Product review: Marshmalow (zefir) "Charmelle" Apple Taste / groceries home delivery

This box is described as 255 grams but does not state how individual Zefirs are inside.  Turns out there are six. When I purchased it, this box cost was $4.59 which means the cost of each candy is 77 cents. The price on RussianTable.com is better then the price on Amazon even if you take into account the shipping cost (which are $15.75 for two-day shipping from New York to New England). I ordered in April 2020 and the expiration date on the box was July 2020. Pretty reasonable, and Zefirs tasted fresh.

These Zefirs are described as Apple flavored, they do not have the standard apple zefir taste and they are pink rather than white. Never the less, the taste is pretty nice and I liked them. 

I fell in love with while visiting Russia.  I was introduced to zefir by Russian friends on my trips to Moscow.  Russian zefir can only be described as an American marshmallow as an approximation.  Zefir is made by whipping fruit and berry purée (apple puree or strawberry puree) with sugar and egg whites. It is less chewy than a marshmallow and has a lot more flavor, not just sugar.

Ali Julia review

Product review: Simply Asia, Noodle Bowl, Roasted Peanut, 8.5 oz / home grocery delivery during COVID-19

This box of New Asia moodles only has noodles and peanut sauce.  Even though the picture on the box shows shrimp the content has no add-ins, if you want them you need to buy them separately.

The bowl is 480 calories.  To prepare it you need to open four packages(noodles, sauce, peanuts, herbs), add two tablespoons of water, and mix.  The overall flavor is not as good as I expected, but edible. It is not overall salty, not too sweet, not too spicy.


You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★★☆☆

Product review: Whole Food bananas / Whole foods grocery home delivery during COVID-19

I ordered bananas as part of a home delivery order (i.e. unseen and not personally selected) and they were perfect.  Not too ripe, no too green, tasted great.  This was my first home delivery and it went very smoothly.

You can find bananas on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: Renpure Biotin and Collagen Shampoo

This is a giant 32 oz of shampoo, I thought it was a really good deal. This is my first-time purchase so other then the good price I did not know what to expect.

The good:

* It smells great, to me it was some botanical scent, not flowery, not coconut, light and pleasant.

* Very sudsy, feels great when I use it.

* Tightly closed, no spillage during shipping (see related issue under The bad)

The bad:

* Strengthening hair is slow-acting, after 2 weeks of usage I do not see significant difference looking at the drain.

* It is very hard to open. Thanks to that nothing spilled during shipping, but I had to use plyers to open the bottle.


How to open:

The cap of the bottle has three parts.  The bottom part that is screwed on to the bottle, a thin ring, and a pump. To make the pump work it needs to pop up. To make it pop up you need to hold the thin ring steady and turn the pump counter-clockwise while pushing down. It took me a good number of tries to get it open, what finally worked was holding the ring with the thin-nose plyers.  See my video for additional illustrations for opening the bottle.

Ali Julia review

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: Whole Food Native Forest Organic Classic Coconut Milk Can / Whole foods grocery home delivery during COVID-19

This is my first purchase of Native Forest Coconut Milk as part of home delivery from Whole Foods.  It tasted good and the curry I made using it was excellent.

This can was part of my first on-line delivery from Whole Foods, and the ordering and delivery worked well.  6 of the 12 items were out due to COVID-19 and I got texts with substitutions, which I could accept or reject.  The delivery occurred within a promised two-hour period, with the substitution messages happening one hour before.  WholeFoods, of course, is not a bargain. The price of the items and the delivery tip did make it pretty expensive. However, in the current situation, it is a very helpful option to have.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: Genuine Instant Pot Silicone Cover Lid for 6 Quart

I got this Instant Pot silicone cover for 6 quarts Instant Pot, so I can store the inner pot in the refrigerator without transferring the content to another container after cooking.  There were several cheaper options that were not made by Instant Pot but I went with a slightly higher priced option to ensure a perfect fit. I am very satisfied. Instant Pot cover is made out of heavy-duty silicone, it is thick and the fit is perfect is closes with a satisfying click.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product reiview: Progresso Traditional Soup, Split Pea with Ham

Split pea soup from Progresso has a nice flavor with small pieces of ham that add a noticeable flavor.  The thickness of the soup was satisfying. Overall, I thought it was one of the Progresso's better soups.  The can has two servings, and each serving is 130 calories.  I also like the easy to open top.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★★★☆

Product review: Imagine Creamy Potato Leek Soup, Organic, 32 oz (No! Not creamy at all) Home grocery delivery from WholeFoods during COVID-19

This is my first and last order of Creamy Potato Leep Soup.  The best I can say it was edible.  In general, I  am a big fan of Potato Leek soups, but this one was not flavorful.  It was rather watery and definitely not creamy. 

This soup was part of my first on-line delivery from Whole Foods, and the ordering and delivery worked well.  6 of the 12 items were out due to COVID-19 and I got texts with substitutions, which I could accept or reject.  The delivery occurred within a promised two-hour period, with the substitution messages happening one hour before.  WholeFoods, of course, is not a bargain. The price of the items and the delivery tip did make it pretty expensive. However, in the current situation, it is a very helpful option to have.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★★☆☆

Product review: The company store cotton towels - Ripple stripe design - orange and red - hand towels - bath towels

After not being satisfied with the towels I bought on Amazon, I turned to a high-end linens store called The Company Store. The prices on the web site are pretty high, but this time of year they run very nice sales. Over the last several months, I made five purchases. One day I caught a 50% sale, another 30% sales.

