Snack Patrol - Cheese Jerky

The words "cheese jerky" might conjure up images of hardened, chewy cheese, but in fact it's just soft and smooth mozzarella string cheese, but with bits of beef jerky mixed in.

The novel new cheese snack is produced by Snack Patrol, a business based out of Glendale, WI. It's headed up Ross Segel, the guy who came up with the idea, and perfected it after several attempts.

The perfection is in reference to a manufacturing process that allows him to incorporate the beef jerky bits but while maintaining the string cheese's stringiness. Apparently, previous attempts resulted in the string cheese breaking up into bits.

The resulting product is a 93% cheese, 7% beef jerky combination.

Ross sent me samples of his product, which included his "Original" and "Black pepper" varieties. Sure enough, I did find the taste of beef jerky in this cheese in both varieties, but I got a stronger flavor in the Peppered. The Peppered is actually pretty darn good.

In fact, it might be worth shredding this stuff up and making macaroni cheese out of it. Or even topping it on popcorn.

And yes, I was still able to pull off strings with this stuff, though the strings still tended to break off when I hit upon a beef jerky bit. You'll need to pull off thicker strings. Or, just bite off chunks instead.

But it's pretty good cheese too. Ross says he gets the cheese from a local artisan cheese maker.


Right now, sticks of Cheese Jerky are available in convenience stores throughout the upper Mid-West. It doesn't look like you can buy them online yet, but considering it's something that needs to be kept refrigerated, it might be problematic to ship this stuff out to consumers.

Anyways, I wrote a more detailed review on my Beef Jerky Blog...
http://www.bestbeefjerky.org/2009/02/snack-patrol-cheese-jerky.html

Otherwise, visit Cheese Jerky online at:
http://www.getsnackpatrol.com/

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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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Cheetos Chile Limon

Cheetos now comes in this new flavor, "Chile Limon".

Whatever happened to "Chili Lime"?

Note the bilingual text all over the packaging. It says both "New" and "Nuevo", and "Flavor" and "Sabor". Even the variety name is in Spanish.

This is not a variety sold only in Latin countries, it's targeted for the USA.

Chalk it up to our open borders policy.

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Velveeta Bowls

Has anyone tried the new Velveeta Bowls yet?

So far, all the press I've read says these things are absolutely horrible, which makes it all the more intriguing to me. One person on a forum wrote that they tasted like feet.

Velveeta Bowls come in three varieties, "Cheese & Garlic Herb", "Cheese & Salsa" and "Cheese & Chili with Beef flavors".

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King Cheese - Spicy Sopresatta

For lunch today I decided to eat this spicy sopresatta wrapped in mozzarella cheese. It's sold under the King Cheese brand, and I found it today in the international deli section of my local Albertsons.

It just looked so appetizing, most likely because it was 1:00pm, and I hadn't eaten anything yet.


It comes in a log, which you're supposed to cut into slices. I thought about sticking to my junk food tradition by just grabbing the whole thing and eating it like a Snickers bar, but it's rather greasy.

The mozzarella is very soft and has a smooth creamy texture in my mouth.

The spicy sopresatta is medium in spiciness, very thinly sliced, and gives off a subtle flavor. It's probably more oily than anything, but then again, I'm not an expert in spicy sopresatta.

The cheese itself has a spiciness to it also because its topped with red peppers.

Together it's absolutely delish.

But it's not something you'd eat like a snack, nor eat whole the way I did. You'd probably eat just a couple of slices and share with friends.

In terms of fat, cholesterol, sodium, and carbs, it's not that bad actually. The entire roll is..

560 calories
32gm fat
20mg cholesterol
1,360mg sodium
16gm carbohydrates

There are 8 servings per roll.

I guess I'd call this junk food since I ate the whole roll. But if you eat just one serving you can feel better by calling it an "appetizer".

I paid $6.99 for this at Albertsons. Add a Dr Pepper to wash it down, and it's not too bad of a price for lunch.

Visit King Cheese online at...
http://www.kingcheese.com

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Ritz Bits Soccer Cheese

The newest entry to the Ritz Bits line of cracker sandwiches is this "Soccer Cheese"
variety.

The crackers have a soccer ball pattern molded on.

The box says that they're made with real cheese, but a quick glance at the ingredients found no "real cheese", only "Cheddar Cheese Powder". I dunno, if you threw down some cheese powder in front of a kid, I doubt he'd call it cheese.

Ritz Bits Soccer Cheese is also healthier than standard Ritz Bits, because the box says that they contain 5g of whole grain, and have 33 percent less fat.

Interestingly, it also says its the official cracker of Major League Soccer (MLS). I wonder if David Beckham has to eat these then?

The retail price is $3.00. Coming to a store near you.

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360s - Cheddar Covered Pretzels

C.P. Twist recently introduced a new line of cheesy pretzels snacks called 360's. Why 360's? Because they're 360 degrees of cheese-covered pretzel action. (Never mind that 360 degrees only applies when you're talking two dimensions.)

The pretzel treats come in a variety of formats, from the pretzel spheres there to the right to mini loop pretzels called Cheezels.

Two ounce bags should retail for around $1 and 10 ounce tubs will make snacking more economical. See website for more tantalizing flavors like Jalapeno, Pizza and Tomato Basil.

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T.G.I. Friday's Quesadilla Cheese Chips

Produced by Poore Brothers Inc. under license from T.G.I. Friday's, these new Quesadilla Cheese Snack Chips are the latest variety to accompany the line of T.G.I. Friday's chips.

The cheddar cheese flavored chips are sold in a 2.5 oz. bag.

Visit Poore Brothers at: http://www.poorebrothers.com

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Cheeze-It White Cheddar

"New!" Sunshine Cheez-It Pasteurized Cheese Snack is offered in the USA in an 8 oz. (226g) aerosol can by Sunshine Biscuits, Inc. The new White Cheddar Cheese Snack spray offers "Delicious sharp white cheddar flavor."

The retail price is $3.00 each.

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Cheese Straws with a Kiss of Chipotle

Flathau's Gourmet Edibles Cheese Straws with a Kiss of Chipotle are now available in select areas. "A little spice is nice" with the combination of classic cheddar cheese and chipotle.

The Cheese Straws are available in 4oz, 8oz, and 16 oz cartons and sell for $4.95, $7.95 and $14.95 respectively.

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