TOPSY TURVY CAKE PANS

If you're a fan of "Cake Boss" and "Ace of Cakes," and some of the battle-of-the-bakeries TV shows, you've seen umpteen fancy cakes.  One trendy style is the lopsided Topsy Turvy cake.  If you wanted to make your own, it could be quite a task slicing the cake layers into lopsided pieces and fitting them for a tilted effect.  A company called Petal Crafts has developed the Petal Crafts Topsy Turvy Cake Pan to take some of the hassle out of making it.   A set of four pans measures 6 inches, 8 inches,10 inches and 12 inches in diameter, with a height of 2 1/2 to 3 inches per pan. Petal Crafts Topsy Turvy Cake Pan™ can be purchased with a round or square form. The round pan retails for $85.95 and the square pan for $99.95. Professional bakers should contact the company for wholesale pricing. Information is at www.topsyturvycakepans.com.  Now if they would just come up with an easy way decorate it, I might try it!

KETTLE BRAND'S NEW REDUCED-FAT CHIPS

I've mentioned before in this blog that I'm a fan of Kettle Baked Chips.  I think they are the best low-fat potato chip out there (isn't that kind of an oxymoron; a potato chip that's low-fat?)  I like them because they are real potato slices with none of the pre-fab texture of other baked brands.  They have 65 percent less fat that regular potato chips — three grams of fat, two grams of fiber and 120 calories per serving. The only problem is that old "betcha can't eat just one" saying. Hard to stop until the whole bag is gone. I'd be addicted, except they sell for around $3.49 per 4-ounce bag. I can't afford them except as an occasional treat.


Now Kettle has come out with a new line of reduced-fat chips, a happy medium between their thick, crunchy regular chips, and the Baked style. I tried a sample of the new chips, which boast 40 percent less fat than regular. 


To me, these reduced-fat chips taste nearly identical to the regular version — very fatty and indulgent.  They're 130 calories per serving, with 6 grams of fat. The Sea Salt flavor is already on grocery shelves; Salt & Fresh Ground Pepper and Sea Salt & Vinegar Krinkle Cut will be out in August. The suggested retail is $3.49 per 8-ounce bag, which makes them half the price of the baked line. 

I still like the baked line of chips better. I eat regular chips so rarely that I've become accustomed to the taste and texture of a less greasy chip. But if you already eat regular chips often, and want to painlessly cut back on the fat, this would be the way to do it. 

PLAY & FREEZE ICE CREAM MAKER

I've been waiting to try out the Mega Ball Play & Freeze Ice Cream Maker, but Northern Utah hasn't had much ice cream weather.  This is the first Memorial Day that I can remember where it snowed!

Grandson Anthony Balducci with the ice cream maker.    Photo by Valerie Phillips

The weather forced us to call off our camping trip, and our family ended up having an indoor picnic Sunday afternoon.  So it seemed a good time to try out a new ice cream gadget.

Every so often companies will send me products to try out. About a month ago, I received a big blue hard-plastic ball in the mail. It reminded me of a space ship, or a soccer ball on steroids, but it's  an ice cream maker.  You put cream, vanilla and sugar in the middle cyclinder, and surround it with ice and rock salt. Then you're supposed to "play" with the ball, pass it around, let everyone roll it or shake it, until the cream freezes.  

Grandson Anthony with the ice cream maker.     Photo by Valerie Phillips

I gave it to my 9-year-old grandson, Anthony, and my son Lonn, to move around.  They first tried kicking it, but it's too heavy  -- about 9 pounds when full of ice and cream. And there's a warning on the box not to kick or throw it hard, because the ball could break. So could your toe!

Partially frozen ice cream.            Photo by Valerie Phillips

After about a 20 minutes, Anthony and Lonn had lost interest, so I opened up the canister to check.  the cream was thickening around the walls of the canister, but still soft in the middle.  I stirred it up as the directions advised, then resealed the canister.  We rolled and shook it around for about 15 more minutes, until it was the consistency of soft-serve ice cream. We could have waited longer to see if it would harden more, but everyone was getting hungry just to try it. It tasted great; more like a milkshake.

 This is a fun novelty and a conversation starter for a party, especially when the guests ask, "What can I do to help?" 

And it would be good for camping, when you need to kids to burn off some energy and stay busy.  But since it only makes a quart (four cups) of ice cream, it won't feed too many people.  In the future,  I'll use my electric ice cream maker as well as the Mega-Ball so we'll have plenty of ice cream to go around.  

Depending on where you buy it, the Mega-Ball Ice Cream Maker costs around $20- $25. There's also a smaller version, but it only makes 2 cups of ice cream. 

HEALTHIER FROZEN YOGURT

People are saying "yo" to frozen yogurt again, and shops are springing up all over the country.


Frozen yogurt, like Lean Cuisine and Jenny Craig, got its start in the 1980s when Americans embraced it as a low-fat alternative to ice cream. But like leg warmers and Jane Fonda workouts, the frozen yogurt fad waned over the years.

Now the creamy treat is riding the probiotics popularity wave, touting a hip, healthy vibe and, in many cases, self-service. The resurgence has prompted the 30-year-old TCBY (a.k.a. "The Country's Best Yogurt") to give itself a makeover. The Salt Lake City-based company says you can lose the guilt and gain some health benefits with its "Super Fro-Yo" frozen dessert announced this week. A serving is touted to contain: 

·   A minimum of three grams of fiber

·   A minimum of four grams of protein

·   A minimum of seven types of probiotics

·   A minimum of 20% daily value of vitamin D

·   A minimum of 20% daily value of calcium

·   A minimum of 20 billion live and active cultures per serving at manufacturing

It's about 120 calories per serving with one gram of fat. 

