Review: Papa John's - Sweet Chili Chicken Pizza

Papa John's new, limited-time Sweet Chili Chicken Pizza features pineapple, onions, red peppers, and breaded white meat chicken with a sweet chili sauce in lieu of pizza sauce.

It cost me $12 for a large.

News: Starbucks - Summer 2014 Drink Menu

With spring in full swing and summer just around the corner, Starbucks is trotting out a trio of Frappuccinos for a limited time, including the new Caffe Espresso Frappuccino and the return of the Caramel Ribbon Crunch (tried it) and Mocha Cookie Crumble (ditto) Frappuccinos.

News: Del Taco - New $1 Jacked Up Chicken Taco and Crunchtada

Del Taco adds to their Buck & Under value menu with the new Jacked Up Grilled Chicken Taco and Jacked Up Crunchtada Tostada. The term "Jacked Up" refers to the items' shredded pepper jack cheese and fire-roasted green chile sauce, which is also featured in the Jacked Up Value Bean, Rice, and Cheese Burrito.

News: Dunkin' Donuts - New Chicken Apple Sausage Breakfast Sandwich

Dunkin' Donuts' newest breakfast offering is the limited-time Chicken Apple Sausage Breakfast Sandwich.

Coming in at under 400 calories, the new sandwich features egg, reduced fat cheddar cheese, and a split chicken apple sausage on a toasted English muffin (technically the whole sandwich is toasted in an oven including the English muffin).

News: Arby's Pecan Chicken Salad Sandwich and Wrap Returns

The approach of summer means the annual return of the Pecan Chicken Salad sandwich and wrap at Arby's.

The Pecan Chicken Salad features chunks of grilled chicken, pecans, diced red apples, chopped celery, and sliced red grapes, tossed in mayonnaise and served with green leaf lettuce on nutty honey wheat bread or whole grain wrap.

Review: Wendy's - BBQ Ranch Chicken Salad

Wendy's new BBQ Ranch Chicken Salad features fire-roasted corn, diced tomatoes, applewood-smoked bacon, chopped grilled chicken breast drizzled with a honey barbecue sauce, shredded cheddar cheese, and a field green-lettuce blend, served with BBQ Ranch dressing.

I picked up a full-size salad (it's also offered in a half size) for $4.29 after a $2 off coupon.

Around the World: Burger King Japan's Revamped Breakfast Menu Looks Suspiciously Like Lunch

Burger King has revamped their BK Morning breakfast menu over in Japan and it looks suspiciously like lunch, eschewing (American) breakfast staples like eggs and sausage that is offered by rival McDonald's.

The new menu features 5 new items and totals 7 items in all.

News: Culver's Brings Back Pepper Grinder Pub Burger

The Pepper Grinder Pub Burger returns to the Culver's menu for a limited time.

Available through June 21, the burger features a choice of one, two, or three beef patties plus real Wisconsin cheddar and Swiss cheese, bacon, dill pickles, and a four-peppercorn mayo on a "Pub Bun."

News: Popeyes - New $3.99 Louisiana Trios and Raspberry 'N Cream Cheese Pie

Popeyes' new Louisiana Trios deal offers a slight twist on the previous Three of a Kind promotion by including fairly new Cajun Fish (a permanent menu item introduced in March) to the choices.

News: Starbucks - Half-Price Frappuccino Happy Hour on May 1 through 10

It's almost summer and that means Starbucks will be promoting their ice-blended Frappuccinos by holding a half-price Frappuccino Happy Hour starting this Thursday, May 1 through Saturday, May 10, from 3 to 5 pm.

Review: Carl's Jr. - Western X-Tra Bacon Cheeseburger

Carl's Jr.'s Western X-Tra Bacon Cheeseburger is basically a regular Western Bacon Cheeseburger with two extra (or X-Tra if you're going along with the X-Men theme) slices of bacon. It comes with a charbroiled beef patty, a slice of American cheese, onion rings, BBQ sauce, and four strips of bacon.

They normally go for $4.19 at my local Carl's Jr. (compared to $3.79 for the non-X-tra version) but I received this one courtesy of the company.

News: Papa John's - New Sweet Chili Chicken Pizza

Papa John's latest is the new Sweet Chili Chicken Pizza. It's only available for a limited time and features pineapple, onions, red peppers, and breaded white meat chicken with a sweet chili sauce rather than pizza sauce.

News: Einstein Bros. - "Buy One, Get One Free" Applewood Bacon & Cheddar Egg Sandwich on April 30

Einstein Bros. and Noah's Bagels will be hosting a Friend Appreciation Day this upcoming Wednesday, April 30 by offering a "buy one, get one free" deal on their Applewood Bacon & Cheddar Egg Sandwiches.

