Buy One Smoothie Get One Free at Jamba Juice

Any flavor. Blackberry Bliss. Mega Mango. Pomegranate Paradise. The power is yours, Captain Planet style.


Offer ends August 9th. So if you want to cool down go use this Jamba Juice coupon. Or be really cool and make your own smoothie at home.

Well, that's it this week on Frozen Food Journal. Thanks to Marvo at The Impulsive Buy for popping his Week in Reviews video segment virginity with my Hungry-Man Sports Grill Beer Battered Chicken review. Judging by the comments it won't be the last virginity to be lost over there...

Can't believe July is coming to a close. This year has just screamed on by hasn't it? Anyway, if my weekend gets interesting I'll throw up a post.

I'll see everyone on Monday.

August should start with frozen reviews on something sweet and something really greasy along with an article on how to save money at the supermarket. I'm not sure in which order because I haven't finished writing any of those posts. Better get cracking. Till next time.

-Ken

Review: Klondike Heath Bar

For that chocolatey coated ice cream
Loaded big and thick
No room for a stick!

Don't pretend like you don't remember the jingle.

What would Ken do for a Klondike Heath Bar? Get my butt off the sofa, walk over to the freezer and unwrap some foil.

You have to give the polar bear some credit. Ice cream coated in a chocolate shell isn't a terribly innovative idea. Yet through sheer marketing the Klondike brand has become synonymous with it.

I was quite eager to try this product. You know what you're getting with a Klondike: a smooth and lush ice cream (made from nonfat milk!) smothered in a crunchy chocolate coating that's always a little too brittle and melts a little too fast. We all know a Klondike tastes good. Combined with the powers of a Heath bar I naturally assumed the combination would be great; a sure-fire recipe for success.

Ehh. Sorta.

Don't get me wrong, the Klondike Heath Bar is quite good. But I was expecting to be wowed. I was expecting a home run and got a ground-rule double instead. The lack of oomph can squarely be blamed on the Heath component -- or lack thereof. The English toffee bits are tiny, the flavor is negligible. It's hard to distinguish this Heath Bar from a regular Klondike.

Ingredients and nutritional information can be found at the Klondike website. Lowlights include 230 calories, 15 grams of fat (11 of which are saturated, yikes) and 20 grams of sugar. Positives include trace amounts of fiber, Vitamin A and calcium. This product is kosher.

I'll definitely try Klondike Heath Bar again but next time my expectations will be tempered. For a slightly healthier alternative try the Klondike Slim-a-Bear No Sugar Added Krunch Bar.

Strudel à la Mode

Hot and muggy. That's how it's been for the past few weeks here in Cali. Feeling particularly sapped today I decided to cool down with strudel à la mode, second cousin to the cookie à la mode.


Nothing fancy. Just some ice cream sitting atop apple strudel. The pastry would have gone great with Dreyer's Apple Pie Limited Edition ice cream but that flavor is long gone. So instead I went with two scoops of Breyers Smooth & Dreamy Mint Chocolate Chip. Delicious.

I'll get around to reviewing that ice cream eventually. But for right now, let me chill...

Review: Binggrae B.B.Big

Today I'm reviewing another Asian frozen treat. And like Haitai Nougat Ice Bar the Binggrae B.B.Big is also a childhood favorite. The B.B.Big is certainly a sizable treat but it was even larger when I was a kid. Perhaps it's time to lop off a couple of B's from the name.

Until that happens you can find the B.B.Big red bean ice bar in most Asian markets. It's a hugely popular Korean popsicle and shouldn't be too difficult to find. Even though it's from Korea for some reason there's English and French writing on the wrapper. Actually that makes perfect sense. It wouldn't be Asian without having something weird going on. The bizarreness continues if you head over to the Binggrae product page and click on the products link to check out the B.B.Big page. Uhh yea. I'm pretty sure the most beloved product of the 70's is disco.

The B.B.Big ice bar is surprisingly dense. Prepare to give your molars a workout but that's not necessarily a bad thing since the sweet red bean taste is so enjoyable. I take this flavor for granted since I've had it pretty much my entire life. For those who aren't as acquainted with red bean expect a taste that's sweet, mellow and slightly nutty.

The texture is somewhat grainy from the red beans specks blended into the ice bar. And that doesn't even include the whole beans spread throughout the popsicle. There's way too many of them. You want a popsicle to go down smooth. Even popsicles with bits of real fruit, whenever you eat those the fruit pieces compliment the creamy body. With B.B.Big you have to hold up, slow down and chomp through all these beans.

