Things you bought by accident you didn't know existed

[mountainsoft]

A few weeks ago my wife asked me to pick up a box of tissues for her while I was at the store. I knew the general type she wanted, and knew she liked the ones with lotion (didn't know that was a thing till last year). She pulled out the new box last week and we discovered the tissues have Vick's vapor rub in them. She said they're Okay but be careful where you use them.

We went shopping last weekend and picked up a box of wine that was on sale (we're cheap). We got a Black Box brand Cabernet like we have done in the past, but when we took our first drink it tasted horrible. After examining the box in more detail at home, I discovered it was "low calorie" - AKA DIET wine! I never heard of such a thing. I can't even describe the taste, something like Kool Aid, but not pleasant. I tried to save it for cooking purposes, but using it as a marinade made the meat taste weird too. So we dumped out the rest of the box. Yuck, disgusting.

So, two recent examples of things I didn't know existed that I bought by accident. Live and learn, don't make that mistake again.

 

[JoeWras]

Low calorie wine? What

My mistake was buying a BIG biscuit shredded wheat instead of minis. First time I did that, I was horrified. Fast forward a decade when COVID happens. Store only had big biscuit shredded wheat (unless I wanted kids sugar cereal). I reluctantly got it. Turned out I came to love it. Very classic, very simple. Some people fry them. I don't, I eat them with the traditional milk.

 

[Palmtree]

We love our coffee and drink it with 1/2 & 1/2 as creamer. One time the wife was in a hurry and picked up a similar looking container. Turned out to be fat free 1/2 & 1/2. How in the world can you make fat free 1/2 & 1/2? Tasted like thick chalk water. Yuck!

 

[CardsFan]

We love our coffee and drink it with 1/2 & 1/2 as creamer. One time the wife was in a hurry and picked up a similar looking container. Turned out to be fat free 1/2 & 1/2. How in the world can you make fat free 1/2 & 1/2? Tasted like thick chalk water. Yuck!

I have seen that and thought the same thing. It's supposed to be 1/2 (cream) and 1/2 (milk). How can it be fat free?

I have made the mistake of buying low fat sour cream. UGH. We might use one small container every month or two. I want the REAL stuff.

 

[motley]

We got a Black Box brand Cabernet like we have done in the past, but when we took our first drink it tasted horrible. After examining the box in more detail at home, I discovered it was "low calorie" - AKA DIET wine! I never heard of such a thing. I can't even describe the taste, something like Kool Aid, but not pleasant.

I saw that in the store and talked to someone who said it is (or tastes like) diluted wine. I'd rather just drink less of it.

The first time I bought O'Douls beer I didn't realize it was non-alcoholic. Had never heard of it at the time and afterwards thought "what the #### is the point of non-alcoholic beer?"

 

[ERD50]

Low calorie wine? What
...

I've seen these 'skinny' vodkas. Well, there isn't much in vodka other than water an alcohol, and water doesn't have calories. So it's just diluted. Heck, if that's what you want, add your own water/ice!

My wife came home with some sort of 'skinny' Sauvignon Blanc (for those who don't know, Sauvignon Blanc is a very dry/crisp white wine, at least the ones we buy are). I figured it was lower in alc, but no. But they just went on with how it is fermented dry (the yeast eat up all the sugars). Well, I doubt it had significantly less sugar than any other very dry wine which is fermented dry. It's a gimmick.

 

[mountainsoft]

Low calorie wine? What

Yep, watered down wine with a disgusting flavor. You lose weight because it's too gross to drink.

https://www.kroger.com/p/black-box-brilliant-collection-cabernet-sauvignon-red-low-calorie-wine/0008500003451

 

[CincyDave]

My mistake was buying a BIG biscuit shredded wheat instead of minis. First time I did that, I was horrified. Fast forward a decade when COVID happens. Store only had big biscuit shredded wheat (unless I wanted kids sugar cereal). I reluctantly got it. Turned out I came to love it. Very classic, very simple. Some people fry them. I don't, I eat them with the traditional milk.

Never heard of frying shredded wheat. Hmmmm. May have to try it.
We don't eat a lot of cereal, but do like frosted mini wheats - aka kids sugar cereal.

 

[JoeWras]

Never heard of frying shredded wheat. Hmmmm. May have to try it.
We don't eat a lot of cereal, but do like frosted mini wheats - aka kids sugar cereal.

There's much worse out there than frosted mini-wheats.

Yeah, fried shredded wheat biscuits are a real thing. For those days when you don't have time to roll out the biscuit dough and lard.

You either straight up fry them in butter, or coat them like french toast. I never had either, just heard about it. The french-toast coating method sounds intriguing.

Fried Shredded Wheat

danggoodcooking.com

 

[Koolau]

I accidentally bought a "lite" Mrs. BUTTERWORTHs syrup (I think.) Ugh! Ended up dumping it out.

I'm with others. If I need to cut calories I'll often use less. Having said that, I mentioned in another thread about "Western" salad dressing which can be purchased as "full ride", "lite" or "fat free." I like all three so prefer the fat free - BUT you have to taste it to know that. I had been buying the "lite" and liked it and "accidentally" bought the fat free and liked it just as well (who knew) so now I try to buy the fat free which is getting hard to find. GO figure.

