A Round-Up of Deals and Tools: Pilates, Pizza Fit'n Free, Holey Donuts, CurlMart, Hungry Girl's List

Well, I think the cloud is finally easing and I'm feeling as if light is coming through the grey. I had still felt blue last week, so much so that I cancelled all my Pilates sessions. But this week, I went Monday and today, and she worked me hard (I think to make up for lost sessions.) It's fine. It's tough, and sometimes midway I think I'm gonna collapse, but we make it through the hour in the end. :) I'm still amazed I've stuck with this for 1 year and 7 months. Me, the exercise hater. But when I have someone telling me, guiding me, encouraging me, pushing me, I like it. Alone, on my own, I end up stuck in inertia. Hate that about me. If you're a big gal in South Florida and you've wanted to try Pilates, but have been afraid cause of size or embarrassment, try one of the gals at The Pilates Room in North Miami Beach. Look for a welcome 3-session special and class pricing here.

If you're a pizza-lover, and want to try a no-fat, no-sugar, low-cal frozen pizza that gets shipped to your house, well, Pizza Fit'n Free has a special promo going on now (for new orders only). Use coupon code "superbowl" and you'll get 10% off yoru order. See their pizzas here. I'll be totally honest and say that I tried these a couple years ago and though they were...dreadful. Very dry, cardboardy, hard crust and skimpy toppings. But I understand that this is catering to an segment of dieters that really want to keep calories low and have to have a pizza fix. Me, I'd rather make a pita pizza with veggies and part-skim mozza and low-cal pizza sauce at home. Tastes better, imo. BUT...lots of points-watchers use these as a craving-killer that doesn't blast the diet like supermarket or delivery pizzas can. One of these pizzas is only 250 calories and you can top it the way you'd like.

Holey Donuts has added Weight Watchers points to their shopping pages (not all donuts I saw had them listed, but most).  For example, the mini cinnamon buns are 2 points each, four donuts holes  are 3 points, one Oreo Boston creme-filled is 4 points, and one strawberry shortcake is 5 points.

I've tried Crum Creek's soy snacks, and they tasted good, though I stopped ordering due to issues with soy. However, if you like a lower-carb pasta and aren't sensitive to soy, you might want to take advantage of Crum Creek's pasta sale. Get 30% off your order of pasta with the promo code "comfort."

 While hair care is not diet-related, it is mood-related to me. A good hair day makes me happier and a bad hair day lowers my joy level, I can tell you. In an effort to go more natural (not just in foods, but in other products), I've turned off the flat iron and blow-dryer (mostly) in favor of air-drying. (See mini-pics of my hair as it is au naturel, air-dried, at left. I'm still recovering from decades of straightening, but my curls will heal.) I've also switched to products that use either all or mostly natural products--oils, emollients, moisturizers, surfactants, etc. I'm a curly haired gal--quite curly. My hair naturally spirals and coils. Since late November, I haven't straightened it. And I've been using some interesting stuff I've sampled from Whole Foods and from Curlmart.  Shop now through February 1 at Curlmart and SAVE 15%. Use coupon code 5DAY15*. They carry lots of curl-friendly hair lines such as the Deva, Curl Junkie, MyHoneyChild, Mop Top, Kinky Curly, Jessicurl, Curly Hair Solutions, etc. If you have been straightening/blowing/flat-ironing and want to go natural with your waves or curls, I highly recommend the NaturallyCurly.com site, forum (CurlTalk), articles, and CurlMart reviews and products.

Hungry Girl has sent out her handy-dandy shopping list. If you want to take a look to see if you can get hints for your own fatfighting list, check out her pdf format list.


I hope there's lot of joy in your life today, and a little less fat. :) Happy Thursday!

And an abruptly terminated checkout at Holey Donuts

There's been so much buzz lately in the few "diet" sites I've visited about Holey Donuts, that I went to their site and signed up for emails on specials and such (as part of entering the giveaway that Hungry Girl promoted).

So, in my inbox today, I get a special--get free donut holes and credit of $5 on next order with a minimum 3 assortment order. Huh, sounds nice, I think.

Granted, these are not cheap to start with at a couple bucks per donut, and three bucks plus per cinnamon bun. But the cinnamon buns and the donut holes sounded like good options for the freezer for occasional treats. (I have a freezer UPSTAIRS, and I go up there so rarely, sometimes the treats I have get too old, like some VitaTop muffins. It's a good place to put the tempting stuff, as I have to get dressed, go outside with keys, go up a flight of stairs, go into a different apartment's kitchen if I want the treat. Hubby keeps some snack stuff up there, out of my way.)

I decide that the offer for free donut holes with purchase tempts me to get those buns. I go through part of the checkout process, then see that the delivery fee is over 18 bucks.

Ya know, that just up and killed that transaction.

I understand they need to deliver these by a certain window due to the nature of the product. Totally get it. But, these are pricey donut treats, and when you add price and delivery for the minimum of 3 assortments, well... I can't see paying about SIXTY BUCKS for 8 cinnamon buns and 6 flavored donuts just to get bonus donut holes for free.

If they'd given a credit on shipping, instead of free donuts or a future discount, I'd have ordered the obligatory 3 assortments. Yes, I really like the idea of a cinnamon bun right now. Or a boston creme donut hole. Too bad the speical offer wasn't free shipping or five buck shipping. That would make sampling the stuff less painful, more of a done deal by now.

Ah, well. Maybe down the road they'll be stocked in local specialty groceries or something, the way VitaTops made it to regular supermarkets and Whole Foods. Or maybe I'll get lucky and I'll win an assortment.

