by OneMoreBite | Jul 8, 2005 | Food Reviews
If you get Pepsi anyway, this is a neat deal to save some money because soft drinks are expensive! Think about it: if you drink only one soft drink a day, and you buy at a convenience store for instance, you’re probably paying more than $1 every single day for that lousy drink. That’s $365 a year, folks! Doesn’t that seem a tad high?
No wonder everyone thinks they’re broke all the time.
My trick? Get flavors such as Root Beer or Cherry, and sweetener of your choice (I like Stevia), then add to ordinary water, and you get all but the fizz for pennies a day, rather than dollars. Think of what you could do with all that extra cash?
Meanwhile, go get that $10 rebate Pepsi’s offering, quick now, cause the deal expires soon. Just print out the coupon (it’s in the PDF format), follow directions and then deposit that check.
Clue: If you provide your phone number, they do have the right to call, even if you are on the Do Not Call list. That’s the way the DNC list works. Vendors have the right to call you, despite being on the list, if you contact them for information. I believe they can contact you up to 90 days. In the case of a company such as Pepsi, I wouldn’t worry about it. Not likely Pepsi’s going to be calling you up to see if you liked the new Diet Pepsi with Lime.
by OneMoreBite | Jul 6, 2005 | Food Reviews
When the label says 100% whole grain, and nothing else. No “wheat flour,” because guess what? It’s no longer whole grain. You can have whole grain flour but it would be listed as “100% whole grain flour.” Anything else is not whole grain. These products advertising themselves as whole grain when they may have a bit of whole grain is misleading, but apparently perfectly legal in the US.
Here’s a tip: If it’s highly refined, it’s not nutritious, even if they do toss in a small amount of “whole grain.” Apparently some people think they can buy a box of breakfast cereal and get something nutritious for their or their kid’s breakfast. They are wrong.
ABC News reported in March 2005 that Jennifer Hardee is suing Kraft Foods Co., General Mills Cereals and Kellogg USA, Inc. in what may become a class action lawsuit for deceptive labeling. She was fooled into believing their new low sugar cereals were healthier largely because of their new ad campaign stating they are healthier. Shame on her for believing their ads! How could she be so foolish?
“Parents think they’re buying something healthier for their children, [only] to find out that they’re not,” said Hardee.
These new low-sugar varities of Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes and Froot Loops, General Mills’ Cocoa Puffs and Trix, and Post’s Fruity Pebbles, have the same amount of calories, carbohydrates, fat, fiber and other nutrients as the regular versions of the cereals, according to a recent report by The Associated Press. Well duh!
So, they are the same, right? Wrong. Lower sugar is lower sugar. There is a difference. Is it healthier? Probably not, but that’s open to debate. At least these companies are trying to put out a “healthier” product, but good luck with that. Everyone knows we actually want good taste more than anything. Why else would be buying all these highly sugared products in the first place?
If this does turn into a class action suit it would likely mean millions of dollars for the lawyers with those suit participants likely receiving coupons for $2.00 off a cereal of their choice. Class action suits are never a good deal for the plaintiffs, but lawyers come out smelling like a rose. Sad but true.
“What they’re doing with their low-sugar cereals is reducing their sugar content, but increasing the refined carbohydrates,” Hardee’s lawyer, Harold Hewell, told ABC News affiliate KGTV in San Diego. “The body treats refined carbohydrates the same as sugar so there is no real net nutritional benefit.” Not precisely true yet refined carbs are the point, and these lowered sugared products are still highly refined, despite the ad claims to the contrary, and that’s misleading.
Stop eating these cereals entirely and you will have a healthier breakfast. Try oatmeal–not instant with added sugar and flavor–just plain oatmeal. Add brown sugar and milk if you like, it’s okay. Really it is. To Ms. Hardee: Feed your kids real food. Give them an apple or banana, bake something. Mix and make your own breakfast cereals–it’s ultra easy to do and far less money. In fact, gather your kids and have them create breakfast cereals with you. That would be a great way to show your kids how they can have a hand in their own health too.
by OneMoreBite | Jun 4, 2005 | Food Reviews
Burger King’s got the jump on this one, and it’s a great idea: Strips of chicken, battered and deep fried (just the way we like it), with a spicy, snappy, addictive taste. Their thinking is that people want food they can eat on-the-go (in the car perhaps) and their cup-full-o-chicken-strips fits that bill. The dipping sauce would be a problem, but I’m sure they’ll figure that out.
Maybe the auto manufacturers should take a clue and put a mini-bar in the front seat? That’d be cool. Push a button and it flips up with a little tray, mini-refrigerator, maybe a mini-microwave for heating those “better when hot” snacks? Cup holder, natch. Um, what else? Ideas, people, give me ideas. Napkin holder would be nice, maybe a condiment center? Pretty soon I’m gonna need an RV just to get to work.
Then, when you’re done, push another button and that flips away and up flips your “porta-office.” Oh, the joy, the rapture, to be able to read e-mail and organize files while zipping down the road at 70 miles-per-hour in a 10,000 pound machine.
After a work “break” it’s time to get serious, so push another button and the portable DVD/game console pops up. This is for serious traffic jams only though! Remember to keep your eyes on the road and your free hand on the wheel at all times.
This leads to me my latest “big idea.” I want a semi-truck, train, bus, whatever, something big, to haul a bunch of exercise equipment. Then the commuters can pay a fee to ride in the beast while exercising on their way to and from work. The trouble with that idea is when there is no traffic the ride would be too fast, and you’d get a lousy workout, but when the traffic is horrible and everyone else is all stressed and annoyed, us in the “Move it or Lose it” bus are saying, “ha ha on you. We’re getting our exercise!” I love this idea, it just needs a little tweaking, oh, and a bunch of money.
