Snack Review: POM Wonderful Juice

Despite POM’s multitude of health claims, I’ve never been as excited about their juice as I have been about their packaging. For instance, they used to sell POM in tall glass bottles at my university’s cafe, which thrilled me to no end. Sure, you paid more for your POM than you did for your lunch, but you got a free glass with your purchase! I loved imagining what I could do with my new glass after I’d finished my overpriced juice. I could fill it with water! Or milk! Or sea monkeys! My God - the possibilities were endless.

Nowadays, POM uses plastic containers rather than glass ones, but I still prefer their packaging over their product. Although their smaller, curvier bottles would make terrible sea monkey homes, they remain seductively hip - which means I’m still tempted to buy POM products, despite the steep price tag and mediocre flavor. Of course, this is the essence of POM’s success. If you’re not swayed by its dubious health claims or bitter flavor, you still might give in to its cool factor. (Don Draper taught me that.)

Anyway, let’s start with the flavor, then move to the health “benefits.” POM is made from pure pomegranate juice, which tastes like a combination of grape and cranberry juice. So, if you’re the type of person who’s habitually torn between your morning juice options, this is the beverage for you. A word of warning, however - this juice tends leaves its sweet/bitter taste lingering on the back of your tongue, so be prepared to savor all that POM wonderfulness for a full half hour after you’ve drained your bottle.

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Snack Review: Beer Chips

Beer and food. A tag-team combination enjoyed throughout the world, and the stuff of comedic genius captured on film in such modern day classics as Beerfest. Sure, we have Beer Nuts, beer cheese soup, beer-can chicken, and beer-battered-anything-you-can-fry. But chips?

Finally, an idea whose time has come. Beer + Chips = Beer Chips. So simple. So Zen. Right there in front of us all along and we couldn’t see it.

Available in three flavors, these thick-cut kettle style chips are bold, hearty, obnoxious and fun, just like your hard-drinking college buddy. These chips are your wingman and might even take a bullet for you. (Okay, that was really over the top - it’s just the beer chips talking.)

BEER CHIPS

The company’s signature chip, these resembled standard chips in size and color. The first bite revealed the unique flavor in a high note for the olfactories: a sharp essence of strong pilsner. The flavor receded quickly, replaced with a rather sweet and malty potato taste (ingredients include barley, hops, and yeast, of course).

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Snack Recipe: Magic Banana Smoothie

This is not a recipe so much as a secret that I am going to reveal. You really just need to know one thing: frozen banana.

If you freeze a banana and then run it through the blender with some liquid, you get something that’s almost soft ice cream, without any fat or dairy. You can do this with fruit juice, but my favorite kind is banana-chocolate. I have started to make these again regularly since I was reminded of them by the Starbucks smoothies, which bear a rough similarity. (And man, is it cheaper at home!)

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