SPOTTED ON SHELVES – 5/13/2013

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.

Archer Farms Chocolate & Strawberry Dessert Flatbread

Hey, Archer Farms! Don’t you mean Chocolate & Strawberry Dessert Pizza? (Spotted by Andy at Target.)

Jolly Time Butter made with Smart Balance

One popped cup of this Jolly Time Butter made with Smart Balance popcorn has one gram of saturated fat. So if a bag has about ten popped cups, I shouldn’t be eating half the bag, which I already did. So I just consumed about 25 percent of my daily recommended amount of saturated fat. I am not smart. (Spotted by Marvo at Safeway.)

Archer Farms Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee

Without the need to make a hard sugar crust on top with a blowtorch, this coffee sound boring. Unless…I use the blowtorch to heat up the coffee. Or never mind the coffee and I’ll just blowtorch some sugar. (Spotted by Marvo at Target.)

Kraft Jet-Puffed S'moreMallows

Flat marshmallow? Yup. Limited time only? Sure. New? Not so much. (Spotted by Nadirah at Walmart.)

Thank you to all the photo contributors! If you’re out shopping and see an interesting 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.

REVIEW: Milk Chocolate M&M’s Chocolate Bar

Milk Chocolate M&M's Chocolate Bar

The color blind life can be challenging. I can remember struggling with colors since a young age, receiving criticism from my teachers for coloring the grass orange and pumpkins green in my coloring book – even though that’s what I actually saw. My inability to properly identify many of the colors soon brought forth a dislike for multicolored objects. Even sitting through an episode of Reading Rainbow was excruciating because of all the different colors in the logo – and I love LeVar Burton!

With so much color-related difficulty in my life, you might think that I would hate such a colorful candy as M&M’s, but no. For some reason, I love the little rainbow candy-coated pieces of chocolate. Sure, I might not be able to correctly tell you which colors I’m eating, but they still taste amazing. Plus, their tiny size makes them so easy to eat! My record is 154 M&M’s in three minutes. (I’m like Takeru Kobayashi, but instead of shoving wieners in my mouth, I eat candy.)

I was pretty excited when I heard about Mars’ new M&M’s Chocolate Bar. So excited, in fact, that my inner Tommy Wise broke free, and I thought, “Oh hi, Mars. M&M’s inside my candy bar? You think about everything, ha ha ha.”

But wait – haven’t I seen this M&M’s Chocolate Bar somewhere before? Oh, that’s right. Back in 2004, Mars introduced the M-Azing chocolate bar, which was only available in peanut butter and crunchy flavors. I can vaguely recall tasting an M-Azing bar and disliking it. Let’s hope this M&M Chocolate Bar does better.

I found the M&M Chocolate Bar at my local Target in the candy bar section next to the check-out line. At a mere seventy-nine cents per bar, it seemed like a true bargain.

Milk Chocolate M&M's Chocolate Bar Closeup

After removing the chocolate bar’s wrapper, I instantly noticed the imprinted design of an anthropomorphic M&M man. I don’t usually find anthropomorphic creatures on my candy bars, so this was a pleasant surprise. The chocolate bar is divided into eight sections for easy distribution among eight friends. Or if you’re like me and don’t have any friends, you’ll have to distribute the eight pieces to the various homeless men who follow you home from work everyday.

The brightly colored mini M&M’s can be seen peeking through the chocolate, giving the bar a subtle rainbow appearance. When compared to more commonly purchased chocolate such as the Hershey Bar, the M&M’s Chocolate Bar’s smell is a bit more rich and powerful, but the scent is pleasant nonetheless.

After taking my first bite of the M&M Chocolate Bar, I was surprised that the M&M’s contributed significantly less crunch than I expected. Since the M&M’s are the mini variety, they don’t add much texture to the bar. In fact, I found it pretty difficult to distinguish the M&M’s from the normal chocolate part of the bar while chewing. Everything blends together into one chocolatey mass.

Milk Chocolate M&M's Chocolate Bar Innards

Unfortunately, the chocolate used in the bar isn’t the best. It’s super sweet, almost too rich, and the M&M’s give it a somewhat chalky texture. Furthermore, it left a funny aftertaste and a strange feeling in my throat after eating all eight pieces.

Perhaps if Mars had used a higher quality chocolate in their new M&M’s Chocolate Bar, I might be a bit more of a fan. Although it’s super inexpensive, there are other chocolate bars on the market I would prefer to purchase. The M&M’s found inside of the bar fail to enhance the already unsatisfying chocolate base. Maybe if the M&M’s Chocolate Bar magically cured colorblindness, I’d consider purchasing it again, but next time, I’ll be passing this one by in the supermarket.

(Nutrition Facts – 1 bar – 220 calories, 110 calories from fat, 12 grams of total fat, 7 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 15 milligrams of cholesterol, 30 milligrams of sodium, 27 grams of total carbohydrates, 1 grams of dietary fiber, 26 grams of sugars, and 3 grams of protein.)

Other Milk Chocolate M&M’s Chocolate Bar reviews:
Candy Blog

Item: Milk Chocolate M&M’s Chocolate Bar
Purchased Price: 79 cents
Size: 1.5 oz.
Purchased at: Target
Rating: 4 out of 10
Pros: Super cheap. Pleasant chocolatey scent. Awesome anthropomorphic M&M man imprint. References to Tommy Wiseau.
Cons: Low quality chocolate. M&M’s blend in with the rest of the bar. Funny aftertaste. Doesn’t cure color blindness.