 

[Fermion]

Accidentally bought extra toasty Cheez its but didn't notice they were cheddar jack. I threw the box away...was quite upset that the box style was so similar to the normal extra toasty but the taste was totally different.

Not quite as bad as when I mis-spelled flashlight on Amazon, but close.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

Low calorie wine? What

My mistake was buying a BIG biscuit shredded wheat instead of minis. First time I did that, I was horrified. Fast forward a decade when COVID happens. Store only had big biscuit shredded wheat (unless I wanted kids sugar cereal). I reluctantly got it. Turned out I came to love it. Very classic, very simple. Some people fry them. I don't, I eat them with the traditional milk.

Well I didn't know the big biscuit existed in the US and now I'll have to find some. I grew up eating Weetabix every morning in the UK and didn't even know I could get similar here in the US. Not available anywhere in my area though so I'm thinking not that popular.

 

[sengsational]

I have accidentally ended up with raw or unsalted nuts. Give me roasted salted! The nut isle where I shop has gone bonkers. You almost can't find some types roasted salted or all they have is the lightly salted. Some varieties are only available in the no salt version. Same with yogurt; too hard to find full fat plain.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

I have accidentally ended up with raw or unsalted nuts. Give me roasted salted! The nut isle where I shop has gone bonkers. You almost can't find some types roasted salted or all they have is the lightly salted. Some varieties are only available in the no salt version. Same with yogurt; too hard to find full fat plain.

Winco sells full flat plain in the big tub, I buy it for my dogs sometimes. Walmart also sells the Dannon brand.

No product found

www.fooducate.com

 

[JoeWras]

Well I didn't know the big biscuit existed in the US and now I'll have to find some. I grew up eating Weetabix every morning in the UK and didn't even know I could get similar here in the US. Not available anywhere in my area though so I'm thinking not that popular.

It is pretty much down to Post company. I think Kellogg's is out of the market on this. It is very much available at Walmart, but also at other stores, and Amazon. Enjoy!

The Amazon price is not as nice as Walmart. Maybe because I live in the South USA I see this at every Walmart? Everything in the South is fried.

Anyway, some references.

Amazon:

Amazon.com

From the company:

Shredded Wheat Original Big Biscuit cereal | Post

Shredded Wheat Original Big Biscuits are made with whole grain and contain 0g saturated fat, 0g trans fat, and 0mg cholesterol per serving.

www.postconsumerbrands.com

 

[Koolau]

I haven't been eating cereal lately, but I used to buy the generic shredded wheat biscuits at Walmart and they were like 2/3 the cost of the name brand and, miracle of miracles, they tasted just the same to me. I guess there are some things you just can't mess up - like shredding wheat. Who knew?

 

[MC Rider]

Toasted mini hay bales we used to call them. LOL

 

[Aerides]

That low cal wine might be tolerable, but it usually has about half the alcohol as well, so, what's the point?

 

[CO-guy]

Fat-free, sugar-free, dairy-free soy ice-cream. Someone asked for vanilla "So Delicious" brand ice-cream and I thought I grabbed plain vanilla. My better-half suggested returning it, but I just tossed it in the trash.

 

[Koolau]

Fat-free, sugar-free, dairy-free soy ice-cream. Someone asked for vanilla "So Delicious" brand ice-cream and I thought I grabbed plain vanilla. My better-half suggested returning it, but I just tossed it in the trash.

Yeah, that one sounds utterly disgusting. I have never found a milk substitute that I could stand. "Artificial" ice cream sounds revolting. Full disclosure: I've never tried it so YMMV.

 

[Chuckanut]

We love our coffee and drink it with 1/2 & 1/2 as creamer. One time the wife was in a hurry and picked up a similar looking container. Turned out to be fat free 1/2 & 1/2. How in the world can you make fat free 1/2 & 1/2? Tasted like thick chalk water. Yuck!

Oh, come now, Palmtree. They make it the same way they make non-dairy cheese. With a stew of chemicals that never came out of a cow, sheep or goat.

 

[Qs Laptop]

Things you bought by accident but didn't know they existed?

Have you taken a look at the yogurt section at the grocery store lately? Talk about a bewildering assortment of options. I had no idea this level of specialization in a product category could exist. Holy crap!

 

[GrayHare]

I gave up on Breyers ice cream years ago after I brought home the wrong version yet again. There were, and maybe still are, about a dozen versions of vanilla, all similarly packaged.

 

[dak2018]

I saw that in the store and talked to someone who said it is (or tastes like) diluted wine. I'd rather just drink less of it.

The first time I bought O'Douls beer I didn't realize it was non-alcoholic. Had never heard of it at the time and afterwards thought "what the #### is the point of non-alcoholic beer?"

Non-alcoholic beer is for people that enjoy urinating, I guess?

 

[ERD50]

There's much worse out there than frosted mini-wheats.

I haven't had much cereal in years, and probably haven't had shredded wheat in several decades. I recall liking it. I see my local grocery store carries it.

Now that I think of it, we have had Triscuit crackers over the years, and that's about the same thing (plus salt/oil).