Carl's Jr. Mask

 I was at Carl's Jr. and they asked me to donate a dollar to veterans. I said yes and they unceremoniously handed me a black mask with a happy star on it.

The thing wont fit my face, but it's a nice mask. 

Godiva Chocolate Pudding with Real Raspberry

 Godiva Chocolate Pudding with Real Raspberry is as high class as pudding can get and still use artificial flavors. I really have to ask why you would make something like this and not go the distance, but someone must like this stuff. 

It's not bad, the raspberry is more of a texture than a flavor, and the whole thing works. If you like pudding you should try this stuff. Me, I'm going to mix the extra box with espresso and try to use it to keep me up tonight. I have work to do.

Tribe Sea Salt Caramel Hummus

 Tribe Sea Salt Caramel Hummus is just the right amount of sweet to make celery perfect. Oh, how I love this hummus with celery. I will admit that I've had hummus that was too sweet for celery but this is just right. Buy, for the love of celery, buy!

Alvarado Street Bakery Organic Sprouted Wheat Original Bagel

 Alvarado Street Bakery Organic Sprouted Wheat Original Bagels are not as course or hard as some of the other sprouted breads I've had. They also keep very well by comparison. 

If you're looking for sprouted breads these are some of the best I've had. Not as good as a Costco bagel, but most likely better for you.

Bantam Pancakes Magic Unicorn Pancakes

 Bantam Magic Unicorn Pancakes are pancakes only in that there is no legal definition of pancakes that I know of. They are more like doughnut holes or muffins with an odd filling. They are fast to make but that filling can burn so give them time to cool. 

I have to admit I would recommend this product just on the oddness of it, but they're underwhelming. I'd rather have real pancakes.

Violife Just Like Cream Cheese Cheddar

 Violife Just Like Cream Cheese Cheddar is just as good as the real deal. If I were not committed to trying every cream cheese I come across I would switch to this vegan brand. I will admit that the look is a bit different with the cheese becoming transparent when hot.

To be honest, I didn't know this was a vegan product when I tried it and it sure fooled me. Good stuff.

Conqueror Virtual Challenges Giza Pyramids

 In the modern world of paying people so you can walk around there are few companies as good to the environment as Conqueror Virtual Challenges which plants five trees for every fitness challenge you buy.

Now, many of us have always wanted to see the Giza Pyramids and for good reason. They are a wonderful sight, or at least they will be until tourism reduces them to dust or pollution eats them away. There is truly no experience quite like the pounding heat, body odor, and overall sandiness of Egypt.

The next best thing is this Giza Pyramids Challenge which will not do any damage to these magnificent monuments, but will get you home by dinner if you so choose. If I wanted the closest thing to being there I could go stomp around the Californian dunes.

Now this challenge is interesting because it comes with this little magnetic compartment holding a scarab charm. This is something small that you can put on your key chain or give to your girlfriend. It's just a little bit of worldliness to add class to your life. Most people really dig it and I think it says good job on the back. 

 

Izze Sparkling Lemonade Original

 Izze Sparkling Lemonade Original is refreshing enough. I mean, it tastes like grapefruit juice to me, but it's not a bad flavor. I think this stuff is for mixing drinks, and I tried it at a time when I needed to be sober enough to write a review. That would be after three drinks. 

A fourth drink would have dulled my memory of drinking, but to be honest this stuff grows on you. I would say try it with your favorite hard liquor, but drink responsibly.

Mountain Dew Game Fuel, Charged Cherry Burst

 Mountain Dew Game Fuel, Charged Cherry Burst has some cherry flavor in there, but the charged part I have doubts about. I went right to sleep after trying this. Let's be honest, energy drinks don't have much kick to me anymore so that's not a big thing.

The worst part was that stray fresh cap which is hard to open and splatters all over you. You should use a clean butter knife to open these, and I don't know how fresh the thing keeps it. I mean, who sips an energy drink? You want to drink them cold so you drink them cold. Letting one sit by a hot computer as you grind your life away making virtual gold just isn't how you drink them.

Michael Angelo's Eggplant Parmigiana

 Michael Angelo's Eggplant Parmigiana suffers from being made of eggplant. It is really good eggplant were it not for that fact that it is indeed eggplant. If you like eggplant you'll love this, and if you don't like eggplant you'll eat the cheese off the top.

