SPOTTED ON SHELVES – 11/7/2012

Here are some new and limited edition products found on store shelves by us and your fellow readers. We may or may not review them, but we’d like to let you know what new items are popping up. We’ll also occasionally throw in an unusual product.

Campbell's Skillet Sauces

Campbell’s Skillet Sauces come in six flavors: Creamy Chipotle, Scampi, Fire Roasted Tomato, Thai Green Curry, Toasted Sesame, and Marsala. And with these sauces it’s super easy to trick someone into thinking you have culinary skills. Just heat oil, then heat meat and/or veggies, then stir in the sauce, let the meat and veggies cook, throw away the Campbell’s Skillet Sauces packet into a neighbor’s garbage can, and then shred the store receipt with the Campbell’s Skillet Sauce listed on it. Evidence gone. (Spotted at Target.)

Campbell's Chunky Kickin' Buffalo-Style Chicken

Campbell’s Chunky Soup is the “soup that eats like a meal.” But for this particular flavor, I think they should change it to say, “soup that eats like an appetizer at an establishment more known for their scantily clad employees than their food.” But I don’t think a graphic designer could nicely fit all of that on the label. By the way, Dude Foods reviewed it. (Spotted at Target.)

Ice Cream Oreo Cookies n' Creme

I remember when Limited Edition Ice Cream Oreo Cookies n’ Creme was Limited Edition Oreo DQ Blizzard Creme way back in 2010. (Spotted at Walmart. Spotted by Adam.)

Land O Lakes Italian Herb Saute Express

Yeah! Culinary cheating! I’m gonna cheat my way to the Masterchef title! (Spotted at Food Lion. Spotted by Nadirah.)

popbox

Microwaveable popcorn that pops in a box. I want a company to make microwaveable popcorn that pops in gigantic tubs and charges me $10 for it, just like the movie theaters do. (Spotted at HEB. Spotted by Tabetha.)

If you’re out shopping and see a new or limited edition product on the shelf (or really unusual), snap a picture of it, and send us an email ([email protected]) with where you found it and “Spotted” in the subject line. If you do so, you might see your picture in our next Spotted on Shelves post.

REVIEW: McDonald’s Holiday Mint McFlurry

Holiday Mint McFlurry

Usually, the McFlurry add-ins are mixed with the soft serve, but as you can see in the photo on the right that wasn’t the case with the McDonald’s Holiday Mint McFlurry I received.

It wasn’t a problem because I have opposable thumbs and extremely strong wrists to mix everything.

Also, I like the add-ins dumped on top like that because seeing all the red and green peppermint candy pieces made the McFlurry look more holiday-ish than if they were blended with the vanilla soft serve.

Having the candy pieces floating on the quickly melting soft serve also made the top of my McFlurry look like regurgitated crayons, a color blindness test, and the bottom of a fish bowl.

I originally thought the red and green pieces were minty candy coated chocolate, but after reading the ingredients list, it turns out they’re not chocolate and one-third of their ingredients are food dyes.

Here’s the ingredients list for those of you who are totally into food dyes: sugar, fractionated palm kernel oil, nonfat milk, corn syrup, corn cereal, modified food starch, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, degerminated yellow corn meal, soy lecithin, Red 40 Lake, natural flavor (botanical source), Yellow 5 Lake, salt, Blue 1 Lake, Turmeric Extract (Color), Red 40, Blue 1.

Mmm…degerminated yellow corn meal and Red 40.

Holiday Mint McFlurry Closeup

After using my opposable thumbs and strong wrists to combine the reduced fat vanilla soft serve, mint syrup, and peppermint candy pieces, my mouth soon discovered how minty the McDonald’s Holiday Mint McFlurry was. There were no bursts of peppermint going off in my mouth, which would’ve make the cold soft serve feel even colder and make my mouth feel like it’s hosting a ski resort. The peppermint candies were equally minty and sweet, and reminded me of Wrigley’s Doublemint Gum.

The peppermint candy pieces weren’t really what I would call crunchy, but had a firmness to them. Even though they were made with corn cereal and corn meal, they surprisingly didn’t get soggy while sitting in my half-melted McFlurry. I hope whatever processed food voodoo McDonald’s is doing to prevent them from getting soggy ends up in our breakfast cereals.

One last thing about the peppermint candy pieces. I thought they were harmless, nutritionally, because they’re made with bunch of corn products, dyes, and no chocolate, but they provide eight of the 15 grams of saturated fat in this McFlurry.

The vanilla soft serve and mint syrup was a nice combination, so much so that I’d like to do a McHack that involves adding the mint syrup to an Oreo McFlurry.

Overall, McDonald’s Holiday Mint McFlurry was a delightful treat, and if I’m feeling the holiday spirit, my opposable thumbs and strong wrists could see themselves mixing another.

(Nutrition Facts – 570 calories, 190 calories from fat, 21 grams of fat, 15 grams of saturated fat, 0.5 grams of trans fat, 45 milligrams of cholesterol, 170 milligrams of sodium, 84 grams of carbohydrates, 76 grams of sugar, 0 grams of fiber, 12 grams of protein.)

