Cuppa Soup

Having recently moved into a new office at work we've been treated to free cuppa soup from two of the vending machines. Word got around the office pretty quickly and when I was made aware of this generous offering I had to sample it for myself. The two flavours available are Chicken soup and Vegetable soup, alternatively as has been suggested by many already, combine them both for Chicken and Vegetable soup.

I'm personally not a big fan of cuppa soup but as with Mcdonalds, there are odd occasions when I will fuel my body with such artificial products. The most annoying thing about cuppa soups though, isn't the taste. As you sip away at your mug, towards the end you notice lumps of powder that haven't dissolved. No matter how much you stir it you're always left with a little blob at the bottom.

I've already stopped using the machines at work, it's probably best to stick to Heinz.

Crispy Chicken

It occurred to me last week that there are a lot of people out there who aren't aware that Nando's produce crisps. Yes, that's the very same Nando's who brought you Peri-Peri chicken and all the cheesy phrases on their napkins. The sauces and marinades have been available in supermarkets for some time but there's always that feeling that it never tastes quite the same when you cook it yourself.

The crisps are currently available in 3 flavours; Hot Peri-Peri, Smokey BBQ Peri-Peri and Peri-Peri Chicken. My personal favourite is probably the Smokey BBQ flavour as it's surprisingly not sweet. I do enjoy all the flavours and the Hot flavour has a pleasant kick to it if you can handle the hot stuff.

Now I've made you aware of them, go out and try them. A word of warning though, they are difficult to find and not particularly cheap either.

Pizza Expressed

I usually spend my mornings at work playing Bejeweled but this morning I felt the need to write about my eating habits over the weekend. Me and some friends had one of our regular board gaming sessions over the weekend. This was no ordinary gaming day, as they own a bread maker  I was asked to bring pizza toppings with me. Now only once have I ever made a pizza before and that was in high school. It was made first thing in the morning and I recall munching on it in lessons throughout the day. It appears as though some things haven't changed.

The bread maker churned out the dough leaving us with the difficult task of topping these bad boys. What did I put on my pizza you must be wondering? I wasn't very creative, I'm quite a simple guy. Sticking to good old pepperoni, mushrooms and onions on a cheese and tomato base. To make up for the lack of toppings, I did double stack the pepperoni as a compromise. Fully loaded is the way to go, there's no glass half empty or half full, it's overflowing! The other half of the pizza I made was topped with bacon and pineapple by a friend, another Simple Simon.

As you can see, the pizza wasn't very circular but I gave it my best shot spinning it. I have managed to find a video explaining how this is done properly. With a bit of practice they'll be calling me Mario in no time!

Before

After

Were they tasty you must be wondering? Considering I consumed one and three quarters of a pizza, the stats certainly speak for themselves (that was on top of a banquet lunch at a Thai restaurant).

Unfortunately I missed out on a chocolate and strawberry topped dessert pizza the following day but there's always next time. Feel free to submit your suggestions for pizza toppings for the next session. A live octopus pizza anyone? 

Trick not treat

Halloween has come and gone again for another year. Fortunately, I wasn't bothered by any little chavs knocking on my door. It did occur to me on Saturday night that there are various sweets I could use to trick the little devils into thinking they've received a treat. In this country, the only confectionery that springs to mind that tastes revolting is Hershey's Kisses Almond flavour but sadly this isn't cheap.

On my recent visit to Hong Kong I did return with several bags of dried fruits and sweets. The durian sweets weren't exactly a big hit in the office but were quickly wasted as tricks on a select few colleagues. Next year, I'll be prepared and hopefully I can return with some monster devilish sweets from my visit to Japan next year.

So far I've only been discussing items that I enjoy but I welcome any recommendations to some God awful sweets in preparation for next Halloween.

The "Gourmet" Burger?

I met up with some of my poker buddies for our usual lunch at Wetherspoon's yesterday. It's difficult to find an establishment within a 10 minutes walk from each of our respective offices. However, a year ago we all settled on the local Wetherspoons and continued to visit their regularly. If you think our choice of location was bad, we continue to order the same meal and sit at the same table (if vacant).

I know most of you reading this with be shuddering at the thought of dining in a Wetherspoon's. Who could blame you? You're usually greeted at the entrance by the groupie of smokers sat outside but yesterday there was a big waft of weed lingering in the air. It was considerably more populated than usual too, perhaps everyone had collected their benefits that morning? Anyway enough about the surroundings and those occupying the space and on to the so-called fine dining experience.

The meal arrived after a 30 minute wait, surely it doesn't take that long to defrost and grill a burger right? The burger itself was slightly dry and definitely didn't warrant the gourmet tag, maybe I should consider trying the regular in future to compare. The chips and onion rings can never be faulted but we all know we've had better...and worse.

Now gourmet is defined as a connoisseur of food and drink but this word seems to be appended to far too many products to add value to it nowadays. What makes this burger a gourmet burger? Is it the 2 extra onion rings within it? A stick pierced through the burger? Rashers of bacon? The fact it's served on a rectangular dish as opposed to a round one? Maybe it's for the more pretentious folk like myself who can't or won't go to GBK but need some form of substitute? OK, maybe they got me there!

Despite my criticism, it's still a step up from Mcdonald's. However, it must only be a matter of time until we're seeing the McGourmet on billboards and television adverts. I know that I'll probably end up ordering this again next time.

The Haribo Killers!

Haribo's have been a huge favourite of mine for a while, in particular the Tangtastic collection. However, recently I've been introduced to The Natural Confectionery brand of sweets. These are packed full of fruit flavour and although are considerably softer sweets than Haribo. The jelly sweets have a similar texture to wine gums as opposed to a slightly more chewy texture to that of Haribo's. What's more, they contain no artificial flavour of colouring but a word of warning that they are still very in calorific value.

The sweets were originally produced in Australia but Cadbury's have brought them to the UK and it looks like they are on to a winner. My particular favourite is the Jelly Squirms but I warn you, they are quite sour.

When is enough, enough?

It's Friday and I decided to venture to the local chippy with a few of my colleagues for lunch. I'd actually decided by 9.10am this morning. Just one of the many daily decisions that I make at this time in the morning on a regular basis. However, the one decision that always seems to trouble one is actually determining what to order from the menu.

On the brisk walk to the local establishment I'd opted for fish and chips with curry sauce but was also contemplating the addition of a sausage. Now, I've read in the news this week that Mcdonald's shouldn't be to blame for obesity and that it's in fact greed. Too right, because I was still contemplating the extra sausage (now now stop giggling to yourselves) after the purchase of my fish and chips. This was still running through my mind whilst waiting my colleagues to make their purchases but I eventually returned to the office without adding to my original order.

For those that know me, I'm quite a beast when it comes to food and will devour whatever is put in front of me. However, it turned out to be a good decision not to add the sausage to my order. The question is, when you're hungry, your stomach is rumbling and you feel like you can eat a cow, exactly how much is enough?

Just a regular McWedding Value Meal

Weddings can often be a stressful and expensive affair occasion. George of Asda launched it's own wedding collection earlier this year but fear not fast food connoisseurs, you'll soon be able to marry your beloved one at one of your favourite fast food chains. That's correct, from January 2011, couples will be able to have their very own McWedding in Hong Kong. It might be considered by some couples as the perfect way to celebrate their love for each other (and burgers), by exchanging vows in a restaurant where they first set eyes on one another in the play area. It's certainly a cheaper alternative but you'll have to make sure you get there before 10.30am if you want breakfast.

First Mcdiplomas, now McWeddings, what next? A McFuneral for poor Uncle Bob who died of heart disease?

You can read more about Mcdonald's weddings here.