The Impulsive Buy

SPOTTED ON SHELVES – 3/9/2015

March 9, 2015December 28, 2020 Marvo 6 Comments

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.

Insert above weekly sriracha product photo. (Spotted by Sylvia at Sprouts.)

Wait a minute. If it’s frozen and seared, do I let it thaw before consuming or heat it up somehow. And, if I have to heat it up somehow, wouldn’t it turn the seared ahi into cooked ahi ? I may not know how to prepare it, but I do know it was a 2015 Seafood Excellence Award finalist. (Spotted by Marvo at Safeway.)

The fruit snacks must hurt coming out of Horizon’s cows. (Spotted by Paul at Acme.)

With all those character colors, there better be a Kellogg’s Inside Out Cereal. (Spotted by Paul at Acme.)

There’s cheese AND chili in these dogs? Food technology! Beat that self-driving cars! (Spotted by Benjamin at Giant Eagle.)

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, where you spotted it, and the hashtag #spotted. If you do so, you might see your picture in our next Spotted on Shelves post.

Also, if you’re wondering if we’ve already covered something, search our Flickr photos to find out.

FAST FOOD FLASHBACK: McDonald’s McLean Deluxe

March 7, 2015December 28, 2020 Marvo 9 Comments

McDonald s McLean Deluxe

Carrageenan.

If you’ve looked at the ingredients list on an ice cream container or chocolate milk carton, carrageenan is probably familiar to you. It’s a food additive extracted from red seaweed and it’s used as a gelling, thickening, and stabilizing agent in food products. So thank Mr. Carrageenan for helping make chocolate milk possible.

Carrageenan was also in the beef patty of McDonald’s McLean Deluxe.

The burger, introduced in 1991, was McDonald’s answer to the critics of fast food’s unhealthiness. It featured a 3.75-ounce, 91 percent fat free beef patty that used carrageenan to hold the beef together and allow water to replace fat. The beef patty was developed by food scientists at Auburn University. Along with the mostly beef patty, the burger was topped with lettuce, tomato, ketchup, mustard, pickles and onions on a sesame seed bun. It was also available with cheese.

Thanks to that lean beef patty, the McLean Deluxe had 10 grams of fat, which was 10-16 fewer grams than a Big Mac or Quarter Pounder. A McLean Deluxe without cheese had 320 calories, 10 grams of fat, 4 grams of saturated fat, 1 gram of polyunsaturated fat, 5 grams of monounsaturated fat, 60 milligrams of cholesterol, 670 milligrams of sodium, 35 grams of carbohydrates, and 22 grams of protein.

I ate one McLean Deluxe burger in the 1990s and I remember thinking the beef patty didn’t have any flavor. If it weren’t for the toppings, providing some flavor, I wouldn’t have eaten the whole thing. Maybe it was at this point in my young life I realized that fat = yummy.

Even though its use of carrageenan got it teased by Johnny Carson and other fast food companies, the beef patty’s flavor was off, and there were complaints about the patty’s dryness, the McDonald’s McLean Deluxe stayed on menu boards for FIVE years. It was discontinued in February 1996.

Even though I didn’t care for the McLean Deluxe, I like the idea of a lower fat burger. And I’d really like to see McDonald’s take another stab at it, because food technology has improved, more people know what carrageenan is, and I’m getting tired of ordering a McDonald’s Southwest Grilled Chicken Salad when I want to eat health-ish at McDonald’s.

Did you try the McDonald’s McLean Deluxe?

SPOTTED ON SHELVES: Jello Limited Edition Fudge Brownie Pudding Snacks

March 6, 2015December 28, 2020 Marvo 5 Comments

I wouldn’t be surprised if this tastes like regular chocolate pudding. (Spotted by Garrison at A&P.)

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, where you spotted it, and the hashtag #spotted. If you’ve tried the product, share your thoughts about it in the comments.

Also, if you’re wondering if we’ve already covered something, search our Flickr photos to find out.

SPOTTED ON SHELVES: Pillsbury Limited Edition Chocolate Toaster Strudel Pastries

March 6, 2015December 28, 2020 Marvo 6 Comments

I thought chocolate was always a Pillsbury Toaster Strudel flavor. I guess not. (Spotted by Jessica at Walmart.)

Also, if you’re wondering if we’ve already covered something, search our Flickr photos to find out.

FAST FOOD NEWS: Sonic Spicy Super Crunch Chicken Strips

March 6, 2015December 28, 2020 Marvo

Sonic Spicy Super Crunch Chicken

Sonic Drive-In is now offering for a limited time a spicy version of their Super Crunch Chicken Strips.

The Sonic Spicy Super Srunch Shicken Strips…I’m sorry. The Sonic Spicy Super Crunch Chicken Strips feature all-white meat chicken and a spicy, crunchy exterior. The strips are available with your choice of Ranch, Honey Mustard, or Hickory BBQ dipping sauce. It’s available in 3 or 5 pieces.

If you’ve tried it, let us know what you think of it in the comments.

(Image via Sonic.)

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