Taste Test Tuesday: Lean Pockets with Whole Grain

As many of you know, I'm not a big fan of frozen processed type foods. But, I do try to keep an open mind when tasting some of these products. This latest addition to the Lean Pockets line of frozen snacks caught my eye because there are now a few flavor options "made with whole grain!"

I quickly turned the box over to check the grams of fat because "made with whole grain" could potentially translate into a measly 1 gram of fiber. I was pleasantly surprised to see 5 grams of fiber per lean pocket. Where is the fiber coming from? It looks like you can thank the following ingredients for most of the fiber:

• Whole barley flour


• Whole-wheat flour


• Green peppers

I tried the Supreme Pizza flavor and I happen to know that each pocket contains about 9 sausage mini meatballs (because I cut the pocket in half and picked them out). Don't laugh...I'm not a big fan of mystery sausage.

The box gives you two sets of cooking directions; one for the microwave and one for the toaster oven. Here's the thing though, the microwave won't give you a nice crispy, toasty lean pocket, but the toaster oven is going to take around 20-25 minutes if you bake the pocket straight from the freezer. So...the happy medium is to microwave the frozen pocket for about 1 quick minute (or 1 minute and 30 seconds), then pop it into the toaster oven for about 8 to 10 minutes. Much better, right?

Each pocket is still fairly high in sodium (600 milligrams) but your standard grilled cheese sandwich contains around 550 milligrams of sodium. Here's the labeling info:

1 pocket =

210 calories
20 g protein
21 g carbohydrate
7 g fat
2.5 g
saturated fat
0 g trans fat
25 mg cholesterol
5 g fiber
600 mg
sodium
15% Daily Value for calcium

Related Topics:

• 4 Warning Signs Your Diet May Lack Fiber
• Tips for Reaping the Benefits of Whole Grains

Technorati Tags: Taste Test Tuesday, Lean Pockets, whole grain, healthy diet