NEWS: Jack in the Box’s Value Deal Includes New Chicken Nuggets and Jr. Jack

Jack In The Box

Yes! Jack in the Box has chicken nuggets!

Wow. I used exclamation points. I must be really excited about Jack’s nuggets.

But, now that I think about it, I kind of regret using exclamation points because I’m not that enthusiastic about them, but I’m too lazy to hit the up arrow key to change them, and the more I type, the farther away they become.

Jack’s nuggets are available in six-pieces and in five-pieces, if you order the new Value Deal, which also includes a Jr. Jack, 16-ounce Value Drink, and Value Fries, all for $3.99. What’s a Jr. Jack? I think I can best explain it in the form of a SAT or GRE exam analogy — Whopper Jr. : Whopper :: Jr. Jack : Jumbo Jack.

A Jr. Jack without cheese has 325 calories, 15 grams of fat, 5 grams of saturated fat, 1 gram of trans fat, 716 milligrams of sodium, 32 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 5 grams of sugar, and 13 grams of protein. There isn’t any nutritional info for five chicken nuggets, but there is for six, which has 238 calories, 17 grams of fat, 2 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 26 milligrams of cholesterol, 604 milligrams of sodium, 13 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, and 9 grams of protein.

Image via flickr user Matt McGee / CC BY ND 2.0

NEWS: Dunkin’ Donuts Makes Breakfast Burritos But Still No Breakfast Donut Sandwich

I’ve proclaimed many times on this semipopular product review blog my desire to see Dunkin’ Donuts put out a breakfast sandwich that uses their donuts as the bread. But it doesn’t appear to be happening this month because instead of a sweet and savory donut breakfast sandwich, Dunkin’ introduced two new breakfast burritos, the Southwest Veggie Breakfast Burrito and the Southwest Steak Breakfast Burrito.

Come on, Dunkin’! Whose donut hole do I have to tickle to make the donut sandwich a reality?

The Southwest Veggie Breakfast Burrito is stuffed with scrambled eggs, Pepper Jack and Monterey cheeses, roasted corn, black beans, sweet potatoes, and Southwest seasonings. The steak version has steak, duh, scrambled eggs, Pepper Jack and Monterey cheeses, regular potatoes, fire-roasted onions and peppers, and Southwest seasonings.

The Southwest Steak Breakfast Burrito has 340 calories, 170 calories from fat, 19 grams of fat, 8 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 175 milligrams of sodium, 1,140 milligrams of sodium, 26 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 4 grams of sugar, and 16 grams of protein. The veggie version has 330 calories, 150 calories from fat, 17 grams of fat, 8 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 185 milligrams of sodium, 1,040 milligrams of sodium, 30 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 4 grams of sugar, and 16 grams of protein.

NEWS: Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-Robbins Offers Men In Black 3 Inspired Menu Items

I look forward to summer blockbusters because with those big budget films I can expect a barrage of new or limited edition products to promote them. When the movie involves aliens, I can expect green colored items. Case in point, Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-Robbins are each offering several new limited time only menu items inspired by the upcoming movie Men In Black 3, and some of them are green.

Dunkin’ Donuts’ new items are:

Black Cocoa Creme Iced Coffee – combines freshly brewed iced coffee with the taste of cookies and cream, and it’s served with a special pink and black straw. A large without cream has 230 calories, 1 gram of fat, 135 milligrams of sodium, 52 grams of carbohydrates, and 45 grams of sugar.

Undercover Black Cocoa Donut – a star-shaped donut filled with brownie batter butter creme and topped with chocolate icing and star sprinkles. One donut has 340 calories, 16 grams of fat, 7 grams of saturated fat, 330 milligrams of sodium, 47 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, and 25 grams of sugar,

Chocolate Lunarmax Donut – a glazed chocolate cake donut with rich chocolate icing drizzle and star sprinkles. It has 400 calories, 24 grams of fat, 11 grams of saturated fat, 400 milligrams of sodium, 41 grams of carbohydrates, and 21 grams of sugar.

Baskin-Robbins’ new items:

Pink Surprise Cake – a triple layer ice cream cake made of Oreo Cookies ‘n Cream ice cream sandwiched between two layers of Devil’s Food Cake and adorned with pink frosting roses.

Flavor of the Month Lunar Cheesecake – features green and white cheesecake ice cream with cheesecake bits and a crunchy graham cracker ribbon. A 2.5 ounce scoop has 180 calories, 11 grams of fat, 6 grams of saturated fat, 100 milligrams of sodium, 19 grams of carbohydrates, and 16 grams of sugar.

