Eating Right Fiber Bran

Sometimes when you buy things, there's a part of you that thinks, "I'm only paying this much because of the brand." You might find yourself saying to yourself, "The only difference between these two shirts is the little animal that's printed on the front of this one." You might do this with food. Why buy Campbell's soup when you can buy generic? What's the difference if they've all got the same ingredients, right?

Now if there's anything I like having in my diet, it's fiber. Call me old, but I believe a healthy colon is a happy colon. That being said, Fiber One is a pretty expensive cereal. Sometimes it can cost $4 a box, depending where you're shopping. When I went to Safeway for my cereal fix, I saw that Eating Right Fiber Bran was half the price of Fiber One. I looked at the nutritional information and I found that not only did Eating Right have the same amount of fiber per serving (14 grams per 30 g serving), but it had 10 less calories! Not only does this save me money, it saves me calories!

I'm eating two servings (114% recommended daily intake of fiber) because I love me my fiber

The only thing I love more than a high fiber diet is a high protein diet! I added a shake that consisted of two scoops of protein powder mixed with water (52 g protein)

Thanks to Spotify, I've been finding a lot of songs I've never heard before. One of my latest favorite tracks is a song by Depeche Mode. The name of the song is, "Sometimes I Wish I Was Dead". Thanks to this concoction I made, I can really understand the title of the song.

Okay, I didn't find myself questioning my life after making this, but I did find myself asking, "Why did I make this?" Well, I did try this cereal with milk before and as I described to my friend, Rubab, it felt like I was eating shredded cardboard. If you don't like Fiber One, you'll hate Eating Right Fiber Bran. It's less sweet and it's texture, as mentioned above, is akin to cardboard. Just all bad.

"Eating Wrong" Rubab said to me.

What's it taste like with my protein shake? Worse. So much worse. I didn't think it could, but at some point in the making process, everything fell apart. Shambles. My taste buds are in shambles.

Eating Right Fiber Bran: 2 - 3/10

Eating Right Fiber Bran w/ watery protein shake: -1/10

Mint M&M’s

I’ve mentioned in several posts that certain candies remain the same because they sell well. I’m sure there are people that work for candy corporations that wish that they could propose a large variety of flavors in the United States, but who would buy them? Besides me, of course. That makes it all the more exciting for me when a big name candy decides to put out a new flavor.

Mint is a flavor that should have come out much earlier. The combination of mint and chocolate has been around for a while, so I don’t know why M&M’s never got on that. They’ve put flavors like raspberry and cherry, and those weren’t all that great. They had a “premium” line of M&M’s if you recall, and those were pretty bad considering they had no candy shell, which is an integral part to M&M’s, and they cost a lot more than M&M’s. Finally, someone working for the Mars, Inc. got some sense into them. Maybe they’ll start putting out strawberry M&M’s and orange M&M’s.

Only two colors for this flavor

The mint flavor wasn’t overpowering and I enjoyed this very much. It didn’t blow me away, but I couldn’t stop eating them. Being addictive is the mark of a good snack anyway, right? While the bag states that these are “dark chocolate” the chocolate tasted very much like plain milk chocolate M&M’s with a good hint of mint. If you’re tired with plain, allergic to peanuts, or you dislike pretzels and coconut, give this flavor a try. The only real fault one could complain about is the fact that these M&M’s come in only shades of green, but green is a great color anyway, so it makes no difference. Go get a bag of these before they disappear like Crispy M&M’s.

Mint M&M’s: 8/10

Mucci Mocci

The main reason as to why I don’t buy many gummy candies is because, usually, you’ll only get a few, especially if they’re individually wrapped. Also gummy candies are pretty easy to go through. I don’t count Hi-Chew, Starbursts, or Puccho candies as gummies, because, well, they’re chews and not gummies. However, I liked the previous Puré to give another gummy candy a try.

Mucci Mocci. I’m not sure how to pronounce that, but it would be ridiculous if it was pronounced mucky mocky. Anyway, I like peach, and the bag looked interesting enough to give it a go.

The initial peach flavor is very strong, so if you’re like me and you really like peach-flavored things, this is good. It also has a slightly unexpected sour twist like the Puré gummies. If they put them in the same kind of pouches, I wouldn’t be surprised if they made this White Peach Puré Gummy or something. It is a bit softer than the Puré gummies though, so they melt quicker. Overall, I liked it because not just because it was peach flavored, but because it was a good candy overall. If I had a choice of picking this or the Puré Lemon Cola, I’d have a hard time deciding which one I like more.

Mucci Mocci: 8.5/10

Puré Gummy

I haven’t done one of these in a while, so excuse me if it’s a bit unrefined. Have I stopped eating candy? No, I haven’t. It’s just that I’ve gotten a bit lazy when it comes to writing about candy, but no worries, I’m back.

Let’s get things started with Puré Gummy candies. What you’ll notice next to the label are tiny words indicating that this candy has a sour taste. I didn’t notice those words until I started eating them, so some of them were quite a surprise.

