My Free 11 Course Meal at the Schaumburg Costco 08082009

I went to Costco Saturday to check out what they had in terms of cleaning supplies but my trip turned into a mini food trip instead. Costco is well known for it’s whole sale prices and variety of products. Some brands are well know and others, not so much. That’s why  I love their idea of having product demonstrations for a free look and taste of a few of their choice products. This way consumers can quantify which brands they prefer. I want to thank Costco for my free meal, here are the 11 items I had the chance to taste (some several times):

#1 Straight for the beef. Electric grill + Tri tip Sirloin + Olive oil + sprinkle of salt = Beef Goodness. I love it when the lady demonstrating the  food is cheery and helpful. ASimple recipe that even I can do and enjoy.

#2 Chicken Marsala – Tasted a little chalky, but its instant. Good Pasta to Chicken Ratio.

#3 Mozarella Cheese & Brushetta – I did not expect to like this one but the combination of cheese and diced tomato tasted very refreshing.

#4 Flame Broiled Angus Burger – Not your average out of the freezer burger. Each bite was moist and had a lot of flame broiled goodness. The lady doing the demo also mentioned that they only have so much left in stock and will not have a new shipment until next summer.

#5 Mini Water Melons – Slightly sweet but very refreshing. Oh yeah, this sack of two was displayed like that.

#6 Fruit Snacks – Nice little chewy snacks filled with seven fruity flavors

#7 Flintstones Gummies – Got me my vitamins too. It’s so easy, even a caveman can do it. (Get it?)

#8 Dried Cranberries – A little too tart for my taste, but cranberries are good for you, right?

#9 Tri tip Sirloin Steak – I considered this a separate item from #1 because it was a different lady doing the demonstration by the time I came back for seconds. She wasn’t as charming and hip compared the other lady. This time instead of a just a ’sprinkle’ of salt, she was ‘pouring’ the sodium up in there. Totally different dish. =)

#10 Sugar Free Energy Drinks – This is perfect if you have kids. No sugar. More Vitamins. And it doesn’t taste funny. The two guys doing the demo looked like they came out of a weight lifting competition and seemed uninterested and were basically just blabbing a scripted sales pitch. Actually one of the just had his arms crossed and wasn’t talking. Maybe his arms are sore?

#11 Mocha Caffe’ Frappe – To end my Free meal I had a little bit of coffee. I love Mocha Frappes! This tasted like a lighter version of the starbucks product, but still really good. The demo lady said it best: “I’ts cheaper than the Starbucks brand.”

Thanks again Costco! I hope this helped some of you figure out what to expect from some of Costco’s products. If not, just go get a free taste.