Year: 2012

PRIZE DRAWING: Because A Wise Man Once Said A Clean Mouth Will Get French Kissed More Than A Dirty One

Marvo 94 Comments

Teeth!

Oh wait…. Or is it the other way around?

Anyhoo, the fine folks at Oral-B are letting us give away one of their Professional Precision 1000 Power Toothbrushes to a lucky Impulsive Buy reader.

Before I got the email from the fine folks at Oral-B, I was doing research on electric toothbrushes, because I needed something stronger to clean my dirty, dirty mouth, and the one we’re giving away was on the top of my list because of its price and what it offers. The Oral-B Professional Precision 1000 received mostly 4 or 5 star reviews on Amazon
(affiliate link) and it’s The Wirecutter’s pick for Best Electric Toothbrush.

When I’m done going through the regular toothbrushes I bought from Costco, I’ll most likely pick up the Oral-B Professional Precision 1000. But enough about me and my quest to get an electric toothbrush, let’s talk about you and your quest to get an electric toothbrush.

To enter our Oral-B Professional Precision 1000 giveaway, leave a comment with THIS post. You can say whatever you want in your comment, but you must use the word “gingivitis” or the words “cavity creeps” in it.

Please don’t forget to fill out the email field because I’ll be emailing the randomly selected winner for his or her mailing address. The Impulsive Buy will stop accepting entries on Saturday, July 14, 2012 11:59 p.m. Hawaii Standard Time. Only one comment allowed per person, and it’s only open to U.S. residents who are at least 18 years old.

For those of you who have a Twitter account, you can get an additional entry by tweeting the following by Saturday, July 14, 2012 11:59 p.m. Hawaii Standard Time:

Hey @theimpulsivebuy! Just chill, listen to the beats I spill, I use Crest, so ain’t no cavity creeps in my grill.

So just copy, paste, and tweet. Only one tweet per Twitter account.

Good luck!

One last thing… if you don’t win, and you’re interested in the Professional Precision 1000 Power Toothbrush, Oral-B is offering a $20 mail-in rebate on it until September 30.

Fine Print: The Impulsive Buy promises your email address will not be used to send you free toothpaste samples. The Impulsive Buy also promises your mailing address will not be used to send you anything from dentists in your area looking for new patients. Bribes will not be accepted. The Impulsive Buy will not be responsible for lost mail, damaged mail, or you not having good oral hygiene.

Image via flickr user rightee / CC BY 2.0

REVIEW: Limited Edition Starbucks Cookies & Cream Frappuccino Coffee Drink

Kelley 7 Comments

Limited Edition Starbucks Cookies & Cream Frappuccino

It’s easy to make fun of Starbucks, what with their high prices, stupid names (I refuse to call their drinks anything but small, medium, and large), and crushing pervasiveness.  I used to go once or twice a year, when some demon urge came over me to get a vanilla iced whatsit thingamajig, but since (shockingly) there’s not one in my area with a drive-thru, and with the unveiling and continuing expansion of McDonald’s McCafe line of premium coffees, clown beats mermaid every time.  I realize I’m just trading one giant evil company for another, but at least at McDonald’s I don’t have to leave my car.  Or learn Italian.

So, I stick my nose up at Starbucks, out-douching the douches standing in line for their soy half-caf god-knows-what, pretending I’m better than them because I don’t kowtow to The Man.  I put my pre-ground packaged coffee in my coffeemaker every night, and every morning it is waiting for me when I wake up.  I like my coffee like I like my- oh, forget it.  I drink it black.  That’s all.

There’s a little secret I keep deep inside my fast-beating, over-caffeinated heart, however.  I love Starbucks’ bottled Frappuccinos.  I don’t buy them very often, because they are overpriced just like everything else Starbucks sells, but I love the little buggers, no matter what the flavor.

So when I heard that Starbucks had come out with Limited Edition Cookies & Cream bottled Frappuccinos, I nonchalantly offered to review them, then broke speed limits and ran red lights to get to the store.  Lo and behold, there they were, four little bottles in their cute yet sophisticated-looking carrying case.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen something claiming to be cookies & cream flavored look so adult.  There have been many times where I’ve refused to make eye contact with the cashier as they rang up something I’d bought to review, but this was not one of those times.  For once, I was not an obviously childless adult purchasing a single box of Kid Cuisine.  This is a Serious Drink for Adults, motherfucker.  Don’t judge me.

