Are Junk Foodies Destined to be Single?

Bloggers Rita Mauceri and Elycia Rubin, who write a food blog for Yahoo, suggest that one of the reasons why some "guys" remain single is because they have poor social skills at the dining table...

Do you... eat like a caveman? Utensils are there for a reason -- so you can eat like a gentleman. Shoveling food into your mouth is not something you should subject your date to. Same goes for talking while chewing. Not only is it unpleasant to watch at a time when your job is to be easy on the eyes, it's a red flag that says you're a little short on self-awareness -- an important characteristic in a mate.

I disagree.

First, they assume that all women have superior dining skills.

Second, they don't understand what men are doing.

Men have spent years and years growing up as boys being pestered by their mothers to keep their elbows off the table, to use their forks, wipe their mouths, don't talk while chewing, etc. Do you think they want to be pestered for the rest of their lives by their wives as well?

A guy behaving just as he would normally behave, is a filter. If a woman can overlook his disgusting habits, and focus on the things that they love about him, then she passes the first test. Maybe she's has potential.

If not, there are other fish in the sea.

Remember gals, a date is not a one-sided affair where you get to decide the outcome. He's also trying to figure out if you're worth the endless trips to the hair and nail salon his paychecks are going to be supporting.

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What Do Guys Eat?

Everytime I go to a grocery store, I see a product somewhere billing itself as being "manly".

Take the "Hungry Man" TV Dinners for example. While a hungry man would eat just about anything, the portions you get wouldn't satisfy most hungry men here in the United States.

I remember in my teen years, being such a voracious-eater with a never-ending metabolism, I'd eat two TV dinners at a time. My mom started buying the Hungry Man dinners for me, except one was never enough, and two was always too much.

AskMen Magazine has a set of recipes out now called "Manly Meals" with stuff like "Manly Con Carne", "XXX Ribs", and "Man-Sized Meatballs".

I think those recipes are great, except most guys don't want to cook for themselves. I'd see myself e-mailing that link to my wife and asking her to make it for me. Look at a pride of lions. The male never hunts for himself, he makes his females do it for him. It's good to be king.

So lately, the fast food market has recognized that with larger burgers, using higher grades of meat. You've got the sirloin burgers from Jack in the box, the angus burgers from McDonald's, and my favorite, the Six Dollar series from Carl's Jr. The only problem is that I have to drive there to get my food, or pay the extra bucks to have a delivery service fetch it for me.

I also have this aversion to things that tell me what guys like to eat. "Manly Con Carne" for example, might taste good, but what makes it manly for me? Why would I believe that particular chili con carne is much more suitable for "real guys"?

I'm not a reader of Ask Men Magazine, but if you want to ask this particular man, just give me some meat, cheese, bacon, jalapenos, hot sauce, guacamole, and keep it coming. I can pretty happy with that, especially if you bring it to me hot, and ready to eat.

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Buffalo Bills Extra Smokey Beef Sticks

If you haven't already tried these Extra Smokey Beef Sticks from Buffalo Bills, you might wanna. They're are indeed "extra" smokey.

They have a great smokey flavor to them, and a somewhat spicy flavor as well, though I don't see anything in the ingredients list suggesting anything spicy. This even has some slight chocolatey notes to it, perhaps indicating something roasted, I dunno.

Unlike other meat sticks, these are very meaty. I mean, it's almost like eating a stick of salami, where you can see the meat fibers pulling away as you bite off a piece. In fact, this has a rather dry taste to it, kinda like salami.


My only "beef" with these beef sticks is they're rather salty. They're not too bad in the first several bites, but when you towards the end, the salt wears me down. I need some swigs of drink, and about 10 minutes of rest, before attacking another stick.

But mind you, these are beef sticks for real beef stick lovers. They're extra thick, the same width as a wine bottle cork, and about five inches in length. They might actually make a great cure for a hangover.

Comparison

I brought a bag of these beef sticks to a get-together that my friends and I attended last weekend. It was at the Long Shadow Ranch Winery in Temecula, where they have a "bonfire" every Saturday night. Another friend brought several sticks of Slim Jims in a variety of flavors.

I handed out these Buffalo Bills, and people thought they were pretty good.

But when they sampled the Slim Jims, they about ralphed. No one else could finish their Slim Jim samples. One guy said it was eating "meat flavored toilet paper". I mean, it actually did feel as if you were eating a chunk of toilet paper (not that I know from experience, mind you).

After the Slim Jims, my friends really loved the Buffalo Bills.

Funny how the best things in life are not readily available. The worst stuff is always easily found at a convenience store, but the better stuff you have to order online. It's just one of those things.

Get your Buffalo Bills Extra Smokeys here...

http://www.choochoorsnacks.com/

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Man Has Eaten 23,000 Big Macs

Don Gorske, the man who claims to have eaten 23,000 McDonald's Big Macs since 1972, could very well be the nagging thorn in the side of health food proponents...

A 54-year-old man says his obsessive-compulsive disorder drove him to eat 23,000 Big Macs in 36 years. Fifty-four-year-old Don Gorske says he hit the milestone last month, continuing a pleasurable obsession that began May 17, 1972 when he got his first car.

http://www.fdlreporter.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200880908073

That works out to an average of two Big Macs every day.

The article goes on to say that's he physically fit.

That's good news for all of us, because it tells us it's possible to live at least 54 years eating nothing but Big Macs, and only Big Macs.

Touche! All you health food fanatics!

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Ole' Smokies Beef Sticks

Ah, the beef stick!

Where would the good ole U S of A be without it?

Where would fishing be without beef sticks? Where would truck driving be without them? What would the Boy Scouts be without them?

I managed to get myself some of these Ole' Smokies Beef Sticks, in this case the Jalapeno Cheese Beef Sticks. These things have pieces of jalapenoes in them making them good and spicy.