The main ingredients are sweetened red bean, corn syrup, sugar and milk ingredients. Aside from calories and sugar this product doesn't offer much pluses or minuses from a nutritional standpoint. Because B.B.Big is comprised of sweet beans you'll find more carbs here than in almost any other popsicle.

Because Binggrae B.B.Big is so hearty it seems like an unconventional choice for a summertime treat. That being said it's also an immensely satisfying and unique frozen popsicle. There's good reason why it's been a personal favorite for years.

Review: Hungry-Man Sports Grill Beer Battered Chicken

I think I've been to a sports grill twice in my life. Both times were loud, drunk and classless occasions. I should have felt right at home? How dare you.

When I watch burly and sweaty men play with balls I prefer to do so from my place. And when watching sports the foods of choice are, yes, chicken and fries. So Hungry-Man Sports Grill Beer Battered Chicken seems like a perfect match, right?

The microwave instructions suggest to first remove the chicken from the tray. Next heat the cheese fries, keeping them under the plastic cover, on high for two minutes. Then place the chicken back in the tray and cook for another 4 to 5 minutes. A little weird, but whatever. Cooking in the conventional oven is more straightforward. Peel the plastic from the chicken while leaving the potatoes covered. Keep the dinner in a 375 degrees for around 40 minutes.

If cooking in the oven I recommend flipping the chicken halfway through to make it crispier. Probably wouldn't hurt to toss the fries but it's too much of a hassle with all the frozen orange goo in the way.

My meal came with five chicken fingers. They're coated in a thick and tasty beer batter. Not crispy and greasier than I'd prefer, but hey, this is a frozen dinner. Can't ask for the world. The chicken has been ground and shaped, which results in a texture that somehow manages to be both tough and chewy. To Hungry-Man's credit the chicken does have good flavor.

The potato wedges are thick, hearty and plentiful. Flavor-wise they're a bit on the bland side, making the mild cheddar cheese sauce somewhat of a requirement. I do wish the cheese sauce came in its own separate compartment so the potato wedges could have a chance to get crispy in the oven. But overall I'd still grade this an above-average side dish.

Hungry-Man Sports Grill Beer Battered Chicken is a filling meal. It'd better be since it offers almost a full day's worth of fat. Also tagging along for the ride are its good friends saturated fat and sodium. And don't forget cholesterol bringing up the rear at "only" 37%. Positives include high amounts of protein and fiber. It's also a good source of the major vitamins and minerals. As usual, trans fat information is not included.

Hungry-Man Sports Grill Beer Battered Chicken tastes good but still emerges as a slight disappointment. To be honest, for as greasy and fatty as this frozen dinner is I expected more.

SpokespersonWanted.com Take Four

The fourth installment of the Healthy Choice SpokespersonWanted.com campaign finds Julia Louis-Dreyfus's looks and persona under fire from a focus group.

These webisodes might be getting worse.

New Commenting System

It's almost midnight (and hot!) and I'm still tinkering with this technical junk. Unfortunately it's not all ice cream and free stuff here at Frozen Food Journal. Actually work goes into this place. Hard to believe but it's true.

At least my efforts aren't for naught. I've implemented a new comment system. The most obvious change is the implementation of Gravatar. What the heck is a Gravatar?

A gravatar, or globally recognized avatar, is quite simply an image that follows you from site to site appearing beside your name when you do things. Avatars help identify your posts on blogs and web forums, so why not on any site?

There you go. If everything is working properly you should see my Gravatar (currently Cookie à la Mode). If you click on a profile name you can see that person's previous comments as well as send him or her a private message. On a side note I believe you can still all the test comments I typed while testing out the system -- thank goodness I didn't use any curse words. Anyhoo, another cool thing is that you can reply to specific comments, which makes it feel more like a conversation.

I'll be the first to admit the comment interface feels a bit wonky and might take some time to fully adjust.

So I hope this will help contribute in creating a better community. At least in theory. Of course, all of this might backfire and I may go revert to the ol' crusty Blogger comment system.

EDIT: Whoops! Still tinkering! Nothing to see here, keep moving on.

