Popsicle Lemon/Lime Shots. $2.99 per 13.2-ounce box containing six tubes. Also available in 3.2-ounce single-serve cup.
Bonnie: Fun. Just pure fun is what these tiny lemon-lime ice beads are. Tear open the top and shake as many beads as you can eat at a time into your mouth. You'll need a napkin only if you start laughing (a definite possibility if this is the first time you've experienced a beaded frozen confection).
My one complaint: Why did Popsicle compromise the taste by adding artificial sweeteners along with sugar? Dieters can't be the primary market for Shots, and even if they were, regular water ices are hardly high-calorie.
Carolyn: Here's a frozen novelty worthy of the name. Popsicle Shots debuted in ice cream form under the name Dippin' Dots at malls and fairs, where they're still sold for a cool $2 to $3 per 5-ounce serving. That's partly because those little pellets are frozen and stored at 40 degrees below zero — something that a home freezer treat such as Popsicle Shots obviously is not. That makes these a lot more affordable. Whether cryogenic freezing improves or detracts from ice cream's taste is a matter of debate. And the most interesting thing about Dippin' Dots is its bead form anyway. It makes Dippin' Dots and Popsicle Shots less messy than a dripping ice cream cone or Popsicle, unless you spill them and they scatter all over the floor. Then they're messier.
Buitoni Mixed Cheese Tortellini. $4.99 per 20-ounce package.
Bonnie: What's not to like about Buitoni's family-size cheese-filled tortellini? This is a five-serving tray of regular and spinach tortellini. Both are filled with a blend of ricotta, Romano and Parmesan cheese. That cheese serves up the calcium of a half glass of milk.
For a quick, colorful dinner, toss these with a splash of olive oil or a dollop of butter, and sprinkle with lots of freshly grated Parmesan cheese, or top with some lycopene-rich tomato or other favorite sauce. Just add a salad and bread, and you'll have dinner on the table in about 10 minutes!
Carolyn: I'll tell you what's not to like, Bonnie: Companies that make a lot of noise about nothing. The "new thing" about these is the mix of spinach tortellini with the less interesting plain tortellini. Since the spinach does taste better, this is a change of dubious appeal. Moreover, identifying the blend of cheeses in either tortellini is difficult to impossible with the slim amounts offered here. In short, these all need more cheese.
Kellogg's Rice Krispies Popcorn Krunch. Regular, and Cocoa. $2.29 per 5-ounce bag.
Bonnie: Popcorn is generally quite a healthy snack. It's high in fiber, pretty low in calories (2 cups can contain as little as 100 calories) and contains no sugars. These marshmallow and Rice Krispies-coated popcorn treats are another story entirely — an odd and sweet one, at that.
Both the cocoa and regular versions contain about 400 calories and 1/4 cup of sugar, or more sugar than a can of Coke. What in the world were the folks at Kellogg thinking?
Bonnie/Carolyn: I'll tell you what they were thinking, Bonnie. They were thinking they could squeeze another new food product success out of the Rice Krispies Treats idea. But Rice Krispies Popcorn Krunch is only peripherally related to that popular snack. Regular Rice Krispies Popcorn Krunch is actually sweetened popcorn decorated with just enough Rice Krispies cereal to add crispness but not enough to taste like rice. In other words, it's Cracker Jack without the peanuts or prize, and a marshmallow rather than caramel candy mortar.
The Cocoa variety is made with Cocoa Rice Krispies, but because of its crispy texture, it more closely resembles Cocoa Puffs. In other words, it's even better than the Regular, although a few mini chocolate chips would have made it even more of a treat.
Bonnie Tandy Leblang is a registered dietitian and creator of Express Lane Cooking: A Simple Solution to What's for Dinner (Universal Press Syndicate). Carolyn Wyman is a junk-food fanatic and author of "Jell-O: A Biography" (Harvest/Harcourt). Each week they critique three new food items. © Universal Press Syndicate