Around the World: McDonald's Romania Offers Romanian-Themed Menu with Meatballs!

Over in Romania, McDonald's is offering a Romanian-themed menu featuring deep-fried cheese and meatballs. The menu is available through the end of May and they're dubbing "Romanian Weeks."

There are four items to the menu and they all sound pretty delectable.

News: Wendy's Testing BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich

Wendy's is testing a BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich in several states across the U.S.

Spotted on The Impulsive Buy, the pulled pork is served on a brioche bun and is topped simply with a broccoli slaw made with broccoli, red cabbage, and carrots. There are three varieties of barbecue sauce to choose from: Spicy, Smoky, and Sweet with additional sauce available upon request (in case, you want a mix of all three or the like).

Review: Nabisco - Oatmeal Chewy Chips Ahoy Cookies

Nabisco's Oatmeal Chewy Chips Ahoy chocolate chip cookies are soft-baked oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

A 13-oz package was $2.50 on sale.

News: Thomas' - 2014 Limited Edition Flavors Schedule

Thomas' has announced their line-up of limited edition flavors for 2014 headlined by new Cinnamon Vanilla English Muffins. 

The new flavor is inspired by cinnamon buns is available through July along with Maple French Toast Bagels, which are back after a 5-year hiatus..

News: Frito Lay - New Mystery Doritos Flavors

Frito Lay is once again offering mystery flavors of Doritos tortilla chips. This time around, it's the Doritos Jacked line of "bold" and larger, crunchy tortilla chips that get the mystery treatment with three new, limited-time flavors.

The flavors come in silver bags with a label on the front that differs only in color and test flavor numbers so you can tell them apart (red is test flavor #855, yellow is test flavor #404, and blue is test flavor #2653).

News: Yoplait - Margarita and Sweet Tea Flavors Return

Yoplait is again offering Yoplait Light Margarita and Yoplait Original Peach Sweet Tea yogurts as seasonal spring flavors this year.

Available for a limited time, both yogurts can be found nationally in 6-oz individual-serving cups, 4-oz four packs, and 6-oz eight-count fridge packs with either: four Margarita-flavored yogurts and four Harvest Peach-flavored yogurts; or four Peach Sweet Tea-flavored yogurts and four strawberry yogurts.

Review: Mrs. Fields Nibblers Cookies

Mrs. Fields' Nibblers are soft-baked, bite-sized, fudge-dipped cookies that are now available in packaged form in three flavors: Double Chocolate Fudge, Milk Chocolate Chip, and Peanut Butter Chip. These aren't the ones you buy online or at Mrs. Fields stores.

They're currently only available at Kroger supermarkets in 6.6-oz boxes for $2.99 but they sent me all three flavors to try along with a mini milk bottle (which looked cool so I included it in the pictures). There are 15 cookies per box.

News: Klondike - New Kandy Bars

Klondike now offers new Kandy Bars, which are basically their version of ice cream candy bars.

Klondike Kandy Bars are available in three flavors:

News: Arby's - Orange Cream Shake Returns

Arby's has brought back the Orange Cream Shake for a limited time with summer just around the corner.

The shake features a vanilla shake base mixed with orange cream syrup and topped with whipped cream.

News: Chobani Wants Greek Yogurt for Every Occasion

Chobani looks to expand their reach with a new Greek Yogurt Oats for breakfast, new Chobani Indulgent for dessert, and whole milk Chobani Kitchen for cooking.

Chobani Greek Yogurt Oats features Greek yogurt mixed with real fruit and steel-cut oats. Flavors include Banana Maple, Apple Cinnamon, Blueberry, and Cranberry. Chobani is billing it as their "take on oatmeal."

Frozen Friday: Boston Market - Chicken Pot Pie

Boston Market's Chicken Pot Pie is a frozen microwavable pot pie filled with white meat chicken, carrots, corn, peas, and green beans, and gravy.

I bought a 16-oz pie for $2.50.

News: The Coffee Bean - $1 Drinks for Teachers on May 6

The Coffee Bean will be honoring teachers on National Teacher Appreciation Day by offering $1 drinks to all teachers who present their faculty ID at any participating Coffee Bean location.

News: Taco Bell to Try a Fast Casual Taco Restaurant Concept

U.S. Taco Co. interior mock-up

Trying to appeal to a different (and higher paying) audience, Taco Bell will soon to open a new fast-casual taco restaurant named "U.S. Taco Co. and Urban Taproom" out in Huntington Beach, CA.