Oh, can you hang on a second?  I forgot to grab some gummy worms.  Okay, now you can judge me.

When I think cookies and cream, my mind generally gravitates towards Oreos, probably because you can’t throw a rock without hitting someplace that has an Oreo shake, sundae, or other Oreo-related product. Plus, they turned 100 this year – without doing any research, I’m going to assume that makes them the original cookie/cream combo.

While it’s not exactly fair to other cookie flavors, this means I expect my cookie flavor to be chocolatey and my cream part to be a cavity-inducing haven of sugary sweetness. Sorry, oatmeal raisin cookies – I guess you’ll have to wait for your own Frappuccino flavor. Don’t hold your breath. Your…cookie breath. If only morning breath could smell like cookie breath. Divorce rates would plummet.

Getting back on track, Starbucks Cookies & Cream Frappuccino sticks to the chocolate formula. “Shake well” is not just a suggestion; you can see a rather prominent layer of chocolate at the bottom of the bottle, and you have to shake the hell out of it to get it evenly distributed.

I should amend my use of the word “chocolate”. It’s actually “cocoa processed with alkali”, which makes me think of batteries but is much less ominous than it sounds. For the sake of brevity, I’ll just call it chocolate.

Limited Edition Starbucks Cookies & Cream Frappuccino Glass

As a Starbucks bottled Frappuccino, Cookies & Cream delivers. It’s smooth, sweet and creamy, with a high note of chocolate flavor that blends perfectly with the creaminess and isn’t overwhelming. The taste is similar to Hershey’s chocolate syrup, which is fine by me. The chocolate actually cuts some of the sweetness of the drink, which is chock full of sugar (real sugar, not high-fructose corn syrup).

While “Brewed Starbucks Coffee” is listed as the first ingredient, the coffee flavor is pretty subdued, showing up as more of an aftertaste, albeit a pleasant one. This is not unexpected, as Starbucks Frappuccinos are, at least to me, “the coffee drink for those who don’t really like the taste of coffee”.

Limited Edition Starbucks Cookies & Cream Frappuccino ranks high on my list of favorite Starbucks coffee drinks. Straight from the fridge, it’s cool, sweet, chocolatey, and refreshing. It doesn’t exactly scream “cookies & cream” flavor, but it’s enjoyable nonetheless. I liked it so well, I went out and bought another four pack. I’m actually a little sad it’s a limited edition item.

While I thoroughly enjoyed the Cookies & Cream Frappuccino, I realize that it’s not a drink for everyone. It doesn’t exactly taste like cookies, it’s loaded with sugar, and it’s no substitute for a real cup of coffee to wake you up and satisfy your morning caffeine cravings. It’s also, like every Starbucks item, on the expensive side for what it is. That said, if you’re a fan of sweet and creamy chilled drinks, and you enjoy the taste of coffee and chocolate together, you’ll be a fan of this drink in no time.

(Nutrition Facts – 1 bottle (9.5 ounces) – 190 calories, 30 calories from fat, 3.5 grams of fat, 2 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 15 milligrams of cholesterol, 105 milligrams of sodium, 33 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 32 grams of sugar, 6 grams of protein, 25% calcium, and 2% iron.)

Item: Limited Edition Starbucks Cookies & Cream Frappuccino Coffee Drink
Price: $5.99
Size: 4 pack/9.5 ounce bottles
Purchased at: Safeway
Rating: 9 out of 10
Pros: Refreshing despite being so sweet. Not having to learn Italian to buy it. Chocolate and cream blend perfectly. Not having to be embarrassed to buy it OR have to stand in line with douches to get it. Coffee taste is subtle but delicious.
Cons: Expensive. Bad “I like my coffee like” jokes. Flavor doesn’t scream “cookies”. Morning breath never smells like cookie breath. Will not satisfy hardcore caffeine addicts.

REVIEW: McDonald’s Dipped Cone

Adam 19 Comments

McDonald’s Dipped Cone

Having survived the Great Mid-Atlantic Derecho of 2012 and discovered my stash of home bound ice cream to have turned into soup once the power came back on, you might say I’ve been in a cautious mood when buying ice cream over the last week.

Don’t get me wrong, I still have a great appreciation for the richest and most indulgent dairy I can get to blow my savings on, but seeing mold in the viscous brown goo that used to be your Belgian Milk Chocolate Gelato will make you think twice before spending the big bucks again. Thankfully, that’s why places like McDonald’s exist.

