Newman's Own Organics, Take One

When I received the package from Newman's Own Organics to do a review, Mike said "oh it's organic, so we can eat all we want, right?" I reminded him that we're trying to be about "balance" in our diet, including snacks, so this was a great area to start.

I wrote a bit about Newman's Own in an earlier post, they are about "great tasting food that happens to be organic", products we loved as kids, but better. Everything they use in their line is organic, including Palm Fruit Oil, which has no trans fats, is not hydrogenated, and is used in Europe as an alternative to partially hydrogenated oils. If you aren't familiar with hydrogenated oils, they are added to processed foods to prolong their shelf life. They cause a myriad of problems to health, and have been called the "silent killer" because it damages the body over time.

Let's get to the good stuff, I'll start with the organic mints, which includes peppermint, wintergreen, cinnamon, and ginger flavors, in rolls, and tins. Mike brought some to a business meeting to see what people would say (he didn't mention my blog review), and I passed some around to the crew when we saw Wicked. We noticed right off that there was no chemical taste, it was a pure, sweet flavor. The cinnamon had a nice heat, and the ginger was actually spicy! The roll candy did not have a hole in the middle, but they didn't last very long once you popped them in your mouth. The tin mints on the other hand were interesting, they had a rough surface, unlike other tin mints, which made me think that they weren't as processed, which is a good thing. Overall, thumbs up on the mints.

Now onto the cookies, oh the cookies made us happy: first up, Newman -O's sandwich cookies, in ginger/cream and chocolate/chocolate cream. The ginger cookies were crisp, like ginger snaps, and the cream was really creamy. I loved the chocolate chocolate, it reminded me of dessert. Again, there was no chemical taste, unlike other sandwich cookies, which to me have a kind of waxy texture to their cream.

Next, we tried Hermits, soft cookies made with raisins and molasses, in cinnamon, and ginger. I have to say I was surprised at the variety of ginger cookies in the line, I don't often see ginger as a main ingredient in other brands. These reminded me of oatmeal bars, soft, with crystallized sugar sprinkled on top. Both had a nice smell, although I preferred the cinnamon, as did Eliza.

Last up for cookies (although I have more cookies to write about in my next post) were Champion Chip Cookies, in chocolate chip, and chocolate chocolate chip. They came in a bag, and I liked how they had a tape on the package, so you could reseal after opening. These cookies are on the small side, Mike thought they tasted like his Aunt's cookies, and that's saying something. The chocolate chips were the best part, I thought the cookies could use a few more of those. The chocolate chocolate cookies were a bit dry, but still had a great chocolate flavor.

I'll switch gears to one more product for this post, the Soy Crisps, in Lightly Salted, and Barbecue. I'm not a fan of rice cakes, they don't fill me up, so I don't see the point. But these crisps are made from rice and soy, and have seven grams of protein in a serving. They were surprisingly filling, I've been snacking on them in that hungry time between feeding the kids and having my dinner with Mike. I liked the Lightly Salted better, the BBQ flavor was a little sweet.

So far, I'm really happy with the Newman's Own Organics. I honestly can say that everything has a cleaner taste, you can tell the ingredients are a high quality. Stay tuned for part two of my Newman's review, where I tackle dried fruit, pretzels, more cookies, and.....I don't think I can stand it, their line of organic chocolate bars.