News: Yogurtland - Hello Kitty Spoons Back for Summer 2012

For all you collectors out there, Hello Kitty spoons are back at Yogurtland for 2012. This summer and only for a limited time, four Sanrio characters will be featured on Yogurtland's signature biodegradable spoons and released on a staggered schedule. Besides Hello Kitty, the other characters featured are Little Twin Stars, Tuxedo Sam, and Badtz-Maru.

The release schedule is as follows:

Neat! 2.5 Minute Made-from-Scratch Pizza Vending Machines Coming to U.S.

Behold! The promise of fast, freshly-made pizza... from a vending machine?! Let's Pizza, a vending machine that makes pizza from scratch in 2.5 minutes is coming to the U.S. Specifically the machine mixes dough and water into a pizza crust, sauces and tops it, before cooking it in a speedy infra-red oven.

If the machine can turn out something good (or even decent), it'd be pretty nifty. Apparently, they do well in Europe, especially Italy.

Review: Pizza Hut - Meat Trio P'Zolo

Pizza Hut's Meat Trio P'Zolo is Pizza Hut's unique take on the sub sandwich with meat and cheese baked in a pizza crust "bread." The Meat Trio comes filled with mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, Italian sausage, and ham.

They're $3 each or two for $5.

News: Burger King - New BBQ Summer Menu Includes Bacon Sundaes!

Burger King is celebrating the summer with a new, limited-time BBQ Summer Menu which also includes the infamous Bacon Sundae. Along with the new menu items is a new tagline: "Taste is King."

The Bacon Sundae blends sweet with savory by adding bacon crumbles and a thick-cut piece of bacon as garnish to a BK caramel and fudge sundae. The suggested retail for one is $2.49.

News: Del Taco Brings Back Shredded Pork Carnitas

Del Taco returns their Shredded Pork Carnitas line for a limited time with one notable, new addition: the Primas Carnitas Burrito.

Del Taco makes their carnitas by slow-braising pork in small batch kettles. The new Primo Carnitas Burrito features shredded pork carnitas, seasoned rice, spicy jack cheese, creamy chipotle sauce, and fresh pico de gallo salsa.

Life of a Blogger: Quiznos' Swag! Brand Eating Giveaway!

Quiznos recently invited me to join the Qrave Quizno's Blogger Community of people who write about Quiznos (which I already do, so it's like they're asking me to keep doing what I'm doing!). Anyway, today they sent me a box of Quiznos swag which I thought I'd show you guys.

News: Kashi - New Soft-Baked Squares

Aimed at children, "good-for-you" food company Kashi is out with new Soft-Baked Squares, suggesting them for lunchboxes or afterschool snacks.

Soft-Baked Squares comes in two flavors: Chocolate and Almond. Each bar incorporates Kashi's trademark blend of 7 whole grains.

The Chocolate version highlights cocoa, chocolate chunks, and agave, but also touts nutrition from ingredients like sweet potatoes and black beans. Nutritionally, they boast 4g of fiber and 10g of whole grains.

Review: McDonald's - S'mores Pie

McDonald's S'mores Pie takes the same dual filling approach as the Strawberry and Creme Pie, but the fillings this time around are marshmallows and chocolate with a graham cracker crust.

My local McDonald's has the S'mores Pies going for 89 cents.

Review: Hodad's - Chocolate Malt Shake

The Hodad's Chocolate Malt Shake is your classic shake with chocolate ice cream, milk, malt powder, and chocolate syrup.

The malt shake comes in a roughly 20-ounce cup for an even $5 ($4.75 without malt).

News: Domino's Pizza - 50% Off Online Pizza This Week

Domino's Pizza is celebrating the passing of the $1 billion annual digital sales mark in U.S. by offering a 50% off deal on any online pizza purchased at menu price during this week as a show of customer appreciation.

The deal is good on pizzas purchased at menu price (i.e. not good with any other deals or promos) and does not includes sides, desserts, and what not. The offer runs

News: Del Taco - New Cheddar Potato Poppers

Del Taco is bringing the heat this summer with new Cheddar Potato Poppers. Similar to jalapenos poppers, the new Cheddar Potato Poppers are instead mostly potato featuring a battered and deep fried blend of potatoes and cheese with bits of jalapeno peppers thrown in for a little bit of heat.