I'm curious. Answer me this: Would you pay 60 bucks roughly for 14 reduced fat dessert treats (not counting the special bonus offer now for the holes, which I assume is limited and not usual) without having a chance to sample them first, not knowing if you'll love them, just going on testimonials? Would you?

I think I'm afraid I'll not like them THAT much, the way I hated most of my first order of VitaTops (I only ended up being able to eat the chocolate ones, so ended up tossing a lot of muffins.)

So, have you tried these? Did you think they were okay or great or not-so-great? Did you think the price was commensurate with the quality? And did anyone else do what I did....get through most of the checkout and go, "Oh, no, I ain't paying THAT much in shipping!"?

Well, if you're braver or richer or more donut-obsessed than I am, here's the link to order. And if you want the free donut hole sample and five bucks credit on your second order, then you have to use the code Ldth . (Guessing it's for Lowfat DonuT Holes.) This code is only good for TODAY, the seventeeth.

On the plus side of treats, I ordered organic chocolate frozen bananas made from organic and raw ingredients for my next week's desserts. Hey, fruit and potassium and real cocoa and sweetened with agave nectar. More "whole" and healthful than donuts, lowfat or otherwise, right?

Still, those cinnamon buns looked crazy yummy...sigh. ; )

What The Princess Likes About Oatmeal

I used to make old-fashioned oatmeal on the stove with milk, which I found a bit annoying in terms of sticking to the pot, but which I loved in terms of the aroma. However, since I got my slow cooker, it's just so easy making a water-based one in there that it's my preferred method. Just put it on and, voila, in an hour (for firm) or two (for mushy), a warm, comforty, filling snack or breakfast.

(I skip the quick cooking, and either take the time for old-fashioned slow-cooking or do instant. The in-between one, eh.)

Lyn, over at Escape from Obesity, is gonna go on a visit to the Quaker Oats HQ, and she's got a giveaway of yumsy QO products. (Go enter at her site.)

I decided to enter the giveaway and answer one of the questions--in this case, what do I like about oatmeal?

My response:

What do I like about Oatmeal? Let me count the ways:

1. Easy to make.
2. Can be made with milk or water, and is fine both ways.
3. Reminds me of chilly mornings when mom made me oatmeal--it's comfort food!
4. It's great with fruit and spices.
5. Leftover oatmeal makes a quick and easy cobbler.
6. You can make "oatmeal cookies" with oatmeal, and I love oatmeal cookies.
7. You can make fake oatmeal "cookies" with protein powder in a pinch.
8. It's very filling. And I have a monster appetite that is not easily quelled.
9. It tastes good, really, so maybe that should be number one.
10. It comes in INSTANT, for when I get lazy, which is kinda often.
11. You can make a huge batch and eat it for days and days....which is good, yet again, for the lazy thing.
12. It lowers cholesterol, and I need all the help I can get in that department.
13. It's got fiber, and fiber is good for my colon's health.
14. It smells good. I love the smell of oats and oatmeal. I stick my head in those tubes of Quaker Oats and breathe it in. I linger over the pot while it cooks. I love opening the slow cooker lid and smelling it. LOVE THAT SMELL!
15. Okay, this isn't about oatmeal per se, but it's worth mentioning: It makes for great cleansing and moisturizing products for sensitive skin. (ie Aveeno)
16. Oats (before cooking) make a good exfoliant for sensitive skin.

What do you like about Oatmeal? What would you tell the Quaker Oats people to do to improve their products or what new products would you like to see? What question would you like Lyn to ask their dietitian? Answer one of these at Lyn's site and you might win some stuff.

~

Oh, my! Oh, yum! And 100 calories...whoo!

If you're one of those folks who avoids 100 calorie snack packs cause you can't just have one, skip these. Seriously. Skip em.

If you use those 100 calorie packs as your special treat for a bag lunch or with your coffee or tea time at home, then listen up: Newtons fruit crisps rock like nobody's business!!!

I tried the apple cinnamon one, and they are AMAZING. It's like having a crispy apple pie, only much less fat and fewer calories. Delicious.

I love to have something sweet with my afternoon tea and protein, and fruit doesn't always cut it. These do. With tea or coffee, it feels positively self-indulgent. And you get two really good-sized crisps (like 4 inches long) in each pack, 50 calories each. (If you have great self-control, you can have one and it's really a nice fruity/cookie-ish treat.)

Mmmm. Thanks Newtons.

Ever Eaten a Raw Fruit Pie? Ever Eaten Mamey Sapote?

If you answered no to one or both of the above questions, you're in for a treat.

If you can get hold of one at a Whole Foods near you, try the Glaser Organics raw fruit pies. I bought one because the colors were so fresh and beautiful--the intense deep pinkish orange of the mamey, the gold of the pineapple, the green of the kiwi. It was just a gorgeous looking pie.

And reading the ingredients was uplifting: all raw, all organic, all fruit and fruit juice and nuts. No white flour. No preservatives. No crap.

The one I bought was a Mamey Raw Fruit Pie. It has mamey, mango, pineapple, kiwi, dates, orange juice, bananas as well as almonds, pecans, walnuts and coconut (making up the really surprisingly delectable crust). Spices, too.

If eating raw tastes like this, sign me up for more raw gourmet food.

I'm gonna try their other flavors. I've already bought their spinach pesto raw sauce for pasta. (I'm so digging the Dreamfields lower-carb impact pasta. Hubby loves it, too.)

I try eating something raw at every meal and, ideally, at every snack. I figure that way I get the nutrients and enzymes undamaged. But I liked cooked food too much to be an all-raw enthusiast. (And I ain't eating raw meats of any kind ever!)

So, that's my food discovery for this week. Visit Glaser Organics site and see what other lovelies they have that you can order if your Whole Foods or organic gourmet shop doesn't carry this brand.

