Low Carb Freedom

Dreamfield's Low Carb Pasta

Update: I just completed a HUGE post, Dreamfield's Pasta Review... What Would Atkins Say... and What Will the Markets Say?.

I just received this question from Rebecca:

I was doing a search for Dreamfield's low carb pasta and I came across your page. I think Dreamfield's is listed somewhere in your page but I can't find it. I am wondering where I can purchase this pasta? I did an internet search and can't find anywhere to purchase it. If you look under Google under "buy dreamfield's pasta, your page comes up which is why I'm hoping you can help.

My reference to Dreamfield's was on the February 22nd post of Low Carb Grocery List Based on Sales Circulars. (Every week I go through all the circulars that I get and post what is on sale or listed. You can see the past weeks and the current week by clicking on the navigation bar on the left-hand side of this page. I also have shopping lists for each store. To see ALL my posts, go down the navigation bar to archives and click on them by month.)

In that post I say:

Wow, Shaw's is pre-announcing two more low carb pastas, Mueller's Reduced Carb Pasta and Dreamfields Low Digestible Carb Pasta! I can't wait to try them!

I haven't seen Dreamfield's at Shaws yet, but I have to go on another scouting mission. (I haven't been there in a week, and it seems that new products just come in at any time.) If you have seen Dreamfield's pasta at any store, please post in the comments section so others can be helped!

And if there are no stores around you, you can purchase Dreamfield's from netrition.com.

Where are the low carb pitas?

I recently received this email from a reader:

Why has Market Basket, Shaws and Hannaford stopped selling Josephs oat bran low carb pitas! Many friends along with myself have been searching for them everywhere and no one sells them. We have 3 market baskets within 5 miles of us and not one of them has them. BRING THEM BACK!!

I think I found the missing pitas -- they are at BJs. You get 3 packages of them for about $3.59, all bundled together. BJs also has Thomas's Carb Counting Bagels, two packages for $4.50 or thereabouts. (As I said before, they also have Atkins approved bread and Russell Stover Low Carb Candy, 15 bars for less than $10.) In the choice of the pre-packaged low carb war, BJs beats Costco.

I suspect that the missing pitas will soon show up again at Market Basket, Shaws and Hannafords. It is probably a supply problem. Remember, Shaws and Stop & Shop were out of Carb Countdown for a while (I could only find it at Johnny's Foodmaster) until supply caught up with demand (and now Market Basket and Crosby's have it.) I would bet that the same thing is happening here.

BTW, the low carb pitas have 60 calories each and 5 net grams of carbs.

Accosting the Grocery Manager at Shaws for the new Carb Options Line

Poor Joe, the asst. grocery manager... he was coming out of the back with a cart early this morning when I spotted the Carb Options logo and told him to stop! I was looking for the regular flavor Carb Options barbecue sauce that wasn't on the shelf. His truck was filled with Hickory flavor, which I already had. But I was estatic nevertheless, and I'll try it this evening I also grabbed Carb Options Skippy (much more expensive than Simply Jif), a couple of Carb Options Ragu cheese sauces, and a Carb Options Lawry's steak sauce.

Joe told me to let everyone know that they are setting up an endcap display at the end of aisle 3 with all of the Carb Options product (I have no idea if it is the same endcap in your Shaws.)

While this was going on, he also showed me this other marinade called Badia Mojo Marinade. It is on special for 99 cents at Shaws for 20 fl oz. (GREAT price... if it tastes good.) There is no artificial coloring or sugar added. Total carbs is 2.5 grams per two tablespoons. They told me it was good to marinate chicken. I'll let you know.

Sensible Bagels from Liberty Hearth versus Thomas' Carb Consider Bagels

Update 4/06: Read the below for posterity, but read these posts for current breakfast products:

Thomas' Light English Muffins

Store brand lower carb bagels

Dunkin Donuts Low Carb Bagels

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I never eat regular bagels and I rarely eat low carb bagels... they have too many carbs while I am still trying to lose 20 lbs. I do give the kids bagels though, and of course, I do have to taste test them.

The Sensible Bagels, available at Shaws, have a more bread like texture than the Thomas' bagels. They also are bigger. The Sensible bagel gives one serving as 1/2 a bagel at 43 grams. The Thomas' bagel gives one serving as a whole bagel at 62 grams. (A whole Sensible bagel would be 86 grams.)

Update: Thomas has come out with a new Carb Counting Bagel with lower carbs, this bagel in this review is now called Carb Consider.

Here is a comparison of their nutritional information.

Nutrition info	Sensible Low Carb Bagel	Thomas’ Carb Consider (fomerly Carb Counting)
Serving Size	½ bagel	1 bagel
Calories	80 (160 for whole bagel)	140
Calories from Fat	0	20
Trans Fat	(not listed on label)	0 (good for them!)
Total Carbohydrates	18 g (36 grams for whole)	23 g
Dietary Fiber	7 g (14 grams for whole)	5
Sugar Alcohol	1 (2 grams for whole)	None listed on label
Sugar	0	0
Net Carbs	10 (20 for whole)	18
Protein	5 (10 for whole)	11

My son likes both brands. My daughter prefers white bagels over wheat bagels so she likes any bagel that is white. I did try Sensible's cinnamon bagel this morning. (I ate one whole bagel. Who can just eat half a bagel?) It was great! Tasted like a dessert. I prefer the more hearty rather than the spongy texture of the Thomas' bagel.

