Nature Valley Sweet & Salty Nut Granola Bars. Peanut, and Almond. $2.89 per 7.4-ounce box containing six bars.
Bonnie: When is a granola bar really a candy bar? When it's ounce-for-ounce nearly identical to a Snickers in calories and fat, like these new Sweet & Salty Nut Granola Bars from Nature Valley. Despite their sugary almond or peanut butter coating, candy-like base and sweet name, these contain less sugar than Snickers. They also contain twice the sodium on an ounce-for-ounce basis and are half the size of a Snickers.
Do I recommend them? Only the peanut butter variety because I disliked the off-taste of the almond coating, and only if you're looking for a half-sized nutty candy.
Carolyn: At first glance I thought these new Sweet & Salty bars were Nature Valley's version of Planters Peanut Candy. While these might appeal to the same people, the crystallized sugar mortar of a Planters bar's holds the nuts together much better than Sweet & Salty's frosting base. Sweet & Salty is also nuttier and not as sweet as most granola bars.
Abundance of nuts aside, these probably most resemble candy-coated Kudos. Lacking Snickers' heft, these Sweet & Salty bars go down really fast and easy. If you're like me, you'll have to struggle not to eat the entire box at a single sitting.
Dannon Light 'n Fit With Fiber Nonfat Yogurt. Strawberry, Peach and Apple. $2.19 per multipack of four 4-ounce cups.
Bonnie: Fiber. It's what our grandmothers called roughage and what our government suggests we eat more of. In fact, you should be getting 14 grams of fiber with each 1,000 calories you eat.
A fiber-rich diet is beneficial for many reasons, including reduced risk of heart disease and certain cancers, improved GI functions (including laxation, my apologies to the squeamish), and possibly a lowered risk of type 2 diabetes.
To help you get more fiber, Dannon has added 3 grams of maltodextrin (a water-soluble fiber made from cornstarch) to its mini-size, artificially sweetened Light 'n Fit yogurt. This is especially good for those who don't get enough fiber from other sources, such as beans, grains, and fresh fruits and vegetables. I only wish Dannon would also add fiber to its regular yogurt for those of us who dislike the artificial sweetener Splenda.
Carolyn: I know some people think I hate all better-for-you foods. I actually think I'm pretty open-minded about them. If something can be done to a food product to improve its nutrition without noticeably hurting the taste, then I'll be the first in line to buy.
That's how I feel about this new Light 'n Fit With Fiber — about the Splenda in it, at least. I've long since adapted to its taste and have grown to appreciate the extra number of real-sugar desserts I can consume without weight gain, thanks, in part, to its calorie savings.
Dannon has boosted the fiber in this yogurt not with the logical and natural (and more expensive?) addition of more fruit, but with high-tech maltodextrin, which compromises this yogurt's texture. This isn't as rich and creamy as Dannon Light 'n Fit Creamy, for instance, the sub-line of this brand that I still favor. But this certainly isn't bad.
Lightlife Smart Meals. BBQ, Chili and Tex Mex. $3.29 per 6- to 10-ounce microwavable bag.
Bonnie: These three new Lightlife microwaveable foods may please the palate, but they confuse the mind. The Nutrition Facts on the Chili suggests a 1-cup portion, and both the BBQ and Tex Mex both suggest a quarter-cup. Yet they're all basically seasoned "ground beef" made from vegetable protein. I'd say each bag serves one.
All three have an odd texture — one that's a bit crunchy and/or chewy — but that's common for "meat" made from vegetable protein. They are, though, quite nicely seasoned. The Tex Mex, for instance, is hot, sweet and spicy all at once and tastes fine when eaten as a dip with tortilla chips, which help mask the texture.
Nutritionally, they're also decent. All three contain zero fat and cholesterol, and at least 3 grams of fiber (assuming a single bag as a serving size). The Chili contains an impressive 12 grams, or about half the daily recommended intake. All three are pretty hefty when it comes to sodium, containing up to half the sodium limit for a day. So if you eat the Tex Mex with tortilla chips, as I did, make sure they're unsalted.
Carolyn: Lightlife Smart Meal pouches are natural, nonmeat alternatives to the refrigerated tubs of pre-cooked, pre-seasoned heat-and-eat meat that have become increasingly common in supermarket refrigerator cases. The main difference, besides the lack of meat, is Lightlife's single-serve packaging (although the BBQ and Tex Mex packaging specifies fantasy servings of three portions).
I wouldn't want to share the misery of Lightlife's tough and stringy Smart BBQ with anyone I liked. Intentional or not, this company has successfully duplicated the texture of cheap meat. The Smart Tex-Mex burrito filling had an unpleasant soy aftertaste (a problem not shared by Smart BBQ, Smart Chili or similar dishes I've made with Boca or Green Giant Harvest Burger for Recipes soy crumbles).
Only the Chili is truly a smart purchase. My main complaint is the small serving size — in other words, it was good enough to leave me wanting.
Bonnie Tandy Leblang is a registered dietitian and professional speaker. Carolyn Wyman is a junk-food fanatic and author of "Better Than Homemade: Amazing Foods That Changed the Way We Eat (Quirk). Each week they critique three new food items. © Universal Press Syndicate