Try making one for yourself. Here's a beautiful array of raw food photos and recipes.

Happy healthful eating!
~~

The Princess Reviews Instone Pudding

Instone Pudding is a high-protein pudding snack that seems popular with the low-carbers. I'd seen some bad reviews and some excellent ones, so I decided to try it and judge for myself:

Chocolate flavor. My review: Oh, my, how can anyone eat this crap? It tastes like funky chemicals run amok.

--Because I figure anything is worth a second try, especially when some folks I like actually eat it, I tried a different flavor--

Banana flavor. My review: Egads, people actually finish this horror? Willingly? How do I get this aftertaste out of my mouth. :::sound of me gargling with mouthwash::::

I now understand why Sylvester Stallone often has that pained look on his face. He eats this stuff!

There you have it. My garbage has two partially eaten tins of the stuff waiting to be hauled away, far from me and my abused tongue.

Try it at risk to your taste buds.

Do You Like Hot Cocoa?

If so, I gotta heartily recommend Scharffen Berger's natural cocoa powder, unsweetened.

Oh, man. I am so digging this. Been having a cup every night (with Splenda and skim milk) and I've been sleeping sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!

Plus, the taste rocks my mouth.

I've tried a lot of cocoa powders for hot cocoa, including Ghirardelli, Hershey's, Droste. I've grated my own chocolate from imported bars. I've even used baking chocolate bars, like the amazing Valrhona's (melting them to mix with milk.) Just recently tried one from Netrition.com that was organic, but didn't have me in ecstasies like S-B.

I find the bitter edge that some cocoa powders have is not there in Scharffen Berger's powder, and that's nice. It's dark, it's got great flavor, it makes killer hot cocoa. I like it so much, I just ordered five tins from the company's website. (The vendor at amazon.com charged 12 bucks for shipping one tin, and more for extra. Forget that!)

If you're ever in the supermarket, look for it. Williams Sonoma carried it (I got it at the mall last Monday.)

This is the real thing--no alkali, no Dutch processing, no sugar. It's got the heart healthy benefits of cocoa powder sans alkali. But, really, aside from that, don't we really drink it cause it's comforting and delicious and just makes us feel young and warm inside? Yeah. I thought so. And for dieters, it gives you that dose of chocolate aroma and taste without oodles of saturated fat and calories. It's a diet treat with health benefits and soothes the soul.

The Princess' product recommendation for the day: Scharffen Berger's cocoa powder (natural, unsweetened).

MmmmMmmmmMMMMmmmmmmMmmm.
~

Weil, Taubes, Oz: The Diet Discussion and The Princess' Philosophy on Food

I probably agree most with Dr. Weil on this one. Gary Taubes ideas about fat, though, are intriguing. It's interesting that even Dr. Oz admits he eats mostly low-carb in this clip.

My mom and dad had no heart disease, had very different body types, different food preferences, and both lived to their 80's. My mother was not much of a meat-eater. She ate small servings of meat, and larger servings of starchy veggies (plantains, cassava, boniato, malanga, potato.) She loved her dairy: especially milk (whole fat) and ice cream. She loved fruits and fruit juices. And soups (usually some sort of legume.) My father loved his rice and meat and eggs and whole milk. Every day, we had whole milk with breakfast, and often with a snack late in the afternoon or at night. Butter and olive oil were our main fats, although mom used lard when I was a kid to fry stuff. Lard was later exchanged for corn oil. Our only salad dressing was olive oil and vinegar. White cheese was often consumed (Cuban thing).

But mom and dad were cod liver oil afficionados. All of us got it. It was mom's cure-all. Cod liver oil. My dad consumed huge quantities of the stuff.

With all the hoopla about fish oils now, well, makes one wonder if that was mighty helpful in keeping their hearts normal.

I wish I could still take fish oils, but my allergy to seafood makes me leery. I'm really afraid I'll end up in the E.R.

As far as my food philosophy, here it is, and I hope I do not offend any of you. This is just how I see it, and I respect your right to disagree and hold a totally different philosophy:

I believe we are meant to eat the wide spectrum. I believe this for religious reasons, first and foremost--ie, I'm a Christian, and I believe humans are created, not genetic accidents--but also because of my reading on the subject. And because I tend to shy away from food extremism. Whether it's the raw food recruiters or the no-carbs proselytizers or the no fat fanatics or the vegan venerators.

I believe we were created to consume fruits/veggies/herbs/nuts in abundance, yes, as depicted in Genesis.

I have given you every plant with seeds on the face of the earth and every tree that has fruit with seeds. This will
be your food. Genesis 1:29

But whatever and wherever Eden was, it's not here and now. Our foreparents were driven forth, barred from the ease and healthfulness and abundance of Paradise, and our diet was altered by God to suit a changed world and our changed beings:

Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field Genesis 3:18

Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. Genesis 9:3

And take your father and your households, and come unto me: and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land. Genesis 45:18

And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat. Genesis 18:8

There's even a warning that, well, may apply to our age:

Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils ... commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. -- 1 Timothy 4:1-3

I'll let the theologians wrangle that out. But it's worth keeping in mind when extremist diets are touted.

Still, back to my general philosophy: What is good and wholesome out there, given to us from the earth and its creatures, by sanction of God, is okay to eat AS LONG AS IT AGREES WITH OUR BODIES. Some of us have special chronic conditions that disallow an all-inclusive diet (say, diabetics or people with celiac disease or allergies).

Wholesome being the key word.