PHO Whittier 50. Grilled Shrimp & Baked Egg Loaf

 At PHO Whittier on Laurel Avenue in Whittier California this is the number 50. Grilled Shrimp & Baked Egg Loaf. It doesn't look like much food, because it comes on a big plate. It's still about as filling as any meal at a Pho restaurant. The portions are smaller in that part of the world.

I found this to be agreeable and new. I would buy it again if not for there being so many other options at PHO Whittier that I have yet to try.  

Orchard Choice California Fig Spread California Orange

 Orchard Choice California Fig Spread California Orange is the kind of thing my grandmother would have liked. It isn't as rich as most jams out there and has a fine but tart flavor. 

If you're a sugar hog this isn't for you, but if your mouth parts can detect the finger things this is your jam. As for me, I'll likely never see this product again so I will likely never buy more, but I don't like jam.

Big K Grape Soda

 Big K Grape Soda is one of the worst things I've found that you can put in your mouth. This diabetes juice has more calories than most sodas but doesn't taste as sweet. I'm going to grant you that I have never had a good grape soda, but this one is only passable and very very bad for you.

Mrs. ButterWorth's Original Syrup

 Mrs. ButterWorth sounds English to me but some people find her offensive so her Original Syrup will go out under a new name...or have a new bottle. It's not all that clear. Some how less offensive is the fact that this is a toxic brew of unnatural sugars that can do who knows what to your body. 

I have to admit that these waffles would be nearly inedible, they are whole grain, without some sugar. Still, there is so much better out there than this.

Realgood Super Premium Tanzanian Vanilla Ice Cream

 Realgood Super Premium Tanzanian Vanilla Ice Cream is what it sounds like, and I didn't find it much better than any other ice cream. I would have liked more vanilla, but I think that's getting harder to find. 

It's hard to go wrong with ice cream so, yeah, you'll love this stuff.

Green Giant Cauliflower Breadsticks Original

 Green Giant Cauliflower Breadsticks Original are one of those products that has no reason to exist. It needs to be kept cold and then tastes bad when you heat it up. Not being much better for you than normal bread. 

I have to say this is a fail. It tastes bad and isn't that great for you.

Lucky Charms Honey Clovers

 Lucky Charms Honey Clovers is a terrible idea. Let's add more sugar to a sugar cereal and hope we don't send kids into shock from all that corn goop. 

Top it off with the fact that the stuff tastes like plastic and you end up with something not half as good as the original.  

I know I'm down on sugar cereals, but this really is crap.

Sabra Dark Chocolate Dessert Dip & Spread

 Sabra Dark Chocolate Dessert Dip & Spread is one of those things I look at and ask what I should do with. I mean, I guess you can put it on fruit, but who does that now days?

In any case, this is not bitter like dark chocolate but not as rich as milk chocolate would be. I wouldn't say it's strong enough to go with red wine. Rose wine would work better. Odd stuff but good.

Kashi Go Spark Flakes And Clusters Maple Brown Sugar Cereal

'Kashi Go Spark Flakes And Clusters Maple Brown Sugar Cereal' could have a longer name some how I'm sure. I mean, they sure love to torment me with these long food names. Some day they'll just stop naming products and just have you read the list of what they put in them. 

Once you get past the infuriatingly long name of this Kashi product the stuff is not bad. I ate it in like two days, but I didn't do much cooking other wise. 
 

PHO Whittier A1 Vietnamese Fried Eggrolls

 On the outskirts of Los Angeles you can find the City of Whittier and not far from the historic district on Laurel Ave. the small Vietnamese restaurant PHO Whittier can be found. Among their more popular appetizers is A1Vietnamese Fried Eggrolls. I love egg rolls, and yes it is one word on the menu.

These are as good as you would expect from fresh egg rolls and they come so hot you can burn your mouth on them. I really think this is kind of Americanized, but that makes it no less delicious.  

Brooklyn Craft Ginger Ale Classic

 Brooklyn Craft Ginger Ale Classic is the good stuff when it comes to ginger ale. I mean, real sugar, real ginger, few ingredients this is the best ginger ale I've ever had. I can't say that is a high bar to clear but that doesn't change the fact that this is the good stuff.

