Doritos Late Night Tacos At Midnight

I have been wanting to try these Doritos since Marvo reviewed them (read his review HERE). Who doesn't love greasy tacos at midnight? Really, is there a better snack? Imagine how great it would be if Doritos made it possible to have the flavor without the trip to the drive-thru (or the kitchen clean-up).



Well, they do taste like tacos...specifically, a bland, mid-western gringo interpretation of tacos. You know those cumin-heavy taco seasoning packets that your mom, or your friend's mom, added to her favorite "homemade" out-of-the-box-and-nuke tacos? That is exactly what these Doritos taste like.



While the ingredients list does not mention cumin (only the oh-so-descriptive "spices"), there is no question it's there. In fact, it seems the only difference between regular Doritos and the Tacos At Midnight version is that one spice.

These Doritos aren't horrible -- and if you are a fan of dehydrated taco seasoning packets, you may just love these. I was not impressed.

Well, I did like the bag itself. The neon look is pretty spiffy.




PURCHASED FROM:
Albertson's Supermarket

Peanut Butter Newman-O's

If I ever met Nell Newman in person I am going to have to give her a huge hug.
So far I have loved all of the Newman's Own Organic products that I have tried- and the Peanut Butter Newman-O's are no exception. Actually they are my favorite so far.

We all know how I feel about Oreo's. While nothing will ever replace the happiness that a perfect Oreo dunked in milk brings me- BUT these Peanut Butter O's brings there own special kind of cookie happiness.

The chocolate wafer cookies not only look a lot like certain other cookies we could mention but the flavor is very close. The standout star of this cookie is the peanut butter filling. The filling looks and tastes like actual peanut butter! It's strong, smooth and just a little salty!
I know you may be wondering to yourself (or out loud if you are like me and talk to yourself) why I am surprised by that fact. I will tell you why. The problem with most sandwich cookies is that the filling is seldom more then vaguely flavored sugar. Oreo in fact did do a peanut butter creme version a few years back (check out The Impulse Buy's review HERE) but personally I did not like them because the filling reminded me of peanut flavored Crisco. And yes, in case you are wondering my way of eating this types of cookies is to pull the two halves apart and lick out the creme. For once I actually saved the cream rather then the cookies for last.

YUM!


PURCHASED FROM:
Sample From Company

Ben & Jerry's Neapolitan Dynamite

I have got skills. Drawing skills, nunchuck skills, reviewing skills...
Neapolitan Dynamite is a 50/50 pint of Cherry Garcia and Chocolate Fudge Brownie.
Chocolate Fudge Brownie has a special place in my heart (and on my thighs) since it was the very first Ben & Jerry's I ever tried. I still love the moist soft patches of brownie. That great chocolate basic is rich and smooth.

And how could you not love Cherry Garcia? sweet chunks of cherry. Slivers of bitter sweet chocolate. Somewhere, I would like to think that Jerry (as in Garcia) keeps a well stocked freezer full)

Both of these flavors are classic examples of Ben & Jerry at their best. I love the combo pints!
PURCHASED FROM:
Albertsons Supermarket

The Hat Chili Cheese Fries

Since it's vacation season and no doubt Southern California is a huge tourist draw I thought I would share with you a few of my local favorites. These are chili fries from The Hat.


The Hat is a local chain that is most famous for it's pastrami- and while these are fighting words in local circles, I personally don't like they're pastrami. But what I LOOOOOVE is the chili fries.

The fries themselves are just standard issue fries but they are piled high and topped with enough chili (no beans) and cheese to feed at least 3 people. I have personally never finsished even half of an order so plan on sharing!
The chili uses good quality ground meat and is just the slightest bit spicy. The cheese is shredded chedder and they will add onions if you ask.

They are huge, they are greasy and they have NO nutrional value what-so ever. But DAMN they are good!

Ben & Jerry's Cake Batter Ice Cream

Happy 30'th Birthday Ben & Jerry!
Every once and a while Ben & Jerry come out with a flavor that is just so good I am prepared to lock myself in the room with a pint and have myself a little threesome (TMI?) I haven't felt that way in years to be honest.

