Month: September 2011

NEWS: Yoplait Adds Chocolate Banana To Their Smoothie Line

Marvo

Yoplait’s Smoothies have been around since 2009 and I gave them a extremely positive review. Although it wasn’t my intent, I thought the high scores would’ve encourage Yoplait to send me yogurt for life or, at least, a beautiful woman in a French maid outfit armed with a Swiffer to clean my place, but that didn’t happen.

Anyhoo, Yoplait expanded their smoothie line with a Chocolate Banana flavor. Each package contains chocolate flavored frozen yogurt pieces and bananas. Just pour everything into a blender, pour some skim milk, blend, and in no time you’ll have a refreshing chocolatey smoothie filled with live and active cultures and 50% of your daily recommended amount of calcium.

Each package makes two 8-ounce servings and have a suggested price of $3.49. A serving using skim milk has 130 calories, 10 calories from fat, 1 gram of fat, 0.5 grams of saturated fat, less than 5 milligrams of sodium, 80 milligrams of sodium, 23 grams of carbohydrates, 15 grams of sugar, and 6 grams of protein.

NEWS: New Orville Redenbacher’s Flavors Lets You Decide How Much Sodium You’re Going To Consume

Marvo 1 Comment

Popcorn

When I first heard about self-serve butter dispensers at movie theaters I thought, “Finally, I can grease up my popcorn like they’re the bare chests of Chippendales dancers.” With these dispensers, I could use a little butter or I could drown pieces of popcorn like I’m celebrating Lobsterfest at Red Lobster.

Orville Redenbacher’s is also allowing popcorn lovers to flavor their microwaveable popcorn with as much seasoning as they want with their new line of Orville Redenbacher’s Flavors.

The new variety is offered in individually wrapped bags of microwave popcorn with a separate powder seasoning packet, and come in three flavors: White Cheddar, Extra Cheese, or Sea Salt and Vinegar.

Orville Redenbacher’s Flavors retails for $1.19 to $1.29 for individually wrapped, single 3.24-ounce bags and are now available at selected retail outlets.

Source: Orville Redenbacher’s website

Image via flickr user cyclonebill / CC BY SA 2.0

REVIEW: Wheat Thins Smoky BBQ

Jeff 4 Comments

Wheat Thins Smoky BBQ

Man, I love bourbon. That slow burn that creeps down your throat, when it’s so acrid you can taste the Southern anger. Mmmmmmmm! Dessert is a maraschino cherry topped in a Manhattan and breakfast is black coffee with two fingers of Maker’s. My liver says otherwise, but there is nothing like sitting in a chaise lounge with your striped pajamas on, The Weather Channel’s Storm Stories on the flatscreen and a rocks glass with some heat. I keep hoping to see Jim Cantore shoot up like that cow did in Twister.

And always accompanying my vice is that recognizable yellow box of Wheat Thins. For as long as I can remember, Wheat Thins slathered with supermarket onion dip or a gummy block of cheap Monterey Jack cheese has always been my drunk eats. Bourbon and Wheat Thins are like peanut butter and jelly to me. I love my bourbon and I love my Wheat Thins. Making me decide between either is like asking who would I choose, saving my wife or my collection of Morrissey albums from Ragnarock (neither, I would choose my bourbon).

One note, if you hate Wheat Thins…you can stop reading. This product will not change your mind. And if you hate Wheat Thins, you need to do a self-evaluation since there are more important things to hate than a snack.

I was very surprised when I walked in from the awful day of work and noticed a box of Wheat Thins Smoky BBQ crackers on the counter that my wife bought me. Now I have never been a big fan of the flavored Wheat Thins because I have a rule, why mess with perfection unless it includes a hand shandy? Looking at the box, coupled with my recent behavior of “drinking too much” (as if there is such a thing), I knew I was not getting either.

Defeated, I grabbed the box and sighed. I was leery of them because it seems like every snack has some version of BBQ flavor. So I took off my jacket and tossed it on my stained ottoman. Loosening my collar and tie, I folded my sleeves 50’s dad style and walked over to my wet bar. I grabbed a glass and poured a couple of shots of hello dolly.

After a swallow or two or five, I returned to the box and decided to give them a chance. The box promises a whole 10 grams of whole grain per serving which is fine and dandy, but I was more interested in the taste.

Wheat Thins Smoky BBQ Closeup

The crackers had that recognizable square shape and a very faint orange-red shade versus the mustardy brown color of Wheat Thins. They smelled like the normal ones, toasted grains and wheat.

