In this time of Eekonomic Recession, Allowance Busting Gas Prices and Global Toasting (and Dimming) sometimes you just need to get away from it all. No, not on Southwest Airlines. This is much cheaper - just head on over to Krispy Kreme to pick up a dozen doughnuts. And forget all your troubles for a few minutes.

Apologies for the candid shots, these were actually taken in the car. One dozen original glazed morsels of deliciousness. I haven’t had Krispy Kremes in ages, probably 3 or 4 years. I guess for people eating on the cheap (and also for those looking to lose weight), this probably isn’t such a necessary item. In fact, by Cheap Eats standards it almost qualifies as a luxury item.

But actually, the purpose of this post is to remind everyone that even when the chips are down, sometimes you just have to treat yourself. I hate to sound like a sappy life coach or something (I can’t believe that actually exists as a profession), but this goes not just for food. Whether it’s eating out at a fancy shmancy restaurant or splurging on a dozen doughnuts, don’t overlook treating yourself as a huge morale booster that will help get through the Days of Ramen and Canned Spaghetti Sauce.

Back to Krispy Kreme - they are a bit more “compact” than I remember. Compared to normal doughnuts, the center holes also seem a bit large. I shouldn’t complain though, they are such a treat. Anyhow, the small size is probably good for weight watchers. I’m a bit unusual in that I have the willpower to only eat one at a time, so they’re probably going to last for a whole week. I like to put them in the toaster to get them nice and hot so they taste just like they came off the assembly line. When we picked them up, the “Hot Light” wasn’t on, so we got them cold in the box. They’re still pretty amazing that way.

I had a coupon for a free dozen, but even if you buy them, I think they go around $6-7 for a dozen original glazed. One or two dollars more for a dozen assorted.

Worse comes to worse, you can go out and spend some of your Tax Refund on doughnuts. Stimulate that economy with doughnuts, baby.

Price: Free (normally ~ $6-7 / doz.)
Found At: Coupon, sent for review
Cheap Eats Score: 7/10

I was originally going to make this review a Food Battle between Lays Sour Cream ‘n Onion Chips and these Thin & Crispy Sweet Maui Onion ChipsI found at the dollar store. I had big plans for the “battles” - they were going to become the signature review on Cheap Eats. But somehow, after having just the Pringles one, I lost interest. It’s just difficult (and contrary to the whole Cheap Eats manifesto) to keep buying similar products just to review them.

Also, like most people, I’ve been trying to cut out the unnecessary snacks. Getting a whole bag of Lays just to compare them would not be a good thing. Because I would be tempted to sit in front of the TeeVee and watch re-runs of MythBusters while eating the entire bag. Watching Adam and Jamie bust those myths is just so spellbinding that the motion of chip-to-mouth becomes dangerously automatic…

So anyhow, it’s just the one bag of potato chips up for review. I looked in vain on the packaging for another brand name besides Thin & Crispy. Nope - it’s like those generic blue and white brand items that just say “canned corn” or something. It was also difficult to find out who makes these - at the bottom corner of the bag it says “Snack Alliance Inc.” which sounds sort of sketchy. Er, I guess they’re not so proud of them?

I don’t know why they wouldn’t be proud, because these will give any brand-name thin chip a run for their money. As far as the name goes, they deliver exactly that - thin, crispy potato chips. Granted they’re laden with salt, fat, oil - but so are other brands of chips.

Like I’ve said, I’ve never run into freshness problems with dollar store items. This bag was no exception. The chips were plenty crunchy. In appearance and texture, they’re a bit “rougher” and maybe more rustic than standard Lays chips. They’re sort of a cross between Lays and maybe a lightly cooked kettle chip. None of the chips are really burnt, but you can see some of the edges have a little skin, are a little toasted and are sometimes more crumpled.

As far as taste goes, I really liked these. I believe there were three other flavors, but I’ve only tried the onion one so far. And when they say “Maui Onion” they mean standard onion powder (as far as i can tell). It’s sort of a tangy flavor combination, but I think that also comes from the sour cream or cheese solids added in. There isn’t a thick coating on the chips, I think it may actually have less than Lays does.

Overall, I was pretty pleased with my dollar bag of chips. The chips are so thin that even with this enormous looking bag, you’re only getting 6 ounces. I haven’t bought Lays in awhile, so I don’t know how their chips compare in price per weight. Buying a large econo-bag of Lays will probably be cheaper, but I’ll stick with the smaller bags unless there’s a party on the horizon.

Price: 99 cents for 6 oz. bag
Found At: Dollar Store
Cheap Eats Score: 7/10

Mm.. Crunch ‘n Munch. To make a short story longwinded, I was casting about trying to think of something to review for Earth Day. Something that would really speak to the heart of the matter about Us destroying the ozone and whatnot. I was going to be a real Green Hero by calling attention to the plight of Mother Earth.

