Bolthouse Farms - Thousand Island Yogurt Dressing

I first fell in love with Bolthouse Farms about 5 years ago, when I discovered their line of high quality juice blends. My love only continued to grow throughout the years, as I fell in love with their newer juice selections. And then finally, my love hit its peak, when I discovered their new yogurt dressings. I love creamy dressings, but can rarely find any that I like. Standard shelf stable ones tend to have a strong aftertaste to me, and I hate the ones laden with mayonnaise or corn syrup, nevermind the bizarre chemical enhancements so frequently used.

I first sampled Bolthouse Farms Thousand Island dressing about three years ago, and quickly became obsessed. Not only did I love the dressing as it was (low in fat and calories), I didn't just consider it a healthy substitute, I considered it my ideal substitute. There wasn't a single Thousand Island dressing that I preferred, which one might find strange considering the obvious differences in a high fat dressing and a yogurt based dressing.

Eventually my local grocery stores began to run out of the Bolthouse Farms dressing regularly, and I hadn't seen them in nearly a year. So I was thrilled to see them being offered at my local Whole Foods. So thrilled, that I grabbed a few bottles to have on hand (knowing full well that a refrigerated dressing would only last a few months compared to a few years). What can I say? The panic of not seeing it for another year convinced me that I could find extra uses for it.

Sadly, something tragic happened. The Thousand Island dressing was not the same. It seems that Thousand Island dressing with only 70 calories per serving (compared to 200+) was not enough for Bolthouse Farms, and they decided to continue to "healthify" their yogurt dressing line to bring the calories down more. The taste was nothing like I remembered. A light, tangy version of Thousand Island, is now replaced with a thick gloppy dressing with a flavor that is hard (if not impossible) to love. Instead of the classic Thousand Island flavor I remember so well, the new dressing tastes like....Well, tomato soup. Cold, gelatinous, tomato soup.

How Bolthouse Farms manages to believe that Tomato Soup yogurt dressing will ever be able to replace their former, glorious Thousand Island dressing, is beyond me. And quite frankly, the fact that anyone thinks this replacement is acceptable for the sake of a lousy 30 calories per serving (the new version is 35 calories per serving) is utter rubbish. AVOID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ciao Bella Prickly Pear Sorbet

I first fell in love with Ciao Bella's products about 5 years ago, when I placed an order for an online specialty foods market, which offered some of their original line. I had ordered one flavor of gelato, and one of their sorbets. Both products were far superior compared to my small town (technically city) area in New England, where local shops only offered standard ice cream flavors, and flavors like M&M and Lime Sherbet were still considered modern and exotic. And as for gelato and sorbet, forget it.

Thankfully, times have in fact changed around here, and we even have our own gelato and sorbet shops. But I still like to pick up some of the unique flavor offerings of gelato and sorbet when I shop at specialty shops and Whole Foods. So when I noticed the Prickly Pear Sorbet, I just knew I had to try it. Price be damned.

And speaking of prices, at $4.99 for a pint, the price wasn't as outrageous as some of the gelato and sorbet section of Whole Foods, but still fairly high. However, for those that are more patient that I am, Whole Foods regularly does deals for Ciao Bella's line where two items can be purchased for between $5 and $7, bringing the price for each pint to between $2.50 and $3.50 (comparable to standard grocery store prices for similar and often lesser products, not bad at all!)

When I returned home, I immediately stuck the pint in the freezer for an hour, then curiosity got the best of me. After glimpsing at the straightforward ingredients (Water, Prickly Pears, Organic Evaporated Cane Juice, Lime Juice, Pectin, Natural Flavoring.), I was even more intrigued. I absolutely LOVE the taste of prickly pear, but usually when I find it listed in juices and frozen treats, it's overpowered or diluted by other fruit flavors. That was surely not the case with this sorbet. The prickly pear taste was strong and pure, and the lime juice only complemented the flavor, and did not at all distract. 

The sorbet was the best frozen sorbet I've ever had, and even though the texture was not as fine as freshly made sorbet at the local shop (no frozen sorbet ever is), the flavor more than made up for this fact. I will definitely be buying this sorbet again, and after great success using it in smoothies and adding it to sparkling juice, I can't wait to continue to experiment with this flavor. For my fellow prickly pear lovers, I highly suggest you get to your nearest Whole Foods immediately (or whichever store in your area happens to carry this Ciao Bella flavor). 

CP Shrimp Wonton Soup

At a recent trip to Whole Foods, I quickly noticed a special display in the seafood section, which showcased many boxes of CP Shrimp Wonton Soup. I've always loved wonton soup, so I figured it would only be fair to give it a chance.

After about a month, once the weather began to chill, I finally felt like having some soup for lunch and decided to give it a try. I followed the straightforward instructions for the soup (add water to the included bowl, heat for 3 to 4 minutes in the microwave), easy enough. I didn't have much faith in this frozen soup, mostly due to my lack of faith in frozen seafood products  so my expectations were surpassed, but truthfully only slightly.

The broth for the soup was extremely bland. It wasn't as salty as I feared it might be (which seems standard for frozen soups of any kind), but it also had a lack of any sort of flavor. I also noticed there was really no spice to be seen (unlike in the photo), or at least that was the case with my bowl. However, the wontons had a perfect consistency, and the shrimp had a decent consistency that was only borderline rubbery. They also had a lovely taste, which was surprisingly sweet.

The price listed for the item was $3.50 (which was one serving with 5 large pieces), but it was on sale for $2.99. The price seems fairly standard for Whole Foods, but at a grocery store would seem like a bit of a ripoff. I also found that many wholesale stores and some grocery stores sell this in a 6 pack for around $10 (which actually would be a fairly good deal, in my opinion).

Overall, the wonton soup was nowhere near the quality of one you would receive at a Chinese or Thai restaurant, but was superior to what one would expect for a standard grocery store product. Overall, I would not buy this product again, and I would only really recommend it to those that absolutely love wonton soup, and would like to have some to keep on hand for when a restaurant visit is simply out of the question.