Friday, May 22, 2009

Mama Celeste's Microwave Pizzas

The staff here found these on sale for 1.00 each. While we got 5, nobody can remember what they were like. It was a late night. Anyone out there who can grade these for us?

The Portobello Mushroom Six Dollar Burger Is Back At Carl's Jr.

Carl’s Jr. Carnivores Rekindle Love Affair with Mushrooms Award-Winning Portobello Mushroom Six Dollar Burger Lets Meat Lovers Embrace Popular Fungi! "The Portobello Mushroom Six Dollar Burger is one of those craveable tastes that people can’t seem to get enough of," said Brad Haley, executive vice president of marketing at CKE Restaurants. "Maybe that’s because we combine sautéed Portobello mushrooms, often referred to as ‘the steak of vegetables,’ with a big, charbroiled, 100% Black Angus beef patty. In fact, the burger sold even better when we re-introduced it than it did the first time, so this time around we’re making it a permanent menu item." The Portobello Mushroom Six Dollar Burger features almost a half-pound of 100% Black Angus beef, topped with Portobello mushrooms sautéed in a garlic-butter sauce, Swiss cheese, red onion, whole leaf lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise on a seeded bun. "This is a momentous day for mushroom fans," said Bart Minor, president of the Mushroom Council. "Portobello mushrooms are delicious, versatile and part of a nutritious diet, especially for young hungry carnivores. We know fun guys will really like this burger. Fun guys, fungi…get it?" It is back and heres a link to a 1.00 off coupon. CLICK HERE FOR COUPON

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Arby's Roast Burger - The FPT Staff Review

After seeing the commercial so many times - we had to give this new offering from Arby's a taste tester at the FPT kitchens. Upon seeing the big sign before ordering, we thought this had potential. However, all of us were disappointed. The over-riding problem is the size of this sandwich - and the portion of roast beef is ridiculously small for a premium ($4.00plus) sandwich. The whole sandwich can be eaten in 6 bites - it is the size of a .99 cent value meal sandwich. Overall, it was not a bad sandwich tastewise. However, we cannot get past the micro size portion for the macro sized price. FPT Staff Rank: 6.4 (8 staff votes)

Saturday, May 09, 2009

Jalapeno Cheddar Bagel - From Safeway Market In-Store Bakery

The photo above shows you what our team has found to be the BEST in-store bakery bagel you will find. After trying the bagels from all the major grocery chain stores that have an in-store bakery, we could not find anything like the bagels from Safeway. They are toasted on the outside and chewy soft inside - our team preferred style (many would call this a New York style bagel. As a bonus - these are priced nice everyday and are a max-value when they run a sale. Single bagels sell for only .69 cents!

Friday, May 08, 2009

Planters & Mr. Peanut's New Big Nut Bars - It Takes Big Nuts To Deliver Big Taste

Do you ever get tired of having the same old nuts? Perhaps you sometimes wish you had saltier and dare-I-say bigger nuts. Then you’re in luck. Mr.Peanut has met the challenge by bringing out the big boys for his new "Big Nut Bars". These chewy nut and granola bars are indeed big. Big Nut Bars come in Double Peanut and Triple Nut varieties and contain 7g of protein per bar, for extra energy that will give smaller bars nut envy. They are also very thick - no air/whipping bubbles - these are solid planks of goodness. The numbers tell the tale: 30% bigger than the leading similar bars. We found these bars to be like a super compacted mini-meal. Tasty and filling. Not too salty or granoly (<-- not a real word yet). Excellent thing to have around the home or office when you want to a serious snack. Found them for sale as single bars as well as 5-packs at the grocery store. Planters has been an American standard for peanut products for as long as anyone can remember. They have a long history of fine peanut products and this new offering was able to meet and beat our expectations.