Instead, as usual I caved to the pressure of cheap, preprocessed food bought at the Dollar Store. Truth be told, awhile back I stocked up on a number of different Cheap Eats items at the Dollar Store to review (the people who work there must think I’m insane buying all that random food). I guess Earth Day can wait another week. Not that I don’t think about the state of the environment.

So, about the Crunchity ‘n Munchity… I was going to insert a joke here about people having the “munchies” after ingesting the afterburn from certain plants, but since this is a family friendly website I decided against it.

I’ve been eating Crunch ‘n Munch, since the 70s or so. Made by ConAgra (who bought the rights from Franklin Nut Company?), this is pretty much in a similar vein to Cracker Jack and Fiddle Faddle. I’m not sure what it going on with the rhyming in all three of those names.

Cracker Jack is probably the most traditional and popular of the three, and for some reason I don’t think I’ve reviewed it yet. I’ll probably try get a hold of some if I can find it for cheap. Fiddle Faddle - I know it’s similar and I used to eat it that back in the day as well . For the life of me, I can’t remember how it was different than Crunch ‘n Munch - I think maybe it didn’t have any peanuts?

The Crunch ‘n Munch formula is basically clusters of sugar syrup coated popcorn with peanuts embedded in them. I got the “Caramel” variety which is different than the original flavor of Buttery Toffee. They also have an almond version of it.

I have to say that I was pretty pleasantly surprised with the flavor and quality. A side note: everyone thinks that stuff at the Dollar Store is “past it’s prime” and that’s how they can sell it for cheap. But so far, I haven’t had too many instances where the product was not fresh. This box of Crunch ‘n Munch tasted pretty fresh to me.

Continue reading “Crunch ‘n Munch” …

(Drum Roll…) And now Ladeez and Gentledudes, presenting the one and only… Ferrero Rondoir Dark Chocolates! Ta-dahh! (Cymbal Crash…)

You will have to exsqueeze me because I just spent 7.2 × 10¹² nanoseconds (two hours for the nanosecondly challenged out there) trying to come up with some sort of funny angle to talk about the nice little box of Ferrero chocolates I received in the mail.

I’ve had the normal Ferrero Rocher Chocolates before and They’re Great (a la Tony the Tiger), but I was just drawing a blank when it came to how to turn it into a Cheap Eats review.

I was going to try and work in a tennis match in there (Juan Carlos Ferrero) but I “served” up a bagel with that one. Haha. Pretty much after that I was done using my brain.

Man, I guess I’ll just present the boring facts: this is actually the new Ferrero Prestige confections assortment which comes in a handy easter egg shaped plastic case(4.8 oz of chocolates). This is rather nice for shipping as it seemed to protect the chocolate from getting damaged. The box contains three types including the newer Rondoir Dark chocolates (which they’re currently promoting on TV), the standard Rocher chocolates and the interesting white Garden Coco confections.

I was too lazy to cut them open, but if you’ve never had these Ferrero chocolates before they’re a bit different than your average chocolate truffle thingy. All of them are layer based: creamy chocolate filling holding a nut (or dark chocolate center) which is then encased in a crispy, egg shell - like wafer and coated in chocolate. The layers - it’s like a decadent Gobstopper or something.

The normal Rocher variety has a hazelnut center, chocolate cream, the wafer and then milk chocolate covered with chopped hazelnuts. The newer Rondoir has a “black pearl” of dark chocolate center surrounded by dark chocolate cream, then the wafer, topped off with dark chocolate bits. The Garden Coco has an almond center, coconut cream surrounded by the wafer and topped with a meringue and shredded coconut.

Continue reading “Ferrero Chocolates” …

Hello. Oh man, raise your hand if you had a hard time getting back into the swing of things last week. Yep. After overdosing on Free Family Eats and general holiday Eggnogging, I just didn’t get around to turning the blog back on. But here it is, and here’s the first review of the new year: Cheerios Snack Mix.

If you don’t believe that the “healthy breakfast and snack” market is insanely popular right now just take a look at the recent archives of the food sent in for review. It’s pretty much all cereal, health bars or healthy snacks. I guess there’s nothing wrong with going for the “turn over a new leaf” crowd.

I go back quite a long ways with my friend Cheerios - I guess their advertising got me back in the 70s. I also remember lots of parents making the homemade “Chex Mix” (not the kind you can buy pre-packaged nowadays). I’m trying to remember if the one my parents made had Cheerios in it. I think it did. I also believe it featured worcestershire sauce in it?

Anyhow, I was sent this new Cheerios Snack Mix in the Cheddar flavor the other day. First off, I want to say that I wish I was sent the “Original” flavor. Not that I don’t dig cheesy artificial goodness, but I usually like to try the basic flavor of a snack before kicking it up a notch with the cheese.

Still, this snack seemed promising. They tout it as a “balanced” snack because of the Cheerios, and like most snack manufacturers are sure to say it’s Baked and not Fried. I’m glad, because Fried Cheerios does not sound like a delicacy.

