Ho ho ho! New Co-Co-Coca-Cola flavor-or-or. (Spotted by Robbie at H-E-B.)
If you’re out shopping and see new products, snap a picture of them, and send them in via an email ([email protected]) with where you found them and “Spotted” in the subject line. Also, if you want to send in photos and are wondering if we’ve already covered something or if they’re new, don’t worry about it. Let us worry about it.
It’s raining new products in Hidden Valley. (Spotted by Breanna at Harris Teeter.)
If you’re out shopping and see new products, snap a picture of them, and send them in via an email ([email protected]) with where you found them and “Spotted” in the subject line. Also, if you want to send in photos and are wondering if we’ve already covered something or if they’re new, don’t worry about it. Let us worry about it.
Several folks recently sent me Spotted photos of this Spylt caffeinated milk that comes in several flavors, but it’s been around for a couple of years, so I didn’t post them. It seems only now has it seen a wider rollout.
I’m pretty sure somewhere in one of the thousands of posts on this site, I wished for a caffeinated chocolate milk, and the Caffeinated Chocolate Milk Fairy made my wish come true. But not only does this have 60 milligrams of caffeine, it also has 20 grams of protein, so it’s killing two birds with one Spylt for me. With that much protein, you might think you’re going to get protein shake vibes from this, but it tastes and has a creaminess like the chocolate milk I grew up drinking. It gets its protein from ultrafiltered milk, which is the same process used to make Fairlife milk.
But that’s not all with this chocolate milk. It also has no sugar and only 0.5 grams of fat, which is hard to believe given how good it tastes. Although, as it got warm, I could taste a hint of the sucralose and ace-K at the back end of a sip. Definitely worth a try, and I’ll probably give other flavors a taste.
I blame gravity for this sundae looking the way it does because when it was first handed to me, I could see the caramel syrup sticking to the sides of the cup. But stupid gravity did what stupid gravity does during the 15-minute drive home from Costco, and most of the syrup pooled at the bottom of the cup.
But that’s okay, gravity, because your involvement didn’t affect how much I liked this treat. First, it’s only $2.99 for ice cream, salted caramel sauce, and brownie chunks. That’s cheap. That’s cheaper than a mini Dairy Queen Blizzard, which is half the size of this sundae.
The salted caramel sauce wasn’t overly sweet, but it wasn’t salty or buttery either. The brownie pieces were chewy and chocolatey, but I wish there were more, since I felt like half the spoonfuls I took didn’t have a brownie in them. So I guess the Blizzard wins in the mix-ins department. However, despite those issues, this is a satisfying dessert, and I see myself picking it up again when I need something sweet to follow a salty slice of Costco pepperoni pizza.
This wasn’t awful, but I didn’t even finish everything. Once I had eaten most of the noodles, I dumped whatever soup was left into the sink. The thought of drinking watered-down Buffalo sauce isn’t my cup of watered-down Buffalo sauce. There’s no mistaking the Buffalo flavor, and there’s a mild spicy kick, but I didn’t notice a chicken flavor.
The thought, “What should I expect for something that’s around a dollar?” popped into my head. But then again, I find 50-cent ramen packets better tasting and more enjoyable than this. Oh, I should mention that this was sent to me by General Mills, and receiving a complimentary sample did not affect my review. (Amber reviewed this earlier this year.)
We just posted Jenna’s review of this yesterday, but I also want to sing its praises. As I’ve mentioned above, I’ve wanted a caffeinated chocolate milk for a while now, but the thought of caffeinated apple juice has never crossed my mind. This drink isn’t 100% apple juice infused with caffeine and carbonation. It’s only 6 percent juice, but it tastes like apple juice. Actually, with the carbonation, I got more of a sparkling apple cider vibe from it.
Because there isn’t much juice, you aren’t getting the vitamins you’d get from apple juice. Instead, you get the same B vitamins you’d get from any Monster Energy Drink. I do wish it were vitamin C-fortified, but the 160 milligrams of caffeine more than make up for it. I still haven’t had a bad Monster Juice flavor, and this Bad Apple continues that streak.
Wendy’s new chicken tenders are boneless, but I’ve still got a bone to pick with America’s 9th favorite Redhead.
For years, on this great site, I’ve famously, tirelessly, breathlessly, and relentlessly asked – nay – begged Wendy’s to release a line of Frosties chock full of fix-ins called “Wendy’s Blendies.”
Imagine my disappointment when Wendy’s finally added some toppings to their Frosties and called them “Girlie Swirlies” or whatever instead of the more obvious name, “Blendies!”
Now, imagine my suspicion when I saw their newest menu item – Wendy’s Tendys.
“Tendys,” huh? Sounds a little bit like… Blendies!
If you’re thinking, “well, that’s just simplistic wordplay, and parallel thinking at best. You don’t own the abstract premise of rhyme schemes, and to be honest, ‘Tendys’ sounds better than ‘Blendies’ anyway. They didn’t actually blend anything into the Frosty,” then you’re correct, and very blunt. Take it easy. Jeez.
I’d still like an assist though – at least one of those secondary hockey assists where I get an assist for passing the puck to the guy who passed the puck to the guy who actually scored.
Tendys obviously aren’t Wendy’s first foray into chicken fingers/tenders/strips, but they’re a revamped recipe, and as a bonus, they’re being released with a new “Signature Sauce.”
Full transparency, I think Wendy’s chicken offerings have fallen off a cliff in the past decade, but I still enjoy their nuggets from time to time and snagged a free 5-piece to compare. I actually think Tendys are superior, but I might be on an island.
My three strips were salty, dry, and slightly overcooked, but crispy and just tender enough that I actually really liked them. As weird as it sounds, I like dry food, plus that’s what the sauce is there for! Anyway, the flavor and texture alone would have probably gotten a “meh” rating at best, but these things started to taste like something.
This could just be (chicken) selective memory, but as I bit down and racked my brain trying to figure out what they reminded me of, I came to the conclusion – McDonald’s Chicken Selects.
Why and how do I even remember those? They haven’t existed for well over a decade, yet I had a sense memory that I was eating them. Why would Wendy’s remind me of McDonald’s? I don’t know, but Tendys tasted more like Selects than McDonald’s new mediocre tenders.
As for the “Signature” sauce, it’s fine. It’s creamy with a little kick and tastes, I’ll be honest, like all new sauces just taste like some variation of Thousand Island to me. It’s like Russian Dressing and Ranch, maybe. If you told me this was just “S’awesome” sauce from a few years ago, I’d shrug and trudge on with stuffing my face. It gets a B on my patented Sauce Tier list.
So, with the Tendys and the Signature Sauce, there’s really nothing “new” here, but they’re both worth trying. I’d like to know if anyone else had a “Chicken Selects” nostalgia rush while eating them. Try ’em, but just know, three small strips are almost $6. They shoulda called these “Spendys.”
Actually, I’ve come around on the name. It’s fun to say, and definitely better than when my local greasy spoon, “Wendels,” added “Tendels” to the menu. Nasty.
Tendys are solid though!
Purchased Price: $5.39
Size: 3 pieces
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (Tendys only) 420 calories, 22 grams of fat, 3.5 grams of saturated fat, 80 milligrams of cholesterol, 1050 milligrams of sodium, 22 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 0 grams of sugar, and 33 grams of protein.
I look forward to keeping warm AND hydrated with these. (Spotted by Sarah R at Target.)
If you’re out shopping and see new products, snap a picture of them, and send them in via an email ([email protected]) with where you found them and “Spotted” in the subject line. Also, if you want to send in photos and are wondering if we’ve already covered something or if they’re new, don’t worry about it. Let us worry about it.
