Enjoy Life cranapple crunch granola - vegan, parve CRC

I am convinced that there is only one factory making healthy granolas and breakfast cereals in all of North America. I am exaggerating, of course, but after trying many brands from both health food stores and supermarkets, I have come to a few conclusions.

In general, healthy cereals are

• very poor value, a lot of box with less inside that you think
• mostly mixtures of flakes, granola clusters and grains that appear in other cereal boxes and bulk bins
• do not taste so good
• are mostly not wheat and wheat gluten free.
  

I decided to give up wheat and dairy this past week and I think I see an improvement in my health, so I am looking for wheat free foods. It's tough after a lifetime of stuffing my face with bread, cake and pasta to go cold turkey, but if it helps, it's worth it. I will be focusing on wheat free and gluten free for a while in my reviews.

This product really does seem to be home made! Uneven chunks of reasonably good tasting chewy, but not crunchy cereal. I can almost believe the story on the box about someone's mother inspiring the line of wheat free cereals and baked goods. Expensive, a bit to chewy for my taste, I prefer dry and crunchy, but good. I rate this 3.5 out of 5. (My first half point)

Kosher supervision by the Chicago Rabbinical Council. Check out their web site for easy to read lists of what is kosher and what is not. It is especially valuable for lists of liquors and alcoholic drinks.

Aroma NetCafe Is Now Kosher-Certified

News from New York. I still have faith. Really. Even after reading this.

parshablog: Aroma NetCafe Is Now Kosher-Certified

Seven of the Deadliest Delicacies

Poisonous or dangerous food is considered a special delicacy by some cultures in several parts of the world. In most cases, a nice feast may turn into a deadly game of Russian roulette.

I know this is off the official subject, but please consider the following point. A kosher and or vegetarian diet could save you from some of these fatally attractive foods!

read more | digg story

Viva Sundried Tomato & Basil Vegetable Chips – MK

I stumbled across this tasty snack in an Air Canada Maple Leaf lounge. The Viva chips are designated MK (Montreal Kosher) and are parve. The packaging on the Viva Sundried Tomato & Basil Vegetable Chips (French before English) may mean these chips are only available in Quebec as I haven't seen them in any stores around where I live. However, according to the manufacture's web site (www.yum-yum.com), they are distributing them through 70 distribution points (59 in Quebec, 6 in Ontario, 5 in Atlantic Provinces) in Canada as well as in Venezuela, Cuba and some countries in Central America, which isn't good news for the USA. The good news is if you see them you should buy them.

These chips have a very subtle flavour which is truly targeted at adults. Their texture is much softer than a standard potato chip, but it still has a nice crunch. According to my wife "They're great! And you will want to let it melt on your tongue like a cheesie", and she isn't easily impressed by chips.

As to the healthy side of snacking there wasn't any except for a bit of fibre, but after all these are chips and who eats chips for health reasons. The packaging claims “Natural Ingredients”. A quick scan of the 16 ingredients didn't reveal anything I didn't recognize or couldn't pronounce.

I gave their manufacture's web site a quick scan only to discover that these chips come in three additional flavours (pesto, original and herb). You can rest assured I'll be keeping my eyes open for these flavours as well.

These chips rate a 5 out 5 on our ever changing scale.

Kitov Lite Microwave Popcorn OU Parve

Most people love popcorn. Popcorn is a healthy snack, providing you don't drown it in butter or cook it in saturated fat. For health reasons, I prefer using a hot air popper, but the convenience of microwave popcorn can't be brushed aside. Most brands of microwave popcorn are either not designated as kosher, contain dairy extracts or are simply designated as kosher dairy. When I stumbled across Kitov Lite Microwave Popcorn, I thought I'd discovered a real gem.

First, this product contains no dairy and is certified parve (ideal for those of us who are lactose intolerant or like popcorn after a meat meal). Secondly it claims to have 50% less fat than the regular version and no cholesterol. Is this too good to be true?

Well it is the cooking and tasting that really counts. The package popped perfectly with the usual amount of unpopped kernels. Now to the taste! It was good, but not outstanding as it was bit on the salty side. My 6 and 8 year olds liked it, but said they preferred the hot air popped version they were used to.

The ingredients read simply: popcorn, partially hydrogenated soybean oil and salt. The packaging also proclaims no Trans Fats, but this microwave popcorn still has 3% (0.5g) of Saturated fat. Well nothing is perfect.