Yet, the way we tend to purchase it in the grocery store or restaurants can be mighty different from how it comes from nature, nutritionally sound. Whole foods, I believe, give us what our bodies need. Over-processed foods with additives can give us things we really don't want. We weren't created to consume mass quantities of salt, sugar, corn syrup, preservatives, etc. (I consume processed products for convenience's sake, but I do try to make sure what I eat includes MOSTLY wholesome, whole grain, organic, minimally processed foods. I do have special, chronic conditions, and I have to adapt, but I try to make sure I eat something raw with every meal and I've mostly--though not altogether--eliminated sugar and white flour and trans fats and minimized the consumption of foods with a gazillion chemicals with freaky names. Although, sorry, I do use sucralose in place of sugar. It's fakey, but we insulin resistant folks have to make concessions.)

Healthy animal flesh is also given to us to eat by the Creator, and by healthy or wholesome I mean creatures allowed to grow and move in a mostly normal animal manner (not penned up and unable to move more than mere inches), and who eat in a natural way (as opposed to being fed a lot of garbage), breathe fresh air, drink clean water, breed, nurture young, etc. I believe this is also wholesome to the human body. Animals stressed by overcrowding, abusive conditions, poor feed, excessive hormones and chemicals and such, I do not believe are wholesome to the human body.

(BTW, I'm not a vegetarian, but often eat vegetarian days. I just don't believe it's a moral issue, certainly not for me. If God says I can eat meat, hey, sorry, but you won't convince me otherwise. But if I choose not to eat meat--for whatever reason, health or political or conscience--then God's cool with that, too. We don't have to eat just one way any more than we have to pray just one way or sing the same song in worship or wear the same outfits everyone else does in church. I prefer beans and cheese to, say, steak and ribs. And I wish I could eat seafood, but, hey, allergic. )

In any case, the discussions provoked by Taubes in the past few years have been beneficial, I believe, to the whole diet world. And I have started to read his book,which is dense reading, I can tell you.

I hope the discussion continues, with input from scientists and dietitians and other persons, because folks like me and you really want good information, not bad science or bad anecdotal evidence or crazy theories. We just eant to eat well.

And sometimes, it's about experimenting. Seeing what works for each of us, since we're not all the same.

Five Days? Man, Time Flies! Especially When You're Stuffing Your Face With Pizza and Italian Foods

Hubby has been taking it easy at home with me all weekend and today. Tomorrow, we're gonna go, weather permitting, to see the special exhibit of Goya art at the Freedom Tower in Miami. I loves me some my art!

So, really, man, I've been a bad Princess about posting. Life intruded. (And I'm not alone. Teale's life intruded, too.)

On the eating front: There must be a bug going around that got me and Lyn and Zanitta--thanks for checking on me, girl!--cause I wasn't so great Friday or Sunday. Friday, I had one of my trigger foods and I binged. Pizza! Italian! Same deal Sunday.

Here's what I had, and why I was a doubly bad Princess:

Friday--the band came over for music practice (hubby is a very, very good drummer and an okay bass player. He plays for the church band.) We ordered pizza for the hungry musicians, and I had THREE, yes, THREE slices. Well, 2 and 2/3, since I left some of the third on the plate. I had two servings of salad. I had two cups of pasta e fagiole soup with sprinkled parmesan on top. It was a cheesetravaganza of calories. And then I topped it off with a cup of Cherries Cordial frozen yogurt with 6 maraschino cherries. Eek.

Yes, that was a bona fide binge.

Saturday I was fine. Whew.

Sunday I had lasagna and chicken parmigiana and some salad with balsamic vinaigrette. And I had three cookies. And more frozen yogurt. Strawberry this time. But this time, half a cup, not a whole cup. No maraschino cherries.

Today, I've been fine.

Now, the scale isn't going down, but, thankfully, it hasn't gone UP. I was at 275.4 when I weighed in today. Just .2 lbs less than last Wednesday.

Thing is, even these deviations were not the all-out, insane, gluttonously sinful binges of the past.

No, really. I would have had four or five slices of pizza and a whole bunch of greasy garlic rolls and some cake or some other big-calorie sweet treat. I would have gorged on dressing, instead of measuring out and using lemon juice to expand. The fact that in neither case--Friday or Sunday--did I eat as much as I would have in the past or as much as I wanted to THOSE DAYS (yes, I wanted another slice of pizza. Yes, I wanted more lasagna. Yes, I wanted garlic rolls. Yes, I wanted tiramisu or chocolate cake or pie), is a small, but noticeable change. I simply did not let go. I still held SOME control.

I also made up for it with the next meal. I had the Pizza Splurge for lunch. For dinner, I kept to cereal with fruit.

On Sunday, I had just some crispbread crackers with light cheese and an apple for supper to make up for the cheesy Italian feastlet.

I consider those important to note. I didn't lose ALL control. :)

Today, I have some nice chicken breast with spinach and low-fat cheese in a high-fiber wrap ready for lunch. I have some lovely honeycrisp apples to satisfy a need to chew. I have cantaloupe for dessert.


Oh, and I tried this sugarless lemon curd that is so delicious with some almond butter on whole grain toast. It's like having a lemon tart, without the saturated fat or sugar. It's one of my new fave treats. It's very nice with some Almond Breeze (I love the chocolate, and I use the vanilla for smoothies with chocolate protein powder.)


But Zanitta and Chubby Chick are so right. Just having one day of being in control, good, sane about food is so satisfying. Especially after a couple not-so-great days.

I want to be better in the next few days, cause the PMS time will be here soon when hunger makes me a crazy fool. I need to habituate care in selection and ingestion so I'm not all whack come the bloaty heralds of the Red Guest.

The Easy, Anti-Hunger Oatmeal "Cookie"

I was reading the latest NUTRITION magazine, fall 2007, and it had this little (really easy) recipe for Oatmeal Cookies provided by fitness model Maggie Diubaldo.