Spacey Sundaes – the Lunar Lander sundae features Lunar Cheesecake ice cream topped with marshmallow, white cake pieces, graham crackers, caramel, whipped cream and a cherry, while the Agent 31 sundae is made up of Chocolate Fudge ice cream topped with brownie pieces, hot fudge, chocolate sprinkles, whipped cream and a cherry. The Lunar Lander sundae has 820 calories, 30 grams of fat, 15 grams of saturated fat, 1 gram of trans fat, 130 grams of carbohydrates, and 98 grams of sugar. The Agent 31 sundae has 850 calories, 40 grams of fat, 29 grams of saturated fat, 1 gram of trans fat, 131 grams of carbohydrates, and 94 grams of sugar.

Triple Mocha Cappuccino Blast – a combination of cappuccino flavor base, milk, Chocolate ice cream and chocolate syrup blended with ice and topped with whipped cream and a chocolate drizzle. A 24-ounce size has 820 calories, 34 grams of fat, 24 grams of saturated fat, 0.5 grams of trans fat, 131 grams of carbohydrates, and 90 grams of sugar.

Men in Black 3 opens on May 25th.

NEWS: Get 50 Percent Less Sugar Brain Freezes With New Slurpee Lite

Lost Slurpee

Have you ever regretted drinking a 40-ounce Slurpee?

I have. But only because of the excessive amounts of sugar I consumed and brain freezes, and not because a man of my age shouldn’t be drinking something called a Slurpee. Thankfully, there’s now Slurpee Lite, which is sugar free and has 50 percent fewer calories than some regular Slurpee flavors.

The first Slurpee Lite flavor is Fanta Sugar-Free Mango.

In order to be sugar free, the frozen beverage has to contain an artificial sweetener, and Fanta chose sucralose.

This isn’t the first time Slurpee has come out with a sugar-free version. There have been several sugar-free Slurpees in the past, like their Sugar Free Blueberry Splash and the Crystal Light flavors, but this is the first to be under the new Slurpee Lite label.

According to the Slurpee website, there are plans to introduce more Slurpee Lite flavors throughout the year.

Update: We’re received information about upcoming Slurpee Lite flavors. In July, Slurpee Lite Strawberry Banana will be released. And, in August, Slurpee Lite Cherry Limeade will become available.

A 12-ounce serving has 30 calories, 0 grams of fat, 10 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of sugar, and 6.5 grams of fiber. Yes, I did just type 6.5 grams of fiber, which is more than 20 percent of your daily recommended intake for fiber.

Image via flickr user fauxto_digit / CC BY ND 2.0

NEWS: Starbucks Introduces Mocha Cookie Crumble and Chocolate Cookie Crumble Creme Frappuccino Beverages

Starbucks Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccino Closeup-WM

Update: Click here to read our Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccino review

This week, Starbucks released two new Frappuccino flavors for you to get brain freezes with, the Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccino and Chocolate Cookie Crumble Creme Frappuccino.

The Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccino brings together a mocha sauce, vanilla syrup, Frappuccino chips, Starbucks signature Frappuccino Roast coffee, and milk blended with ice and topped with a chocolaty whipped cream and chocolate cookie crumbles. Yup, it totally sounds like a nice summer beverage that will help you not look good in your bathing suit. A 16-ounce serving with 2% milk has 470 calories, 18 grams of fat, 12 grams of saturated fat, 260 milligrams of sodium, 76 grams of carbohydrates, 69 grams of sugar, 2 grams of fiber, 6 grams of protein, and 105 milligrams of sweet, sweet caffeine.

If you want a slightly better for you option, there’s the new Chocolate Cookie Crumble Creme Frappuccino, which has everything the Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccino has, except the Starbucks signature Frappuccino Roast coffee. A 16-ounce serving of the coffee-less beverage with 2% milk has 440 calories, 19 grams of fat, 12 grams of saturated fat, 280 milligrams of sodium, 66 grams of carbohydrates, 60 grams of sugar, 2 grams of fiber, and 7 grams of protein, but only has 15 milligrams of sweet, sweet caffeine.

Both varieties are available at Starbucks locations for a limited time. Starbucks is also bringing back for a limited time the Mocha Coconut Frappuccino and the Coconut Creme Frappuccino blended beverages.

But some of you might be asking your computer monitor in hopes of talking to me, “But what if I want to enjoy the flavor of a Starbucks Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccino without having to put on pants?” Well, Starbucks has you covered there because they’re also offering this summer at grocery stores a Limited Edition Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccino Ice Cream and a Cookies & Cream Frappuccino bottled coffee drink.

A 1/2 cup serving of the ice cream has 250 calories, 12 grams of fat, 7 grams of saturated fat, 60 milligrams of sodium, 21 grams of sugar, 1 gram of fiber, and 4 grams of protein. A 9.5-ounce bottle of the Cookies & Cream Frappuccino has 190 calories, 3.5 grams of fat, 105 milligrams of sodium, 33 grams of carbohydrates, 32 grams of sugar, and 6 grams of protein.

Both items should be popping up in stores soon.