Seems like I have to have everything spicy now.

The cheese part was something I had to have at one point in my life, but now it's not important. Instead, it has to be spicy now. I prefer my burgers with jalapeno's on them now. I have to add hot sauce or salsa to my chili. I even sprinkle black pepper on my salads now (I never used to do that).

So I guess having these jalapeno beef sticks is only fitting.

These Ole' Smokies Beef Sticks are made by a company called "Choo Choo R Snacks". They make beef jerky as well, which I have had and found to be pretty good.


That green piece in the beef stick? That's a jalapeno chunk!

Do You Know What's in Them Things?

Every now and then someone warns me that I don't want to know what goes into a beef stick. The fact is that no one really knows what goes into much of the food they eat anyways. How many people buy stuff at an organic food store without reading the nutrition label? They just assume it's all good for them. That's called trust. It's what we all do, whether it's a beef stick or a package of soy jerky.

Most of humanity grew up on scraps. The impoverished folks have always had to settle for the cheaper cuts of meat. Pork ribs was something that was once considered scrap meat, handed off to the blacks, who found a way to barbecue them. And now, everyone wants barbecued pork ribs. Mexicans largely grew up on chorizos, which is the guts and entrails of pigs, ground up into sausage. Now, you can find chorizos on the menu at any upscale Mexican restaurant.

The beef stick is to American junk food as the apple pie is to American desserts, as sunflower seeds are to baseball.

As for those Ole' Smokies Beef Sticks, you can buy them online at Choo Choo R Snacks...

http://www.ccrsnacks.com/

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Beef Crumbles - Pre-Crumbled Ground Beef

Chatel Farms made the world just a little bit better, by making ground beef "pre-crumbled", with their "Beef Crumbles" product.

The process of thawing ground beef is eliminated, because you just sprinkle these flash-frozen "beef crumbles" into your frying pan. You no longer have to manually crumble it apart.

Makes you wonder how much we're dependent on technology.

In the future, people will say "You mean in those days ground beef came stuck together, and you had to thaw it out, cook it, and then manually crumble it apart?"

Beef Crumbles are now available in Super Wal-Marts nationwide.

Learn more about it here...

http://www.chatelfarms.com

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McDonald's and Gays

Good as You writes about McDonald's coming under fire (what tiny little fire it might be) from the American Family Association, because the company took action that made it appear as if they support gay rights...

...Mickey D's has become the latest American corporation to suffer at the baselessly extremist, rabidly anti-gay hands of Don Wildmon Inc. The McNugget company's "sin"? The refused to shun Vice President of Communications Richard Ellis for his decision to serve on the Board of Directors of the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC).

Read on...

http://www.goodasyou.org/good_as_you/2008/07/exlcusive-afa-t.html

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What Happened to Bob's Big Boy?

Bob's Big Boy announced today that they've brought back the "Super Slim Jim", a ham, swiss sandwich, witht their "special sauce", on a grecian roll.

Here in Southern California, there are some Bob's Big Boy restaurants still around, but not many. There used to be just many Bob's as there were Denny's here in the Southland. But then one-by-one, they all went away.

I know just a few of them are still here.

There's one in Baker, CA, which took over the old "Bun Boy". But this Bob's is nothing like the old Bob's. You set foot in there, and it feels like a "fake Bob's". The Big Boy statue may be outside, but the restaurant doesn't have that genuine Bob's feel to it. About the only menu item that has carried over from those glory days is that "Big Boy" double decker burger.

My wife and I used to go to Bob's in Laguna Hills for their breakfast buffet. I always found their bacon to be the way I like it, soft and dripping with oil. Let that oil drip down over the hash browns. Their hash browns was also the way I liked it, soft.

I just got news that a Bob's Big Boy is coming to Temecula, CA, just about 20 minutes from my home. It's taking over the old Ritchie's Diner. I'm sure my wife will be setting up a new home-away-from-home in there.

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Win Free Beef Jerky for a Year

House of Jerky announced their video contest, where you can win free beef jerky for a year.

What you do is create a video saying how much you love House of Jerky's jerky, and upload it to their contest site...

http://youtube.com/group/houseofjerkycontest

The top two winners get the free chew.

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Dairy Queen Launches New Girl Scout Blizzard

Dairy Queen officially launched its new Blizzard flavor of the month for July, Girl Scouts Thin Mint Cookie Blizzard.

The best selling Girl Scouts cookie is now a Blizzard variety, in a cool green color, minty flavored ice cream, with chunks of Thin Mint cookies.

The company sent me a coupon for a free sample of this new Blizzard flavor, so I hopped over to my nearest DQ, and tried it out.

It tastes very much like a mint chocolate chip ice cream, except instead of chocolate chips, it just has chunks of cookies in it.


The Blizzard got its start in 1985 as a soft serve ice cream with flavoring and bits of candy. However, the Blizzard trademark has been within the company since the 1950s, representing various concepts.

In China, DQ actually sells green tea Blizzards. I wonder why they don't offer that here?

The Girl Scouts Thin Mint Blizzard are available in DQ stores right now, and will be around indefinitely.

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Spicing Up Your V8 Juice

For all you V8 juice drinkers, what do you do to spice up your V8?

While I consider myself a junk food junkie, I do like V8. I've been drinking the stuff since I was a kid, and can't seem to stop. I've tried the spicy V8, and V8 Fusion, and the Low Sodium V8. I like them all.

So today, as I reached into the refrigerator to grab a bottle of V8, I noticed the jar of Ortega salsa. And then, a question popped into my head, "What if...?"

So I pulled the salsa out of the refrigerator as well, and dropped three spoonfuls of salsa into the V8 bottle. The bottle was about 2/3 full at the time. Then I shook the bottle thoroughly, and took a swig.

