Apricot and Raspberry, two of the six flavors
of Polaner’s Sugar-Free Preserves with Fiber.
Photo by Hannah Kaminsky | THE NIBBLE.

According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, most of us don’t get enough fiber in our diet. On average, American women get 12 grams per day; American men get 18.

Experts say we should get from 25 to 40 grams of fiber daily to help support a healthy digestive system, reduce the risk of heart disease and manage our weight (fiber is more filling). That’s why when you have a choice of eating foods with more fiber or less, you’re better off choosing more (most fruits and vegetables are high on the fiber list).

If you’re on a sugar-free or reduced-sugar diet, chances are that you’re already eating lots of good fruits and veggies. But now it’s sweeter to get an extra 3 grams of fiber (about 12% of your daily requirement), with every tablespoon of Polaner Sugar-Free Preserves with Fiber. They’re sweetened with Splenda.

We’ve been enjoying these jams—yes, they’re actually jam, not preserves (more about that in a minute)—since their debut, around the beginning of November 2009 (sorry we’re late in sharing the news).

The line is certified kosher. It’s just 10 calories per tablespoon, and for you carb counters:

– Sugar Free Apricot Preserves with Fiber: 4g carbs – 3g fiber = 1g net carb
– Sugar Free Blackberry with fiber: 5g carbs – 3g fiber = 2g net carbs
– Sugar Free Grape with Fiber: 4g carbs – 3g fiber = 1g net carb
– Sugar Free Orange Marmalade: 5 carbs – 3g fiber = 2g net carbs
– Sugar Free Raspberry with Fiber: 5g carbs – 3g fiber = 2g net carbs
– Sugar Free Strawberry with Fiber: 5g carbs – 3g fiber = 2g net carbs

COUPON: You can get a $1.00 coupon here. If you don’t have the Java aplet for printing coupons, start at the Polaner home page.

• Now about the difference between jam and preserves: Jam can be a purée of fruit or have a soft pulp, but it does not contain chunks of fruit. The two Polaner flavors we had were purées, without chunks of fruit. Preserves differs from jam in that large or whole pieces of fruit are suspended in a syrup base. The texture of preserves is not smooth like jelly or jam.
• See the differences among all the spreads—jelly, curd, marmalade, etc.—in our Jam & Jelly Glossary.
• Find more of our favorite sugar-free foods in our Diet Nibbles Section.

• Our Beef Glossary, featuring all the different cuts of beef. What is a hangar steak, exactly (or a cowboy steak, for that matter)? Did you know that Boneless Strip Steak, Kansas City Strip, New York Steak, New York Strip Steak, Shell Steak and Top Loin are all the same cut of meat?
• Prefer lamb to beef? Check out the cuts of lamb in our Lamb Glossary.

You can find tasty recipes for both in our Gourmet Meats Section.

The fat marbling in this beef is so extensive,
it can only be one type: kobe. Photo courtesy
of TheWagyu.com.

As with spices, the flavor of tea deteriorates
with time. Photo by Zsuzsanna Kilian | SXC.

The sniff test will tell you if the tea is past its prime: If there’s no wonderful tea aroma, there won’t be much taste, either. (If you don’t trust your nose, brew a cup and taste it straight to see if there’s distinct tea flavor.)

Going forward, don’t buy more tea than you’ll use within a year for white and green teas, 18 months for black and oolong.

Proper storage is also essential. Light, heat and moisture are the enemies of tea. Tea oxidizes and absorbs odors easily (except for pu-erh teas, which are fermented and improve with age).

By the way, you don’t have to waste old tea—use it as garden fertilizer!

• Learn all about fine tea.
• Take our tea trivia quiz.

Each piece of fruit is affixed to a long wooden skewer, which makes eating it fun. Cantaloupe and honeydew are hand-sculpted into leaf-like shapes, along with pineapple daisies with melon ball centers, rosebud strawberries and grapes skewered into into exotic blooms. There will be one heck of a “wow” when the cellophane-wrapped “bouquet” arrives. And you just may discover your favorite new party dessert.

Read our review of Edible Arrangements, a NIBBLE Top Pick Of The Week.

• THE PRIZE: One winner will receive the Delicious Daisy bouquet shown at right, with strawberries, pineapple, honeydew, cantaloupe and grapes arranged in a ceramic container—a nice gift, family treat or reason to entertain. Approximate retail value: $35.00.

Eat the “flowers” from Edible Arrangements, petal by petal.

• To Enter This Gourmet Giveaway: First determine if you live near an Edible Arrangements store so the prize can be dropped off; it cannot be shipped. See the list of Edible Arrangements stores nationwide. If you do not live near one, you can still enter but you’ll have the prize delivered as a gift to someone who does.
• Next, go to the box at the bottom of our Gourmet Fruits & Nuts Section and enter your email address for the prize drawing. This contest closes on Monday, February 1st at noon, Eastern Time. Good luck!
• Learn more at EdibleArrangements.com. 

All-natural, sugar-free lollipops from
Caring Candies taste as good as they look.
Photo courtesy Caring Candies.

Caring Candies is the new sugar-free line in town (it’s imported from South Africa). It’s sweet stuff for people who can’t have regular sugar.

The sugar-free candies are excellent, with beautiful colors and no off flavors (they’re not as sugary as regular candy, which is just fine in our book).

There are delicious lollipops for kids and hard candies (bonbons) for adults, including “sours” for both.

The line is diabetes-friendly, tooth-friendly, all-natural and certified kosher.

• Read our review of Caring Candies sugar-free candy.
• Find more sugar free candy and chocolate in our Diet Nibbles Section.