Pollo Campero Launches 505-Calorie Meals

Pollo Campero today introduced a menu of three complete meals with 505 or fewer calories. The promotion will be in stores beginning Jan. 18.

Pollo Campero's new 505-calorie meals include:

• Quarter Grilled Chicken Meal (total calories: 460 to 504)


• one-quarter of a grilled chicken (340 calories)


• an individual side of either Campero beans (160 calories) or black beans and white rice (120 calories)


• water, unsweetened tea or Diet Coke (1 to 4 calories)


• Grilled Chicken Sandwich Meal (total calories: 456 to 460)


• grilled chicken on Cesaro bread with sauce, lettuce and tomato (336 calories)


• an individual side of black beans and white rice (120 calories)


• water, unsweetened tea or Diet Coke (1 to 4 calories)


• Grilled Chicken Bowl (total calories: 445 to 449)


• filled with grilled chicken, Campero rice and beans, and pico de gallo


• water, unsweetened tea or Diet Coke (1 to 4 calories)

"We're taking healthy eating a big step forward by offering our customers three fast, complete, low-calorie meals," said Roberto Denegri, Campero USA president and chief operating officer. "These meals feature our signature Latin chicken, plus our unique and delicious sides. They may be low in calories, but they are full of the same fantastic ingredients and Campero flavor our customers have always enjoyed."

Pollo Campero launched its first restaurant in the United States in 2002. For years prior to that, visitors to Latin America were known to stuff their carry-on luggage with Campero chicken for the flight home. As stores have opened in new cities like Los Angeles and Boston, Pollo Campero fans have lined up for hours to experience their first taste of Latin chicken on U.S. soil.

Campero's chicken is marinated with lime and orange juice, red bell peppers, and a proprietary blend of Latin herbs and spices. Side dishes include a mix of Latin and traditional American dishes, including Campero beans, black beans and white rice, yuca fries, sweet plantains, cole slaw, french fries and mashed potatoes. Customers can choose from soft drinks, iced tea or specialty Latin drinks including horchata and tamarindo.

The world's largest Latin chicken restaurant chain, Pollo Campero serves more than 85 million customers each year at more than 300 restaurants in 12 countries around the globe. This includes more than 50 locations already open in the United States, with additional stores slated for this year. For more information, visit www.campero.com.

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Haagen-Dazs Cranberry Blueberry Sorbet - Review

I'm having this pint of Haagen-Dazs Cranberry Blueberry Sorbet.

I've been migrating over to the sorbets lately, mostly because it's fat-free. It seems I'm still a junk food junkie, but one that's put focus on slimming down.

Anyways, last month I said I was eating a pint of Ben & Jerry's "Berried Treasure" sorbet, which is comparable to this in that theirs has Blueberry & Blackberry swrils in a lemon-sorbet base.

This Haagen-Dazs, on the other hand, still uses lemon, and as a result has the same tanginess as the Ben & Jerry's. The difference is that the cranberry & blueberry are blended into the lemon, and not swirled. The result is an even taste all throughout the pint.

The verdict?

Well. I think I prefer the Ben & Jerry's. I mean, both brands effectively have the same lemon tanginess with the berry flavors, except the Ben & Jerry's, by using swirled berries, tends to provide some flavor variation. That is. sometimes you get mostly lemon, sometimes you get mostly berries, sometimes both.

The Haagen-Dazs is still yummy, but if I had to be stuck on a tiny island in the middle of the Pacific, and could only choose between one brand, I'd go for the "Berried Treasure", and no pun intended.

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Peanut Butter & Jerky Tortilla

PB&J = Peanut butter & jerkey, originally uploaded by xcdave.

I found this photo on Flickr today, showing someone eating beef jerky with peanut butter, on a flour tortilla...

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Lucille's Onion Ring Quesadilla

It seems lately the quesadilla has become my favorite method of consuming leftovers.

I'll take whatever leftovers we have in the fridge, and dump it into a cheese-filled tortilla, and then nuke it for 1 minute. It helps to dab some Cholula sauce in there too.

