REVIEW: Quaker Quakes Rice Snacks Caramel Corn

These used to be the snack of choice for my girlfriend but I haven't had them in a while. So when I decided to start this blog I knew I was going to revisit these snacks from times passed. Now Quaker has so many different flavors for these Quakes Rice Snacks but I could only get one. I mean wasn't going to review all their flavors but just for an idea they have Vanilla Creme Brulee, Apple Cinnamon, Sweet Chili, Kettle Corn, etc.).

As my item shows I chose the caramel corn Quakes rice cakes. Now if you've never had a Quakers Quakes Rice Snack well, you're missing out. They are very good. They are fluffy and airy like pop corn but a bigger size and kind of harder than popcorn as it feels there is more substance. I guess they are made like popcorn as they are made from popped whole grain brown rice, who would have thought! These caramel corn Quakes rice snacks actually taste like the old fashioned Cracker Jacks caramel popcorn snack although sans the yummy peanuts.

I suppose these Quaker Quakes rice snacks are fairly "healthy" as you get 10 grams of whole grain per 30 gram servings and each serving is only 110 calories. Of course I've never been able to control myself with serving sizes hence why I like the pre-made snack packs like Nabisco's SnackWells.

Item: Quakers Quakes Rice Snacks (Caramel Corn)
Pros: Light, airy, good taste
Cons: Hard to just eat one hence they go quick!
Score: 8.5/10
Buy Again? For sure!

Ingredients:


WHOLE GRAIN BROWN RICE, SUGAR, CORN (WITH GERM REMOVED), MALTODEXTRIN, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, SALT, MILK, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, SOY LECITHIN, CARAMEL COLOR, SUCRALOSE, ACESULFAME POTASSIUM.

Nabisco SnackWells Fudge Petites

I would say its a fad but it seems like its here to stay. I'm talking about these 100 calorie snack packs that are everywhere. I guess people need these designated little bags with pre-portioned food as we can't control ourselves with a big bag or box of cookies or chips. These Snack Wells Fudge Petites from Nabisco are no different. 100 calorie packs of fudge shortbread cookies. But I'm not here to rant about this 100 calorie debacle but rather tell you, my non-existent readers, how good they taste!

 Like I just said, I bought the fudge shortbread or fudge petites version of these Nabisco SnackWells although they offer many different flavors including other various chocolate desert snacks and caramel ones as well. Now taste wise these fudge petite SnackWells were very good. The shortbread part was not too dry or crumbly to me (although they were to my girlfriend) and I felt the fudge part was very good despite there not seeming to be enough to make a good flavor. My only real issue with these SnackWells fudge petites and it's not really a complaint specific to these fudge shortbread cookies but rather all 100 calorie snacks. I felt like I got nothing! Call me whatever but one bag is just not enough for me... I guess that is why we pre-portion snacks into 100 calorie pseudo healthy bags is so people like me won't eat a whole chip bag of these fudge shortbread cookies.

Item: Nabisco SnackWells Fudge Petites
Pros: Surprisingly good flavor
Cons: Not enough in these 100 calorie packs! Companies take notice!
Score: 8/10
Buy Again? Not for myself. Seems like a mom snack though.

Ingredients


UNBLEACHED ENRICHED FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMINE MONONITRATE {VITAMIN B1}, RIBOFLAVIN {VITAMIN B2}, FOLIC ACID), SUGAR, PALM AND/OR PALM KERNEL OIL, CORN FLOUR, SKIM MILK, COCOA (PROCESSED WITH ALKALI), WHEY, DEXTROSE, SALT, BAKING SODA, SOY LECITHIN, CORNSTARCH, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR. CONTAINS: WHEAT, MILK, SOY.

REVIEW: Skinny Cow Heavenly Crisp Candy Bar

I can just feel my manliness kind of shrink while eating and reviewing this snack food. Based on the logo on the package I should be a bodacious bovine concerned about my weight. I guess these Skinny Cow Heavenly Crisp bars from Nestle are trying to be on that market as it advertises only 110 calories and on the official Weight Watchers point scale it is only 3 points. It also features 3 grams of fiber and only 6 grams of fat. Can't beat that!