Review: Hodad's - Single Bacon Cheeseburger Basket

Hodad's is a popular (there was a line when we left) burger joint out near Ocean Beach in San Diego. I've been wanting to try it for several years running now, but it wasn't until recently when I finally made the 2-hour trip. My brother recommended the Bacon Cheeseburger so that's what I went with.

It's $6.50 for the burger alone or $8.25 in a basket with fries. Fries sounded good so, basket it was! I split the burger and they gave us two baskets of fries for no extra charge!

Review: Loacker - Quadratini Hazelnut Wafers Cookies

Loacker Quadratini Hazelnut Wafers are bite-sized layered wafer cookies with four layers of chocolaty hazelnut creme. They're made in Austria to sell in Italy, but somehow they made their way here to California.

My local chain supermarkets have an 8.82-ounce (250g) bag of these going for $3.99, but for some reason the Asian markets sell them for a buck less at $2.99.

News: Southern California McDonald's - McCafe Rewards Card

Southern California McDonald's restaurants are doing a neat customer loyalty promotion this summer: they're offering a McCafe Rewards Card with any size cold McCafe beverage you buy (they're stuck onto the cup). Each McCafe Rewards Card comes with a 1 point sticker. Once you collect 4 stickers (i.e. 4 points), you can redeem them by sticking them on the back of a McCafe Rewards and turning it in for a free McCafe drink of any size.

Around the World - McDonald's Germany - New Bubble Tea

In a curious move, McDonald's will be serving up bubble tea in Germany (Is bubble tea big in Germany?) starting June 11 and running through July 1 at all 800 or so German McCafe locations.

Boasting over 250 combinations, McDonald's Bubble Tea will offer 3 choices of tea (with or without milk), seven flavors of syrup, 4 tapioca ball (boba) options, and two jelly options for 1,99 Euros a cup.

Frozen Friday: Michael Angelo's - Lasagna with Sausage

I tried Michael Angelo's Lasagna with Sausage in the family size (I believe it also comes in a regular portion) which a 2 pound tray meant to serve 4 people. It's a classic lasagna with meat sauce and Italian-style sausage. The box boasts "small batch from scratch" and "absolutely no preservatives."

These normally go for about $8, but I picked this one up on sale at Smart & Final for $5.99.

Review: Baskin-Robbins - Snickers Mini Parfait

Baskin-Robbins' Snickers Mini Parfait is a value-priced option on the Baskin-Robbins menu and is similar to a McDonald's Sundae. It features a bottom layer of caramel praline topping (yes, topping goes on the bottom!) with vanilla soft serve in the middle and a sprinkle of chopped Snickers pieces on top.

A price of $2 makes it one of the most affordable items on the BR menu.

News: Dunkin' Donuts - New Blueberry Streusel Bagel Twist

Dunkin' Donuts adds the new Blueberry Streusel Bagel Twist to their bagel twist line up this month because it's blueberry season (they also have a Glazed Blueberry Cake Donut).

The Blueberry Streusel Bagel Twist consists of a blueberry Bagel Twist topped with coffee cake streusel and a drizzle of white icing.

News: Arby's - Limited-Time 5-Strip Ultimate BLT

Arby's adds an extra slice of bacon to their Market Fresh Ultimate BLT for a limited time and calls it the 5-Strip Ultimate BLT.

The 5-Strip Ultimate BLT features 5 strips of thick-cut pepper bacon with green leaf lettuce, tomatoes, and mayo served on your choice of either toasted honey wheat bread (the standard option) or a whole grain flatbread wrap (the healthier option).

Review: Krispy Kreme - Key Lime Kreme Pie Donut

Krispy Kreme's Key Lime Kreme Pie Donut is a seasonal Fruit Stand Flavor donut. It consists of a yeast donut that is filled with a blend of key lime and Kreme filling before being topped with white icing and graham cracker crumbles.

I picked up it along with an assortment of other donuts for $9.49.

News: McDonald's - New S'mores Pie

As I wrote about last month, McDonald's is rolling out S'mores Pie this month. Some restaurants already have the new, limited-time pies and some will get them later this month (June 14 says my local McDonald's).

The Smore's Pie features separate layers of chocolate and marshmallow side-by-side inside of a baked graham crust.

News: Wendy's - New Strawberry Shortcake Frosty Parfait

New, and for a limited time, at Wendy's this summer, the Strawberry Shortcake Frosty Parfait is the latest addition to Wendy's line of layered frozen desserts.