Ummm, not bad.

It's like salsa-flavored V8, just like what you'd expect, but with chunks thrown in.

I'm not sure I'd stick with this however. While it's not bad, I don't think it'll sell.

So I'm thinking now, what else can I do to doctor up my V8? Lemon juice? Tabasco sauce? Pickled jalapeno juice?

If you like to experiment with your V8, let me know what you've found that tastes good.

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Gallo Salame and Provolone Cheese Snack

I had the munchies late last night, and like a bad boy I found myself rummaging through the refrigerator, and found this package of Gallo Salame & Provolone Cheese Snack.

My wife bought it months ago. I don't know what plans she had for it. Sometimes she buys stuff just because she thinks I might like it. She's all too familiar with Junk Food Blog, and knows that I need material for it.

My first thought was, "I don't feel like having a sandwich". But then an idea hit me, "Who needs bread anyways?"

So I opened up the package, and put a cheese and salami together, folded it over, and voila! A sandwich.

I guess it's similar to having a hamburger without the bun. This is just a "low-carb" salami and cheese sandwich.


The package actually says "Snack Pack", so I feel better that I ate this to satisfy a snacking urge. Even if it was already past midnight.

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We Can Now Sue Our Mothers

At least that's all I'm getting out of this report...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/ momsunhealthydietmayhavelongtermimpactonbaby

The article says that if you feed a pregant rat a diet of donuts, muffins, cookies, chips and sweets, its offspring will become more likely to develop heart disease and diabetes.

Even though I haven't been diagnosed with either of those, I guess it's still an ace-up-my-sleeve should I need to point the blame at someone.

But then again, my mother never ate ONLY donuts, muffins, cookies, chips, and sweets while she was pregnant. She actually mixed in some vegetables, whole grains, and fruits. So maybe I don't have that ace after all.

And why did they have to test this on rats? Couldn't they have gotten more realistic results comparing Americans with some nomadic tribe from Siberia?

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Talk O' Texas Pickled Okra

One day my wife brought home this jar of pickled okra from a brand called Talk O' Texas.

I'm not sure what caused her to buy this, as I've never eaten pickled okra before. Though I have eaten okra in my time, just not very much of it. I never hated the stuff, but it just never pushed the right buttons on me. She thought that it was weird, and because of that, I would be pleasantly intrigued.

And yes, I was intrigued with it.

So I opened up the jar, pulled one out, and held it up to eyes so that I could get a good gander at one of these things. I might have looked like a scientist in a 1950's alien-invasion flick, examining some strange pod that was spewn forth from a glowing red rock that fell from the sky.

I bit off the pointy end of this okra, and chewed it a bit. My eyes moved a bit to the left and a bit to the right, as I wondered if this would gross me out or not.

Nope, it tasted pretty good.


Talk O' Texas says these things are hot. NOT! Those folks must have pretty weak tongues, because this is hardly hot. My cottage cheese gets hotter than this after I've sprinkled it with black pepper. I think they must put that label on there just to make Texans feel good about their tolerance for spicy foods.

This pretty much tastes like the same pickling juice as a pickled cucumber.

As for slime, which Okra tends to have a lot of, I didn't find much. There is still some sliminess to these pickles, but just not as much.

So, whatever beckoned the first Okra eater to put one of these space-pods into their mouths? It has no real "meat", only a bunch of seeds and slime. How did someone decide, "Hey, here's a vegetable that has no real meat, and is full of seeds and slime. I think I'll start a business around it"?

Will I be buying more of these pickled okra? Probably not. They're good tasting, but then a lot of things are good tasting, and I don't buy everything. I did however, slice up several of these and toss them into a can of Hormel Chili. Not too bad. It definitely gives the chili some of that pickling juice.

The company recommends putting one of these into a Bloody Mary. That sounds kinda good actually.

Learn more about Talk O' Texas Pickled Okra here...

http://www.talkotexas.com

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Claim Jumper Chocolate Motherlode Cake

Few desserts are as impressive as seeing a "piece" of Claim Jumper's Chocolate Motherlode Cake delivered to your table.

The thing is massive.

But very delicious.

So, is a frozen version just as good as the one in an actual Claim Jumper restaurant?

I put that question to the test after the company sent me a box containing one frozen slice of the famed chocolate decadence. This box is actually available across the country at grocery stores, and is a part of a long series of Claim Jumper favorites designed for the freezer.

The instructions are pretty simple. Remove the cake from the box, and let it thaw for about 60 minutes.

While I'm not an expert on great tasting cakes, my wife is. She ate a whole slice, just as you see this picture, many years ago, for free. We were visiting a Claim Jumper restaurant, and after 20 minutes without a waitress asking taking our order, I complained to the manager. That's how I got the free Motherlode cake.

For this review, I did ask my wife to cut me off a small piece.


I'd have to say, "yes", it really does taste like a fresh piece of cake from Claim Jumper. I actually let my piece sit underneath my desk lamp, and allowed it to assume room temperature more quickly. I found it quite soft and moist.

It's just as chocolatey, and the icing is just as gooey, the little chocolate chips inside are just as sweet, and the whole thing it's just as rich.

My wife says it was absolute heaven.

Well, I'm not quite the junk food junkie that thrives on chocolate cakes. I tend to snack on beef jerky, sunflower seeds, and oatmeal cookies when my wife bakes them.

But I know that junk foodies come in all shapes and sizes, and those wanting to pull one of these baby's out of the freezers for lunch, will definitely have to be of a certain shape and size.

You can see all of Claim Jumper's frozen offerings online here...

http://www.claimjumperretail.com/

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Claim Jumper Cheese Ravioli Parmigiana

The Claim Jumper line of frozen foods was extended recently to include this new Cheese Ravioli Parmigiana.

