Fiber Gourmet's Got Lasagna and Spaghetti now, and I Found A Crazy Yummy Supermarket Latte without Sugar and With Whey Protein Made with Skim Milk

Okay, so I'm trying to stock my kitchen with stuff that I like but in a lighter/better versions for weight loss.

First off, while I need to really cut back on my sugars (I have been way too indulgent in Godiva chocolates due to hubby's romantic and generous impulses, and well, my dark chocolate obsession), I really love pasta and have been having nearly daily desires for it (though I haven't had any since, er, Monday, when I had half of a take-out serving I shared with hubby of fettucine marinara).

I had used Fiber Gourmet back when I first started this blog and found it okay if you had a really tasty sauce. Claims that it's just like regular pasta is horsepucky. It's not. It's got a different texture and a blander taste. However, it does have INSANE amounts of fiber and so it did actually fill me up for an extended time. With a good marinara and some parmesan, or a light Alfredo with chicken, or some broccoli and garlic and EVOO, it was okay and filling and gave me that pasta fix. So, I'm gonna try the lasagna. (If you want to try it, too, and are ordering either lasagna or spaghetti, the two new items, then just use code FREE SHIP to ditch the shipping costs.)

I need to start cooking again (been eating out, take-out, and delivery diet meals), and I need to make stuff hubby can eat and take for lunch. Lasagna is a winner there, since it freezes great, reheats great, and can be modified in so many ways (lean ham and light swiss or ricotta, veggie and low fat cheese, lean ground beef and marinara, mexican style, etc). 

Since they have a free shipping special now, I decided to give it a shot. Got the lasagna and got some rotini pasta (that I can use when I get a mac-n-cheese jones). Due to the high fiber, these don't affect blood sugar like regular pasta (and affects it less, I hear, than the Dreamfields pasta I use now that is higher-fiber, lower digestible carb than regular pasta).

We'll see how that goes.

I'm also a latte junkie. I normally go twice a week minimum to Starbucks for a sugarfree vanilla latte fix. However, I don't like the Starbucks latte with skim milk. I get it with 2%. I find the skim milk one just too watery. However, this week, I discovered Emmi's Caffee Latte Light over at Fresh Market and I am in love. It comes in a small serving (a bit under a cup) in a nicely shaped container reminiscent of coffehouse take-out cups.  One serving of 7.7 ounces has 80 calories, no fat, 440 grams of potassium (great for those of us with HBP), 12 grams of carbs, 1 gram  of fiber, and 8 grams of protein. The first three ingredients are: fat free milk, espresso coffee, whey protein concentrate. It's sweetened with Sucralose, not sugar.

This stuff tastes so good, I like it better than the skim milk latte at Starbucks, and I like that the ingredients are pretty simple and calorie-counting friendly. For me, as I'm lazy about making lattes at home (having to clean the espresso thingie makes me just opt for tea most of the time), I want to stock up on these for when I get that "gotta have a latte" moment. It offers 25% of daily calcium needs, so that's a happy thing.  (And for WLS peops, it seems to be suitable from what I see in the stats and can, doubtless, be supplemented with extra whey and still taste good.)

I can't remember how much it cost, but I'm assuming less than a tall Starbucks latte.

Any great happy calorie food finds out there this week?

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.

~

Sparkly Factoid: Fiber's Great for Your Lungs

Specifically, folks who took in at least 27 grams daily had a larger lung capacity than did those who consumed fewer than 10 grams. Additionally, the group that consumed more fiber were found to be 15 percent less likely to develop chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

The author of the study, Stephanie London, M.D., Ph.D., said, "The fiber found in cereal and produce may reduce tissue inflammation that can damage lungs."

--from "Fiber...For Your Lungs" at That's Fit

BANSHEE WAILS: Kellogg's Cereals is TICKING OFF The Princess!!!

I was browsing the offerings on a grocery promotion at amazon.com, since I was ready to stock up on cereal. I want to add a bit more fiber to my breakfast/snacks.

