Steven Helmer Publications

My wife and I made our monthly trip to Costco yesterday morning and, since we didn't have to worry about buying school lunch items, had a little extra wiggle room in our budget to try some new things. This happened to be one of the items that ended up in our shopping cart. I made this purchase primarily for my oldest daughter, who isn't a big fresh fruit person but will snack on dried fruit when it is put in front of her. At first, the $9.99 price for this bag was a little bit of a turnoff and I had to think it over for a minute or so. Then, realizing I usually pend about $3 on a much-smaller bag that lasts her one sitting, I decided it was a good deal. And, after trying them last night, I have to say I don't regret the purchase. I usually have two major concerns when it comes to dried fruit products like this one. The first is the flavor. While most claim not to add sugar, I've purchased more than my fair share of dried fruit that was way too sweet to be natural...

I had to stop by Wal-mart this morning before going into the office and, after grabbing a Jimmy Dean Simple Scramble to take with me for breakfast, I passed through the produce section and saw this product. I figured I should have something somewhat healthy to snack on and picked up a bag. I actually ended up forgetting about it at first and only remembered it this afternoon when, conveniently, I was starting to get a bit hungry. After having these, I have to say I was impressed. One of the things I found attractive about this product was it didn't have any added sugar. I've had several similar products that have added sugar to their chips and those were always way too sweet for me. This brand of apple chips, however, had a nice, natural, sweetness to them that made them enjoyable without causing my taste buds to be overwhelmed. Another thing I found I liked about these chips is the crispness. I've had some chips that were too hard and others that were rubbery. Th...