Because the summer means strawberries at Wendy's, the Strawberry Shortcake Frosty Parfait "comes stacked with a layer of strawberry puree, creamy vanilla Frosty, crumbly shortbread cookie pieces, this parfait is topped off with whipped cream and fresh strawberry pieces."

News: El Pollo Loco - New Chicken Avocado Burrito

This summer El Pollo Loco adds some avocado to their line of chicken burritos with the new, limited-time Chicken Avocado Burrito.

Selling for $5.29 (at least, at my local El Pollo Loco), the Chicken Avocado Burritos features chunks of their trademark flame-grilled chicken, fresh-sliced avocado, cabbage, and creamy cilantro dressing wrapped in a flour tortilla.

Review: McDonald's - Clubhouse Angus Burger

Happenstance (and a trip to SeaWorld), found me in San Diego where McDonald's is testing their version of a pub burger: the Clubhouse Angus Burger. Even though I was stuffed at the time, I tried it anyway. For the blog!

The most distinguishing feature of the Clubhouse Angus is an artisan roll. But that's not all, placed in that roll (it's a pun sorta) are grilled onions, hickory-smoked bacon strips, a slice of white cheddar, a third-pound Angus beef patty, a slice of American cheese, a Dijon mustard sauce, and steak sauce.

The price is upper tier for McDonald's at $4.59.

News: Red Mango - New Honey Badger Frozen Yogurt

Frozen yogurt and smoothie chain Red Mango introduces their newest flavor: Honey Badger. Why Honey Badger? Because if you keep up with Internet memes, the Honey Badger is fearless and crazy. Still don't get it? Check out the video after the jump.

As for the new frozen yogurt, the flavor is a mix of the Red Mango's all-natural nonfat frozen yogurt and honey. So yeah, it's more like honey flavored frozen yogurt which is just as well since honey badger-flavored yogurt probably wouldn't be so awesome.

News: Taco Bell Set to Roll Out Cantina Bell Menu on July 5

July 5. That's the day Taco Bell puts a Chipotle-like spin on the upper tier (pricing wise) of their menu with the new Cantina Bell menu.

The menu will feature burritos and bowls for less than $5 each, a price point that undercuts Chipotle's by a good dollar or more. The menu was developed in partnership with celebrity chef Lorena Garcia (think America's Next Great Restaurant which, coincidentally, also starred Chipotle founder Steve Ells).

Around the World: Subway Australia - Moroccan Lamb Sub

For a limited-time, Subway Australia is offering Moroccan Lamb subs that feature kofta style lamb and a mint yogurt dressing to the standard choice of bread, cheese, and veggies.

Not sure why it's Moroccan Lamb over any other Middle Eastern or South Asian lamb. What about Arabian Lamb? Or Indian Lamb? Indian Lamb makes me think of curry for some reason though. I guess Moroccan Lamb seems more exotic?

News: Wienerschnitzel Returns the Footlong Hot Dog

Wienerschnitzel plies you with Footlong hot dogs this summer.

Twice the size of their standard hot dogs, the limited time Footlong hot dogs come in three varieties: Chili, Chili Cheese, and Mustard.

While you could just order two regular hot dogs to get the same amount of food, what would be the fun in that?

News: Papa Murphy's Wants You to Grill Your Pizza

Papa Murphy's is marketing their pizzas as "Take 'N Grill" pizzas this summer as people take to the great outdoors and get their grill on.

Want pizza at your next camp outing? Papa Murphy's has you covered with detailed instructions on their website here (Pro tip: don't put your pizza directly on the grill). The instructions cover gas, charcoal, and wood pellet grills.

News: Togo's - New California Club

Togo's, a west coast sandwich chain, is out with a new, limited-time California Club sandwich.

What exactly makes it a California club? California avocados! Also in the sandwich is: roasted turkey, Black Forest ham, Applewood-smoked bacon, lettuce, tomatoes, and buttermilk ranch dressing.

The California Club is served on Classic White bread by default, but you can customize with Honey Whole Wheat, Sourdough, or Parmesan Cheese bread as well.

News: Starbucks Buys Bakery Chain for Better Baked Goods

Starbucks recently bought San Francisco-based La Boulange bakery, and in doing so, hopes to add a little bit of the French bakery vibe to the Starbucks brand and improve the food component of their stores. The price paid? An even $100 million dollars.