America's Favorite Ice Cream Flavors

Courtesy of Fast Food Maven:

According to a July 14th Harris Poll Americans of almost all ages prefer chocolate ice cream. The only group with a different favorite were the Echo Boomers (18-32). Those crazy kids prefer cookie dough. And one wonders why society is crumbling...

The usual suspects round out the favorite ice cream flavors: vanilla, butter pecan, mint chocolate chip, Rocky Road and strawberry. Pistachio made the top ten, which is a little surprising. Where is regular chocolate chip or even Neapolitan?

While on the topic of frozen food polls the favorite summer frozen treat poll is still running on the right-hand side so go ahead and vote if you haven't already. All right, back to the action.

As for how people enjoy their ice cream almost half prefer to eat it from a cup. 29% of participants were smart and said an ice cream cone is the way to go. Ice cream sandwiches received a measly 2% of the vote.

Hot fudge, nuts and whipped cream were people's favorite toppings. Are we still talking about ice cream?

Review: Kirkland Signature Meatball Bakes

Kirkland Signature. If the name sounds familiar it's probably because you've seen it emblazoned on mass quantities of toilet paper, napkins and other products people buy in bulk. That's because Kirkland Signature is the brand name for Costco products.

KS, as the cool kids like to refer to it, is also known for dishing out hot food, most notably the huge and decent pizzas by the cash registers. It also sells a Chicken Bake, which is my favorite at Costco. I've never tried the Meatball Bake so I was interested to see how well the frozen version would measure up.

If you're cooking in the microwave place the sandwich on a paper towel and heat on high for three minutes. For the conventional or toaster oven place the sandwich on a cookie sheet that's been lightly sprayed to prevent sticking. Cover the sandwich with foil and cook for 18 to 22 minutes at 375 degrees.

This Meatball Bake is huge. Not as big as the bakes sold fresh at Costco but pretty sizable nonetheless. It'll take extra time to melt the cheese. Then after it's done let the bake rest and cool down for several minutes. Your patience shall be rewarded.

The first thing you'll bite into is the hand-rolled crust. It's fantastic. Nice and flaky with a good amount of give. The shell also does a great job of holding all the ingredients together. It is a little greasy on the outside so keep a napkin handy. Perhaps one from Kirkland Signature for brand synergy.

Inside the bake you'll find almost a dozen big, tender and hearty Italian-style meatballs. They're obviously the main component of this sandwich and I'm happy to say they deserve top billing, though I wish the meatballs had a touch more spice.

Encompassing the meatballs are ho-hum mozzarella cheese and slightly sweet tomato sauce, which combines well with the other ingredients. One downside is here you'll find the familiar orange grease you normally get on pizzas. That wasn't as fun to eat.

One Meatball Bake makes for a satisfying meal. Nutritionally speaking it's a mixed bag. This is definitely not for those on a diet considering the high levels of fat, saturated and sodium. But on the plus side this bake proves to be an outstanding source of fiber, protein, calcium and iron. It also offers a full day's worth of Vitamin A!

Kirkland Signature Meatball Bakes receive high marks for being a high-quality frozen food but that shouldn't surprise anyone. It's rare for Costco to put out an inferior product.

Review: Haitai Nougat Ice Bar

I love Asian snacks. They're way more interesting and bolder than their American counterparts. Memo to U.S. companies: people like flavors other than cheddar cheese, BBQ, ranch, grape, cherry and orange.

Today I'm reviewing an intriguing international frozen treat. The Haitai Nougat Ice Bar has been a personal favorite of mine for years. Your best chance of finding it is at a Korean market or liquor store. Hopefully there's one in your neighborhood.

Flavor is what sets the Nougat Ice Bar apart. Rich, amazing vanilla ice cream dipped in soft and velvety nuttiness. Simple yet sublime.

The official website for the Haitai Nougat Ice Bar is, err, a bit lacking. One thing I hate about foreign food products is that they often neglect basic information like ingredients. Because of all the zany stuff in these foreign foods it might be helpful to know if there's anything that might cause an allergic reaction or whatnot. Unfortunately in the case of the Nougat Ice Bar you're out of luck.

In boxing there’s the term "pound for pound best fighter in the world." Essentially it refers to the boxer who possesses the highest ratio between skill and size, i.e. packs the most punch. I mention this because pound for pound (or ounce for ounce) Haitai Nougat Ice Bar is one of the most devastating frozen desserts I’ve encountered.

