Orion Cakes - Custard and Tiramisu

Orion is a Korean company that makes a variety of snack cakes. The Custard cream and Tiramisu cakes are probably two of the best cakes they make. Each box contains 12 individually wrapped cakes. For about $3 to $4 a box (depending on whether they are on sale), they are an awesome deal. They are comparable to American cakes like Twinkies but the portions are smaller and the cream is not as sweet. I suppose they are not "diet foods" but the nutrition information indicates that they are 100 calories or less per cake. Why eat a bag of dry pretzels when you can have cake?

In the Boston area, they are available at Hong Kong Supermarket (formerly Super 88) on Brighton Ave. They're probably at other Asian markets too. Enjoy!

Orion Cakes - Custard Cream filled - 12 in a box!

Individually packaged (0.81 oz) cake

Orion Cakes - Tiramisu flavor - 12 in a box!

Individually packaged (0.81 oz) cak

Orion Cakes - Nutrition info for Custard Cake (only 100 calories per cake!)

Orion Cakes - Nutrition info for Tiramisu Cake (only 90 calories per cake!)

More Awesome Trader Joe Products (under $5)

 Every now and then, I like to stop by Trader Joe's to pick out some new products to try. They're not very expensive and sometimes the products don't come back after one season. I think the reason they don't mind if people return stuff they don't like is because that's how they know which products suck. It's just fun to try some new things there. Here are a few recent products (that cost less than $5) that were pretty cool.

1. Gluten-Free Crispy Crunchy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Gluten free Chocolate Chip Cookies

The fact that they're gluten-free makes them unique already.

Gluten free Chocolate Chip Cookies

They're definitely crunchier than other chocolate chip cookies. I really don't miss the gluten. They contain rice flour.

The Mideast Feast - only 600 calories!

2. The Mideast Feast is one of my favorite prepared meals from Trader Joe's. Ok, it's not new but I wanted to let you all know about it, in case you've never tried it. It's very filling, healthy, and tasty. The box includes hummus, tahini, falafel, pita bread, and tabbouleh. It's meat-free but there's enough protein. I'm not vegetarian but I still like this meal very much. At $4.99, it's very affordable too.

Nutrition Info for Falafel Chips

3. Falafel Chips - This is a new product. They are made with corn and garbanzo beans so the texture is a little different from regular tortilla chips. The spices are very tasty but they are a little harder than corn or tortilla chips. Try these with a dip or something to put on them because they are really almost like a cracker. If you look at the nutrition info, they have a healthy amount of fibre and protein, which make them a little healthier than regular chips. For $3.49 a bag, it's worth a try. The chips are packaged in a sealed plastic bag inside the paper bag.

Falafel Chips

Cambridge & Thames Viennese style cream wafer rolls - review

Recently, I found these tasty Cambridge & Thames wafer rolls in Jamaica Plain, MA. The snacks are made in Greece and the ingredient list looks pretty good (no high fructose corn syrup or complicated-sounding things). They're very tasty and only $1.69 a can. There are 17 rolls in each package. They are available in two flavors: Vanilla and Cappuccino. Each can has an inner metal lid with a pull-tab so the snacks stay fresh until you open the can. The plastic lid is reasonably tight but it's nice to have that extra seal on the can.

When you bite into these wafer rolls, the texture is very light and flakey. The cream is sweet and complements the wafer perfectly. Of course the cream is not very moist or else it would make the wafer soggy. Ideally, these would go with a nice cup of coffee or tea because the cream is actually quite sweet after you eat a couple of these. They might go well with ice cream too. If you want to get fancy, these could be cake decorations.

Since this blog is for the frugal-minded, I'd like to mention that the can is not only small enough to stash away in a small compartment of your backpack, it's also durable enough to reuse! These cans are probably recyclable but if you need a strong container for storing things, this can is surprisingly well made. There's one in my scooter's cup-holder for putting little things like a small cloth and a pen. I suppose if you had office supplies (e.g. paper clips, pens, etc.) or small workshop materials (e.g. nails, nuts, bolts, etc.), these cans would be ideal for organizing those too.

Cappuccino and Hazelnut flavors

Review: Goya Beef Potato Puffs

These snacks were $3.29 a box at BMS Paper Company. Considering the fact that they're easy to prepare and quite tasty, they were a good purchase. All you have to do is put them on a tray and pop them into the toaster oven for 30 minutes at around 350F. In a regular oven, you need to set it at 375F.

Package

Potato puffs in the toaster oven

The inside of a beef potato puff

Basically, these are just balls of seasoned ground beef wrapped in mashed potato and deep fried. When you put them in the toaster oven, the outside browns and the inside gets nice and hot. They are really good comfort food and one or two would be an ideal afternoon snack with some tea. I suppose a whole box could be a meal.

If you want to get fancy, perhaps you could throw them in a stew and they could be like dumplings or something. 'Nuff said.