This product is a HIT!

This Blissful Banana Ginger Curry is a sweet tasting, not too spicy blend of banana, coconut milk and ginger. It would taste great over fish or shrimp or other mild seafood like tilapia or sole. While the label says "medium," I really found it to need a little more kick. Retails for $6.99.

Curry Love Blissful Banana Ginger Curry Sauce
Los Angeles CA
888 635 8886
www.mycurrylove.com



Honey Ridge Farms Wild Blackberry Honey

This product is a HIT!

By now everyone knows about the possible disappearance of the honey bees. And did you know that if they disappear about 1/3 of the products on the supermarket shelves would have to be reformulated? This Wild Blackberry Honey comes from the Northwest; the blackberries are from Oregon and Washington. The flavor of the blackberries does not overpower the honey and it's a really nice alternative to just plain honey. Save the bees! Retails for $9.98 - $10.98.

Honey Ridge Farms
Bush Prairie, WA
360 256 0086
www.honeyridgefarms.com


PureVia Sweetener

This product is a HIT!

By now you must know that I'm a big fan of stevia; it is an all-natural, zero-calorie sweetener that comes from the stevia plant. PureVia is another brand who wants to make it as convenient for us to use stevia as those artificial sweeteners. One package is the equivalent of 2 tablespoons of sugar. The taste and sweetness are great and the texture is just like real sugar. Retails for $3.99.

Whole Earth Sweetener Company, LLC
Chicago, IL
800 824 2334
www.purevia.com



Hodgson Mill Apples and More Muesli

Remember when the only place you could buy health foods was from a hippie-owned store that was usually located in a run-down shopping center? Well, times have changed and there are more healthy offerings and places to buy healthy foods than ever before. Hodgson Mill makes great products, so what happened here? Their new Apples and More Muesli, while loaded with all-natural ingredients and certainly great nutrition, has practically no taste. Just one bite gave me a flash back to the early '70s, when good-for-you foods had no flavor. Retails for $3.95.

Hodgson Mill, Inc
Effingham, IL
800 525 0177
www.hodgsonmill.com



GarLic It! Sliced Garlic Savory Basil Flavor

This product is a HIT!
I love this product, and it is a hit. It's crunchy, marinated, sliced garlic. This flavor is savory basil with a touch of anchovy and is delicious to eat right out of the jar, or to cook with. Just imagine cooking a plate of spaghetti and then adding this right before you serve. And most importantly, this garlic is grown in Washington State and not in China, as much of our garlic is these days. Retails for $7.99.

One Far Star
Bellevue, WA
425 999 4894
www.slicedgarlic.com


Phil taste-tests and judges each product based on the following 8 criteria:

1. Taste (30 points): the most important attribute of any food
2. Value (20 points): is it worth it?
3. Health (15 points): based off the nutritional information, is it nutritionally balanced?
4. Ingredients (15 points): what's in it, how natural is it?
5. Preparation (5 points): when applicable, how accurate or good are the directions *
6. Appearance (5 points): is it appetizing and does it resemble its photo or description
7. Packaging (5 points): Is it appropriate for the product and does it have any benefits such as resealability, added freshness, better storage, etc.
8. Sustainability (5 Points): is the packaging biodegradable, is it wasteful, is the company endeavoring to offset their carbon footprint?

*products that do not have any preparation will have the full value of these points included in their total score.

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