Mexican Hot Pockets Sandwiches. Three Cheese & Chicken Quesadilla, Beef Taco, and Lean Pockets Steak Fajita. $2.69 per 9-ounce box containing two frozen sandwiches.
Bonnie: Stuffed sandwiches head south of the border with these new Mexican-flavored varieties. The quesadilla and the taco Hot Pockets exploded with flavor compared to the Lean Pockets Steak Fajita. For that huge a taste difference, or shall I say lack of flavor, you'd save only about 50 calories and 5 grams of fat. It's not worth it.
If you do choose to buy these, take the time to cook the Hot Pockets sandwiches in a toaster or conventional oven instead of the microwave and get a crisp, more appetizing crust.
Carolyn: The fillings in these Hot Pockets taste unmistakably south-of-the-border, and the meat is tender (probably because it's all been reconstituted into perfect cubes). But I have a more fundamental problem with them: Quesadillas, tacos and fajitas are three foods that are defined by their bread "holders." So the distinct identities of these different Mexican specialties are largely lost when they're all encased in the self-same Hot Pockets pastry.
Rocamojo Roasted Soy Coffee Alternative. Regular, and Blend. $8 to $11 per 1-pound package. Available in some stores, online at www.rocamojo.com, or by calling 866-372-6879.
Bonnie: Every time I thought of brewing this coffee alternative, I recalled the company spokesperson who had praised my adventurousness for being willing to try it. That praise certainly made me question the wisdom of my willingness. I was right to be skeptical: All I could swallow of this brewed beverage was a sip, and I almost choked on that. Even cream didn't help.
I must tell you that a cup of Rocamojo runneth over nutritionally with B vitamins, iron, calcium, lots of soy protein (obviously) and even lots of fiber. That is if you can swallow more than a sip. Starbucks and other coffee lovers should avoid this. Those who drink chicory coffee — that caffeine-free herb coffee substitute that's popular in the South — might want to try it.
Carolyn: What better time than April Fools' week to try one of the craziest new products we've seen in a while. Rocamojo soy coffee is no joke. It's also not as bad as Bonnie may have led you to believe. It is quite acidic, but so is tea. That's why I think some tea-drinkers might like it. (And I've certainly had coffee at least as bad as this at some convenience stores.) All of this refers specifically to Rocamojo Blend, a mix of roasted ground soy and roasted ground coffee.
However, the all-soy, caffeine-free regular Rocamojo is a bit more, let us say, palate-challenging. I'm not sure what made Rocamojo creator Ron Marinaro think roasted soy would make a good coffee all by its lonesome (damaged taste buds, perhaps?).
The name Rocamojo is an amalgamation of Ron's and his wife's first names plus mojo — as in hot "joe" you'd want "more" of. But neither is true. If you must up your soy intake, have veggie burgers or the benign Soy 7 Pasta we wrote about late last year.
Kellogg's Disney Chocolate Mud & Bugs Cereal. $3.19 per 12-ounce box.
Bonnie: Add milk to Mud & Bugs cereal and you get bug-shaped marshmallows floating in the "mud" created when you add milk to the cocoa puffs. I'm sure kids will find this fun, but it's not the kind of food that will keep you going for a full morning — or for a lifetime.
A new study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition says that eating a whole-grain breakfast cereal, rather than a refined-grain or sugary one like Mud & Bugs, might be one of the easiest ways to lengthen life. The study shows that men who eat about one serving per day of whole-grain cereal are up to 20 percent less likely to die from heart disease or other causes than men who rarely eat whole-grain cereals.
I just wish the folks at Kellogg's would realize that lifelong eating habits begin in childhood and that putting cartoon characters on some low-sugar whole-grain cereals might mean kids who are alive to keep buying their cereal up to 20 years longer.
Carolyn: Ralston used to be THE source of cereals created specifically to exploit the latest toy or cartoon. Now that Ralston has left the cereal business, Kellogg's has assumed that dubious mission. Its latest is Chocolate Mud & Bugs. It's based on the Timon and Pumbaa characters from "The Lion King" cartoon. The concept is for kids to ferret marshmallow bugs out of the chocolate-milk mud just as their favorite meerkat did. I say this is just a disgusting new way to think about eating Count Chocula.
Bonnie Tandy Leblang is a registered dietitian and professional speaker. 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