REVIEW: Jack in the Box $2.99 Big Deal

Earlier this year, Jack in the Box came out with their $2.99 Jumbo Deal, which consisted of two beef tacos, a small fries, a Jumbo Jack and the feeling in your stomach that you’re doing something horribly wrong by eating it all. It was great for those who wanted their Jack in the Box saturated fat and sodium fix in this tough economy.

But, like most of the money in everyone’s retirement funds, this cheap meal disappeared. Thankfully, Jack has been kind enough to bring back a $2.99 meal, and this time it’s got a name that was probably conceived with the help of the old name and a Roget’s Thesaurus — The Big Deal.

The name is not the only thing different about this $2.99 meal. It comes with a small fries, a beef taco, either a chicken sandwich or cheeseburger and, most importantly, a beverage, which was something the Jumbo Deal didn’t have, making it hard to satisfy your thirst caused by consuming all the sodium in it. This orgy of trans fats, which by the way is the least sexiest orgy ever, has enough variety to make sure there’s something for even the pickiest stoner.

Despite having variety, none of the items in the Big Deal were new or interesting. The cheeseburger was so boring that I’m surprised the microwave oven used to warm it up didn’t fall asleep. If you’ve had a mediocre cheeseburger in any time of your life, whether it be in a school cafeteria or at some shitty diner at 3 a.m., you’ll have an idea of what this wimpy cheeseburger tastes like.

As for the beef taco, well, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the Jack in the Box beef taco is one of the most vile fast food menu items. It takes some huge balls to deep fry an entire taco and then sell it to the public. Not even Taco Bell is willing to do that, and they put out a lot of crap.

Jack in the Box’s Natural Cut Fries may not have been circumcised and still have the potato skin on them, but they are quite possibly the most limp fast food fries around. I’m talking seeing your grandma naked and in spread eagle position limp.

By themselves, the boring cheeseburger, deep fried taco and limp fries, aren’t going to encourage me to raise my blood pressure and harden my arteries by eating them. But when all of them are offered together with a medium drink for only $2.99, it makes the cheeseburger a little exciting, the fries a little crispy and the taco a little less greasy.

(Nutrition Facts – 1 Big Deal with cheeseburger minus drink – 764 calories, 37 grams of fat, 12 grams of saturated fat, 6 grams of trans fat, 60 milligrams of cholesterol, 1414 milligrams of sodium, 80 grams of carbohydrates, 7 grams of fiber, 9 grams of sugar and 26 grams of protein.)

Item: Jack in the Box $2.99 Big Deal
Price: $2.99
Size: Enough
Purchased at: Jack in the Box
Rating: 7 out of 10
Pros: Good variety of food. It’s only $2.99. Nice amount of food. It’s only $2.99. It comes with a drink. It’s only $2.99. Its price makes everything slightly better than they truly are. It’s only $2.99. High in protein. It’s only $2.99.
Cons: 6 grams of trans fats (Seriously? 6 grams? If KFC can go trans fat free, then JITB should too). High in sodium. Boring cheeseburger. Greasy deep fried taco. Limp fries. Mental erectile dysfunction caused by seeing your grandma naked and in spread eagle position.

REVIEW: Uber Bubble Stride Gum

I was once left with a case of blue balls because a woman said to me on my college dorm room bed that French kissing me is like French kissing a dog because my tongue just hangs out of my mouth and there’s drool everywhere.

While I did come back with the line, “Well, how would you know what it’s like to French kiss a dog, Ms. Bestiality,” which caused her to storm out of my dorm room and making the blue scrunchy signal for my roommate on the outside door knob meaningless, it did make me wonder if my inability to properly stick my tongue in a woman’s mouth is the reason why I lack the tongue dexterity to spread out a large enough surface area to create a bubble with a piece of chewing gum. Well, it looks like it’s time to test my tongue dysfunction with the Uber Bubble Stride Gum.

Like frat boys who brag about having the sexual prowess of porn stars, Stride Gum proudly claims that it’s extremely long lasting. Unfortunately, one person’s idea of “long lasting” may not equal to another person’s idea of “long lasting.” For example, the frat boy may think three minutes of pleasure is perfect, but the unsatisfied co-ed beneath him probably isn’t happy about the quickie that lasted the same amount of time it takes for her to brush her teeth.