So these Skinny Cow Heavenly Crisp bars are pseudo healthy snacks, right? Well I'm sure you're wondering if they taste good. Lets see then. I bought the milk chocolate flavor and it does have a  nice cocoa taste. Another great thing about it which probably goes along with the whole 110 calorie, 3 points Weight Watchers idea is it is a good snack portion. Did not really find myself wondering where it went so fast or find myself forcing myself to eat it. The only downside to these Skinny Cow Heavenly Crisp Candy Bars is the middle is kind of dry. The middle is comprised of wafer material kind of like the Little Debbie Nutty Bars but with layers of chocolate instead of peanut butter inside. However still dry and could use a little bit more moist chocolate inside to compromise the wafers

Overall though these Skinny Cow Heavenly Crisp Candy Bars are fairly good although for the price (4.99$) I found them to be a bit of a pricey snack. Also they are clearly marketed towards a female most likely middle aged range but they taste good so if you can eat these in secret and have the money they are pretty good.

Item: Nestle Skinny Cow Heavenly Crisp Candy Bar Milk Chocolate
Taste: 8/10
Price: 4.99$
Pros: Good portion, fairly healthy snack, good chocolate flavor
Cons: Center is dry and could use some more moist chocolate

REVIEW: Taco Bell Cinnamon Twists

So I had my post on my latest meal at Taco Bell (the beefy 5 layer and grilled chicken burritos) and I mentioned in passing about these free cinnamon twists and how I'd review them later. Well later is here! Later is today!

The last two times I've gone to Taco Bell I have received free Cinnamon Twists and its not like I went two days in a row, this was spaced out by at least a month. Anyways, I got the free Cinnamon Twists as a marketing ploy/incentive to get me to fill out a survey for a free Ipad 2. Didn't fill out the Ipad 2 survey but what can I say, I took the free Cinnamon Twists.

First thing I noticed is pretty much why they are giving them away for free. They can't be that expensive to make. They literally feel like air puffs with a little cinnamon on them. Not to say they are bad, just abnormally light. I feel I could eat a 20 pound case of them and not feel a thing. So yeah not much to these Cinnamon Twists but still oddly good and well...can't pass up free food!

Item: Taco Bell Cinnamon Twists
Price: Free for me for an Ipad 2 survey
Taste: 7.5/10
Pros: Pretty good flavor. Light snack.
Cons: Light, not much substance to them.

REVIEW: Gatorade Perform 02 Frost Riptide Rush

Like I said in my review on the Hawaiian Punch 10 ounce bottles, summer is here and that means hot hot hot and we need keep our thirst quenched. For years Gatorade has dominated this market especially in sports related fields and well...they do a good job at it. And what better way to quench your thirst than with a product specifically called Gatorade Perform 02 Thirst Quencher Frost Riptide Rush?

Now this G Series that Gatorade has been doing lately has been out for a few years but basically each level (1 through 3) correspond to various points of time during exercise. So it goes; 01 is prime, 02 is perform and 03 is recover. I really only see 02 Perform in stores and that's my Gatorade series of choice. What is special about this 02 Perform though? Well Gatorade advertises 110 mg of sodium and 30 mg of potassium to help replenish what you "sweat out" aka electrolytes, on top of that it has 15 g of carbohydrates to help replenish energy. All of this is really fancy talk for me but if they are advertising it it must be a fairly healthy drink for you when you're exercising.

Now the flavor that I have today and what I normally get because it's what my girlfriend likes is the pack that has no discernible flavor... Right now I'm drinking Frost Riptide Rush but it comes in the same case as Glacier Freeze and Cool Blue. Now not sure what a frost riptide or a glacier tastes like but then again they all taste similar to me and I just call them the bluish Gatorades or the purplish Gatorades (Frost Riptide Rush being the purplish Gatorade). Now I'm  not hear to really talk about the flavor of Gatorade so much as they have been around literally forever that I'm sure at some point in your life you have had one before. But I will say, I can't really taste a difference between this Frost Riptide Rush Gatorade and another say... Grape/Purple Gatorade. As for the Gatorade taste in general I know some people like my mother who think they are way too salty and just make you more thirsty. I do get this feeling and I'm sure it corresponds to the 110 mg of sodium.

I have this and really all Gatorades classified as energy drinks as I feel that is what they advertise; sports energy drinks. So how does this Gatorade Perform 02 stack up in that energy department? Well. I'm currently drinking it after no real physical activity and they are made for drinking while performing. However, I have had these all the time on my old construction contractor job in the dead summer with 100 degree weather and do say they keep you hydrated and help out a lot.

