Kellogg's Cinnabon Snack Bars. Original, and Caramel. $3.09 per 7.8-ounce box containing six bars.
Bonnie: Kellogg's has introduced a heatable snack bar in two flavors, purportedly with the flavor and aroma of those big mall Cinnabons.
I'm here to report that my kitchen was not filled with the wonderful smell of a warm cinnamon bun after microwaving these the suggested three seconds. And the bar itself wasn't even warm. At 25 seconds, I ended up with bars with no aroma that were too hot to eat.
That said, these could save you lots of fat and calories over a real Cinnabon. To be precise, 700 calories and almost 30 grams of total fat over a giant Cinnabon, and 180 calories and almost 9 grams of fat over a mini. That is, if you find this an adequate substitute.
Me? I find the Cinnabon in all its forms eminently skippable.
Carolyn: That puts you in the extreme minority, Bonnie. One whiff of Cinnabons at a highway rest stop or in a mall and most people turn into Pavlov's dogs. Too bad Cinnabons are so darn indulgent. But these new Original flavor Cinnabon Bars from Kellogg's have shrunk Cinnabons' fat and calories down to snack-bar territory while doing an amazing job of capturing their wonderful smell and taste (again, I say in direct contradiction to Bonnie). The frosting-less Caramel variety isn't quite as tasty or as much like a Cinnabon.
Notice I didn't say anything about texture. The pastry part of these bars is closer to a dry Pop-Tart slab than a soft Cinnabon roll — which makes sense, considering that Kellogg's also makes Pop-Tarts.
In fact these new bars could have just as easily and probably even more accurately been named Pop-Tarts Cinnamon and Caramel Bars. But that wouldn't have sounded nearly so delicious.
Simply Asia Steamers. General Tso Chicken, Kung Pao Chicken, Hunan Broccoli, and Szechuan Green Beans. $1.99 per 1-ounce to 1.25-ounce packet.
Bonnie: Simply Asia recently hopped on the microwave steam-cooking train. Instead of containing all the ingredients in the bag, as in Birds Eye Steamfresh Meals for Two, Simply Asia Steamers feature a special steaming bag and seasonings — in separate parts of the same packet, which I thought a neat package-engineering feat. You supply the meat and veggies.
The taste isn't bad for a seasoning mix, although each is very salty, ranging from 330 to 520 milligrams per serving. That's not even counting the soy sauce you're supposed to include in each chicken dish. I suggest adding low-sodium soy sauce. I also recommend using boneless thighs instead of breasts, which turn out moist and flavorful after steaming, and are tastier than the breasts Simply Asia suggests.
The Szechuan Green Beans is the only variety that does not contain chemical flavor enhancers (the others have monosodium glutamate, disodium inosinate and/or disodium guanylate). I'd like to recommend it but can't, unless they fix the directions: My farm-fresh beans didn't cook completely in the time suggested.
Carolyn: If you're like me, you long ago wrote off your microwave as little more than a coffee reheater/TV dinner-maker. These new Simply Asia Steamers are a reminder of how quick and great microwave cooking can be. It's not like microwave steamer bags are anything new. McCormick has been making them for years. But the dishes McCormick's packets produce are more glutinous and processed-tasting than the ones from this gourmet brand — particularly the two Simply Asia Steamers varieties designed to be used with boneless chicken breast meat.
Simply Asia's General Tso Chicken Steamer is particularly great — both sweet and spicy. It requires only stirring soy sauce, water and sugar into the packet ingredients and nine minutes in the microwave, and it produces a meal as fresh-tasting as homemade (and much more delicious than what I could make at my home in three times the time). The Kung Pao Chicken sauce is less interesting but is almost as tasty, with the peanuts and scallions they have you add. And the chicken in both these dishes emerges fully cooked but wonderfully tender and moist (sometimes a difficult trick with breast meat).
By contrast I don't at all recommend the two Steamers for vegetables, at least not if you own a salt shaker — since salt is the main taste in those sauces.
Lucini Premium Select Extra Virgin Olive Oil EcoValue Box. $49.99 per 3-liter box.
Bonnie: I've been pretty amazed by the quality of liquids packed in airtight cardboard boxes. Seriously, I was giggling when I recently opened one of the new wines-in-a-box, thinking I had regressed back to college wine-drinking days and figuring it would be horrid. It wasn't. And it stayed fresh until the last drop.
I'm figuring that will also be true with this new Lucini Premium Select Extra Virgin Olive Oil packed in this environmentally friendly cardboard value box. I say figuring because as much as I tried, I didn't have enough time to finish a 3-liter box of oil before our writing deadline. Since the oil has been packaged just like the wines — nitrogen-flushed to remove any air left in the bag after packaging — and since the spigot is airtight, I'm guessing it will remain fresh for the promised 12 months.
If you use this much oil in a year, you'll save 50 percent over purchasing Lucini's $17 500-milliliter bottles. And this oil is every bit as rich and wonderful.
Carolyn: What a difference a few decades make. Now that hallmark of cheapo wine — the screw-top — is supposed to be superior to cork in preventing wine spoilage. And plastic-lined bulk cardboard dispensers have become respected stewards of wine and gourmet olive oil and of the environment (at least they're probably greener than comparably sized metal cans).
Still, if you're going to keep this much olive oil on hand, you'll probably use it for all kinds of cooking and eating, and you may want a cheaper brand than Lucini. My local supermarket sells some 3-liter cans of extra-virgin olive oil for about half the price of this Lucini box. Their shelf life can be extended greatly by keeping the cans in the refrigerator. (Since olive oil congeals when cold, just make sure to put it out on the counter for about 20 minutes before you're going to use it.)
I'd say Lucini's EcoValue Box is mainly for those who really know and care enough about olive oil and the environment to pay this much of a premium. And that's not me at the moment.
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.