As for the Stride Gum, it took about 20 minutes or so before it lost all flavor and I had the urge to spit it out. While that’s enough time to satisfy a co-ed and then cuddle with her, I like the flavor of the gum I chew to last a little longer than that. In other words, a little more uber.

The Uber Bubble Stride Gum’s initial flavor tasted like, I’m not kidding, the wood of a number two pencil, but after a few seconds it disappears and is replaced with a mellow bubble gum flavor. It’s not as strong as Bazooka Gum, but it’s much better and longer lasting than a piece of gum that came out of a 25-cent machine or a 1986 Topps Baseball wax pack. However, its flavor was nowhere near uber.

While my taste buds don’t think it has an uber bubble gum flavor or is uber lasting, I was hoping I could at least make uber bubbles with a piece (or four) of the Stride Gum, but I was unable to make any bigger than an inch in diameter. I think I was unable to do it because the gum wasn’t soft enough, like Hubba Bubba and Bubblicious, to create a good bubble. And because my dysfunctional tongue still doesn’t have enough dexterity, despite all the French kissing practice I’ve done with my fist.

(Nutrition Facts – 1 piece – less than 5 calories, 0 grams of fat, 0 milligrams of sodium, 1 gram of carbohydrates, 0 grams of sugar, 1 gram of sugar alcohol and 0 grams of protein.)

Item: Uber Bubble Stride Gum
Price: $1.12
Size: 14 pieces
Purchased at: Target
Rating: 6 out of 10
Pros: Mellow bubble gum flavor. Flavor lasts a decent amount of time, but uberer would be better. Better than the gum from a 1986 Topps Baseball wax pack. Sugarfree.
Cons: Can’t make bubbles with one piece. Bubble gum flavor was nowhere near uber. Initial flavor was like a number two pencil. Three minute men. My inability to blow uber bubble gum bubbles. Blue balls.

REVIEW: Ritz Crackerfuls (Classic Cheddar and Four Cheese)

With a name like Ritz, shouldn’t Ritz Crackers be fancier than they truly are?

Maybe they’re extremely high-class, but I have yet to see a monocle or top hat-wearing old man eating them and getting crumbs stuck in his white beard while discussing the African safari he went on to hunt the ultimate game — humans. Although I have to admit I’ve never been invited to galas that have The Most Interesting Man in the World who only drinks Dos Equis on the guest list or parties that don’t use red plastic cups to hold beverages.

If Ritz Crackers are fancy, Nabisco is attempting to make them a little more ritzier with their Ritz Crackerfuls, which come in two flavors: Four Cheese and Classic Cheddar. They’re basically elegant Ritz Cracker sandwiches with classy canned spray cheese in the middle. According to its box, each individually wrapped cracker sandwich is made with real cheese and five grams of whole grain.

The Ritz Crackers that Chinese fingercuff the cheese filling had that familiar buttery Ritz taste. The Four Cheese one had the sharper flavor of the two and on my ritzy scale of 1-10, with 10 being fine diamonds and 1 being shards of a broken glass window, the Four Cheese Crackerfuls was probably a 5 rating or a plastic silver ring with a clear plastic gem won from accumulating 25 prize tickets at an arcade. As for the Classic Cheddar, it tasted like a Kraft Handi-Snack and on my ritzy scale it was a 4 rating or a plastic neon colored ring with a clear plastic gem that comes delivered in a plastic egg from a 25 cent machine outside of a grocery store.

While I felt both weren’t very fancy, I also thought they weren’t bad. The combination of the buttery Ritz crackers and the soft cheese paste was pleasant, but I think one would get more flavor by purchasing some fancy cheese that doesn’t come in individually wrapped slices and putting it on top of a Ritz cracker. Although I believe that would degrade the cheese.

Something I really didn’t enjoy about the Crackerfuls was the long Ritz Cracker, which was extremely fragile. Because they were even more delicate than normal round Ritz Crackers, I was forced to use a plate since I lack the white beard to catch the crumbs.

