Ridiculously Awesome: Chobani Pineapple Yogurt (Plus Other Greek Yogurts)

Don't stir it! Just try a thick chunk of the yogurt by itself. To me, it tastes like a rich cream cheese of the most delicious kind. Now get in a spoonful of sweet pineapple goodness. OK, now you can stir. Or not, and switch back and forth like I do. It's the lazy way, besides, you can mix it to taste in your mouth.

Chobani Low Fat Apricot Greek Yogurt, 5.3 Ounce -- 12 per case (Not pineapple but still yum!)

Chobani has plenty of other unique flavors you won't find from other brands.

In recent commercials, people preferred the newest formulation of Yoplait Greek. I've had previous generations of the stuff: too chalky, too sour, too bland. Then I had the newest variation: too sweet. Yoplait products tend to have some of the highest sugar contents of any yogurts and their latest Greek is no exception.

A quick review of other Greek yogurt brands:
Stonyfield Oikos: delish!
Fage: super tart yogurt but the best fruity sauciness, good combined

Would love to try all the brands. Will take any coupons and samples. ;) Can't get enough of fruit, calcium and protein in a convenient snackable package.

Cold Cereal = Kibble for Humans?

I'm eating cereal the other day and suddenly think, "Wait a minute, isn't this like kibble?" It's a (mostly) grain product full of vitamins and minerals. And we're trained to think of it as a whole meal or the main part of balanced meal.

Some of it's even shaped the same way. There's amorphous nuggets, balls, "treasure chests" which look like squared nuggets with two pinched waists to me (is there a message in there?). There's even Scooby Snacks! OK, now I want to try these snacks; there must be something to them to turn a scaredy dog into a mighty dog.

Here's to being trained to eat processed foods full of nutrients!

Red Velvet cake - What's the point?

Gratuitous use of food coloring. Not particularly tasty, or is it just the Duncan Hines cake mix version? Seriously, it tastes like it needs a 2 inch layer of frosting just to qualify as a proper dessert. What's the point? Why not just make a rich chocolate cake sans red dye?

What do you think?

Croutons are international cuisine!

New York brand Texas Toast croutons started with the Penn family in Ohio. Made from French bread with Italian goodness! Awesome stuff, and I especially loved the Caesar variety. Also, good: Cheddar Bacon, Cheese & Garlic, and New York Texas Toast Tortilla Strips Chipotle Cheddar. Ah, my salads and soups have been much improved since I found this stuff.

So the world didn't end...

Well, gosh darn it, I guess I'll have to continue this blog after all. And make New Year's resolutions. And finish writing that novel. And eat all 21 bags of York Peppermint Patties I bought yesterday. Plus the bag of 3 Musketeers Fun Size Candy. Well, there goes my resolution to get healthier.

Oh, well. Happy holidays!

Deals! What do purchases say about you?

Deals! Deals! Deals! The funny thing about deals is that they can make you buy things you never intended to. I didn't really need a waffle maker, I just thought it'd be cool to make my own fresh and everything. I used it a total of one time before shoving it somewhere I can't get to it without a complicated set of maneuvers involving boxes and back pain.

I subscribe to daily emails from Slickdeals.net and 3-hourly ones from Fatwallet.com to keep track of deals. It means, of course, that I miss out on most of the deals which usually get snapped up in minutes, if not seconds. Which is fine by my wallet, which would never survive a whole day of real time deals.

And what are these deals for? What would these purchases say about the people buying them? Some of this stuff is supposed to be for reselling on eBay, but even then it means there's quite a market for this stuff. As far as I can tell, Slickdealers/Fatwalleters/eBay buyers are chocolate-loving, coffee-loving, rice-loving, body building, computer building, media loving, gun toting fashionistas quite possibly with revolving balances on lots of credit cards. After all, you can never have too many candies (like Candy House Chocolate Truffles in Gold Foil - Reception Accessories (Google Affiliate Ad)), K-cups, rice cookers, pounds of whey protein, computer parts, BluRays, TVs (like Samsung 46 " Black LED 1080P 120HZ HDTV - UN46EH6000 (Google Affiliate Ad)), ebooks, guns, shoes, and credit cards. Especially when they're 70% or more off or even free! Never mind that you'll never read all those ebooks; they just look cool on your 50% off ereader.

Random Ravings on Ice Cream or How I Scream For Ice Cream

Mmm...caramel

OK, I admit it: I sometimes try to eat the very bottom of the ice cream cone first. I know, I know, it's really stupid because the melting ice cream drips out and I end up with a big mess. But I'll think, if I can just get to it quick enough, I can leave more of the good part -- the ice cream -- for the end! It's the same reason I eat the pizza crust first; which usually works out better unless you're trying to eat all of the crust first, including the stuff from under the toppings (in which case you might as well just dump cheese, sauce and the works in a pot to cook, no pesky crust to get in the way).

But back to the ice cream. You know those ready made ice cream cones you can buy like Nestle Drumsticks and Blue Bunny cones? The ones with the chocolate-lined cones, the peanut-studded chocolate shells, and and the solid chocolate plug at the bottom to protect against leaks? I'm not a big fan of chocolate. No, really, I prefer vanilla. And caramel, and mint, and fruit, and plenty of other stuff. Yeah, I know, blasphemy! That whole feel-good chemical thing, I don't really get it, or notice it, or whatever. Maybe I'm on too many drugs (allergy pills only, the strong stuff which is the only kind that work for me). And the taste of chocolate: if you ever tasted the purer stuff, it's very bitter like black coffee, and as with coffee, I'm OK with it -- if flavored correctly -- but not head over heels. It takes tons of sugar to make it really palatable and then you can end up with something so sweet it feels like your teeth are rotting every time you take a bite (the feeling I usually get when biting into chocolate cake or brownies, but curiously not Snickers which I actually do like). So I could take chocolate or leave it, or better yet, let YOU take it.

Catch those yummy bunnies!

Anyway, the chocolate plug at the tip of the ice cream cone, that's why I like to chomp off the bottom first. I keep hoping that I'll get just enough to leave a thin layer of plug intact, but the blasted things are always different sizes, damn it. Blue Bunny actually has a strawberry version with a strawberry shell on top, but still has that chocolate lining and plug at the bottom. And a Caramel Lovers with chocolate shell, cone lining, and plug. Just make solid strawberry and caramel plugs already! Then maybe I'll eat my eat down for once.

I tried to look up the origins of the Moose Tracks flavor, but could never find the why of it. Why is it called that? Blue Bunny has a flavor called Bunny Tracks which is very much the same. "This creamy vanilla ice cream comes loaded with your favorite goodies - chocolate-covered peanuts, peanut butter-filled chocolate bunnies, a thick chocolate fudge ribbon and a peanut butter caramel ribbon for a delicious ice cream treat!" The way I figure it: the peanut butter-filled chocolate bunnies are hopping through a winter landscape of creamy vanilla ice cream, laying chocolate-covered peanuts and leaving smears of a thick chocolate fudge ribbon and peanut butter caramel ribbon. But no, this stuff really is delish. Please try it. And the chocolate stuff too if you must.