Foody Finds

Hey everybody! It's been a while since I've done any food reviews, and lately I've been trying out some new-to-me items, so here's some of my newly recommended items.

First off, if you are a fan of frozen meals (ranging from Lean Cuisines to Smart Ones to even Trader Joe's frozen items) you'll love this blog I just stumbled upon -- http://heateatreview.com/. There are TONS of detailed reviews on this site. It's a really great resource for dieters, as they list the basic nutritionals, serving size and WW points value for each item they review. My favorite part of the site is that you can sort through their posts by Rating, Points Value or Name Brand, among other labels. So if you want to see a pretty comprehensive list of frozen food items that clock in at 5 points, just click on that label and VOILA! Pretty snazzy. Not all foods are healthy or low-cal, but it seems like most of the bloggers on this site are pretty health conscious -- almost every post mentions the all-important nutrional-value-to-taste ratio.

Ok, so now for the foods I've been eating lately. I recently decided that if I'm going to really give it the college try and get back down to where I was a year ago (and approx. 20 lbs. ago) I'd need to change up what I've been eating. After eating the same good-for-me foods for years (i.e. Lean Cuisines, invididual packs of cottage cheese, egg whites, apples, etc.), and associating them with "dieting", I've developed an aversion to many of my standard items. Time to get back into the grocery store and spend some time finding new and exciting items to make this healthy lifestyle more attractive and tasty!



JIMMY DEAN'S D-LIGHTS



(in 3 Choices: Turkey Sausage, Black Forest Ham or Canadian Bacon)
Description: A breakfast sandwich, consisting of a whole grain English muffin, your choice of meat, an egg white patty and low-fat cheese.Clocks in at 280 calories, 10 g fat, 2g fiber, 18g protein.

I am a huge breakfast sandwich fan. Just knowing I'd be able to enjoy breakfast sandwichy goodness without the guilt, I was very eager to try these. They come 4 to a box, and I am proud to say that I've enjoyed every last morsel over the past 4 work mornings. I cannot wait to buy more -- I originally bought the turkey sausage, and I think I'll try the Canadian Bacon next. Really good, really filling -- a great item to get your day off on the right foot.


Kashi Lemon Rosemary Chicken frozen entree
330 cals, 9g fat, 5g fiber, 17g protein
Description: Chicken marinated with lemon and rosemary, grilled then sliced. Served with baby Portobello mushrooms and sugar snap peas over our Kashi 7 Whole Grains Pilaf, and topped with lemon rosemary sauce.

I've been getting really sick of the quality of most Lean Cuisines/Smart Ones, so my latest strategy is to spend a little more money to get a better quality product, which will fill me up a little more, pack a better wallop of flavor and leave me overall more satisfied with my lunch experience (i.e. less likely to hit the vending machines mid-afternoon.) I hit the excellent organic frozen section at our local Jewel and found this lovely meal from Kashi. The chicken actually tastes like real chicken that I'd make on my own stove (as opposed to the rubberized questionable chicken you often find in frozen entrees.) The pilaf was very hearty and the sauce was tasty. There aren't a lot of mushrooms, but the few there were very yummy. I'm definitely going to try more from the Kashi line in the future. They really weren't that more expensive than most other frozen entrees. And it's worth it to me to spend an extra dollar on a good quality frozen meal that I'll actually be excited about eating, as opposed to going out to eat and spending upwards of $8 while my Lean Cuisine sits in the company fridge.

Jell-O Sugar-Free Rice Pudding (individual serving sizes - 6 to a pack)
This stuff is the shit. Seriously. I almost fell out of my chair when I tasted how good this was. If you are a fan of rice pudding then you will LOVE this. My favorite is the Cinnamon, but it also comes in plain and creme brulee. I don't know why it's not listed on the Jell-O website, but this stuff is da bomb and you really need to try it out. Find it in the dairy case. I can't find the nutriontials online, but I'm pretty sure they are 60 calories each.

If you're a fan of Hungry Girl, you've probably heard about the new Yoplait Light flavors, all clocking in at 110 calories and 0g of fat. I have tried all 3 of the new flavors: Strawberry Shortcake, Raspberry Cheesecake and Pineapple Upside Down Cake. While they were all good, I can say with confidence that only the Pineapple Upside Down Cake actually tasted like it's title. The other 2 just tasted like Strawberry and Raspberry -- flavors that Yoplait Light already offers. I didn't taste enough difference to get the "cheesecake" or "shortcake" part of them. BUT the Pineapple Upside Down Cake really knocked my socks off. I will definitely buy this item again soon, and I recommend you give it a whirl as well! Kudos to Yoplait for at least attempting new and exciting flavors in their Light line. Keep them coming Yoplait!!!

Please add your suggestions. I'm trying to re-familiarize myself with the Amy's Original Kitchen line of products. Any items to suggest from that line? I'm already in love with the Cheese Enchilada dinner and have that waiting in my fridge for another lunch this week. :-)