Nestle Toll House Drizzles Refrigerated Cookie Dough

Chocolate Chip & Chunk With Caramel Drizzle, and Chocolate Chip With Chocolate Drizzle

•$3.19 per 15.75-ounce package yielding 24 cookies

Bonnie: Nestle Toll House chocolate chip cookies are more American than apple pie. There's almost nothing more comforting than a warm one fresh from the oven with an icy cold glass of milk. So I ask Nestle, why ruin perfection? The caramel or chocolate goo that you're supposed to drizzle on these cookies is vile. It's low-quality and just adds unnecessary calories. In testing these, I put the goo on only half the batch of cookies, and those were the last ones eaten by my guests (some only after scraping off the drizzle). Need I say more?

Carolyn: It's another rare occasion when I agree with Bonnie. Good chocolate chip cookies don't need any help.

These OK ones aren't helped by store-brand-quality ice cream syrup. Since they cost about the same as plain old Nestle Chocolate Chip refrigerated cookie dough, buy these, make the cookies and reserve the sauce packet to use on your next at-home ice cream sundae.

Eggology On-the-Go 100 Percent Egg Whites

• Regular and Organic

• $2.99 per two-pack or $4.79 per four-pack of 4-ounce single-serve cups. Also available in single-cup size

Bonnie: Eggology are fresh egg whites (both regular and organic) that have no antibiotics, hormones, preservatives or additives. And they've been pasteurized and tested for salmonella. What's not to like? Absolutely nothing.

The original version comes in a 16-ounce or larger plastic jar. This new version is a perfect portion for microwaving at work or home, for a meal or snack or for anyone who wants to cut down a bit on the fat and cholesterol in whole eggs.

Eat these as is, mix them with whole eggs for omelettes, use 2 tablespoons (1 ounce) in place of one whole egg when baking, use as an egg wash for breading foods or - well, the uses are as endless as the uses are for whole eggs. The only caveat is the high cost, a price you pay for the purity of the product as well as the convenient packaging.

Carolyn: Eggology is one company's attempt to make eggs a healthy on-the-go snack like yogurt. I got a kick out of the carton copy saying they are "convenient for the car." (We've all heard that cars may someday contain microwaves, but I have yet to ride in such a car.) Eggology's "eggs in a microwavable cup" is still a great idea and great technology that really works. Break open the top seal, cook in the microwave for 95 seconds and the viscous liquid turns fluffy white, popping the lid open in the process. But many of the qualities that make Bonnie such a big fan of these (they're organic, all-natural and contain no yolks) severely limit Eggology's potential market.

I'd obviously like to see a version of these that are non-organic (and therefore cheaper), using whole eggs, perhaps with an attached bag of Bac-Os to up the flavor interest. In other words, make these something like Egg Beaters-To-Go.

Uncle Ben's Ready Whole Grain Medleys

• Brown & Wild, Vegetable Harvest and Santa Fe

• $1.79 per 8.5-ounce pouch

Bonnie: Getting the three or more servings of whole grains recommended by the newest dietary guidelines can be easy using one of these three new Whole Grain Medleys from Uncle Ben's. In fact, a single serving (half a pouch) provides all three of those servings. The Vegetable Harvest and Santa Fe are also rich in fiber, containing a respectable 5 to 6 grams per serving. As with Uncle Ben's other Ready Rice varieties, just squeeze the pouch, tear it to vent, microwave and have a side dish ready in just 90 seconds.

I suggest adding unsalted steamed vegetables or, if you have the time, additional unsalted rice to each of these to cut back on the salty taste and high sodium content. A cup ranges from 660 to 720 milligrams, or up to 30 percent of the recommended daily sodium limit. Following my suggestions, these could be decent, quick side dishes.

Carolyn: Uncle Ben's is trying to imitate New Orleans brand Zatarain's with these new 90-second, nearly-a-meal Ready Rices. These aren't quite as good as Zatarain's, because Zatarain's pouches contain highly spiced classic dishes featuring rice, meat and beans: Two of the three Uncle Ben's Ready Whole Grain Medleys are, by contrast, not-quite-so-classic combinations of rice, beans and veggies.

I have nothing against veggies per se (really, Bonnie), but I have lots against the kind that Uncle Ben's has put in here. They taste like reconstituted dehydrated veggies, or not good enough to stand in the kind of spotlight lent by a name like Vegetable Harvest. The seasonings in the brown and wild rice blend weren't noticeable until a few hours later, when I kept going to the refrigerator for hits of soda to quench my killer thirst.

In 2004, Bonnie and I honored Uncle Ben's pioneering 90-second Ready Brown Rice for how much it tasted like real, cooked-for-40-minutes brown rice. But Ready Whole Grain Medleys taste like those overly seasoned "instant" Lipton or Rice-A-Roni rice dishes - i.e., not at all award-winning.

Bonnie Tandy Leblang is a registered dietitian and professional speaker. Carolyn Wyman is a junk-food fanatic and author of "Better Than Homemade: Amazing Foods That Changed the Way We Eat" (Quirk). They critique new food items every week.

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