The plan is to use the La Boulange bakery brand for baked goods in Starbucks' U.S. company-owned stores on the way to making La Boulange into a nationwide brand.

Around the World: The Biggest McMenu, Part Seven

We start off Part Seven of our look at "Mc-" menu items from McDonald's restaurants all over the world with something you might remember -- the McSalad Shaker!

Review: Krispy Kreme - Glazed Lemon Cake Donut with Cream Cheese Icing

The Glazed Lemon Cake Donut with Cream Cheese Icing is one of Krispy Kreme's new, seasonal Fruit Stand Flavors and consists of a glazed lemon cake donut topped with cream cheese icing and lemon cake crumbles.

They're a little over a dollar each at my "local" (25 miles away) Krispy Kreme, but I picked up an assorted dozen for $9.49. No sales tax because I got it "to go."

News: Subway - June 2012 Featured $5 Footlong

Subway's Featured $5 Footlong for this June is the Oven Roasted Chicken Sub with Spinach. It features their regular Oven Roasted Chicken Sub, but with spinach! Never mind that you could always get it with spinach... spinach is good for you!

Haha, I'm pretty sure you could get it without spinach as well. Although I wonder if you would have to say, "Can I get a Footlong Oven Roasted Chicken Sub with Spinach without the spinach?" to keep the $5 pricing. I mean, technically the Oven Roasted Chicken Sub is not $5.

News: Dairy Queen - June 2012 Blizzard of the Month

Dairy Queen's Blizzard of the Month for this June is the new Turtle Brownie with Pecans Blizzard featuring pecans, caramel, and brownies pieces mixed into DQ's trademark vanilla soft serve.

It's also available in ice cream cake form in case you're planning to be a little more festive this month.

News: Popeyes - New Sweet Peach Ice Tea and Southern Peach Pie

Where other chains might be going with strawberries or lemons this summer, Popeyes goes straight for the peach with their new Cane Sweet (er "Sweeeeet") Peach Iced Tea and Southern Peach Pie.

The Peach Iced Tea is brewed like Popeyes' regular Sweet Iced Tea with a blend of black and orange pekoe tea, but with added peach flavor. It's brewed fresh daily and made with cane sugar.

News: Baskin-Robbins - June 2012 Flavor of the Month

Baskin-Robbins kicks off summer with their June Flavor of the Month, Strawberry Lemonade.

It features a blend of strawberry and lemon sherbets.

How is a sherbet different from regular ice cream? It has less milkfat - between 1% and 2% compared to the 10% or more of ice cream.

Review: Pizza Hut - Buffalo Chicken P'Zolo

Pizza Hut's Buffalo Chicken P'Zolo is one of three new stromboli-like foodstuff featured on Pizza Hut's menu. While the P'Zolo name might result in a puzzled look or two, the Buffalo Chicken P'Zolo is simple enough featuring white meat chicken chunks, buffalo wing seasoning, and cheese rolled up in pizza dough and topped with a sprinkle of Asiago cheese before baking.

At $3 each or 2 for $5, you can see Pizza Hut has Subway's $5 Footlongs clear in their sights with the P'Zolos.

News: DiGiorno - New Pizza Dipping Strips and Italian Style Favorites

DiGiorno has two new product lines for your frozen pizza eating enjoyment with DiGiorno Pizza Dipping Strips and Digiorno Italian Favorites pizza.

DiGiorno Pizza Dipping Strips brings to mind Pizza Hut's Big Dipper Pizza. They feature a DiGiorno thick crust pizza with twelve pull-apart strips, and two dipping sauces: marinara and creamy garlic. The creamy garlic is a notable departure from the standard Ranch.

Comment! Nachos at Subway

U.K. Melted Cheese Nachos

Apparently, certain Subway restaurants are serving/testing(?) new Subway Nachos. The test appears to be isolated to Subway locations inside Walmart stores (please correct me if you've observed otherwise).

The dish is advertised as "Made with Doritos," so it's basically Doritos chips with nacho cheese and jalapenos (the jalapenos are optional).

One tweeter, who ordered it, stated that he had to grab a bag of Doritos off the shelf and hand it to the Subway server who squeezed some nacho cheese onto it. If that's the way they're doing it, my classmates back in elementary school used to go to 7-Eleven and pump nacho cheese into the 99 cent Grab bags (I'm dating myself here; I don't think they call them Grab bags anymore) of Doritos all the time.

