SPOTTED ON SHELVES – 6/20/2014

Here are some interesting new and limited edition products found on store shelves by us and your fellow readers. If you’ve tried any of the products, share your thoughts about them in the comments.

TMNT Crush Berry Punch

To promote the upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, Crush has special cans and bottles for each Ninja Turtle. Michelangelo is on Orange Crush, Donatello is on Crush Grape, Raphael is on the strawberry one, and Leonardo is on this new flavor. Splinter gets nothing. (Spotted by Breanna at Food Lion.)

Vanilla and Wild Cherry Pepsi Made with Real Sugar

Get your fill of cavities Wild Cherry and Vanilla Pepsi Made With Real Sugar! (Spotted by James at Walmart.)

Kellogg's Eggo Chocolate Delight Thick & Fluffy Minis

I guess I could sharego this Eggo and not be a greedo weirdo. (Spotted by Dubba at Market Basket.)

Breyers Limited Edition Summer Berry Cobbler

It may have “summer” in its name, but this new limited edition flavor has been available since winter. So expect Halloween stuff to be popping on shelves riiiiiiiiiiiiight now. (Spotted by Troy A at Meijer.)

Thank you to all the photo contributors! If you’re out shopping and see an interesting new or limited edition product on the shelf, snap a picture of it, and send us an email (theimpulsivebuy@gmail.com) with where you found it and “Spotted” in the subject line. Or reply to us (@theimpulsivebuy) on Twitter with the photo and the hashtag #spotted. If you do so, you might see your picture in our next Spotted on Shelves post.

FAST FOOD NEWS: Ben & Jerry’s Lazy Sunday and Gilly’s Catastrophic Crunch Ice Cream

Ben  Jerry s Lazy Sunday Ice Cream

Ben & Jerry’s Lazy Sunday

Ben & Jerry’s introduced two new Saturday Night Live-inspired flavors: Gilly’s Catastrophic Crunch and Lazy Sunday.

Gilly’s Catastrophic Crunch is made up of chocolate & sweet ice creams with caramel clusters, fudge-covered almonds, and a marshmallow swirl. It’s influenced by the SNL character, Gilly, a violent prank-happy schoolgirl. Lazy Sunday features vanilla cake batter ice cream with chocolate and yellow cupcake pieces and a chocolate frosting swirl. The flavor was influenced by the popular SNL Digital Short, Lazy Sunday, which involves the two characters in the skit going to New York’s Magnolia Bakery and them macking on some cupcakes, because that bakery’s got all the bomb frostings. They love those cupcakes like McAdams loves Gosling.

Ben  Jerry s Gilly s Catastrophic Crunch Ice Cream

Ben & Jerry’s Gilly’s Catastrophic Crunch

A 1/2 cup serving of Lazy Sunday has 230 calories 13 grams of fat, 8 grams of saturated fat, 20 grams of sugar, and 4 grams of protein. Gilly’s Catastrophic Crunch has 250 calories, 14 grams of fat, 8 grams of saturated fat, 23 grams of sugar, and 4 grams of protein per 1/2 cup serving.

The flavors are Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shops-exclusives and there will be two more SNL sketch-inspired flavors later this year. Oooh, I hope Dusty Muffin is one of them.

(Images via Ben & Jerry’s Facebook page)

SPOTTED ON SHELVES – 6/19/2014

Here are some interesting new and limited edition products found on store shelves by us and your fellow readers. If you’ve tried any of the products, share your thoughts about them in the comments.

V8 Splash Lemonade and Strawberry Lemonade

Are there even vegetables in V8 Splash Lemonade and Strawberry Lemonade? (Spotted by Jenn at Walmart.)

Betty Crocker Skylanders Fruit Flavored Snacks

I’m going to be honest here and say I have no idea what Skylanders is. Does that make me uncool? I also don’t know who Iggy Azalea is. (Spotted by Troy A at Meijer.)

Crush Tuti-Fruti and Crush Mandarina

I learned Orange Crush soda is over 100 years old. These two flavors are much younger. (Spotted by Sylvia at 99 Cent Store.)

Betty Crocker Fruit Gushers Hawaiian Punch

Look! It’s Fruit Gushers Hawaiian Punch, which should not be confused with Fruit Gushers Hawaiian Punch that has just Hawaiian Punch flavored Fruit Gushers. (Spotted by kcal at Meijer.)

Thank you to all the photo contributors! If you’re out shopping and see an interesting new or limited edition product on the shelf, snap a picture of it, and send us an email (theimpulsivebuy@gmail.com) with where you found it and “Spotted” in the subject line. Or reply to us (@theimpulsivebuy) on Twitter with the photo and the hashtag #spotted. If you do so, you might see your picture in our next Spotted on Shelves post.