I managed to track down the nutrition facts at The Daily Plate. And if these numbers are to be believed... it's probably better not to look. Each 85ml ice bar contains 200 calories, 14 grams of fat, a staggering 10 grams of saturated fat (50% of your daily value!) and 584 milligrams of sodium. What the heck is so much salt doing in an ice cream bar?! There's no way around it: eating a Nougat Bar is like dropping a bacon-wrapped nuclear bomb on your diet.

Haitai Nougat Ice Bar offers a unique and fantastic experience. It's that good. It's also so abysmal for your health that I can't recommend it as more than an occasional treat. Savor it when you can.

Saturday Smoothie

The internet says it's only been in the mid-80s here in Los Angeles for the last week. But man it's felt a lot hotter.

Went grocery shopping yesterday. Strawberries were on sale for $1 a pound. One dollar? Were these strawberries infected with Hepatitis or something? That's a ridiculously low price. Cheaper than apples! I bought four pounds and in retrospect should have gotten more.


Not surprisingly these particular strawberries aren't award winning... and for good reason. They're small and not that sweet. Of course, if you want great strawberries you don't buy them at a supermarket. You buy them from a fruit stand, usually from some guy named Miguel.

But that's a different story.

And while these strawberries are fine for eating raw as a snack they're even better in a smoothie. Tossed in a few frozen strawberries along with half a banana, some lemonade and ice. Blend to taste. It was a refreshing way to get some fruit servings although it did contain a lot of natural sugar.

I took a picture of the smoothie but decided against posting it. Why? Because it looked like every other strawberry smoothie ever made.

Patbingsu Time

Last time I described patbingsu. Today there's visual confirmation!


Combine shaved ice, sweet red bean paste, fruit syrup, condensed milk and a pinch of soybean powder. Mix thoroughly and enjoy. Not much better than a bowl of homemade patbingsu on a hot summer day. Good times.

When I was a kid I used to add granulated sugar to my patbingsu. Sweeten the pot as it were. One time I mixed up containers and poured in salt. Needless to say that was not good times.

Frozen Food Journal Isn't New and Probably Not Improved

But it is different! Regulars here will notice that Frozen Food Journal got a facelift over the Fourth of July weekend. Because nothing is more American than a little cosmetic surgery.

Most notably I decided to switch to a three-column template instead of cramming so much stuff on the right. Archives and Food Links have been shifted to the left side. Also the Blogger navigation bar has been replaced with a Google Custom Search, which can found on the top right below the Frozen Food Journal RSS Feed.

And above the RSS Feed is a new poll question:

What is your favorite summer frozen treat?

Lots of stuff happening here. Busy busy busy.

-Ken

Review: Hungry-Man Roasted Carved Turkey

Thanksgiving has moved to July! Okay, not really. But it does feel weird eating a turkey dinner this time of year. Then again, I eat fried chicken on the fourth Thursday of November. So maybe I'm the weird one.

When I think of frozen dinners I think of typical American cuisine: pizza (hey, we stole it from the Italians and made it our own), pasta, meatloaf and chicken. Besides in sandwiches how often do people eat turkey? I'm guessing no more than five times a year. So why do so many turkey dinners line the freezer section at the supermarket?

My half-baked, flame-broiled and rotisserie'd hypothesis is that consumers buy frozen turkey dinners because they're a nostalgic Thanskgiving meal ready to eat in a matter of minutes. Obviously TV dinners can't match the flavor of a homemade holiday meal. But they also don't require slaving over the oven for half a day to prepare. And you're still eating turkey, potatoes and stuffing.

Okay, long intro over. Today I'm reviewing Hungry-Man Roasted Carved Turkey. It's the second Thanksgiving-esque frozen dinner I've reviewed for Frozen Food Journal. Previously I expressed mixed feelings over Healthy Choice Traditional Turkey Breast.

Before cooking this frozen dinner remove the plastic film from the dessert. Then poke holes through the plastic to vent the corn and potatoes before sliding the tray into a 350 degree oven for 35 minutes. I recommend stirring the corn and dessert a couple times during the cooking process.

The turkey comes in four flimsy slices. It has a mild taste, especially the white meat. Most of the main course lies smothered in the delectable and thick brown gravy, which really keeps the turkey moist. In fact, the gravy really elevates this entire meal. Bits of bird that aren't smothered during the cooking process ends up being dried out.