Lime Soda, Bitter Orange Squash, Muscat, Lemon Cola

So of all the Puré Gummy candies shown, which flavor which one was my favorite? Well, I’d have to say that Lemon Cola was the best because I didn’t expect it to taste so much like lemon cola. Squeeze some lemon juice into your cola and you’ll get something that’s different from what you’re used to. My next favorite was the grape flavored one. Muscat flavored gummies are generally good, but by adding that extra hint of sour, they’ve made Muscat even better. Next up would be the Bitter Orange Squash flavor. This would be tied with the Lemon Cola flavor for having the most intense flavors. It’s mostly sour and will remind you of grapefruit, but there are hints of bitter every now and then. The only reason why I would put Lime Soda last is because it didn’t really have a distinct or strong flavor. If you’re looking for something more subtle, then Lime Soda is your flavor.

Overall, these were good, especially if you like sour candy. The only thing that I could knock them on is being pretty expensive, but if you’re not bothered by paying a little bit more than usual for something new, you should check these out.

Puré Gummy: 8.5/10

McDonald's Pumpkin Pie

Autumn is one of the best seasons for many reasons. One of the reasons I love it so much is the weather starts to cool without getting too cold. Halloween spirit is in the air as people begin to dress their homes with outlandish decorations. However, one of the things that I look forward to the most is pumpkin pie. Pumpkin pie is something that you don't usually get after the month of December. Of course, stores still offer pumpkin pie during other seasons, but it doesn't seem right to eat it after the holiday season. That being said, I also enjoy it when food and candy makers start putting out pumpkin-flavored items.

McDonald's has put out pumpkin pies for the season, and I certainly do not object. The apple pies that McDonald's offers are not necessarily what you think of when you think of pie, but they're delicious nonetheless. I was as excited as that man on the box was about the pumpkin pie that I just bought. However, that may be a look of fear on his face. It's hard to tell.

The insides of a McDonald's Pumpkin Pie

The flavor of the crust and the smell really overwhelm the filling. That is to say, I think that I was eating McDonald's pie crust with mushy filling. I couldn't taste or smell anything remotely close to pumpkin spice. All I could taste and smell was the crust of the pie. I scooped out some of the filling and it felt like I was eating a plain custard or tapioca pudding without any hint of pumpkin spice. While this item isn't bad, it was very disappointing to me because it didn't remind of pumpkin outside of the texture. For only $0.50, I wasn't expecting the best, but c'mon, I'd take an apple pie over this any day.

McDonald's Pumpkin Pie: 6.5 - 7/10

Soda-flavored Cotton Candy

Cotton candy used to be something of a rare treat. It was something you would get if you went to an amusement park, fair, sporting event, or some other special occasion. However, as you grow older, you realize that cotton candy is just spun sugar. You also learn that it’s pretty widely available. The pre-packaged cotton candy you can buy in stores may not be as good as the one you pay $5 for at a game, but it gets the job done. Much like movie popcorn, it’s not just the snack, but the experience itself that enhances things.

The packaging for the cotton candy

Enter this cotton candy. I have no idea what it says, but I love soda flavored things and I like cotton candy. I should clarify this, I like cotton candy when it’s at a special event or when there’s something extra in it. What made me excited about this product is that when I’ve bought cotton candy from Japanese markets, there’s always something extra. For instance, there is a grape variety that has popping candy in it, giving you a pleasant surprise, and there’s a cola variety that turns into gum after a period of time. Think about that for a second, cotton candy that turns into gum. When I bought this soda flavored candy, I had a bit of buyer’s remorse seeing as how there were only three ingredients listed on the back (sugar, coloring, artificial flavoring) which meant that there would be a slim chance of getting a surprise.

They come in packets of two

Well, the best way to describe this candy is that it’s certainly cotton candy. You could buy pre-packaged cotton candy anywhere else and it would taste about the same. The only thing that makes it different is the soda flavoring. There’s no extra pizzazz to make you think “Oh ho ho, now that’s something.” While good and acceptable, I suppose I’m just not a big enough fan of pre-packaged cotton candy to buy it again unless it came with something special inside. If you like cotton candy, then this is worth trying,

Soda flavored cotton candy: 6.5/10

Hawaiian Typhoon Popcorn

Like Terrell Owens, I love popcorn. Popcorn can be a sweet or savory snack, depending on what’s put on it. It’s the perfect snack for the movies, watching television, or for most relaxation activities. The problem with purchasing popcorn at the movies has to do with the price. Everything is overpriced at the movie theaters due to convenience, and it’s not like you can pop your own corn while you’re there.

Meet Hawaiian Typhoon Popcorn, popcorn that has a price that is even more ridiculous than movie popcorn. While a large popcorn may cost quite a bit at the movie theater, some theaters give you a free re-fill. There are no refills with this popcorn unless you buy another bag. How much would that cost? Roughly $5 - $6 per bag. Trying to purchase it online doesn’t help either as you have to pay for shipping as well. I bought this bag to see if it was worth the price of purchase.

Hawaiia Typhoon Popcorn

The first thing I noticed when I opened the bag was the smell. It definitely had a sour cream smell to it, which I assume you can get by getting some sort of popcorn flavoring powder in stores. There are bits of nori on certain pieces of popcorn, but like movie popcorn and microwavable popcorn, not every piece is going to have all the flavoring. I was kind of disappointed due to the fact that I could have probably bought several packets of microwavable popcorn and a shaker of popcorn seasoning and gotten almost the same effect for less money. It’s a good popcorn, but I’d be hard pressed to purchase another bag of $6 popcorn unless I got free re-fills with it.

Hawaiian Typhoon Popcorn: 6/10 (7 - 7.5/10 if you don’t mind the price)