In this case, we had a box of onion rings from Lucille's Smokehouse Bar-B-Que. It's a chain of restaurants in California, Arizona, and Nevada. They have these thinly sliced onion rings, made from red onions, as appetizers. It's comparable to the "Bloomin' Onion" that you get at Outback Steakhouse and other steak joints.

The photo below depicts what I created...


Except after I took the photo, I added another layer of cheese. Then I nuked it for 1 minute.

How did it taste?

It's "ok".

Truthfully, I really didn't know how this was going to taste. I think I put too much cheese on it, because I taste more of the cheese than anything else. And the Cholula sauce was "ok". It would have been better to use BBQ sauce.

This would have actually been better with some thin sliced steak.

So what do you junkfoodies think about the quesadilla as a vehicle for consuming leftovers?

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Ben & Jerry's Berried Treasure Sorbet

Eating this Ben & Jerry's "Berried Treasure" sorbet right now...


Overall it's tasty.

It's basically a lemon sorbet, and a tangy one at that. But it has swirls of blueberry and blackberry that provide some fruity contrast.

However, the tangy lemon sorbet still provides the more dominant flavor.

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Haagen-Dazs Orchard Peach Sorbet

Eating right now...


Haagen-Dazs "Orchard Peach" sorbet.

Tastes very much like peaches. Kinda like the peaches you get from a can, in light syrup.

It's fat-free, but still with 33g of carbs, or 132g for the whole pint.

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MaggieMoo's Launches New Flavors

MaggieMoo's Ice Cream and Treatery has unveiled three new ice cream combinations and three new smoothie flavors that it will offer as part of its Destination Delicious summer promotion...

New Zoomers Fresh Smoothies

• Iced Cream Coffee


• Pineapple Coconut Colada


• Peach Orange Blossom

New Ice Cream Combinations

• June 3 - Blueberry Muffin in the Morning -- Blueberry Muffin Ice Cream, Blueberries, Teddy Grahams and Mallow Creme Topping


• July 1 - Brownie Bliss -- Brownie Batter Ice Cream, Brownies, Chocolate Sprinkles and Fudge Topping


• August 5 - Cravin' Rum Raisin -- Rum Raisin Ice Cream, Raisins, Coconut Flakes and Caramel Topping

MaggieMoo's was recently awarded four Ice Cream Retailer Association Awards, including two blue ribbons, for its ice cream based on color, texture, taste and other factors that determine the quality of the product.

The brand also claims to have invented the very first ice cream cupcake.

MaggieMoo's has some 200 locations across the USA. Find a location near you..

http://www.maggiemoos.com

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Jamba Juice Now Selling Food

Jamba Juice announced today that they're adding food "real food" to their menu.

The company is rolling out a line of "Grab and Go" food, consisting of salads, sandwiches and wraps...

• Asian Style Chicken Wrap
• Chimichurri Chicken
• Greek Goodness (vegetarian)
• Greens and Grains Wrap (vegan)
• Gobble'licious Turkey Sandwich
• Caesar the Day! (salad)
• CousCous & Produce (salad)
• Four Cheesy Flatbread Sandwich
• Smokehouse Chicken Flatbread Sandwich
• Tomo Artichoko Flatbread Sandwich
• MediterraneYUM Flatbread Sandwich

Previously, the only food Jamba Juice offered was oatmeal, aside from snack bars and nut mixes in some locations.

The new food menu will open up Monday, June 15, 2009, throughout California locations, and eventually make its way across the USA over the summer.

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Joe's Crab Shack New Coastal Steampots

Joe's Crab Shack announced this week a line of menu items for the summer at all 113 locations nationwide.

The line focuses around four new "Coastal Steampots", offering buckets of crab, shrimp and lobster representing all the coastal regions and their celebrated flavors.

Coastal Steampots include:

• Sunset Fire-grilled Steampot – Dungeness and Snow crab, shrimp, sausage, corn and potatoes, beachside bar-b-que style.


• The Orleans Steampot – Crawfish, shrimp, andouille sausage, corn and potatoes cooked in Joe's spicy boil.


• Bean Town Bake – Two whole lobsters, clams, shrimp, sausage, corn and potatoes.


