Salad Dressings

This is another offering by Walden Farms in their line-up of zero calories, zero sugar, and zero fat dressings. It has a different smell that reminds me of the smell of Ranch dressing. This dressing has the most taste of any Walden Farms dressings that I have tried so far. It still is not strong but this taste does stay with you a little longer than others. I don’t know what “Jersey Sweet” means. I tried Googling it but didn’t come up with anything so I guess it is just a name that they came up with. However, this dressing does have a little bit of sweet taste and I kept tasting it for several hours after eating it and it was not in an especially pleasant way.

The ingredients are mostly the same as their other products and contain “Purified Triple Filtered Water”, white vinegar, cellulose gel, salt, chopped onion, onion powder, natural flavors, natural spices, mustard flour, titanium dioxide, sucralose, lactic acid,  propylene glycol alginate, xanthan gum, and sodium benzoate. The only difference between this dressing and the other is, not surprisingly, the chopped onion.

Just like the other Walden Farms dressings, this has zero of everything including fat, calories, sugars, carbs and also nutritional values. The sodium content of this is medium and not unexpected.  This does have more taste than some of their other dressings and the taste is a little different than some of the more traditional dressings (like Ranch, Thousand Island, French, etc) and for that reason alone might warrant a try.

Taste Rating = 4 bottles

Overall Rating = 5

Style Category = Other

Fat Category = fat free

Calorie Category = no calorie

Nutritional Category = none

Sodium Category = med

This dressing from Wishbone used to be called “Just 2 Good” but it is not.  This dressing has more of a sweet taste than others based on Dijon mustard. This taste is more like a honey mustard dressing because there is no “zip” to it. The taste is not bad just kind of weak.  It seemed that I had to use more to be able to taste the dressing or it would be overpowered by even a weak salad.

The calories in this dressing are not too bad (50) and fat calories = 20 but as I mentioned above I tended to add more than the proper serving size in order to be able to taste the dressing.  The ingredient list is pretty much on par with the other however in the list of leading ingredients are high fructose corn syrup, sugar and honey. These are 3 of the top 6 ingredients and lead to the 6g of sugars and 8g total carbs.

This dressing is a good choice if you like a sweet tasting honey Dijon dressing. It is not as sweet as a Catalina type dressing but more than usual for a Dijon dressing. The sodium of not too bad (250 mg/10%) and if you can stick to the serving size it is fairly good on calories.

Taste Rating = 5 bottles

Overall Rating = 5 bottles

Style Category = Honey Mustard

Fat Category = low fat

Calorie Category = low calorie

Nutritional Category = none

Sodium Category = med low

This is another offering by Walden Farms in their line-up of zero calories, zero sugar, and zero fat dressings. It has the distinctive smell that we automatically associate with Caesar dressings. This dressing is in the same line as the previous ones from Walden Farms that I have reviewed and but fairs a little better in the taste category than the others. It is hard to explain but the taste seems to hit farther back on the tongue rather than in the front. It is almost like an after-taste that you taste while eating. It is similar to the taste of some kind of hot spice that they just give you a hint of without actually giving it to you.

The ingredients are mostly the same as their other products and contain “Purified Triple Filtered Water”, white vinegar, cellulose gel, salt, buttermilk powder, anchovies, cheese flavor, lactic acid, onion, natural flavors, natural spices, xanthan gum, propylene glycol alginate, sodium benzoate, food color and sucralose. The only surprises here are the buttermilk power, anchovies and cheese flavor. It may be the anchovies that give Caesar dressings their distinctive smell.

Just like the other Walden Farms dressings, this has zero of everything including fat, calories, sugars, carbs and also nutritional values. The sodium content of this is medium and not unexpected.  When you are finished eating this dressing your lips still have a tingle in them caused by the small amount of heat supplied in this dressing. This is not unpleasant and helps to remind you that you have eaten something. This sets it apart from the other Walden Farms dressings I have tried.  This is a better product and has enough taste to make it worth your while trying.

