REVIEW: KFC Spicy Famous Bowl

KFC Spicy Famous Bowl

Mamma mia! That’s a spicy… um, Famous Bowl?

While at a broad glance, a big bowl full of KFC’s famous brown gravy doesn’t look like it would or should mix with a moderate size drizzle of its new-ish Nashville Hot sauce all that well, but good God almighty if they don’t make quite the sexy pair of tongue-searing bedfellows.

The Famous Bowl has long been the much maligned trough of just about everything on the menu that, against all odds and most expectations, has managed to stay on KFC’s famed menu for quite a while now despite it being a heaping helping of a dystopic future. And, for $3 bucks, that’s really some budget-friendly mass caloric intake that most of America seems more than comfortable to ease our downfall with.

Like a few of its other, more recent menu additions, KFC is adding a straight bit of heat in the form of said Nashville Hot sauce on the tops of these famous bowls. It creates a unique source of tangy hotness that feels like the exact element these bowls have been missing for so long, freeing it and us from downing basically a big bowl of sodium-heavy mush.

KFC Spicy Famous Bowl 2

Each plastic bowl, loaded to the hilt with, of course, creamy mashed potatoes, firm sweet corn, and crispy chicken bites, as well as the comforting gravy and three shredded cheeses of varying flavors, are taken to a newer level. Not a proud level, but at the very least, a higher one. Each crunchy chicken bite now has a great kick to it, mingling the gritty pepper with the smooth capsicum, a little bit going a very long way.

It’s a nice little burn that’s totally unexpected and morbidly welcomed, the burn quickly diffusing however with the warm gravy and the warmer mashed potatoes providing a different kind of incandescence.

The heat stays for just a couple of self-torturing beats, the uncomfortability leaving when you’re ready. It’s a nice change of sweltering pace from the usual item of fast food burritos and so on. Not that there’s anything wrong with burritos, of course.

KFC Spicy Famous Bowl 3

The addition of Nashville hot sauce is such a deserving landmark, one that I honestly would like to see them try in the near future with its Georgia Gold additive as well. Really, KFC, anything you can do to make the body-polluting bowl into a more pleasant diversion of taste, here’s my three dollars, have a prototype on my desk by Monday.

And yes, the irony isn’t lost on me over the fact that the Nashville Hot sauce isn’t as great on the individual chicken bearing its name. However, though it took a few trying months, I think we have a purely Southern victory of taste and flavor that would even make the Colonel stand up in his coffin and give a postmortem salute. Cómpralo ya!

Purchased Price: $3.00
Size: N/A
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 720 calories, 34 grams of fat, 7 grams of saturated fat, 0 gram of trans fat, 45 milligrams of cholesterol, 2370 milligrams of sodium, 79 grams of carbohydrates, 6 grams of fiber, 3 grams of sugar, and 23 grams of protein.

SPOTTED (VALENTINE EDITION) – 1/8/2019

Here are some new Valentine’s Day products found on store shelves by your fellow readers. If you’ve tried any of them, share your thoughts in the comments.

Reese s Peanut Butter Cups Lovemojis

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups Lovemojis

20190103 184420 resized jpg

(Spotted by Robbie at Target.)

White Creme Reese s Peanut Butter Pink Hearts

White Creme Reese’s Peanut Butter Pink Hearts

(Spotted by Robbie at Walmart.)

Reese s Lovers Collection

Reese’s Lovers Collection

(Spotted by Robbie at CVS.)

Reese s Stuffed with Pieces Miniatures Valentines Design

Reese’s Stuffed with Pieces Miniatures Valentines Design

(Spotted by Robbie at Target.)

Reese s Stuffed with Pieces 5 ounce Heart

Reese’s Stuffed with Pieces 5-ounce Heart

(Spotted by Rachel C at Target.)

Valentine s Exchange Hershey s Milk Chocolate

Valentine’s Exchange Hershey’s Milk Chocolate

(Spotted by Robbie at CVS.)

Hershey s Gold Peanuts  Pretzels Hearts

Hershey’s Gold Peanuts & Pretzels Hearts

(Spotted by Sarah D at Walmart.)

Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Caramel Duet Hearts

Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Caramel Duet Hearts

Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Duet Hearts

Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Duet Hearts

(Spotted by Sylvia at CVS.)