• Joe's Steampot – Tasty Dungeness and Snow crab, boiled shrimp, smoked sausage, potatoes and corn.

In addition to the Coastal Steampots, Joe's Crab Shack is adding new flavors to its Steampot collection and introducing a Go Green assortment of salads. New items from Joe's include:

• Crab in a Bucket – Adding new flavors to a traditional favorite, the Crab in a Bucket selections now include Fire-grilled and Smoked Chile offerings.


• Crab Cake Chipotle Caesar – As part of the Go Green line of salads, this yummy dish features Romaine lettuce, topped with one of Joe’s made-from-scratch lump crab cakes, black bean pico de gallo, tortilla strips and Chipotle Caesar dressing.


• Old Bay Steampot – Alaskan Snow crab, clams, corn, potatoes and sausage, flavored all the way with Old Bay seasoning.


• The Long Islander – Mussels, clams, shrimp, plus sausage, corn and potatoes.

Additionally, Joe's will be offering larger portions of its desserts, including the Crabby Apple Crumble, and the Coco Bread Pudding.

Find a Joe's Crab Shack location near you...
http://www.joescrabshack.com/

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Jack in Box - Mini Buffalo Ranch Chicken Sandwiches

Jack in the Box announced this week the launch of their Mini Buffalo Ranch Chicken Sandwiches.

It's an expansion to their Mini Sirloin Burgers, which according to the company, has proven popular.


The new sandwiches come with homestyle chicken fillets topped with Frank’s RedHot sauce, ranch sauce and shredded lettuce on toasted mini buns.

The Mini Buffalo Ranch Chicken Sandwiches are available now for the suggested price, excluding tax, of $3.89 for three sandwiches at all participating Jack in the Box restaurants.

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Dairy Queen Tagalongs Peanut Butter Patties Blizzard

Dairy Queen announced today the launch of a new Blizzard flavor, "Girl Scouts Tagalongs Peanut Butter Patties", and made it the Blizzard of the Month for July.

One of the most popular Girl Scout cookies, Tagalongs, also known as Peanut Butter Patties, are crispy cookies layered with peanut butter and covered with a chocolate coating. Dairy Queen breaks these into pieces and mixes it with creamy vanilla soft serve.


This marks the second year that Dairy Queen is partnering with Girl Scouts of the USA, which last year culminated with the debut of the Girl Scouts Thin Mint Cookie Blizzard, which I mentioned here on JFB.

Last summer, Dairy Queen served more than 10 million of those Thin Mint Blizzards, making it the most popular limited time Blizzard flavor ever.

Hence why DQ is riding the girl scouts for a second straight year.

The average price of the Girl Scouts Tagalongs Peanut Butter Patties Blizzard and the Thin Mint Cookie Blizzard is $3.09 for the 12 oz., $3.49 for the 16 oz. and $3.99 for the 21 oz.

Find a Dairy Queen location near you...
http://www.dairyqueen.com/

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Schlotzsky’s New Bacon Smokecheezy Line

Schlotzsky's, a deli chain of 220 locations worldwide, announced this week the launch of a new line of sandwiches called, "Bacon Smokecheezy", consisting of three offerings...

• Turkey & Bacon Smokecheezy - smoked turkey breast, smoked cheddar cheese, crispy bacon strips and fresh lettuce, tomatoes and red onions, topped off with tangy chipotle mayonnaise on sourdough.
  
  
• Ribeye Steak & Bacon Smokecheezy - strips of Angus ribeye steak, smoked cheddar cheese and crispy bacon strips, finished with tangy chipotle mayonnaise and roasted red bell peppers, on sourdough.
  
  
• Chicken & Bacon Smokecheezy - shaved chicken breast, smoked cheddar cheese, crispy bacon strips, and fresh lettuce, tomatoes and red onions, blended with tangy chipotle mayonnaise and served on sourdough.

The sandwiches are available for a limited time beginning now until August 30.