The Thomas' bagels are cheaper though -- 6 bagels for $2.99 versus 5 bagels for $3.99. Thomas' doesn't have a cinnamon bagel yet though...

Update: My son doesn't like the cinnamon bagels and my daughter almost cried when I gave her half a Thomas' bagel (a white one) with half of the Sensible bagel. She only wanted the Sensible bagel. I had to eat the half of the Thomas' bagel and cook her another half bagel. (See what I do for you? I create monsters with these taste tests! They figure out what they like and then they want it all the time!) My son still likes both brands, just not cinnamon.

Another Update: My daughter's 11-year old friend, Emily, prefers the cinnamon to the Thomas' plain Carb Counting Bagels... so you will each just have to try them!

Another Update: Lots more on low carb bagels here!

New Low-Carb Line Coming to Shaws!

I went to Shaw's this week to try their new Sensible bagels, but I found intriguing holes on their shelves. There was a hole in the regular barbecue sauce section with the enigmatic words CRB OPN or something like that. Same thing in ketchup and same thing in salad dressings. I found the grocery manager and he said that there was going to be a whole new line coming in and that the merchandise people make the space and about a week later the products come in. Well, I can't wait to go back and try these. I have yet to find a really great barbecue sauce that my whole family likes that is low carb, and I'll test this one out right away. I hope to go back to him and get the complete list and post it.

As for ketchup, I can't wait until Heinz comes out with their product; it is supposed to debut this month. We'll see.

Shaws Shopping List

 