REVIEW: Jack in the Box Breakfast Monster Taco

Jack in the Box Breakfast Monster Taco

I believe I’ve put more thought into deciding which witty t-shirt I’m going to wear, than the amount of effort that went into creating Jack in the Box’s Breakfast Monster Taco (BMT). In fact, describing the breakfast taco can be done with a simple equation:

(Jack in the Box Monster Taco – Lettuce) + Scrambled Eggs = Jack in the Box Breakfast Monster Taco.

Hey! That equation would make a great t-shirt in emoji form!

According to this Businessweek article, Taco Bell’s Waffle Taco went through 80 iterations, which is probably 80 times more than what the Breakfast Monster Taco went through. However, even though it seems not much effort went into developing the Jack in the Box Breakfast Monster Taco, I enjoyed it slightly more than Taco Bell’s offering.

Of course, if you’ve read my Taco Bell Waffle Taco review, you’d know that I didn’t care for it, so being slightly better doesn’t make the Breakfast Monster Taco special. It’s like saying a Purple Nurple is slightly better than a Wet Willy.

At a quick glance, the BMT looks like a regular Monster Taco. It has the same taco sauce, the same American cheese oozing out from under the shell, the same seasoned ground beef, the same crunchy taco shell, and the same grease spot that looks like an armpit sweat stain.

Jack in the Box Breakfast Monster Taco Eggs

However, instead of shredded pale green lettuce that easily falls out of the taco, the BMT has pale yellow scrambled eggs that easily falls out of the taco. According to the signage at the bottom of my Jack in the Box’s drive-thru menu, there is an option to make the taco more breakfasty by adding bacon, but like all the girls I asked to cut a rug with at my 8th grade dance, I declined.

Now that I think about it, perhaps it wasn’t so cool saying, “cut a rug” and then moving my hips side-to-side like a downhill skier when I asked them to dance.

Jack in the Box Breakfast Monster Taco Innards

My BMT came with a decent serving of scrambled eggs, which looked more substantial than the taco meat. However, the fluffy eggs didn’t have a flavor that’s strong enough to cut through the slightly spicy taco sauce and finely ground seasoned beef, making the Breakfast Monster Taco taste pretty much like a regular Monster Taco. Even the American cheese, which had melted into a thick goo, had more flavor than the eggs.

While I do enjoy Jack in the Box’s tacos, I can’t say I was impressed with their Breakfast Monster Taco. I mean, it’s as tasty as Jack in the Box’s regular tacos, but because it tastes like their regular tacos, I’m not sure why I would purchase it over their regular taco, which I can also purchase any time of day. I should’ve gotten it with bacon. Never say no to bacon.

Oooh! “Never Say No To Bacon” would make a great t-shirt.

(Nutrition Facts – 324 calories, 191 calories from fat, 21 grams of fat, 7 grams of saturated fat, 1 gram of trans fat, 186 milligrams of cholesterol, 668 milligrams of sodium, 262 milligrams of potassium, 19 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 3 grams of sugar, and 14 grams of protein.)

Item: Jack in the Box Breakfast Monster Taco
Purchased Price: $1.99*
Size: N/A
Purchased at: Jack in the Box
Rating: 5 out of 10
Pros: As tasty as a Jack in the Box Monster Taco. Decent serving of fluffy scrambled eggs. BMT doesn’t mean Bowel Movement Taco. The option to have it with bacon. Coming up with t-shirt that would sell poorly.
Cons: Tastes too similar to a Jack in the Box Monster Taco. It seems not much effort went into developing the BMT. The Jack in the Box taco and its armpit sweat stain. If you think Jack in the Box tacos are disgusting, this will not change your mind.

*Because I live on a rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, things are a bit pricier here. You’ll probably pay less than I did.

SPOTTED ON SHELVES – 6/18/2014

Here are some interesting new and limited edition products found on store shelves by us and your fellow readers. If you’ve tried any of the products, share your thoughts about them in the comments.

Jose Ole Mextremes

MeXtremes? Bravo Mr. or Ms. MeXtremes Name Inventor. (Spotted by Jarred at Publix.)

Gluten Free Chex Oatmeal 1

Gluten Free Chex Oatmeal 2

Suck it, Quaker! (Spotted by Nick at Price Chopper and Natalie at Shaw’s.)

Fiber One Soft-Baked Cookies

Come on, future! Bring me some Fiber One Potato Chips! (Spotted by Sylvia at Vons.)

Lucerne Birthday Cake Ice Cream Sandwiches

I’d like to see someone make a birthday ice cream cake-flavored ice cream sandwich. (Spotted by Sylvia at Vons.)

Thank you to all the photo contributors! If you’re out shopping and see an interesting new or limited edition product on the shelf, snap a picture of it, and send us an email (theimpulsivebuy@gmail.com) with where you found it and “Spotted” in the subject line. Or reply to us (@theimpulsivebuy) on Twitter with the photo and the hashtag #spotted. If you do so, you might see your picture in our next Spotted on Shelves post.