So, they offer things like the sugary cereals kids love (and plenty of adults)--Frosted Flakes, Sugar Smacks, Apple Jacks, etc--which I skipped and went to one of my faves: Cheerios. Three grams of fiber for 120 calories and while sugar is in the ingredients, it's not in the top three--

Ingredients: Whole grain oat, modified corn starch, corn starch, sugar, salt, trisodium phosphate, calcium carbonate, monoglycerides, tocopherols, wheat starch, annatto, vitamins & minerals: niacinamide, calcium pantothenate, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin b6), folate, iron.

It's certainly not for low-carbers, but it's one of those "from my youth" treats. Only as an adult, I sprinkle Splenda on top, or fruit, or both, and NOT tons of sugar.

I shopping carted that and went on to look for something to add more wheat bran. I looked at All Bran Buds after seeing it on another fatfighting blog as a nice additive for Cheerios, and then Raisin Bran, which I used to eat a lot of as a twenty-something.

When I looked at the nutritional info, I, the Princess, wailed along with the ticked off Blue Banshee of Health-Seeking Blogdom:

All Bran Buds, Ingredients:
Wheat Bran, SUGAR, Psyllium Seed Husk, Oat Fiber, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, Salt, Baking Soda, Caramel Color, Sodium Ascorbate And Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), Niacinamide, Reduced Iron, Zinc Oxide, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6) Riboflavin (Vitamin B1), Vitamin A Palmitate, Vitamin B12, Vitamin D, BHT (preservative), Annatto Color.

Raisin Bran, Ingredients:
Whole Wheat, Raisins, Wheat Bran, SUGAR, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, salt, malt flavoring,
Vitamins and Minerals: niacinamide, reduced iron, zinc oxide, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride(VITAMIN B6), RIBOFLAVIN (Vitamin B2), thiamin hydrochloride (Vitamin B1), Vitamin A Palmitate, folic acid, Vitamin B12 and Vitamin D.

You know, with all the info on how very bad high fructose corn syrup is for us, especially those of us with belly fat/Metabolic Syndrome/diabetes/insulin resitance, there's no damn reason to use it. Dr. Mehmet Oz lists it as one of the top five foods to AVOID for better health.

Why can't they sweeten with Splenda and offer sugar-free options and call it their dieter's version? Why not use honey, even. Why something as denounced and derided as HFCS?

And how can they add sugar as the SECOND ingredient in a grown-up cereal. (All Bran). And with HFCS as the fifth ingredient, adding both may mean that some form of SUGAR is really the FIRST, the most prominent, ingredient in the mix. Are you peeved yet with me?

And the Raisin Bran (also aimed at adults, one would assume), has the double whammy of sugar AND HFCS in the fourth and fifth slots--and that means that "sugar" in some form is probably a main ingredient (maybe 2nd, rather than bran.)

I better stop before my ears emit steam.

With my ginormous appetite, I don't need HFCS to increase my appetite!

And, to be honest, I'd rather add the sweetness level I want with my own choice of sweetener (Splenda, Stevia, Honey, Sugar, etc).

How hard would it be for them to just make adult versions, REAL adult versions, of these popular cereals--you know, just make them with wholesome ingredients and vitamins and minerals and let us figure out how to sweeten (or not) to taste? We're not idiots.

Besides, what household do you know without some form of food sweetness enhancer. (In mine, I have various honeys, Splenda in assorted forms, sugar (for hubby's lemonade, which I cut with Splenda), Equal (from an old batch), Sweet-n-Low (from an old box), confectioner's and brown sugar (for when hubby bakes ginger cookies.)) Except for someone who is a real no-sweet eater, we all have something to sweeten tea or coffee or lemonade or cereal or hot cocoa or whatever.

So, why can't they give us a choice?

(I hear they're making sugar-reduced kid's cereals. I think they need to re-evaluate their adult offerings.)

Bottom line: Adding HFCS makes what would be healthy into, frankly, JUNK FOOD! Diet-hazard food. Heart-hurting food.

