Junk Food Nation, it’s Lent-time!  Woot woot!  Wait, is it weird for me to be cheering for Lent?  Ok, I’ll knock it off.  As everyone (pretty much) knows, Lent is a 40-day period beginning today (Ash Wednesday) and ending on Holy Thursday (the Thursday before Easter). Many religious people either give up some sort of luxury during Lent, whether it be a personal vice or an indulgence.  Some others prefer not to give up something during Lent, but rather, “add on” something to make them a better person with the hopes that it will carry through past Easter. As my buddy Joe explained to me, “Lent is really just a time where you try to remove something that may have gotten in the way of your spirituality, and replace it with…well, spirituality.”

Now, your friendly neighborhood Junk Food Guy isn’t religious.  But I like the idea of people trying to improve themselves, even if its for various different reasons and at varying levels.  Plus, it’s sort of a collective thing so there’s some group support too!  But what should *I* give up? I need your suggestions!  Let’s discuss the usual candidates:

1) COFFEE: Many give up the ol caffeine fix for Lent.  Well, shocking as it may be, I don’t really drink coffee.  Sure I’ll get a Starbucks drink with eighteen words in the order once in a while, but I don’t drink Java enough for it to matter.

2) DRINKING: Same goes for alcohol.  I’ll have an occasional drink when I’m out but that’s what – once a week, maybe?  Yes I know…fuddy duddy status is written all over me.

3) TV: Give up TV?  But…that’s what I use my couch for.

4) FACEBOOK: I’ve heard some friends actually giving up Facebook (or Twitter) during Lent.  They signed on, posted a See You in 40 message, and peaced out.  My reaction: time to ruin their good name while they aren’t around to defend themselves.

5) JUNK FOOD: HA!  Yeah, just threw this in here to see if you were paying attention.

We’ll do more after the jump.  Today’s junk food: Creamy Roasted Garlic 6 Grain Medley Sun Chips!

Sun Chips have long been a favorite of mine, and when I saw these Creamy Roasted Garlic 6 Grain Medley Sun Chips in my local Giant food mart, they were in my basket before I knew it.  I saw both these and the new Parmesan Herb variety, and decided to try these because I’d had plenty of Parmesan Herb snacks along the way, and few dedicated to one of my favorite flavors: garlic.

Creamy Roasted Garlic 6 Grain Medley Sun Chips and their companion Parmesan Herb Sun Chips are the newest Sun Chip flavors since Jalapeno Jack was introduced last year.  Sun Chips are normally marketed as multigrain, but these have even MORE, adding buckwheat and quinoa!  Quinoa!? Gettin’ all vegan and fancy now, aren’t we, Frito-Lay??

Oh, it’s quinoa flour in these chips…makes sense.  One good sign: roasted garlic is the first non-flour ingredient in these Creamy Roasted Garlic 6 Grain Medley Sun Chips.

You know how when you eat a lot of garlic, you smell like garlic because it starts coming through your pores? I love that. If you don’t, we’re not friends anyways.

Wait, these Creamy Roasted Garlic 6 Grain Medley Sun Chips have three cheeses on them too?  I guess that’s where the “creamy” comes from.

Do you think vampires look at these chips and think, “Well, garlic isn’t the MAIN ingredient…aw, eff it. I’m getting pretzels.”

These Creamy Roasted Garlic 6 Grain Medley Sun Chips had a standard look – same as every other Sun Chip I’d had.  No real visible flavor powder.  Time for a taste!

Hmmmm…well, these Creamy Roasted Garlic 6 Grain Medley Sun Chips weren’t very garlicky, to my disappointment.  But they did taste good.  The crunch of the chip was standard Sun Chip crunch – light, flaky, while the multigrain of the flour gave a nice texture while chewing.

The flavor of the chip was very much like the flavor of Laughing Cow cheese, the Garlic and Herb variety.  While the chip had garlic taste, it was really drowned out by the “creamy” part of the Creamy Roasted Garlic.  Overall, the flavor was VERY light…and I mean, if I closed my eyes and you told me these were a light sour cream and onion chip, I’d believe you. The only real garlic notes I got were after I swallowed and smacked my mouth a little bit – there was the garlic.

Did they taste good?  Sure, I’d demolish an entire bag easy.  Would I buy these again? Eh, probably not.  Nothing special.

—-

Continuing on my thoughts about what to give up for Lent:

6) GAMBLING: What gambling?? Online poker is gone, I live over three hours from AC, the only people who bet me anything are my office mates, and there’s no big events to run until March Madness begins. Moreover, Vegas beckons.

7) SODA: I had a New Year’s Resolution to give up (or try to avoid) intaking large amounts of high fructose corn syrup, so soda’s already on my dead list.

8 ) SMOKING: All types of smoking? Or just smoking cigarettes 😛

9) SWEARING: You fucking kidding me?

10) ELEVATOR: My friend Sean once ambitiously gave up the elevator for Lent, taking the stairs everywhere.  At our six-story law school, it was a great gesture.  One of the best Lent sacrifices I ever heard of.  But in my eleven story office building…yeah, moving on.

11) EATING OUT: I actually LOVE to cook, having made fajitas, pulled pork, jambalaya, and liguine with pork ragu already this week.  This wouldn’t affect me.

12) PIZZA: See 11.  Although this might be a candidate – I somehow always find myself eating pizza.

13) CARBS: Hey I’m trying to observe Lent, not get crazy.

14) FRIED FOOD: Hey I’m trying to observe Lent, not get crazy.

15) RED MEAT: Hey I’m trying to….you get the point.

16) SPORTS: WHY DON’T YOU JUST TAKE MY FIRST BORN WHILE YOU’RE AT IT???

17) VIDEO GAMES: Hmmm now this is an interesting one.  I don’t own a PS3 or XBox or Game Cube, but I do play games on my iPhone ALL THE TIME.  Poker, Blackjack, Words with Friends (start a game with me, search junkfoodguy) and my own circle of Hell, Tiny Tower:

I downloaded this game because I saw it was the 2011 iPhone App of the Year….and now I can’t stop.  Ding ding ding!  Looks like I have a winner!  Seriously though, this game has CONSUMED MY LIFE.  I play it every chance I can get, and it’s not healthy.  Hell, I’m playing it now as I write this damn post. Giving up this game would be hard, but perhaps necessary? I can focus on doing other things.  Like bathing myself or shaving.

I turn it over to you, Junk Food Nation: What do YOU think I should give up?  Or what are YOU giving up, so I can take inspiration from that?  Help me out!

And do you have any comments about the 6-Grain Sun Chips? Hit me in the comments below or hit me on Twitter @junkfoodguy or on my Facebook Page.

Sincerely, Junk Food Guy