I love taking photos at the grocery store. Sometimes I take photos of non-food things (HUGE George Foreman Grill that turns out to be smaller than a 6 year-old), but mostly I take lots of food photos of things I’ll never buy. I photograph the Bacon Spam and the Chili Mac, the Cheesy Smothered Meat Patty Meal (yes, I gagged as I typed that) and the Caramel Cob, the packaged pancakes and home drug tests (how do you get someone who you suspect is on meth to actually pee into this thing?).

But I don’t have many photos of foreign groceries. This is partly because I haven’t been out of the country in over a year and partly because I feel silly enough taking pictures in American grocery stores, let alone in an Italian one (exception: who can resist a beefburger?).

So, to get my foreign grocery fix, I browse photo sets like Steve Portigal’s Museum of Foreign Groceries. Each of the images is either alarming, adorable, or from another dimension. My personal favorites are all Pringles cans, which makes sense when they produce flavors like Funky Soy Sauce and Greek Style Cheese.

Are there any foreign convenience foods that you wish we had in the United States? Are there people in Italy who eat frozen food? And how does one get the job of creating new flavors of Pringles?

Price: $2.69
Serving:1 dessert, 3.77oz.
Calories: 350 per serving
Fat: 26%, 17g
Cholesterol: 7%, 20mg
Sodium: 11%, 260mg
Protein: 4g
Carbohydrates: 16%, 49g
Fiber: 8%, 2g
Sugar: 33g
Weight Watchers Points: 8 POINTS

Edwards says: Indulge yourself anytime with New Edwards Singles with Ice Cream! Imagine hot, freshly baked goodness paired with creamy ice cream and scrumptious toppings in one effortless à la mode experience. Available in your favorite flavors, each ready in only 45 seconds, there is something for everyone! Find them right next to our other Edwards premium pies and single serve products in your grocer’s frozen dessert case.

Anj Kay says: Indulge yourself anytime with New Edwards Singles with Ice Cream! Imagine hot, fres… wait, what?

I am notoriously undemanding when it comes to junk food. Is it full of fat, sugar, and/or calories? Great, put it in my hands and get out of the way. Luckily, I have the willpower to resist such temptation. Sometimes. Kind of. Occasionally. So, it wasn’t really much of a surprise when this dessert first ended up in my cart and then in my microwave.

This dessert comes in two pieces, so it’s a tiny craft project and a dessert, how fun. The first part is a small paper bowl with about three-four tablespoons of batter in the bottom. The second is another paper container containing roughly half a cup of ice cream with a small, thin layer of caramel and nuts on the bottom with chocolate bits on the top (or the reverse, depending on when you look at it). First appearances were not, um, favorable. The frozen batter was plain enough, but the color and look of the ice cream was awful. As you can probably see in the picture, my ice cream container was full of yellow ice cream. When I poked it with my finger, I realized it was yellow crystalline ice-cream. Sounds delicious, no? It wasn’t as bad as it sounds and I have a feeling that the color and texture was not really the normal state of this dessert. My theory is that the ice cream may have defrosted a little bit in the freezer case and then refroze. This theory is why I only buy junk food at this store, as I don’t feel like being poisoned from eating thawed and refrozen chicken or fish. Anyway, I didn’t pay much attention to looks and decided to base it all on taste. And yes, I know crystallization may cause an off taste in the ice-cream. In this case, it didn’t.

I began my little dessert craft project by putting the brownie batter in the microwave for 45 seconds. It didn’t seem set, so I put it back in for another 10 seconds. I will later find out that this was a huge mistake. The package also said that I could microwave the ice cream for 5 seconds for softer, creamier ice cream. Who am I to argue with a box, so the ice cream got microwaved, as well. My next step was to dump the ice cream onto the hot brownie by pushing out the the bottom of the container. Neat. Finally, time to eat. This stage is where I will realize my brownie heating faux pas.

I dig my spoon through the still slightly crystalline ice cream, through the nutty, caramel layer and into a rock-hard brownie puck. I dip down again to grab some brownie out of the middle thinking maybe just the edges were hard. Again, tooth-chipping brownie. So I let the ice cream melt a bit in hopes that it would cause some brownie sogginess. I finally got aggravated, chipped the brownie into pieces, and ate the brownie as croutons on the bottom of my ice cream. I am nothing if not persistent, so two days later I decided to try again with the last of the two desserts. I microwaved the brownie for the exact 45 seconds, microwaved the ice cream for the 5 seconds instructed, and ended up with a much better dessert. The brownie was fluffy, yet slightly fudgy. The ice cream even seemed creamier with the caramel melting throughout the dessert. Oddly, the dish also seemed richer and more sugary. It was actually… good.

