NEWS: Farts To Be Released At 2011 Sweets & Snacks Expo

Marvo 1 Comment

Every year, the National Confectioners Association holds their Sweets & Snacks Expo in Chicago at the McCormick Place convention center. This year, the event will run from May 24th to the 26th. Candyblog.net has been giving sneak peeks at some of the candies that will be introduced at the event. However, there’s one particular candy being emitted that I’m pretty sure will get a lot of attention — Farts Candy from Leaf Brands.

According to a post on Candy.com, Farts Candy “are tiny, fruit-flavored nuggets” and “a better version of Nerds.” However, Farts won’t be a crunchy candy, it will have a chewy exterior. The post goes on to say that there will be 126 Farts flavors, but Leaf Brands plans to hold back some of their Farts and let the public vote via social media on which Farts they should release next.

Leaf Brands will be passing these gastronomical treats in 2.17-ounce packs and they will be available in four varieties: Fruiti, Sour, Single Flavors, and Small Farts.

NEWS: IHOP at HOME Lets Me Enjoy IHOP Without Having To Put On Pants

Marvo 9 Comments

IHOP

One of my dreams in life is to invite one person from every ethnicity I can find to a party at IHOP. Because if I’m able to make my dream come true, it will be the only time an IHOP restaurant would truly be considered international. But if I’m not able to make that happen because of IHOP being upset at the previous sentence, then I guess I’m going to have to settle for inviting one person from every ethnicity, preparing a bunch of the new IHOP at HOME frozen breakfast meals, and serving them to my melting pot of guests outside of an IHOP restaurant.

According to the press release I received, IHOP is the first national restaurant brand to bring breakfast items to the freezer shelves. So suck it, Denny!

The new IHOP at HOME line are now available at more than 3,000 Walmart locations throughout the United States. So suck it, Canada!

IHOP at HOME frozen dishes won’t be available at IHOP restaurants. So suck it, IHOP restaurants!

They can be prepared either in the microwave or conventional ovens. So suck it, barbeque grills and stove tops!

The IHOP at HOME lineup consists of:

Omelet Crispers: scrambled eggs, potatoes and a choice of cheddar cheese, cheddar cheese and sausage, or cheddar cheese and bacon in a crispy coating. They come in boxes of four and have anywhere from 210-240 calories, 12-14 grams of fat, 4-4.5 grams of saturated fat, 560-930 milligrams of sodium, and 8-11 grams of protein.

French Toast Stuffed Pastries: French toast pastries filled with either strawberry, sweet cream cheese, apple and cinnamon, or strawberry cream cheese filling. They are packaged in boxes of six and have anywhere from 170-210 calories, 6-9 grams of fat, 1-3.5 grams of saturated fat, 240-270 milligrams of sodium, and 3-4 grams of protein.

Griddle n’ Sausage Wrap: a breakfast sausage covered in buttermilk pancake batter with a hint of maple syrup. Comes in boxes of eight and have 160 calories, 11 grams of fat, 3.5 grams of saturated fat, 220 milligrams of sodium, and 4 grams of protein.

NEWS: T.G.I. Friday’s Makes Dishes Using What Many People Go To T.G.I. Friday’s For

Marvo 9 Comments

Cedar Point - T.G.I. Friday's on the Beach

This week, Chili’s… I mean, Applebee’s… I mean, T.G.I. Friday’s added several new dishes to their menu that are inspired by everyone’s favorite beverage made with barley, hops, and water. The introduction of these meals made with beer coincides with the restaurant chain’s move to start offering craft beers at every location. The craft beers vary from state to state, but some of the craft beer companies include Fat Tire, Harpoon, Shipyard, Goose Island, Magic Hat, Dirrty Rabbit, and Angry Hag.

Okay, those last two were totally made up.

The new dishes include:

Black Angus Brew House Steak: An 8-ounce flat-iron steak is marinated in a brine of beer and citrus and is then grilled and served with a craft beer sauce, potato salad and buttered summer green beans.

