News: Jamba Juice - 250 Calories or Less Menu

For those of you concerned about the caloric intake of your Jamba Juice habit, Jamba Juice is looking to help by highlighting their menu with a "Better-for-You" 250 Calories or Less drink menu.

The offerings include 3 Fruit & Veggie smoothies, 3 Fruit Refreshers, 3 Probiotic Fruit and Yogurt smoothies, and 5 All-Fruit smoothies.

The complete list of all 22 "250 Calories or Less" drinks are as follows:

News: Quiznos - New Harvest Chicken Sub

Following in the footsteps of Subway's Orchard Chicken Salad Sub and Arby's Chicken & Pecan Salad Wrap, Quiznos does their own take on the Chicken Salad Sub with their new Harvest Chicken Sub.

The Harvest Chicken Sub features Honey-Dijon chicken, grapes, apples, dried cranberries, cucumbers, pumpkin seeds, spring mix lettuce, and an Acai Vinaigrette on your choice of White, Wheat, Rosemary Parmesan, Chipotle Jack, or Whole Grain Flatbread.

Nutritonal info not yet available.

Review: Taco Bell - Hash Browns

Another one of the items I tried off of Taco Bell's current iteration of their breakfast test was the classic Hash Brown for 99 cents.

News: Krispy Kreme - New Lemon Donuts and Jolly Rancher Chillers

Krispy Kreme has Lemon Donuts and Jolly Rancher Chillers available for a limited time this summer.

There are two lemon donuts to choose form: the Lemon Cake Doughnut and the Lemon Kreme Pie Doughnut.

The Lemon Cake Doughnut features a moist, lemon-flavored cake donut with their original glaze and drizzle with icing.

The Lemon Kreme Pie Doughnut is a jelly donut with "Lemon Kreme" filling, and is dusted with powdered sugar and finished with a dollop of yellow icing on top.

Jolly Rancher Krispy Kreme Chillers are slushy ice beverages available in: Green Apple, Watermelon and, new for this summer, Cherry Orange.

News: Starbucks - New Bistro Boxes

Starbucks has a new, convenient option for lunch-on-the-go (or for picnicking!) with their new Bistro Boxes which come in entree or snack size (at $6.95 and $4.95 respectively).

The boxes come in resealable, clear compartmentalized packages that gives you a bit of flexibility for "now-and-later" eaters like myself.

The entrees are available in the following varieties and come with a small piece of dark chocolate for dessert:

Review: Arby's - 'Shroom & Swiss

New to the southern California market and with limited availability regionally, Arby's is serving up a 'Shroom & Swiss sandwich featuring their trademark very-thin-sliced roast beef with roast seasoning, Swiss cheese, crispy fried onions, sliced mushrooms, and a savory spread on a toasted specialty roll.

The sandwich is currently being offered at my local Arby's for $3.59.

News: Wendy's - New Wild Berry Shakes and Parfaits

Wendy's has expanded their frozen dessert menu with new Wild Berry Shakes and Parfaits. In addition, they're also serving up a new Caramel Apple Parfait and Caramel Shake.

The Wild Berry Frosty Shake takes the classic Vanilla Frosty and spins it with a blend of real strawberries, blackberries, and raspberries and tops it with whipped cream.

The Wild Berry Frosty Parfait takes the same mix but blended a little less and tops it with fresh-sliced strawberries, and blueberries.

The Caramel Frosty Shake is simple enough: just Vanilla Frosty blended with caramel syrup topped with whipped cream.

The Caramel Frosty Parfait is a little more complicated with a caramel swirl in Vanilla Frosty topped with all-natural brown sugar granola, fresh red and green apple slices, and real caramel.

Brand Eating Contest: Free Smoothie at McDonald's

I have coupons for "One FREE Small Real Fruit Smoothie" including the new Mango Pineapple Smoothie provided courtesy of McDonald's. 

