Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers. Mediterranean Inspired Balsamic Garlic Chicken, Grilled Vegetables Mediterranean, and Lemon Garlic Chicken and Shrimp; and Asian Inspired Chicken Pad Thai. $2 to $3.29 per 10-ounce frozen entree.
Bonnie: Being able to turn people on to new healthy foods is what makes this job a pleasure. Unfortunately, not all healthy foods are great.
These new Healthy Choice Mediterranean Inspired and Asian Inspired Choice Cafe Steamers, for instance, have a decent nutritional profile containing fewer than 300 calories, 6 or fewer grams of fat, at least 5 grams fiber and about a full serving or more of whole grains. But I have an issue with their bowls, which are among few Healthy Choice ones that are not made with post-consumer recycled plastic.
In addition, most are so bland I had to add hot sauces, herbs, spices and seasoned vinegars to make them palatable. And the Chicken Pad Thai — the only one with flavor — had a strong unpleasant ginger one that lingered.
The long ingredient list chock full of flavor enhancers is another reason why I can't recommend these.
Carolyn: The distinctively flavored Healthy Choice Asian Inspired Cafe Steamers were among the best new food products introduced in 2008. How does Healthy Choice's new Mediterranean Inspired Cafe Steamers sub-line measure up? For the most part unfavorably, unfortunately.
The Lemon Garlic Chicken and Shrimp, and Balsamic Garlic Chicken are not as distinctive or sharply focused as the Asian dinners. In fact, the Grecian-style Grilled Vegetables with olives and chewy grains is the only Mediterranean one I'd recommend.
But the Chicken Pad Thai, with its unusually delicious onions, authentic lemongrass flavor and not-too-creamy sauce, is another Asian Inspired winner.
Nestle Hot Cocoa Mix. Dark Chocolate, Chocolate Caramel, Chocolate Mint, and Women's Wellness. $1.99 to $2.49 per 5.9- to 7.33-ounce box of eight single-mug packets.
Bonnie: Nestle's just created four new variations of its regular hot cocoa. The dark chocolate is just that, a deep, dark chocolatey flavor. The mint and the caramel are artificially flavored and taste like it. The Women's Wellness is souped up with added iron and vitamins and the artificial sweetener Sucralose, yet still contains 12 grams sugar per cupful, or just 3 to 5 grams less than the others.
A cupful of any variety provides 80 to 100 calories, 3 grams total fat (of which 2 to 2.5 are saturated) and is an excellent source of calcium. But you could get that calcium with none of the additives that are in these Nestle mixes by making your own cocoa using skim milk.
Just mix a little milk, 2 teaspoons sugar, 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa and a pinch of salt in a small mug. Fill with skim milk and microwave on high until hot (about 1 to 11/2 minutes). For a more chocolatey version, use double the cocoa powder; for a mint-flavored one, add a drop or two of pure peppermint extract.
Carolyn: On first glance, I thought these new cocoas were merely Nestle expanding its flavor line or Nestle's version of General Foods International Coffees. It's much more. All contain less sugar and more calcium than regular cocoa mixes, although Wellness is the only flavor that touts it. Wellness is also the only flavor I'd buy — for its rich milk chocolate flavor, rather than its nutritional benefits.
The Mint is as good as it is unique (this from a mint-hater — which is why I'm not buying it, though I can recommend it). The Caramel is too fake-tasting and the Dark Chocolate not sweet enough.
Even if you're not interested in cocoa, these boxes are worth picking up for their designer's window on the contemporary female psyche. The copy and the photo on three of the four depict the fantasy of a gal building a snowman with her man — yet another reason to prefer the Wellness, showing a woman skiing cross-country on her own.
Mission Chunky Mild Salsa. $2.30 per 16-ounce jar.
Bonnie: Mission's new mild chunky salsa is for salsa wimps — that is, people who prefer a non-heat salsa. That's not me, as I prefer mine with the intense heat from either jalapeno or habanero peppers.
Mission Mild contains tomatoes, jalapenos, onion and garlic and serves up a modest 10 calories and hefty 260 milligrams sodium per 2-tablespoon serving. That's similar to Mission's medium-heat salsa, but with 50 percent more sodium. That's why I'd recommend the medium over this one.
Carolyn: I also was pretty underwhelmed by this new salsa. It's perfectly fine, but also perfectly generic-tasting. This is for people who will eat only all-natural foods (which this is). Everyone else should buy store-brand and save money for a trip to Mexico (with its real Mexican food!).
Bonnie Tandy Leblang is a registered dietitian and professional speaker. She has an interactive site (www.biteofthebest.com) about products she recommends. Follow her on Twitter: BonnieBOTB. Carolyn Wyman is a junk-food fanatic and author of "The Great Philly Cheesesteak Book" (Running Press). Each week they critique three new food items.