The company was gracious enough to send me a sample inside of a package of dry ice. No sooner did it arrive that I popped it into the microwave and heated that baby up. (It arrived at 11:30am, my time for lunch).

What probably helped score points with me is that the microwave instructions are pretty simple. Just poke the plastic cover with your fork, and nuke for about 6 minutes.

Not like some other brands where you have to lift the plastic half-way, then nuke for 3 minutes, then open up the package of sauce, pour, remove the plastic cover, and nuke for another 3 minutes, then turn half-way, nuke some more... That's too much work.

I'm a big fan of frozen italian food. For some reason, I eat more frozen italian food than italian food made on the spot. So, I kinda have some credibility on this.

This stuff actually does taste good. And not because the company sent me a free sample for review either (well that always helps). But I did find the sauce to be quite delish, on the tangy side, and the raviolis to be quite cheesy. Junk foodies might want to take note that this stuff does come with a fair amount of cheese on top. But I'd advise throwing some extra grated mozzarella on there.

It also has some of those spiral curly-q pasta noodles in there too.



This box contains 17oz of saucy cheesy pasta goodness, and it wasn't quite enough for quench my lunch appetite. I think taking it up to 25oz might be closer to what you'd get from visiting a Claim Jumper restaurant and ordering the same thing.

The box says this 17oz contains 2 servings. That just doesn't seem right.

Junk foodies and 24-hour bloggers might do well keeping their freezers stocked with this new offering Claim Jumper. It's easy to make, and goes down really well. It also tastes pretty good too.

You should be able to find these in most grocery stores.

Visit Claim Jumper Retail to learn more about their frozen foods...

http://www.claimjumperretail.com

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T.A.G. Seeds - Sweet Sunflower Seeds

T.A.G. Seeds are sunflower seeds, in a variety of cool flavors, and without any salt.

If you like seeds without the shells, and you want them without salt, then you'll probably want to give these a try.

I actually found them to be pretty good.

The problem I've always had with sunflower seeds without the shells, is that I eat them way too fast. And T.A.G. Seeds are no exception. Each 2oz bag probably contains the same amount of seeds as a bag of 3 times bigger than this, but with the shells on.

Seems there's always three people in the world: those who like sunflower seeds with the shell, those who like 'em without, and those who just don't like seeds at all. T.A.G. strives to seek that middle-ground, offering something for folks who already love seeds, and offering flavors that non-seed lovers might like.

Here are the flavors they offer...

• Chocolate


• Chocolate Mint


• Orange


• Strawberry


• Maple


• Lemon

I tried the Chocolate, Chocolate Mint, and Maple. Pictured above is the Chocolate Mint.

I'd have to say that these really do have a chocolate taste. The Chocolate Mint is definitely chocolate-minty. But I think the Maple tastes better. Seems like maple is a flavor that goes well with seeds and nuts.

Personally, I think these would go much better as an ice cream topping. Add the Choocolate Seeds to some vanilla ice cream, to give it a contrast in taste, or try the Maple Seeds to some coffee ice cream.

Heck, maybe T.A.G. Seeds will come out with some seeds still in the shell with the flavoring on them.

A jalapeno variety is probably in order as well.

T.A.G. stands for "These Are Great".

Visit them online at...

http://www.tagseeds.com

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Beef Jerky - and a New Focus

I wanted to announce my beef jerky review blog...

http://www.bestbeefjerky.org

There's a long story to why I started this, which also explains the new focus of Junk Food Blog.

When I launched Junk Food Blog, almost immediately companies started sending me samples of their products. These companies were PR firms working for food manufacturers. Mostly they'd send me candies, chewing gum, crackers, chips. Once in a while, I'd get something more substantial, like a coupon for a free hamburger, and sometimes, a bag of beef jerky.

Beef jerky is my favorite snack food. I started wondering, what can I do to get more, for free? Despite having reviewed more beef jerky on Junk Food Blog, I was still getting a lot of candies and chewing gum.

So I launched Best Beef Jerky as a way to encourage beef jerky manufacturers to send me free jerky. I can now eat more of the food I love, for free, publish a blog that will attract a loyal following (albeit a smaller one), and earn a little income from the Google ads.

Hopefully, I can eventually attract enough free beef jerky to get me one bag of jerky each day.

That takes me to the new focus of Junk Food Blog.

I want Junk Food Blog to attract more free food, but not candies and chewing gum. I want stuff more substantial, more coupons for free burgers and sandwiches, gift certificates for restaurants, or just send me a frozen pizza if you can do it. I'll give those products a mention here, along with a photo, and a link to the product's website.

So I'm going to focus on doing more reviews, particularly the "sustantial foods". I'll focus on new products, or obscure products, just like I've done before. I'm going to broaden the scope to include foods that you might not consider "junk", but what I would consider as "snack" or "convenience item". For the most part, you may not notice much difference at all between the new JFB and the old JFB. But now you know about my new focus.

Junk Food Blog has never earned much income for me. I don't have another job to support me, hence I blog for my sustenance. So if this blog can't pay me back for what I put into it, then I can't blog it. On the other hand, if it can feed me, literally, then I'll still do it.

I'm looking down the road and seeing food prices going higher as the price of fuel goes up. I'm seeing the unemployment rate going up. I'm seeing harder times ahead. It may be that food will become as good as money.

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Carl's Jr Endorsed by Drycleaners

Carl's Jr, this week, announced that it received an endorsement from the Drycleaning & Laundry Institute (DLI), because of the increased business that drycleaning businesses have received since the launch of Carl's new chili cheeseburger.

"People have been ordering a lot of Chili Cheese Burgers and Chili Cheese Fries from Carl's Jr. Clearly, people don't mind getting a little messy for a great burger," said Brad Haley, executive vice president of marketing for Carl's Jr. restaurants.

