Full Throttle Unleaded

Oh for the love of NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

So, like I've mentioned in recent posts on this blog, I went to Fresno to meet up with my mother and her husband to travel to Glendale to visit my brother, his wife, and their newborn daughter.

Now, my plan was to do laundry, clean house, etc, to prepare for being away from home for a few days. I wanted to pack up stuff and then Friday morning, pack up the car, head out to work, and then leave straight from work for Fresno (stopping here and there for gas, bathroom breaks, etc).

Always - ALWAYS - in these plans for trips, I always mean to get as MUCH sleep as I possibly can. (And needless to say I always - ALWAYS - fail.)

So in the end, I stayed up later than I wanted to, and mix that with my already self-diagnosed insomnia, and you have the formula for disaster.

Not really 'disaster' but... well, not much sleep.

After work, I stopped off at a drugstore to get snacks and drinks for the road, and I thought I'd check out the energy drink section. I mean, I was already drifting off during the day so I thought WHY NOT? Well, I opted for a FULL THROTTLE... since the other energy drinks they had there were ones that I've had before and didn't like.

While driving down the 101 freeway out of San Jose, I decide to crack open my can of Full Throttle and down some. Now let me tell you, if you ever come up against this decision, do yourself a favor and DON'T DO IT!!!

Now, I've never tasted ass, but I have a strong feeling that this drink is close to it. It's gross and nasty and all sorts of other bad adjectives that aren't complimentary in the slightest. And the suckiest bit about the whole thing? It didn't keep me up! I thought perhaps that the sheer disgusting taste would keep me up for the duration of the trip seeing as no matter what I ate or drank afterwards, I could not get that heavily 'never in my wildest dreams would I wish this on my worst enemy' taste out of my mouth.

Okay... what did it taste like. Well, I'm not too keen on diet sodas... they always have that saccharine sugar-substitute taste. And energy drinks usually have that strong caffine aftertaste. Combine those two flavors with the nastiness of taking medicine as a child... and I think that's as close as I can get to it to descriving my experience.

Would I try it again?: Hell no!

http://www.fullthrottleenergy.com/fullthrottle/main.jsp

Pringles Extreme - Kickin' Cheddar

Ah, here I am again with another one of those snacks that tests my self-control and common sense.

Within a span of a few weeks, I can only recall walking through a parking lot back to my car when I happened to glance into a car that I was passing and saw a long slender can that made me think "Pringles", and then I saw that the can was indeed what I thought it was, but it said, "Pringles Extreme". I slowed a bit, thinking Extreme, but so as not to look like a stalker or someone thinking about stealing the car, I kept walking thinking "What the hell is an EXTREME Pringle?"

Well, recently on my trek to Fresno for the recent eventual trip to Glendale to visit family, at one of my pit stops was a can of Pringles Extreme Kickin' Cheddar chips.

Oh yes, I bought a tin.

I had water, Gatorade, energy drink and various other beverages in the car to help me not die while driving in case either 1) the jalapenos got me or 2) the chips were so nasty, they killed me on the spot.

Neither happened... well, okay, I started snacking on them quickly seeing as I really hadn't eaten that day, and (like the Cheetos) were quite yummy... so the gradual build up of heat almost killed me as some point, but that was due to my own stupidity.

These chips have a similar 'kick' as the Cheetos did... but I think they might have just a little more of one - not much, but a little more.

The texture is different than the roughness of a Cheeto. It's a Pringle, after all, usually smooth and less rough and hard than a Cheeto is known to be. Still, it tasted fabulous, but eventually I showed some restraint and put the lid on the tin.

Yes, a definite recommendation from me... if you like the slightly spicy snacks.

Would I try it again?: If I can find them again, hell yeah. According to the website, they have two other flavors, one of which is Screamin' Dill Pickle... I SO want to try that one. I LOVE dill pickle chips.

http://www.pringles.com/pages/products/extreme.shtml

Cheetos - Crunchy Cheddar Jalapeno

I don't like hot foods, but I like slightly hot food. See I'm a heat-woosie. My brother was born with the "I can eat volcanic spewage and not wince" gene whereas I was born with "too much mild sauce from Taco Bell does me in" gene.

Sad, I know.

I've been trying, over the years, to learn to eat 'hot' foods by way of incorporating hot stuff little by little into my food experiences. By doing so - as well as trying odd snacks, etc, here and there - I have found that I can eat SLIGHTLY hot things, just in small quantities so as to give my mouth time to settle before burning it again. Sometimes this doesn't work, however, seeing as if something is particularly yummy, I will (as most people are wont to do) eat a lot of it at once... which eventually causes me to incinerate my mouth, tastebuds and throat in the process.

Damn you tasty food... damn you.

So, going forward, during the days where I was picking up my best friend from work... he was working a little later than usual so I had some time to kill. I stopped by a 7-Eleven for a drink and a snack to kill time while I waited in the car and read. I bought their fountain drink Rice Horchata (yummy, thanks Mom for turning me on to that), and near the register were some chips... and one of them was Crunchy Cheddar Jalapeno Cheetos. Feeling like taking a risk, I grabbed a bag and headed for the counter.

