Ben & Jerry's Oatmeal Cookie Chunk

Since today marks the first official day of Summer, I figured it's only right that we talk about ice cream!  But not just any ice cream, one of my favorite ice cream flavors of all time - Oatmeal Cookie Chunk!

I don't remember the first time I had it, but I'll never forget how much I loved it.  I used to pick up a carton every time I went to Stop & Shop and, for the most part, it was gone in less than a day or two.  Then I'd do it all over again the next time I was out.  There was no ice cream that I bought more or as frequently as Ben & Jerry's Oatmeal Cookie Chunk.

Then, out of nowhere, it was gone.  No explanation, no goodbye, it just left.  I looked everywhere for the ice cream.  I figured it would show up somewhere.  I mean, it tasted so good, why would Ben & Jerry's discontinue it?  That just doesn't make sense.

But that's what Ben & Jerry's does.  They give us what we want, then take it away as soon as we fall in love with the product.  But guess what I found??

My girlfriend and I had just left the gym and we were thirsty.  We stopped at a Quick Check in Bayonne, NJ for gas and something to drink.  I walked over to the Snapple section because I was hoping to find some Trop-A-Rocka.  I hadn't seen that in some time and it's been one of my favorite Summer drinks for the last two years.  Unfortunately, they didn't have it, but something else caught my eye.  I look over to my right and, to my surprise, there it was!  Ben & Jerry's Oatmeal Cookie Chunk!  I couldn't believe it!

I can't remember the last time I found this edition of Ben & Jerry's.  I read that it was discontinued in January 2012, but I think it was even earlier than that.  It's been years and I assumed it was gone for good.  I assumed the sales weren't as high as I thought they'd be for such an incredible batch, but I guess I was wrong.  For whatever reason, this came and went, but it's back again and I couldn't be happier over ice cream.

The packaging is different than it was the last time this was stocked in the refrigerated aisle, but it's the same flavor!  Sweet Cream Cinnamon Ice Cream, Chunks of Oatmeal Cookies, and Fudge!  It's amazing!  It's sad how happy I got when I found it.  I quickly grabbed it and walked over to my girlfriend who was getting coffee.  I held it up, showed her the carton and simply said "Ohhh yeaaaahh."  Her face dropped.  It could have been because she knows how much I love it, or because she realized how much of a geek I am.  Either way, she was just as shocked as I am.  Great find!

Ahh just look at that!  It's so damn good!  I'll admit, it can be a bit overwhelming after you've almost eaten a full carton of Oatmeal Cookie Chunk, but it's so worth it.  It's ironic how I talk about going to the gym and eating ice cream in the same post, but I justify by telling you I get protein from the dairy.  If you believe it, that's what I'm going with.  If not, I'm out of excuses.  I'm a glutton for Ben & Jerry's Oatmeal Cookie Chunk and there's no hiding it.  Our love is real and even though we've been separated for a while, we're back together now and it couldn't be any sweeter!

If you've never tried this flavor or if you've been missing it as much as I have, then you need to find out where you can find this, right now!  I don't know if it's limited or if it's back on a mass scale, but I do know that it's out there!  Who knows how long this will last?  It could be days, it could be years, I couldn't say.  But get out there and find it before you're regretting it.  Trust me, it's good!  I don't care where you're from, you won't regret driving to Bayonne, NJ for it. 

The Ultimate Halloween Breakfast

There are vast varieties of Quaker Oats Instant Oatmeal, but when it comes to the Holidaze, my favorite of the bunch is Cinnamon Roll.  I love cinnamon.  I always have.  My favorite cereal is Cinnamon Toast Crunch and I attribute it to my Grandmother who used to always have it in her cabinet.  I can still remember her putting it on my toast when I was just three years old, and If I can remember that, then you know I must love me some cinnamon.

Cinnamon Roll Instant Oatmeal is not only perfect for Fall and Halloween, but Winter and Christmas as well.  It has great flavor, and since Cap'n Crunch's Halloween Crunch has yet to be released, this is the perfect spooky breakfast to instantly mix-up and create.  Well... almost perfect.

