Low-carb 'K' cereal not so special

Kellogg's Special K for a Low Carb Lifestyle. $3.69 per 13.5-ounce box.

Bonnie: The flood of low-carb products we saw earlier in the year has finally slowed to a trickle (the presence of two such products in this single column notwithstanding). And I for one am thrilled. In addition to tasting horrid, the low-carb products often contained more calories and/or fat than the original versions. This Special K is no exception to my latter complaint. These lightly sweetened soy, wheat and rice flakes taste fine but contain 3 grams of fat a serving compared to original Special K's zero. At least Kellogg's Special K Low Carb contains 4 grams more fiber than the original. It is Special K's fiber plus its vitamins, not its low-carb status, that leads me to recommend it.

Carolyn: Kellogg's took longer to come out with its low-carb cereal than General Mills did, and it put the extra time to good use: Low-carb Special K is a lot more palatable than Total Protein. Both taste like slightly sweetened Wheaties, but you won't get TMJ eating it, as you will from eating (or should I say gnawing on?) tough-to-the-point-of-seeming-stale Total Protein.

As an eater who is primarily interested in taste, I have a slight problem with Kellogg's putting the Special K name on a cereal that has none of Special K's characteristic rice-iness. But people who regularly pass up Cap' n Crunch and Cocoa Puffs or even Post Selects to buy Total or Special K are obviously not primarily concerned with taste anyway.

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Birds Eye Voila! Chicken & Sausage Tuscano, Chicken Teriyaki & Vegetables, Roasted Garlic Chicken & Vegetables, Down Home Chicken & Vegetables, Teriyaki Beef & Vegetables. $5.19 per 21-ounce bag.

Bonnie: Birds Eye designed these Voila! frozen packages of meat, vegetable and sauce with the low-carb dieter in mind. They left out rice, potatoes and pasta and packed the bags full of nutritious vegetables including broccoli, water chestnuts, carrots, corn, peas, onions, red and green bell peppers, mushrooms, green beans and even edamame (yummy uncooked soybeans).

Thank goodness these bags contain much less sauce than previous versions of Voila! The result is decent-tasting (albeit a tad salty from the additives) convenient meals, modest in calories and fat, decent in fiber, rich in vitamins and high in protein. As you can tell, I'm impressed with these new Voila! frozen entrees. But just to keep my praise in perspective, that's in comparison to the (other) frozen foods I've had to sample for this column.