Food review time!

Yeah, yeah, bated breath and all that.

Although most of the time I do my grocery shopping alone, Jason was along with me on a recent shopping trip.

As we headed down the pasta aisle, I reached for my usual whole wheat variety. But my husband, he was feeling a bit adventurous.

And, apparently, a bit like a big spender.

Because he wanted to try this Ronzoni Smart Taste. And it costs about 40 cents more per box than the whole wheat, which makes it about twice the price of regular pasta.

(We got the spaghetti, but I couldn't find a picture of that box online, so you'll just have to use your imagination, 'K?)

I was prepared to not like this pasta. Or, at least, to think that it wasn't so great as to warrant the extra 40 cents.

I should've been prepared to be wrong.

A few days later I got home from work and Jason was cooking this stuff up. When I got my bowl (because I am fancy and I have honest-to-goodness pasta bowls) I was amazed.

A-MAZED.

Normal pasta, to me at least, doesn't have much flavor on its own. I think of it more as a delivery vehicle for sauces and other toppings. This stuff was different. It was good. Like, I could tell a difference in the taste of this pasta and the taste of regular bargain-basement pasta.

It was so good, I found myself looking forward to the next time we'd have spaghetti.

Yes, two years of watching my food intake has driven me slightly insane.

The nutritionals on this stuff, by the way, are pretty similar to whole wheat pasta. Except it has lots of vitamins and minerals and other good-for-you stuff.

I hate - HATE - to admit that Jason was right this time. I'm such a cheap skate, and he's a believer in paying (slightly) more for better quality.

Now if they'd just get slightly-less-dumb commercials, I'd be all good with these Ronzoni folks.