Product Review: Walden Farms Ranch Dip

I recently found that my local Food Lion store carries the Walden Farms
products. I've heard about the zero calorie Walden Farms dressings on
ASD for some time but I was leery of ordering them for some reason. At
any rate, my first purchase was for a Raspberry Vinaigrette and Bacon
Ranch dressing for my mini-fridge at work. I tried the bacon ranch
first and I liked it quite a bit. So much so that I went back to the
store and got a bottle for home use as well as a jar of the Ranch Dip.

The first time that I tried the ranch dip was with celery (was chopping
celery for a soup recipe and sliced two stalks for dipping while I was
at it). I found the dressing to be less creamy and more vinegar tasting
than I expected. Two days latter I tried the ranch dip with some baby
carrots. That was much better. I don't know if the dip goes better
with the carrots or my expectations were for something vinegar flavored
but it was very good. I actually suspect that both are true -- goes
better with carrots and expectations were more on target. That being
said, I like the salad dressings more than the dip but I would get the
dip again if I was in a veggie dipping kind of mood. I eat salads
virtually every day and I don't do dipping as often ;-)

Since my first posting about the salad dressings, I have tried the
raspberry vinaigrette. I like that pretty well but I like the bacon
ranch more. The raspberry is a nice change, though, as it is slightly
sweet. Chris has recommended the Creamy Bleu Cheese and I plan to try
that next.

As I mentioned, I can get this at Food Lion. It's in the "specialty
foods" section near the wine, not with the other salad dressings. I
understand from others that Meijer's also carries these products (no
Meijer in my area so I don't know first hand). If anyone knows of other
stores that carry this, please post.

Oh, the products can also be ordered online from:
http://www.waldenfarms.com/
--
jmk in NC

I've tried their french salad dressing, and ending up throwing the
bottle away after my first serving. It just tasted like horrible
non-food to me. I've been a bit leery about trying their other
varieties as a result.

Part of the problem for me is that I can't wrap my head around how
they make the stuff zero calories. Zero fat, sure, I can dig that. But
zero calories? Nothing in there has any calories at all? Then what
the heck is it made of, then? It just... puzzles me. And while I don't
mind eating artificial ingredients and even preservatives, I don't like
being outright baffled by my food.
--
Annie

As of 12-09-05: 258/205/140 Standing at 5 foot 4.

53 pounds lost. 65 left to go. Started February/07/05

Come visit my weight-loss web site, Annie Takes Off.
http://webpages.charter.net/lenny13/DietFrontPage.html

On 12/10/05 2:52 PM, in article
, "Annie Benson Lennaman"
wrote:

I've tried their french salad dressing, and ending up throwing the
bottle away after my first serving. It just tasted like horrible
non-food to me. I've been a bit leery about trying their other
varieties as a result.

I tried a few varieties of Walden Farms salad dressings when I was in the
U.S. this summer and found them all pretty disgusting.

I also don't understand how, considering the ingredients, they come to zero
fat, zero carbs and zero calories per serving. I'm suspicious.

doug

On Fri, 09 Dec 2005 14:46:45 -0500, jmk wrote:

I recently found that my local Food Lion store carries the Walden Farms
products. I've heard about the zero calorie Walden Farms dressings on
ASD for some time but I was leery of ordering them for some reason. At
any rate, my first purchase was for a Raspberry Vinaigrette and Bacon
Ranch dressing for my mini-fridge at work. I tried the bacon ranch
first and I liked it quite a bit. So much so that I went back to the
store and got a bottle for home use as well as a jar of the Ranch Dip.

The first time that I tried the ranch dip was with celery (was chopping
celery for a soup recipe and sliced two stalks for dipping while I was
at it). I found the dressing to be less creamy and more vinegar tasting
than I expected. Two days latter I tried the ranch dip with some baby
carrots. That was much better. I don't know if the dip goes better
with the carrots or my expectations were for something vinegar flavored
but it was very good. I actually suspect that both are true -- goes
better with carrots and expectations were more on target. That being
said, I like the salad dressings more than the dip but I would get the
dip again if I was in a veggie dipping kind of mood. I eat salads
virtually every day and I don't do dipping as often ;-)

Since my first posting about the salad dressings, I have tried the
raspberry vinaigrette. I like that pretty well but I like the bacon
ranch more. The raspberry is a nice change, though, as it is slightly
sweet. Chris has recommended the Creamy Bleu Cheese and I plan to try
that next.

As I mentioned, I can get this at Food Lion. It's in the "specialty
foods" section near the wine, not with the other salad dressings. I
understand from others that Meijer's also carries these products (no
Meijer in my area so I don't know first hand). If anyone knows of other
stores that carry this, please post.

Oh, the products can also be ordered online from:
http://www.waldenfarms.com/

The Giant groceries in Virginia carry them. I don't know if there are
Giants in other places, but it's probably the largest chain here.

Chris
262/130s/130s
started dieting July 2002, maintaining since June 2004

On Sat, 10 Dec 2005 15:50:12 +0900, Doug Lerner
wrote:




On 12/10/05 2:52 PM, in article
, "Annie Benson Lennaman"
wrote:

I've tried their french salad dressing, and ending up throwing the
bottle away after my first serving. It just tasted like horrible
non-food to me. I've been a bit leery about trying their other
varieties as a result.

I tried a few varieties of Walden Farms salad dressings when I was in the
U.S. this summer and found them all pretty disgusting.

I also don't understand how, considering the ingredients, they come to zero
fat, zero carbs and zero calories per serving. I'm suspicious.

doug

My guess is that they just don't contain enough of anything with
calories to round up to 5 or more per serving, so they get to round
down to zero. Anyway, they don't seem to have any more weird
chemicals than lots of other stuff I eat, and they haven't poisoned me
yet :-).

If I spent a lot of time thinking about how my food was made, I'd
probably have to become a vegetarian. So I don't.

Chris
262/130s/130s
started dieting July 2002, maintaining since June 2004

On 12/11/05 9:34 AM, in article ,
"Chris Braun" wrote:

If I spent a lot of time thinking about how my food was made, I'd
probably have to become a vegetarian. So I don't.

I don't spend much time thinking how foods are made. But I sure notice how
they TASTE!

doug

Chris Braun wrote:
If I spent a lot of time thinking about how my food was made, I'd
probably have to become a vegetarian. So I don't.

I like to make everything I eat from scratch so that I know what
I'm eating. That way it tastes better too. I'm also vegetarian.
:-D

--Scott

On Sun, 11 Dec 2005 11:35:15 +0900, Doug Lerner
wrote:




On 12/11/05 9:34 AM, in article ,
"Chris Braun" wrote:

If I spent a lot of time thinking about how my food was made, I'd
probably have to become a vegetarian. So I don't.

I don't spend much time thinking how foods are made. But I sure notice how
they TASTE!

doug

Oh, me too, but I actually like this :-).

Chris
262/130s/130s
started dieting July 2002, maintaining since June 2004