Review: Mauna Loa - Honey Roasted Macadamias

My brother recently came back from a trip to Hawaii and that meant macadamia nuts for me to eat!

Mauna Loa Honey Roasted Macadamias are roasted with Hawaiian honey and sugar.

A can of this size (4.5 ounces) is usually around $5 anywhere in the U.S. except Hawaii where they grow lots and it's much cheaper.

Review: H.K. Anderson - Peanut Butter Filled Nuggets

H.K. Anderson's Peanut Butter Filled Nuggets is something I found at my brother's house. He bought them from Costco and, although they are sometimes sold at other retailers, they aren't common at supermarkets in my area.

What I got was a small, .7-ounce bag of bite-size, peanut butter filled, salted pretzel nuggets.

Frozen Friday: Healthy Choice - Chicken Romano Fresca

Healthy Choice's Chicken Romano Fresca frozen meal features 8-ounces and 230 calories of chicken tenderloins, whole grain pasta, broccoli, and red peppers in a romano cheese and butter glaze.

My local supermarket carries these for $2.99 but I bought this for $2 on sale.

News: Spicy McBites Arrive At McDonald's This Summer

The spicy version of McDonald's Chicken McBites is arriving this month at McDonald's restaurants nationwide.

The new, limited-time Spicy Chicken McBites are like the regular Chicken McBites, but with a spicy breading.

They seem to be doing a staggered launch for the Spicy Chicken McBites; some locations already have them, but others, like in my area won't be getting them until mid-to-late June (June 14 at my local McDonald's). You probably want to call your local McDonald's to check before making a trip for these.

News: McDonald's Testing Clubhouse Angus in San Diego

McDonald's is testing a new variant of their Angus Third Pounders in San Diego called the Clubhouse Angus Burger.

Distinguishing features of the limited-time burger include hickory-smoked bacon, white cheddar and American cheese, grilled onions, tangy steak sauce, smoky Dijon mustard, and a third-pound Angus beef patty on an artisan roll flecked with sesame and poppy seeds.

Review: Burger King - Caramel Frappé

Burger King's Caramel Frappé is part of their recent more-than-McDonald-like menu expansion. Even carrying the same name as its McDonald's counterpart, Burger King's Caramel Frappé similarly blends ice, caramel, and a hint of coffee before garnishing with whipped topping and caramel syrup.

A 12-ounce cup goes for $2.49 at my local BK, but buying one during the Memorial Day promotion only cost me a buck.

News: Cinnabon - New Chocolate-Covered Minibons

Cinnabon is adding chocolate to the mini version of their trademark product with new, limited-time Chocolate-Covered Minibons. Judging from the product photo, it looks more like a "Chocolate-Drizzled Minibon."

The Chocolate-Covered Minibon is more or less, a mini fresh-baked cinnamon roll topped with cream cheese frosting and finished with a drizzle of chocolate.

In addition to the new Chocolate-Covered Minibon, is also featuring a new Chocolate-Covered Cherry Chillatta and a Cherry Tangy Chillatta.

News: Panda Express - Free Orange Chicken After 9pm on June 1!

Panda Express is switching to summer hours at their street locations (i.e. not in a mall or food court) and, to highlight the fact, are offering a coupon for free single serving of their most popular dish, Orange Chicken good on Friday, June 1 only and only after 9pm (you'll want to check their website to see when your local Panda closes).

No purchase is necessary to score your free Orange Chicken. You can download the coupon here.

News: Starbucks Offering Free Tall Beverage with Iced Via Purchase, 5/31 - 6/3 Only.

As summer bares its sweltering head, Starbucks is looking to entice you to buy some Iced Via instant iced coffee (it dissolves in cold water) by offering any tall drink of your choice (like that Frappuccino or Iced -insert flavored syrup- Latte you've been eyeing) when you buy any pack of Starbucks Via Iced Coffee from your local Starbucks.

Review: Pizza Hut - Italian Beef P'Zolo

Pizza Hut's new Italian Beef P'Zolo is one of three new P'Zolos on the menu and features marinated steak, roasted peppers, onions, and mushrooms wrapped in pizza dough and topped with Asiago cheese before being baked.

It's meant to take on Subway's subs and as such is a little bit longer than 6 inches but a little narrower as well. Pricing stands at $3 each or two for $5.