Other McDonald’s Holiday Mint McFlurry reviews:
Brand Eating

Item: McDonald’s Holiday Mint McFlurry
Purchased Price: $2.99
Size: 12 ounces
Purchased at: McDonald’s
Rating: 7 out of 10
Pros: Delightful. Pleasant mintiness. Colorful, if the peppermint candies are dumped on top. McHacks. Peppermint candy didn’t get soggy in melted soft serve. Opposable thumbs and strong wrists.
Cons: Awesome source of food dyes. Awesome source of saturated fat. Peppermint candy pieces created using processed food voodoo. The candy pieces on top looked like the bottom of a fish bowl.

PRIZE DRAWING: Because Some of You Would Love To Have 50 Matches of Double XP for Halo 4

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Do you plan to play Halo 4? Or are you right now giving your hands a break after hours of playing Halo 4? If so, do you know what would be helpful?

Fifty matches of Double XP.

To be honest, I have no idea what that means. But one lucky Impulsive Buy reader can acquire those 50 matches of Double XP, if they’re randomly selected in our Halo 4 Mtn Dew/Doritos Prize Pack drawing.

This prize pack, courtesy of Mountain Dew and Doritos, is made up of a Limited Edition Halo 4 Doritos and Limited Edition Halo 4 Mountain Dew. The Doritos bag and Mountain Dew can each have a special code for 25 matches of Double XP. The Doritos bag is also signed by folks from 343 Industries, the developers of Halo. Inside the Doritos bag is regular Doritos and inside the can is regular Mountain Dew.

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To enter The Impulsive Buy’s Halo 4 Mtn Dew/Doritos Prize Pack drawing, leave a comment with THIS post. You can say whatever you want in your comment, but it would be nice if it included a poem about Master Chief or Halo fan fiction you wrote.

Please don’t forget to fill out the email field because we’ll be emailing the randomly selected winner for his or her mailing addresses. The Impulsive Buy will stop accepting entries on Sunday, November 11, 2012 11:59 p.m. Hawaii Standard Time. Only one comment allowed per person, and it’s only open to U.S. residents 18 years old or older.

For those of you who have a Twitter account, you can get an additional entry by tweeting the following by Sunday, November 11, 2012 11:59 p.m. Hawaii Standard Time:

@theimpulsivebuy Master Chief hit his head on the reef. But he’s all right because his helmet is on tight. #HALO4

So just copy, paste, and tweet. Only one tweet per Twitter account.

Good luck!

Fine Print: The Impulsive Buy promises your email address will not be used to send you pictures of the sunny weather here in Hawaii. Impulsive Buy also promises your mailing address will not be used to send you postcards of Hawaii landmarks. Bribes will not be accepted. The Impulsive Buy will not be responsible for lost mail, damaged mail, or lack of sleep due to Halo 4.

SPOTTED ON SHELVES (HOLIDAY EDITION) – 11/5/2012

Here are some new and limited edition holiday products found on store shelves by us and your fellow readers. We may or may not review them, but we’d like to let you know what new items are popping up.

White Fudge Oreo

Limited Edition White Fudge Oreo cookies are back! And now that they’re back, I’d like someone to open a package on a snowy day, blindly throw all the cookies out into the snow, and then try to find them. Junk Food Guy reviewed them last year. (Spotted at Walmart. Spotted by Mike)

Winter Oreo

Winter Oreo cookies with red creme are back for the umpteenth straight year! I haven’t picked up these seasonal Oreo cookies in a while because they freak me out. The red and black combination is kind of ominous. Also, because the creme is red and my tongue is almost as red, when I lick it, it looks like I’m French kissing the cookie. (Spotted at Target)

Holiday Colored Goldfish

Speaking of snacks we enjoy that are available in holiday colors, but taste exactly like their regular versions, Pepperidge Farms has Goldfish crackers that come in “Fun Holiday Flavors.” Those colors are red and green, which make the Goldfish look like red snappers and green-blue snappers. (Spotted at Target)

Limited Edition Peppermint Milano Slices

Oh, peppermint. Throughout most of the year your presence is isolated within the gum/mints section. But during November and December you break free from that and you’re like a monkey that’s escaped from its cage at a zoo. (Spotted at Target)

Glade Fall Collection 2012

Febreze Limited Edition Fall

Glade Limited Edition Fall Collection on clearance? Wait a minute! Fall isn’t even over. Well, I guess if I want to make my bathroom smell like fall throughout the rest of fall, I should stock up. (Spotted at Target)

If you’re out shopping and see a new or limited edition product on the shelf, snap a picture of it, and send us an email ([email protected]) with where you found it and “Spotted” in the subject line. If you do so, you might see your picture in our next Spotted on Shelves post.

NEWS: I’m Dreaming of a White Chocolate Peppermint M&M’s Christmas

Update: Click here for our White Chocolate Peppermint M&M’s review

White Chocolate Peppermint M&M's

Update: Click here for our White Chocolate Peppermint M&M’s review

Mars puts out minty milk chocolate M&M’s and minty dark chocolate M&M’s, so by the power of deduction they had to make these minty white chocolate M&M’s. Yes, the minty M&M’s trilogy is complete. Although, if George Lucas has taught us anything it’s that trilogies can always be extended.

Just like last year’s Cinnamon M&M’s, I found the White Chocolate Peppermint M&M’s at Target. And just like last year’s Cinnamon M&M’s, they’ll most definitely be 30-50 percent cheaper if you buy them the day after Christmas.

A 1.5 ounce serving size has 220 calories, 11 grams of fat, 7 grams of saturated fat, 40 milligrams of sodium, 28 grams of carbohydrates, 27 grams of sugar, and 2 grams of fiber.

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