The quality of everything I bought is excellent. I am picky about towels: I don't like them either too thin or too thick. The Company Store towels (I know bought three different sets so I feel I can generalize) thickness of the towels is precisely how I like it.

The design of the towels in this review is called "Orange Ripple Stripe Bath Towels." Their primary color is orange, red, and beige.  The reverse side is mostly orange. The first washing generated quite a bit of lint, but now after three weeks, they don't produce all that much lint in the dryer. They are soft and absorbent. They are also colorfast.

You can find The Company Store by following this link. If you use this link you will get a $50 off your order.

Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: Cheerios, Cereal with Whole Grain Oats, Gluten Free, 20 oz

This Cheerios cereal box is really giant; this is not marking puffing. In my photo, I show it next to the large Joe's O's cereal box, and it dwarfs it.  The taste of this cereal is great, flavorful, and sugar-free. I purchased it for $4 on Amazon. We consume it by mixing this cereal into other cereals, which are too sweet for our taste.  As an extra benefit mixing it with sweeter and more expensive cereals make the over combo, taste better, last longer, and be more cost-efficient.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: Sensodyne Pronamel Intensive Enamel Repair Toothpaste for Sensitive Teeth

Sensodyne toothpaste has been a savior for me.  A couple of years ago I began feeling discomfort when drinking hot or cold liquids.  My dentist told me to try Sensodyne and it totally fixed the problem after about 1 week of use.  Pronamel Sensodyne is working well, and I like the flavor. My mouth feels very fresh after using it, and even though I am not a big mint fan I like its taste.  I also like the packaging - the tube can stand on its cap very well.

It has two active ingredients: potassium nitrate and sodium fluoride. Potassium nitrate is used in a 5 percent concentration to aid against teeth sensitivity and sodium fluoride in a 0.25 percent concentration to aid against cavity formation.

Ingredients:

Active:Potassium nitrate 5% - Antihypersensitivity Sodium fluoride 0.25% (0.15% w/v fluoride ion) - Anticavity.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: Simply Asia Classic Curry Singapore Street Noodles

I bought a couple of boxes of Simply Asia and Thai Kitchen noodles. Singapore noodles were not as good as I hope, but they were the best tasting of the disappointing noodles I have tried.  Unlike other products, the stock photo is reflective of what you get.  You get only noodles, sauce, and a small packet of dehydrated vegetables. It tastes better if you can add your own fresh vegetables and herbs.  The sauce is mildly spicy. This package contains one serving, 410 calories.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★★☆☆

Product review: Keeppower Micro-USB Rechargeable Li-ion AA Batteries with a 4-in-1 Charging Cable

Keeppower battery back contains four AA Li-ion AA batteries. Each battery has a built-in charging and a micro USB port.  The package also included a special cable with one type-A USB connector that splits into 4 micro USB cables to plug into each of the four batteries.

The batteries got charged fairly (about 2 hours).  When the batteries are charging, they display a bright red light. When they are charged, the light changes to blue.

The fit of the cable into the batteries is nice and firm. The batteries get slightly warm while they are charging, but not hot.  Fast charging is very convenient. 

I had never seen a chargeable cable like this before and was worried I would not be able to replace it if I lost or damaged it, but after a little research, I found they are being sold on Amazon. Now I know that if I need it, I will find a replacement cable.

I am using these rechargeable batteries for my tens unit. My old lithium-ion rechargeable batteries were drained after 4 hours.  Alkaline batteries lasted 3 hours. These batteries last about 5 hours.

In general, Li-ion batteries are more stable then Alkaline batteries can be recharged more times. They have lower self-discharge rates. The manufacture promises a 10-year shelf line.  It is a little early to tell how these batteries behave in this respect, but so far, so good.


You can find these batteries on Amazon

Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: Mieszanka (Mieszkanka) Krakowska / Wawel Chocolate Covered Jelly Candy

These candies are soft jelly covered by milk chocolate. I like jellies but never tried these particular candies before.  They were pretty good. 

One pound of candy is 41 candies.  I paid $14.94 for a pound, so it works out to 36 cents per candy. I got 10 Raspberry candies, 12 of Orange candies, 8 Lemon candies, and 11 of Pineapple candies.  Each candy is individually wrapped in colorful wrappers with Polish writing.  The candies come packaged in a plain plastic bag, so the presentation is not suitable for gifting without re-packaging.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★★★☆

Product review: Progresso Soup Light, Beef Pot Roast Can

This listing is for several different soups, I am reviewing Progresso Light Beef Pot Roast. This soup had a reasonable amount of vegetables but only three small chunks of meat.  Overall, I was disappointed in its flavor.  There are some Progresso soups (for example, Beef Barley) that I like, but Beef Pot Roast is not their best (although not the worst).


You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★★☆☆

Product review: Imported Russian Loose Zefir (Marshmallow)

In my order (rated as two pounds), I received 16 individual zefirs. Each one is 2" across. They tasted great, just like the ones I fell in love with while visiting Russia. I was introduced to zefir by Russian friends on my trips to Moscow. Zefir in this product has the right texture and flavor.

Russian zefir can only be described as an American marshmallow as an approximation. Zefir is made by whipping fruit and berry purée (apple puree or strawberry puree) with sugar and egg whites. It is less chewy than a marshmallow and has a lot more flavor, not just sugar.

The price of this item fluctuates. I purchased it for around 23 dollars about a month ago, next time I looked, it was 30 dollars. I'll be buying again when the price drops.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★★★★