Taste Rating = 4 bottles

Overall Rating = 3

Style Category = Caesar

Fat Category = fat free

Calorie Category = no calorie

Nutritional Category = none

Sodium Category = med

I haven’t taken a poll but it appears there are more “light” Ranch dressings than just about any other kind of dressing. This one is from South Beach but made by Kraft but surprisingly fares worse than the Kraft Light Ranch in some ways. This dressing fits into the South Beach Diet in Phases 2 and 3.

This dressing shares the same calorie amounts as the Kraft but in a couple of other categories it is worse. It has more fat (7g vs. 4.5), fat calories (60 vs. 40), and Sat Fat (1g vs .5) but does fare better on total carbs (2g vs. 7), and also in sodium content (300mg vs. 370). Granted, these differences are not too much for either one, but the biggest question is “what about the taste”? In that I would give the nod to the Kraft Light over the South Beach Ranch. Neither one of them has an overpowering or unpleasant taste and they are very similar in many ways but I just think the Kraft Light has a bit more taste. I guess this can be attributed to the higher sodium content which appears to be the way manufacturers choose to add taste. The South Beach version is not bad just a little too bland to stand out from the others. It pretty much tastes like mayonnaise with a hint of something else it but the list of ingredients doesn’t give it away because there is very little out of the ordinary in it. I found with this dressing I tended to use even more than usual hoping to get some taste.

Taste Rating = 4

Overall Rating = 5

Style Category = Ranch

Fat Category = low fat

Calorie Category = medium calorie

Nutritional Category = none

Sodium Category = med

The advertising statement for this dressing claims - “Finally…a lite dressing full of flavor with all the zing of our original Honey Mustard. One of our favorites!” I cannot really disagree with this statement since I haven’t tried their original Honey Mustard but I would not say it has much “zing”. The smell is not very strong and the taste is similar. It has a good flavor that is not overpowering but a little on the sweet side rather than sharp or spicy.

This dressing has more fat, carbs and sugars compared to many other “light” dressing and this is reflected in the starting ingredient, high fructose sugar. That is followed by water, cider vinegar, vegetable oil (contains soy or canola oil), dry buttermilk, Dijon mustard (back mustard seeds, vinegar, white wine, salt spices), honey, salt, mustard (mustard seeds, vinegar, salt, spices), mustard powder, lemon juice concentrate, mustard seed, xanthan gum, potassium sorbate (preservative), caramel color, dry onion and dry garlic. This does indicate that mustard is definitely in this dressing since it is mentioned several times in the list of ingredients but the taste is not as sharp as you would think.

As I mentioned earlier, this dressing is not as “lite” as some others. The total fat is 5g (7%) with 0.5 g of saturated fat (4%) and total carbs = 9g (3%) and 9g of sugar. Also the sodium content is high with 300mg (13%). Apart from this the dressing is pleasant, sweet but not overpowering. If it had fewer fat and calories I would not object to using this dressing frequently. I compares fairly well again the Newman’s Own Light Honey Mustard dressing but is not as tangy or strong-tasting.

Taste Rating = 7

Overall Rating = 6

Style Category = Honey Mustard

Fat Category = low

Calorie Category = med calorie

Nutritional Category = none

Sodium Category = med

Continuing where I left off a while back, there are plenty of things to take into consideration when trying to lose 35 pounds or any weight for that matter.  Here are a few things to think about before you start:

- Why do I want to lose the weight

- Do I want to just lose the weight, or do I want to lose only fat and gain muscle mass at the same time

- How much weight do I want to lose

- How committed to losing the weight will I be

- How will I stay motivated

- What things will I do differently in my lifestyle to make this weight loss happen

- When do I want to lose this weight by

These are all great questions to get you started on your weight loss goals.  I started off with the intent to lose 30 pounds and ended up losing 35 lbs, but even after that I have not gotten to my target weight.  I just took a break for a while, but I am going to start losing the weight again.  I want to get down to 175 lbs by September and right now I am at 203 lbs.  This means I have to make a goal of losing at least 2.14 pounds per week for the next 14 weeks.  This is my current goal and will keep you updated on my current goals as well as how I lost the first 35 lbs.