A great, 200-calorie pizza fix. Photo by
Evan Dempsey | THE NIBBLE.

DiGiorno has a solution you’re sure to love:

New DiGiornio 200 Calorie Portions are individually-wrapped pizza slices that go from the freezer to the microwave when desire calls. Calorie (and carb) watchers know exactly what they’re getting…and everyone gets to eat truly delicious home-cooked pizza.

Unlike warmed-over microwave pizza, these DiGiorno slices emerge with a crisp crust, not to mention fragrant and delicious.

More than 12,000 products are introduced into supermarkets each year. Most don’t sell enough and disappear from the shelf (brown sugar Sweet ’n Low, to recall an oldie).

DiGiornio 200 Calorie Portions deserve to stick around forever! Pick some up on your next shopping trip. (If they’re not in your store’s pizza freezer, ask the store manager to order them.)

• Read the history of pizza, plus 12 gourmet pizza recipes and pizza-making tips.

• It takes about 4 cups of tart cherries to make one 9″ pie.
• There are about 3 cups of frozen cherries in a pound.

Using a cherry pie filling?

• There are about 2 cups of filling in a 16-ounce can.

Try this recipe for pulled pork in a tart cherry sauce.

Montmorency (tart) cherries. Photo courtesy
Cherry Marketing Institute.

Chukar Cherrie’s Triple Cherry Cobbler & Pie
Filling. Photo by Corey Lugg | THE NIBBLE.

You can make a much more flavorful cherry pie with frozen tart cherries, or with a specialty brand of cherry pie filling.

Keep in mind: Sweet cherries like the Bing and Royal Anne are snacking cherries. Tart cherries like the Montmorency yield the best results in cooking and baking.

• Click here for our review of Chukar Cherries pie fillings, our favorites. (They’re certified kosher by KOF-K.)
• Learn about the different types of cherries.

Many people just don’t like plain oatmeal, although they buy into its health benefits. That’s why the best-sellers include the fruit-flavored, sugary instant oatmeals.

Alas, those packets do not contain healthy food. They’re full of sugar, and many of the nutrients have been stripped in the processing.

Mad Hectic Oatmeal provides a solution. Improving on the concept of those instant oatmeals, Mad Hectic Oatmeal is flavored and alluring. But it’s also organic oatmeal mixed with nutritious whey protein powder and flaxseed meal with Omega-3 fatty acids and lignans (which have antioxidants and fiber).

Antioxidant, nutritious and heart-healthy sesame seeds are also added, topped off with whole freeze-dried berries, nuts and some cane sugar. It emerges hot from the microwave in just 60 seconds. That’s fast and tasty oat nutrition for your mad hectic life (and for you folks who have it easy, too).

Mad Hectic Oatmeal is more like hot pudding (think Indian pudding) than hot cereal. With fruit and nut combinations—and chocolate oatmeal—you’ll be feeling your oats soon after (translation: you’ll be energetic and playful).

Strawberry Pecan Oatmeal lets you feel your
oats in a delicious new way. Photo by
Hannah Kaminsky | THE NIBBLE.

• Read the full review to see how we enjoyed the flavors, and discover the health benefits of oatmeal.

[1] Tart dried cherries store well in the pantry until you need them (photo © King Arthur Flour).

[2] They’re not just for sweet recipes: Toss dried cherries into a pan sauce (photo © Emm Group).

[3] Sprinkle dried cherries on breakfast cereal, hot or cold (photo © Choose Cherries).

It’s easy to eat dried cherries from the bag or bowl, or to incorporate them into a quick trail mix.

But you can also turn your favorite cake recipe—chocolate cake, pound cake, even carrot or zucchini cake—into a cherry cake, just by mixing a cup of dried cherries into the batter.

Or, stir 1/4 cup of dried cherries into the filling or frosting.

Sprinkle some dried cherries atop the icing of cakes and cupcakes. They make a pretty, tasty, and healthy garnish.

Instead of making cherry cheesecake with a cherry topping, stir dried cherries into the batter. (And yes, you can use a cherry topping too).

We love to mix dried cherries into chocolate chip cookie batter, and to use them instead of (or in addition to) raisins in oatmeal cookies.

How about scones and muffins? And as a cereal topping?
 
 
SAVORY USES FOR DRIED CHERRIES

And for savory recipes, make a quick pan sauce for meat or poultry, or toss them into rice or other grains.

Add them to tuna salad and chicken salad. Be adventurous: add them to deviled eggs, cheese omelets…give just about anything a try with these little sweet bites.

Any way you choose, you’ve got a new variation on a favorite recipe, with no more effort than measuring out the cherries.

Health note: Montmorency (tart) cherries are among the highest-antioxidant foods.

Read our review of Chukar dried cherries: Dried Bing, Columbia River Tart (Montmorency) and Rainier Cherries.

They’re certified kosher by KOF-K.
 
 
> The history of cherries.
 
 
> Types of cherries.
 
 
 
 
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