Not a chocolate blog...

I just wanted to post a pic of my co-workers computer:
And then of mine:
Ha ha ha...woe is her :)

Day Twelve: Eat More

I strolled into the convenience store this afternoon, to pick out my daily poison, and my 'friend' (the convenience store owner) was amazed that I had still stuck to it. Then he informed me that he would be sending me an invoice at the end of the month for his services...great!

Today's pick:
Eat More
Original Dark Toffee Peanut Chew

Following comment is for the strong stomached only:
I know I haven't commented on the appearance of the chocolate bars, but this one I almost am required to. It resembles something that is expelled from your body after a long night of drinking and eating peanuts at the bar (not leaving enough time to be fully digested...).It's gross!

Now, I was raised to not judge a book by it's cover, so alas, I ate it.

Chew is right! This has the consistency of one of those fake chocolate protein bars. YUM! I think that this is so loaded with peanuts that there wasn't much room left for anything else BUT toffee. Although this didn't taste horrible, it tasted like it was a 'healthy' option to a chocolate bar. Don't be fooled though, this still has a whopping 15 g of fat and 280 calories (geez I should get to the gym one of these days!) The overall taste of this bar wasn't bad at all provided you enjoy eating peanuts and the taste of chewy toffee...

This is what the Hershey's website had to say about the Eat More: "It is definitely unique but are you unique enough to eat it?" I vote YES

Rating:
Milk Factor: 0
Smiles: 1
Calories it was worth: 230 out of 280

Bonus: This is packed with protein from the peanuts and therefore is very satisfying, and also doesn't have a chocolate coating that could possibly melt in hot temps.

Day Eleven: Kit Kat Dark

Oh here goes the second chocolate bar in a day!!! Oh the dedication I have!
Kit Kat Dark
"Have a Break! Have a...Kit Kat"

Did you know:

• In the UK Kit Kat is the number one brand both as a confectionery item and as a biscuit
• In Canada and the US, it is one of the top ten
• Kit Kat's have become popular in Japan, due to the name being similar to kitto katsu, which translates roughly to "You will surely win!"

Well this was pretty much a regular Kit Kat but covered in Dark Chocolate. I am a dark chocolate fan, but I didn't really feel that it went well with the wafer on the inside. Seeing as this is made with cocoa, it does have stronger health benefits then regular milk chocolate.

I was a big Kit Kat fan when I was a kid, but I think part of the thrill for me was the packaging. I loved unwrapping it piece by piece. The packaging these days is all in one now, which is likely a little bit better for the environment, but not nearly as fun.

When researching Kit Kat, I was astonished by the amount of information available!!

I'm sure you all remember the 'Gimme a break' commercials (1986). Kit Kat has had many slogans over its time: originally advertised as "the biggest little meal" and "the best companion to a cup of tea" (1930s), "what active people need" (during the Second World War), "Have a break...have a Kit Kat" (1954) and "Make the most of your break" (2004, UK)

In a desperate fight for market share against Cadbury's Dairy Milk in the UK, Nestle has introduced a variety of 'limited time only' flavours/variations...some listed below:

Japan - Iced Tea, Caramel and Salt, Kinako (soybean), Wa Guri (Chestnut), Green Tea, Apple, Kiwi Fruit, Strawberry, Peach, Cantaloupe, Azuki (red bean), Caramel Macchiato, Jyagaimo (potato), Pumpkin, Edamame, Watermelon and Salt...etc

Canada - Banana, Chunky, Chunky Caramel, Peanut Butter

UK - Low Carb, Caramac, Tiramisu, Golden Caramel, Kubes

There are tons more listed, and it looks like Japan is the most adventurous in releasing new flavours of chocolate bars. It makes you wonder though, if their branding will suffer in the long term, with not being able to stick to one overall 'taste'

In the end, I wasn't thrilled with the chocolate bar. I am a fan of dark chocolate, but I don't think that in this case the bitterness goes all that well with the sweet wafer. This makes me think that I would be one of their consumers that wouldn't be overly receptive to all of the new flavours that they have introduced around the world.

Rating:
Milk Factor: 1
Smiles: 1
Calories it was worth: 180 out of 240

Day Ten: Max 5

Ok, so I was incredibly ill yesterday, so I had to put my chocolate consumption on hold. But have no fear...I'm going to eat two today!!!