Seizing the opportunity, the execs at Carl's Jr are now supplying drycleaning bags emblazioned with the Carl's Jr chili cheeseburger to participating drycleaners, as well as Carl's Jr branded window signs. These have been distributed to some 1,250 drycleanners around the country.


Additionally, Carl's Jr. has teamed up with cleaning guru Jeff Campbell of The Clean Team to give television viewers additional tips on how to get chili cheese stains off clothing and any items which may have been sullied in the "drip zone" of Carl's Jr. chili menu items. Mr. Campbell will appear on morning programs throughout the Western states to provide his expert stain removal tips.

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Green Light Beef Jerky

Green Light Jerky Company, based in Redwood City, CA, is a new entry into the world of beef jerky. If you're a fan of thin-sliced jerky, you'll want to take note.

For this review, I'm reviewing three of their flavors, "The Classic", "Pepper Grinder", and "PRD" (Prime Rib Dinner).


Overview

All three of the varieties reviewed here are flavored with soy sauce, onions, vinegar, salt, apple cider, and honey.

The pieces are thinly-sliced into strips of about half-inch to an inch wide, and about three to six inches in length. The texture is more drier than moist, but are still soft enough to bite off chunks easily.

The strips appear to be cuts of real meat.

Green Light says they use no MSG, no nitrates, no liquid smoke, no added sugar, and no thickening agents.

The Classic

The Classic flavor has a mild soy sauce flavor and smell, not very salty, with a very subtle spicy tingle in the back of your throat. That spiciness comes from the guajillo and pasilla chile spices that they sprinkle on.

The beef flavor is still very evident, and there's a slight taste of beef fat.

Pepper Grinder

Pepper Grinder is the same as The Classic, but with ground pepper corns sprinkled on. There's a pretty good amount of pepper there, but not overdone like on some other brands.

It has a very peppery flavor that balances out the soy sauce, and as to be expected, has a medium-degree of spiciness.


PRD (Prime Rib Dinner)

There was a clear scent of thyme when I opened the package of PRD and took a whiff. That's because it's flavored with thyme and horseradish, to emulate eating a cut of prime rib.

And you can definitely taste the thyme and see the pieces of thyme seasoning also.

As for the horseradish, I don't really taste much of it, probably because the thyme seems to overpower it. You figure with horseradish, this variety of jerky will be spicy, but it's not. It's quite mild.

Product Value

Green Light's jerky offerings are priced on the high side, at $10.00 for a 4oz bag, or $5.00 for a 2oz bag. That works out to $2.50 per ounce. Compare that to the $1.00 per ounce average for the garden-variety brands out there. But then again, you're getting a higher quality product here.

My Thoughts

If you consider yourself a beef-jerky afficionado, you'll appreciate the quality and taste of Green Light as I have. The high price-point takes this brand out of the realm of general purpose snacking, but for those times when I want to sit in my back patio and listen to the birds, a 2oz bag of Green Light makes a great companion.

While my personal preference is jerky more moist and sliced a little more thick than Green Light, I still enjoyed sampling these varieties for this review. The "Classic" variety is quite tastier than the regular flavors of other brands.

Visit Green Light Beef Jerky online...
http://www.greenlightjerky.com

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Walgreens Premium Ice Cream

Drug store ice cream is one of those American institutions that seems to be dying off as the generations go by. I remember as a kid peering through the glass ice cream case at the local Thrifty's Drug, and begging my mom to buy me a scoop.

At Horton Plaza in downtown San Diego, there's a Long's Drugs that has a soda and ice cream counter, complete with bar stools and a soda jerk.

These days, I've been getting a lot of my junk food at Walgreens. I continue to find their store brand of munchies to be of a quality that rivals or exceeds many of the popular brands, but priced really cheap. Read my previous review of their sunflower seeds, which so far are the best sunflower seeds I've had.

I couldn't resist buying a couple of pints of Walgreens brand of premium ice cream. They were priced at "2 for $3.00", which is a pretty good deal, considering a pint of ice cream from Ben & Jerry's, or Haagen Dazs, will run you $5.00 at many grocery stores.

For this review, I'm eating their Waffle Cone flavor, which is plain ice cream with pieces of chocolate-coated waffle cone, chocolate-coated peanuts, chocolate bits, and swirls of caramel.

Of course, it's not as good as Ben & Jerry's, but then again I didn't expect it to be. But it's still pretty good, and still very satisfying, considering the low price. It has a very light and creamy consistency, which isn't bad. Though, I prefer heavier ice cream. When I picked up a pint of Walgreens Premium, I first wondered if there was anything inside the container because it was so light.

Walgreens is no newcomer to ice cream, the drug store chain has been making their own since 1912. But this is the first time I've ever had their ice cream. Because of the price point, I'll be buying more. They have several more flavors, about eight in all, but sorry I didn't note all the flavors.

They also have a larger line of regular ice cream, which I'll be trying out also. And if you absolutely have to have some Ben & Jerry's, Walgreens carries that too.

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Eiffel BonBons

New Eiffel BonBons are bite-size strawberry and apple chewy candy pieces from The Foreign Candy Co., Inc.

You can find them in single serving (1.25-ounce) bags or peg bags (4 ounces).

They've been popular in Europe for about 20 years and only debuted here in North America late last year. They're available now online and in at retail chains like Walgreen's & Target. Look for additional flavors to be rolled out as well.

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Mississippi HB 282 - Denying Food to Obese

Some legislators in Mississippi have introduced a bill that will make it illegal for restaurants to serve fat people.

HB 282 will revoke the health department license of any restaurant, fast-food or otherwise, if it serves food to anyone who meets the department's criteria as being, "obese".

