Monday 22 October 2012

Free quasi crisps up for grabs...


As you know, I get sent stuff from time to time… with the hope I’ll review it on the blog or in print.  The stuff is often weird, generally wildly random and, to be honest, I don’t inflict most of it on you. 
James has become horribly blasé – he pokes his nose in the parcels and then rolls his eyes.  ‘Jesus. How old do they think I am?’  Okay, so as I pulled out the teeny weeny T-shirt and the yoyo I could see his point.  It takes a lot to impress him these days…unless it’s food. 

And in the last couple of weeks we have been sort of inundated (in a non watery way) with crisp type things.  I say that advisedly because they’re not technically crisps.  First up was Special K’s Cracker Crisps.  Several box loads. I’m not entirely sure why we were given such largesse– and, who knows, more may be on their way.  One parcel had been dispatched to ‘Exmoorjane Blogger, Somerset’ and still got here which was pretty good going. 

‘Say hello to new Special K Cracker Crisps,’ sang the press release. ‘A new savoury snack that, at 95 calories and three percent fat for a serving of 21 crisps, you can enjoy without the worry.’
Which gave me pause. 

First up I wondered who was the poor sod who had to write that press release?  And then I thought…95 kilocalories?  For 21 quasi crisps? That doesn’t sound very many – quasi crisp-wise.  And that sounds like quite a lot - calorie-wise.  How many are there in a normal packet?  So I Googled and found out that, actually, they are pretty low-calorie, well in comparison to other crisps and crisp type things.  Walkers Cheese and Onion crack in at 184 kcals, Wotsits are a hefty 212 kcals and McCoys Flame-grilled are a whopping 252 kcals (with 14.6 % fat). Incidentally they also apparently contain 0% alcohol.  Dontcha love labeling? 

By this point I’d gotten (sorry, I know it’s American now but I like it) a bit obsessed (as I tend to) and started wondering if they really were the lowest calorie crisp type thingies (not that they were claiming to be, but, y’know, you wonder, right)?   So I carried on Googling but "Page Not Found" came up and gave me the answer to ‘How often do pugs come into heat?’ instead.  Dontcha just love the Internet?  And, if you were wondering, the same amount as most other breeds apparently.  Providing the pug in question is a bitch.  Anyhow, eventually I discovered that Walkers Lites come in at 132 kcals.  But my all-time favourite – Quavers (the ones that sort of stick to your tongue and fizz) – are a paltry 87 kcals.  Go Quavers!  

Meanwhile, James was steadily working his way through three large boxes (yes - they also come in boxes ‘ideal for a night in’).  ‘These are yum,’ he said. 
‘Oh really?’
‘Yeah really.’
I’m not sure he’s part of their intended demographic.  Not sure he ever feels ‘racked by guilt’ by food or that he plans on slipping an individual bag ‘in his handbag’ as the press release suggests.  And I do wonder about this;  about whether it’s fostering healthy eating; associating food with guilt.  And how the hell do you turn crisps into diet food?  By packaging them like it, I suppose.  But hey, it’s your choice; it's down to you. We just test ‘em out… To be honest, they didn’t rock my boat but, like I say, James thought they were pretty good.  And, while I winced at the packaging, James didn’t even notice.

Meanwhile KETTLE® (they’re finickity about the way you write their name) Tortilla Chips don’t give a toss about calories, fat and guilt.  Their press release was all about the taste; it positively oozed and unctuosed (yeah, it’s great as a verb, huh?).  And at 466 kcals for the bag (we’re talking a big 160g bag by the way) they aren’t gonna be your best bet if you’re trying to lose weight (but then I don’t think any kind of crispy thing is really).  Great zingy packaging.  Four flavours, the usual suspects – Nacho Cheese, Cool Sour Cream, Sweet Chilli Salsa, Sea Salted.  Are they any different, any better than other tortilla chips?  A bit richer maybe…but I’m not entirely convinced that’s a good thing (I rather like a non-invasive tortilla chip myself).  James “loved them”.  Not sure Adrian even got a look-in. 

Anyhow.   There you go.  A rare product review from me.  If you wanna try the Kellogg’s Special K Cracker Crisps (what a mouthful!) for yourselves, Kellogg’s are offering three readers the chance to test all three flavours (the big(ish) ‘evening in’ boxes, not the diddy ‘slip ‘em in your handbag’ bags).  Just leave a comment and make sure I have some way of my getting touch with you if you wanna give ‘em a go.  If you want to try the others – you know the ones I mean (I can’t be arsed to do the trademark thingy again), they cost around £1.85 a bag from most supermarkets. 

Giveaway closes on Thursday morning so get in quick.

13 comments:

Calico Kate said...

Commenting not so much to win a box but just to say I liked the reviews & the comments aside, and just enjoyed your writing! :)
CKx

Rebecca Alexander said...

No, I'm hoping for a giveaway...I have a son who sounds a lot like yours. I love your writing too, but I may just be saying that for the crisps...dilemma. And who doesn't love the word 'quasi'?

Frances said...

Jane, nowadays crisps are definitely not my thing (although they definitely were a natural sandwich accessory in my childhood lunch box.) It's astonishing how many varieties exist.

Congratulations on being included in the Hedgerows book. I definitely remember the selected post and find it difficult to realize how many years have since passed on by.

It's grand to still be able to sample your fine writing on a regular basis. xo

Rachel Selby said...

Am I even allowed to read this? #DIYdetox

Anonymous said...

Yummy...

Tregullas farm said...

i thought the point of crisps were the calories! Can't wait until you get James to write the reviews. BY the way your photo scanning has made me smile!

Tregullas farm said...

i thought the point of crisps were the calories! Can't wait until you get James to write the reviews. BY the way your photo scanning has made me smile!

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

This blog post was nothing less than epic. Please let me try the crisps, my children are expecting them, as I've told them how nice you are and everything.

internetg33k said...

OMG! You've indirectly mentioned my addiction - KETTLE® Salt & Fresh Ground Pepper chips! Seriously, the only reason I don't eat them morning, noon, and night is the cost (but they are oh, so worth every dime). Guess what I'm adding to my shopping list tomorrow... *drool*

Crystal said...

0% alcohol crisps - who knew, that did make me laugh.

DD's Diary said...

Did you try the sweet chili flavour Cracker Crispy things? They were actually yum, as James says, though the fact they were in a big box meant I ate rather more than 21 of them .... quite agree with you re crisps in general. And I'm not commenting to get a box, just saying hello xx

F said...

I had no idea there were KETTLE® tortilla chips now.

The grossest tortilla chips I've had recently were some of the new Doritos in the US where they use sucralose in them for some reason. Just eww. They aren't even supposed to be some kind of diet food, so why ruin perfectly good junk food by adding gross-tasting diet ingredients that will make your mouth feel like it's been coated with wax?

(Also not commenting for the giveaway. I've been eating like crap lately and the last thing I need is convenient junk food in my handbag.)