Adding both sugar and HFCS is, well, cheapskate food production--and with cereal prices per box what they currently are for a tiny amount of cereal, they can afford to use better ingredients or leave out bad ones. These recipes are not healthful, no matter how many vitamins and minerals and dropped into the mix.

Grrrrrr.

Okay, so I'll compromise for now and get the Cheerios with the lower sugar and without the HCFS, and I'll just not eat it every day. But I'm boycotting all HCFS-containing Kellogg's, General Mills, etc cereals.

Badly done, you corporations. Badly done.

(I'm channeling Jeremy Northam as the hunky Mr. Knightley, did you notice? Austen rules!)

So, have you read your nutritional labels lately? Are you getting label-shock yet?

::::Wail::::

~~

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.

~

Made it Through Yesterday's Cravings

Call me sleeping beauty:

I just woke up after sleeping for....wait for it....

THIRTEEN HOURS

I've been trying to reset my schedule from nite owl to day sparrow.

My normal rhythm is nite owl. Even as a kid, I was never a morning person. But my sister's birthday is Saturday, and we want to do stuff with her, so here I am, waking up at an hour when I usually go to bed.

It was a bit complicated doing it (took days of finagling with my sleep schedule). Let's see how long I can keep it up. I'm hoping a long time. I'm hoping through Christmas.

I can hope big. :)

To update from my last entry:

I calmed down considerably yesterday after I posted about the snack attack. The second breakfast helped ENORMOUSLY. For lunch, I had a low-fat, high-fiber burrito (delivered from a healthful food delivery service), and the combination of oatmeal in the second breakfast and black beans and brown rice in the lunch totally calmed down my appetite. I even had enough calories in the day to enjoy a nice low-fat, no sugar tiramisu that was FABULOUS and felt completely like a decadent treat.

I stayed so full from the combination of fiberful meals that I didn't get hungry enough to have supper. So, I didn't. Totally skipped the baked chicken parmesan with asparagus and broccoli that was my dinner meal from the delivery service. And I had the calories to spare for it. (It was only like 300 calories).

I'll be taking my meds now and going to do bathroomy grooming stuff, then I'll weigh-in.

My only regret was not exercising at all yesterday.

But, hey, one battle won.

And special thanks to Lady T for the prayer and good wishes and to Chubby Chick for the kind comments. Hope today is fabulous for us all.

(And a second hug to Chubby Chick, who is having a hard day. I'll be praying for peace to sweep over you.)

~

Princess Dieter Discovers...Grits are Not as Satisfying as Oatmeal

Because of my current dental woe--ie, cracked tooth--I have been keeping to softish foods. So, instead of toast or crackers at breakfast, or even high protein bagels or meal bars, I've been having grits with my scrambled eggs. (I'm an egg freak. Watch for an egg factoid soon.)

Grits don't keep me as full as oatmeal, I've discovered. Huh. Hmmm.

Well, they both have fiber. They're both grain-based, starchy, whatever. But for some reason, oatmeal really does make me feel satisfied longer. One cup of cooked grits just doesn't beat one cup of cooked oatmeal. And oatmeal has that cholesterol lowering type of fiber.

So, time to make a huge batch of oatmeal.

Do you like the stuff? I do. But then, it's one of my comfort foods. I have very warm memories of chilly fall and cold winter mornings when mom would make me a very soupy bowl of oatmeal. She made it with milk, lots of milk, and I still like it best that way. Milk as the base instead of water, and lots of slow cooking to get it all mushy, and cinnamon. Mmmmmmm.

These days, I use skim milk. Sometimes add a bit of water to lessen the caloric count. I add cinnamon and vanilla extract. I put in some honey for the luxuriousness of it. But I principally sweeten it with Splenda. I like to make a big pot and put some in the fridge for enjoyment for a couple of days.

Makes me think of mom, milky oatmeal. Ah, I miss her. Wonder if they eat in Heaven. Oh, they must eat. How could it be Heaven without yumsy treats?

So, go make a pot of oatmeal to have a cup as a snack (add high protein powder if you're insulin resistant or diabetic or just carb-conscious), and save some to have with your breakfast. Your bowels and heart will thank you.