As the bill states...

Any food establishment to which this section applies shall not be allowed to serve food to any person who is obese, based on criteria prescribed by the State Department of Health after consultation with the Mississippi Council on Obesity Prevention and Management established under Section 41-101-1 or its successor.

The bill will require the State Department of Health to distribute materials to restaurants that will define what an obese person is.

Imagine going to a Subway, who claims to help you lose weight by eating their sandwiches, and having a "sandwich artist" tell you, "Sorry but your ass is TOO FAT!"

And in Mississippi, such a law could put every restaurant out of business.

Here's a link to the bill...

http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/2008/pdf/history/HB/HB0282.xml

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Ghiradelli introduces Filled Chocolate Bar line

Ghirardelli which bills itself as a vendor of Moments of Timeless Pleasure™ is expanding their line of chocolate indulgences in their large bar line. Their new filled bars are 3.5 ounces each.

• Milk Chocolate with Caramel -- Buttery caramel soft filling surrounded by milk chocolate
• Dark Chocolate with Mint -- Tantalizingly refreshing mint filling surrounded by dark chocolate
• Dark Chocolate with Raspberry -- Delectably luscious raspberry filling made with real fruit surrounded by dark chocolate
• Dark Chocolate with Caramel (60% Cacao) -- Buttery caramel soft filling surrounded by dark chocolate
• Solid Milk Chocolate -- Rich, slow-melting milk chocolate
• Solid Dark Chocolate (60% Cacao) -- Pure, intense 60% cacao dark chocolate

Suggested retail price is $2.29.

Official website & Source

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Snickers introduced Charged - a caffeinated bar

Snickers has been doing the limited edition thing for a while (Dark Chocolate, Xtreme, Nut 'n' Butter and the upcoming Adventure Bar). Today they announced their newest bar, the SNICKERS Charged (TM) bar that provides additional B-vitamins and the stimulants caffeine and taurine.

To meet consumer needs and help millions of Americans take back their energy-zapped afternoons, SNICKERS(R) Brand is proclaiming the post-lunch, pre-dinner hour between two and three p.m. the SNICKERS Charged(TM) Re-Power Hour.

SNICKERS Charged(TM) contains 60 milligrams of caffeine. This compares to the caffeine content of other products:

• 8-ounce soft drink contains 20-40 milligrams
• 8-ounce regular coffee contains 65-120 milligrams
• 8-ounce energy drink contains 72-80 milligrams

More at Snickers.com

UPDATE: I got a hold of some to taste test. It's a little smaller than a regular Snickers, tastes pretty much the same but there's a slight bitter aftertaste. Still, less expensive than a cup of coffee most places!

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Jalapeno Cheddar Chex Mix

General Mills continues to expand the flavor line of their popular pre-made Chex Mix snack with Jalapeno Cheddar Chex Mix.

Jalapeno Cheddar Chex Mix includes Chex pieces, cheese crackers, mini breadsticks and salty pretzels. Sizes are 3.75-ounce and 8.75-ounce retailing for $1.39 and $2.99 respectively.

www.genmills.com

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Ritter Sport Dark Assortment

Ritter has expanded their line of Ritter Sport 100 gram bars to include assortments in stand-up bags.

The a la Mousse au Chocolat and Dark & Milk Chocolate Assortment can be seen at retailers such as Target and other discount stores.

The mini sizes of the bars were previously only available in sampler assortments.

For Ritter Sport enthusiasts, the German version of the site has rather fun animation.

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Presidential Election Cookies

David's Cookies announced today that they've produced new 2008 Presidential Election cookies, bearing the names of the top white house contenders.

These are classified as "cookie cakes", measuring 12 inches wide in diameter.

The company says they will tabulate sales of each Presidential hopeful, and thereby predict the winner of super Tuesday (Feb 5).

As usual, Dennis Kucinich was left without a cookie.

Visit the Presidential Cookies at David's...
http://www.davidscookies.com/index.cfm?action=category&categoryid=61

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Pizza Hut and Pasta Hut

TradeMork says today that the Pizza Hut chain filed an application to claim the "Pasta Hut" trademark for themselves. You can read their article here...

http://www.trademork.com/pasta-hut/

The name "Pasta Hut" is already in use by a handful of restaurants around country.

Will Pizza Hut open up a chain of pasta restaurants? The fast food pasta concept is not new, with many restaurants already doing well in this sphere, the biggest chain being Fazoli's.

It could also be that Pizza Hut is concerned an established Pasta Hut restaurant could gain a large enough influence to take away from their brand.

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Pinkberry - Coffee Frozen Yogurt

Pinkberry, the frozen yogurt chain that seemingly became an overnight sensation after being featured on an American Express television commercial, is now offering a new coffee frozen yogurt to celebrate its third birthday.

The new coffee variety will be accompanied by a new topping option, chestnuts.

The company says that it spent 12 months trying to make this new coffee flavor, and describes it as "a refreshing proprietary blend of premium coffee with Pinkberry's signature yogurt tang".

Pretty good idea, mixing frozen yogurt with Tang.

Pinkberry has 40 locations throughout New York and California.

Visit Pinkberry online...
http://www.pinkberry.com/

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Clemmy's Ice Cream

Clemmy's Ice Cream of Rancho Mirage, CA, announced today that it has become the first company in the history of the mankind to offer an ice cream that is both "all natural" and "sugar free".

And seeing how important that is, I thought it necessary to mention it here.

The company recently started up, and is offering five flavors...

• Vanilla Bean


• Chocolate


• Coffee


• Toasted Almond


• Chocolate Mint Swirl

The frozen confections are sweetened with Xylitol.

The company justifies its claims by saying that while many other products claim to be "sugar free" they actually still contain some sugar. Clemmy's is apparently absolutely and completely, 100%, sugar-free.