Wow! The sweetness was a wonderful contrast to the subtle smoke (as the ingredients list natural smoke flavoring). The smokiness was a punch of garlic and onion. The sweet taste was definitely from the tomato powder used and let me tell you, it was “sucking on a ketchup packet” good. I know you readers out there suck on ketchup packets when no one is looking. It is okay, I won’t tell anyone. As long as you ignore that everyone’s hands have probably molested the hell out of those things, you’re in for a good time normally.

Anyhow getting back to the Wheat Thins, the sweet flavor is not candy sweet nor is it a heavy syrupy sweet. It may not appeal to everyone, but I loved it. I can’t think of anything close to the flavor because while it is similar to other barbecue chips, it has its own character. The Smoky BBQ deserves a try at the very least.

I thought these were damn-o-riffic! The barbecue flavor wasn’t that fakey sugary musk that cheap BBQ potato chips have. I also wouldn’t say it was savory like umami (what an overused term that I now have partaken in) but the taste was close to that sweet and savory thing we all love. It’s similar to Kansas City style barbecue, heavy on the tomato paste and sweeter than other barbecue sauces. After eating more than I should, the flavor was never tiring. Now make sure you have something to drink, the crackers can get a bit salty if you eat too many.

Snacking on these alone are perfect enough but if you want to change it up a bit, an aged white cheddar or some other mild tasting milky cheese would absolutely work. I think brie or even a tub of cream cheese would be a fine accompaniment which would mellow some of the BBQ flavor. A box of Silk Cut ciggies would do the same, but smoking and eating at the same time is gross.

I ate so many that half a box was left after I went to town on them and didn’t care how awful I looked with my joe boxers (those smiley face ones), black socks and a stained white T-shirt.

I have to admit, Wheat Thins BBQ Thins don’t mix well with bourbon but I doubt many of you will be drinking that while eating them. I went ahead and brushed the crumbs off my shirt and onto my lap. I drained my glass after I was rebuffed by the wife again and took comfort knowing that I could place my paws all over the Wheat Thins Smoky BBQ. Yum Yum Yum.

(Nutritional Facts — 14 crackers — 140 calories, 5 grams of fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 3 grams of polyunsaturated fat, 1 gram of monounsaturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 180 milligrams of sodium, 65 milligrams of potassium, 21 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 4 grams of sugar, and 2 grams of protein.)

Item: Wheat Thins Smoky BBQ
Price: $3.99
Size: 9.5 ounces
Purchased: Publix
Rating: 7 out of 10
Pros: Unique and great addictive barbecue taste. You will not get tired of the flavor. Morrissey. That scene when the cow shoots up rocket style in Twister, man I still laugh pretty hard. The barbecue taste is not fake tasting. Pink Floyd’s Ummagumma.
Cons: It may be a bit too sweet for other people’s taste. If you dislike Wheat Thins, do not bother. Can be a bit salty. Helen Hunt’s forehead, it’s so big I can scrawl another face on it. Jim Cantore’s delivery. The word Umami.

REVIEW: Ritz Crackers (Garlic Butter and Honey Wheat)

Marvo 11 Comments

Ritz Crackers (Garlic Butter and Honey Wheat)

Through my experiences, I’ve learned if you’re at a party that’s serving Ritz crackers as hors d’oeuvres, you should walk out as soon as possible. Because it’s probably going to be either a party filled with people spitting crumbs while they talk about things that bore you or you’re about to watch a timeshare presentation.

Let’s face it. Ritz Crackers have never lived up to their name. If you live in a wealthy, gated community and you offer Ritz Crackers to your haughty guests, you will probably be punished by the neighborhood association and banned for life from any ritzy activities, like dinner parties, hunting endangered species, orgies, or whatever rich people in gated communities do for fun. They’re a step above saltines and oyster crackers, but many steps below any cracker found next to the Stinking Bishop and Neufchâtel cheeses.

Not even serving the new Ritz Cracker varieties — Garlic Butter and Honey Wheat — could prevent rich folks from getting banned from their neighborhood polo match or losing their opportunity to be a part of a human hunting expedition on a private island in the Bahamas.

Honey Wheat Ritz Crackers appear to be “healthy” because it has the word “wheat” in its name and each cracker provides one gram of whole grain, which allows eaters to physically count the number of whole grain they’re consuming. So if you want to get the daily recommended 48 grams of whole grain by eating nothing but Honey Wheat Ritz Crackers, you’ll have to eat one and a half of the four sleeves in the Ritz box.

