Cinnamon Grinders have sweet flavor

McCormick Cinnamon Grinders. Cinnamon, and Cinnamon-Sugar. $2.19 per 1.5-ounce bottle.

Bonnie: I've seen the inside of enough cupboards to know that a lot of people keep spices way beyond their expiration dates. And when you season food with old pre-ground spices, what you're adding is more like sawdust than flavor. Fresh ground is the way to go, as that releases the spice's volatile (flavor) oils just as you add it to the food.

Try your old ground cinnamon next to some from one of these new Cinnamon Grinders from McCormick, and you'll never go back. Sprinkle a smidgen of either over fresh toast, brioche, hot cereal, hot chocolate, cappuccino, ice cream or whatever else could use a hit of cinnamon or cinnamon-sugar. You'll need only a little, as the fresh grinding releases the flavor just as you're adding it.

Carolyn: I frankly can't tell the difference between fresh-ground cinnamon and the kind you shake out of a bottle. Still, with all the people who now top their coffeehouse drinks with cinnamon, I can see a demand for McCormick's new Cinnamon Grinder.

The Cinnamon-Sugar one is a different story. Sugar is the first ingredient in it, so maybe it's the result of the sugar crystals being ground too finely, but it isn't sugary enough. I'll take an old Domino animal-decorated plastic cinnamon-sugar shaker over this any day.

Uncle Ben's Ready Whole Grain Medley. Chicken Medley, and Roasted Garlic. $2.29 per 8.5-ounce bag.

Bonnie: I try to eat as many whole grains as possible — as we all should — through cereal, breads or side dishes. Only a few of those foods supply as many whole grains as these two new Whole Grain Medleys from Uncle Ben's. In fact, a serving of either provides the entire three whole-grain servings that are recommended daily. Each is also an excellent source of niacin and a good source of thiamine. And, like the other Uncle Ben's Ready items in pouches, these can be microwaved in just 90 seconds.

The Roasted Garlic contains fewer ingredients and is better tasting. That's the one I suggest you try first.

Carolyn: Uncle Ben's Ready Whole Grain Medley line blends modern-food-technology convenience with natural-food healthfulness. Specifically they are cooked blends of healthful and unusual (unless you shop at Whole Foods) grains such as barley, wheat, red rice, rye and quinoa, packaged in super-convenient pouches that can be microwaved and on the table in 90 seconds. It's almost the best of both worlds.