Every now and then, we start a thread about new products or foods that we've tried. It's a great way to share these products with others who may not even know they're available. Here are three new products I've tried recently:

1. Healthy Choice Mac & Cheese frozen dinner

Initially, I was encouraged by the creamy texture. It wasn't as cheesy as my old fatty favorite Kraft Deluxe mac & cheese, but it sure was healthier! As it cooled, it got a bit gooey and I didn't end up finishing it, but did eat most of it. Not bad.

2. Lean Cuisine Asian-Style Pot Stickers frozen dinner

I HATE most frozen dinners--I have probably thrown away more than I've eaten, so when I find one that I enjoy, that is a pretty major find. I couldn't imagine how microwaved potstickers would work but, other than a little bit of "overcookedness" at the top edge, they were quite good. I was concerned about the sauce cuz I HATE stuff that is too saucey. The picture on the cover shows the sauce OVER the potstickers but, luckily for me, they were just sitting IN it. That was the perfect amount for me. The sauce wasn't as tasty as what I make myself, but it was fine. The meal also comes with white rice and veggies (carrots, peppers and snap peas), which was quite good. Finally, I would even go as far as saying that the filling of these potstickers (chicken & veggie) was better than the chicken & veggie potstickers that I usually buy by the bag at Whole Foods.

3. Near East Whole Grain Blends - Chicken & Rice

This whole grain blend includes brown rice, barley and pearled wheat and a Rice-a-Roni-type chicken seasoning packet. Since I'm sodium-sensitive, I only used 1/2 to 2/3 of the packet. Taste-wise, I might have preferred using it all, because it was JUST the slightest bit bland. Otherwise, I LOVED it. I took it for lunch every day this week as my grain side dish with roasted chicken and sugar snap peas. Highly recommended. (There are four other varieties in this Whole Blends series. Nutrition information is available on their website.)

What new stuff have YOU tried?

I just got home from Publix and I saw Eggland's Best sells pre-cooked & peeled Hard Boiled Eggs. I don't remember how many were in the bag.

wonderbar! i love ginger dressings! amy's makes a great sesame ginger dressing but i don't think it is reduced fat. i have been making my own with apple juice instead of oil but it is nice that you have found an awesome one.

i have been snacking on Apple Crisps (I think nature valley makes them but so do others)--nothing but baked apple. fat free. cinnamon flavor if you choose. for someone who loves "crispy", this is a real satisfying snack! 50 calories.

There was a coupon for Naturally Healthy dressing in the paper last weekend, so I picked up Mandarin Ginger today at the store (our favorite sushi place does a salad with an orange-ginger dressing that is SO good).

Wow! It's got a kick, it has flavor without tasting salty (one of my biggest gripes about low-cal/low-fat dressings), and it's *different.* I didn't need the whole 2 tablespoon serving size to get the taste through the salad, either.

Mrs May's Nut Snacks/ I have been eatin gmore nuts lately. they fill me up and give me healthy oils sinc i eat such a low fat diet in every other way.

Mrs May is vegan, gluten free...and portions of the profits go to an organization that refurbishes wheelchairs for poor countries.

i found her cashew crunch at Walmart but no other kinds. The website lists Almond and other crunch varieties. yummy!

Jill, I LOVE those from Aveeno. Whenever I see that the store has its Aveeno things on sale, I buy three or four. They're wonderful.

And...y'all might think I'm crazy. It's okay. After hearing some people on another board talk about and doing some research (including checking Consumer Reports, where they DID review it and liked it!), we bought a FURminator. It's AMAZING. It doesn't have a blade, or any moving parts, but it gets out the undercoat from dogs & cats without hurting them or you. From what we got off the beagle, we probably could have built another dog. It's $35, but completely worth it to me. Instead of vacuuming the couch twice a week (it's beige, she sheds brown and black), we're down to vacuuming it every week and a half or so. Her hair feels so much softer, and she scratches and itches so much less.

I thought about starting a new thread. I want to post a new beauty product and decided to post here. Aveeno, Positively Radiant Facial Clothes are my new favorite product. I don't know if it is the facial clothes or the Oil of Olay Revitalizing Cream, but my face looks SO clean and healthy!!! I think it is the cleansing clothes though, I have been using the Oil of Olay for a few weeks. The cleansing clothes are pre-moistened, and there is an ex foliating side and a smooth side. They make your skin look radiant and healthy. And, they smell great too. The only downside, as opposed to other clothes, is that you have to rinse the soap off your face once you finish. But, give them a try, they work SO well!!!!

Jill

Has anyone else found the Baked Veggie Crisps and Baked Fruit Crisps by Flat Earth? (their website is really cute but you have to just sit and watch after you click "come on in" to see all the goodies )

We found them at Publix and they are great. I have only tried the Farmland Cheddar and the Peach Mango Paradise.