Thursday, May 07, 2009

Oregon State's "This Butt's For Que" Competitive BBQ Team

From Oregon Coast Drifter Barnabus: "While drifting on hwy 101 collecting bottles and cans for the deposit money, I most definitely smelled cooking going on and followed my nose to the scene shown in the photos above. Turned out to be a "dry run" for a new cooking team that is set to take the world of grilling/smoking by storm. In exchange for a very delicious meal, I promised to pull some strings with the staff here at the FPT and put them at the front of the new submission list and scored the interview below. BARNABUS: So, I understand that you are entering the world of competitive outdoor cooking. How did you get started in this amazing and exciting endeavor? THIS BUTT'S FOR QUE: I was given a BBQ\smoker and I started playing around with grilling meat and using woodchips to add smoke flavor. My family and friends were very happy with the results. I started seeing BBQ competitions on The Food Network and it looked like they were having fun and there seemed to be alot of comerodery. BARNABUS: Tell us a bit about your team, how did it come together? What do y'all call yourselves? How many grills are involved? THIS BUTT'S FOR QUE: I had a few buddies that are into food like I am and they liked the idea of going to competitions. We have had a few "dry run" BBQ's at our home and they have gone well. The team decided on the name "This Butt's For Que". We are currently working with 3 grills with a plan for a 4th before our fist competition in July. I am always trying new dry rub recipes and a couple of us make sauces or glazes for the meat. BARNABUS: What is your specialty and why? THIS BUTT'S FOR QUE: I enjoy cooking brisket the most but I really havn't had time to develope anything that I would call a specialty yet. BARNABUS: Any planned events we can look forward to? THIS BUTT'S FOR QUE: July 11th &12th Lincoln City OR - SMOKIN AT THE OCEAN August 22nd & 23rd Salem OR - OREGON STATE FAIR Sept 19th & 20th Seattle WA - EVERGREEN ST BBQ CHAMPIONSHIP BARNABUS: What do you hope to achieve? Are there any certain trophies or awards you are shooting for? THIS BUTT'S FOR QUE: We just want to have fun and make people happy with our food. We wouldn't mind getting good enough to get an invitation to the World Champion BBQ, Jack Daniels Invitational or Memphis in May competitions. Seeing the team on The Food Network wouldn't be a bad thing either.

Wednesday, May 06, 2009

The Del Taco 'Fish Taco' - LIVE MOBI POST FROM LAS VEGAS

Our embedded reporter in Las Vegas is on a mission to get his free fish taco from Del Taco and he is checking in live as we post this. UPDATE: we now have a quote from Blak2oof "the tacos lived up to the name big fat. it also had some spicy special sauce". UPDATE #2: we missed the chicken taco photo while doing the live post, it is up now and we have this take "hell yeah - most excellent".

Kettle Chips - Salt & Pepper Flavor Potato Chips Party Size Bag Review

One of the foodstuffs that is always in stock at the FPT test kitchens are Kettle brand potato chips. The house favorite here is "Salt & Pepper". Hard to describe, even harder to stop eating. These chips come in a spread of sizes as well: 1 oz, 2 oz, 5 oz, 9 oz, and 14 oz. They have many flavors to choose from - some which sadly have been retired. Kettle brand potato chips are made with the high-tech expeller-pressed high monounsaturated safflower and/or sunflower oil. FPT Staff Rank: 9.4 (11 staff votes)

What Free Chicken - KFC & Oprah?

Our staff stumbled on a link from a news site on may 5th, claiming Oprah Whinfrey show had set-up a free KFC chicken meal coupons for printing as part of a dual-promotion. Free, we love that here, so we immediately checked the link. We found it got us to a printable PDF file with the free 2 piece chicken meal coupon. There was a prominent disclaimer saying the site may be too busy to get to the coupon and to keep trying. We had no problems. This coupon said it could only be printed 4 times from any one computer - fair enough we agreed. Upon arriving at our local KFC around 5:30 PM, we found the drive-thru had a line of about 8-10 cars. We decided to stay in line - we had put in a lot of time on this by now. 15 minutes later we reached the order box/menu and mentioned we had the free coupons. First we got no answer - eventually someone came back and said they "we are no longer taking the coupons the rest of the day". So what would we do? Drive off frustrated, hungry and agan disappointed with a KFC visit. This coupon is only printable thru the 6th - but is usable thru the 16th. Coupon is here: www.unthinkkfc.com

Tuesday, May 05, 2009

El Monterey Frozen Enchilada Platters - FPT Staff Review

The staff here sampled the El Monterey 'Family Size' frozen enchilada platters recently. They come with 6 decent sized enchiladas over a bed of rice. For frozen, these enchilada troughs get a high mark. Enchiladas (beef or chicken - we tried both) are meaty and come out of the oven well. They do not crumble apart - somewhere other brands faiil the test. The staff found these on sale for 5.00, normally 7.00. FPT Staff Rank: 7.8 (15 staff votes)

Monday, May 04, 2009

Mysterious "FP" Stamp Upon Can Found By Drifter/Reader Barnabus

Barnabus, long-time Oregon coast drifter was opening a can of tomato sauce in his kitchens when he noticed that there was an "FP" stamped on top. We wish to clarify we are not affiliated with this sauce in any fashion. Good eye Barnabus.