Parmesan-Crusted Crab Flounder: Pan-seared fish fillets are flavored with beer, then topped with deviled crabmeat and Parmesan breadcrumbs and served with sides of jasmine rice pilaf and buttered summer green beans.

Ale House Baby Back Ribs: Baby back pork ribs are grilled with beer, glazed with a Jack Daniels barbecue sauce and served with sides of potato salad and buttered summer green beans.

Dijon-Crusted Beer Chicken: Chicken fillets are marinated in craft beer and lightly breaded with seasoned breadcrumbs. The dish is served with a tossed salad of mixed greens and grape tomatoes drizzled with a Caesar vinaigrette.

Ale House Shrimp and Chips appetizer: Beer-battered broccoli, sliced red peppers and Cajun- spiced shrimp are served on home-style potato chips with cucumber-wasabi ranch dip and a stout-beer remoulade sauce.

Guinness Stout: A Guinness Stout beer is blended with chocolate syrup and vanilla ice cream and topped with whipped cream, for adults.

Mandarin Dreamsicle: Orange liqueur is added to an orange sherbet and vanilla ice cream shake that’s topped with mandarin oranges and whipped cream, for adults.

REVIEW: McDonald’s Jalapeños Cheddar McChicken Sandwich

Stephanie 8 Comments

McDonald's Jalapeño Cheddar McChicken

For me, the smell of sliced jalapeño peppers is inextricably linked to the spring of 1996. One evening, during the waning days of ninth grade, I had joined a small group of friends at the movie theater to catch a screening of Down Periscope. (Look, the first Mission: Impossible movie wasn’t out yet, so we were pretty hard up for national-security-related entertainment.) As magnificent as the on-screen pairing of Kelsey Grammar and Rob Schneider in a submarine promised to be, I certainly had not come for that cinematic gem. I’d shown up because it was my very first co-ed outing. There were BOYS there. Woooooo!

One boy in particular, a 15-year-old upon whom my friends and I fixated daily was in attendance, and he had a jones for some nachos that night. Being a popcorn-and-Junior-Mints girl, the concept of fast food in a movie theater was still a novelty to me, so when my crush brought his plate of nachos and cheese buried beneath a pile of jalapeños into the theater, the distinctive spicy aroma of the chopped peppers was all I could smell. It was intoxicating… He was sitting so close to me, and the fragrance of jalapeños mingled in the air with the scent of CK One and hormones.

So what does all that have to do with a chicken sandwich? Well, this particular sandwich is loaded with chopped jalapeños, and it was the magical portal through which my olfactory nerves whisked me back to that little Midwestern multiplex. At first whiff, I knew I was gonna enjoy this chicken sammich.

It’s a fact that McDonald’s isn’t exactly a place known for its spicy foods. It’s also a fact that in Southern California, it’s illegal to operate a dining establishment without jalapeños somewhere on the menu. I’m sure I read that somewhere. In general, McDonald’s is trying to break away from the norm and create truly unique flavor combos, and their Jalapeño Cheddar McChicken sandwich is the latest creation to make the regional rounds in California before (perhaps) breaking into other markets. I’m sure people in other states have the ability to appreciate jalapeños as much as we do… I mean, if jalapeños have been movie theater snacks for close to 20 years in the Great Plains then that should certainly be enough evidence. But here in Cali, we’re ride or die homies with our peppers 4 life, and McDonald’s knows we don’t play.

McDonald's Jalapeño Cheddar McChicken Wrapper

My first hint that McDonald’s is really serious about their new jam was the wrapper. Stamped there, in bold, red font is the name of the sandwich, and the accompanying sketch of a pair of jalapeños shows McDonald’s means business. Upon unwrapping it, I quickly discovered that this sandwich is just like a regular McChicken sandwich, except in place of mayonnaise they’ve added a generous portion of jalapeño sauce and a thick slice of white cheddar cheese. The jalapeño sauce contains actual chopped jalapeños, which provide a good amount of heat to each bite, and the melted white cheddar (while not exactly bold) is smooth and not waxy. When combined with the umami of the seasoned, crispy breaded chicken patty, the flavor profile is complex and delicious … Not at all how I would describe most sandwiches from fast food joints, let alone McDonald’s.