My first pick, this is for Day Ten, was a recommendation:

Marshmallow Max 5

Did you know:

• Named for it's 5 ingredients: milk chocolate, peanut butter, pretzels, caramel and peanuts
• Max 5 is actually the Canadian version of a Take 5

I chose the Marshmallow Max 5, so the caramel was replaced with marshmallow creme. I couldn't find a picture of the Marshmallow Max 5.

I was at first apprehensive about this one, the packaging and name didn't really compel me to purchase it, but thanks to Max - who recommended it, I did!

My first bite was actually interesting. As I'm not a marshmallow fan, I was a little worried, but I was amazed at how well everything tasted together. There was a great mixture of sweet and salty in this bar. And who doesn't love chocolate covered pretzels!!

This being a fairly new bar (it was introduced in 2004), I would definitely recommend this one if you are looking for something chocolatey but not too sweet. The pretzels seemed to neutralize the sweetness of it. I couldn't really taste marshmallow in it, but I could tell that it was there due to the texture...

Overall, this was a nice surprise!! I would really like to try the regular Max 5.

Rating:
Milk Factor:0
Smiles: 3
Calories it was worth: 170 out of 180

Day Nine: Big Turk

Well Heather, here it is...
Big Turk
Turkish Delight

I apologize for the shortness of this post, but honestly, there's not much to say about this selection. Check out the wikipedia listing for it!

Did you know:

• Turkish Delight features as the addictive confection to which Edmund Pevensie succumbs in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis .
• Turkish Delight is also mentioned in the song "Candy Shop", the first song off the album Hard Candy Madonna.

Wow! This is not even a chocolate bar. It's more like a big slab of jujubes that fell into a large vat of chocolate. While this was not HORRIBLE, it tasted like an accident. I'm not sure if chocolate and jujubes were ever meant to be one...

My friend Jess was over last week and decided to eat a Turkish Delight on my couch, all I could think was, man that looks so wrong. And sure enough - it is...

I tried to pawn the rest of this off on my co-worker, Caiti, but luckily enough for her she's allergic to red dyes.

That being said, there are worse things out there, and I'd likely eat this again as it is different, but I wouldn't classify this as a chocolate bar.

Rating:
Milk Factor:0
Smiles: 0
Calories it was worth: 100 out of 230

Day Eight: Reese Big Cup

Alright, so it's day eight and this is getting harder each day...I'm definitely a commitment-phobe right now, so dedicating 10 min EVERY day is taxing.

Today's selection:Reese Big Cup
Peanut Butter Cups Candy

Did you know:

• Created in 1928 by Harry Burnett Reese, a former dairy farmer and shipping foreman for Milton S. Hershey.
• The H.B Reese Candy Co., established in the basement of Reese's house in Hershey, Pennsylvania, merged with the Hershey Company in 1963.
• Big Cups – an oversized version of the traditional cup (also available with peanuts, mixed nuts, and with a combination of nuts and caramel) ---this is definitely good to know!!

Alright, so this is definitely BIG. For those of you who love (not like) the regular Reese Peanut Butter cups then I would say RUN, don't walk to your nearest convenience store to get one of these!! There was virtually no change in taste, except for the massive amounts of Peanut Butter and Chocolate! Yummy!!!

Just a few words on their current marketing. (I couldn't find a slogan on the package. It just said 'Peanut Butter Cups Candy and my first thought was that Hershey could do BETTER!)

• The current slogan, introduced in the mid-2000s, is simply: "Perfect."
• In July 2008, Reese's made a commercial stating: "Stop global warming now...or all the Reese's will melt."
• Another ad stated: "Twins do not want to ever be apart, so eat both of your Reese's."

Well, twist my arm will ya???

This delectable piece (or pieces in my case, cause I bought the King Size package OF COURSE) just proves that good things really do happen in basements ;) (on a side note, I was accompanied by a daddy long legs in the shower tonight! GO basements!)

Perfect indeed.

Rating:
Milk Factor:1
Smiles: 3
Calories it was worth: 350 out of 400 (holy crap!)

So in celebration of this being my eighth post, I have decided to tally things up for you guys:

Calories consumed in chocolate: 2160
Calories burned this week: no where near that! But I did play soccer twice, went boxing once and went to the gym once! Go me!

N.B. I would love to see more nominations for chocolate bars....(Heather tomorrow is Big Turk day...don't you worry!) So I'm leaving it in your hands - you tell me to eat it and I will (as long as it's a chocolate bar!)