JFG Nation, Happy Thanksgiving! I’m thankful for family, friends, food, and for Oreo Churros (WHEREVER YOU ARE). I’m also thankful to all of you, Nation, for sticking with me this Fall. I know the time you give me is valuable, and I don’t take that for granted. So today, eat, drink, be merry, and be good to each other.

I’m also thankful for FOOTBALL today, and this is my first Thanksgiving on the West Coast, so games start at 9:30 AM WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. So THIS is what Sundays are like for you West Coasters? You wake up and there’s games on? That. Is. Awesome.

Let’s get into the picks:

Eagles @ LIONS (-2.5): Interesting game; both are mediocre teams with lots of potential who can’t seem to get their engines going consistently.Chip Kelly’s gamble in letting LeSean McCoy, Nick Foles, and Jeremy Maclin go clearly hasn’t paid any dividends are the Eagles are 4-6. Still, the NFC East is awful so a couple wins here and there and the Iggles could be in first place! But will that happen today against an equally shoddy Detroit team (3-7)? Matt Stafford doesn’t look like his 5000-pass-yd self these days, and where the hell has Megatron gone? Detroit used to be a pass catching juggernaut but of recent has lacked identity. I think that changes today with a big national game on Thanksgiving at home. This game opened as Eagles favored by one but is now Lions favored by 2.5. Neither team has any defense to speak of, so I’m basically banking on Mark Sanchez making one more mistake than Matt Stafford. I think this one gets decided by a field goal: Lions win, but Eagles cover.

Panthers @ COWBOYS (-1): How the eff are the Cowboys favored by 1 in this game? I get that with Tony Romo back, this is essentially the same team they started with at the beginning of the season, with DMC starting instead of Joseph Randle. So I understand that talent-wise they might be closer to evenly matched with an undefeated Carolina team with 10 wins under its belt than most think. BUT 1) The Cowboys haven’t been great on Thanksgiving, 2) It’s still a short week game which is always dicey for both teams, and 3) The Panthers aren’t going to let their undefeated season end on a national broadcast, one of the few they’ve had in years. The Panthers are undoubtedly telling themselves “this is what the Super Bowl is gonna be like. Don’t choke under the bright lights.” I think this’ll be a high scoring affair with Cam on top, something like 31-21. Panthers cover and win outright.

Bears @ PACKERS (-7): I always feel like by the time the Thursday Night game rolls around, I’ve had ENOUGH of football….but  know in my heart that just ain’t true. I’m just usually in food coma by then. But this year, the “8:30” game is at 5:30!!! So it’s ON. The horrible Bears travel to Green Bay to take on the Packers who….haven’t been THAT great this year. Yeah they are 7-3, but anyone who has been watching knows that the Pack haven’t been the same. Eddie Lacy not being able to run consistently has caused the rest of the offense to go in the tank. Oh, Jordy Nelson, where are ye? I was actually SHOCKED that Lacy was able to do SOMETHING last week and beat the Vikes. Of course, I’m killing the Packers here and Jay Cutler could come out and throw four INTs again. But Alshon Jeffrey is a catch machine, and I think Matt Forte being back gives them some life. I think Green Bay wins but Chicago covers the number.

Today’s junk food: Trader Joe’s Turkey & Stuffing Seasoned Kettle Chips!!

Trader Joe’s Turkey & Stuffing Seasoned Kettle Chips: The Money Shot

As soon as I saw these Trader Joe’s Turkey & Stuffing Seasoned Kettle Chips, I immediately thought WAIT I’VE SEEN THESE BEFORE. And I had – last year – when Boulder Canyon released their Thanksgiving Feast chips. Besides Turkey chips and Stuffing chips, they also had cranberry chips and pumpkin pie chips. Thankfully, TJ’s didn’t go that route.

Without the cranberry and pumpkin pie, however, it is a BIT of a misnomer that these Trader Joe’s Turkey & Stuffing Seasoned Kettle Chips claim to have “all the flavors of Thanksgiving in each potato chip.” I mean, whenever you go to a greasy sandwich shop and they are marketing a “Thanksgiving” sandwhich, you GOTTA have that tart cran in there to give you that sweet/salty interplay. So, whatever TJ’s. Maybe YOU only have turkey and stuffing at your Thanksgiving, BUT NOT ME.

Still, I won’t lie – I was excited for these Trader Joe’s Turkey & Stuffing Seasoned Kettle Chips. I love the Lay’s Do Us a Flavor contest, I love UK Walker’s chips, so why wouldn’t I be a fan of trying to put more flavors of other foods on more chips? Let’s do it, son.

Trader Joe’s Turkey & Stuffing Seasoned Kettle Chips had good ingredients, plus my favorite one: Sunflower Oil. Good chips are made with that oil, baby.

When I opened and sniffed these Trader Joe’s Turkey & Stuffing Seasoned Kettle Chips, I got the immediate smell of stuffing and all the spices that go with it: rosemary, thyme, sage, turmeric. There was a creaminess to the smell and a bit of pepper too. There was a hint of meat aroma too, for sure.

I crunched a few and the most immediate flavors were sage and pepper. My mind quickly when to the recent Lay’s Southern Biscuits and Gravy chips – these tasted VERY close to those. The pepper, the creaminess on the chips itself…very very close.

But I actually think these Trader Joe’s Turkey & Stuffing Seasoned Kettle Chips were even better. I definitely got a small turkey flavor, which is a feat considered there was no meat fat used in this chip like a Walker’s chip might’ve employed. The chips crunched perfectly; the kettle style chip was executed very well by TJ’s. The potato-y chip helped mute some of the flavor to give the overall taste a bit of starchiness, and the mouthful takes on a lot of the same aspects of stuffing – bold spice profile sitting on top of a starchy chew.

These were better than the Southern Biscuits and Gravy chips because they had more meatiness for sure. The sage, rosemary, thyme flavors definitely pushed past typical biscuit gravy and more into the Thanksgiving arena. I would’ve liked even MORE meatiness to punch up the turkey side of things, but I can’t complain THAT much. These chips were tasty tasty tasty.

Happy Thanksgiving, JFG Nation! Enjoy the games today – and, if you want, tweet me some pics of what you’re having!

PURCHASED AT: Trader Joe’s, Bethesda, MD

COST: $2.00

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