Rather than Mexican-inspired fast food, the new sit-down restaurant concept will offer on-trend, "American-inspired" fusion tacos, fries, and shakes.

Review: Wendy's - Tuscan Chicken on Ciabatta Sandwich

Wendy's Tuscan Chicken on Ciabatta sandwich features a crispy-fried Homestyle chicken filet, tomato, a slice of Asiago cheese, garlic aioli mixed with roasted tomatoes, and spring mix on a toasted ciabatta bun.

I used a "buy one, get one" coupon and ended up getting a regular Homestyle version as well as one with a grilled chicken filet (it can also be custom ordered with the spicy chicken filet). The price was actually lower than the suggested price ($4.69) at $4.49 before the coupon.

News: 7-Eleven Offers New Spicy Mango Slurpee

Calling it "Mango Flavor with a Kick," 7-Eleven is offering a new spicy mango-flavored Slurpee as their latest flavor.

The spicy-sweet flavor hasn't quite been embraced by customers as it currently sports a 2.5 rating (out of a possible 5; averaged from 7 reviews) so far, whereas other flavors tend to have a 4 rating or higher.

News: Carvel - Free Cone Day on May 1st

Participating Carvel ice cream shops will be celebrating a Free Cone Day on Thursday, May 1, 2014.

Running from 3 pm to 8 pm, guests dropping by and lay claim to a free junior cone filled with their choice of vanilla, chocolate, or new salted caramel soft-serve ice cream.

You can find the nearest Carvel ice cream shop using their online store locator.

News: Mountain Dew Baja Blast Available in Stores for a Limited Time

Formerly exclusive to Taco Bell soda fountains, Mountain Dew Baja Blast (stylized as "Mtn Dew") will be available for a limited time this summer in individually in 20-oz bottles or 24-oz(!) cans, as well as 12-packs of 12-oz cans starting May 5, 2014.

The flavor was originally conceived 10 years ago as a Taco Bell exclusive (they call it a "Taco Bell Original") featuring the taste of tropical lime.

Review: Burger King - Bacon Cheeseburger Deluxe

Burger King's Bacon Cheeseburger Deluxe is the latest add to their value menu and features a flame-grilled beef patty with tomatoes, lettuce, bacon, pickles, onions, ketchup, mustard, and American cheese on a toasted sesame bun.

I bought one for $1.49.

News: Carl's Jr. - New Sea Salt & Caramel Shake

With summer not too far off, Carl's Jr. offers the new Sea Salt & Caramel Shake and Malt.

The shake features hand-scooped vanilla ice cream blended with caramel syrup and topped with whipped cream and  sea salt toffee crumbles (the malt adds malt powder). The suggested price for a regular shake or malt is $2.99.

Around the World: Pizza Hut Taiwan - Sweet Stuffed Crust Pizza

Pizza Hut goes with a sweet crust for their Pineapple Bun Stuffed Crust Pizza over in Taiwan. The pineapple bun is a type of Chinese soft, sweet bun that doesn't actually contain any pineapple.

News: Firehouse Subs - New Under 500 Calories Menu

Firehouse Subs now offers a new "Hearty & Flavorful, Under 500 Calories" menu with six new subs and four new chopped salads that come in at under 500 calories each.

The under-500-calories sandwiches are (with calorie counts):

Review: Jack in the Box - Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Pie

Jack in the Box's Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Pie features a chocolate-cookie crust with Reese's Peanut Butter filling, topped with crumbled Reese's Peanut Butter Cups as well as a chocolaty drizzle.

I picked one up for $1.99.

Around the World: Starbucks Japan to Blend Cookies into Frappuccinos

Because Japan gets like four limited-time flavors to every one of ours, Starbucks Japan is set to debut the new Chunky Cookie Frappuccino next month.

The new Frappuccino takes a Vanilla Creme Frappuccino and throws in a whole chocolate chunk cookie that was specially baked to retain its crunch. For good measure, almonds are also blended in.

News: Frito Lay - New Twistos Baked Snack Bites

Frito Lay is bringing one of its international brands home to roost with the introduction of new Twistos Baked Snack Bites here in the US.

Essentially a cross between a crouton and a cracker, Twistos are available in three flavors: Bruschetta, Parmesan & Garlic, and Asiago.

News: Krispy Kreme - "Buy One, Get One Free" Dozen Original Glazed Donuts on April 28

Krispy Kreme will once again be running their Hero Appreciation Day deal, which they hold in honor of the "real-life everyday heroes among us," on April 28.

The deal is good for a free dozen of the chain's signature Original Glazed Donuts to share with your favorite heroes (or stuff your face), when you buy a dozen donuts.

