fat free cream cheese and reduced fat cheddar

[sunbrie]

Hello!
I made a mashed potato casserole from the complete CL cookbook which I think would have been very good except for the flavor of the fat free cream cheese. Yuck. Could it be the brand, or does it all taste the same? Also anyone find good reduced fat cheddar? Stuff I've gotten had bad texture and no flavor.

[BevP]

Instead of fat free cream cheese, maybe compromise with low fat cream cheese. Did you use Kraft Philidelphia? I find that going name brand helps when reducing fat. My lowfat cheddar is also Kraft their 2% milk Sharp cheddar. I've even used it just for cheese and crackers. If you find better, let me know.

[lindrusso]

I have found that the reduced-fat pre-shredded cheddar just isn't worth saving the fat grams! However, Cracker Barrel makes a decent reduced-fat cheddar. I have decided for the most part to forgoe the reduced-fat cheddar and use regular, but less of it.

[BethR]

I've also found that going with name brands for reduced fat dairy products is worth the extra money. I think it also depends on the store -- as an example, we think Safeway's store-brand light cream cheese is okay and Giant's is icky. Since I like shopping at Giant for other reasons, I buy Philadelphia RF and fat-free cream cheeses. For RF cheese, I always use Cracker Barrel's 2% milk extra sharp cheddar. Once we discovered it, I stopped buying regular cheddar.
Beth

[This message has been edited by BethR (edited 11-09-2000).]

[sunbrie]

Thanks for the suggestions. I did use Wegman's fat free cream cheese, so I'll try brand name next time, and I'll be sure to try Cracker Barrel.