Instead of the usual random drawing, I decided to do a little bit of a quiz contest for this one. So basically, there are five coupons to giveaway and five questions to answer. There's a free coupon to the first person to answer each question correctly but you can only answer one of the questions (i.e. you can only enter/win once).

Just comment below and jot down the question number you're answering with your answer.

Review: Tostitos - Artisan Recipes - Roasted Garlic & Black Bean

Tostitos Artisan Recipes tortilla chips are an "artisan" take on the common tortilla chip with various ingredients  mixed into the chip itself. The Roasted Garlic & Black Bean Artisan Recipe Tostitos Chips uses dried black beans and a 9-grain blend to create a fairly interesting tortilla chip.

A 9.75-ounce bag retails for about $3.99 with a sale price ranging from $2.00 to $3.00.

News: Taco Bell - 99 Cent Burrito Supreme Until August 6th

Looks like it's the summer of even cheaper at Taco Bell: After previously offering their Crunch Wrap Supreme for a limited promotion at 99 cents (and at 88 cents before that!), Taco Bell is now offering their Burrito Supreme for 99 cents from today until Saturday, August 6th.

The Burrito Supreme features a flour tortilla wrapped around seasoned beef, refried beans, a red sauce, shredded lettuce, cheddar cheese, diced onions, diced tomatoes, and reduced-fat sour cream.

International Weekend: Bergen - Nutty Cookies

Bergen's Nutty Cookies hail from Poland but only cost me $1.00 for a 100g package at Big Lot's International aisle. They're actually hazelnut cookies which is something I've never encountered before.

Frozen Friday: Healthy Choice - Pumpkin Squash Ravioli

An all-natural, vegetarian option for the health-minded frozen food types, Healthy Choice's Pumpkin Squash Ravioli frozen meal features pumpkin-filled ravioli with butter-sage sauce, asparagus and butternut squash.

Review: Taco Bell - Cinnabon Delights

One of the more interesting on Taco Bell's current breakfast menu test, Cinnabon Delights feature donut-hole-like balls filled with a sweet cream cheese frosting and dusted with cinnamon and sugar.

An order of four Cinnabon Delights costs $1.49 and are about 50 calories per ball.

Feature: Visting Taco Bell's Breakfast Test Restaurant

By far the nicest Taco Bell I've stepped foot in, the Taco Bell in Fountain Valley is one of Taco Bell's ongoing breakfast test restaurants. I stopped by recently one morning to try some stuff out. Keep an eye on this post over the next couple of days for reviews of the items I tried.

News: Starbucks - Buy Starbucks Via Iced Coffee and get a Free Tall Drink

Starting today until July 17, Starbucks is promoting its Via Iced Coffee by offering a free tall drink of your choice when you pick up a pack of Iced Via at your local Starbucks store.

Via Iced Coffee is the individually packaged Starbucks instant coffee that dissolves in cold water.

A pack of 5-servings goes for $5.95. The offer is valid at participating stores in the U.S. only.

Review: Carl's Jr. - Hand-Breaded Chicken Fillet Sandwich

The next evolution of Carl's Jr's Hand-Bread Chicken Tenders, the Hand-Breaded Chicken Fillet Sandwich is a premium chicken offering that features a chicken fillet that is freshly prepared, battered, and breaded by hand in each restaurant throughout the day as well as the standard lettuce, mayo, and tomatoes on a sesame seed bun.

The price is pretty standard as well at $4.29 (may vary).

News: Ben & Jerry's - New Flavors for July 2011

July is National Ice Cream Month so Ben & Jerry's is trotting out five new flavors for this summer:

Fair Goodness Cake - "Fair Trade Certified" chocolate ice cream, with pieces of German chocolate cake and a coconut caramel swirl.

Late Night Snack – inspired by Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Late Night Snack features a salty-sweet combination to cover your late night snacking with a salted caramel swirl and fudge-covered potato chip clusters in a sea of "Fair Trade Certified" vanilla ice cream.