Well, I tried it today when I got the afternoon noshies. As I mentioned in an earlier post today, I've been feeling really hungry. This recipe included stuff I have on hand (oatmeal, PB, protein powder, cinnamon, Splenda), so I made it. Surprisingly, it was satisfying. I will add more Splenda next time.

Here is how I made it, which is slightly altered from the recipe, cause I don't make the special mixture the model does (something called "Maggie Love" which has cayenne pepper, cinnamon, and stevia, all to taste.) It's ready in 10 minutes, and it makes two cookies.

Ingredients:
1/4 c. oats
1/2 scoop choc protein powder
1 tsp natural peanut butter
Cinnamon and Splenda to taste (my improvisation for Maggie Love mix)
Water, as desired (I used exactly 1/8th of a cup)

Directions:
Mix oats, protein powder, PB, spices (use whatever you wish if you don't like cinnamon), & sweetener with just enough water (about 1/8 c. or less) to make a thick batter.

Pack it into a hamburger shape and cook in a frying pan over medium heat until it is fully cooked and slightly crispy, about 4 mins per side.

Nutrition stats: Calories 85, fat 3g, carb 8g , fiber 1g, protein 9g

On my stove, it got slightly scorched at medium-heat. But stoves differ. I know I need to use a slightly lower heat.

Next time, besides more cinnamon and more Splenda, I'm gonna use vanilla protein powder and see how that tastes.

It kept me full for three hours so far (had it with water and coffee). And it's much safer than having cookies in the house. Plus, hey, fiber and protein and healthy mono fat! (The stats will differ depending what protein blend you use. I used the Melaleuca chocolate one, but I keep Designer Whey in the house and have a few sample packets of Myoplex. Use whichever has the nicest flavor for you.)

If you try it, let me know if you enjoyed it. As a cookie, I'd rate it a 3 out of 5 stars. But as a satisfying mid-afternoon snack with protein, one that killed my hunger pangs without too much caloric damage, one I had to CHEW, rather than just DRINK...I give it a tummy-happy thumbs up. (I might add some raisins next time, or walnuts.)

~

Book the Princess Wants...

The Princess Reviews...SOY BITES

I wanted to give y'all a heads up about these absolutely yummynummy, crunchy mini-breaksticks made by Crum Creek. They're called "Soy Bites." And they totally rule!

Now, I try to minimize my intake of soy because of thyroiditis. But, sometimes, a product with soy is so amazing that I make room for it. These are one.

Why?

Some days, I need crunchy. I need crunchy bad. And I like my crunch with flavor, not just crispbread (aka healthy cardboard). Especially right before the Red Guest comes, I get mad for something to really challenge my teeth with a solid crunch, something that's savory, not sweet like an apple.

Crum Creek's Soy Bites come in four flavors. I've tried them all. The absolutely, hands-down, thumbs-up best one is the EVERYTHING! flavor, which is crusted with sesame seeds, onion, garlic, and poppy seeds. Ever had an everything bagel? Well, this is like that, only it's really crunchy and it's only gonna cost you 2 WW points per bag. And the bag is not s measly serving. You get a couple dozen pieces plus per bag. Very satisfying portion.

The other flavors are, in descending order of my preference:
Superb Sesame
Outrageous Onion
Remarkable Rosemary and Garlic

Sadly, no fiber. But here's the nutritional info on the EVERYTHING! Soy Bites:

Pieces per Serving: 27
Calories: 105

Calories from Fat: 14
Total Fat 1.5g
Saturated Fat 0g
Cholesterol 0g
Sodium 165mg
Total Carbohydrates 16g
Dietary Fiber 0g
Sugars 0g
Protein 6g

And here's the ingredients:

Unbleached Wheat Flour, Soy Protein, Expeller-pressed Soy Oil, Yeast, Malt Syrup, Baking Powder, Wheat Gluten, Salt PLUS FOR ROSEMARY AND GARLIC: Dried Rosemary, Garlic Powder FOR SESAME: Sesame Seeds FOR ONION: Onion Powder. FOR EVERYTHING: Poppy Seeds, Sesame Seeds, Onion, Garlic, Salt, Yeast, Corn And Malt Syrup And Dried Brewer Yeast.

Breakfast Burritos from Teale and Amy's Kitchen's Customer Service

If, like Teale and me, you enjoy burritos for breakfast, then head over to her blog and get her recipe for 3 WW points burritos. (I mention my own fave burrito breakfast recipe in the comments section...more points than hers, but HUGELY filling and you get 2 veggies for the day, plus lots of fiber.)

I think breakfast burritos ROCK. And our low-carbing pals can use low-carb tortillas and low-carb veggies to make theirs. Mmmmmmm.

If you don't have time to cook in the morning, there are some breakfast burrito equivalents in the freezer section of your supermarket. The South Beach Diet Breakfast Wraps (oh, please, they're burritos!) are not bad. And the fiber count is unbelievable. Plus only 3 WW points. However, yeah, high in sodium, like so many convenience foods of this type.

Amy's Kitchen also has a breakfast burrito, but, okay, not my fave. Bland. But you might like it. (I'd recommend the South Beach one way over this one.) This one has 5 WW points. Not low-carb, though. Oh, and speaking of Amy's, they sent me replacements for the crushed soup cans. That was fast. That was cool. Props to them for customer consideration. Plus, now I can groove on that "Light in Sodium" Cream of Tomato soup. (God, I love tomato soup.)

Back to the topic at hand: Certainly, frozen products cannot and are not the fabuloso stuff you could make fresh and to your preferences at home, but they will do in a pinch. Just don't overcook in the microwave. And salsa always helps. :D

Onward and Downward!

Edited to Add: And in the late afternoon mail, I also got a bunch of coupons for free Amy's products at my local grocery store. Now, you know, that really is customer CARE. Wooo-hoooo.