All in all, it was tasty and measured up to other microwave popcorns. If you want the buttery taste (and the calories that go with it) on your popcorn, you

Most people love popcorn. Popcorn is a healthy snack, providing you don't drown it in butter or cook it in saturated fat. For health reasons, I prefer using a hot air popper, but the convenience of microwave popcorn can't be brushed aside. Most brands of microwave popcorn are either not designated as kosher, contain dairy extracts or are simply designated as kosher dairy. When I stumbled across Kitov Lite Microwave Popcorn, I thought I'd discovered a real gem.

First, this product contains no dairy and is certified parve (ideal for those of us who are lactose intolerant or like popcorn after a meat meal). Secondly it claims to have 50% less fat than the regular version and no cholesterol. Is this too good to be true?

Well it is the cooking and tasting that really counts. The package popped perfectly with the usual amount of unpopped kernels. Now to the taste! It was good, but not outstanding as it was bit on the salty side. My 6 and 8 year olds liked it, but said they preferred the hot air popped version they were used to.

The ingredients read simply: popcorn, partially hydrogenated soybean oil and salt. The packaging also proclaims no Trans Fats, but this microwave popcorn still has 3% (0.5g) of Saturated fat. Well nothing is perfect.

All in all, it was tasty and measured up to other microwave popcorns. If you want the buttery taste (and the calories that go with it) on your popcorn, you'll have to melt your own butter or margarine and pour it on top. On our rating scale it gets a 4 out of 5.

ll have to melt your own butter or margarine and pour it on top. On our rating scale it gets a 4 out of 5.

Healthy Delites: Star-K parve

It looks good. It comes in three or four varieties. We have tried the spinach and zucchini souffles and there is at least one more. It is convenient. Individual souffles ready to heat and eat. All natural ingredients, not organic but a short list of recognisable ingredients. And they have been on sale in local supermarkets for the last few weeks.

The downside is that this product most closely resembles a Passover kugel left in the freezer from last year. In case you don't know, a kugel is a baked pudding of noodles, bread or vegetables. On Passover a main ingredient is matzo. If done well and fresh, it can be great. My wife's spaghetti squash kugel is sublime. Healthy Delites' version is clearly well intentioned, it just does not live up to the picture and the promise on the package. The two that we tried were soggy, and really tasted like old matzo. On our scale, a record low score of one out of five.

Kosher supervision is by the Star-K, one of the very best websites for basic information on things kosher. Their magazine, Kashrus Currents is full of very informative articles. (The second symbol on the package is too small to read.)

Hungry for some certainty - The Boston Globe

I AM sitting at the breakfast table taking my medicine. This drug is a cup of coffee formerly identified by its native and urban origins: Sumatra and Peet's. But now it has been declared good for what might eventually ail me, if what might ail me is Parkinson's disease or colon cancer. Coffee has also been praised as a prevention ...

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Mehadrin Leben - dairy, kosher milk

We are nuts about vanilla in our house. The flavour and the scent just make us happy. I gave up dairy products a while back and this is something I really miss. The plain unflavoured and chocolate varieties were my favourites.

Leben is an Israeli style of yogurt. Vanilla leben is a variation on vanilla yogurt. It has a different texture, most likely a different bacterial culture is used to make it. Almost all the ingredients are straightforward - milk, cream and sugar plus natural and artificial flavours. The artificial stuff is most likely imitation vanilla, but if you want to be careful about what you eat, this is clearly something to watch out for.

On our scale, this rates a 5 out of 5.

Note on kosher milk. The Hebrew term Cholov Yisroel, also spelled Chalav Yisroel, refers to milk and milk products that was supervised by a Rabbi from the time of milking. This extra certification is to insure that milk from an non-kosher animal is not mixed in with the cows' milk. There is some history that is worth reading about as well as some spiritual elements.

Kraft Horseradish Sauce - OU parve

Jews love chrain. Red horseradish sauce made with beets, or stronger and white without the beets added. It is a European condiment that goes well with gefilte fish. A traditional Sabbath food served as a first course.

Everything has a meaning, take a look at the Wikipedia article. It would do us a lot of good to think about what we eat, it's history and what it can mean on a symbolic level.

We love spicy hot sauces in our house. Chrain has to be hot and strong enough to clear your head. So this is a surprising favourite chez nous. Kraft horseradish sauce is a mixture of strong chrain and mayonaise. It strikes a good balance of mild and spicy flavours at the same time. I love it with gefilte fish and on a salami sandwich.

The ingredients are not organic or even natural, but I can read the label without a degree in chemistry. These days that's rare, especially with a major manufacturer. It is also 100% dairy free, certified by the OU. On our highly subjective scale, 4 out of 5.