Visit Schlotzsky's online for locations...
http://www.schlotzskys.com/

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Pacifica Breeze Cafe, Del Mar, Review

Pacifica Breeze Cafe is a trendy cafe in downtown Del Mar, CA, located right on the Coast Highway, with a great outdoor patio that overlooks the Pacific Ocean.

Last weekend on a Sunday, Lisa and I rode the motorcycle down to that area just to find some restaurant or cafe we never been to. And hence, we found Pacifica Breeze Cafe.

We got there around 11:15am, still technically the breakfast hour I suppose. I had the Sunday paper in hand, and looked forward to breakfast, coffee, and a read.

This place gets packed!

You'll want to sit in the outdoor patio, but it seems that locals have this all figured out. You task the wife with securing a table, while sending the husband in to order all the food. It's not a traditional restaurant where you get seated, and a waitress takes your order. Rather, you walk up to a counter, and order. But they do deliver the food to your table.

We made the mistake of both of us ordering at the window, and then discovering the two open tables we spotted earlier were snatched up as described above.

So we just ate inside.

The coffee is self-serve. They give you three different roasts to choose from, and these large sized cups.

I had the breakfast burrito, pictured below. It's packed with pinto beans, scrambled eggs, bacon and pepper jack cheese, swimming in a red tomato sauce, mildly spiced, with country style potatoes.

Lisa had the french toast, which comes with two slices of bread, but very thick slices.

Pacifica Breeze Cafe does lunch and dinner, and from the reviews I read, they churn out some pretty killer meals, quite posh from the looks of it. You wouldn't associate the words "junk food" with a place like this, but then again, we're still talking about breakfast burrito and french toast here.

A rose by any other name, smells just as sweet as they say.

Visit Pacifica Breeze Cafe online at...
http://www.pacificadelmar.com

Here are some photos of mine...

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Mac the Chip Cookies

Had one of these cookies today at California Tea & Coffee in Temecula, CA.

These are touted as vegan cookies. I guess that means it has no egg ingredient.

This has chocolate chips. So I suppose it's some kind of milk free chocolate.

It's good. It's very sweet and has a buttery body to it, even though it's all non-dairy. But it still has a funny taste in the background. I'll stick to "real" cookies, but these are pretty good.

They are made by Alternative Baking Company, Inc. Visit their website: http://www.alternativebaking.com

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

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Riteway Meat Company - Pepperoni Tid-Bits

The cool thing about the Internet is that it lets us city-slicker geek types gain access to junk food found exclusively in the rural areas of America's back country.

That is, if someone in the rural area of America's back country is set up for e-commerce.

Riteway Meat Company is one such entity. Basically a butcher shop serving local ranchers and hunters in the small town of Dundee, OR. They sell beef jerky and other meat snacks though their website. Junk foodies like me living in the suburbia of Southern California can now enjoy processed meat munchies the way real, honest-to-God, down to earth folks make it, without having to drive a thousand miles to get there.

Actually, I didn't buy these Pepperoni Tid-Bits. They sent it to me for free, after I ordered a few packages of their beef jerky. I didn't tell them that I publish food blogs, so maybe they're just really hospitable, friendly, country folks. Anyways, I figured I had to return the favor by giving them some free pub here on JFB.

These do have the flavor of pepperoni, but a little more mild than what I'm accustomed to getting from atop of pizza or italian sub sandwich. They're quite flavorful, rather salty, and smoky. They don't have any of the papery chewing texture that a Slim Jim has, but rather quite sausage-like.




These "tid-bits" are named such because Riteway sells a longer variety, at 5 feet in length. You actually buy it that long.

So I'm guessing these tid-bits are like the ends they chop off after measuring out 5 feet of meat rope.

The size and shape of these Pepperoni Tid-Bits are quite comparable to a package of Little Smokies, except these are a little more stiff. I think they'd still do quite well simmering in a Crock Pot of BBQ sauce, or cooking in a pan of beans.

Riteway prices a package of tid-bits at $8.99 a pound. The package depicted above weighed 0.68 pounds, for a price of $6.11.

I recommend a lightly flavored pale ale, or a cream ale, to go with these.

Visit Riteway Meat Company online...

http://ritewaymeat.com

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