Farmland Cheddar (1 once = 12 chips = 1 serving = 1/2 cup vegetables)

Cal. 130 Fat 45 (35%)

Total Fat 5 g
Sat Fat 1g
Poly Fat 2.5g
Mono fat 1.5g
Trans Fat 0g

Chol. 0mg
Sodium 190mg
Potassium 170mg
Total Carbohydrate 19g
Dietary Fiber 2g
Sugars 3g
Protein 2g
(lots of Vit & Minerals)

Peach Mango Paradise (serving size 1 oz = 14 chips = 1/2 cup fruit instead of veggies)

Cal. 130 from Fat 40 (31%)

Total Fat 4.5g
Sat fat 1g
Poly fat 2g
Mono fat 1g
Trans Fat 0g

Chol 0mg
Sodium 35mg
Potassium 95mg
Total Carbs 21g
Dietary Fiber 1g
Sugars 7g
Protein 1g
(not as many vit & minerals)


Both Steam Fresh and Green Giant have new single serves out also.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: BrenauMom,

I picked up a box of a new cracker yesterday. It's made by All Bran and its multigrain so, since Complete Wheat Bran by them is my favorite cereal, I thought I'd give them a try. They are very tasty, esp. for a wholegrain cracker. Thin and crispy, wonderful texture. I prefer it to the Kashi TLCs. Unfortunately, it has too much fat, but is still better for me than a white flour cracker I guess.

quote:

Originally posted by SheriaVa:

quote:

Originally posted by jillybean:
I found this bottle of Steele's Sesame Ginger Dressing/Sauce...now, sesame and ginger are two of my favorites, so I picked it up and it is 10 cal for 2 Tbsp., .5 grams fat, and it is low sodium!! I tasted it(not in the store of course!) and it is incredible!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Tayhudson:
I bought a Miso Ginger, that tastes very similar to what I have had a most of the Japanese restaurants. I will look up the name for you when I get home. It is Organic something or other.

Thanks, ladies!

P.S. I think Ken's Steak House salad dressings are AWESOME. Back when I was eating full-fat salad dressing, Ken's was my favorite line of dressings. Two of their dressings (one fat-free and one lite) are still my favorite veggie dip choices.

LOVE the Red Wine vinaigrette and the Vidalia Onion.

Dawn

Whew! I had a hard time finding this thread

Steamfresh now has single servings!

Last night we were at Publix (after a 3 hour nap) getting groceries for dd and discovered that they have the corn and the green peas in packages that are divided into 4 single servings.

I love their corn but it is just too much for just me and I even have to throw out some when dd is home and eating with me.

Kangaroo pita pockets are GREAT!

here's a good new product that I tried. I was looking for something different...try to beat my wanting to binge on all sorts of sweets. I just wasn't going to do it. I had been fighting the urge to binge all of yesterday.

Anyway, I need to pickup some manadarin oranges for my snack drawer at work. The store had the Dole fruit cups on sale. So I picked up the mandarin oranges. I also decided to try the apples and carmel creme parfait. I had one last night. It was so good! I only had one, but it just hit the spot w/the right amount of sweetness.


Serene

Ken's dressings are very good, I like the Lite Caeser, and the regular Caeser. I typically buy the light, there is very little difference in taste so I go for the lesser fat version. When it comes to ranch or blue cheese dressings I always buy the regular, the l/f or f/f are just nasty.
Jill

quote:

Originally posted by SheriaVa:
P.S. I think Ken's Steak House salad dressings are AWESOME. Back when I was eating full-fat salad dressing, Ken's was my favorite line of dressings. Two of their dressings (one fat-free and one lite) are still my favorite veggie dip choices.

I like Ken's (full fat), too.

I got into an argument with bil and sil (on Easter) re: "High Fructose Corn Syrup is in EVERTHING and UNAVOIDABLE is responsible for the obesity epidemic!" I don't find that it is in EVERYTHING... but it is in some of Ken's dressings. (Sil and I went thru MIL's fridge on a search for HFCS... and it was in two jars... and one of them was Ken's dressing. And HFCS doesn't explain why my health food nut bil is 50 lbs over weight.)

So, IF you are a person who is freaked by HFCS (and I am not...), you might want to avoid Ken's.

* * *
From an American Dieticians Association article on HFCS

quote:

The link between beverages, HFCS and obesity can largely be accounted for by their contribution to calorie intake. Current research indicates that HFCS is a major source of excess calories. However, there is insufficient evidence to conclude that HFCS alters metabolism to uniquely promote deposition of body fat or greater food intake. More research is needed on HFCS and obesity. However, reducing intake of HFCS can help individuals reduce their calorie intake leading to improved weight management.

Rest of the article is at:

http://www.eatright.org/cps/rde/xchg/ada/hs.xsl/nutrition_7883_ENU_HTML.htm

PS... I use full fat salad dressings... I measure it and use 1 TBS... about 40 calories worth.

quote:

Originally posted by jillybean:
I found this bottle of Steele's Sesame Ginger Dressing/Sauce...now, sesame and ginger are two of my favorites, so I picked it up and it is 10 cal for 2 Tbsp., .5 grams fat, and it is low sodium!! I tasted it(not in the store of course!) and it is incredible!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Tayhudson:
I bought a Miso Ginger, that tastes very similar to what I have had a most of the Japanese restaurants. I will look up the name for you when I get home. It is Organic something or other.

