SPOTTED ON SHELVES – 3/14/2016

Here are some interesting new and limited edition products found on store shelves by us and your fellow readers. If you’ve tried any of the products, share your thoughts about them in the comments.

Trader Joe's Triple Threat

Trader Joe’s Triple Threat

Hot! Hot! Hot! (Spotted by @TasteTestFilms at Trader Joe’s.)

Trader Joe's Gluten Free Crispy Crunchy Ginger Chunk Cookies

Trader Joe’s Gluten Free Crispy Crunchy Ginger Chunk Cookies

Mmmm. Melt in my mouth. (Spotted by Sylvia at Trader Joe’s.)

Trader Joe's Organic Black Bean Rotini

Trader Joe’s Organic Black Bean Rotini

Trick your foodie friends into thinking this is squid ink rotini. (Spotted by Sylvia at Trader Joe’s.)

Mike and Ike Mega Mix

Mike and Ike Mega Mix

Mike and Ike Mega Mix 2

I think ten flavors would be considered a “mega mix.” (Spotted by Joshua G at Dollar Tree.)

Peeps Marshmallow Lollipops Purple

Peeps Marshmallow Lollipops Purple

Peeps Marshmallow Lollipops Red

Peeps Marshmallow Lollipops Red

Peeps White Fudge Coated Marshmallow Lollipops

Peeps White Fudge Coated Marshmallow Lollipops

I bet it’s like licking sandpaper. (Spotted by Amanda at Target.)

Hidden Valley Greek Yogurt Dressing (Ranch and Cucumber Dill)

Hidden Valley Greek Yogurt Dressing (Ranch and Cucumber Dill)

There’s also a Creamy Caesar variety. (Spotted by Amanda at Kroger.)

Hellmann's Organic Mayonnaise (Original, Spicy Chipotle, and Roasted Garlic)

Hellmann’s Organic Mayonnaise (Original, Spicy Chipotle, and Roasted Garlic)

Bring out the Hellmann’s and bring out the best. (Spotted by Deborah S at H-E-B.)

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.

FAST FOOD NEWS: Taco Bell’s $1 Morning Value Menu

Taco Bell s $1 Morning Value Menu

Taco Bell has a new $1 Morning Value Menu and it features three new items:

The Mini Skillet Bowl contains seasoned breakfast potatoes, scrambled eggs, nacho cheese sauce, and pico de gallo. It has 180 calories, 11 grams of fat, 2 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 85 milligrams of cholesterol, 430 milligrams of sodium, 16 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 1 gram of sugar, and 5 grams of protein.

The Breakfast Soft Taco features a flour tortilla filled with scrambled eggs, cheddar cheese, and your choice of sausage crumbles or bacon. A Breakfast Soft Taco with bacon has 230 calories, 14 grams of fat, 5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 105 milligrams of cholesterol, 590 milligrams of sodium, 15 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of fiber, 1 gram of sugar, and 12 grams of protein.

Finally, the Sausage Flatbread Quesadilla is made up of a flatbread filled with a three cheese blend, sausage crumbles, and scrambled eggs. The item has 330 calories. (The full nutrition facts don’t seem to be up on the Taco Bell website. The numbers shown appear to be for a sausage-less version.)

The $1 Morning Value Menu also includes the Grilled Breakfast Burrito, Hash Browns, Cinnabon Delight 2-pack, and a small Mountain Dew Kickstart Orange Citrus.

If you’ve tried any of the new items, let us know what you think of them in the comments.

(Image via Taco Bell’s Facebook)

REVIEW: Airheads Birthday Cake

Airheads Birthday Cake

Airheads is celebrating its 30th birthday in 2016.

M&M’s is celebrating its 75th birthday in 2016.

Look, I know that M&M’s flavored like Airheads and Airheads stuffed with M&M’s Minis is probably too much to ask for, but at least give me an HD video of that cute Brown M&M sensually eating a Watermelon Airhead while singing “Happy Birthday, Mr. Candy President.”

Now before you finish typing “how to file a restraining order” into your search bar, hear me out. It took M&M’s — a chocolate candy — all the way until its 73rd birthday to jump the artificially flavored shark and try a birthday cake flavor.