McDonald's Jalapeño Cheddar McChicken Pulling Off Its Top

As for the serious jalapeño commitment indicated by the wrapper, I’d characterize the jalapeño sauce’s level of spiciness as “lip spicy” more than anything. It didn’t exactly threaten to liquefy my insides (something for which I’m grateful, since my Teflon esophagus and cast-iron stomach are both on back-order through SkyMall), but it was sufficiently zesty. I think the jalapeños themselves were probably pickled, but I could barely taste the tartness beyond the kisser-searing wall of spice. The cheese was really the only downside. I’d say it was closer to American cheese than cheddar, and there was no flavor to speak of, despite the warm, melty texture. Just like that memorable night at the movies seated beside the JNCO-clad object of my adolescent affection, the cheese didn’t really amount to much. (I think he didn’t like any of us.)

It’s comforting to know that for about a buck fifty, I can revisit the past, and this time, Frasier, Deuce Bigalow, and a janky-ass submarine are nowhere in sight.

(Nutrition Facts – 1 sandwich – 360 calories, 140 calories from fat, 15 grams of fat, 5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 40 milligrams of cholesterol, 1220 milligrams of sodium, 41 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of dietary fiber, 5 grams of sugar, and 17 grams of protein.)

Other McDonald’s Jalapeño Cheddar McChicken reviews:
Brand Eating

Item: McDonald’s Jalapeño Cheddar McChicken Sandwich
Price: $1.49
Size: N/A
Purchased at: McDonald’s
Rating: 8 out of 10
Pros: Lip spicy. The aroma of jalapeño slices. Sky Mall. Cartoon jalapeños show they mean business. Mission: Impossible. Seasoned, crispy, breaded chicken patty provides nice touch of umami. Movie-going in mixed company. Tasty and cheap. Ride or Die.
Cons: Not available everywhere in the US-of-A yet. The cheese was bland and didn’t really taste like cheddar. Kelsey Grammar and Rob Schneider. The amount of spice doesn’t represent real business. JNCOs.

REVIEW: Nestle Jamba All Natural Energy Drink (Blueberry Pomegranate, Crisp Apple & Strawberry Banana)

Marvo 12 Comments

Nestle Jamba All Natural Energy Drink

Let me show you the ingredients list for the new Strawberry Banana Nestle Jamba All-Natural Energy Drink:

Apple juice and lemon juice (water, juice concentrates), water, apple puree, strawberry puree, banana puree, natural flavor, caffeine, extract of stevia, carbonation added.

Now let me show you the ingredients list for the Orange Rockstar Recovery Energy Drink:

Purified water, orange juice concentrate, taurine, citric acid, natural flavors, sodium citrate, sucrose, caffeine, benzoic acid, sorbic acid, gum arabic, acesulfame potassium, sucralose, calcium pantothemate, niacinamide, panax ginseng root extract, milk thistle extract, magnesium lactate, ester gum, calcium lactate, prickly pear extract, pyridoxine hydrochloride, monopotassium phosphate, apocarotenal, and cyanocobalamin.

As you can see, there are major differences between the two lists. One is a short list of ingredients I’ve heard of and can pronounce, while the other list is a bit longer because it’s made up of a few ingredients I have to learn about through Wikipedia or by seducing a college chemistry lab teaching assistant during her office hours, using lines like, “How about we do some chemical compounding here on your desk?”

But do these differences prove what Jamba has printed on their All-Natural Energy Drink cans, “For us, it is simple — real food & beverages taste better. That makes people happy & they come back for more.”

With their smoothies, it’s very true, because it’s extremely rare for me to have a month without a Jamba Juice smoothie-induced brain freeze. But with their line of All-Natural Energy Drinks, I don’t see myself coming back for more, unless I REALLY feel the need for a Jamba smoothie chaser.

