Yogurt Shmogurt

Review by Do:


I like yogurt. I like granola. So when I saw that Activia is now offering both in one nifty little container, I just couldn't help myself.

Boy was I pleasantly surprised! Described as "a blend of creamy lowfat yogurt, fruit pieces, and lowfat crunchy granola" the new Activia Parfait Crunch is very tasty and filling! The container has 220 calories and 3 grams of fat per 6oz, and is offered in 4 different flavors. My local grocery store only carries Vanilla and Strawberry, if it's in stock at all. I prefer the Strawberry, which has the fruit pieces, over the Vanilla, which does not.

The only complaint I have is that the container of yogurt is only half full...literally. Normally when you open a jug it's almost full; with this container, not so much. I'm not sure if they do that so there is room for you to stir in the granola or what, but it's a little deceiving. Somedays you want to eat healthy, but then again you're sooo hungry, and then you open this container and find that someone has already eaten half! Oh no...but don't worry my friends!! Like I said, it is very tasty and filling, so it is well worth the purchase.

Although Activia claims to "naturally regulate the digestive system", I do not eat it for that reason. I have had my share of activia yogurts and I never felt as though it helped me out in that "area". I eat this particular activia product because it is good, plain and simple. I hope that if you give this yogurt a try, you'll like it as much as I do. And if it does happen to 'help you out' with other things, then just think of it as a little added bonus. Enjoy!

Saucy!

So I'm walking through Publix, my favorite local grocery store, doing a bit of shopping. I was in the pasta aisle contemplating making something with red sauce and cheese. And what catches my eye but price tag, not a sauce. A price tag. $5.99 for freaking jar of sauce? You've GOT to be kidding me.

Oh, Mario Batali. That explains it.

But what makes a jar of tomato sauce worth of that kind of price? I'm not a big jarred tomato sauce person, preferring to make my own. But I'm willing to try this stuff to see if it's any good.

The jar claims the following -- no preservatives, no sugar, fresh ingredients, "imported San Marzano tomatoes and slivers of fresh garlic", and "produced in a green facility." Does it taste good?

When I opened the jar it smelled like SpaghettiOs. Um...ew. I hate SpaghettiOs. They really quite gross. Not a good sign.

I boiled some Barilla mini-farfalle pasta in one pan and dump some MB marinara into another pan. Taste. Blah. Yes, blah...as in bland. Add some kosher salt, a little basil and a pinch of Italian seasoning. Better. Acceptable. Poured on the pasta.


I added some grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Helped. I started eating. As far as store bought tomato sauce goes, it's okay. It's not a thick sauce, it's kind of watery. And then, what I feel, the cardinal sin of red sauce has happened -- there are tomato seeds in the sauce! Gross. I hate, hate, hate that! Who wants to bite into a bitter, nasty tomato seed? Fate sealed.

MB, I don't care HOW many television shows you have...your sauce sucks and it's seriously unworthy of any money, let alone $6! You can put all the buzz words on the label but if your product is bland, watery and annoying, no one will buy it.

Paul Newman's sauce is MUCH better. Hell, even my red sauce is better than that.

Double the Flavor, Double the Fun

Review by: Do

I tried some new gum this week....I know....very exciting stuff!

1.) Stride Shift - Flavor changing gum. I thought it could be really cool, like in the original 'Charlie & the Chocolate Factory' when Violet tried that experimental gum that tastes like a 3 course dinner. I was hoping for better results than she had.

The flavor I chose was citrus to mint. Well, it definitley is a citrus-y flavored gum. Not a great flavor, but tolerable. So, if I keep chewing it changes to mint, right? Okay...chew, chew chew. The only real thing I noticed was that the flavor goes from tolerable to just not good. At one point I thought I felt a bit of 'menthol' when I was breathing in air, but by that time the taste was bad and I had to throw it out. The citus is so strong, that even if it did change I probably wouldn't be able to tell.

I also had my 12-yr old son try and he agreed that it was just citrus, not mint.

End results: If you like citrus gum, give it a chew. I didn't notice any change in flavor.

2.) Rockstar Energy Gum - Iced Mint. My husband loves the Rockstar energy drinks, so when I saw this gum in the local convenient store, I couldn't pass it up. Although I bought it for my husband, I was curious too, so I tried this 'energy gum-loaded with caffeine, taurine, and B-Vitamins'.

Wow...it is definitely minty!! So far so good. But the longer I chewed, which really wasn't very long, I started to notice a funky, bitter flavor. I also didn't notice any increase in my energy level. Serving size is 2 pieces, which is equal to 80mg of caffeine. The pieces are 'giant' and I really can't imagine chewing 2 pieces at once.

My husband says it's okay to start, minty like a normal gum, flavor runs out very fast, and then the gum instantly tastes rotten (his words were a little more 'colorful'). He didn't notice any energizing effects, but then he drinks a lot of energy drinks so he didn't think that was too odd. He said he would not recommend the gum.

End results: I don't care for this gum either, and at $2.50 a pack (10 pieces) I don't think I'll be buying it again.

For now, I'll be sticking with the basics. Trident and Dentyn have never done me wrong, and I think I'll be better off chewing on them.