Salt & Vinegar Hula Hoops

Yeah I thought Hula Hoops were an old childhood form of entertainment - I didn't expect that someday I would be eating them.

Hula Hoops are flavored "potato rings" from the UK. There were a couple of different flavors - but of course with my love for anything salty and vinegary - I chose that flavor.

The rings are crunchy and a bit hard - but that might have been due to the fact that the "best before" date was over by a month. Speaking of expiration dates - pretty consistently when I am looking for food at the world food store - items are past their "best by" date...sometimes by a month sometimes by MANY months. I have to be real careful when I put something in my cart. I figured the hula hoops were safe - but I wouldn't want to buy some frozen meat or cheese product that was long past the "best by" date.


As you might guess - they taste very similar to potato chips. This tiny little bag cost $1.00. We all enjoyed them. Nice thing about the small package is that if you are one that has little self control when it comes to resisting things like potato chips - there isn't much to over-indulge in.

Smoky Bacon Potato Crisps

O.K. - I have eaten potato chips all my life - but I have never eaten "Walker's Smoky Bacon Flavour Potato Crisps from the UK."

One word - delicious! Or "delishy-aw-so" as the boy likes to say (I guess he fancies himself bilingual).

I say potato chips, you say potato crisps - but it's all the same crunchy, goodness.

These crisps were a yummy, crunchy, bacon-ful snack. Only problem was that there were only about 10 crisps in the bag and there were three hungry vultures wanting to devour them.

Could there ever be a flavor of potato chips that was not tasty?? I have had dill, sour cream and onion, cheese, bbq, salt n vinegar (by far the VERY VERY VERY BEST), all dressed, jalapeno, and pretty much every regular flavor around - but I had never tried limon flavor until this past summer.

We were on a trip to Santa Monica, CA and on a little side trip to 7-11 to procure slurpees, we came across limon flavored potato chips. I bought a bag and the kids and I had a taste. It was very similar to salt n vinegar but instead of the vinegar flavor you get a sour lemon flavor. A bit odd. I think we did finish off the bag - but it's not a flavor I'd be purchasing again - unless it was the only bag of chips in the store.

Papas Toreadas a la diabla Potato Chips

Yum-a-licious is what I have decided, to describe these kettle cooked potato chips.

After our morning swim the kids and I headed over to a Mexican grocery store next door, that I've been wanting to visit for awhile.

Let me start by saying, there is pretty much no better food (snack) on the face of the earth than potato chips. My favorite being Canada's Old Dutch SaltnVinegar. Well so no surprised I was drawn to the bright red package that contained the la diabla potato chips.

Knowing how hot, hot can be when referring to peppers and Mexican food - I kind of wondered if I'd need a fire extinguisher near by (a slurpee would have been the perfect accompaniment but I didn't buy one today). The back of the package says "just as toreadors inflame fighting bulls with their capes, there's a time-honored secret to heighten the flavor of chiles...chiles toreados are created by searing fresh chiles on a blistering grill to intensify their heat."

I only barely tasted a crumb to start with - and when my mouth didn't blister I tasted some more, and more and more! The kids loved them! My dd said "hot on the tongue - makes your mouth feel like you could breathe out fire like a dragon." My son added, "tastes grand...but makes your eyes water."

It had a great spicy, tomato flavor. Reminds me very much of Old Dutch Ketchup flavored chips but with some heat. Also there is a hint of vinegar in it...

The girl could not finish all of hers, not b/c she didn't like the taste - just too hot for now. The boy - who just found out he loves jalepenos - decided he'd save some of his for later.

I would totally buy these again - they were not as hot as I thought....they could be a bit hotter and still be fine for an afternoon (or morning) snack. I think these would make a great new Doritos flavor.

Squid Shreds

Our food of the day was squid shreds. I liked the colorful package, the cute squid picture and the fact that it was unusual and cheap (approx. $1.50) and looked like something the kids would think was fun to try.

Squid shreds are basically dried, shredded squid. The main ingredients in order are:

squid, sugar, salt, monosodium glutamate

No country of origin was market on the package but there is some Chinese?? characters on the package that may supply that information.

What did I think of the shredded squid: overpowering shrimpy/fishy smell...surprisingly sweet and chewy (similar to beef jerky in consistency) and after you've been chewing for awhile it tastes hot/spicy.

What did the kids think of the shredded squid: Daughter - "I didn't think it was very good. Very sweet, very spicy, has a really strange smell, feels like beef jerky." Son - "It was salty and yummy."