Special Low Carb Section
Sipper Sweets	This is a line of low-carb drinks. I tried the sugarfree cocoa and it is quite good! (My daughter drank all of mine so I have to buy more! Although, chocolate carb countdown is giving this a run for the money. I’ll try a battle…)
Bella Vita Low Carb Italian Pasta	A full line including cavatappi and shells at $3.99. (I can no longer recommend this pasta.)
Bella Vita Low Carb Italian Sauce	Less expensive at Trade Joe’s, but convenient.
A full line of Minicarb products	I am very excited about this. I have tried the chocolate brownie mix, and the brownies just grow on you. Try it with whipped cream made with Splenda for a really rich treat.  I have also tried the pie crust, but my family prefers the pie crust made with almond flour (see the netrition shopping list for more information.) On the other hand, the minicarb snickerdoodle cookies were a disaster.
Carbtastic Soup	2 for $3
Morning Start Bars	$6.99
Ketone Testing Strips	$11.99
Quick Cuisine Fettucine Alfredo	$4.99
Ketogenics Chocolate Almond Bars	$1.69
Atkins Barbecue	$3.99
Ketogenics Muffin Mix	$6.59
Low Carb Tortilla Chips	$3.49
General Grocery Area
Carb Options Barbecue Sauce	$2.69
Carb Options Steak Sauce	$3.99
Stubb’s Moppin Sauce	Lower carbs than regular barbecue sauce.
Carb Options Asian & Italian Marinade	$3.29
Kraft Carb Well Sauce	Was on sale for 2 for $1 (my favorite)
Salad Dressings	Carries low carb Waldon Farms Salad Dressings next to the lettuce. Cardini’s Caesar Salad Dressing (which I love), Ken’s Italian, great marinade and inherently low carb, the complete line of Carb Options salad dressings in the regular salad dressing section, other low carb dressings in the low carb section like No Carb Gourmet Thousand Island Dressing, which I used to make a variation of my cole slaw recipe.
Carb Options Garden Style	$2.99
Carb Monitor Hamburger Helper	30% less carbs than regular cheeseburger macaroni (I’m not sure on the market for this.) Total carbs 20, dietary fiber 3, sugar 3. 17g net carbs.
Carb Options Whipped Dressing	$3.59
Sauces	Shaws has Carb Options Ragu sauces, which are pretty much the same carb count as the Bertolli cheese sauces, but I’ll have a battle!
Low-carb bread and bagels	Country Kitchen has a great low-carb bread with only 4g per slice, but it is VERY expensive. Thomas’s now puts out a carb counting bagel with 12g of net carbs and a carb conscious bagel with more carbs. Atkins also has a bread line with Arnold at 6g of net carbs per slice.  Sensible Bagels, more breadlike bagel with more carbs, 5 for $3.99 in the instore bakery section. (Shaws is the only one who carries Sensible low carb bagels around here and these are the ones that my daughter likes best.) Shaws has Atkins bread and Ezekial low carb bread in the freezer section of their Wild Harvest department. Shaws also has the Country Kitchen light hot dog and hamburger rolls. This is the one time the light designation means lower carbs (not low, but lower.) Shaw’s also has When Pigs Fly low carb bread. This is very hearty bread, more for grown ups. I tried it with a little butter and low carb jam. It was delicious, but it can only be for a treat! Pepperidge Farms CarbStyle bread. Arnold Carb Counting Hot Dog and Hamburger rolls too…
Thomas’s Carb Consider Muffins & Bagels	$3.19
Simply Jif	Simply Jif has less sugar than regular peanut butter. My kids and my husband prefer this over the more expensive almond butters or macadamia nut butters.
Smuckers Sugar Free or Low Sugar Jam	With nutrasweet $2.39 or low sugar 2 for $5 – think they would sell more if they had Splenda.
Carb Options Skippy Peanut Butter	Shaws carries this, it is much more expensive for one less carb. Taste test coming soon though! $3.49
Progresso Carb Monitor Soup	On sale $4.99 regularly $7.49 (much less at Market Basket.)
Dreamfield’s Pasta	$2.89 for linguine, spaghetti, penne rigate
Mueller’s Reduced Carb Pasta	$1.99 rotini, elbows, spaghetti, penne rigate and $2.49 for the lasagna
Ragu Carb Options Hearty Italian Style with Sausage	$2.99
Musselman’s Lite Fruits with Splenda	$2.29 for six
Sugar Free Cook & Serve Jello Pudding	Chocolate and Vanilla (they have instant too, but I only like cooked pudding)
Krusteau Carb Simple Muffin Mix	$4.69 (I like the brownies much better… and at least my Shaws doesn’t carry these) 9g net carbs
Snackwell Carbwell Cookies	$2.99 (What is hydrogenated glucose syrup? I didn’t pick up the package because of it.)
Chips Deluxe Carb Sensible Cookies from Keebler	My kids like the peanut butter best. $3.99
Atkins Morningstar	$4.99
Total Protein	$4.49
Special K for a Low Carb Lifestyle	$3.29
Ocean Spray Lite Juice Cocktail	$2.99
York Sugar Free Peppermint Patties
Byrd Crab Meat for claw meat	$9.49
Tropicana Lite Lemonade	Total Carbs 2g 90% fewer calories than regular
Entenmann’s Carb Counting	All prices
Dairy  & Cheese Case
Carb Countdown	The complete line, including the chocolate milk! (My kids love this…. ) I will only buy Carb Countdown from now on! (Update, please don’t run out like you have!) The regular price here is $3.49 – the highest I’ve seen.
CarbSmart Ravioli	$4.49. Too many carbs for my taste.
Formaggio Marinated Mozarella	12 oz. for $6.99. This is a great low carb snack. Less costly at Costco, but you have to buy more.
Assorted Cheeses	Very expensive compared to Market Basket. For example, Allouette $4.39 for  6.5 oz. Pub Cheese is $2.99.
Tropicana Light’n Healthy Orange Juice	Lower sugar orange juice, my kids can’t tell the difference between this and regular oj! Bonus!
Sugar Free Jello	$3.19 for six
Hood Carb Countdown Smoothies	$1.69
Carb Countdown Yogurt	$1.29 or 99 cents with rewards card
Dannon Lite n Fit Carb Countrol	$2.99 for six
Carb Options Drinks	$6.99
Slimfast 2g net carb drinks	$6.49
Bakery Section
Venetian Gourmet Double Chocolate Cookies	$3.99 for six
Sensible Bagels (it seems they didn’t stop carrying these)	$3.99
NetCarb Carb Conscious Cookies	$3.99
Ice Cream Case	Shaws has the best low-carb ice cream section I have found (except they don’t carry Keto.) Lots of products close together. I have no idea how Atkins is going to stay in business with Breyer’s CarbSmart coming right at them on the quality and price.
CarbSmart Ice Cream	$4.99 new 0 grams of net carbs. I haven’t tried this new version. I have tried the 4g net carb version. Rocky Road, butter pecan, chocolate, strawberry so there are more flavors too.
Atkins Ice Cream	Atkins ice cream in small regular ice cream containers and the 4 packs.
Fruit2O Ice	These are great little Italian ice frozen snacks. $3.49
Ben & Jerry’s Carb Karma	Half-baked & chocolate
Perry’s Ice Cream	$2.99 for 4g net carbs
Atkins Endulge	$3.49
CarbSmart new Creamsicles	10 bars for $3.99 0gram net carbs
CarbSmart ice cream sandwiches & bars	$3.79
Skinny Carb Bar by Silhouette	$4.99
Sugar Free Popsicles	$3.69 for 24 bars
Welch’s No Sugar Added	$2.69
Frozen
Life Choice Frozen Entrees	$3.49

 

About Shaws

It has been a while since I had been to Shaws, but I needed Hubbard squash for Christmas and Market Basket didn't have it. I walked in, Shaws didn't have it on the floor, but a very nice gentleman checked in back and cut me up some. While I was waiting, I did my low-carb walk and discovered that Shaws had added quite a lot of stuff -- and not the typical Atkins stuff! I am very excited. I felt like a kid in the candy store. I will be going back, and everyone should take the time to check this out.