I thought I’d let y’all know that I’ve been experimenting with Dreamfields Pasta. I was a little skeptical – most of the lower carb pasta I’ve tried has tasted a lot like cardboard.

It turns out that Dreamfields macaroni is really good. I don’t taste any difference at all. Calories and protein are roughly the same as regular pasta, even carbohydrates are listed as the same. Dreamfields has slightly more fiber than regular pasta.

What’s different is that most of Dreamfields carbs are “protected” carbs and not digestible. From some of the reading I’ve done, it seems that these protected carbs are not effective for everyone. But for me – my postprandial blood sugar after eating low fat macaroni and cheese made with Dreamfields was 95.

Yeah. That does it for me. I love pasta and I pay for it every time I eat it. 95 after eating pasta? Bizarre!

At any rate, so far I’m recommending Dreamfields. I wish it was available in stores around here but so far I have to mail order it which is not all that cost effective. I may have to buy some in bulk but I think it’ll be worth it.

Has anyone else tried it? Had similar or different results or opinions?

Oh, and no, Dreamfields has not paid me for my opinion. But hey, I’m open to that idea… they could pay me in free pasta – that’d be a great idea as far as I’m concerned.

Ask the Dietician at Iowa Avenue posted an article in June about the benefits of Hemp Oil.  After reading this article and doing some internet investigation, I decided to give this magical elixir a try.  Last week I got the results on my latest round of lab tests.  Since June 12 my total cholesterol has dropped from 296 to 181, my triglycerides have dropped from 880 to 194, and my total cholesterol to HDL ratio has dropped from 8.2 to 4.1 (4.0 or less is considered good).  I get my capsules out of Canada from HempNutts.com (Hempillennium.com).   I didn’t make any other significant changes to diet or medication.

I think when I’ve written before about my deep, abiding love of drink sticks, it was on my personal blog. At that time, I was using “recycled” plastic water bottles but now I’m using a nalgene bottle and filtered water. I can be environmentally friendly and hydrate myself at the same time. Plus, the bottle has volume markings which make it really easy to mix my drink sticks, water and ice. (There are other bottles out there that I’m interested in, but wasn’t this post about drink sticks?)

At any rate – in addition to the crystal light, spark, great value and lipton sticks I already use – Ocean Spray has just put out a line of their juice flavors in drink sticks! Yay for those of us who don’t drink juice since despite the vitamin C, juice is basically liquid sugar. I’ve tried the ruby red grapefruit juice and it tastes more like actual grapefruit juice than any other drink stick brand I’ve tried. Ditto on the cran and cran-apple, neither of these are overly sweet. I’m also enjoying the white-cran peach flavor.

I’ve made a new category for members who want to recommend a product that they use and enjoy. [Whoops! I see we already had a product review category!] As usual, this does not mean spam! I am in no way connected to Ocean Spray nor am I being paid or otherwise compensated for giving my opinion. I’m just passing on a tip to anyone who likes drink sticks and cranberry juice!

Sun Crystals are a new low-calorie sweetener. You can get a free sample so you can decide for yourself whether you like it.

Sun Crystals FAQ

And my response. Sun Crystals are made from natural can sugar and “Erythritol” which the company calls natural as well. It, like phenylalanine and xylitol, is said to occur naturally in many food products. I still don’t think that counts as “natural” but then sugar itself is extracted and processed.

It says one packet equals the sweetness of about 1 teaspoon sugar – I put half a packet in my iced coffee this morning and it’s far sweeter than that.

I take it that Erythritol has has been used in other products and the pairing of it with cane sugar is what is new. It has 4 calories per teaspoon instead of about 16.

Taste – is interesting. It really does seem to taste like sugar, better than sucralose/splenda – but there is also a cool almost mint like sensation. It’ll take more than 2 packets to figure out whether I like it in things. It says that you can use it in cooking and baking.

Reviewers on Amazon had mixed reactions. It seems to be to be rather expensive right now and Wikipedia apparently warns of a strange after-sensation (the cooling) when consumed in large amounts. Some of the complaints were strange but aren’t they often on Amazon? One person said they take forever to dissolve and I wouldn’t say that at all. They disappeared pretty well instantly in my iced coffee. Others complained it wasn’t sweet enough but that would actually be a plus for me. The problem with the flavor of artificial sweeteners is how overwhelming sweet they are.

I guess the main thing holding me back from it right now is it’s expense. $25 for 250 packets on Amazon. We’ll see what the cost is when it makes it to regular stores.

Anyone else tried it?