Princess Dieter Discovers: As Promised, An Update on ChocoPerfection

I'd mentioned that I'd let you know if the yummy low-carb, dark chocolate bars I ordered from ChocoPerfection caused trouble.

Nope. The Princess has not had gastric distress.

This is good, since I really enjoy the flavor of this bar and I really love that it's high-fiber.

Come on. Be honest. How many of you are getting to the recommended 25 to 30+ grams of fiber per day?

I make it almost every day since I went on a healthier eating plan due to my increase in eating veggies--I always ate lots of fruit and whole grain bread--and almost daily consumption of oatmeal and legumes. Beans will really up your fiber intake. But on days when you fall a bit short (say, didn't have your beans or high-fiber cereal), then you can get 14 grams from a bar of ChocoPerfection.

That much fiber means SATIETY. Yes...you feel fuller.

But it's all about taste, isn't it, chocolate lovers? Taste is king. Or in my case, Princess.

Proof that my mouth digs this: I WILL be reordering.

But make sure you look carefully at the calories and saturated fat and see how it fits into YOUR individual eating plan. A definite plus for low-carbers, and useful for chocoholics with sugar issues. Thanks, ChocoPerfection

Some Breakfast Recipes For Ya

Here are two healthful breakfasts for about 350 calories each from FITNESS MAGAZINE (to which I subscribe):

Whole-Grain Waffles with Berry & Walnut Compote
2 frozen low-fat whole-grain waffles
1/4 cup blackberries
1/4cup strawberries
1 ounce (14 halves) walnuts

Make it: Toast waffles. Top with mashed fresh berries and walnuts.



Florentine Egg Scramble on an English Muffin
2 eggs
1/2 cup cooked fresh spinach
1 whole-grain English muffin, toasted
1 cup cut cantaloupe

Make it: Scramble eggs with spinach. Serve on English muffin with cantaloupe on the side.


One I make for myself and enjoy is The Princess Dieter's Blueberry-Cottage Cheese Waffles.

Easy. Even kitchen idiots like me can do it:

You need Kashi GoLean Blueberry Waffles--two waffles have 6 grams of fiber, 8 grams of protein, 170 calories, and 3 WW points--1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese (or non-fat, if that's your preference), a half-cup to a cup of blueberries (fresh or frozen, no sugar added), and some Splenda or sugar-free syrup (or honey or maple syrup, if you want to use the points).

While the toaster oven is pre-heating, add the blueberries to a sauce pan on medium-heat with a little water (like a 1/4 cup or a bit more) and let them cook a bit. You want them hot, but still firm. Blueberries are nicer with that bit of "burst" awaiting, don't you think?

Put the cottage cheese in a small microwavable bowl and heat it up for 30 to 45 seconds. Just enough to warm it up, not overheat or dry out.

Toast the waffles to your preferred level of crispness. Place waffles on a pretty plate (please your eyes, not just your mouth!) and spoon the heated cottage cheese on top of each. I also like to sprinkle Splenda onto the cottage cheese or a teaspon each of sugar-free syrup (that's only like 10 calories). Then I spoon the berry compote on top. Fiber and low-cal and yummy. If you like your stuff sweet, just sprinkle more Splenda on top. If you have the calorie allowance, try a teaspoon of REAL MAPLE SYRUP on top of it for that special flavor spike.


If you want to only have one waffle, just follow same procedure with one waffle, and adjust the amount of blueberry and cottage cheese to your points/caloric desires. Two GoLean waffles are 3 points. Half a cup of low-fat cottage cheese= 2 points. Blueberries = 1 for a cup. That's six points for a filling breakfast with protein, fiber, fruit, calcium and YUMMINESS GALORE! If you only have one waffle and less cottage cheese and fruit, you can have a yummy breakfast with 3 points.

If you like apples or another fruit better, use the flavor of waffle and fruit you like, and adjust. I also like natural applesauce and cinnamon with the cottage cheese on apple-cinnamon waffles. Mmmmmm.

Enjoy.

And feel free to suggest lovely breakfasts with fruit, protein, and fiber and lower on the points/caloric scale.

~

Props to Amy's Kitchen

I had blogged previously on my crushed and dented Amy's cans of soups (from an online order).

Well, here's to Amy's. They sent an apology, explained the problem (biodegradable peanuts weren't strong enough to handle the cans), and are sending me replacement soups.

Now, that's good business response.

As I already said, the Light on Sodium Cream of Tomato is delicious. (And it will become a standby in my pantry, cause I'm insane about tomato soup, but don't like the regular levels of salt in any of them. I tried some other brands low-sodium, and they SUCKED. And organic is a plus, right?)

There was no shipping charge for my order (Hungry Girl mentioned this, hence my trip to the Amy's site).

So, thumbs up to Amy's for customer service and yummy Cream of Tomato soup.

Amy's Kitchen Let Me Down

I recently placed an order with Amy's dot com. YOu know, the organic food company--frozen, canned, jarred. I saw something about them in Hungry Girl's newsletter. I'd never tried their soups or sauces, so I thought, why not. Convenient and organic.

Well, I got it today. Out of six cans of soup, five are dented. Most of those crushed so badly, I'd be afraid to consume the contents. The integrity of the can is surely compromised. I'm not talking about little dents. I'm talking about CRUSHED. Ever step on a can with your shoe to make "heels" when you were kids. Well, some of the cans look like someone tried to do that.

So, I basically wasted about fifteen bucks on food I can't eat now.

I sent Amy's my grievance via their website's contact us email doohickey. Whether they will do right by me (issue a credit for the five cans of soup or replace them), I dunno. But I wanted to warn you. DO NOT ORDER CANS from Amy's without requesting in the comments that they bubble-wrap each one before they put it in with the peanuts. The peanut-foamies alone don't cut it.