Saturday, May 02, 2009

Pizza Rolls, Hot Sauce & More Chat - The Live Roundtable Log

etathed: so many good foods junkbox: pizza rolls are dangerous as funk PXGuest: im so gd huge now PXGuest: its outrageous PXGuest: really etathed: dangerous? etathed: over heated? PXGuest: never saw it coming etathed: burn your mouth PXGuest: i am 'scary' big junkbox: they continue to heat up contrary to the laws of physics long after they're removed from the microwave etathed: ahhh i go with oven bake whenever possible junkbox: we refer to them as lava pockets in this house etathed: nice PXGuest: up in junks hizzle PXGuest: respect etathed: you go with the three meat junk? PXGuest: was that a roundtable? etathed: combination? etathed: three cheese? junkbox: it's a shame because they really are tasty...but if you miscalculate the first one the rest of the experience is ruined junkbox: yes 3 cheese and only totino's not those Safeway brand shits PXGuest: agreed etathed: i have a method PXGuest: flip thrice junkbox: hmmm etathed: i sorta squeeze them after i take them out the oven, this opens the side up, letting the steamy heat out PXGuest: gd etathed: helps the cool down process PXGuest: thats good move etathed: ty PXGuest: junk junkbox: interesting PXGuest: you dip them lil bastards? etathed: another trick i use when eating pizza rolls is to add some hot sauce junkbox: ranch etathed: gd, i never dipped PXGuest: decent junkbox: ranch from the fridge also helps the cooldown PXGuest: ranch with butternilk is my choice etathed: dont know why i never thought to do so etathed: i usually pour a decent amount of hot sauce in them buggers PXGuest: cause youre overweight now PXGuest: focus bro PXGuest: be the food PXGuest: what makes you best? junkbox: what is your hot sauce of choice? PXGuest: Tapatio junkbox: ditto PXGuest: LA home etathed: right now my hotsauce is Cholula junkbox: cholula is nice as well... but too vinegary etathed: http://www.cholula.com/ PXGuest: naaaa PXGuest: thx though etathed: goes good in the pizza rolls PXGuest: TAPATIO PXGuest: ES UNA SALSA etathed: im not familiar with tapatio i think etathed: you got a link etathed: ? PXGuest: ES UNA SALSA MUT GRANDE! PXGuest: http://fatpridetimes.blogspot.com/search?q=tapatio etathed: GD cholula has a HOT GARLIC sauce PXGuest: hit that for much info etathed: gd etathed: ty PXGuest: oh FYI junkbox: http://www.galenacanning.com/products_pictures/arizona%20gunslinger.jpg PXGuest: THE FPT BROKE 50,000 UNIQUE HITS TODAY etathed: nice etathed: congrats PXGuest: looks good PXGuest: but its all gun crazy label etathed: Holy shiz! PXGuest: does it back that shiz up? etathed: i actually have a bottle of that tapatio at home PXGuest: ? PXGuest: with the senor? PXGuest: logo? etathed: yeah PXGuest: gd PXGuest: it comes in 3 sizes junkbox: gunslinger isn't too hot at all... PXGuest: 100z etathed: i got the mid size PXGuest: 160z PXGuest: AND junkbox: it's a thicker tapatio... non vinegar style PXGuest: THE BIG 40oz BOMER etathed: gd etathed: that 40oz is a monster junkbox: yup i have the 40oz as well PXGuest: looke like abullet? PXGuest: no? junkbox: it's like $2.69 and a little bottle is 99 cents PXGuest: way betterd eal for sure junkbox: math PXGuest: GO BIG etathed: i wasnt really thrilled with it etathed: i wil have to re try it PXGuest: shake it u etathed: i think i used it in a chili pot PXGuest: i know that helps etathed: k PXGuest: im gonna have to breajk off the roundtable PXGuest: ty for participating etathed: k etathed: ty for hosting this roundtable

Friday, May 01, 2009

Don Miguel's Chicken Chimichanga Review

From Regular Contributor Etathed: I have never gotten into the frozen Chimichanga scene, but after hearing some positive remarks about their great snack-ability i decided to try one out. I picked up one of Don Miguel's Chicken Chimichangas down at the local market. As you can see on the label these chimis are hand made and contain skinless chicken leg meat, beans, tomatoes and onions. I opted for the conventional oven cooking method... 25 minutes at 300˚. I was sure to add shredded cheddar on top during the last few minutes of cooking, as i heard a melted cheese topping makes all chimis better. I also had ranch for dipping. This chimi was pretty good and it had a pretty authentic mexican flavor and the chicken was surprisingly good, though it was a bit pricey, i believe it was $2.50. I am likely to purchase these again.