Clemmy's will be available in limited distribution at the end of March in quart-sized containers. If you own a store, and you'd like to sell the stuff, contact the company at its website...

http://www.clemmysicecream.com/

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Dreyer's American Idol Ice Cream

The Dreyer's, as well as its sister brand Edy's, has launched a series of limited edition, light ice creams under the "American Idol" co-brand.

The five new flavors is trying to raise awareness of the brands' slow-churned light ice cream line.

Flavors include...

• Cheesecake Diva - creamy cheesecake light ice cream, decadent brownie bites with fudge swirls.



• Cookies N Dreamz - chocolate light ice cream filled with crunchy pieces of chocolate cookie.



• Mint Karaoke Cookie - mint light ice cream with chocolate cookies.



• Most Orange-inal - creamy vanilla light ice cream with swirls of orange sorbet



• One Split Wonder - rich banana light ice cream with swirls of fruit and fudge

To help promote the limited edition flavor line, the two American Idol Season Six finalists Melinda Doolittle and Chris Richardson will be traveling around the country on a 20-city U.S. tour to eat the new ice cream in front of adoring fans, and tell them all how much they love eating it.

For more information on the American Idol ice cream, visit...
http://dreyers.slowchurned.com/idol/

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Kellogg's Pop-Tarts Whole Grains

Kellogg's formally announced today they're now offering a new line of Pop-Tarts made with one serving of whole grains.

The new whole grains Pop-Tarts have been appearing on shelves for a few months now, but there hasn't been a formal announcement from the company.

Kellogg's says that moms are increasingly wanting to give their kids more whole grains and fiber.

Apparently, kids are not pooping enough, or something like that.

In reality, Kellogg's is trying to stave off accusations that its products are part of the reason why kids are getting obese. Hence, it has launched a product-wide marketing campaign urging kids and their parents to get outside and exercise.

Launching Whole Grain Pop-Tarts is just an easy way for the company to say, "Hey don't look us, we're doing our part!".

Honestly, the fattening of kids today is not a calorie-intake issue, it's a calorie-burn issue. Kids would rather play video games than go outside and ride their bikes. Parents would rather drive their kids to school, than make them walk or ride a bike. Otherwise kids have been gorging themselves on candies and burgers and sodas going back to the 1950s.

But either way, I guess it doesn't hurt for this country to produce more stool.

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Frispos - Original Carl's Jr. Fries

Most people have never heard of "Frispos", but they were quite popular in Orange County, CA, when they were the original french fries that Carl's Jr. served up during the 1970s and 1980s.

The french fries were crinkle-cut in shape, and had a consistency like mashed potatoes on the inside, with the crispy outer shell formed during deep frying. They were quite delish.

Actually, I've learned that Pup-n-Taco used to have them too.

Anyways, a few days ago when Carl Karcher passed away, I posted an article here on JFB announcing his death. Well, I also happened to post a similar article on another blog I write, "OCThen", but more geared to Orange County readers. (Link to that article).

Today someone posted a comment on that article that explained the secret of those unusual french fries, and the process by which they were made. He also gave the name, "Frispos"...

That french cry product was called "Frispos". My recollection is that the Frispos pellets came in a large bag, not unlike a bag of oats. We poured the dry Frispos into the top of the machine. When you pushed the button, it measured an amount of Frispos into a tube, injected warm water to form a paste and then it was pushed through a grate (think squeezing play doh out of one of those play doh machines) and as the Frispo "dough" came out the grate, a cutter went back and forth shaving off the "fries", which were then put into the fryer.

So with the name, I did a Google search, and found an article in the Riverside Press Enterprise, which also explained why Carl's Jr. stopped using Frispos. Basically, it was a logistical problem...

"Every step of the process was conducted in the kitchen (mixing, forming, cooking), which made it operationally labor-intensive and too difficult to sustain during times of heavy volume, which ran the risk of degrading the quality of the food presentation.

The crinkle-fries were phased out in favor of the conventional, shoestring French fries you find in our restaurants now."

So there you have it all you Carl's Jr. fanatics! The story of those fantastic crinkle-cut fries.

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Honey Drop - Non-Sticky Honey

Island Abbey Foods Ltd, of Montague, Prince Edward Island, is asking people if they ever held a dollop of pure honey in their hand. Probably not, considering how sticky and messy it is.

So now they've come up with 100% pure honey, that you can hold in your hand, without the stickiness. They call it, "Honey Drop". I'm not sure what the "Honibe" brand name is about, but in any case, they've named it "Honey Drop".

The company claims that other competing products all have some kind of additive, sweetener, or binding agent to remove the stickiness. But meanwhile, Honey Drop contains no other additives, it's all honey, 100%.

Each drop is equivalent to one teaspoon (5gm) of pure honey. They don't actually tell you how they managed to make it non-sticky; I think they just dehydrated it under a controlled environment.

The Honey Drop comes in two flavors: pure honey and pure honey and lemon (so much for no additives!), and has a shelf life of one year.

Visit Honey Drop online at...
http://www.NoStickyFingers.com

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Dunkin Donuts - M&Ms Donut - Milky Way Hot Chocolate

Dunkin' Donuts has partnered with The Mars Corporation to produce two new offerings, the "M&Ms Donut" and the "Milky Way Hot Chocolate".

Milky Way Hot Chocolate is described as a rich, smooth, hot chocolate that blends chocolate, caramel and vanilla nougat flavors, just like the classic candy bar.

The M&M's Donut, comes with either chocolate or vanilla icing and is sprinkled with colorful mini M&M's.

Both are available at Dunkin' Donuts nationwide.

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Go Girl GLO - Hair Tonic Energy Drink

The "Go Girl" energy drink brand, which targets itself to athletic women, now includes a new variety, "Go Girl Glo".