Probiotics is a nutrition buzzword, as the "live and active cultures" in yogurt are thought to  help digestion and boost the immune system. Yogurt gets its tart taste from lactic acid, a result of the microorganisms fermenting milk.

But not all products actually contain the live healthy microorganisms. Some frozen-yogurt makers use heat-treated yogurt, which kills the live and active cultures, or they may simply add in cultures to the mix along with acidifiers, and skip the fermentation step all together, according to the National Yogurt Association. The NYA offers a "Live & Active Cultures" seal to products containing at least 100 million living lactobacillus and streptococcus bacteria per gram. Consumers can look for the seal in signs or packaging when they stop in at their neighborhood yogurt shop.

Of course, all that goodness is probably mitigated if you bury it in crushed candy bars and fudge sauce.  

Biggest Loser Versus Weight Watchers Meals

 Since Lean Cuisine showed up 30 years ago, the number of diet-wise frozen meals has continued to expand. Now The Biggest Loser TV Show is has put its label on a line of Simply Sensible refrigerated entrees.

 Weight Watchers is expanding its Smart Ones frozen line with more breakfast and dessert items.

I tried several of the BL Simply Sensible entrees.  The Zing Chicken was great — slices of boneless chicken breast with a sweet-and-sour sauce, with ginger giving it a spicy “zing.”  One package actually offers about two servings at 230 calories each. But since  each serving is just one cup, it might be easy to eat the whole 17-ounce package in one sitting. You  get 16 grams protein and three grams dietary fiber, and a fair amount of vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium and iron per serving. I also liked the Beef Tips and Rice, which had a rich beefy flavor and brown rice. Neither dinner tasted diet-y.

To me, a major drawback is that the meal components are in separate plastic pouches that you vent, microwave and then combine. So if you’re taking this to work as a lunchtime meal to pop in the microwave, you'll need to bring along a bowl or plate.  Also,  you are supposed to add one cup of fresh steamed vegetables in order to make it a meal. I had some shredded cabbage in the refrigerator, and it worked great mixed with the Zing Chicken’s Asian-flavors. 

But the reason a lot of people buy a “healthy” entree is to get some vegetables in their diet without having to peel, slice or cook them. If you’re taking this as a workday lunch, you’d have to pack veggies and cook them in the company break room.  I suppose it’s hard for these dinner manufacturers to keep broccoli or asparagus looking appetizing in a refrigerated sauce. But I really think more veggies should be included in these entrees.

Simply Sensible’s $6.99 suggested retail price seems steep, although you are supposed to get two one-cup servings, which makes it about $3.50 per serving.  

Weight Watchers’ new Morning Express meals include French Toast with Turkey Sausage for 280 calories and 14 grams of protein  — seven points in Weight Watchers’ new PointsPlus program. The Egg Sausage and Cheese Wrap of scrambled egg whites, sausage, vegetables and cheddar cheese in a soft tortilla is  240 calories, 11 grams of protein, and a PointsPlus value of six. The suggested retail price of these is $3.09.  I tried the WW brand Chocolate Fudge Brownie Sundaes, which have chunks of real-tasting brownie, for 140 calories and 2.5 grams of fat per serving. Each serving has a PointsPlus value of 4. 

WW has a variety of other products — muffins, string cheese, crackers and cookies, etc. If you’re on the Weight Watchers program, the advantage of is that the “points” are already calculated for you. The drawback is that they are pricey, unless you can find them on sale. 

My main complaint with so many “healthy” meals and desserts — Healthy Choice, Lean Cuisine, SmartOnes, and so on — is that the portions seem so small! And the entrees are usually heavy on starches, and lighter on veggies and protein. But there are recent improvements, such as more meals with brown rice or whole-grain pasta, and some boast that they offer two full servings of veggies.  And, most of these go on sale fairly regularly. I wouldnt' buy them otherwise. 

Two of my favorites are Lean Cuisine's meatless Butternut Squash Ravioli, and Chicken With Basil Cream Sauce.  But, I rarely eat any frozen entrees now that I'm working from home.

I’d like to hear what everyone else thinks — what’s your favorite frozen entree?

Whole Foods Diet Delights

I've often heard complaints about the prices at Whole Foods — some people refer to the store as "Whole Paycheck."

But tonight, I found a great deal tonight on Kettle Brand baked potato chips, which are would be addicting if they weren't so expensive. At my local Smith's store, a 4-ounce bag of these chips is usually $3.49.  The Whole Foods at Trolley Square had them on a special for two bags for $4 -- just $2 each.
I'm in Weight Watchers mode right now, and Kettle Baked are my not-too-guilty pleasure when I have the munchies.  They have 65 percent less fat that regular potato chips, but are made from real slices of potato rather than molded potato mush as other low-fat potato chips seem to be. Each serving also has three grams of  fat, two grams of fiber and 120 calories.  The only problem is that old "betcha can't eat just one" saying. Hard to stop until the whole bag is gone.

How does the Whole Foods price on these chips compare with other stores besides Smith's? I don't know, because I've never been able to find them at other grocery stores where I shop, such as  Harmons, Fresh Market or Bowman's in Kaysville.

I can't say much about the rest of Whole Foods' regular prices, as I don't shop there often enough to really be familiar with them.  But if you're a Kettle Baked fan, stock up now while the sale is on. I did!