Or, if eating 48 crackers in one sitting isn’t your thing, you could also eat six bowls of Lucky Charms.

The Honey Wheat Ritz Crackers have a decent sweet and salty flavor, but I thought the honey flavor could’ve been amped up a little. Its sweetness is light enough that I don’t think a bee would touch it with a 10-foot stinger. I think it tastes like another Nabisco cracker, but because they produce enough cracker varieties to dry my mouth if I were to either eat them all one after another or say their names one after another, I’m not sure which one it is. Also, the whole grain is a little noticeable in the cracker’s flavor and texture.

I think the Garlic Butter Ritz Crackers taste slightly better than the Honey Wheat. Although, at times, the cracker’s garlic flavor confused my tongue into thinking I was eating something slightly burnt. But then again, maybe me tasting something burnt could just be a symptom of a rare medical condition.

Or maybe I watch too much House, M.D..

The pleasant garlic flavor is mild and does linger in your mouth after eating them, so I’d recommend having a mint or piece of gum afterwards.

Or stop being a mouthbreather.

(Nutrition Facts – 5 crackers – Garlic Butter – 80 calories, 4 grams of fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat*, 2 grams of polyunsaturated fat, 1 gram of monounsaturated fat, 110 milligrams of sodium, 10 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 1 gram of sugar, and less than 1 gram of protein. Honey Wheat – 80 calories, 4 grams of fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat*, 2 grams of polyunsaturated fat, 0.5 grams of monounsaturated fat, 110 milligrams of sodium, 10 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of fiber, 2 grams of sugar, and 1 gram of protein.)

*Uses partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil

Item: Ritz Crackers (Garlic Butter and Honey Wheat)
Price: $3.00 each (on sale)
Size: 15.1 ounces
Purchased at: Safeway
Rating: 7 out of 10 (Garlic Butter)
Rating: 6 out of 10 (Honey Wheat)
Pros: Garlic Butter has a pleasant garlic flavor. Honey Wheat has a decent sweet and salty flavor. Honey Wheat provides 1 gram of whole grain in each cracker. Funny cheese names.
Cons: Uses partially hydrogenated oil. Honey flavor could’ve been amped up a little. Self-diagnosing yourself. Can’t stare at Dr. Cuddy’s cleavage on House anymore. Gated communities.

PRIZE DRAWING: Because I Impulsively Purchased A Gift Card While Waiting In A Slow Checkout Line

Marvo 198 Comments

I'm Lovin' It

While waiting in the checkout line, some people impulsively buy candy, gum, or a copy of the National Enquirer with an unflattering picture of some celebrity. I didn’t buy any of that. Instead, I impulsively purchased a $25 McDonald’s gift card and now I’m giving it away to a lucky Impulsive Buy reader.

If you happen to win the gift card, don’t thank me. You should thank the mother in front of me in the checkout line who requested two price checks and didn’t have her coupons out when she reached the cashier. If I didn’t have to wait in line for as long as I did, I wouldn’t have seen the gift card hanging above the checkout line’s gum and candy shelves, and the idea of a prize drawing wouldn’t have popped into my head.

To enter The Impulsive Buy’s McDonald’s gift card drawing, leave a comment with THIS post. I don’t really care what you say in your comment, but it would be nice if you told me which McDonaldland character you would most want to party with in Las Vegas. For those of you who need a McDonaldland refresher course, Wikipedia has a list of McDonaldland characters.

Please don’t forget to fill out the email field because I’ll be emailing the winner for his or her mailing address. The Impulsive Buy will stop accepting entries on Friday, September 30, 2011 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. U.S.-only because the gift card can only be used in the U.S.

There’s one more thing. If you have a Twitter account, you can get an additional entry if you tweet the following before Friday, September 30, 2011 11:59 p.m. Hawaii Standard Time:

@theimpulsivebuy I’d like to party with (insert here the McDonaldland character you would like to party with the most) in Vegas. BIG MAC 4 LYFE!

So just copy, paste, insert the McDonaldland character you’d like to party with, and tweet. Only one tweet per Twitter account.

Good luck!

Fine Print: McDonald’s is not affiliated with this prize drawing. The Impulsive Buy promises your email address will not be used to send you email in Arabic. The Impulsive Buy also promises your mailing address will not be used to send you letters to encourage you to switch your car insurance over to State Farm. Bribes will not be accepted. The Impulsive Buy will not be responsible for lost mail, damaged mail, or anything you do in Vegas.

Image via flickr user Ricardo Ricote Rodríguez / CC BY 2.0