Paul Allen, Bill Gates? You have the bucks. Make it happen, and I’ll be first in line for a monthly pass, and you’ll be heroes.
by OneMoreBite | Jun 3, 2005 | Food Reviews
I finally found some “dark” M&M’s; a not easy feat in itself. I’ve been looking for them for weeks. So, I get my prize home and tear it open only to find … the colors. They are so horribly depressing you might as well eat dirt.
Don’t they get it in M&M’s land? It’s the colors stupid! How could they not know it’s the deep dark brown package and the bright, vibrant colors that I love so much, not the stupid candy. The candy, frankly tastes like, er, I don’t know, sort of stale? I’ve never liked the taste of M&M’s but the colors, that’s another story.
Did anyone buy the white ones? That was doubly-dumb I thought. Who wants an anemic looking candy?
So, I’m not happy with this flavor at all. The taste is reminiscent of the sugar-free posers, and that’s not good either. I’ll stick with the regular.
by OneMoreBite | Mar 28, 2005 | Food Reviews
Burger King has introduced two new sandwiches in what they call their “flavorful and indulgent breakfast sandwiches” selection to meet the growing (pun intended) need of starving Americans; namely, the Enormous Omelet Sandwich and the Western Omelet Croissan’wich. The sandwiches’ names tell the story: Enormous anyone? When a sandwich tells you right up front that it’s enormous you can bet it’ll be a dilly. ?The Enormous Omelet Sandwich is everything people love in a breakfast sandwich, but twice the size and twice as satisfying,? stated Denny Post, the chief concept officer at Burger King Corporation (BKC). Oh, yeah! Have it Your Way, all righty.
According to their way innovative nutritional dropdown, pick your foods so we can’t be blamed approach, they state the Enormous Omelet Sandwich has 730 calories, 47 grams of fat (17 saturated), 9 grams of sugar, 43 grams of carbs and 1860 grams of sodium. Yumbo. I think their numbers are slightly off because they list each ingredient, but give no estimate for the oils, etc. used in the cooking. You know they don’t cook those eggs in water.
They didn’t have nutritional info listed for the Western Omelet Croissan’wich (dumb name if you ask me), but it was just introduced this morning so you couldn’t expect them to update their website in a timely fashion, right? They only knew this new item would be introduced today for what, maybe six months? The advertisers got the memo, why not the web guy?
Not to be out done, I heard on the news just this evening that Hardies offers a hamburger that clocks in at over 1400 calories and 110 grams of fat! Holy heart attack, Batman! That is just plain ridiculous. You might as well just lay in the street cause you’re as good as dead if you eat that very often. “Want fries with that?” “Why, I think I do, and one of them apple pies too, if you please.” And people wonder why they’re gaining weight. Sheesh. I tried to find info on it, but was unsuccessful finding a website for Hardies. That seems odd. It’s also odd that I ran into tons of posts about how much people do not like that chain. So sad to hear. We don’t have them around these parts, and I could be misspelling the name, so sorry to them, if that’s the case.
According to Burger King, people were clamoring for a decent sized breakfast sandwich after voicing their displeasure at the skimpy offerings. Apparently the public is none too pleased with BK’s attempts to offer healthier choices and worst of all, smaller portions. “Not in my backyard,” or in this case, “Not in my fast food joint!” seems to be the common cry. We want it for the other guy, but not for me.
There is no way fast food places are going to scale back their menus. That’s just not what the buying public wants. Remember when they tried salad bars? Didn’t work.
I totally love the lame idea of cut up fruit and a mini bowl of yogurt. Like I’m going to a restaurant for that? The cut fruit in the grocery is too expensive, so how much do they charge for that, and how hungry would you be a half hour later? I’ll bet it’s one of the first to go.
by OneMoreBite | Mar 22, 2005 | Food Reviews
They say, “only original and unpublished rice recipes” well, duh, you’re not going to just go copy straight out of your Betty Crocker cookbook, but what really is an “original recipe?” How many different ways can you put the same ingredients together? Let’s see, take rice, add milk, sugar, vanilla, you’ve got rice pudding. Is that original? No. The originality comes in how the recipe is titled, how the ingredients are listed, etc., and if you add some little twist, say a sprinkle of cinnamon, that couldn’t hurt either.
My husband makes the most awesome Salmon Rice Couquettes which is a mix of rice, salmon, onions, celery (I don’t know, he makes it), then patted into shape (he made a metal cookie cutter for this), and dredged in sesame seeds for an outer coating, then lightly fried in some sesame oil. Oh, these are so good it’s not even funny.
Then he makes the most delicious sauces and you just put a bit on the top, all fancy looking. We eat these with steamed greens and it’s just so good. It’s like having my very own gourmet chef!
Sadly the contest states six ingredients or less and preparation time under 30 minutes, and these take about 35 minutes so dang it! We so would have won that contest. It’s so good even the kids love it, and you know how kids are. My son thought I was trying to poison him when he asked for apple juice and I handed him a glass of unfiltered juice from a local farm. “What’s this?” he said. “Apple juice,” I replied. “What’s all this crap in it,” he disgustedly remarked. “It’s just not filtered,” it’s better for you, blah, blah, blah. He just made a face like I’m a freak. That’s what I get for waiting on His Majesty hand and foot.
