I don’t think I’ve ever named a post, “New Things I’ve Tried,” but it is possible. I’ll just have to search my site to see if anything comes up.
Nasoya Shirataki Spaghetti – Zero Pasta 8 oz (June 2025)
Shirataki are translucent, gelatinous Japanese noodles made from the corm of the konjac plant. I was pleasantly surprised by how much like regular noodles these looked like, felt like and tasted like. *My first test was to make some Spaghetti & Clams with Knorr Pesto flavoring. It was just as satisfying as if the noodles had been made with wheat flour. They cost about $2.50 for the 8 oz package in the freezer section at Harris Teeter. Expensive, but also satisfying.
As my second test, and there was only enough of the noodles for two helpings, I made some spaghetti sauce, with RAO’s Marinara Sauce as starter, and some diced Fire Roasted tomatoes, ground beef and finely diced onion. I had some red bell pepper and a couple of raw garlic cloves which I diced. Oregano, Italian Spices, Fenugreek, Garlic & Onion powder, and some red pepper flakes. It was a good tasting sauce, and for homemade spaghetti sauce and Shirataki noodles it was perfectly fine. The noodles are pleasing… but I may have come to the end of my enjoying a spaghetti meal, and I don’t think it’s the noodles.
Woeber’s Sandwich Pal Jalapeño Mustard, 16 oz Squeeze Bottle [June 2025]
I was in Pate’s Farm Market a few days ago and as I was nearing their “meat” wall, I noticed a display for various condiments by the Woeber’s Company. I think they were each about $3+ and I noticed the Jalapeno Mustard and decided to try it. *I just saw that Walmart has it listed for under $3 so if I buy another bottle, and it looks like I might, then I will try to get it there.
Sodium is about the only thing this product offers nutritionally and only 80 mg per serving, but a serving is 1 tsp. Even calories & sugars are 0%.
It is a spicy hot yellow mustard, but I’ve already found that I like to mix it with the Inglehoffer’s Creamy Horseradish, and throw in some Agave Nectar, Stevia, and Equal for sweetness. I use a Ingelhoffer squeeze bottle to mix it. It does go well with a slice of sprouted bread and a slice of Hatfield’s Sliced Ham. I’ve made a sweet horseradish mustard before, but this threw in a slightly hot element. *And, just about as quickly, I fell out of love with the extra spiciness. I still like mixing the Inglehoffer’s Creamy Horseradish, with French’s Yellow Mustard and some sweetener like Agave Nectar and/or Equal.
Coriander Cilantro Paste by Perù Food [June 2025]
I was in Compare Foods yesterday and got stymied by their closing off a large part of their vegetable refrigerated wall. Don’t know if something had broken down, or if for cleaning, or some other reason, but there was yellow tape blocking access at several aisle points. And there were not peppers where the Ajicito peppers had been previously. *And after several years of saying they should put an accent over the “é” in “Compare,” as it’s obviously a Hispanic chain, I googled and realized that adding the accent to the e wouldn’t make it more Spanish, but that it would be more French, so that joke is gone.
So I trudged on and looked more closely at their pork sausage wall. The only thing to note, was that they pay more for many things. Not just their cans of chipotles. And I saw no “low sodium” Pintos, and even if I had, I would have expected them to be more expensive than Aldi’s or LIDL.
But, I did see a small jar of “Coriander Cilantro Paste” and the Company apparently, “Perù Food.” It was under $4 and I decided to buy it because I’ve been using a lot of fresh cilantro leaves in my current favorite dishes.
It is murky green and I’m not sure it is actually the flavor of cilantro ground up, but is distinctive enough. I’ve put some on a sandwich and it was good. I also put some in the hot sausage/cannellini beans/shrimp soup I make and I think it added positively. *I think I even tried mixing a little of it with the creamy horseradish… not bad, not sure yet.
Shred Silk The Knife
I just ordered one of these. Saw it in a video on Amazon and it immediately caught my interest. The first instance was under $7, but I later saw that the shipping was not free so I deleted it from my cart. But then later I saw what appeared to be a 2 pack of the same shredder and it was only a little over $7 and the shipping was free, and by tomorrow, so I placed the order.
It looks like it makes fast work of making shreds of various veggies, onion/carrot/peppers, but I’m also thinking this might make shredded, roasted rotisserie chicken a breeze. And with my current interest in blue corn tacos, a little shredded chicken would be an excellent alternative to seasoned ground beef.
Bionaturae Sourdough Pasta Noodles
I bought some of this at Harris Teeter earlier today and fixed some spaghetti sauce for lunch. I liked the texture & flavor of this pasta. It’s pricey, about $5 or $6 for 12 oz. I cooked a 2 oz. helping of this pasta, but probably left a .5 oz. portion uneaten because I didn’t want to eat too many carbs or spike my blood sugar. *This morning my resting blood sugar was 109, so that’s in my “new normal” good level. But, I realized this morning that the spaghetti sauce and pasta wasn’t as satisfying as it has been most of my life. It’s no longer in my meal rotation.
Moser Roth Dark Chocolate (cranberry)
I recalled from a “Feli from Germany” episode that Aldi’s has good prices on their chocolates, but that was some time ago. I finally thought to look at some of their chocolates and I decided on the Cranberry Dark Chocolate. There were 5 individually wrapped packages in the one big package. It is sweet enough for dark chocolate to be pleasurable to me. I would buy this again.
After I rechecked the nutritional values for this, I’ve had to nix it. But, like the Oatmeal Cranberry cookies, enjoyable but messes either with my weight or my blood sugar. Buy and eat sporadically, or give away most and get “just a taste.”
Bill Gibson, II 