Red Velvet Cake – red velvet cake batter ice cream with red velvet cake pieces and a cream cheese frosting swirl.

News: Starbucks - New Caramel Iced Via

Available year-round in its hot version, Starbucks' new, limited-time Caramel Iced Via is specially designed to be mixed in cold water with a blend of instant and microground Arabica bean coffee, buttery caramel flavor, and cane sugar.

The tasting notes is listed as "buttery, velvety caramel" and the flavor intensity is "medium."

Caramel Iced Via is available at select U.S. supermarket at a suggested retail of $7.99 for a 6-pack and at Starbucks locations at $5.95 for a 5-pack for a limited time while supplies last.

Brand Eating Giveaway Drawing: $20 Arby's Gift Card

To help promote their new Angus Cool Deli Sandwich, Arby's has graciously provided a $20 Arby's Gift Card for one lucky reader so you can try the new sandwich yourself.

To enter, just drop a comment below with what you like to put in your favorite summer sandwich and I'll pull a name out of the virtual hat sometime this Saturday and contact the winner by email. The winner will have three days to respond to my email, after which time I will pick another winner.

Good luck guys! Be sure check back here on Saturday for the results.

Update: I put all your names in the virtual hat and pulled a number via Random.org and the winner is...

Adam from GrubGrade! Congrats, I'll send an email shortly to get your mailing address to get your gift card sent.

News: Wienerschnitzel - 61 Cent Dogs on July 17

Wienerschnitzel is celebrating their 50th Anniversary this Sunday, July 17, by offering Chili Dogs, Mustard Dogs, and Kraut Dogs for 61 cents each (cheese is extra) to coincide with their 1961 founding year.

In addition to snagging hot dogs for 61 cents, you can also:

-fill in a mail-in submission in hopes of winning a trip for two to Germany (roundtrip fare to Munich, 7 days, 6 nights hotel accommodations and $1000 spending cash) and;

-and try to win certificates for free food, "D/W" crest stickers, and other Wienerschnitzel merchandise via giveaways.

News: Subway - New BBQ Pulled Pork Sub

In the spirit of summer and barbecue, Subway is whipping out their new, limited-time BBQ Pulled Pork Sub features slow-cooked pork with a smoky barbecue sauce served with your choice of veggies, cheese, and fresh-baked bread.

If you want to go with the picture, you're looking at lettuce, onions, and pickles as far as I can tell.

Nutritional Info - Subway BBQ Pulled Pork Sub - 6 inch (318g)
Calories - 570 (from Fat - 150)
Fat - 17g (Saturated Fat - 6g)
Sodium - 1340mg
Carbs - 68g (Sugar - 11g)
Protein - 56g

Review: Arby's - Angus Cool Deli Sandwich

Arby's Angus Cool Deli Sandwich which is basically your classic cold deli sub and is filled with thin-sliced Angus beef, shredded lettuce, tomato, red onion, Swiss cheese, mayo, vinaigrette, banana peppers, and pickles on a toasted sub bun.

I picked up my Angus Cool Deli Sandwich for $4.99 (courtesy of an Arby's-provided gift card) but it can also be had as a whole grain wrap.

Review: Chipotle Secret Menu - Quesarito

Among one of the more interesting "secret"/"off-menu" items at Chipotle, the Quesarito takes another secret menu item, the Quesadilla, and wraps it into a burrito. Neat right?

I'm not sure if it's supposed to cost the price of a Quesadilla ($2.75) plus a Burrito ($6.10 for steak) but they only charged for the price of the burrito.

Review: Hostess - Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake

Hostess Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cakes come in a box of 8 individually-wrapped cakes each featuring a coffee cake with a cinnamon swirl topped with a sweet crumb or "streusel" topping.

The normal price on a box is around $3.99 but I picked this one up on sale for $2.50.

