Brand Eating

News: Dairy Queen - Buy One Blizzard, Get One for 99 Cents in March

2012-02-26T19:48:00.000-08:00

Dairy Queen will be running a buy one Blizzard at regular price, get one of equal or lesser value for 99 cents for the month of March.

The promotion runs from March 1 to March 31 at participating locations in the U.S.

Go with a friend of double fist your favorite Blizzard flavors (Do people do that?).

News: Jack in the Box - New 2 for $3.50 Breakfast Melts

2012-02-26T19:30:00.000-08:00

Jack in the Box has new Breakfast Melts at a promotional price of 2 for $3.50 for a limited time.

They're pretty much the basic breakfast sandwich (breakfast meat, egg, and cheese) but on grilled sourdough instead of a biscuit, croissant or English muffin.

The meat choices here are ham or bacon. Jack's eggs come fried and not scrambled; they're similar to McDonald's eggs on the Egg McMuffin. Breakfast Melts actually come with two slices of cheese: one American and one Swiss style.

Nutritional Info - Jack in the Box Sourdough Breakfast Melt with Bacon
Calories - 450 (from Fat - 220)
Fat - 24g (Saturated Fat - 9g)
Sodium - 1090mg
Carbs - 34g (Sugar - 3g)
Protein - 22g

Nutritional Info - Jack in the Box Sourdough Breakfast Melt with Ham
Calories - 410 (from Fat - 190)
Fat - 21g (Saturated Fat - 8g)
Sodium - 1010mg
Carbs - 35g (Sugar - 3g)
Protein - 20g

News: Carl's Jr./Hardee's - New Southwest Patty Melt

2012-02-26T05:59:00.001-08:00

Carl's Jr. and sister chain Hardee's latest burger is probably better known for its racy commercial featuring Sport's Illustrated Swimsuit Edition 2012 cover girl, Kate Upton, then for the actual burger but, here it is: the new Southwest Patty Melt.

The burger features a spicy affair with a charbroiled beef patty (single, double, or almost a half pound of Black Angus beef) with sliced jalapeños, grilled onions, Pepper Jack cheese, and a spicy Santa Fe sauce sandwiched by grilled sourdough bread.

To entice you to try the Southwest Patty Melt, Carl's Jr./Hardee's has a "$1 off a Patty Melt Combo" coupon (Carl's Jr found on their website here) and Hardee's here). The coupons expire 5/20/12.

Nutritional Info - Carl's Jr. Single Southwest Patty Melt (253g)
Calories - 750 (from Fat - 480)
Fat - 54g (Saturated Fat - 17g)
Sodium - 1460mg
Carbs - 43g (Sugar - 3g)
Protein - 33g

Nutritional Info - Hardee's 1/4 lb. Southwest Patty Melt Thickburger (245g)
Calories - 620 (from Fat - 350)
Fat - 39g (Saturated Fat - 13g)
Sodium - 1640mg
Carbs - 43g (Sugar - 7g)
Protein - 30g

News: Ben & Jerry's - New Greek Frozen Yogurt

2012-02-25T22:03:00.000-08:00

Ben & Jerry's is out with a new line of Greek Frozen Yogurts in four flavors: Strawberry Shortcake, Raspberry Fudge Chunk, Banana Peanut Butter, and Blueberry Vanilla Graham.

Greek yogurt has gotten pretty popular lately, it costs more than regular yogurt and the taste takes some getting used to, but its popularity stems from its richer texture, greater amounts of protein, and lesser amounts of carbs and sugar over the regular stuff.

For a little more detail: Strawberry Shortcake is strawberry Greek frozen yogurt with shortbread pieces; Raspberry Fudge Chunk features raspberry Greek frozen yogurt with fudge chunks; Banana Peanut Butter consists of banana Greek frozen yogurt with peanut butter swirls; and Blueberry Graham Vanilla is a blend of blueberry and vanilla Greek frozen yogurt with graham cracker swirls.

Ben & Jerry's Greek Frozen Yogurt is available in pints and mini-cups (Banana Peanut Butter and Raspberry Fudge Chunk only in the mini-cups) at retail and by the scoop and various forms at Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shops.

You can check out the nutritional information below. I've included Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia Frozen Yogurt for comparison purposes. Generally, the Greek line has a bit more fat and a little less carbs and protein than the regular Frozen Yogurt.

