I love to nibble on little snacks before dinner each night.
I don’t sip wine anymore, but I still enjoy a simple store-bought snack, to accompany my Coke Zero or plain ice water. Over the past six or eight months, I’ve discovered stuff I really like.
So, let’s see what’s in the snack shack:
A refrigerated Costo pack
I love Sargento’s cheese and crackers snack, marketed under a Balanced Breaks product, and there are 12 mini-trays in a bundle sold in the freezers of Costo. Six packs of Wheat Thins come with Monterey Jack and mild cheddar cheese that you assemble like mini-pupu, one sliver on each teeny Wheat Thins.
The other half of the pack repeats the concept: miniature Ritz Crackers come with slivers of Pepper Jack and Colby Jack cheese.
I prefer the Wheat Thins combo over the Ritz Crackers, for no particulary reason except I like Wheat Thins better than Ritz Crackers. But the variety is part of the joy…
A yummy party mix at Costo
Okay, here’s one that I’d expect to find at Marukai or Don Quijote.
This“Japanese Party Mix,” with rice crackers and familiar cereal variations, is clearly Japan-oriented. Its flavors include furikake, and the mix includes rice and wheat Chex and corn Chex, but dubbed Squares, alongside pretzels, bugles, almonds, mochi and what obviously must be Honeycomb cereal, sweet and delightful, but not described. Arare, especially sakura-shaped rice crackers, is not among the ingredients but should have been…
A Japan treat at Trader Joe’s
Then there’s a Trader Joe’s snack called “Sweet and Salty Umami Crunchies,” a rice cracker package that’s savory and satisfying. A friend gave us a bag earlier this year, and I looked for it at the TJ in New York, but it was available. But another friend found ‘em at TJ in California, so I can’t wait to reunite with this one.
Tastes like and looks like a Japan item, but I’ll have to examine the package closely when I get one.
Happy munching!