However, for their 30'th Birthday they have a special Cake Batter edition- now, if you have read any of my ice cream reviews you would know that my absolute all-time favorite ice cream is Cold Stone Creameries Cake Batter. I won't lie this ice cream does not top the Cold Stone but it is pretty damn good!

The base flavor is supposed to be yellow cake batter. And I'll be a monkey's uncle if they didn't nail the flavor of yellow cake batter right on the head. If you brought it to room temp I am willing to bet based on flavor alone you would not be able to tell the difference between real cake bater and the ice cream.

Most cake batter ice creams feature a frosting swirl (Like Mayfields). As a rule the frosting is vanilla or a butter cream. Ben and Jerry up the ante here and use a chocolate frosting swirl. The combo of the yellow cake with the chocolate is great!
If I didn't know it was frosting I would have just assumed that it was a standard chocolate swirl. If you are looking for that thicker, slightly grainy, extra sweet edge frosting brings, you may be disapointed. But personally I think it was pretty good as is.

One of Ben & Jerry's best flavors ever!

Glico Hazelnut Pocky

Pocky!!

Yes, the nerd in me can't wait to go to all the different Asian markets in the neighborhood to rummage up new and rare pocky. I found the Hazelnut pocky at the local Duane Reade (drugstore).
I liked it but not as much as the Men's Pocky.
The chocolate was a sweet milk chocolate. It was ok but nothing special. I had been hoping for chunks of hazelnut but what the Pocky means by "hazelnut" is that the chocolate is vaguely hazelnut flavored. It's more like someone ate something that had hazelnuts in it close to where the Pocky was made. Again it's not bad but it is not a very strong flavor either.

Worth the try but I will continue on my quest to find Pocky as good as the Men's Pocky!

PURCHASED FROM:
Duane Reede NYC

Nissan Top Ramen- Oriental flavor

Everyone loves Ramen
I mean really how many other meals can you buy for about a dime? Like just about everyone else I had of course eaten more then my fair share in my poorer days. I actually found myself craving it today- I am sick and that is my official excuse.

Out of all the flavors they make the only one I have ever really liked is the oh-so-politically correctly named "Oriental" I ate two damn bricks and put in more time then a sane person ever should trying to figure out exactly what "Oriental" is supposed to taste like.
The packaging it's self proved completely useless. The photo is just a steaming pile of noodles. The ingredient list shows that if nothing else ramen is full of mystery chemicals with names like bad sci/fi characters. If I had to guess I would say it is most like soy and garlic.

Yeah, it's completely unnatural. It's not hip in the least and there is nothing that stretches the foodie boundaries but sometimes cheap, salty, ramen hits the spot.

And , if you wanna know I am one of those people that let the noodles seep and discard the soup.

Totino's Party Pizza- Pepperoni

I am so embarrassed to admit this...

But the Totino's Pizza has long been one of my guilty pleasure. The Pepperoni speciffically.

When you get down to it there is really very little redeeming qualities to the pizza-
There is next to no cheese- and I suspect it is more like "cheeze" then real cheese. The sauce is too sweet, the pepperoni is questionable on every possible level and the crust is a glorified cracker. Oh and to make it all worse when I make them I microwave them which even the Totino's box it's self will tell you is a bad idea.

Even if with all that working against it. Even with my horrible choice of cooking method there is just something devilishly addictive about them. the fake cheese, the sauce the "puperoni" (I try not to think about it) I defy you to find a better late night meal for $1.00 or less.

No, this is not the best frozen pizza out there. No, you will not impress anyone if you admit to eating them. No DAMN they are just great in that so-bad-it's-good way.

Ben and Jerry's Jamaican Me Crazy Sorbet

Damn I am impressed!
I was in the mood for some sorbet tonight was I trekked (yes- that is a geek reference) to my local Publix. I had planned on getting some Mango Haagen Daaz but a new Ben & Jerry's offering caught my eye. The new flavor is called "Jamaican Me Crazy" it's a chunky pineapple with a passion fruit swirl.
I had tried B&J sorbet in the past and not been impressed. I recall it being gritty and chemically testing. If I wanted gritty sorbet I could make my own (I have not quite mastered it myself-yet)

WOW! did they fix those problems with this batch! it's smooth and creamy, the pineapple is just a tad tart- but that works really well with the sweetness of the passion fruit. This is well worth a try.