News: Yogurtland - Hello Kitty Spoons Back for Summer 2012

For all you collectors out there, Hello Kitty spoons are back at Yogurtland for 2012. This summer and only for a limited time, four Sanrio characters will be featured on Yogurtland's signature biodegradable spoons and released on a staggered schedule. Besides Hello Kitty, the other characters featured are Little Twin Stars, Tuxedo Sam, and Badtz-Maru.

The release schedule is as follows:

Neat! 2.5 Minute Made-from-Scratch Pizza Vending Machines Coming to U.S.

Behold! The promise of fast, freshly-made pizza... from a vending machine?! Let's Pizza, a vending machine that makes pizza from scratch in 2.5 minutes is coming to the U.S. Specifically the machine mixes dough and water into a pizza crust, sauces and tops it, before cooking it in a speedy infra-red oven.

If the machine can turn out something good (or even decent), it'd be pretty nifty. Apparently, they do well in Europe, especially Italy.

Review: Pizza Hut - Meat Trio P'Zolo

Pizza Hut's Meat Trio P'Zolo is Pizza Hut's unique take on the sub sandwich with meat and cheese baked in a pizza crust "bread." The Meat Trio comes filled with mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, Italian sausage, and ham.

They're $3 each or two for $5.

News: Burger King - New BBQ Summer Menu Includes Bacon Sundaes!

Burger King is celebrating the summer with a new, limited-time BBQ Summer Menu which also includes the infamous Bacon Sundae. Along with the new menu items is a new tagline: "Taste is King."

The Bacon Sundae blends sweet with savory by adding bacon crumbles and a thick-cut piece of bacon as garnish to a BK caramel and fudge sundae. The suggested retail for one is $2.49.

News: Del Taco Brings Back Shredded Pork Carnitas

Del Taco returns their Shredded Pork Carnitas line for a limited time with one notable, new addition: the Primas Carnitas Burrito.

Del Taco makes their carnitas by slow-braising pork in small batch kettles. The new Primo Carnitas Burrito features shredded pork carnitas, seasoned rice, spicy jack cheese, creamy chipotle sauce, and fresh pico de gallo salsa.

Life of a Blogger: Quiznos' Swag! Brand Eating Giveaway!

Quiznos recently invited me to join the Qrave Quizno's Blogger Community of people who write about Quiznos (which I already do, so it's like they're asking me to keep doing what I'm doing!). Anyway, today they sent me a box of Quiznos swag which I thought I'd show you guys.

News: Kashi - New Soft-Baked Squares

Aimed at children, "good-for-you" food company Kashi is out with new Soft-Baked Squares, suggesting them for lunchboxes or afterschool snacks.

Soft-Baked Squares comes in two flavors: Chocolate and Almond. Each bar incorporates Kashi's trademark blend of 7 whole grains.

The Chocolate version highlights cocoa, chocolate chunks, and agave, but also touts nutrition from ingredients like sweet potatoes and black beans. Nutritionally, they boast 4g of fiber and 10g of whole grains.

Review: McDonald's - S'mores Pie

McDonald's S'mores Pie takes the same dual filling approach as the Strawberry and Creme Pie, but the fillings this time around are marshmallows and chocolate with a graham cracker crust.

My local McDonald's has the S'mores Pies going for 89 cents.

Review: Hodad's - Chocolate Malt Shake

The Hodad's Chocolate Malt Shake is your classic shake with chocolate ice cream, milk, malt powder, and chocolate syrup.

The malt shake comes in a roughly 20-ounce cup for an even $5 ($4.75 without malt).

News: Domino's Pizza - 50% Off Online Pizza This Week

Domino's Pizza is celebrating the passing of the $1 billion annual digital sales mark in U.S. by offering a 50% off deal on any online pizza purchased at menu price during this week as a show of customer appreciation.

The deal is good on pizzas purchased at menu price (i.e. not good with any other deals or promos) and does not includes sides, desserts, and what not. The offer runs

News: Del Taco - New Cheddar Potato Poppers

Del Taco is bringing the heat this summer with new Cheddar Potato Poppers. Similar to jalapenos poppers, the new Cheddar Potato Poppers are instead mostly potato featuring a battered and deep fried blend of potatoes and cheese with bits of jalapeno peppers thrown in for a little bit of heat.