There’s 6 different kinds of snack pieces in the mix: standard multigrain Cheerios cereal, Wheat Chex, Corn Chex, triangular Cheese Crackers, “Bread Twists”, and Twist Pretzels. I’ll go through each of them in reverse order, but first let’s talk about the Cheddar powder: it tastes just like Doritos. Yep, that’s pretty much it - you’ve tasted one artificial cheese powder, you’ve pretty much got them all. Well, actually it reminded me more of the artificial cheese powder packet from Kraft Macaroni. But you know what I’m talking about.

I’m not against the taste of it, but I already thought Cheerios ‘n Cheez was going to be strange. The taste of the multigrain Cheerios with cheese powder is a little too weird for me. I think it’ll be an individual taste thing.

Continue reading “Cheerios Snack Mix” …

Breaking Newz: Due to the current Writer’s Guild of America strike, Cheap Eats will be broadcasting reruns via the interwebnetthingy. I will be proudly walking the picket lines with my fellow writers in Hollywood. I will be wearing a shirt that says “DIE MOVIE MOGUL SCUM”. Come on down and toot your horn to support this great endeavor!

Ah.. yes, I jest. Or maybe not. Stuff like this strike remind me that hey, there are actually people who get a regular paycheck to write things. I’m not saying that I should be hired by a major motion picture studio to write the next Shrek movie. (I forget, are they on XVI or XVII?) No way - those writers are way too good for me. I mean they’re way gooderer or betterer than me (Than I?) I could never be one of them.

But, it gets me down sometimes. It also makes me want to write shorter posts. I think it’s something a huge majority of semi-successful bloggers face, there’s just not enough time in the day to churn out really interesting, humorous posts with character unless you’re writing for Slate or the LA Times. Try writing posts every day for a few years for free - I bet you’ll get a tiny bit bummed occasionally.

Here’s the thing: most of the successful bloggers take a huge amount of pride in what they do. I have to keep reminding myself that however proud I am of the posts that I make: IT’S NOT A JOB. So it’s not a big deal - I can take a break for 15 weeks and only 15 people will notice. These writers who are striking - it IS their job that they’re defending (or at least the union wants them to think so) - so it IS a big deal.

Anyhow, to sum things up… Note to self: Relax and Enjoy the occasional free food coupon.

Sometimes I feel like Stuart Smalley: I deserve good things, I am entitled to my share of happiness, I refuse to beat myself up, I am an attractive person. Well, that’s debatable. I am fun to be with. Not really…

Holy crap, is there going to be some sort of review in all this? I guess so. I was sent the Curves Chocolate Peanut Granola Bars many, many moons ago. Here is what they look like:

The box is the picture at the top of the post. I was also sent the cereal but I’m “reviewing” the bars only. But the cereal is not too bad. However, in either case, I did not feel like jumping up in the air like the lady on the box after eating them. (Mostly because I am afraid of a large 8 ton beer can falling on me if I do anything “un-manly”. Because men should act like men.) If I want to see get my jumping jollies off, I just go to one of the Flickr groups that deal with it.

Well, OK maybe I’ll give the bars just a little hop. A small bunny rabbit jump.

Curves partnered with General Mills to market these 100 calorie each, 0.88 oz granola bars. These are the chewy type unlike the Nature Valley Nut ones we reviewed earlier.

Continue reading “Curves Granola Bars” …

(Edit: If you came here from Consumerist… welcome!)

You know, when I really think about it Stride Gum should have been reviewed long, long ago here on Cheap Eats. I mean, their whole raisin de la existanz (pardon me, Sarkozy) is that the gum lasts a heck of a long time and therefore you’ll spend less money on buying it - therefore shutting the company down. No really, I didn’t make that up. This is the main focus of nearly every commercial they’ve done. In each commercial we witness the demise or partial shutdown of the company factory due to the fact that the gum they’ve created just lasts too long for customers to buy enough of it.

Self-aggrandizing commercials for gum like this are much easier to swallow (no, don’t swallow your gum please). The commercials are 10 Million Billion TRILLION times better than the bloated, sci-fi Matrix-inspired commercials for 5 Gum. I mean you’re selling GUM, not Axe deodorant…

Anyhow, it’s funny, but I actually think the long lasting chew of Stride Gum causes uncontrollable Heroes-like, Philip K Dickian psi-effects . The reason I say so is that I’d never tried any before, but the day that I did I got an email from a Stride Gum rep telling about some new contest to win a Dodge filled with Stride gum they’re having. That’s too much of a coincidence. Paranoia. I strongly believe that the repetitive, jaw movement unlocks some primoridal, deeply buried ESP and they’ve got receivers up at HQ set to the formant frequency of my brain so they HEARD my thoughts. Or rather, they heard my jaw working.

Blah, blah, sci-fi blah… I know, I’m bored too. Which is why today’s review is going to be a mini timeline. I know they have a “Chew Timer” section on the site already, but I decided to do my own research - because chewing gum doesn’t actually exacerbate my repetitive-motion shoulder / back injury which has flared up in the past few weeks. Ouchity. Anyhow, here you go. Timeline starts on the next page:

Continue reading “Stride Gum” …