Now, for me, this turned out to be one of those snacks that was yummy and addictive so I ate it at a rather fast pace, burning my mouth a bit in the process. I had to stop reaching into the bag and let my mouth cool down before snacking some more.

The taste? Well, you at first get the cheesey goodness of the Cheetos we've all grown to love. (For the record, I prefer the crunchy to the puffs.) It's not until a few chews in that you really realize "Oh wait, didn't the bag say jalapeno?" For me, I tasted the difference with the first Cheeto (is that the correct singular spelling?), but it wasn't so strong that it bothered me much. I just know that it was tasty.

The best way I can describe it is... people who like hot wings. I mean REALLY like hot wings. You eat one - you're fine. You eat two - something's happening that you're not really aware of. By the third one, you're thinking, "These taste great!" And then... the first one hits you... then the second... and eventually the third.

Now I'm not saying by any means that these Cheetos are as evil as hot wings can be... I'm just giving an example of how the 'heat/hotness' can creep up on you - well, me.

So if you want crunchy, cheesey, slightly hot snack goodness... this is a treat for you.

Would I try it again?: Yup... and still do. They're too yummy for me not to try again.

http://www.fritolay.com/

Kagome - Live True

In one of my many late night trips to the supermarket, I usually peruse the health food section since I'm trying to be healthier in my food intake and snacking habits, and in the cooler (as is ALWAYS when I pass by) were these Kagome drinks. They are sort of like a V8 Splash or whatever, a healthy drink mixed with veggies and fruits.

Now I was put off by these drinks before. Not exactly sure why though. I think it had something to do with the combinations of which fruits and vegetables they had in the drinks themselves.

This one particular evening, I walked up to the open cooler and looked at each of the bottles carefully. Most of what was in each drink was pictured on the bottle. By process of elimination, I narrowed it down to a few drinks and the one by one read the ingredients on the back of the bottles.

Just for the record, I'm not a huge 'beets' fan, but reading the rest of the ingredients, I reasoned, "I won't taste it with all this other stuff with it, right?"

So the two flavors I chose were "Burgundy Berry-Blossom" and "Golden Peach Garden". Both were quite yummy, very rich in texture and taste. Not too sweet. Just right. And Kagome boasts "100% real juice" and on the side of the bottle, they also claim "1.9 vegetable/fruit servings".

On the website, they have recipes in which to use the drinks in. Perhaps I shall try one sometime.

Would I try it again?: Yup, but this time I think I'll try one of the other flavors... like Ruby Pomegranate Harmony.

http://www.kagome.us/

Skittles - NEW! Chocolate Mix

WOW! I haven't been around here for a while, have I? My life's been really weird as of late so my internet time has been close to minimal, but let me play catch-up, shall I?

All righty...

Recently I drove to my mother's in Fresno after work last week Friday. From there she, her husband, and I trekked to Glendale to see my brother, his wife, and their new baby girl (my niece - that I hadn't met until that weekend). It was a short but all right visit, and Sunday we trekked back to Fresno where I picked up my car and set off for home.

On the way out of town, I stopped off at a gas station (a Johnny Quick to be exact) to top of my tank and get snacks/beverages for the ride home. In coming back inside to get my change (I over-guessed my gas payment), I saw at the register a brown bag of Skittles.

This intrigued me, so while in line, I picked one up. It was indeed a brown bag of Skittles... NEW! CHOCOLATE MIX SKITTLES!

Curiosity getting the better of me, when it was my turn I said, "I'm here for my change and these," plopping down a bag of new chocolate Skittles.

It wasn't until about halfway home that I ripped open the bag and tried some... but let me tell you, it wasn't all that great of an experience.

Now now... I'm not saying they were gross or anything... not like the Clamato Tortilla Chip experience I had. It just wasn't all that great. I mean, it tasted just like regular Skittles - except this time, there was chocolate... but it wasn't "hey this is yummy chocolate" chocolate... more like "I think this is trying to taste like chocolate" chocolate.

The flavors that the candy was trying to accomplish were: S'mores, Chocolate Pudding, Chocolate Caramel, Vanilla (which isn't a chocolate at all... I wonder why they didn't just say White Chocolate?), and Brownie Batter.

Now, all of these flavors are wonderful in general, but this is a perfect example of "Why the hell do companies name flavors for things when the item doesn't even taste remotely like what they're trying to sell it as?"

As for my overall enjoyment of the candy?

You know when you eat regular Skittles and the inside tastes very soft and chewy but the candy coating has this sugary taste... sort of the aftertaste you experience in an energy drink due to the caffine? Well, the chocolate Skittles tasted fine - well, the inside of the Skittle did, the chewy part. Reminded me of a Milky Way or a Three Musketeers by way of flavor (although much lighter) and consistency. The candy coating, however, wasn't all that wonderful. It tasted like there was a hint of regular fruity Skittles in there for me.

Or maybe my mind is just playing tricks on me since Skittles are standardly fruity and not chocolatey.

When looking for the link to add to this post, I couldn't find any trace of the chocolate Skittles. Not sure why. Perhaps the item is too new, and they have yet to add it to the site. (Or maybe they know it's not that great and don't plan to add it at all.)

Would I try it again?: No. This was a one-time deal. It didn't stand out enough to make me want it again.

http://www.skittles.com/