SPOTTED ON SHELVES – 5/10/2013

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.

M&M's Milk Chocolate Bar

These sound so M-Azing. Candy Blog has a review. (Spotted by Cara at Target.)

Snickers & Milky Way Unwrapped Bites

Do you have issues with portion control? Then don’t buy these. (Spotted by Matthew at Walmart.)

Arizona Chocolate Fudge Float

AriZona Beverages has a new and improved Chocolate Fudge Float Soda. To be honest, I didn’t know they had a chocolate soda. I also didn’t know AriZona Beverages is a New York company. (Spotted by Ross at 7-Eleven.)

7 Layer Dip Tortilla Combos

The Combos Baked Snacks 7 Layer Dip Tortilla is made with cheddar cheese, sour cream, avocado, tomato, refried beans, onion, and jalapeño peppers. But if I use a tortilla chip to pick them up, will they cause the chip to break, forcing me to dig through the Combos in order to fish out the part of the chip that snapped off? (Spotted by Lauren at CVS.)

Thank you to all the photo contributors! If you’re out shopping and see an interesting 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.

REVIEW LIGHTNING ROUND (FREEZER AISLE EDITION) – 5/9/2013

Here are some quick reviews of new-ish frozen food we’re too lazy to write full reviews for:

Ha?agen-Dazs Peanut Butter Pie Ice Cream

Item: Ha?agen-Dazs Peanut Butter Pie Ice Cream
Purchased Price: $3.99 (on sale)
Size: 14 oz.
Purchased at: Safeway
Rating: 9 out of 10
Pros: Rich peanut butter flavor that makes me want to spread it on a piece of bread and then top it with jelly. Holy crap! It’s loaded with chocolate cookie pieces and peanut butter ribbons. Smooth ice cream. So much peanut butter flavor. So good it makes me wish it was a pint instead of 14 ounces.
Cons: Being limited edition. Those with peanut allergies, stay far away. Still only 14 ounces.
Nutrition Facts: 1/2 cup – 310 calories, 21 grams of fat, 10 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 70 milligrams of cholesterol, 130 milligrams of sodium, 23 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 19 grams of sugar, 7 grams of protein.

Lean Cuisine Spa Collection Salmon with Basil

Item: Lean Cuisine Spa Collection Salmon with Basil (New Recipe)
Purchased Price: $3.50 (on sale)
Size: 9 5/8 oz.
Purchased at: Safeway
Rating: 5 out of 10
Pros: Not completely horrible. Bland basil sauce. Decent sized piece of salmon. Awesome if you love peas! Lots of vegetables. It’s a new recipe, which means the previous recipe was worse than this.
Cons: It’s a new recipe, but I think they need another recipe. So many peas that they should rename it Lean Cuisine Spa Collections Peas with Salmon. Salmon was a bit dry. Not enough basil sauce to coat pasta and salmon.
Nutrition Facts: 250 calories, 2.5 grams of fat, 0.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 1.5 grams of polyunsaturated fat, 0.5 grams of monounsaturated fat, 20 milligrams of cholesterol, 500 milligrams of sodium, 450 milligrams of potassium, 38 grams of carbohydrates, 4 grams of fiber, 6 grams of sugar, and 19 grams of protein.

DiGiorno Pizzeria Primo Pepperoni Pizza

Item: DiGiorno Pizzeria Primo Pepperoni Pizza
Purchased Price: $5.99 (on sale)
Size: 18.7 oz.
Purchased at: Safeway
Rating: 8 out of 10
Pros: Makes regular DiGiorno pepperoni pizza taste like swill. Lots of pepperoni evenly distributed. No artificial flavors. Noticeable amounts of basil, oregano, and thyme that gave the pizza a nice herb flavor. Crispy crust. Preservative free crust. Sauce had a nice bold tomato flavor.
Cons: If it’s better than a regular DiGiorno pepperoni pizza, why keep selling that swill known as regular DiGiorno pepperoni pizza. As bad for you as DiGiorno’s regular pepperoni pizza. Cheese seems to be the same stuff from their regular pizzas.
Nutrition Facts: 1/4 pizza – 340 calories, 130 calories from fat, 14 grams of fat, 6 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 30 milligrams of cholesterol, 800 milligrams of sodium, 39 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 3 grams of sugar, and 14 grams of protein.

SPOTTED ON SHELVES – 5/8/2013

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.

Velveeta Toppers

These Velveeta Toppers are the perfect thing to top a block of Velveeta. (Spotted by Kelly at Walmart.)

Kit Kat minis

Just in time for summer! Instead of having a small melted mess with a regular-sized Kit Kat bar, I can now have a huge melted mess with this. (Spotted by Kelley at Walmart.)

Exclusive Pepperidge Farm Dessert Shop Caramel Apple Pie

These have been around for a few months, but I didn’t know they were an exclusive. Well, if it’s going to be exclusive, I’m going to be exclusive too and not eat it. Two can play this game! (Spotted by Eric at Walmart.)

Hellmann's Limited Edition Southwestern Ranch Mayo

Hey, potato salad! Looks like you’re getting a spicy upgrade! Dude Foods reviewed it. (Spotted by Jerry at Met Food Supermarket.)

McGuinness Glazed Donut Blueberry Pancake

McGuinness also makes a whipped cream version, which, oddly, looks to be the most normal of the three. (Spotted by Eric at LBCO in Canada.)

Thank you to all the photo contributors! If you’re out shopping and see an interesting 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.

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