The Hibachi House Microwave Chicken & Rice Bowls

On a recent group shopping trip we found this unique frozen/microwavable item. Hibachi House offers a variety of styles of LARGE portions of white rice and chicken breast strips. The staff chose to sample the General Tsao's Chicken but there are 2/3others as well. Normally this sort of item would not even be considered for review as they are generally overpriced and bland. Hibachi House has broken the mold - this is true restaurant quality meal - and the portion is huge covering one dinner plate in a colossal mound. Price is fair running around 5.00 on sale and 6.50 normal.

Yes, we know there is no picture of the actual food above but staff got busy on this and then there was nothing left to photo. Will get another soon and post.

Pringles Goes Premium New Pringles Select Brand - Sold In A Bag Not A Can

Pringles is now offering an upscale gourmet version of their 'potato crisps' called 'Pringles Select' and comes in a variety of flavors. We tried the parmesan garlic flavor here at the FPT test kitchens and indeed found them to be pretty tasty. They are still not called 'chips' (legally they cannot call them chips as they are made from a dough) but have much more body than regular offering of canned/tubed Pringles.

Keep in mind the price of these are also upscale. They seem to run around 3.00 on average per bag, which we had issues with as to how full it actually was in relation to its size.

Other flavors of this new offering are: Sun Dried Tomato, Szechuan Barbecue, Cinnamon Sweet Potato, Parmesan Garlic & Honey Chipotle Barbecue.

FYI: The picture above is of a 'pringles select', we just had a can near us when we took the photo and it made a good stand.

The odd thing our thinktank decided was that these are not called anything individually - like a chip or a crisp, leaving us to think they are called 'selects' when speaking of an individual one.

The Mystery Meal Contest Is On - A Loyal Reader Has Sent This Photo For You To Identify!

Game on. Use the comments button to name this plate. The most correct answer will win an assortment of fast-food coupons and condiments. Chicken and pasta is a good try - but a more specific answer will be the winner. This is an app. 5-day event with the closest guess winner announced this thursday evening.

Heide Candy Company Since 1869 - Still Making The Good Stuff - Red or Hot Raspberry Dollars

An American standard in the candy business, Heide is a legendary producer of a variety of candies. Most are packaged in the 'movie theater size' boxes and can be found from 99 cents to around 1.50 for a nice healthy sized portion.

Take a look at the picture above where they have a dollar sign right on top of each piece of candy. These are raspberry dollars, but they also have red hot dollars. Leading us to think that they use the same 'machinery' to produce both - an excellent example of strong management and good business. Why have two machines if you are just swapping flavors?

We here at the Fat Pride Times hope Heide continues to spoil us with their candies for another 100 plus years.

Alligator Chili Recipe - Tested and Ingested!

From the man whom brought you the BBQ Rabbit post, we now have a tested and proven excellent reciped for Alligator Chili. We trust our reader Magnum's palate, however we are arranging for a Fed-Ex overnight of this stuff as we must try this ourselves.
Recipe is as follows:
2 pounds of alligator meat
1 cup chopped onion
1 large green bell pepper, seeded and diced
2 jalapeno peppers chopped up
1 or 2 tablespoons chili powder
garlic powder to taste
salt to taste
pepper to taste
1 teaspoon sugar, or to taste
2 cans (approx. 16 ounces each) crushed tomatoes
1 can (16 ounces) tomato puree
1 can (16 ounces) dark kidney beans
2 cans (approx. 16 ounces each) Bush chili hot beans
that is the ingredients
cook on low for about 8.5 hours
preheat the meat and sautee the veggies in the grease

Many thanks to Magnum for his fine contribution.

From Reader 'Magnum': - MMMM We Have BBQ Rabbit

Our longtime East Coast correspondant checked in with his latest culinary venture. Marvel at this wild bbq rabbit picture - it was 22mb when we received it, so we shrunk it down some. If you would like an original please contact Gerry in the media lab.

Reader Spots New Con Queso: Tostitos Monterey Jack Queso Dip

While the staff here has not seen this new offering from Tostitos, one of our regular readers spotted it in the grocery store and took a picture for us. He was a little excited, thus the shaky picture - but we appreciate the chance to sneak a peek very much.

Freschetta "Pizza Amore"New Baking Tray Introduced!

