V8 V. Fusion is convenient alternative to OJ

V8 V.Fusion. Tropical Orange, Peach Mango, and Strawberry Banana. $1.79 per 12-ounce or $3.89 per 46-ounce bottle.

Bonnie: V8 is at it again. This time it's extending its brand equity to V8 V.Fusion, a new vegetable and fruit drink providing a full half-cup serving of both a fruit and a vegetable in each 8-ounce glass. Each is also a good source of antioxidant vitamins A, C and E.

As you may know, the current U.S. Dietary Guidelines recommend that we eat from five to 13 servings of fruits and vegetables daily; most Americans eat only three. I found V.Fusion to be a little too light in taste and texture, tasting like watered-down juices. (Water is, in fact, the first ingredient in these reconstituted vegetable blends.) You (and Carolyn) may feel differently.

These would certainly be worth a try if you or your kids were among those Americans whose daily fruit and vegetable intake is in the single digits.

Carolyn: V8 V.Fusion is the 100 percent vegetable-fruit juice product that I (and especially Bonnie) have been awaiting since before the 1997 debut of the 25 percent juice V8 Splash. One reason it may have taken this long: Making a good-tasting vegetable-fruit juice blend is apparently not a piece of cake. Only one of these V.Fusion varieties truly tastes great and also tastes like the fruits in its name: the Peach Mango.

The Strawberry Banana tastes only vaguely of these flavors and has a tomato juice aftertaste. The Tropical Orange is reminiscent of liquid orange-flavored children's aspirin — in other words, not bad, but like V8 was trying to cover up something that does taste bad. Primary suspect: the sweet potato juice that is V.Fusion's primary vegetable-juice base.

On the plus side, all three are thick (not watery, Bonnie!) and therefore filling, and not as cloyingly sweet as 100 percent fruit juices can be. Because it's shelf-stable, V.Fusion is also a good change of pace, a convenient alternative to refrigerated orange juice. I plan to keep a bottle of the Peach Mango on hand for days when I run out of OJ.

Pepperidge Farm Chocolate Delight Distinctive Cookies. Marabella, Seville and Rialto. $3.49 per 5.8-ounce to 9.2-ounce bag.

Bonnie: Pepperidge Farm calls these "decadent chocolate cookies." They are chocolate, but I don't find them irresistibly decadent. All feature a chocolate cookie base; two are chocolate-coated and topped with pieces of chocolate cookies (the Seville) or toffee (the Marabella). The confectionary-sugar-dusted Rialto is filled with raspberry.