Steven Helmer Publications

  My wife and I made a much-needed Costco run yesterday morning, and it didn't take long for us to be above the budget I had hoped we'd be able to stick to. Despite this, as we were walking through one of the freezer aisles, I spotted a box of Red's Meat Lovers Breakfast Burritos and, figuring it would be a good breakfast option for when I'm at my office, I picked them up. I gave the burritos a try this morning and thought they were worth the $14.99 I spent on the box of them. One of my biggest problems with store bought breakfast burritos is, more often than not, they don't have much in them. That was not the case with these. I had two of them for breakfast and only had maybe one bite that was just the outer wrapping with no meat or eggs in it. This both added flavor and made the burritos much more filling. I also thought the burritos had a good taste to them. The sausage was well-seasoned, giving it a bit of a kick without being too spicy while the cheese sauce al...

  I went to the store early this morning, before it got crowded with people who were stocking up before the winter weather hits later. Since I was there, I figured I'd pick up something easy for breakfast. I saw Dutch Farms Breakfast Bowls for less than $3 each and, figuring it was a low enough price, decided to give the Meat Lovers variety a try. Overall, I have to say it was OK. To be honest, it wasn't anything overly special, at least when compared to the other breakfast bowls that are out there. However, that was one of the things that I thought was a bonus because while it wasn't anything that stood out, it also wasn't anything that was noticeably lower quality either. I have had that with other cheaper brands in the past, buying one that promised plenty of protein from meat and egg only to be mostly potatoes. That wasn't a problem with this bowl, which had plenty of the two.  Taste wise, I thought it also was good. The breakfast sausage wasn't spicy but ha...

  I would have preferred to make a homecooked dinner tonight but had a bunch of errands to run this evening and just didn't have time (I will tomorrow though). Needing something simple, I picked up Marie Callender's Swedish Meatballs & Pasta for my wife and me.  While it wasn't the best Swedish meatballs I've ever had, they weren't terrible and even exceeded my expectations. Preparation of the dinner was easy enough. It was just a matter of putting it in my microwave for about 13 minutes, stirring halfway through. I didn't need to follow a bunch of separate steps (as is the case with some frozen dinners) and this was done in a timely fashion. As far as taste goes, there was no doubt it was a frozen dinner. However, the flavor was OK and, unlike what I had expected based on past experiences with products like this, it wasn't super salty. Plus, there were plenty of meatballs. Many more than I thought there'd be. There was just the right amount of food ...

  According to my doctor last week, I really need to get back on my diet. However, it's been unusually stressful the past few days, so I ended up stopping by Kwik Trip for a breakfast sandwich this morning. While there, I found myself in the snack aisle, looking for an afternoon pick-me-up and saw Bobo's PB&Js for $1.79. Figuring the 17 grams of whole grains would be slightly healthier than a candy bar, I picked one up. Overall, I have to say it wasn't bad. Truth be told, I didn't taste the grape jelly all that much when eating this cookie. The peanut butter and oat crust were a little too strong for that to stand out. That said, I did find myself enjoying the flavor. The oats themselves had a surprisingly sweet taste to them (probably because of the added sugar) which I thought paired nicely with the peanut butter flavor even without the hint of jelly. At minimum, it wasn't as dry as I would have expected a cookie like this to taste. It was also very filling. I...

  I decided on frozen pizza a couple nights ago, mostly because I wasn't in the mood to wash dishes. After checking out a variety of options, I settled on the 5 Meat Pizza from Village Pub, mostly because it is a company out of nearby Oshkosh, Wisconsin. It ended up being an OK choice, at least as far as frozen pizzas are concerned. One thing that I was impressed with was the number of toppings on the pizza. I've had plenty of other pizzas that promised multiple meats and I could, at most pick out only a couple of them. This was reasonably loaded for the $5.99 price I paid for it  I thought the pizza had a decent amount of seasoning on it as well. There was enough to give it some flavor without going overboard. Believe me, I've had plenty of pizzas that tasted like someone dumped a full container of pepper on them while others barely had taste at all. This fit nicely in between. I had some mixed opinions about the crust. I'm not usually a thin crust fan to begin with an...

My wife and I both had long days, and our oldest daughter had to work last night so I decided to keep things simple by just picking up some frozen dinners. I wound up choosing the Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers Turkey Lasagna Bowl mostly because I'm supposed to be watching my salt intake, and it had the lowest amount of sodium of all the dinners I looked at. After having it, my opinion was mixed. I always have lowered expectations when it comes to frozen dinners and honestly wasn't really expecting all that much as a result. In that regard, I feel like this did end up what I had pretty much thought it would be. It was an OK dinner but didn't offer much in terms of pizazz.  One thing I did like about it was it was easy to make. Frozen dinners are supposed to be convenient and a surprisingly large number of them aren't. This one only needed to be popped in the microwave for a few minutes. There was no need to stir and heat it longer at a lower temperature or cook parts of ...