Bisquick Flavor Burstin'

I am the mother of an extremely picky eater.  Sometimes I believe my daughter would live off of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches if I would let her.  One of the foods that my daughter loves to eat for breakfast is pancakes.  I on the other hand despise making the aforementioned pancakes.  Typically, I just buy the frozen ones and nuke them in the microwave. But since we are in the midst of a pandemic and my baby girl's life has been turned upside down, I decided to buy these to try.  They were super easy to make.  Just add water or milk.  Not hard right?  They smelled AMAZING.  I finished them up and plopped them on her plate and called her to the kitchen.  She was excited.  Did I mention that she LOVES pancakes?  She took one bite and said "They taste like nothing!" I tried a bite and sure enough, she was correct. They were completely devoid of taste. They were burstin' with the flavor of nothing.  Honestly, I'm not even going to bother doing my usual pros and cons list because there really is no point.  I give this 1 out of 5 stars.  It only gets one star due to it being easy to make. This is not worth the money.  Leave it on the shelf. 

Weber Lighter Cubes

So next Sunday is my birthday.  Usually for my birthday I visit my parents and we usually have a cookout with family.  I'm a fatty at heart and love grilled hamburgers.  This year due to COVID-19, I will not be able to spend my birthday with my parents.  So this year I am going to grill the burgers here at home.  I do not grill out very often.  I had to get my hubby to drag out my 11 year old charcoal grill.  It's in pretty bad shape, but it still works. Honestly I have not used it since maybe 2013. We got a gas grill back in 2014 and have been using it instead.  I just got tired of the hassle of getting the coals to light properly.   I do not like to use lighter fluid.  Lighter fluid gives it a funky taste. I know I could use one of those chimney things, but I guess you could say I'm a glutton for punishment that likes to do things the hard way. 

I was out doing my grocery shopping the other day and stumbled onto these things.  They are called Webter Lighter Cubes.  They come 24 to a pack.  I thought it was worth a shot.  The box does stay they are designed to work with the chimneys, but can be used without it. I bought a pack.  I will admit I was skeptical.  I fired up the grill tonight.  I stacked my coals and strategically arranged my charcoal and lighter cubes.  I used two.  I could have probably gotten away with using just one, but due to the fact I had a lot of coals, I did not feel like waiting forever for them to heat.  I must say I was very impressed.

Pros:

Cost effective - they are around $5.00 give or take
Light easily
24 ct to pack
Comes in a nifty storage tray
Does not affect the flavor of the food
Unscented

Cons:

You have to wait until they burn out before you can put food on the grill
Can't touch them.  Box says you have to wear gloves.  This makes arranging them a bit more of a challenge.  This is especially true right now during a PPE shortage due to the virus going around.

Bottom line:

I will probably do a lot more grilling out this summer.  I do love charcoal grilling more than gas grilling. I love the smokey flavor that you just do not get with a gas grill. (I am aware you can buy wood chips and a smoker box - I have one and it is not the same). This has made it extremely easy to light the charcoal.  I give this 4 out of 5 stars.



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