The Nestle Jamba All-Natural Energy Drinks are available in three fruity flavors: Blueberry Pomegranate, Crisp Apple, and Strawberry Banana. They contain no artificial preservatives, flavors, or colors, and no high fructose corn syrup. And, they contain 70 percent real fruit juice and each can has 90 calories.

Now, all that sounds nice, but when you’re talking about an energy drink, energy junkies care about one thing — caffeine. And I’m happy to say each 8.4-ounce can of Jamba All-Natural Energy Drink contains 80 milligrams of the good stuff, which is the same amount found in a can of Red Bull, or an eight-ounce serving of the Orange Rockstar Recovery Energy Drink I referred to at the beginning of this review.

Although a can of the Jamba All-Natural Energy Drink has 80 milligrams of caffeine, I didn’t feel very caffeinated after drinking one and didn’t seem to get the same energy boost I would from drinking an eight-ounce serving of my energy drinks of choice — any variety of Monster or Rockstar. I believe the reason for this is because of those few ingredients I mentioned earlier that I have to learn about through Wikipedia or by seducing a college chemistry lab teaching assistant during her office hours, using lines like, “How about we swap oxygen and carbon dioxide…with our mouths?”

However, if you’re not a caffeine junkie, I’m sure these will do fine if you’re looking for an all-natural way to get an energy boost.

Besides not giving me a boost like other energy drinks; these Jamba Energy Drinks also don’t taste like other energy drinks, which tend to be a combination of sweet compensating for the bitter. They taste like what one would expect an energy drink with the Jamba Juice logo on it would taste like.

Basically, they’re lightly carbonated, caffeinated juices. The Crisp Apple flavor, which was my favorite of the three, tastes like lightly carbonated, caffeinated apple juice. The Blueberry Pomegranate flavor tastes like lightly carbonated, caffeinated, and slightly tart pomegranate juice with a blueberry finish and a hint of apple. And, the Strawberry Banana flavor tastes like lightly carbonated, caffeinated strawberry juice with a bit of banana and a bit of apple.

Yup, just like at many malls across America, apple is found in all three Jamba Energy Drink flavors.

Overall, the Nestle Jamba All-Natural Energy Drinks are good and made with ingredients I can pronounce, but a can of it doesn’t satisfy my energy needs, so I don’t see myself purchasing any more. Also, because the Jamba Energy Drinks are lightly carbonated and made with fruit juices and purees, they’re extremely easy to drink, which can cause a can of it to be consumed quicker than expected.

They’re so smooth that I don’t think they’d make good energy drink training bras if you’re looking to get into stronger energy drinks, like Red Bull, Monster, and Rockstar.

(Nutrition Facts – 1 can – Pomegranate Blueberry – 90 calories, 0 grams of fat, 15 milligrams of sodium, 140 milligrams of potassium, 21 grams of carbohydrates, 20 grams of sugar, and 0 grams of protein. Crisp Apple – 90 calories, 0 grams of fat, 15 milligrams of sodium, 22 grams of carbohydrates, 20 grams of sugar, and 0 grams of protein. Strawberry Banana – 90 calories, 0 grams of fat, 15 milligrams of sodium, 190 milligrams of potassium, 22 grams of carbohydrates, 20 grams of sugar, 0 grams of protein.)

Item: Nestle Jamba All Natural Energy Drink (Blueberry Pomegranate, Crisp Apple & Strawberry Banana)
Price: $2.95 each
Size: 8.4 ounces
Purchased at: Jamba Juice
Rating: 6 out of 10 (Blueberry Pomegranate)
Rating: 7 out of 10 (Crisp Apple)
Rating: 6 out of 10 (Strawberry Banana)
Pros: Easy to drink. Taste like fruit juices. Made using ingredients I can pronounce. 90 calories per can. 80 milligrams of sweet, sweet caffeine. No high fructose corn syrup. My ability to seduce college chemistry lab teaching assistants.
Cons: Too easy to drink. Energy boost might not be noticable for caffeineheads. Small cans. Can’s design looks like it’s meant for kids. Doesn’t make a good energy drink training bra. Brain freezes.