Freschetta Pizza, allready respected around here as a great frozen pizza, has a new unique oven safe baking tray. Makes for an easy in and out of the oven and easy servings. How the tray does not melt in the oven, I have no idea - so we are just going with it. Pictured above is the 6-cheese variety, from box to oven to done.

Crim's Standard Pizza Bread Recipe

This is your standard pizza bread.

All it really takes is some leftover rolls, some prego tomato sauce (my favorite canned sauce),and some supermarket mozzarella.

Slice your rolls in half and cover them in tomato sauce and some mozzarella. I like a lot of sauce and light cheese, but this can be created to cater to anyone pizza taste. I ended up slicing them into smaller pieces to make my life a lot easier.

I usually make this when there is not much lying around, as it makes perfect for drunken nights, or just a quick meal to fill your belly.

Nice work Mr. Crim.

The Fat Pride Times: Our Heinz Commercial Entry For The"Take 2" Television Contest

The staff here has been working long days this week to catch up from the holiday season, and entering this contest was at the top of our list - right after cleaning up the mess from the benders that went on in the test kitchens again this year. The video could be sharper and the production values are low - we know this. If you can do better, please do so and we will post your clip right here for all to view.

Another New Doritos: Sizzlin' Picante Flavor Limited Time Offering

The staff here at the FPT was able to get our hands on one of the "Sizzlin' Picante" limited edition flavors from Doritos. This was a small snack sizer in a unusual purple color bag. While we have really enjoyed the other recent new Doritos flavors, this one did not have much of a personality. The chips just tasted hot, not flavorful hot, but just temperature hot. When we looked over the chips for photos for our media library it appeared that some of the chips had more of the "flavor dust" than others - meaning that one chip would taste hotter than another. Not much to get excited about here - not the next X-13.

Charm City Cakes: Redefining What We Call A Cake

Charm City Cakes is an amazing business out of Baltimore, Maryland in the USA. The leader is Chef Duff who creates things that are redefining how the world views 'A Cake' as a concept. One of our regular readers pointed out his work to us and we encourage you to visit the website linked below for a great time.

Chef Duff has done many many television appearances and has had lots of press during his established career. However, we think that his appearance on the "Food Network Challenge: Rice Krispie Treat" must have been exciting.

Want a cake from Charm City? Book early as possible. The website states that he is booked - not taking new orders - until March 2008.

This all leads to Chef Duff's new tv show on the Food Network "Ace of Cakes" which has begun airing.

Charm City Cakes

Guest Recipe From Etathed"Simple Chicken Nacho Dip"

Simple Chicken Nacho Dip. I made this for the first time today. Thought it would go good with some of my award winning soft tacos.

1 CAN CHICKEN
1 CREAM CHEESE
1 CUP RANCH DRESSING
1 CUP HOT SAUCE
1 CUP CHEDDER CHEESE

Mix all that stuff up in a baking dish and bake at 350 until the edges brown.

Took longer than expected to bake and turned out pretty decent. And now a few observations..... I think i the one cup of franks was a bit much. 1/2-3/4 cups should do it, as it was overpowering in this mix. It is not a "hot" issue as i do not find franks "hot" it is just that the distinct franks flavor is too strong in such large quantities. Extra ranch may be another way to go.

I also think it could be improved on by substituting beef, perhaps taco meat, in place of the chicken, as the chicken seemed rather tasteless amidst the other ingredients. I believe a taco meat or chili sauce could really ad some body to this dip. So I believe there is a future to look into with this foodstuff.

If i were to grade this dip i would give it a C. However it is truly simple to make, thus i am going up it to a B-.

Heinz Top-This TV ChallengeHome Made Commercial Contest2nd Round Due To Popularity

The good people at Heinz has so much interest in their 'Top This TV Challenge' make your own Heinz catsup commercial that they have opened up round two. They are calling out for video submissions with the winner receiving 57,000 and a spot on national television!

This second round began accepting videos on December 14th and runs thru March 14th. We expect this to be a fierce battle and we will be submitting an entry from the FPT Test Kitchens. Heinz judges will pick 10 finalists and then the public will decide the winner by voting via the website linked below. This website also has much more info and videos from the first round to watch.


Heinz Top This TV Challenge Take Two

Twice As Much Ketchup Packets - Heinz Understands Our Needs!

When our intern Randy came back the other day with burgers and fries for the staff from a local Mom & Pop burger barn he had something in the feedbags that really was a big hit with us here. Heinz now offers a 'Twice As Much' ketchup packet.

