Tasty Madness

Ever wake up in the morning with a serious case of Cranky? I’m pretty sure everyone has, and if you haven’t, well you’re too much of a happy person!

Everyone has those foods that they can eat to cure the crankiness, and for me it’s chocolate. But not just any chocolate, I need the peanut M&Ms. Those amazing candy-coated circles with chocolate and a peanut in the middle created by the Mars Corporation in 1941. Although, there are numerous other types from plain M&Ms to Peanut Butter, Almond, Mint and Dark Chocolate.

Mars released the peanut M&Ms in 1954, which was the same year that the brand characters were introduced and trademarked as well as the famous M&Ms slogan “The milk chocolate that melts in your mouth, not in your hand.”

What takes you from moody to happy just in one bite? We’d love to know!

It’s not even that hot out today in the beautiful city of Boston, but for some reason I have an overwhelming craving for Fla-Vor-Ice! You all know what I’m talking about, the flavored ice that comes in the long plastic tubes that you put in your freezer and cut apart from each other when you want to eat them. Otherwise known as Freeze Pops.

They always had the sharpest plastic casing though – as a kid I would cut my tongue or mouth every time I tried to eat one! But that never stopped me!

Unlike traditional popsicles, Fla-Vor-Ice ice pops do not include a wooden stick, rather they just package the popsicle right in the tube – which makes them much cheeper to purchase for the consumer, and in my opinion much less messy to eat! Nothing drips over the edges, it all just melts in the plastic casing.

Sold in liquid form, Fla-Vor-Ice is not frozen upon purchase, rather buyers of the product freeze it on their own when they get home. The dessert is manufactured by the Jel Sert company and has been around for almost 40 years!

There are four flavor variation packages. They have the original which I love, but they also come in light (low calorie), sport, and tropical. You can buy the packages in small numbers, with under 24 in a pack, or you can get the industrial sized packages which can come with up to 250 Fla-Vor-Ice!

Oh yea, and don’t be afraid to spend even less money and buy a knock off brand! It’s just ice and flavoring anyway!

Now don’t get me wrong, I would prefer to order Pizza from a delivery service any day, but when you’re trying to save money or you’re in a rush you don’t always get that option. From all the pizza’s I have tried that come frozen from your local grocery store there is only one that is available at any store and that actually becomes the perfect pizza texture after being in the oven.

While most pizza’s either never cook enough inside or cook so hard you could break a tooth, Ellio’s brand frozen pizza always cooks perfectly. It helps that the pizza’s come pre-cut into the squares most of us are used to getting in our high school cafeteria as kids.

Ellio’s Pizza is an American-owned brand of frozen pizza that is distributed by the McCain Foods Corporation. Most boxes of Ellio’s come with 9 square slices of pizza inside. There are plain cheese Ellio’s pizza and Ellio’s pizza with pepperoni, supreme, or sausage toppings.

Just a few years ago in 2006 Ellio’s made life even easier by introducing a microwavable pizza, which is round-shaped. And did I mention that Ellio’s is one of the most inexpensive frozen pizza products out there? How much better could this get!

What is your favorite kind of frozen pizza?

I’m addicted to caffeine, and yes, it’s a problem. I love the energy you get after throwing back an ice cold Diet Coke, or the rush of bubbles you feel enter your mouth after a long, exhausting day. But when you’re having about 4 glasses of soda a day you realize you might have an issue. But, if you only drink 2 glasses of Mountain Dew you get the same amount of caffeine and have to pee half as much!

Mountain Dew is produced by PepsiCo and was invented in the 1940s. It’s a little frightening to see Mountain Dew out of the bottle because its color doesn’t naturally occur in nature, but if you can get past the putrid yellow color and just concentrate on the burst of energy and the flavor then you’re good to go!

In 2007 Mountain Dew was the 4th best selling carbonated soft drink in the United States, runner up only to Coca Cola, Pepsi, and Diet Coke.

Late last year Mountain Dew announced three new flavors:

- Code Red
- Live Wire
- Voltage

They held a contest with the three to see which flavor was best liked and it seems as if Voltage is the winner as it is the only one you can find currently – at least in cans.

There are also numerous other products offered by Mountain Dew, aside from it’s regular flavor. One of my favorite being the Diet Mountain Dew. Same great kick and flavor, zero calories!

Oddly enough there is even a caffeine-free Mountain Dew, which to me defeats the purpose of the Mountain Dew brand. The brand markets itself as being the highest amount of caffeine for the amount of liquid you drink, besides the new energy drink market, but why then would the company release a caffeine-free flavor. Maybe they just wanted to get a foothold in some more market share, but I think it hurts their brand image, what do you think?

There is also a Diet Mountain Dew Fountain flavor that uses treated water rather than carbonated water in its formula.

Want another fun Mountain Dew flavor for the summer? Try Mountain Dew Baja Blast or Mountain Dew Cherry Rush. Baja Blast is flavored tropical lime and pineapple while Cherry Rush is cherry, duh!

So let’s put it to a vote, which flavor Mountain Dew is your favorite?

As wedding season is upon us it is obvious that there are hundreds and hundreds of websites that claim to know the “perfect” selection of food for your wedding. But really, do the websites know the favorite foods of all of your guests? Or even of you yourself? No, probably not.

After taking a look at some of these sites I have decided that I know myself best, and no I don’t like delicate looking shrimp something-or-others, and nope small pieces of meat that look so delicate and small that I’m sure I would still be hungry after eating them. I’ve decided to plan my own wedding menu, with no help from sites online and instead listen to my taste buds. A novel idea huh?

For starters I think I’ll give popular fast-food chain Chick-Fil-A a call and see what they can do for me. They cater you know! Maybe for starters we’ll have some chicken fingers and then for the meal we’ll have some chicken sandwiches and french fries. And then for dessert lots and lots of milkshakes and brownies – yum!

A little too hick for your taste? You’d rather something more traditional? How about asking all the cooks in your family to whip up a special something for your special day? I’m sure you have a grandmother or aunt who has a chicken parmesan to die for, or a father who can grill like it’s nobodies business.

Forget the pricy food that you probably won’t even know what it is when it’s on a plate in front of you and opt for something a bit more comfortable that you know everyone will enjoy! Or don’t you agree?

What did you all have as food at your wedding?