Produced by Nor-Cal Beverage Co. Inc. of West Sacramento, CA, it's colored in light pink-orange, and comes with a light, tropical and bit of raspberry flavor with a starfruit and pomegranate juice blend.

Claimed to have no artificial sweeteners, this beverage also includes 500mg of taurine, 75mg caffeine, calcium, vitamin E, B vitamins, iron, citrimax, coenzyme Q10, aloe, acetyl-cysteine and liquid sucrose.

The company touts the vitamin E and aloe vera to help skin tone and make your hair shiny.

Photo Credit: Energy Drink Reviews

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Climate Change Chocolate Bar

Bloomsberry, LLC, a Salem, MA-based chocolate maker that sells its bars in whimsical wrappers, have now teamed up with TerraPass, a green energy broker, to offer these "Climate Change Chocolate" bars.


The wrappers have printed on them 15 tips to reduce your carbon footprint on the world, and in addition have included in their sale price, enough carbon energy credits from TerraPass to offset your carbon footprint for one day.

You can read more about the global warming confection at TerraPass' website...

http://www.terrapass.com/lp/index.chocolate.html

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Zotes Energy Seeds

Zotes Products LLC, of Salt Lake City, UT, is now offering energy-infused sunflower seeds.

The roasted sunflower seeds seasoned with caffeine, taurine, lysine, and ginseng. I'm not sure what these seeds actually taste like, though the ingredients list shows salt and sugar. Zotes says that a jar of these seeds has 400mg of caffeine, as much as 3-4 cups of coffee.

Zotes is known for strange sunflower seeds flavors, like Bleu Cheese, Tequila Lime, and Beer.

Energy infused seeds are not new, with SumSeeds laying claim to be the first of the kind.

Visit Zotes online...
http://www.zotes.com/

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Carl Karcher, 1917-2008

Carl Karcher, the founder of Carl's Jr., perhaps one of the most well-loved fast-food chains in Southern California, passed away today.

Carl Karcher Enterprises was based in Orange County, and if you grew up in "The OC" as I did, no kid could ever escape the Happy Star. In junior high, the company awarded me with a free lunch for outstanding school attendance.

My favorite menu item was the California Roast Beef, much like a roast beef sandwich you'd get at an Arby's, except with a whole green chile, and monterey jack cheese. They don't make it anymore.

They also used to serve up the crinkle-cut french fries that were more like strips of mashed-potatoes than cut potatoes. I wish they'd bring those back too.

Carl actually started out selling hot dogs. I remember for Carl's Jr's 50th anniversary, they brought back the dogs.

My co-worker and I used to eat lunch at a corporate owned Carl's Jr in Anaheim, where Carl would often visit and meet with the patrons.

After succeeding with his hot-dog stand business in the early 1940s, he opened up his first restaurant in 1945 in Anaheim as "Carl's Drive-In Barbecue". Later on he opened up smaller versions of the restaurant and named them "Carl's Jr" for obvious reasons.

Carl Karcher Enterprises went on to open Carl's Jr. restaurants all throughout the western USA, and then purchased the Hardee's chain in the east. He also tried to get in on the fast-food mexican business with his "Taco De Carlos" in the 1970s, but floundered.

Carl himself was also well loved in Orange County, a man who gave back to his community through his charitable contributions. He was respected as a tireless worker, a believer in himself and in his employees. This was a guy who dropped out of school in the 8th grade, and made it to the top because of hard work and determination. He was devoutly patriotic, leading the Pledge of Allegiance before every board meeting.

The Happy Star logo will be his lasting legacy.

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Deep Fried Ground Bacon Patties

Get your defibrillators charged for this one, cause this burger isn't made with beef, but 100% bacon. They grind up the bacon, and form it into a patty.


Then they make a pocket into the patty, into which they stick some mozzarella cheese balls. Finally, coats the patty with a beer-batter, and dips it into a deep fryer.

Add some deep fried jalapenos, and a bottle of Shiner Bock, and now you're "makin' bacon".

Check out the photo-instructions...
http://www.peppersandsmoke.com/bbq/deepfried/

Via TehBlogs.com

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Nestle Drumstick Ice Cream - Baby Ruth

Nestle's Drumstick Ice Cream Cone is now available in a new Baby Ruth variety.

It's promoted as Baby Ruth flavored ice cream with swirls of crunchy chocolate, topped with caramel and whole chocolate covered peanuts.

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Coca-Cola Zero - Aluminum Bottles

Coca-Cola will be selling its Coca-Cola Zero in this new aluminum bottle.

Aluminum bottles are said to keep their contents colder longer. The bottle will feature a unique design and a "Scratchy DJ" theme.

Priced at $15.00, this collectible bottle is made in Belgium is said to fuse Coke and iTunes in a funky way.

There are also aluminum bottles for Cola-Cola, and Coca-Cola Light...

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Brain Toniq

TrueToniqs of Longmont, CO, is marketing a new energy drink, which they describe as...

"world's first organic, botanical-based, non-caffeinated think drink specifically designed for those who need more mental focus and clarity"

Brain Toniq is said to have no chemical preservatives, caffeine, or sugar, just "effective herbs, natural compounds, and organic agave syrup". Its main ingredients are "eleuthero root extract (also known as Siberian ginseng), rhodiola root powder, wild-crafted blue green algae extract, DMAE and organic agave nectar."

Based on the ingredients, it sounds like it might taste so nasty, that it'll wake you up really fast.

Learn more about Brain Toniq at its website...
http://www.braintoniq.com/

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Grandma's Cookies - New Varieties

Grandma's Cookies now include two new limited edition varieties, "Cinnamon Sugar" and "Iced Gingerbread"

Iced Gingerbread sounds intriguing.

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