As we all know, those standard old ones were hardly even worth the effort of tearing each one open. We do not expect these to become the standard free packets at other burger places as they must cost the restauranteur perhaps twice as much as the standards. The place we got them from makes homemade style burgers and fries and it costs about 6.00 to get a decent burger and big sack of homemade fries.

Respect to Heinz for a truly innovative and useful new condiment packet portion. The packet you see above measures 4.25" x 1.33" in size and has 0.635 oz(18g) of product.

The McDonald's Rap From FastFoodFreestyle.net

Pumpkin Egg Nog PhotoThanks To Unknown Reader

As the calendar year comes to an end, the staff here always tries to do a 'winter clean-up', where we go thru not just our foodstuffs but also our files. Jacob, who has been on level 3 of our test kitchens for over a year found this picture sent anonymously from a reader. The maker is 'HOOD' dairies and we wish we had some to sample.

Hopefully this will help you remember to get some nog on your next visit to the grocery store.

NEW - Poppin' Jalapeno DoritosGuest Review By Ethadad

I like a jalapeno in just about any form.......fried slices, jalapeno poppers with cheddar or cream cheese, or as a topping on some super nachos, and today I can add Poppin Jalapeno flavored Doritos to that list.

Don't know how long these have been on the shelves, but i saw them today for the first time and had to give them a try. Though they contain some artificial flavor, they have a very real jalepeno flavor. These do not come across as "hot," like the Fiery Habenero flavor. In fact the lack of overpowering heat lets the flavor of the jalapeno come through, and it works. These would go really well in a Doritos Collision Bag paired up with something like a cool ranch flavor, or maybe even the original nacho cheesier. I highly suggest trying these, if you haven't already.

Michelina's Budget Gourmet MeatloafInteresting Ingredient Found

On a recent shopping trip our acquisitions staff came back with one item that immediately started up a debate with the staff. The item is Michelina's Budget Gourmet Meatloaf, which was on sale for 1.00 per box. The sub-name Budget Gourmet is a high standards oxymoron to live up to and so we heated this up right off the top.

We found the meatloaf to be acceptable for the price and would be great to have 10 of these in your garage freezer for unexpected benders.

The most interesting thing about this foodstuff is the ingredients listing, which is very long. The main ingredient is water - interesting, but not as interesting as the last ingredient of FISH(anchovies). This is now the second time we have found fish in items that one would never expect (see some flavors of Pringles).

If someone know what is the real deal on this please comment below.

McDonalds Chicken Snack WrapsThey Appear To Be SmallerPlease Report Your Experience

Late last night as I was driving home from our weekly staff dinner meeting (this time at Baja Fresh) - I felt the need for more foodstuffs and drove thru McDonalds and ordered two crispy honey mustrad snack wraps.

Upon arrival at my own table - I opened the bag to find that these wraps were app. 3/4" shorter than what I usually receive when ordering this snacker wrap.

Could fellow readers who enjoy this item - please try the McDonalds in your area and let me know if you feel the same. The Fat Pride Times is strongly opiniated about lowering portion size without a declaration of such.

Nachos Grande Maximum ReviewFrom W. VA Guest Reviewer Ethadad

If you ever find yourself in the small ski town of
Snowshoe West Virginia, be sure to stop by Misty's
Sports Bar for what may very well be the Best Nachos
Ever.

To call this an "order" of nachos is just flat out
insulting to what is clearly a "meal" or "feast" of
nacho goodness. While i do not have an official
number, this delicious conglomerate of nacho chips,
chili, cheese, salsa, sour cream, and jalapenos must
weigh somewhere between 3 and 5 gut expanding pounds.


Don't fool yourself, this experiance does come with a
price. An upset stomach and some serious discomfort
often follow the feast. Factor in the value price of
$6.99, and it's all well worth it, knowing you may
very well have just had the Best Nachos Ever.

Double Deep Pizza from Pizza HutGuest Review by Bone Tossing Monkey

Have you ever looked at a serving of food and wondered if your heart would still be functioning after eating it? Well, I felt that way upon opening the newest Pizza Hut pizza. It's called the "Double Deep Pizza", and it was debuted on November 25th. The essence of this pizza is basically doubling everything - from cheese to toppings.

I'm not sure why they had to make an entire marketing campaign and create a new pizza just for "extra toppings". Regardless, it arrived at my door and it was pizza, so I'm not complaining.