Buy, try, have with vodka, drink responsibly. 

Annie's Original Crescent Rolls

 

Annie's Original Crescent Rolls are hard to get out of the tube. Once you get them out of the tube the tube tells you to cook them too long. If you can manage to cook these right and not burn them they're really good. You can get better ones at Costco but these are fresh from the oven so, meh, just about as good.

Hill County Fare Spicy Ketchup with Jalapeno

 Congratulations Hill County Fare you made mild hot sauce with your 'Spicy Ketchup with Jalapeno'. This is hot enough so that I like to have a drink handy when I eat it. 

I'm going to admit that I'd rather have ketchup. If you like food mildly hot then this is great for you.

Canada Dry Peach Mango Sparkling Seltzer Water

 Canada Dry Peach Mango Sparkling Seltzer Water has a vaguely fruity taste that is unoffensive. I can't say it tastes much like peach or mango, but if I wanted those things I would eat them. There is a growing definition of water now days, and I don't like it. I think water should be water but this stuff is okay.

Death Wish COffee Co. Instant Coffee

 Death Wish COffee Co. Instant Coffee did not coffee up my ice cream the way I hoped it would. Look, if you're a caffeine addict than this stuff is your cup of tea...or coffee. However, if you're going to put a full on poison symbol on your product then you need to have some folks with problems go about buying it. 

This will keep you up, but you should not buy it if you have children. Gives them the wrong idea. 

PHO Whittier Smoothie Honeydew

 At PHO Whittier on Laurel Ave in Whittier California you can get a Honeydew Smoothie. It make look like a green milkshake but I can say that these taste very much like Honeydew melon. I will also need to point out that they are cold as ice and you should drink some ice water to get used to them before you get a brain freeze. 

If you're visiting LA County and find yourself not far form the Whittier suburb then this is a place to go. Good food, nice people.  

Bird's Eye Veggie Pasta Spaghetti Style with Olive Oil

 Bird's Eye Veggie Pasta Spaghetti Style with Olive Oil is again one of those long named products I can't stand. Past that, I have to say this is easier to make than normal pasta being something you toss in the microwave.

However, it really looks no better for you than normal pasta, and you can find pasta that is better for you. 

If you're dining alone then one of these pacts will be enough but you will need to wash out the goo that comes with this stuff. I can't call it a fail but I can't call it a win.

Bailey's Colada

 Bailey's Colada is a new flavor from this Irish classic. It tastes mostly like pineapple with a harsh bourbon aftertaste. I would add this to coconuts rum to give it a better flavor.

This is a great talking point for your party, but it's not going to change your life. I's say it could be sweeter, I mean, it's just kind of there.

Star Wars Ice Cream Sandwiches Vanilla

 May the 4th be with you with Star Wars Ice Cream Sandwiches Vanilla one of the most lazy attempts to make Star Wars merchandise I've ever seen. It's a vanilla ice cream sandwich that looks kind of like a spaceship form Star Wars. It also looks like a couple of other things, but the point is that it has Star Wars on the label so you'll buy it.

How does it taste? Like ice cream, what did you expect, you can't go wrong with ice cream!

Big K Orange Soda

 If there is one thing off brand sodas tend to do right it's fruit sodas. Big K Orange Soda is an orange that will cool you down or get you up with the right spirit at a party, providing you're of legal age, and it goes with most alcohols. 

I admit that I'm more of a cola man, but this blog has encouraged me to try new things. I'm glad I tried this. It's good stuff.

Lunchables Pizza Kabobbles

 Lunchables Pizza Kabobbles are for people who like to play with their food. Playing with your food is unsafe and nasty. On the up side it takes longer to eat these things than just crackers and cheese with pepperoni.

I ended up just dumping the stuff in my mouth and chewing it together.  Fail, soooooo fail.

AriZona Extra Strength Energy Shot Green Tea Pomegranate & Acai

 AriZona Extra Strength Energy Shot Green Tea Pomegranate & Acai doesn't have much of a kick, but they do work. I'm not sure why I would want much flavor in my energy, shot and the flavor isn't that great.

Then, the point of a shot is to get it into your body fast. It works for that, but it never kept me up like a good old Monster.