color to look nice but not intense like lipstick. I really like the feel of it- it’s really smooth, so my lips feel silky soft!

There are loads of yummy flavor options! Quenched (clear & flavorless), Peppermint (clear), Cherry Me (red), Grape Vine (purplish), Pink Punch (bubblegum pink), and Peach Kiss (a nude-ish color).

I handed out samples of the lippy and mascara to family and friends and overall they’ve been well received. One positive comment I received on the mascara was “It separated my lashes and there was no clumping.” On the flipside, “Not much volume, but it was nice for a casual look.”

So if you’re looking for a nice, casual daytime look, I’d recommend Maybelline Baby Lips Repairing Lip Balm with SPF 20 and Lots of Lashes mascara! The lippy will provide just a hint of color whilst protecting your lips and making them feel silky soft, and the mascara will give some color to your lashes! If you’re hitting the club, look elsewhere, but if you need a subtle look for everyday wear, these are for you! Plus, they’re perfect stocking stuffers!!!

Bzz! Kroger's The Truly Awesome Homestyle Chocolate Chip Cookie

Have you tried Kroger’s The Truly Awesome Homestyle Chocolate Chip Cookies? As a BzzAgent, I was sent a box of them to try and review! Unlike most store-bought cookies, they are made with real butter, are twice the size of typical store-bought chocolate chip cookies, and artificial color and preservative free!

I liked the taste of the cookies. They did seem to have that certain taste that only home cooked cookies seem to have. Perhaps it’s the use of real butter? I’m not sure. I don’t have the distinguished palate to tell you what exactly it is that I taste, but there’s that certain flavor... I know you know the one! It’s that hint of something that you never find in a Chips Ahoy or Pepperidge Farm cookie.

The consistency was typical of store-bought cookies... It is a crunchy cookie, not a soft one. In fact, it’s downright crumbly. I opened my first package of cookies to find a tray full of cookie dust. I prefer a softer cookie, which to me is more reminiscent of a home baked cookie, so I found the consistency a bit disappointing. According to the box, you can microwave them for a few seconds so they’re a bit softer and warm like just baked.

Compared to other cookies, these seem to be fairly level in terms of nutrition. For two Chunky Chips Ahoy (a single serving), it's 40 more calories. Same total fat, although the Kroger cookies have 15mg more sodium in a serving. The Kroger cookies have 8 less grams of carbohydrates, and one gram less sugar, but also a gram less protein, no calcium, and less iron. So it's a fairly even trade-off, since one of the Kroger cookies is a close size equivalent to two Chunky Chips Ahoy.

This product grates on one of my biggest pet peeves- poor grammar. What were they thinking, calling their cookies THE Truly Awesome Homestyle Chocolate Chip Cookies? Why must there be a ‘the’ in front??? I refuse to say, “I enjoyed Kroger’s The Truly Awesome cookies.” It sounds much better to say, “I enjoyed Kroger’s Truly Awesome cookies.” That is a total fail on the part of the individuals who came up with the name.

Overall, the cookies were not amazing enough for me to be willing to drop the coin on a pack of them on a regular day. That said, I’m using one of the coupons I was sent to buy a pack to take to Grandma’s for Christmas. We’re all sugar junkies in my family, so I think they’ll go over well!