Kellogg's Special K for a Low Carb Lifestyle. $3.69 per 13.5-ounce box.
Bonnie: The flood of low-carb products we saw earlier in the year has finally slowed to a trickle (the presence of two such products in this single column notwithstanding). And I for one am thrilled. In addition to tasting horrid, the low-carb products often contained more calories and/or fat than the original versions. This Special K is no exception to my latter complaint. These lightly sweetened soy, wheat and rice flakes taste fine but contain 3 grams of fat a serving compared to original Special K's zero. At least Kellogg's Special K Low Carb contains 4 grams more fiber than the original. It is Special K's fiber plus its vitamins, not its low-carb status, that leads me to recommend it.
Carolyn: Kellogg's took longer to come out with its low-carb cereal than General Mills did, and it put the extra time to good use: Low-carb Special K is a lot more palatable than Total Protein. Both taste like slightly sweetened Wheaties, but you won't get TMJ eating it, as you will from eating (or should I say gnawing on?) tough-to-the-point-of-seeming-stale Total Protein.
As an eater who is primarily interested in taste, I have a slight problem with Kellogg's putting the Special K name on a cereal that has none of Special K's characteristic rice-iness. But people who regularly pass up Cap' n Crunch and Cocoa Puffs or even Post Selects to buy Total or Special K are obviously not primarily concerned with taste anyway.
Birds Eye Voila! Chicken & Sausage Tuscano, Chicken Teriyaki & Vegetables, Roasted Garlic Chicken & Vegetables, Down Home Chicken & Vegetables, Teriyaki Beef & Vegetables. $5.19 per 21-ounce bag.
Bonnie: Birds Eye designed these Voila! frozen packages of meat, vegetable and sauce with the low-carb dieter in mind. They left out rice, potatoes and pasta and packed the bags full of nutritious vegetables including broccoli, water chestnuts, carrots, corn, peas, onions, red and green bell peppers, mushrooms, green beans and even edamame (yummy uncooked soybeans).
Thank goodness these bags contain much less sauce than previous versions of Voila! The result is decent-tasting (albeit a tad salty from the additives) convenient meals, modest in calories and fat, decent in fiber, rich in vitamins and high in protein. As you can tell, I'm impressed with these new Voila! frozen entrees. But just to keep my praise in perspective, that's in comparison to the (other) frozen foods I've had to sample for this column.
Carolyn: The bad news about Birds Eye's new low-carb sub-line of Voila! frozen meal kits for non-dieters like me? These supposed one-step convenience foods actually require the extra step of making pasta or rice. The good news is that — unlike some other frozen food companies — Birds Eye didn't just literally take the starch out of some old products to make them low-carb but actually created some interesting new ones.
The beef teriyaki, for instance, is one of the only non-natural frozen food products I've ever seen to contain whole edamame. The Down Home Chicken & Vegetables contains more onion than any processed food I've ever eaten that wasn't a bag or can of onions. (Fortunately I like onions.) Overall, the meat is better, the sauces lighter and less salty, and the vegetables bigger and fresher-tasting than in Stouffer's Skillet Sensations and Green Giant Create A Meals!
Moreover, hidden within this five-item line (and this review) is one of the best-tasting frozen dinners I've ever eaten. The Chicken & Sausage Tuscano features big pieces of peppers, mushrooms, chicken and fennel-accented sausage in a delicious, medium-spicy red sauce. It is, in short, restaurant quality. I will gladly boil pasta for the chance to eat this stuff with it.
Tribe Hummus Snackers. Classic, Roasted Garlic, Roasted Red Pepper and 40 Spices. $2.39 to $2.99 per variety pack containing four, 2-ounce cups.
Bonnie: Looking for something different and nutritious to carry as a snack? Tribe Hummus now sells a variety pack with four 2-ounce containers of flavored hummus. Hummus is that Middle Eastern dip/spread made from chickpeas (also called garbanzo beans) and sesame seed paste (tahini) that's great for dipping carrots, celery or other veggies into.
Athenos Travelers is a competitive hummus snack packed with mini pitas. Tribe packs less hummus with no accompaniment. Since I'm a vegetable hummus-dipper, I like Tribe a bit better. I'd send this to school in a lunch box along with a pack of mini carrots.
Carolyn: Tribe Hummus Snackers' big disadvantage compared to Athenos Travelers is that it comes without accompaniment.
Its advantages include a lower price (up to a third less than Travelers, all of which is going toward the hummus) and slightly smaller serving size. That's an advantage? For most people, yes, because when the snack tastes as good as these do, there is no such thing as not eating the whole thing.
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