Review: Burger King - Chicken Big King

Burger King's Chicken Big King is the chicken version of the Big King. It comes with fried and breaded chicken patties rather than ground beef patties as well as American cheese, lettuce, pickles, onions, King sauce, and the club-sandwich-style sesame bun.

I bought two for $5 with their Mix-n-Match deal. They're $3.99 each otherwise.

News: Wendy's - New Tuscan Chicken on Ciabatta

Wendy's is going for an Italian flair for the new, limited-time Tuscan Chicken on Ciabatta.

The follow-up to January's Ciabatta Bacon Cheeseburger features a crispy-fried Homestyle chicken filet, tomato, Asiago cheese, garlic aioli with roasted tomatoes, and spring mix on a toasted ciabatta bun.

Around the World: Haagen-Dazs Vegetable Ice Cream Coming to Japan

Perhaps as a step towards offering healthier indulgence, Haagen-Dazs is set to offer two flavors of vegetable ice cream over in Japan starting May 12, 2014.

Designated as the "Spoon Vege" line (because they will come in mini cups with a spoon), the flavors are Tomato Cherry and Carrot Orange.

News: KFC - Double Down Returns for a Limited Time

KFC's bunless sandwich, the Double Down, returns starting today at participating KFC restaurants (although a few locations here and there have been continuously offering it since it was launched).

Since it was launched in 2010, the Double Down has made the rounds in various countries around the world including Canada, Australia, South Korea, and more. Some countries even got their own variations of the sandwich like the a smaller junior version in the Philippines and chicken bacon for the Malaysian version (where pork is pretty much verboten). And now, it makes it way back home here in the US.

Review: Sara Lee - Blueberry Cakes

Sara Lee Blueberry Cakes are pretty much blueberry muffins in the form of mini-loaf snack cakes.

A 11.75-oz box contains 7 individually-packaged cakes and was $2.50.

News: Jamba Juice $2 Fruit & Veggie Smoothie or Juice Through April 22

Jamba Juice is doing a short promotion offering their small 12-ounce Fruit & Veggie Smoothies and Fresh Juice Blends for $2 each through this Tuesday, April 22, 2014 at participating locations.

You'll need a coupon to take advantage of the deal and you can find it (and check if your local store is participating) on the Jamba Juice website here.

News: Little Caesars Offers Pretzel Crust Pizza at Select Locations

First, pretzel buns were all the rage. Is pretzel pizza crust next? Little Caesars started testing Pretzel Crust Pizzas around this time last year and it is, apparently, still available at a select number of locations.

The pizza features a crust of pretzel dough with a sprinkling of pretzel salt and an extra bit of shredded cheese on top.

The price is $6 for a large pretzel crust pepperoni pizza (which is $1 more than their regular Hot-N-Ready large pepperoni pizza).

News: Jack in the Box - New Caramel and Vanilla Iced Coffees

Jack in the Box expands their iced coffee selection with new, limited-time Caramel and Vanilla flavors. If the flavors sound familiar, they previously offered them with the previous version of iced coffee but removed them when they introduced their new iced coffee (initially only available in Original and Mocha flavors). Well, now they're back.

Review: Herr's - Jalapeno Poppers Flavored Cheese Curls

Herr's Jalapeno Poppers Flavored Cheese Curls is really just jalapeno-flavored cheese curls since the cheese portion of the poppers is already there by default.

They don't really sell these in California but I found a bag for $1.50 at Big Lots.

News: Chick-fil-A - Peach Milkshake is Back

Chick-fil-A's Peach Milkshake is back for a limited time. The milkshake features the company's Icedream frozen dairy dessert blended with peaches and topped with whipped cream and a maraschino cherry.

You Can Now Skip Eating Cereal and Just Buy Cereal-Flavored Milk

For all of you who love to drink the milk leftover after your bowl of cereal, the folks behind Cow Wow share similar sentiments and came up with cereal-flavored milk (i.e. cereal milk).

Cow Wow Cereal Milk currently comes in two flavors: Fruity Trudy (similar to Trix, Fruit Loops, and Fruity Pebbles) and Chocolate Chip Cathy (similar to Cocoa Puffs and Cocoa Pebbles) with Peanut Butter Bessie and Cinny Minny to come soon.

Frozen Friday: Haagen-Dazs - Green Tea Ice Cream

Haagen-Dazs' Green Tea Ice Cream features the flavor of matcha green tea in ice cream. Notably, it's only made with five ingredients: cream, skim milk, sugar, egg yolks, and green tea.

I bought a 14-oz container for $2.99.