Review: New Keebler Red Velvet Fudge Stripes Cookies & Is Spicy Food Good For a Cold?
Hey, Junk Food Nation. My Twitter/FB is full of Ferguson news. I’m not going to talk about it here, because 1) most other sites are doing a more thorough job of the point/counterpoint and 2) this is a junk food blog. Instead, today, I have a selfish question/inquiry: is spicy food good for a cold?
The reason I ask is because while my co-workers have been dropping like flies around me, I’ve managed to fight fight fight off the cold/flu/whatever. But, this morning, I can feel it. The slightest tickle in my throat. A bit of stuffiness. Tiny bit of dry mouth. Shit. I’m getting sick.
I do the whole rest/soup/hydrate/vitamins routine like the rest of you. But I’m also curious about one thing I’ve never tried – spicy food. A friend I have SWEARS by eating super spicy food while sick – he says it helps clear out the mucus membranes and makes you sweat. I don’t disagree, but that sounds sort of like a miserable experience. Plus, what about my bowels? Am I lighting a fire one place in an effort to distract me from another place?
His point is that it actually makes him feel BETTER FASTER. He even insists that eating spicy food EARLY can help defeat the cold before it becomes a problem. Sidenote: HE AIN’T NO DOCTOR. But I’m willing to try anything.
So tell me in the comments, Junk Food Nation – what do you think? Spicy food good for a cold? Have you ever tried it? And if so, what have you done – eaten rippin’ hot salsa? Crammed down Thai chilis by the bucket? Or did you just buffalo wing it up? Let me know, because if you guys think it’s a good idea, I might go blast my insides with Capsaicin for lunch.
Today’s junk food: New Keebler Red Velvet Fudge Stripes Cookies!
New Keebler Red Velvet Fudge Stripes Cookies: The Money Shot
OH RED VELVET. How I have such mixed feelings about you. The Junk Food Gal loves you, but I’m just sort of meh on the red velvet experience. Then again, the most recent red velvet cake I had was pretty damn tasty. So when I saw these New Keebler Red Velvet Fudge Stripes Cookies, I knew I had to try them. Don’t let me down, red velvet.
New Keebler Red Velvet Fudge Stripes Cookies: 65 cal per cookie
New Keebler Red Velvet Fudge Stripes Cookies: Ingredients
New Keebler Red Velvet Fudge Stripes Cookies contain datem. Fun fact: Datem is an emulsifier primarily used in baking to strengthen the dough by building a strong gluten network. And that ends our education lesson for today.
New Keebler Red Velvet Fudge Stripes Cookies: Rows of iced cookies
When I opened up this package of New Keebler Red Velvet Fudge Stripes Cookies, holy cripes they SMELLED like red velvet! And I guess what I’m focusing is on that distinct cream cheese icing smell. Sweet, vanilla, and slightly tangy? I got that all through my nostrils.
New Keebler Red Velvet Fudge Stripes Cookies: Perfect discs
The New Keebler Red Velvet Fudge Stripes Cookies themselves were nicely shaped – thin crunchy circles with a whole in the middle, spot-on red velvet coloring, and fudge stripes that looked just like cream cheese icing. Visually, these looked delicious.
New Keebler Red Velvet Fudge Stripes Cookies: red snap
I bit into one of these New Keebler Red Velvet Fudge Stripes Cookies, and they were pretty good. The flavor of the cookie itself was cocoa-y while not too sweet – just gave off enough cocoa flavor to support the main star of the show, the stripes.
The fudge-y stripes tasted of cream cheese icing! I mean, at least *I* thought they did. Sweet and creamy with that cream cheese-y tang, these stripes paired with the underlying cookie quite well. When I chewed the entirety of the crunchy cookie, I definitely DEFINITELY got the red velvet flavor. I think Keebler did a great job on these. (It makes me wonder if Keebler could do these in a soft cookie format?)
All in all, a great cookie, and I’m not even a huge red velvet fan! Kudos, Keebler.
PURCHASED AT: Target, Germantown, MD
COST: $2.50
Thoughts? Please comment below or hit me up on Twitter @junkfoodguy or LIKE my Facebook Page and message me there. I also have Google+!! Let’s hang out.