Do I recommend this dessert? Why yes, I do. I’m practically salivating at the thought of eating the Apple Crisp dessert. However, make sure your grocer keeps their freezers at a constant temperature and for pete’s sake, don’t microwave the brownie for even one second more than 45 seconds. Unless, of course, you like eating hockey pucks for dessert.

I’m not here to judge.

Heat Eat Review doesn’t exactly do a bustling business in the field of canned food reviews. Sure, we’ve got some soup reviews, but no Spaghetti-O’s. Or Beanee Weenee. Or Spam Lite.

And lacking those fine examples of American ingenuity on Heat Eat Review, I must refer you to another website: Cheap Eats. From the Editor:

I guess you could call this a Food Blog of sorts. I guess.

That’s right the main focus of this site is, in fact, Cheap Eats.

Note that I didn’t say, “GOOD eats” (sorry Alton), “TASTY eats”, “HOMEMADE eats”, “LOW FAT eats”, “QUICK eats”, “ATKINS eats” or “ECOLOGICALLY SAFE eats”.

This blog (which is sadly on vacation) is all about eating cheap, including semi-homemade items (make your own Gatorade!), actual recipes (chicken adobo, yum), and reviews of canned food that I’m afraid to even look at (Disney Princess Spaghettios).

So, if you’re looking to save a bit of money browse the archives of cheap recipes and canned food reviews.

Price: $2.99
Serving: 1/2 cup, 4oz
Servings per box: About 3.5oz
Calories per serving: 220
 Calories from Fat: 130
Fat: 23%, 18g
 Saturated Fat: 46%, 9g
 Trans Fat: 0%, 0g
Cholesterol: 16%, 45mg
Sodium: 9%, 210mg
Protein: 4g
Carbohydrates: 7%, 21g
Fiber: 8%, 2g
Sugar: 2g
Weight Watchers Points: 5 POINTS

Trader Joe says: Trader Joe’s Steakhouse Sides are where comfort food and elegant dining find common ground. These are substantive side dishes that will simultaneously remind you of Mom’s kitchen and a fine steak house.

Creamed Corn is a savory side of fresh white corn blended with Asiago cheese, butter, cream and just a touch of real maple syrup to finish it off. It’s delicious with any kind of grilled meat, and complements seafood especially well. Trader Joe’s Steakhouse Sides – when you need to put your best food forward.

Abi says: Corn is one of the best parts of summer. Unfortunately, it goes from perfect to bland after just a couple of days in the fridge. Plus, corn is crazy expensive in Palo Alto ($1 per ear – yikes!). But oh my goodness do I love corn, corn that’s barely blanched and crisply sweet, corn that’s cut off the ear and mixed with a bit of butter and brown sugar, corn that’s grilled and then sprinkled with fresh lime and chili powder. Corn, corn, corn!

Alas, come October there will be no more fresh corn. And that is why I am giving you a chance to stock up on Trader Joe’s creamed corn right now. This is perhaps the easiest side dish I have ever consumed, easier even than those steam-pouches of vegetables. This is corn in a buttery, sweet and salty cheese sauce. Not a velveeta-y cheese sauce, no this is more of a savory, clumpy medium that indicates real cheese, real delicious cheese.

The heating process is simple: put in microwave for 3 minutes, stir, then microwave for 2 more minutes. Yeah, the box has all of this “5 minutes at 50%” junk but I am telling you that you will waste multiple minutes trying to heat food that way. Another downside: the weird serving size. According to Trader Joe’s there are 3.5 servings in this package. Honestly, there are 3 side-dish sized servings that will satisfy starved adults. And when potluck time comes this fall and winter, all you have to do is buy 2 or three packages of this corn, throw some freshly-chopped (or deep fried) sage on top and you’ve got a dish that appears to have been cooked by an actual person.

Ingredients: Sweet white corn, heavy cream, unsalted butter, asiago cheese, maple syrup, rice starch, salt, black pepper.