Pizza Hut is known for being especially greasy (despite the unhealthiness of it, I enjoy a greasy pizza - it slides down the gullet that much faster). This pizza is no different. It was oozing grease as the massive cheese, pepperoni, and sausage strained against the crust.

Each slice felt almost heavy as I shoveled it in my mouth. So far so good. Nothing extraordinary here. Your basic Pizza Hut pizza, except much heavier. The real downside of this is the crust. It's dull, bland, and nothing special. Evidently it is "curved inward" to hold in all the toppings, but it didn't impress me much.

As far as pizza innovation is concerned, this one fails miserably. I can remember many years ago when Pizza Hut would put out daring pizzas like the Triple Decker. Unfortunately, marketing has won out, and this is just another gimmick in the crowded marketplace of major pizza delivery chains.

Taste: B+
Enjoyment: C-

The Traditional Reader'sTurkey Photo Winner

After sorting thru the 100's of turkey photos we received at the Fat Pride test kitchen - we have declared Magnum's the winner. This ends the 2 year run of the Jackball turkey as back to back winner. Nice bird.

Name This Meal Mystery ContestEnter Your Guess

One of our regular associates prepared what appears to be a fantastic culinary achievement. While us staffers know what it is - we have decided to run a 'name that plate' contest. Please study photos closely, and then more closelier and take a guess using the comments link below (no login needed). Winner gets a gank of Arby's coupons and 22 fast food condiment packets. Game on.

Domino's Crispy Melt PizzaReview by Bone Tossing Monkey

I was very disappointed when I first opened the box. It looked
nothing like the pictures on TV. Unfortunately that wasn't the only
time I was disappointed. This "crispy, melty" deal just wasn't
happening. It's basically a glorified thin-crust pizza. The outside,
the "crispy", is just burnt cheese. So there really isn't much
crispiness to it. The inside is a regular pizza. It's smushed in
there like a thin crust pizza is. The only good part about this pizza
is the fact that there are two crusts, and it almost feels chewy.
Oddly enough, this pizza tasted better when it was cold. It had sat
in the fridge all day and tasted better once I took it out. Another
negative: it's too expensive. Domino's medium pizza is very small, so
I felt the deal wasn't right. I felt a regular pizza is just so much
more satisfying.

Final conclusion: try it once, but I doubt you'll come back.
Grade: C-

Next week: Did Pizza Hut add more cheese to their Stuffed Crust
Pizza? Or will they fail the Bone Tossing Monkey test?

Square Table Roundtable Discussion (Buffet to Follow)

Let's face it folks, a table is a table. Square, round, rectangular, etc. What is important is what you put it to use for. Oh great supporter of food and beast alike, we salute you in your many legged splendor. Your structure provides the strength and stability that allows your surface to offer its goods. We here at the Fat Pride Times are behumbled by your patience and quiet grace. ------ Note: Buffet to follow in the Red Room. 32 items, doors at 6pm. You are encouraged to bring your favorite table stories and anecdotes to share.

Pringles Roundtable Discussion

We at the FPT believe in the roundtable type of discussion. The topic for this discussion was Pringles & their new flavors. Unfortunately, only 2 people made it to the session. Three if you count Leanne the administrative assistant who took the notes.

TomSawyer: i just bought some pringles selects
TomSawyer: parmasian
TomSawyer: $2 dollar a bag at the $1 store
TomSawyer: i have just opened the bag
TomSawyer: interesting aroma
TomSawyer: give is a little shack
TomSawyer: shake, i mean
TomSawyer: not entirely a pleasant smell, with a hint of cheese perhaps
TomSawyer: somewhat stale, but the expiration says 7-2008
TomSawyer: now for the taste test
TomSawyer: crunchy is my first impression, about 1/3 the size but maybe 2x to 3x the thickness of a normal pringle
TomSawyer: a little greasier as well, leaving behind a powdered residue of what i imagine to be parmesian cheese, which is listed as an actual ingredient on the label
TomSawyer: they're a little bland, perhaps could have used more salt
Sawyer: a common complaint of mine - pringles without high salt content are very tasteless
TomSawyer: the other variety they had was cinnamon
FP: i have cheesy onion dip flavor
FP: must be test marketing
TomSawyer: prolly taste better with a high sugar and cinnamon content
TomSawyer: i would not recommend these chips
Sawyer: they may be better with a dip, but really they're too small for effective dipping
FP: i use the curve like a spoon
TomSawyer: these aren't even that curved really
TomSawyer: these are "pringles select"
FP: hmm
FP: mine are 'exclusive'
TomSawyer: come in a bag
FP: whaaaaaaaaa
TomSawyer: 5.5 oz bag
TomSawyer: "A unique taste escape"
TomSawyer: "like a parmesan cheese wheel rolling through a garlic patch"
TomSawyer: that must be what that nasty smell is --: garlic
TomSawyer: they should put that on the front so people don't throw up
TomSawyer: 6 servings, 140 calories per
TomSawyer: calories from fat 80 per serving
TomSawyer: 0g trans fat apparently
TomSawyer: oh it does say garlic on the front real small
FP: jesus
FP: check your ingredients at end
FP: mine says contains fish
FP: talapia
FP: and nile pike