International Weekend: Nestle Milo

Nestle Milo chocolate malt drink found in either liquid in Red Bull-sized cans or powdered and ready-to-mix in jars. It's very popular in Malaysia and Singapore (but also available in other countries) and if you find it in a store here in the States, it is probably from Malaysia like this 8-ounce can that I bought for 79 cents.

Frozen Friday: Marie Callender's - Herb Roasted Chicken

Marie Callender's Herb Roasted Chicken frozen dinner features a leg and thigh of herb roasted chicken plus mashed potatoes and carrots and broccoli florets for about $3.99 normal price or around $2 on sale.

News: Arby's - New Cravin' Chicken Sandwich

Arby's has reworked their version of the standard premium chicken sandwich with their new Cravin' Chicken Sandwich which replaces the Crispy Chicken Fillet Sandwich.

Available in both Crispy and Roast versions, the Cravin' Chicken Sandwich's most novel feature is what's described as a "zingy, zazzy, zaucy, zesty Cravin’ sauce" which replaces mayo in the equation. Other than that it's your choice of either a crispy Prime-cut filet or thin-sliced roast chicken with the standard lettuce, tomatoes, and a sesame bun.

Review: Taco Bell - XXL Grilled Stuft Burrito

Taco Bell's new XXL Grilled Stuft Burrito takes a kitchen sink approach to big burrito making, probably featuring most available Taco Bell ingredients with their largest burrito thus far filled with seasoned beef, a three cheese blend (cheddar, pepper jack, and mozzarella), seasoned rice, refried beans, reduced-fat sour cream, guacamole, avocado ranch, and fiesta salsa wrapped in a flour tortilla and grilled.

The burrito is priced at $3.99 at my local Taco Bell. It's also available with chicken for $4.79 and steak for $4.99.

Review: McDonald's - Mango Pineapple Smoothie

New for the summer, McDonald's Mango Pineapple Smoothie features mango and pineapple puree blended with low-fat yogurt, ice and fruit juice concentrate for a frosty tropical drink to fight the summer heat.

It's available in small, medium, and large sizes at $2.29, $2.79, and $3.29 respectively (price may vary).

News: Baskin-Robbins - Super Soldier Swirl - July 2011 Flavor of the Month

In a Captain America: The First Avenger movie tie-in, Baskin-Robbins' featured flavor for the month of July 2011 is the patriotically-colored Super-Soldier Swirl.

The new flavor features vanilla ice cream swirled with blue chips and a cherry-flavored ribbon.

Super-Soldier Swirl ice cream is available nationwide during the month of July by the scoop (in a cup or cone), in a sundae or in hand-packed pints, quarts and half-gallons. Samples are always available gratis with those mini pink sample spoons.

News: Chick-fil-A - Cow Appreciation Day - Dress like a Cow for Free Food

Chick-fil-A's seventh annual Cow Appreciation Day is coming all day this Friday, July 8, 2011 which Chick-fil-A restaurants nationwide are offering you a free meal (entree of choice, side item, and medium beverage) to come into their restaurant fully dressed as a cow.

For those unable or unwilling to go whole, uh... "cow," you can still score a complimentary entree for partially dressing in cow attire (such as "such as a cow-spotted scarf, purse, tie, hat or other accessory").

For additional details, you can check out Chick-fil-A's Cow Appreciation Day website here. The site also has printable costume pieces and the details on a  "best cow costume photo" contest for prizes.

News: Carl's Jr./Hardee's - New Hand-Breaded Chicken Fillet Sandwich

Declaring, "If Machines Can't Eat It, Machines Shouldn't Make It!", Carl's Jr and sister chain Hardee's herald in their new Hand-Breaded Chicken Fillet Sandwich where, like their Hand-Breaded Chicken Tenders, the chicken fillet is freshly prepared, battered, and breaded by hand in each restaurant throughout the day.

The chicken is served on a sesame bun with the typical accouterments of tomato, lettuce, and mayo. The Hand-Breaded Chicken Fillet Sandwich is available for $3.99 alone or $6.49 in a combo with fries and a drink (prices may vary).

