Junk Food Nation, sorry for the delay in post.  Apparently while I was in Vegas, WordPress decided to upgrade itself, with disastrous results.  I won’t go into it, but let’s just say this post took all day and is being held together by scotch tape.

I had a whole sports talk planned too!  About how I’m distraught that it looks like the Red Sox will win another World Series.  About Dez Bryant flipping out on the sidelines (what are you doing, madman??) About the CRAZY ending to the Cowboys-Lions game (Seriously?  You’re gonna let Matt Stafford do THIS??)

I was even going to kick it to some video of the Ohio State Marching Band (AMAZING STUFF):

BUT NO. WordPress 3.7, you have ruined my day.  I’m not sure what’s worse; WordPress 3.7, or the Seattle Seahawks pass protection.

Instead, let’s turn to something more positive. SPEAKING OF FOOTBALL, when I left Vegas, I came home to this in my mailbox:

STAX!!!!!! For those of you who don’t know what Stax are, they are basically Frito-Lay’s answer to Pringles.  I’ve reviewed a bunch of their flavors, and I must say whereas first I was skeptical, I find myself preferring Stax over Pringles MORE AND MORE.  No joke.

Two of the flavors that were sent to me I’ve reviewed before!  I REALLY enjoyed Buffalo Wings with Ranch STAX and I thought that the Bacon & Cheddar Potato Skins STAX were well done.  I was amazed that I hadn’t tried the other two flavors for this blog yet:

I mean, who doesn’t love plain potato chips (Original STAX) and I’d SEEN All-American Cheeseburger STAX before and THOUGHT I’d reviewed them before! But no.  Turns out I was thinking of the Limited Edition Cheeseburger Pringles.

But I digress. As I was saying, SPEAKING OF FOOTBALL, the reason I was sent these STAX is because STAX is having a CONTEST!  To quote the press release: “THE LAY’S STAX BRAND CELEBRATES 10 YEARS OF CRUNCH BY GIVING THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL FANS THE CHANCE TO WIN A TRIP TO SUPER BOWL XLVIII”

Wait, holy crap. The contest is for SUPER BOWL TICKETS??? Why am I telling ANYONE else to enter then?  I’m decreasing my chances to win!

Let’s review the first flavor, All-American Cheeseburger, and then I’ll tell you about the contest:

Lay’s All-American Cheeseburger STAX, like other STAX, come in a blue tube and feature a cheeseburger under a spotlight. Or is that a heat lamp?

Lay’s All-American Cheeseburger STAX are a little over 10 cal a chip…

… and contain cheese, onion powder, tomato powder, more cheese, dill, mustard, and natural flavors, EVERYTHING you need for a good cheeseburger!

I have to admit, when I first opened up these Lay’s All-American Cheeseburger STAX, I thought they smelled like feet.  But as soon as I popped one in my mouth…

…I have to say, I LOVED THEM.  These Lay’s All-American Cheeseburger STAX were ON POINT in terms of cheeseburger flavor!

Like other STAX chips, the crunch of these STAX is a bit thicker than your average Pringle.  As a result, the potato starchy flavor is a bit greater than normal – but I like that.  It just feels like more potato per chip.  The first taste I got was a bit of tang – it started off with a sort of mustard and dill pickle flavor but quickly morphed into a mustard-dill-onion-ketchup flavor!  Basically these chips tasted like all the wonderful condiments I put on a burger.

But there was MORE than that.  There was also a distinct meatiness to these chips which was very nice.  It tasted like that smoky charred meat flavor I get from a Burger King Whopper.  I could taste it, I swear! Paired with the condiment flavors, this was an EXCELLENT representation of cheeseburger in chip form.  Awesome stuff.

Next up: Lay’s Original STAX!

Ok, let’s get to the promotion.  Lay’s STAX is having a contest called Game Day Click-Off.  And here’s how it works:

“Through the ‘Game Day Click-Off’ sweepstakes, hosted on the Lay’s STAX Facebook page, fans of Thursday Night Football and Lay’s STAX crisps will have the chance to engage with the brand, share their love of football and win prizes – including crisps and the grand prize: tickets to Super Bowl XLVIII in New York/New Jersey. 

“Each week between Sept. 12 and Dec. 12, fans of Lay’s STAX crisps have something extra to look forward to while watching Thursday Night Football on NFL Network.  After the first score of each game, the brand will activate the Game Day Click-Off promotion via the NFL tab on the Lay’s STAX Facebook page. The first (a.k.a. quickest) 1,000 fans who log on and enter the sweepstakes after the first score of the game will win prizes, including free Lay’s STAX potato crisps, and be entered for the chance to win a football fan’s ultimate grand prize – a trip to Super Bowl XLVIII.”

Wait, so did you catch that?  STEP 1: Join Facebook (you weirdos who don’t have Facebook).

STEP 2: LIKE the Lay’s STAX Facebook Page.

STEP 3: Watch Thursday Night Football on NFL Network (And get better opening music, NFL Network)

STEP 4: After the first score, GO TO LAY’S STAX FACEBOOK PAGE AND CLICK-OFF AND THAT’S IT!  The first 1000 people win prizes and a chance to go Super Bowl.  Dude. That’s easy, brah.

Lay’s Original STAX have 150 cal per serving, but you don’t care, you want to know HOW ELSE YOU CAN WIN, RIGHT?  Well, here you go:

“The celebration also continues online after each game has ended. Every Friday following the game, fans can ‘STAX Poetic’ by tweeting how they kick back and crunch during Thursday Night Football – tagging @FritoLay and using the hashtag #STAXpoetic – for a chance to win 10 cans of their favorite Lay’s STAX flavors as well as NFL-themed merchandise.”

So there you go.  You can enter on Twitter, too!  And here are the Official Rules, on the canister itself:

Ok, enough promoting.  Let’s turn our attention back to these Lay’s Original STAX:

Not surprisingly, these Lay’s Original STAX tasted pretty good – very basic, but executed correctly.  Nice thick potato cut of a standard STAX chip.  The saltiness was there, but not overwhelming.  Nice potato flavor that reminded me of the old school Keebler Tato Skins.  A very good chip – and a great base for flavor.  Now I see why I like OTHER STAX flavors so much.

So go forth and enter the STAX contest, Nation! And thanks, STAX, for hooking me up with a bunch of flavors.  Now if you’ll excuse me I have to go back to figuring out WordPress 3.7 and punching my computer screen.

PURCHASED AT: sent to me, but you can get them EVERYWHERE

COST: Saw them for $1.50 at Walmart

Thoughts? Please comment below or hit me up on Twitter @junkfoodguy or LIKE my Facebook Page and message me there. Let’s hang out.

Sincerely,

Junk Food Guy