McDonald’s has been selling soft serve since pretty much forever (heck even Wikipedia didn’t have a start date) but so far as I can tell, they’ve only recently launched the Chocolate-y Dipped Cones to the nationwide audience. Nope, that’s not a typo. It’s “Chocolate-y” as in does not contain actual chocolate (read: cocoa butter not included) but instead is made from a mixture of sugar, coconut oil, hydrogenated coconut oil, and cocoa.

Man, talk about a step down.

Still, with temperatures approaching a billion degrees in the Mid-Atlantic, I felt inclined to try it out. Also, I figured McDonald’s had invented some proprietary magic shell chocolate dispenser to coat the “reduced fat soft serve” in, but watching the girl behind the counter dunk the cone into a bucket of liquidity chocolate goo pretty much debunked that theory. Nevertheless, the coating clung to the soft serve tighter than a lid on a pickle jar, creating a hard reflexive sheen that could probably fry an ant if angled correctly toward the summer sun.

It was into that sun which I cautiously stepped, hoping my cone would last for a few worthwhile licks before the heat and humidity extracted its revenge on my summer bliss.

One, of course, faces an eating dilemma with soft ice cream encapsulated in hard ice cream form, but I found it worthwhile to approach the chocolate shell as if I was trying to get to the center of a tootsie pop. The chocolate flavor is sweet, a tad cool, and surprisingly smooth for being so artificial, reminding me of a chocolate ice cream bar with an especially thick chocolate shell. Not as pronounced and richly indulgent as a Magnum Bar, mind you, but this is McDonald’s and it’s 1,000 degrees out, so I’m willing to overlook that.

McDonald’s Dipped Cone 02

In any case I eventually ventured to splinter the shell and take a whack at the soft serve. Like Han Solo released from carbonite, the vanilla soft serve is not completely melted, and still retains its sweet and cool shape. Neither bursting with vanilla bean flavor nor having the lickable richness and smooth mouthfeel of egg based soft custard, it’s serviceable on its own, but delicious when combined with the shell.

McDonald’s Dipped Cone 04

It’s a treat worth savoring for a good five minutes, and the only real downside of the whole experiences come once the integrity of the binding site between the shell and cone is broken. At this stage you might as well stuff the rest of the cone into your face as quickly as possible, or else you risk an afternoon of sticky fingers, much like I did.

McDonald’s Dipped Cone is a surprising find in a fast food dessert market saturated with oversized milkshakes and coffee drinks disguised as milkshakes. It’s also an affordable option should you be looking to cool down without having your cool down treat immediately melt all over you.

(Nutrition Facts – 1 cone – 270 calories, 110 calories from fat, 12 grams of fat, 9 grams of saturated fat, 0 gram of trans fat*, 15 milligrams of cholesterol, 80 milligrams of sodium, 35 grams of carbohydrates, 27 grams of sugar, 1 gram of fiber, 5 grams of protein, 15% calcium.)

*Contains Hydrogenated Oils

Item: McDonald’s Dipped Cone
Purchased Price: $1.49
Size: 4.5 ounces
Purchased at: McDonald’s
Rating: 7 out of 10
Pros: Chocolate-y shell has smooth sheen and lickable, bittersweet cocoa flavor. Tastes like a really thick chocolate bar. Soft serve ice plays well with with hard coating. Doesn’t melt even under intense heat. Affordable dessert that won’t break the calorie bank.
Cons: Soft serve is run-of-the-mill. No actual chocolate involved. Contains hydrogenated oil. “Volcano effect” of melting ice cream once shell is compromised.

NEWS: Jack in the Box Now Serving A Waffle Breakfast Sandwich

Marvo 5 Comments

IMG_4816

Update: Click here to read our Jack in the Box Waffle Breakfast Sandwich review

Jack in the Box has a new waffle breakfast sandwich. As of this posting, there isn’t anything about it on the Jack in the Box website. But there’s a bit of information on Twitter, especially images. You can see real life images here, here, here, and here.

The Waffle Breakfast Sandwich appears to come with sausage, egg, and cheese in between two round waffles.