Well, that was a downer. And after such a nice morning and a great breakfast.

EDITED TO ADD: One of the usable cans was of the "Cream of Tomato" soup, the lower sodium version. I enjoyed a cup with a bit of brown rice and an orange for my afternoon snack. (3.5 points altogether). It had a nice flavor, not too creamy, and it reminded me of being a kid having hot tomato soup at Catholic School on cold days. Mmmm. I think they could go lower on the sodium, frankly. Even with this lower-sodium version, it tasted on the salty side. But thumbs up on the Amy's "Light in Sodium Cream of Tomato".
~

Soup Recipes For Dieters

My fairy-tale based blog certainly has to ADORE a fatfighting blogger named "Twisted Cinderella." Well, she's on the FitRoll (see sidebar), and I visited her site just a couple of days ago. I wanted to share two of her yummy sounding soup recipes.

Y'all like soup? I ADORE SOUP! Among my faves are lentil, black bean (Cuban style), red bean (Cuban or Puerto Rican style), garbanzo (my mother's style, ie, Creole), pasta fagioli, cream of mushroom (a no-no on this eating plan, ouch), tomato bisque (ah, the cream, sigh), and gazpacho. I go nuts over gazpacho. (I'm a tomato freak.) (See below for gazpacho recipe from SElf.com.)

Well one of the recipes from TC's site a few days ago was Dahl (the Indian for lentil). Well, here, I'm copying and pasting. I hope TC doesn't mind:

Dahl Soup.(Basic)
1 1/2 cups dhal (yellow split peas)
6 cups of water or stock.
1 teasp.salt.
1/4 teasp.crushed ginger.
1/4 teasp.crushed garlic.
1 teasp.curry powder.
1 small onion chopped.
a pinch of cummin.

Wash dhal, add to the water or stock and bring to the boil with the rest of the ingredients,then simmer for 30 minutes or till the dhal is soft.When cooked it should be yellow in colour and the consistency of sloopy porridge,
There are several different other spices you can add depending on what you like,as in
fenugreek seeds and lemon juice,
Masala.
chillies,
curry leaves,
Even add some spinach near the end of cooking and top with a dollop of sour cream.

Creamy Vegetable Soup

This is wonderful way to get rid of all the left over veggies from your holiday vegetable trays. I modified it from a recipe that used an entire cube of butter a quart of heavy cream and four cups of cheese!

4-6 cups chopped broccoli florets, cauliflower, and carrots.
1 Quart chicken or vegetable stock, or as much as you need to cover the vegetables.
1 medium onion
1 Potato (optional)
2-3 stalks of celery
2-3 cloves of garlic minced or crushed.
1 tbs olive oil
Two Thyme sprigs
2 Bay Leaves
3/4 C. half and half, FF or just use milk.
Salt and Pepper to taste.
Grated cheese to sprinkle on top.

Saute' onions, celery and garlic in olive oil until soft. Add the other vegetables, chicken stock, thyme sprigs and bay leaves. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 30 minutes or until veggies are soft. Remove from heat and mash vegetables just a bit with a potato masher.
Discard the thyme stems and bay leaves. Stir in the half and half. Serve with a little grated cheese on top.

She has other nifty sounding vegetarian recipes over there. Visit and see.


Her week's eating menu sounds delicious, if overly heavy on eggs. One day had three egg dishes--B, L, D. I have cholesterol issues and I actually fear having more than one to two eggs a day, and I use egg whites at least half or more of the time. I do eat whole eggs on a weekly basis, though, cause 1. I like em and 2 they have great nutrients in the yolk that protect eye health. And I got crap eyes.

But if I could eat six whole eggs a day, I probably would. Adore eggs.

One of my "comfort food" combos is fried eggs with fried sweet plantains. Or fried eggs with fried yuca (cassava root), and yes, my mom used to use lots and lots of oil, deep fat frying those eggs. Egads. Nowadays, when I have fried eggs, I use a non-stick pan and PAM spray, maybe a teaspoon of Smart Balance to give it that fried consistency, sort of. And I used BAKED sweet plantains, not fried. Same fabulous taste, much, much less fat.

The boiled yuca doesn't cut it with eggs the way the fried does. Ah, well. Can't have it all.

If you have fabulous soup recipes that yield soup with low points, let me know. Link me up. Comment me.

Oh, I just found this one at Health Discovery, three WW points per serving: Red Lentil and Spinach Soup (Do add olive oil to make it heart healthier, not just any cheap old vegetable oil. And extra virgin makes for FLAVOR!)

And if you like squash, try this one with only a handful of ingredients: Delicata Soup

Now, that gazpacho recipe from Self.com, a magazine I've subscribed to for, geez, a longlonglong time. Nearly since they first came out in the, what, 80's--though I clearly have not always followed their dieting and fitness advice:

HEIRLOOM TOMATO GAZPACHO
Serves 8


INGREDIENTS
6 large heirloom tomatoes, all varieties and colors, seeded and diced into 1/4-inch cubes (reserve seeds and juices)
1 medium red onion, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
3/4 English or hothouse cucumber, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1 1/2 red bell peppers, cored, seeded and cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1 1/2 yellow bell peppers, cored, seeded and cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 lemon, juiced
1/2 tbsp Tabasco
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
8 tbsp aged balsamic vinegar


PREPARATION
In a bowl, combine tomatoes, seeds and juices, along with onion, cucumber and peppers. Add cilantro, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, and Tabasco. Add a few pinches of salt and black pepper. Using hands or two forks, squish vegetables into a juicy soup, leaving a few big pieces. Add oil in small increments, tasting as you go. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving. Ladle soup into bowls and drizzle with balsamic vinegar.