Nutritional Info - Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia Frozen Yogurt
Serving Size - 1/2 cup (108g)
Calories - 200 (from Fat - 25)
Fat - 3g (Saturated Fat - 2g)
Sodium - 90mg
Carbs - 37g (Sugar - 27g)
Protein - 8g

Nutritional Info - Ben & Jerry's Banana Peanut Butter Greek Frozen Yogurt
Serving Size - 1/2 cup (99g)
Calories - 210 (from Fat - 70)
Fat - 8g (Saturated Fat - 2.5g)
Sodium - 100mg
Carbs - 30g (Sugar - 26g)
Protein - 6g

Nutritional Info - Ben & Jerry's Blueberry Vanilla Graham Greek Frozen Yogurt
Serving Size - 1/2 cup (99g)
Calories - 200 (from Fat - 60)
Fat - 7g (Saturated Fat - 3g)
Sodium - 105mg
Carbs - 29g (Sugar - 23g)
Protein - 6g

Nutritional Info - Ben & Jerry's Raspberry Fudge Chunk Greek Frozen Yogurt
Serving Size - 1/2 cup (98g)
Calories - 200 (from Fat - 60)
Fat - 7g (Saturated Fat - 5g)
Sodium - 65mg
Carbs - 29g (Sugar - 25g)
Protein - 6g

Nutritional Info - Ben & Jerry's Strawberry Shortcake Chunk Greek Frozen Yogurt
Serving Size - 1/2 cup (100g)
Calories - 180 (from Fat - 45)
Fat - 5g (Saturated Fat - 3g)
Sodium - 75mg
Carbs - 28g (Sugar - 23g)
Protein - 6g

Frozen Friday: T.G.I.Friday's - Sizzling Steak Fajitas

2012-02-24T22:59:00.000-08:00

T.G.I.Friday's Sizzling Steak Fajitas frozen meal, similar to their Sizzling Chicken Fajitas (but with steak obviously), features seared beef steak, seasoned strips of bell peppers and onions with a side of cheesy rice and three mini flour tortillas.

The price is around the high end for frozen meals at around $4.29 which means you're looking at the $2 to $3 range on sale.

Out of the microwave, the meal smelled pretty good!

It had fairly tender steak for a frozen dinner. not overly salted or seasoned so you get a good bit of beef taste. There was one chewy piece though so your mileage may vary. I'm not so sure steak is such a good application for frozen food since it tends to get tougher the more it's cooked but this turned out alright. There's not that much of it to go around though. Fortunately, the veggies while overcooked soak up a lot of the juices and provide a fair bit of seasoned flavor.

Other than that the entree was more or less the same as chicken version and came with the same too-many-starches problem. I'd go with either the rice or the tortillas but both is overkill.

The rice was a bit greasy, a little spicy but overall pretty bland otherwise; you could feel the cheese but there wasn't much flavor to it. A stronger cheese would go a long way with the rice.

Even when I carefully portioned for each fajita, I still had extra rice. I'd recommend just eating the steak with the rice and using the tortillas for mini quesadillas or something.

Overall, this one was just okay for me.

Nutritional Info - T.G.I.Friday's Sizzling Steak Fajitas (340g)
Calories - 570 (from Fat - 170)
Fat - 19g (Saturated Fat - 5g)
Sodium - 880mg
Carbs - 71g (Sugar - 3g)
Protein - 30g

Neat: Starbucks Store Made of Used Shipping Containers

2012-02-24T21:01:00.001-08:00

Out in Tukwila, Washington, Starbucks has one of their most interesting locations/experiments: a Starbucks store made completely out of four shipping containers (the huge ones you see on cargo boats at the docks or on TV in the crime dramas for weapons storage or human trafficking).

Calling it the Reclamation Drive-Thru, the store contains 450 feet of floor space for the making of lattes and Frappuccinos and the like and offers drive-thru and walk-up service. Seating is outdoor only.

The shipping containers would typically end up in the scrap yard after their average 20 year lifespan but here they get re-purposed to provide people with their caffeine fix. Pretty neat!

Oh and get this, rainwater collected from the roof is used to water the surrounding landscape and in case the location doesn't work out so well, the entire store and be dissembled and moved.

If you want to check out more pictures of the location, I found some on a Starbucks fansite, Starbucks Melody.

News: Wienerschnitzel - "UnDer the Sea" Trio Returns

2012-02-24T20:17:00.000-08:00

Hot dogs and fish? Okay, more like hot dogs or fish. Der Wienerschnitzel returns their "UnDer the Sea" Trio for a limited time (read: Lenten season).

Besides the normal Fish and Chips, the trio also includes the Sea Dog and the Fish Wrap.

The Sea Dog is basically a hot dog but with a battered and fried fish filet instead of a hot dog wiener and lettuce and tartar sauce for condiments.

The Fish Wrap is the same deal but wrapped in a tortilla rather than a hot dog bun and the tartar sauce is replaced by a creamy salsa.

All three items are available at participating Wienerschnitzel locations for a limited-time.

Nutritional Info - Wienerschnitzel Sea Dog (for some reason, they only list calories, saturated fat, sodium and carbs)
Calories - 350
Saturated Fat - 3g
Sodium - 640mg
Carbs - 38g

Nutritional Info - Wienerschnitzel Fish Wrap
Calories - 450
Saturated Fat - 5g
Sodium - 860mg
Carbs - 38g

Nutritional Info - Wienerschnitzel Fish and Chips
Calories - 710
Saturated Fat - 11g
Sodium - 1820mg
Carbs - 50g