Jordan Cooks!

It seems the Fuze brand is really taking off as of late. Despite being around for nearly a decade, this beverage is getting deeper and deeper into retail chains around the United States (perhaps the world?). Fuze drinks are sold in 500ml (1.05 Pints) per bottle and are marketed as being “refreshingly smart” and tries to bring a healthier take to a beverage market dominated by empty calories, carbonation and caffeine. So are they successful?

To a degree yes. I found the strawberry guava flavor I picked up at the market to be quite refreshing. This combination in particular interested me because it wasn’t simply a strawberry only flavor which, while popular, is kind of boring. Instead the splash of guava brings a uniqueness not found in many other fruit flavored juices. In addition, it didn’t have that sugary/fruity after taste that I despise so much and yet sports drinks, like Gatorade, so often have.

Another welcome site is the number of vitamins Fuze uses in their drinks. Each flavor has a different combination; the Strawberry Guava Fuze I had added Vitamins A, C and E as well as Potassium to the juice. Now it should be noted that the vitamins in Fuze drinks aren’t naturally occurring, they’re fortified into product using supplements. There’s actually nothing wrong with this practice, it certainly does no harm, but vitamins and minerals are almost always better absorbed by the body coming from food and felt that should be noted. Regardless, it’s nice to see a product try to better the health of their consumers and adding supplements does nothing but good for this drink and beverage industry.

The one qualm I do have with the health conscious Fuze is the copious amounts of sugar in the product, 42 grams per bottle to be exact. After water, the second and third ingredients listed are sugar and crystalline frutose respectively. Odd ingredients for a body boosting drink. Some of this is natural coming from the 5% juice but it’s still concerning to see so much sugar in one bottle. And if it wasn’t for the sugar, Fuze would be an easy recommendation for anyone and everyone. As it stands, it’s only a really tasty drink for those who don’t mind the sugar. Of course, Fuze does have a “Slenderize” line of drinks as well. They sport only 3 grams of sugar and 15 calories overall, perhaps those are the products Fuze should really be focusing on. Still, it’s nice to see a non-organic food company trying to make the world a little bit healthier.

Author’s Note: I have a few more flavors to try yet, expect to try them before to long.

Emeril’s Roasted Gaaahlic Sauce is both a disappointment and a delight. On the one hand this is one of the best store shelf pasta sauces on the market. Generous chunks of garlic and tomato mixed with familiar onion and basil flavors give this sauce a nice kick that almost all pre-made pasta sauces lack. It really doesn’t need much if anything to be delicious, although adding some fresh ingredients never hurts.

The ingredients do appear to be all natural. The list doesn’t include anything but straight forward spices and ingredients such as lemon juice, olive oil and salt along with everything previously mentioned. Nothing hydrogenated or produced chemically in a lab which are things I try to avoid in my house. This, of course, is also the reason Emeril’s sauces cost fifty cents to a dollar more then the competition, but the quality of the ingredients do justify the price difference.

Now while it’s certainly one of the best tasting pasta sauces on the market, I can’t help but feel a little disappointed mainly because I’ve tried Emeril’s tomato sauce recipes before. Recipes made from his show are going to be much better then anything you’ll buy in a jar at the store and this is true even for his products. Having Emeril’s name and photo on the jar creates some unfair expectations, so be aware this pasta sauce is good but it may not knock your socks off.

Despite my possibly unreasonable expectations, Emeril’s All Natural Roasted Gaaahlic pasta sauce is still one of the best sauces on store shelves. There’s actual seasonings to be tasted instead of the blandness that is usually expected out of store bought sauces. Also, having natural ingredients is a big plus if you ask me, and all of them together make a nice tomato sauce worthy of your purchase.

Organic food products are becoming more and more popular in the United States as many set out to have healthier lives. It’s such a trend that even Wal-Mart has strategically started carrying organic items and one of the biggest organic brands they carry is Stonyfield. Since I hadn’t heard of the brand before, I figured I’d give their low fat yogurt a try.

The first thing you’ll notice about any organic product, and this rings true with Stonyfield, is the price markup. A 32oz tub of Stonyfield low fat yogurt is about 28% more than Yoplait’s and Activia’s tub. It should also be noted that Activia’s largest container is only 24oz making it only slightly cheaper per ounce.

So what makes up the price difference and is it worth it to you? The answer to that is what’s inside the yogurt. First, being organic, Stonyfield’s yogurt is made from milk taken from cows that haven’t been subjected to antibiotics, hormones or other chemicals. Your unlikely to find that kind of guarantee from the other yogurts on the shelf. It also beats out the competition in the probiotic department sporting six live active bacteria rather than the one or two found in Activia or Yoplait.

All that healthy stuff is great but how does it taste? Well, pretty darn good if you ask me. I found Stonyfield to taste less sugary then other yogurt products. There’s still sugar added in there, particularly the vanilla flavor which has 28 grams of the stuff at 170 calories per 1 cup serving. That’s slightly better sugar wise than the competition especially when you consider there’s more potassium, calcium and other nutrients in the organic yogurt. Also note, that other brands of yogurt come in smaller serving sizes. So while Stonyfield’s Vanilla Low Fat Yogurt may seem high in calories, it’s still comparable on a per ounce basis.

Stonyfield Farm’s Plain Low Fat Yogurt looks even better on paper. Half the sugar and calories with all the same nutritional goodness. The only complaint I have is it has a strong diary taste to it similar to cottage cheese. That’s a problem I have with plain yogurt and dairy in generally however, not just Stonyfield’s yogurts. Some fresh fruit generally can mask that taste quite well if you’re like me and not a fan of the taste.

Though it costs a bit more, Stonyfield Farm’s Low Fat Organic Yogurt is well worth the price of admission if you value the holistic nature of food. It’s less sugary while being more nutritious then other brands. Also keep in mind that while I only bought and tried the tubs, which limited my flavor selection to just vanilla and plain, there are a variety of other flavors to try under the Stonyfield brand. Those are individually packaged and offer a whole new world that I plan on looking into and I hope you do too.

It’s odd, Pillsbury is typically a very good brand for quick cooking items such as this, their crescent rolls with I love come to mind. However, when it comes to their canned pizza dough they leave a lot to be desired. To me it tends to be a bland, hard texture. Pillsbury pizza dough does work if you’re in a pinch and simply need a crust, or don’t care how it tastes, but I cannot help but think you’d be better off purchasing little Totinos Pizzas for a $1.50 and adding to them rather than doctor up the Pillsbury crust. Some people I’ve seen complain that the crust gets rubbery, however, I haven’t experienced this. Instead, I find that the crust simply gets harder or stale especially if you try to eat as a leftover from the day before.

Whether you’re looking at the thin or classic crust varieties, the calories in Pillsbury pizza crust isn’t too bad. The Classic, thicker crust comes at 160 calories a serving or 960 calories for an entire roll/can. The thin crust goes a little higher at 180 calories per serving but has one less serving, making it only 900 calories. Pizza is never a low calorie affair and, assuming you’re only having a couple servings, you shouldn’t be to bad off. Still, homemade crust would probably be lighter in calories and much tastier in the end. Additionally, Pizza dough isn’t nearly as difficult to cook as other breads are. But if you don’t have the time and don’t have a favorite frozen pizza to doctor up, then Pillsbury pizza crust dough would probably be the next best thing. Just don’t expect all that much from it.