Another thing I didn’t like about the Ritz Crackerfuls was its name. Now I don’t have an English degree…

Oh wait. I do.

So it’s all right for me to say I found its name to be confusing because it’s not filled with crackers, it’s filled with cheese. So shouldn’t it be named Cheesefuls?

Now if two layers of cheese were Chinese fingercuffing a Ritz Cracker then it would be Crackerfuls. But it still wouldn’t be very fancy.

(Nutrition Facts – 1 package – Classic Cheddar – 130 calories, 7 grams of fat, 2 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 1.5 grams of polyunsaturated fat, 2.5 grams of monounsaturated fat, 230 milligrams of sodium, 17 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fiber, 3 grams of sugar, 2 grams of protein, 6% calcium and 4% iron. Four Cheese – 130 calories, 7 grams of fat, 2 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 1.5 grams of polyunsaturated fat, 2.5 grams of monounsaturated fat, 220 milligrams of sodium, 17 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fiber, 3 grams of sugar, 2 grams of protein, 6% calcium and 4% iron.)

Item: Ritz Crackerfuls (Classic Cheddar and Four Cheese)
Price: $3.18 each
Size: 6 pack
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 6 out of 10 (Classic Cheddar)
Rating: 6 out of 10 (Four Cheese)
Pros: Pleasant tasting. Buttery Ritz Crackers. Four Cheese flavor had a nice sharp flavor. Simply Cheddar tasted like a Kraft Handi-Snack, which I do enjoy. Contains mono- and poly unsaturated fats. Hunting humans.
Cons: Cheese looked like something that came out of a can. Long Ritz Crackers were extremely fragile. Crumbs. Would be tastier to buy Ritz Crackers and put your own cheese on it. Not very ritzy. Name doesn’t seem right. Being hunted by humans.

REVIEW: One A Day VitaCraves Gummies

These new One A Day VitaCraves Gummies come in fruit shapes, but I prefer my gummy multivitamins to come in bear form, so that I can tear them apart limb by limb and say, “That’s what you get for stealing my pic-a-nic basket” or “That’s what you get for scaring me and making me cry with your audio-animatronic versions when I watched the Country Bear Jamboree at Disneyland in 1984.”

On a daily basis I eat gummy bear multivitamins to get the vitamins and minerals I can’t get from a bag of Lays Sour Cream and Onion potato chips, a glazed doughnut and a Diet Pepsi Super Big Gulp because, I’ll admit, I have a hard time swallowing pills, even with a Diet Pepsi Super Big Gulp to help wash it down. But the gummy multivitamins I consume are meant for children and come in six great flavors. The One A Day VitaCraves are meant for adults and it only has three flavors: orange, cherry and some kind of blueberry/raspberry hybrid.

You might wondering if there are any other differences between the children’s gummy multivitamins and the VitaCraves. The VitaCraves are definitely more potent than their gummy bear counterparts, providing almost always twice the amount of vitamins and minerals, but the gummy bear multivitamins taste like normal gummy bears, while the VitaCraves have a slight bitterness to them, like regular vitamins.

Also, while the gummy bear multivitamins are really soft like a Trolli Gummi Bear, the VitaCraves are quite tough like Haribo Gummi Bears or the skin of someone who stays out in the sun for too long on a regular basis. But if you’re someone who has a hard time swallowing pills it’s still a decent choice.

While two One A Day VitaCraves Gummies provide me with 100% or more of my daily recommended intake of many vitamins and minerals, I think I’ll stick with my children’s gummy bear multivitamins because they taste better, are soft to chew and I can decapitate them with my teeth to get even with Teddy Ruxpin for ruining my cassette tape copy of “Sports” by Huey Lewis and the News.

(Supplement Facts – 2 gummies – 10 calories, 3 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of sugar, 80% vitamin A, 100% vitamin C, 100% vitamin D, 133% vitamin E, 100% vitamin B6, 100% folic acid, 167% vitamin B12, 50% biotin, 100% pantothenic acid, 53% iodine, 33% zinc, 60 micrograms of choline and 40 micrograms of inositol.)

