Supermarket sampler: Weight Watchers pizza is mixed bag

Weight Watchers Smart Ones Artisan Creations Stone-Fired Crust Pizza. Four Cheese, Pepperoni, and Fajita Chicken. $2.22 per 6- to 7.25-ounce pizza.

Bonnie: Regular readers of this column know how much I dislike microwavable frozen pizzas. So you'd also probably know I wasn't looking forward to testing these new Artisan Creations Stone-Fired Pizzas from Smart Ones. Amazingly, these were a pleasant surprise. None of these had the telltale cardboard taste usually associated with microwave pizza.

I'm guessing the non-solid silver disk you bake these pizzas on might have something to do with that. That, or it could be because the crust was first stone-fired. Whichever, I found these a quick and low-calorie (if slightly high in sodium) option for those who regularly eat microwave pizza, though not quite as quick as the box directions indicated. To get a nice crispy crust and melted cheese, I had to microwave these twice as long as the package recommended.

Carolyn: The 18th-century wood carvers and bread bakers who inspired the word "artisan" would have drummed Weight Watchers out of the craft guild if they had ever seen these new Smart Ones "Artisan Creations" Stone-Fired Crust Pizzas. Weight Watchers claims to have pre-baked the crusts on stones, but they came out of my stone-less microwave tasting like the worst offerings from the early '50s frozen-pizza stone age.

The creatively named Four Cheese contains less than 2 percent of three of its four cheeses and is desert dry. The Pepperoni and Fajita Chicken are better, mainly because their toppings actually show up and give those varieties a bit more moistness. They're all still a perversion of the artisan and pizza names.

Mann's Snacks on the Go! Snack Packs. Broccoli, Carrots & Celery; Celery, Carrots & Grape Tomatoes; Carrots, Celery & Raisins; and Celery, Carrots & Stringless Sugar Snap Peas. $1.99 to $2.99 per 6.75- to 8.75-ounce trays featuring vegetables, fruits and dip.

Bonnie: Mann's Snacks on the Go! are my kind of snack. Each of Mann's new Snack Packs contains celery and carrot sticks with a light ranch dressing. What distinguishes each variety is its fourth ingredient — broccoli, grape tomatoes, raisins, or my favorite, sugar snap peas.

Each is nutrient-rich with vitamins and minerals from the fruit and veggies, with 50 to 140 calories per serving, depending on the fourth item. I only wish Mann's had included a more natural dressing or, better yet, natural hummus or peanut butter as the dip. Then these could have been a lunch instead of just a good snack.