The New Red BaronMicrowave Panini Sandwiches

Ok, we found these guys on sale for 2.00 a sandwich so we decided to sample it. The staff here has tried Red Baron pizza resulting in a good/not good debate - but the price sucked us in.

What can be said, these microwave toasted sandwiches beat the other popular brands out there (Stouffer etc..). They have better varieties, better priced even when not on sale and most important they taste the best. We suggest purchasing one or more asap.

Reader Reveals Promo Code:Free Medium Domino's Pizza

One of our regular readers and powersquatting cronies has let us in on an amazing deal from Domino's Pizza if you order online. Simply enetr the promo code 'CLICK' and you will get one free medium pizza - no bs. You may have to pick-up, depending on service in your area. Free pizza friday and hopefully longer.

Coolest Sandwiches Ever!Must See Photos

What you see above is plain bread - what you will see via this link is not of the same universe.

One of our correspondants turned us on too what is easily a photo gallery with "the coolest looking sandwiches ever made. Click below and enjoy the sandwich show and thanks to our reader who pointed us to them!

COOL SANDWICHES PHOTOS

How To Make Coca Cola Chicken WingsVideo Demo Shows All!

Reggie down in our content developemnt department earned some bonus points today as he has found us a video of howq to prepare Coke flavored chicken wings, watch as the chef adds about 2/3 a can to a saute pan of wings - other spices are incorporated as well. Must be watched to understand. We have just added it to Thursday's afternoon test cook-off schedule. Our compliments to both the chef and the filmaker. Well done.

Chicken Of The Sea:Alaskan Pink Salmon Pouches

Our staff came across this by happenstance the other day and we decided to give it a trial. It was on sale for an amazing 1.00 - regular price of 2.00 and some change. This stuff is not bad at all - was actually expecting it to be nasty but we were pleasantly suprised of the quality. It can be used about 1000 ways as well.

The one thing that we found interesting is that this is salmon caught in Alaska, then packaged in Thailand, then distibuted out of San Diego. This fish does some serious globe-trekking.

Tostitos Creamy Southwestern Ranch DipReader Review

From one of our regular readers:

"I like all things ranch, and most things southwestern. So when I saw this new Tostitos Creamy Southwestern Ranch Dip on the shelf while on a beer run, I grabbed it without hesitation. I already had some Tostinos Crispy Rounds at home".

"This blend is a winner. It tastes very much like a 7 layer bean or taco dip. The consistancy is very much like that of the ranch dip offered by Frito Lay. As you can see it comes in a nice 15.25 oz jar, so there is no reason to not to dip deep!"

Reviewer: Etathed

Thanks for your contribution!
We just a staff member out to get us a jar.

Tom Sawyer Was RightBagged Salad Issues Arise

The staff here at the FPT must acknowledge our reader Tom Sawyer, who warned us about eating the washed bagged salads. Dole has issued an international recall of one of its bagged salads as the product tested positive for E.Coli in Canada.

We should all take a moment and rethink our approach to bagged salad and listen to Tom Sawyer who said this last month "Bag salad is dangerous and toxic. Entirely too many chemicals to give it that fresh, crisp taste. For God's sake DON"T GIVE IT TO YOUR CHILDREN!!!!"

A Decision Has Been RenderedHomemade Taco Pic Winner!

After much deliberation, the outside firm we hired to judge the homemade taco contest has reached a decision. The taco pic from Ethadad is our winner. The mediation team told us it was the paper plates used that put this entry over the top - as paper and plastic is bender-friendly.