THE SKINNY
120 calories per serving
7.4 g fat (1 g saturated fat)
11.6 g carbohydrates
1.9 g protein
2.5 g fiber

Enjoy soup this week.

Later...

Onward and Downward!

Review of Low-carb Chocolate: CHOCOperfection

The Princess Dieter (ie, ME) has insulin resistance.

At one point, a couple years ago, my sugar was edging into diabetic territory. Scared, I changed how I ate and what I ate. (Not for weight loss, principally, but to control blood sugar and maximize insulin.) I didn't lose much--about 5 pounds--but I totally got a handle on my sugar. It went down to normal levels without drugs , a step that my endocrinologist was prepared to take if I couldn't improve my lab numbers on my own with diet and exercise.

Basically, I stopped having simple carbs by themselves; I always paired fruit or crackers or bread or pasta with a protein and a bit of fat, for instance nuts or some cheese. And I drastically reduced my white flour/sugar intake. I still ate huge quantities (my main diet pitfall), but I upped my veggies and legumes and began adding cinnamon to whatever I could.

Later, I added cinnamon extract and alpha lipoic acid supplementation, which I continue to this day. I also occasionally add fenugreek and Syndrome X powder, particularly before a high-carb meal like pasta marinara.

Those changes, without losing significant weight, fixed my sugar problem. For then and the time being. My last A1c was 5. I had been nearing 8. I do need to lose weight, obviously, but this goes to show how the body responds to improvements in diet, even with minimal weight loss from said diet. What we eat does matter, not just how much or when.

I learned that.

But I still consumed sugar in chocolate. I love chocolate. Dark chocolate. And at those TOM, the urge for it is pretty intense. My fave is Valrhona's CARAIBE, dark and with a lovely "feel" to the teeth. It has fiber, like most good dark chocolates, but it also has plenty of sugar. It's a gourmet chocolate. Local top-rated chefs use Valrhona in their desserts. But, alas, the white sugar. I don't really need that.

When I saw the ad for ChocoPerfection over at Melting Mama's blog, I spent some time reading reviews. Convinced it couldn't taste horrible and have that many people raving, I ordered.

Here's what's in it:

It's not cheap. Twelve bars of dark chocolate will set you back 40 bucks plus a cool pack charge for these hot weather months. (You could wait a few months to order and save the $3.50 for the cool pack--unless you live in the tropics.) That's $3.33 for each 1.8 ounce bar (about 200 calories per bar.) That's 5 WW points per bar. (Although, if you have it in half-bar portions, it comes out to 2 points per half bar.

Hmm. For tasty chocolate, I'll allot 2 points a day.)

I just had a half-bar. I have to agree, it tastes good. It's not Valrhona. But for a chocolate bar that doesn't spike your sugar, that doesn't cause that "crash", that offers healthy cocoa (for the arterial benefits), and that satisfies the need for that deep chocolate taste (which this does), it's very nice.

It feels a bit more rubbery, perhaps, than my usual fave dark chocolates (Valrhona, Valor, Dove, etc.) But it's smooth, it's creamy, the darkness lingers on the tongue and roof of the mouth. It's pleasant, but not perfection. The lack of sugar is evident in the loss of a certain "completeness." However, it's not a huge, huge loss. This is good chocolate. Very good. Quite enjoyable. I can recommend it on teh basis of its flavor, yes, absolutely.

If you have diabetes, insulin resistance, want to avoid sucrose, can't tolerate the usual sweeteners in low-carb products so far--try it. If your budget allows.

I'll post later if I sense any unwanted side effects.

Do take note that this is an altered product. It's low-carb. It has a non-sugar sweetners: Oligofructose and erythritol. I don't know everything about these products. Always research before trying.

I do know that I've tried other low-carb chocolates, including the Atkins ones, and they consistently gave me gastric distress, even in modest quantities. (I love chocolate, but I don't tend to go hog-wild binge-o on it. I binge on cheesy/salty/crunchy stuff, not candies or cookies.) Honestly, I'd rather go for the real thing, sugar and all, with a meal when it's not going to make my blood sugar go all whack, rather than have to suffer through icky gas and nasty bowel movements.

Note also that the CHOCOperfection site offers a money-back guarantee: They promise you will like the taste and packaging. I like guarantees. It feels less of a risk to sample. :)

I have to admit, it really is packaged nicely. Mine arrived a half-hour ago--still cool, with a pretty look to it: red, gold, with one of those gold stretchy things that candy boxes are sometimes bound with.

And while there isn't the complete, total, full chocolate roundedness of my usual imported French fave chocolate, this is not at all a disappointing product. In fact, I can see myself buying it again, definitely, as long as I suffer no gastric distress from these sugar substitutes and my budget gives me wiggle room for pricey chocolate. (I can get a bar of my Valrhona that's twice the size of CHOCOperfection for less than half the cost at the Italian Market down the street.)

So, kudos to CHOCOperfection for a tasty product. I think the low-carb and diabetic community will really enjoy this addition to the treats list.

(Final Note: I'm not making a cent off this blog. Not a cent off this review. This is just what I think, nothing more.)

~

Seeing is Believing: 300 Calorie Meals

Actually, the meals vary from 290 to 395 calories, but that's still a tightly controlled, carefully portioned set of meals--breakfasts, lunches, dinners.

Wanna see? Go to the Diet Blog article full of overhead shots of the colorful meals. Get motivated. Get inspired to measure and weigh and count until you get used to what sane portions are really like for weight loss.

That's part of my struggle. Learning that what I think is a "normal" portion is distorted and insane.

Enjoy. In moderation. :D

~~