Typically fruity Airheads made this bizarre leap in less than half the time, making me think someone at Airheads HQ Googled “what flavors does Buzzfeed write about please help us we’re out of ideas.”

Airheads Birthday Cake 2

So here I sit with a Birthday Cake Airhead. It looks like someone cut the tongue right out of Yoshi from Super Mario Bros.’ mouth and dunked it in a bowl of Funfetti batter. The slimy gloss on the taffy further supports my grim hypothesis.

I always knew the Pillsbury Doughboy wasn’t right in the head.

Even though feeling the gritty, sticky texture of this Airhead is like sharing Play-Doh with the dopey, drooling kid from pre-school, I bit off a hunk anyway. I chewed, I chewed, the fish in my aquarium evolved a pair of legs, and I continued chewing.

It really does take a long time to chew through this Airhead. I timed it at about 40 seconds for each sizable bite. By the time I finished, my fish were Cro-Magnon men. My journey through time covered several distinct taste eras, so allow me to break this down, National Geographic style.

0-10 seconds: The Buttercream Era

During this period of early development, indigenous Airhead eaters were stunned by just how much it tasted like cake frosting. A palatable butteriness and a lip-smacking whipped cream sweetness allowed them to survive in an otherwise challenging time plagued by a gross mouthfeel.

11-20 seconds: The Vanilla Era.

Our humble, chewing natives experienced a brief period of splendor, as a storm of intense vanilla flavor graced them with its pleasant taste. Faint notes of eggy yellow cake began to grow from the half-chewed Airhead soil, and all were pleased by this harvest.

21-30 seconds: The Powdered Sugar Era

This good fortune could not last. As the mealy mush of chewed Airhead began degrading into a sopping pile of grit within the chewers’ mouths, volcanoes of confectioner’s sugar erupted cloying, glazed lava. Tasters everywhere were sickened by its tooth-rotting sweetness.

31-40 seconds: The “I Don’t Even Know Anymore, Dude” Era

Ruin befell the Airhead eaters. All that remained after their earlier tragedy were puddles of sugar granules and saliva, as well as an off-putting waxy aftertaste that radiated from the backs of their throats. They say, “those who don’t learn from history are bound to repeat it,” and these chewers were idiots. So they took another bite.

Airheads Birthday Cake 3

That’s the Cliffs Notes version. For a while, this taffy actually did taste uncannily like a heavily frosted birthday cake. The problem is that cake flavor and taffy texture together is about as appealing as nuts and gum. It’s an odd experience that might be worth the novelty, but Airheads would have been better off choosing a safer flavor. Pineapple upside-down cake? Banana crème pie? Anyone? Bueller?

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to study the next chapter on 7-10pm: The “Stuffs his Face with Crispy M&M’s and Cries” Period.

(Nutrition Facts – 1 bar – 60 calories, 5 calories from fat, 1 gram of fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 10 milligrams of sodium, 142 grams of carbohydrates, 9 grams of sugar, and 0 grams of protein..)

Purchased Price: $1.89
Size: 6 bar variety pack
Purchased at: Kroger
Rating: 4 out of 10
Pros: Brief buttercream blasts. Fleeting vanilla resplendence. Chewing for long enough to kill time at the DMV. The Brown M&M.
Cons: Sarcastically exclaiming, “cake and taffy: together at last!” Slimy, saliva-soaked sugar paste. Birthday candle aftertaste. The Pillsbury Dahmer-boy.

SPOTTED ON SHELVES: Lay’s Kettle Cooked Lattice Cut Sea Salt Potato Chips

Lay's Kettle Cooked Lattice Cut Sea Salt Potato Chips

I’m surprised this wasn’t one of the original flavors when Lay’s introduced their lattice cut chips two years ago. (Spotted by Marvo at Times.)

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’ve tried the product, share your thoughts about it in the comments.

SPOTTED ON SHELVES: 7-Eleven Cherry and Blue Raspberry Slurpee Cotton Candy

7-Eleven Cherry and Blue Raspberry Slurpee Cotton Candy

You won’t get brain freeze with these, but you’ll definitely get sticky fingers. (Spotted by Chris B at 7-Eleven.)

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’ve tried the product, share your thoughts about it in the comments.