Review: Hodad's - Single Bacon Cheeseburger Basket

Hodad's is a popular (there was a line when we left) burger joint out near Ocean Beach in San Diego. I've been wanting to try it for several years running now, but it wasn't until recently when I finally made the 2-hour trip. My brother recommended the Bacon Cheeseburger so that's what I went with.

It's $6.50 for the burger alone or $8.25 in a basket with fries. Fries sounded good so, basket it was! I split the burger and they gave us two baskets of fries for no extra charge!

Review: Loacker - Quadratini Hazelnut Wafers Cookies

Loacker Quadratini Hazelnut Wafers are bite-sized layered wafer cookies with four layers of chocolaty hazelnut creme. They're made in Austria to sell in Italy, but somehow they made their way here to California.

My local chain supermarkets have an 8.82-ounce (250g) bag of these going for $3.99, but for some reason the Asian markets sell them for a buck less at $2.99.

News: Southern California McDonald's - McCafe Rewards Card

Southern California McDonald's restaurants are doing a neat customer loyalty promotion this summer: they're offering a McCafe Rewards Card with any size cold McCafe beverage you buy (they're stuck onto the cup). Each McCafe Rewards Card comes with a 1 point sticker. Once you collect 4 stickers (i.e. 4 points), you can redeem them by sticking them on the back of a McCafe Rewards and turning it in for a free McCafe drink of any size.

Around the World - McDonald's Germany - New Bubble Tea

In a curious move, McDonald's will be serving up bubble tea in Germany (Is bubble tea big in Germany?) starting June 11 and running through July 1 at all 800 or so German McCafe locations.

Boasting over 250 combinations, McDonald's Bubble Tea will offer 3 choices of tea (with or without milk), seven flavors of syrup, 4 tapioca ball (boba) options, and two jelly options for 1,99 Euros a cup.

Frozen Friday: Michael Angelo's - Lasagna with Sausage

I tried Michael Angelo's Lasagna with Sausage in the family size (I believe it also comes in a regular portion) which a 2 pound tray meant to serve 4 people. It's a classic lasagna with meat sauce and Italian-style sausage. The box boasts "small batch from scratch" and "absolutely no preservatives."

These normally go for about $8, but I picked this one up on sale at Smart & Final for $5.99.

Review: Baskin-Robbins - Snickers Mini Parfait

Baskin-Robbins' Snickers Mini Parfait is a value-priced option on the Baskin-Robbins menu and is similar to a McDonald's Sundae. It features a bottom layer of caramel praline topping (yes, topping goes on the bottom!) with vanilla soft serve in the middle and a sprinkle of chopped Snickers pieces on top.

A price of $2 makes it one of the most affordable items on the BR menu.

News: Dunkin' Donuts - New Blueberry Streusel Bagel Twist

Dunkin' Donuts adds the new Blueberry Streusel Bagel Twist to their bagel twist line up this month because it's blueberry season (they also have a Glazed Blueberry Cake Donut).

The Blueberry Streusel Bagel Twist consists of a blueberry Bagel Twist topped with coffee cake streusel and a drizzle of white icing.

News: Arby's - Limited-Time 5-Strip Ultimate BLT

Arby's adds an extra slice of bacon to their Market Fresh Ultimate BLT for a limited time and calls it the 5-Strip Ultimate BLT.

The 5-Strip Ultimate BLT features 5 strips of thick-cut pepper bacon with green leaf lettuce, tomatoes, and mayo served on your choice of either toasted honey wheat bread (the standard option) or a whole grain flatbread wrap (the healthier option).

Review: Krispy Kreme - Key Lime Kreme Pie Donut

Krispy Kreme's Key Lime Kreme Pie Donut is a seasonal Fruit Stand Flavor donut. It consists of a yeast donut that is filled with a blend of key lime and Kreme filling before being topped with white icing and graham cracker crumbles.

I picked up it along with an assortment of other donuts for $9.49.