QB Treats aka a trip to Whole Foods

I feel bad. I'm a big proponent of all natural food, but I don't really bring it up enough. I think the problem is that food has become unnatural without us knowing it. I just don't think Oreos we're filled with saturated fat that comes from partially-hydrogenated junk when I was a kid. It was just a snack with a few ingredients, now it's got like 18% sat fat for 2 cookies, what's up with that? As I get older and start thinking about my health more, and as I worry more about my kids (still weird saying kids and not daughter), I read labels more and more. I've always avoided Splenda, but now I'm becoming distrustful of that little punk named High Fructose Corn Syrup. No I won't stop eating it completely, and you can call me paranoid, but I'm a firm believer that a shorter ingredient list made with normal things (like sugar) is best for all of us.

That's not to say we're hard core organic people by any means (as is obvious by the list of treats on this site). We do love our organic 2% milk straight from Vermont. Mmm, so tasty. And there our other things occasionally, but overall we buy what we buy, but if there is an all natural alternative, we usually give it a try.

Well, we needed something from Whole Foods (since our local organic grocer was out), so we packed up the family and made the 45 minute trek to the closest store. I was looking forward to wandering around, not just in general, but for a little treat called QB's. I've read mixed reviews. Some are obviously posted as an advertisement or from people who have never eaten them, but other reviews are from legitimate sources. While I enjoy seeing frozen treats on other blogs, it's just not the same as picking up a box yourself - Other blogs encourage me to try new things, and I hope this blog encourages you to try new things.

So we started our journey through the store and just picked up a few things. Some organic applesauce (too gritty), organic animal cookies (nice and simple), all natural faux oreos (very good), a loaf of the heaviest bread ever, some awesome looking jam ....and the QBs. I was a bit shocked at the size of the box, you only get four, and they aren't cheap. Even on sale at 2 boxes for 7 bucks, that's still about 88 cents a piece (it's $4.99 regularly!).

Vanilla QB's

All natural crispy treat filled with vanilla ice cream

Now take a second to look at the box? Look real closely at the one they show cut open? It looks fake, doesn't it? Some spots like the bottom look real, but the right side looks like a bad photoshop job. Actually I know it's fake because the chocolate has an identical stack ...and a fake looking ice cream insert as well. It's a little disconcerting, I like truth in my advertising, but maybe their marketing budget is tight. Alas, we didn't come this far just to give up now. I picked up a box of vanilla and a box of chocolate. Strawberry was no where to be seen.

After meeting one of the crankiest checkout ladies ever, we headed to the car with the goods. Technically there was a DQ nearby, but I was set on trying these on the way home. My daughter wanted chocolate on the way home, but since we were treading in unknown waters, vanilla seems like a safer bet for the safety of the car.

We all tried them and surprisingly, we all liked them! I won't lie and say they are great, but if you dig rice krispies like I do, you can't help but enjoy this treat. My initial thought was "where's the ice cream?" The outer shell is quite thick but it does taste like rice crispies, not saw dust. Eventually you will get to the ice cream, but it's more of a small dollop than a big hunk of all natural vanilla ice cream. It's an interesting combo, but there needs to be more ice cream, plain and simple.

More downsides? Ofcourse. The shell isn't as crisp as you wold hope. It's decent, but it tastes like the rice crispies got a bit soggy before they were frozen. The whole shell is rather white since it's covered in marshmallow and agar glaze and in my opinion (and my wife's), it's just borderline too sweet. It's sweet enough that I don't think I could eat two of these in a row ...actually, it was fairly filling so I guess I wouldn't need to. My daughter didn't complain, though the fact there was too much sauce was evident in the fact that she was wearing a good portion of her new treat.

The good news: A unique all natural treat blending crisped rice and ice cream

The bad news: Steep Price for a Small Treat, Kinda Sticky, Kinda Soggy, Borderline too Sweet


On Second Scoop: For my second QB, I tried a chocolate one. Actually, I split the one you see in the picture with my daughter, but I didn't get enough of a reaction from just half a QB so I waited until I had a whole one. I having pretty much the same thoughts I had with the vanilla. Decent crispy taste, borderline too sweet, and a bit of soggy/chewiness to the whole thing. Funny thing is, if I had to pick, I would probably go with the simpler vanilla QB, while my wife says she prefers the chocolate. Iunno, the chocolate just doesn't do that much for me, it feels too muted, almost a frozen frosty taste to it.

Final Thoughts: I had the last vanilla one (this morning...it's like cereal isn't it?) and I realized I needed to make a clarification - When I said these were unique, I mean that in the sense that if you see them, you should give them a try ...once. I did not mean that I would be willing to shell out way too much money to keep these in my freezer all the time. If I was going to blow money, I would have some Rice Creams sent to my house.

Serving Size 1 (57g) Servings Per Container 4
Amount Per Serving
Calories 190	from Fat 50
	% Daily Value*
Total Fat 6g	9%
- Sat Fat 3.5g	18%
- Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 30mg	10%
Sodium 95mg	6%
Total Carbohydrate 33g	11%
- Dietary Fiber 1g	2%
- Sugars 18g
Protein 2g
Vitamin A 0%	Vitamin C 0%
Calcium 2%	Iron 0%