Since Jack in the Box offers breakfast all day, you can order their Waffle Breakfast Sandwich for breakfast, lunch, dinner, after your late night massage parlor visit, or after your late night pedicure. (Dear Women: There’s a nails places here that stays open until midnight. Is that weird or are there places in your area where you can get a pedicure at 11:30 PM?)

A Jack in the Box Waffle Breakfast Sandwich has 479 calories, 33 grams of fat, 11 grams of saturated fat, 1 gram of trans fat, 271 milligrams of cholesterol, 983 milligrams of sodium, 24 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 6 grams of sugar, and 19 grams of protein.

If you’ve tried Jack in the Box’s Waffle Breakfast Sandwich, let us know what you think in the comments below.

Thanks to @dobalina on Twitter for letting us know about the sandwich!

REVIEW: Pizza Hut Garlic Bread Pizza

Marvo 17 Comments

Pizza Hut Garlic Bread Pizza

To be honest, I never thought Pizza Hut had the ingenuity to make a pizza using garlic bread.

I knew they had the gall to stick cheese and pepperoni in the crust and have enough chutzpah to do something absurd in the future, like top a pizza with their Meaty Marinara Tuscani Pasta and then stuff the crust with their Creamy Chicken Alfredo Tuscani Pasta. However, simply topping a slice of garlic bread with meat, cheese, and sauce was something I didn’t expect.

Up to five toppings can be added to Pizza Hut’s Garlic Bread Pizza, but since I lack the chutzpah that Pizza Hut has, I ordered mine with just pepperoni. A part of me regrets not spending the extra money for more toppings because it would’ve been funny to see how the five toppings would fit on the pieces of garlic bread that measure three inches long and four inches wide.

As you can see in the photo above, Pizza Hut was liberal with the pepperoni. Because each garlic bread slice was given four slices of sausage, it was easy for me to get a little bit of pepperoni in every bite. Unfortunately, Pizza Hut wasn’t as liberal with the cheese and sauce. Each garlic bread had a thin layer of mozzarella cheese and an even thinner layer of sauce. I read elsewhere the pizza comes with container of marinara sauce, but mine didn’t.

Pizza Hut Garlic Bread Pizza Closeup

If you love garlic, so much so that your co-workers refer to the scent you’re wearing as eau de garlic, this pizza will probably not satisfy your cravings for your favorite aromatic seasoning. When I first opened the pizza box, I couldn’t detect any garlic aroma; it smelled like a normal pizza. Only when I brought a piece up to my nose could I notice the recognizable smell of garlic bread. The garlic flavor was noticeable, but not overpowering. I do wish it was a little stronger, though.

Pizza Hut Garlic Bread Pizza Toastiness

While examining the pizza, I didn’t see any bits of minced garlic, but I did notice butter, so I assumed Pizza Hut used a garlic butter to flavor the bread. However, that’s okay because I’m sure 2010 Paula Deen would totally approve of that. Although, maybe not because they didn’t use a Deenspoon of butter, which I believe is roughly a quart of melted butter. Because Pizza Hut used significantly less butter than a Deenspoon, the pizza was not very greasy.

Pizza Hut Garlic Bread Pizza Thickness

The slices of toasted garlic bread were about an inch thick; had nice, soft innards; and a crispy crust. Some slices had herbs affixed to them, but they didn’t seem to add any flavor.

Despite wanting the garlic to be a little stronger and the lack of cheese and sauce, Pizza Hut’s Garlic Bread Pizza was one of the tastiest items I’ve had in a while from The Hut. Both issues I listed aren’t deal breakers. The garlic isn’t overwhelmed by any of the other ingredients and the pizza maybe light on cheese and sauce, but it’s not light on flavor.

(Nutrition Facts – Not available on website, but imagine something made with butter, cheese, and pepperoni can’t be very good for us.)

Item: Pizza Hut Garlic Bread Pizza
Purchased Price: $11.99*
Size: 9 pieces
Purchased at: Pizza Hut
Rating: 8 out of 10
Pros: Damn tasty. Simple. Nothing is stuffed into the bread. Soft bread and crispy crust. Generous amounts of pepperoni. Not too greasy. Herbs sprinkled on bread make it look pretty.
Cons: Thin layer of cheese and an even thinner layer of sauce. Garlic and butter flavor might not be strong enough for some. Maybe not as filling as slices of pizza. Using a Deenspoon of butter on anything.

*Because I live on a rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, we tend to pay more for things, so you will most likely pay less than I did — probably $8.99.