And while drying out is no good for the turkey it's great for the stuffing. Toasted bread crumbs pair excellently with the gravy, providing a terrible combo of richness and crunchiness. Mmmmm. Some of the stuffing lies trapped under the turkey and/or gravy, providing that familiar starchy mushiness.

Moving onto the mashed potatoes, they're quite tasty. I don't like the goopy consistency but the buttery flavor makes up for it. I was expecting a buttery flavor for the corn as well. Or maybe a slightly sweet taste. Instead I got nothing. As if Hungry-Man shucked the corn straight into the tray. It's easily the worst part of this meal.

Fruit pieces drowning in a slightly sour syrup. Thus describes the apple cranberry compote dessert. I prefer sweet treats but this was okay. Not as good as the Hungry-Man brownie (like the one found in the Classic Fried Chicken dinner) but a nice finale nonetheless.

The healthiest Hungry-Man yet! Seriously, this dinner isn't that bad for you. One quarter of the 560 calories come from fat, which is reasonable. And there's only a modest amount of cholesterol. Sadly once again Hungry-Man overdoes it with the salt. Also a lot of sugar here too. Positives include being a great source of protein and Vitamin C as well as providing some fiber, Vitamin A and iron. Note that the packaging did not list Trans Fat.

Roasted Carved Turkey isn't as delicious as many as of its deep-fried Hungry-Man brethren. But it does offer a good meal without sidetracking your diet.

Happy Fourth of July

One day early, but you know. Hope everyone enjoys a great weekend. I will probably be eating large quantities of charred animals and watching a ton of baseball.

So I was reading the Blueberry Muffin Pop-Tarts review at The Impulsive Buy. It got me thinking about a different kind of frozen food. Specifically the "regular" food that I freeze. Like Pop-Tarts. I don't put Pop-Tarts in the toaster or even in the pantry. Nope, they go straight into the freezer so I can eat them later as a dessert. Other foods I regularly freeze include fruits (watermelon and bananas for smoothies/protein shakes), bread and chocolate. Sometimes I freeze milk into ice trays, also for the shakes. Nothing too crazy right? I'm not stuffing heads into the icebox or anything.

Speaking of brain freezes... as you may have heard KFC recently went through a coupon fiasco over a free Kentucky Grilled Chicken meal promotion. After Oprah gave it a shout out restaurants were overwhelmed by requests and started to run out of chicken. The promotion was nixed early and KFC refused to accept any more coupons. To not lose customers forever compensate for its blunder KFC offered to mail raincheck coupons. Good news: I received my coupons yesterday. Bad news: I can't redeem them until August. I get to wait another month for free chicken. Ugh. Colonel Sanders is rolling over in his grave.

El Pollo Loco (a flame-grilled chicken franchise in Souther California, i.e. KFC's enemy) ran a two-piece meal giveaway a couple months back. Lines were long but things ran smoothly. I got to eat a lot of free food that day. That's how you run a promotion.

And by the way, KGC doesn't taste that good. It's really greasy and kind of dry. I say stick with fried goodness along with eleven secret herbs and spices. The Impulsive Buy reviewed Kentucky Grilled Chicken and gave it high marks. Meanwhile Fast Food Maven prefered El Pollo Loco. But of course, free chicken is better than no chicken.

Those are my non-frozen food thoughts of the day. Consider them a holiday bonus.

And finally, I'll be tinkering with HTML over the weekend. Brace yourself; you might see some wonky stuff. So basically it'll be business as usual at Frozen Food Journal.

-Ken

Review: Cool Classics Arctic Blasters Fudge Bars

Frozen chocolately thing plus wooden stick. Sometimes the best things in life are the simplest.

Arctic Blasters seems like an odd brand name for frozen desserts. But thankfully these Fudge Bars taste just fine. Certainly not the creamiest or tastiest chocolate-flavored popsicle I've ever had but it gets the job done. The Fudge Bars are sizable too; no need to double-dip into the carton for seconds.

Speaking of the carton I was glancing at the ingredients and noticed buttermilk. Buttermilk? I don't know, that just seems weird.

Courtesy of MyFitnessPal here are the nutrition facts. This is a low-fat food with each bar containing only a single gram. Sadly it does contain a lot of sugar (14 grams) and 100 calories. Benefits include small amounts of potassium and calcium.

Cool Classics Arctic Blasters Fudge Bars discount a couple bucks compared to more recognizable brand name fudge popsicles. While not as satisfying as their fancier counterparts these Fudge Bars will please most people.