Overview

Item: Gatorade Perform 02 Frost Riptide Rush
Energy: 8/10
Taste: 8.5/10
Pros: Good source of electrolytes for physical activity or if out sweating in the sun.
Cons: Slightly "salty" taste. Non discernible flavors (what does a glacier taste like?)

REVIEW: Taco Bell Beefy 5 Layer Burrito and Grilled Chicken Burrito

Figured when I went with Taco Bell the other day with my girlfriend the food we were eating was right up my snack ally and while it was a full meal to me, the same portions or part of the meal could be considered snacks. So here we are. I originally went to Taco Bell not expecting to eat much and ordered two Taco Bell beefy 5 layer burritos. One for me and one for my girl, however they messed up the order and gave us one beefy 5 layer burrito and one grilled chicken burrito. Short story shorter we got the other beefy 5 layer burrito and got to keep the grilled chicken burrito...which I of course ate for blogging science!

Now if you don't know what either of these dishes are I'll briefly explain. The beefy 5 layer burrito is just layers of seasoned ground beef, re-fried beans, cheddar cheese and sour cream wrapped in a flour tortilla with a special nacho cheese sauce around it all. Pretty much a take on the classic burrito but the extra layer of nacho cheese sauce does really make it quite delicious and takes it above and beyond the typical burrito status quot. Now the grilled chicken burrito also is pretty much what it sounds like and features grilled chicken, Mexican rice and an avocado sauce. Now I couldn't really taste the avocado sauce to be honest but did think the chicken was surprisingly tender for fast food. Well done Taco Bell.

On top of these two deliciously fast food burritos we got a side of Taco Bell's cheesy nachos which is essentially the no frills basic nachos that you can get anywhere. Good but again...nothing special. Especially these ones we had today as the cheese sauce was kind of coagulated and the chips seemed a bit stale. Of course this is just a representation of this one Taco Bell and their nachos not all Taco Bells. We also got a free order of Taco Bell's Cinnamon Twists for our desert and shared a Mountain Dew Baja Blast for our beverage of choice. Each of these will probably get a full write up for content sake. Ya know how it is.

Overview


Items: Taco Bell Beefy 5 Layer Burrito and Grilled Chicken Burrito
Taste: 8/10 for both burritos
Buy Again? Yeah

REVIEW: Starbucks Refreshers Raspberry Pomegranate

Weird to see Starbucks, the fast food coffee giant, branching out into "healthy" energy drinks but guess its not that big of a stretch for them as they are in the business of waking people up. Starbucks? Energy Drinks? Yea, in case you haven't seen they have recently come out with these new canned energy drinks called Starbucks Refreshers which come in a variety of flavors including; Raspberry Pomegranate, Orange Melon, and Strawberry Lemonade. Now I only have tried the raspberry pomegranate, hence that is what I'm here reviewing.

Starbucks is seemingly trying to market these refreshers as healthy alternatives to the energy drink market which has previously been clogged with rather...unhealthy drinks.They do this with a new patented green coffee extract from the 100% green Arabica coffee beans which the result is an all natural coffee energy with none of the coffee taste. This is vital for me honestly as I hate the coffee taste. Furthermore these Starbucks Refreshers are fortified with three B vitamins and Vitamin C for more healthy energy boosts.

Time to get down to the taste. Like I said earlier, I hate how coffee tastes so I was at first worried that these drinks would have that dreaded taste. Luckily I was wrong and Starbucks held true to their marketing slogan. For these raspberry pomegranate Starbucks Refreshers I could very well taste the raspberry and pomegranate and the drink itself tasted much like every other canned energy drink I've had. Not sure if that is good or bad. Good I suppose as they are right up there tasting like everyone else, but bad because its not special enough. Not sure about the energy effects either but then again I always find that standard kind of hard to measure and therefore fairly inaccurate. The size of these Starbucks Refreshers is pretty good and the can itself has a nice design that is more classy I suppose and colorful than the usual dark and manly looking Monster and Bawlz energy drinks.

Item: Starbucks Refreshers Raspberry Pomegranate
Taste: 8/10
Energy Level: Couldn't really tell a difference.
Pros: Good size can with great design, flavor is good but nothing special.
Cons: Again, flavor nothing too stand outish.