Thanks, ladies!

P.S. I think Ken's Steak House salad dressings are AWESOME. Back when I was eating full-fat salad dressing, Ken's was my favorite line of dressings. Two of their dressings (one fat-free and one lite) are still my favorite veggie dip choices.

quote:

Originally posted by SheriaVa:
I am bummed. I found a new salad dressing the other day that looked so promising but it turned out to be disappointing.

It's Newman's Own Low Fat Sesame Ginger dressing. It only has 1.5 grams of fat (no sat or trans fat) and 35 calories. When I took off the cap to have it on my salad last night, the smell was divine...in fact, it smelled just like the dressing one of my favorite Japanese restaurants uses on its salads. Unfortunately, the taste didn't match up with the smell. It was very over-vinegary to me. The dressing that it SMELLED like (at the Japanese restaurant) is not at all vinegary, so I guess my tastebuds were ready to taste what I was used to.

I will give it another try or two (maybe I didn't shake it adequately or something) but I am really disappointed. I noticed that Ken's Steak House also had a version of this that I hadn't seen before but the numbers weren't quite as good as for this product. Has anyone tried the Ken's Steak House Lite dressing that is called something similar to this?

Sheri, This is from a post I started a while back , I copied and pasted it here, this dressing is sooo good, a bit salty even though it is low in sodium, but really awesome flavor, I buy it at Giant:

I really dislike salad dressings labeled lite,low fat, etc. They always taste weird, I have grown to sort of like Just2Good Caeser but other than that...YUK! I make my own on occasion but often get lazy and don't feel like it. So, every time I go to the store I hope there is something new in the dressing aisle. I found this bottle of Steele's Sesame Ginger Dressing/Sauce...now, sesame and ginger are two of my favorites, so I picked it up and it is 10 cal for 2 Tbsp., .5 grams fat, and it is low sodium!! I tasted it(not in the store of course!) and it is incredible!!! It is not too thick and not too thin, it would taste great on some mixed greens with grilled fish or chicken-YUM! There were other flavors too. If you have it at your store give it a try.
Jill

quote:

Originally posted by SheriaVa:
I am bummed. I found a new salad dressing the other day that looked so promising but it turned out to be disappointing.

It's Newman's Own Low Fat Sesame Ginger dressing. It only has 1.5 grams of fat (no sat or trans fat) and 35 calories. When I took off the cap to have it on my salad last night, the smell was divine...in fact, it smelled just like the dressing one of my favorite Japanese restaurants uses on its salads. Unfortunately, the taste didn't match up with the smell. It was very over-vinegary to me. The dressing that it SMELLED like (at the Japanese restaurant) is not at all vinegary, so I guess my tastebuds were ready to taste what I was used to.

I will give it another try or two (maybe I didn't shake it adequately or something) but I am really disappointed. I noticed that Ken's Steak House also had a version of this that I hadn't seen before but the numbers weren't quite as good as for this product. Has anyone tried the Ken's Steak House Lite dressing that is called something similar to this?

Sheri,
I haven't tried the Ken's (although, I really like most of their dressings.) However, I bought a Miso Ginger, that tastes very similar to what I have had a most of the Japanese restaurants. I will look up the name for you when I get home. It is Organic something or other.

Dawn

I am bummed. I found a new salad dressing the other day that looked so promising but it turned out to be disappointing.

It's Newman's Own Low Fat Sesame Ginger dressing. It only has 1.5 grams of fat (no sat or trans fat) and 35 calories. When I took off the cap to have it on my salad last night, the smell was divine...in fact, it smelled just like the dressing one of my favorite Japanese restaurants uses on its salads. Unfortunately, the taste didn't match up with the smell. It was very over-vinegary to me. The dressing that it SMELLED like (at the Japanese restaurant) is not at all vinegary, so I guess my tastebuds were ready to taste what I was used to.

I will give it another try or two (maybe I didn't shake it adequately or something) but I am really disappointed. I noticed that Ken's Steak House also had a version of this that I hadn't seen before but the numbers weren't quite as good as for this product. Has anyone tried the Ken's Steak House Lite dressing that is called something similar to this?

Every time I go to the store, Haagen Daz seems to have added MORE flavors to its Lite line. In the past month, I've tried 2 new flavors. Cookies & Cream I didn't care much for and don't think I'd get again. It's been several weeks since I had that so I can't remember why I didn't like it...mostly that it tasted bland to me. The most recent is what I think is called Vanilla Caramel Brownie. It is quite good in texture and flavor, though there is just a hint of artificialsomethingness in there that I don't taste in the other Lite flavors. The brownie pieces are chocolatey but odd shaped...large but very thin squares. I'd probably get that one again...but I've only had 1 serving so far so the jury is still out.