To go with the declaration, Carl's Jr and Hardee's made a commercial featuring a robot trying to eat the new sandwich. You can check out the extended spot after the jump.

News: Burger King - New BCR Tendercrisp Sandwich

For a limited-time, Burger King is adding a little extra "somethin'-somethin'" to their Tendercrisp Sandwich with the new Bacon Cheddar Ranch or "BCR" Tendercrisp Sandwich.

Unsurprisingly, the sandwich features bacon and a cheddar ranch sauce as well as a crispy fried white meat chicken filet, lettuce, tomatoes, white onions, and two slices of Cheddar cheese on a bakery corn-dusted bun.

News: Arby's - New Angus Cool Deli Sandwich

Arby's latest iteration of their new Angus beef is the Angus Cool Deli Sandwich which is more or less your classic deli sub filled with thin sliced Angus beef, shredded lettuce, tomato, red onion, Swiss cheese, mayo, vinaigrette, banana peppers, and pickles on a toasted sub bun.

The Angus Cool Deli is also available in wrap form on whole grain flatbread.

Both versions are priced at $4.99.

News: Frito Lay - New Cheetos Honey BBQ Puffs

Frito Lay is offering its cheesy Cheetos but in Honey BBQ flavor with new Cheetos Honey BBQ Puffs.

The flavor offers a blend of cheesy, sweet, and smoky flavors. I like cheese and I like barbecue but I don't know how I feel about cheese and barbecue together.

They're available nationwide but that doesn't mean every store will carry them. You can try locating a bag nearby with Frito Lay's convenient snack locator.

News: Sonic - New Flamin' Bacon Breakfast Burrito

Available all day but for a limited time Sonic's new Flamin' Bacon Breakfast Burrito brings a bit of heat this summer with bacon, deep-fried jalapeno strips, sliced jalapenos, cheese sauce, eggs, and onions wrapped in a warm, flour tortilla.

I'm surprised there's not a squirt of hot sauce in there.

News: Sonic - New Sundae Shakes

If you've ever been to lazy to spoon a sundae into your mouth, Sonic has you covered with their new, limited-time Sundae Shakes.
Rather than rely on scoops of ice cream topped with sauce, toppings, and whipped topping, Sonic blends the ice cream with the sauces before going with the tried-and-true whipped cream, more sauce, and the requisite cherry on top.

The sundaes are available in three flavors: Hot Fudge, Strawberry Dream, and Turtle.

News: Sonic - New Baja Dog

Sonic is continuing their hot dog parade with their new, limited-time Baja Dog. The name might evoke images of salsa, hot sauce, or guacamole but you won't find any of that here.

The Baja Dog is priced at $1.99 and features a 100% beef hot dog with pepper jack cheese, tomatoes, chopped onions and spicy jalapenos served in a poppy seed bun.

News: KFC - Kentucky Grilled Chicken Breasts Now 20% Larger

KFC is making another promotional push for their Kentucky Grilled Chicken this summer, and to aid them in the endeavor, they're going with bigger chicken breasts. Bigger is better right?

The chicken breast pieces (but not the wings, thighs, or legs) are now, on average, 20% larger than before.

In an interesting tidbit from the press release, KFC's KGS secret recipe is kept on an encrypted flash drive right next to their handwritten recipe for Original Recipe in the same high-security vault at their corporate headquarters.

News: McDonald's - New Mango Pineapple Real Fruit Smoothie

McDonald's recently launched their new Mango Pineapple Real Fruit Smoothies nationwide (although they were available a couple weeks earlier in some markets). The new smoothie features mango and pineapple puree blended with low-fat yogurt, ice and fruit juice concentrate.

The Mango Pineapple Smoothie is available for about $2.29 for a 12-ounce small, $2.79 for a 16-ounce medium and $3.29 for a 22-ounce large.