Russell Stover Champagne  Strawberries Marshmallow

Russell Stover Champagne & Strawberries Marshmallow

Russell Stover Champagne  Strawberries Truffles

Russell Stover Champagne & Strawberries Truffles

(Spotted by Sylvia at CVS.)

Thank you to all the photo contributors! If you’re out shopping and see an interesting new 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. 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 want to send in photos and are wondering if we’ve already covered something, don’t worry about it. Let us worry about it.

SPOTTED: Pepperidge Farm Goldfish Epic Crunch

Pepperidge Farm Goldfish Epic Crunch Ranch

Pepperidge Farm Goldfish Epic Crunch Ranch

Pepperidge Farm Goldfish Epic Crunch Nacho

Pepperidge Farm Goldfish Epic Crunch Nacho

Pepperidge Farm Goldfish Epic Crunch Honey BBQ

Pepperidge Farm Goldfish Epic Crunch Honey BBQ

Do the cool kids still use “epic”? Oh well, at least Pepperidge Farm didn’t use “extreme” or “xtreme” again. (Spotted by Rachel C at Target.)

Thank you to all the photo contributors! If you’re out shopping and see an interesting new 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. 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 want to send in photos and are wondering if we’ve already covered something or if the product is old, don’t worry about it. Let us worry about it.

SPOTTED: Chips Ahoy and Oreo White Fudge Dipped Thins Bites

Chips Ahoy Original Thins Bites

Oreo White Fudge Dipped Thins Bites

The Chips Ahoy Thins Bites reminds me that Chips Ahoy Thins didn’t get any love last year. (Spotted by Amanda Y at Target.)

Thank you to all the photo contributors! If you’re out shopping and see an interesting new 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. 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 want to send in photos and are wondering if we’ve already covered something or if the product is old, don’t worry about it. Let us worry about it.

REVIEW: Carrot Cake Oreo Cookies

Carrot Cake Oreo Cookies

Nabisco’s perpetual announcements of new Oreo flavors elicit varied feelings of jubilation, shock, and disgust from the general public. I, for one, was delighted when I learned they were releasing Carrot Cake Oreo, since carrot cake is my all-time favorite dessert.

Just like everyone else, I was surprised that this seemingly Easter-themed cookie was being released in early January. But if you don’t like that, you don’t have to buy it yet.

Carrot Cake Oreo Cookies 2

When I first opened the package, I got a strong whiff of the “cream cheese frosting flavor creme,” which I will just call “creme cheese.” On second thought, that sounds terrible. Even though the creme doesn’t use any real cream cheese, the aroma is spot on.

When I bit into the first cookie, I was amazed. Nabisco nailed it! It really does taste like carrot cake! There’s a bit of an aftertaste that doesn’t exactly mimic a real cake, but that’s a minor quibble.

Carrot Cake Oreo Cookies 3

Next, I isolated the elements. The creme tastes exactly like cream cheese frosting. I don’t know how they did it without any dairy products, but it works. (If you don’t like cream cheese frosting, stay far, far away.) It’s probably the same filling they use in the Red Velvet variety, but I didn’t compare them side by side.

On its own, the cookie is only vaguely reminiscent of carrot cake. It tastes like a graham cracker with spices; in fact, I’m guessing they took the graham cookie they use for some of the pie flavors and added “spice” to it. (“Spice” is what is named on the ingredient list.) But I’m not complaining, because it’s still a fine cookie, and it works so well with the filling. There might also be some orange-colored specks in there; it’s hard to tell.

Unfortunately, there are no carrots in the ingredients, so the stereotypes don’t apply here. These cookies won’t give you better eyesight, your pet rabbit won’t like them, and you won’t turn orange from eating too many.

Carrot Cake Oreo Cookies 4

Of course, any Oreo must be tried with milk. For this particular flavor, I didn’t much care for it when I dunked it. It made the cream cheese creme far too overpowering. But I did enjoy having the milk on the side.

I like my carrot cakes soft and moist. (I know some of you hate that word, but I don’t care. Moist moist moist!) If, however, you’re craving a carrot cake that is crunchy and dry, this is exactly what you need.

Purchased Price: $2.99
Size: 12.2 oz. package
Purchased at: Target
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (2 cookies) 140 calories, 6 grams of total fat, 2 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 65 milligrams of sodium, 21 grams of total carbohydrates, 0 grams of dietary fiber, 13 grams of total sugars, 13 grams of added sugars, and less than 1 gram of protein.

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