See, this Halloween season, I'm trying to take everything up a notch.  I want to create new Halloween memories with those that celebrate it with me and, to do so, we have to take things to the next level.  While Quaker Oats Cinnamon Roll Instant Oatmeal is great, there isn't anything "Halloween" about it.  Today, we're going to change that by creating the Ultimately Haunted Halloween Oatmeal Breakfast.  Oh yeah..

Step one in our process is easy -- grab yourself a few packs of Cinnamon Roll oatmeal and pick up a box of food coloring.  There are two ways of going about creating this breakfast beast.  There is a simple Halloween oatmeal, and the ultimate Halloween oatmeal.  If you want to go the loser route and be simple, then just dye your Cinnamon Roll oatmeal orange and call it a day.

I'd like to think that most people understand the color spectrum enough to know how to create the color orange, but if you don't, you're going to need the colors red and yellow.  Of course, you can dye your oatmeal any color you wish.  I thought about making it green or purple, but nothing says Halloween to me like the color orange.

The box will give you the necessary instructions to precisely mix the preferred color of orange, but I don't have time for any of that.  I want this breakfast to be ultimate and that means taking risks.  We're simply going to wing it.  Pour a little red, pour a little yellow, and keep going until I find exactly what I'm looking for.

Ahhh, yess!  Just look at what we've done!  The best part about Halloween treats is that they don't have to look appetizing at all.  Does orange oatmeal look good?  Of course not!  It looks like vomit or whatever Bridget the Bobble Monster was brewing in her cauldron, but that's the point!  Everybody knows that food coloring doesn't change the flavor of the food it's applied to, so you never have to worry about how it's going to taste.  But like any good optical illusion, orange oatmeal will make you forget that and have you think that you're about to ingest poison.  How great is that?

Okay, so like I said, simply dying your oatmeal is easy.  Anybody can do that.  But if you want your morning to be ultimate, then you need to be creative and add some figurative spice to your breakfast.  I say figurative, but hey, if you want to literally add some spice, I say go for it.  When we aim for the ultimate, we know we're jeopardizing flavor.  It may not taste as great once we throw in things that don't belong, but it's sure as hell going to look good!

Remember those Jet-Puffed Swirlmallows?  Well they're good for more than just toasting.  My girlfriend took one of the jumbo marshmallows and made a Ghostmallow.  He kinda looks like one of those things that chase Pac-Man around, but I'm pretty sure that they're ghosts too so we're right on track here.  He's perfect and you can tell he's looking forward to being a part of the Ultimate Halloween Breakfast.  We're close, but not quite there yet..

Now we're cookin'..  When it comes to creating the Ultimate Halloween Breakfast, there is one rule -- there are no rules!  But if you want my advice, just use what you have and make it look like it serves a purpose.  Here, we threw in the Little Debbie Fall Tree Cake, Trick-or-Treat Berry Fruit by the Foot and Boo Berry marshmallows to go along with our orange Cinnamon Roll oatmeal and Ghostmallow.  Is it going to taste good?  No way.. not together, anyway.  Individually, these treats are all amazing, but they're only here now to make things look and sound better.  Remember when Buddy the Elf poured syrup all over his spaghetti in Elf ?  Well that sounded awesome, but we all know it would taste horrible.  Yet, every year, I think it would be great for Christmas morning.  That's what this Ultimate Halloween Breakfast is.  It's our spaghetti and syrup.

It honestly doesn't taste bad.  The Boo Berry marshmallows add a lot to the orange oatmeal and the Fruit by the Foot makes you feel like you're eating right out of a pumpkin patch.  The Fall Tree Cake doesn't taste good covered in oatmeal, but the Ghostmallow needs his shade anyway so we don't have to eat that.  All in all, this is an amazing Halloween treat.  I wasn't sure if we could do it, but yes, we did create the Ultimate Halloween Oatmeal.  Now we have to come up with new ideas in terms of taking regular food and Halloweening them out.  It's all about taking things to the next level!

Happy Friday!