To promote the Mango Pineapple Real Fruit Smoothie (and other frozen drinks), McDonald's has a printable, online "buy one, get one free" coupon available on their website good on any Frozen Strawberry Lemonade, Frappe, or Smoothie (Expires July 31, 2011).

News: Sonic - New Ring Leader Loaded Burger

If spicy is not your thing but onions are, Sonic has you covered with their new, limited-time Ring Leader Loaded Burger which has deep-fried and grilled onions for you.

Each Ring Leader features a beef patty (or two) topped with a handmade onion ring, grilled onions, bacon, natural Cheddar cheese, lettuce,tomato and mayo on a toasted bakery bun.

News: Sonic - New Blazin' BBQ Loaded Burger

For a limited time, Sonic is serving up their new Blazin' BBQ Loaded Burger.

The burger features the spicy side of the Sonic menu with a beef patty (or two if you so choose) topped with crispy jalapeno strips plus sliced jalapenos, bacon, Pepper Jack cheese, sweet and spicy habanero and hickory BBQ sauces, lettuce, and tomato on a toasted bakery bun.

Review: Hostess - Strawberry CupCakes

Hostess's new Strawberry CupCakes offer a strawberry twist to their traditional cupcakes with strawberry cake and icing in additional to the same creamy filling and squiggle.

A box of 8 individually-wrapped cakes is priced around $3.99 but I picked this box up on sale for $2.50.

Review: Kraft - Jet-Puffed Stackermallows

Kraft's new Jet-Puffed Stackermallows eschews the traditional puffy, cylinder for a flatter, rectangular pillow shape ideal for making S'mores so I decided to make some S'mores with them.

I received this 8-ounce bag free from Kraft but they normally cost around $2.29.

Review: McDonald's - Fruit ‘N Yogurt Parfait

McDonald's Fruit ‘N Yogurt Parfait features low fat vanilla yogurt layered with blueberries and strawberries and topped with crunchy granola.

It's available on their Dollar Menu for an easy $1.

Review: Yoplait - Strawberry Greek Yogurt

Greek yogurt really seems to be catching on; even Yoplait is getting in on the action. Yoplait's Strawberry Greek Yogurt features Greek yogurt with strawberries on the bottom. The hallmarks of Greek yogurt are more protein and a thick, creamy texture without the fat.

A 6-ounce cup normally costs somewhere around the $1.50 mark.

International Weekend: Lift Lemon Soda

Lift Lemon soda is produced and made available by the Coca Cola Company only in Australia. It's pretty much fizzy lemonade. The brand is available in a couple other countries as well but in different flavors.

There are a couple of Australian importers that carry this but it's fairly pricey imported at $4.95 for 1.25 liters.

Frozen Friday: Swanson - Turkey Pot Pie

Swanson's Pot Pies along with Banquet's are pretty much what comes to mind when I think of pot pies. They were cheap and the ones I ate as a kid growing up. Swanson's Turkey Pot Pie keeps the same basic formula as any other pot pie with carrots, potatoes, peas, gravy, and meat (in this case turkey).

You can pick these up for about a dollar or less.

Review: Oscar Mayer - Honey Ham & Swiss Sandwich Combos

Oscar Mayer's New Sandwich Combos appear to be an adult version of their Lunchables line. The Honey Ham & Swiss Sandwich Combos (it really should be "Combo" but whatever) is more or less what you'd pack into a sack lunch with a ham and swiss sandwich, a sugar free Jell-O Chocolate Flavored Mousse Temptations and a 100-calorie bag of Ritz Baked Snack Mix.

The regular price is about $2.99 for a package.

Review: Planters - Five Alarm Chili Peanuts Dry Roasted Peanuts

Planters new Five Alarm Chili Dry Roasted Peanuts features the familiar flavor of Planters Dry Roasted Peanuts but with a spicy chili twist.

It's normally about $4.00 for a 1-pound jar unless you find it on sale.