Item: One A Day VitaCraves Gummies
Price: $7.83
Size: 50 gummies
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 6 out of 10
Pros: Two gummies provide 100% or more of my daily recommended intake of many vitamins and minerals. Made for adults. Great for those who have trouble swallowing multivitamin pills. Decapitating gummy bears. “Sports” by Huey Lewis and the News.
Cons: Expensive for just 50 gummies, even though I bought it from Walmart. Not in bear form. Tough to chew. Slight bitterness. Only three flavors. Audio-animatronic bears.

REVIEW: Hungry-Man Angus Beef Charbroil XXL Sandwich

Hungry-Man Angus Beef Charbroil XXL Sandwich

How does Hungry-Man stay in business?

It’s one of those questions that no one knows the answer to, like why don’t the paparazzi’s cameras break after taking pictures of Paris Hilton’s vagina as she slides out of a car? There’s so much saturated fat and sodium in their foods that I wonder how they still have customers who are alive. Hungry-Man is the only brand that makes fast food restaurants say, “Ugh…you’re going to eat that shit?”

The numbers found in the nutrition facts of a Hungry-Man product read more like test scores than anything else. 81 percent saturated fat? That’s a B- in Heart Disease. You’re on your way to college. Oh wait, I read that wrong. I meant to say “collapse.” You scored a 1040 on your SAT test. Woo hoo! Oh wait, it’s 1040 milligrams on your SALT. The new Hungry-Man Angus Beef Charbroil XXL Sandwich continues the long tradition of Hungry-Man products by providing people with microwaveable meals that are full of saturated fat, sodium and regret.

I know what you’re thinking when you’re looking at the picture above. You think I should get that looked at by a physician, because it doesn’t look healthy. But that is not a growth, that is the Hungry-Man Angus Beef Charbroil XXL Sandwich. Stare at it. Let all of that disgustingness sink in. Let it haunt your nightmares.

Despite how horribly unhealthy Hungry Man products are, they also, I hate to admit, tend to be somewhat tasty, and that was the case with this big slab of ground Angus beef with cheese and a sesame seed bun. By fat…I mean, by far, this burger comes nowhere near the quality, no matter how crappy it is, of a fast food burger, but against other frozen burgers I’ve had, it’s good. The burger’s size is quite hefty and makes the Whopper seems a little small. As you can see in the disgusting picture above that will haunt you while you sleep, the Angus patty is thick and significantly bigger than the sesame seed bun.

The patty had a nice meaty flavor that was seasoned nicely and the cheese seemed like it was just there for decoration because it didn’t add any flavor. As for the bun, it was hard and chewy in most places, but for a microwaveable burger that is par for the course. All of this equate to a burger that provides 700 calories, 81 percent of your daily recommended allowance for saturated fat and 1040 milligrams of sodium.

Again, you can get a much better tasting burger at a fast food place, and maybe slightly healthier too. With some drive-thru windows open 24 hours, there’s really no excuse to purchase the Hungry-Man Angus Beef Charbroil XXL Sandwich, unless you really want to keep Hungry-Man in business.

(Nutrition Facts – 1 sandwich – 700 calories, 41 grams of fat, 16 grams of saturated fat, 1.5 grams of trans fat, 75 milligrams of cholesterol, 1040 milligrams of sodium, 55 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 8 grams of sugar, 29 grams of protein, 4% vitamin A, 6% vitamin C, 20% calcium and 20% iron.)

Item: Hungry-Man Angus Beef Charbroil XXL Sandwich
Price: $3.00 (on sale)
Size: 8 ounces
Purchased at: Safeway
Rating: 5 out of 10
Pros: Big ass patty. Decent tasting. One of the better frozen burgers I’ve had. 1/2 a pound of food. Great source of protein.
Cons: Bun was hard and chewy. 1/2 of your arteries will be clogged. 81% of your daily allowance of saturated fat. Useless addition of cheese. 1.5 grams of trans fat. You can get significantly better burgers at a fast food joint. The picture of it will haunt you in your sleep.