Sincerely,
Junk Food Guy
Discuss - 21 Comments
Spicy food makes your nose run more, so it’s good in that respect. I had a blasted sinus headache over the weekend that went away after I had some pizza topped with siracha and blew my nose for the next hour.
As far as the cookies…I think these are definitely my next stock-up :-). However, I am a red velvet HOUND. I don’t think I’ll go as far as the Vulgar Chef’s Red Velvet Corndogs, but I can think of very few red velvet products I don’t like.
@Jessica: I’m going to drink Sriracha tonight.
Get those zinc lozenges. Good luck…hope you feel better asap!
I was never attracted to red velvet cake. I’m not sure I’ve ever tasted it. It looks all wrong to me. So the red part is supposed to taste like cocoa?
@Indigo – ugh, but those zinc lozenges always REALLY dry me out 🙁
@Indigo – but thanks for the well wishes!
Hate to say this as you are the JFG, but eating sugar reduces your immune systems ability to fight diseases. (http://www.livestrong.com/article/507850-can-eating-sugar-worsen-a-cold/).
@Steve B: NOTED. No sugar until…..2:00pm
Eating excessive sugars weaken your system all natural food contain some amounts of natural sugars, fruits contain a lot of sugar but are good for your immune system. It’s the processing and the excess that get you.
It makes sense that spicy foods help you feel better, since peppers are high in vitamin C. More than 3x what an orange has! http://www.healthaliciousness.com/articles/vitamin-C.php
Also, the runny nose thing.
I like to brew ginger tea when I start getting those cold symptoms. I hit it with a touch of honey and lemon and that really does the trick!
@Jeni – looks like its time to load up on peppers! Great article.
Sounds like you need a couple shots of jalapeno vodka.
@Shorneys: GAG
I guess I don’t get the whole red velvet cake thing either. I don’t dislike it, but I don’t go out of my way for it. I prefer dark chocolate anything.
Chicken soup always makes my nose run when it’s stuffy.
Feel better!
Try making yourself a spicy omelette with lots of peppers and just egg whites. That tends to make me full, clear my sinuses and erase that shaky/weak feeling I get when I’m ill. Also, plenty of very hot tea.
I’ve used Mucinex Maximum Strength and it’s worked with bad coughs.
I also like red velvet in cake form and cupcakes! There’s a cupcake place named that in the same block within a short walking distance of the Verizon Center.
Hope you feel better soon! I think I have a pretty good immune system, because I rarely get sick. I’ve never heard of the spicy food thing… Interesting. I have a coworker who swears by taking echinacea for the common cold… It’s found in the vitamin/supplements aisle. I tried it a long time ago when I was sick, and it didn’t seem to help or hurt, but I’m sure different things work for different people.
BTW, I spotted those cookies the other day… I was very tempted to buy them. Great review, I’ll have to pick some up.
This is gonna sound like a wacky home remedy, and it is, but I swear by apple cider vinegar when I’m about to get sick. You can get a bottle for like a dollar at a grocery store. I treat the bottle cap like a mini shotglass, and I take a bottle cap’s worth every hour.
I think the idea is that the acidity helps kill the bacteria in your throat, or some shit like that. All I know is, when I take it early enough (when I feel the tickle in my throat), I either don’t get sick at all, or if I do get sick, the symptoms go away a lot faster than normal.
The spicy food thing kind of works in that it does help clear your nose, etc. I don’t think it actually makes the cold go away quicker, but it does make life a little easier.
Use wasabi. It ENDS all colds within a day or two. I don’t recommend sushi (it usually goes with wasabi) while you have a cold–fish and cold rice makes mine worse–but down the wasabi and fight through the burn!
@Trainor – I LIKE IT! Maybe I should just rub some on my teeth, lol
I am a fan of red velvet cake, the frosting more than the cake. It Seems the red velvet flavor has been incorporated into so many different forms. The Keebler cookie has been the best experience I’ve had. I tried them last weekend. I liked the aroma of the cookie and the flavor of the icing. The crunchy cookie obviously is no substitute for cake, but this product was true to it’s flavor where many seem fake.
@Jim M” NICE – glad you had a similar experience with these 🙂