It's been almost a year..../Weight Watchers Ice Cream Candybar Review

Honestly, I have no idea if anyone ever still comes by here and checks in from time to time. I certainly wouldn't blame them for not doing so. It's been almost a year to the day since I wrote my last blog. I'm not sure why I took such a long hiatus. I think it was a combination of a lot of factors. For one the blog started to become a lot more like work than fun. While it gave us a good reason to seek out new places sometimes it felt like a chore to find a place just for blog purposes and then upload the pictures and write it up. I decided that if it stopped being fun I would stop doing it. Also, a great many things have changed in my life in the last year. For one I got engaged. (Henceforth The Girlfriend will be referred to as The Fiance...at least until Oct 19th...ps we're registered at Target and Macy's.) I bought a house. And most importantly in how it relates to having a food blog I started on Weight Watchers and I have lost over 40 lbs.  If you've read some of my posts you probably realize that this was not a blog about eating healthy. Far from it. This is a blog mostly about decadent and delicious restaurant food.  I've been thinking about restarting this blog thing, but how do I square it with my new lifestyle? We're not eating out nearly as much, and when we do I rarely indulge like I used to. I'm just not sure the things I've been eating lately would be that interesting to read about, and I'm very hesitant to make this into a blog about eating healthy or my diet progress.  If anyone reads this please post some feedback. As for right now I think I am going to be blogging again with just whatever food related ideas or reviews suit me. Stay tuned.

Oh while we're at it let's go ahead and do a quick review. While I've been losing weight like most people I've still got a desire to have sweet things now and again. Most of the time when those cravings hit I try to make myself have some fruit, but when it's Summer you just have to find a way to have some ice cream. Unfortunately, most ice cream is pretty terrible for you calorie wise, and it's not worth it to me to blow a good day eating right and exercising to have a little bit of ice cream. Fortunately, there are actually some good products out there in the grocery store freezer that don't make you sacrifice. My current favorite right now is the Weight Watchers Ice Cream Candybar. Yes, I was skeptical of these types of products at first too, but once I ate one I was a believer. It's only 4 points plus on Weight Watchers (read: not very much) and it tastes exactly like a Snickers Ice Cream bar. It's even a good satisfying size so you don't feel like you're getting ripped off. Prices on stuff like this are always going to be a little higher, but prices on ice cream novelties in general are high so it's not much of a difference.

Rating 8/10

P.S. I'm currently thinking of revising my whole rating system to something more general or maybe eliminating it entirely and just giving opinion in the post itself. If you have any feedback let me know in the comments.

Product Review: Edy's Maxx Drumstick Ice Cream

I scream. You scream. We all scream because we will be in incredible pain after literally paying an arm and a leg if you want to buy a little tub of Ben and Jerry's ice cream. Seriously, that's why they sell it at CVS and Walgreens near the crutches, bandages, and tourniquets.  Those of us wishing to maintain body integrity  are probably searching for another less costly but equally tasty option.  I realize that some of you ice cream aficionados may scoff at such a statement.  Yes, I do realize that Ben and Jerry's offers some unique flavor combinations that may be the only thing that satisfy some people.  Myself, I'm not particularly married to Chunky Munky or Cherry Garcia so I've decided to look elsewhere.

The first option I decided to try out? Edy's Maxx Drumstick ice cream.  If you are not familiar with the favorite childhood treat that is the Drumstick let me catch you up.  It consists of sugar cone containing vanilla ice cream that is coated in a chocolate shell and rolled in peanuts. Edy's Drumstick ice cream consists of exactly the same components but chopped up and mixed into the ice cream instead of in a cone.  I have to be honest, even though this was one of my favorite frozen novelties growing up I was skeptical of how Edy's was going to treat it.  My past experiences with Edy's, particularly their Somoas ice cream, have not been favorable.  However, this time the price was right (a full 3 dollars cheaper than the same size Ben and Jerry's) so I decided to give it a shot.

I really enjoyed this particular flavor of ice cream.  Usually when ice cream has mix-in components they tend to add texture more than a lot of enjoyable flavor.  This time though I got plenty of the chocolate flavor along with the crunch from the peanuts and ice cream cone. I think it would have been better with a caramel element, but then again what isn't? Also, in that case it wouldn't have been a Drumstick product. As Billy Joel once said (probably not about ice cream) I love you just the way you are.

Taste 9/10 I would happily buy another pint of this the next time I get the chance. Classic elements and flavors from something that could have easily fallen into the gimmick trap.
Value 7.5/10 I think this score somewhat depends upon perspective. If I'm comparing it to its competitors in the name brand, small portion, premium ice cream market, like I am here, I think it stacks up well. However, if you want to compare it against some store brands (one in particular I will be reviewing later) I think it gets beat rather easily.

Sweet Treat Ben And Jerry's New Ice Cream Flavors

If you're reading this blog you're probably familiar with Ben and Jerry's ice cream and their tendency toward interesting new flavor combinations.  A little while ago The Girlfriend and I realized that we had a little bit of money left over on a Target gift card we got for Christmas and decided to use it to create our own Ben and Jerry's tasting menu.  The flavors we decided to go with?  Red Velvet Cake, Bonaroo Buzz, Creme Brulee, and Late Night Snack.

Right up front I want to say that without a doubt Late Night Snack was my favorite not only of the flavors we tried in this tasting but also of any Ben and Jerry's flavor I've ever had.  It is vanilla bean ice cream, caramel swirl, and fudge coated potato chip balls.  It sounds a little strange I know, but it was amazing how well all the flavors really worked together.  The salty chocolate of the potato chip pieces were the perfect complement to the incredibly sweet ice cream.  Nothing over powered anything else and yet I could taste each flavor individually.  Go to the store and pick some up tonight.

Bonaroo Buzz I was less enamored with.  The carton was clearly labeled coffee flavored ice cream, but the flavor profile of the coffee was overwhelmingly assertive.  I was also disappointed with the English toffee pieces that were included.  The toffee pieces were so big there was no way to incorporate them into one normal sized bite.  Overall I didn't find it very pleasing as a dessert.

The Red Velvet Cake could best be summed up with what you see is what you get.  The ice cream was cake flavored and slightly reddish pink with red velvet cake pieces mixed in.  So if you're like me and enjoy Ben and Jerry's because you like multiple flavors in one package then this isn't for you.  It was overwhelmingly one note.  The cake pieces offered a texture difference but that's about it.  If you're not expecting anything more you'll probably enjoy this more than I did.

Somewhat in the same vein was Creme Brulee.  The ice cream was a ridiculously over sweet custard ice cream with some sugar crystals mixed in.  To quote my man Homer J.  it wasn't undelicious, but it lacked anything to really make it special.  Also with it being so sweet it was hard to eat more than a couple bites at a time.  Also, I thought it was strange to call something brulee when there would really be no possible way to have any brulee aspect to this at all. 

The bottom line?  Even if some flavors aren't as big of a hit as others when it comes to Ben and Jerry's they are always interesting enough to try out.  If you have a different favorite flavor of ice cream or a flavor idea that would would like to see produced shout it out in ye olde comments section.