Description: Prepared Swiss fondue made with Emmental and Gruyere cheeses contained in a heavy foil pouch. Serves seven.

Preparation summary: Empty contents into a saucepan or fondue dish rubbed with garlic and bring to a gentle boil, stirring constantly. Serve with cubed bread or sliced pears.

Highpoints: Dippity do dah day! Flavor and consistency hit pretty close to Swiss fondue made from scratch, which can be tricky business when trying to melt the curds evenly. This stuff is more manageable – no drawn-out, gooey strings when extracting your “dippers” from the pot.

Lowpoints: If you don’t have a chafing dish to keep the fondue warm, you’ll need to snatch the pot away from your happy dinner guests about halfway through the meal for a quick reheat on the stove.

Average retail price: $4.29

Availability: Trader Joe’s (stocked usually through the holidays)

Description: Dried pinto beans by Santa Fe Bean Company that turn “refried” by boiling in water.

Preparation summary: Add contents of package into 2 1/4 cups of boiling water. Cover and simmer on low heat for five minutes.

Highpoints: Savory, home-style flavor rivals refried beans that come in a can. Quick and easy to prepare and fairly low in sodium. Burritos turn out as tasty as those you get from a drive-through taco shack.

Lowpoints: Beans are a little runny to roll into a tortilla unless you cut the water volume by a quarter of a cup. Keep a dash of cumin and garlic on hand to compensate for lack of seasoning.

Average retail price: $2.49

Availability: Most major grocery stores

Description: Low calorie, zero-carb beverage made from a powdered mix portioned into six individual plastic tubs.

Preparation summary: Empty contents of single tub into a plastic or glass pitcher. Stir in 8 cups of cold water and serve.

Highpoints: Duly prepares dieting sweet tooths for those miserable stints with aspartame.

Lowpoints: Compared to the other Crystal Light flavors, this one tastes like flavored penicillin.

Average retail price: $3.89

Availability: Most major grocery stores

Description: Box of six cereal bars made with organic grains and selenium, and filled with blueberries and concentrated fruit juices.

Preparation summary: Ready to eat.

Highpoints: Soft, moist and rich, and the blueberries pack authentic flavor. Also, each bar contains 50 percent of the RDA of selenium, a trace mineral that helps the body produce antioxidant enzymes.

Lowpoints: Foolish name, and so flaccid in structure that the bars break apart at the slightest flick of the wrist.

Average retail price: $1.69

Availability: Trader Joe’s