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Food on May 25, 2013 - 20:48
The last time I had DiGiorno pizza has been probably 3 years ago. Whys that? Well, DiGiorno used to be my favorite frozen pizza and that’s because during the time in my life where I didn’t read nutritional information and I solely went on what I liked to eat. Well, I liked DiGiorno pizza and I ate about ½ a pizza on my own. Well, fast forward to joining Weight Watchers and I realized that
a serving in a rising crust DiGiorno pizza is 1/8th of the pizza. Around the time I calculated it out and it was 9 points per SLICE of pizza (1/8th). Needless to say, I hadn’t purchased another DiGiorno for myself to eat in a VERY long time.
That is, until I saw the new Pizzeria! line launched to my local Target and I checked out the points plus values. 1/4th of a pizza was 9 points plus? Say what?! I was running a ton of errands around the beginning of April and wasn’t going to be home for 3+ hours so I didn’t buy it. So when I did want it (by mid-April) I was sending everyone on Pizzeria! hunting missions and all were coming up empty handed.
We found the DiGiorno Pizzeria! Supreme Speciale Pizza at Walmart and paid $3 for it after a coupon. My boyfriend and I had it for dinner one night and I swear … this is THE best frozen pizza I have ever had!
I am a pizza officiando (I think I can accurately wear that hat – because I’ve eaten many pizzas in my hay day and even post-Weight Watchers start). I order out pizza at least once a week, and if we don’t order it out, we’re either making our own or heating up a frozen pizza. This takes the cake where frozen pizzas are concerned. It’s got a moderately thick crust. The sauce is delicious. The vegetables are sautéed and just delicious – they’re not that plain jane throw frozen veggies on the frozen pizza and call it a supreme. This is the bad mama jamma of frozen pizzas. They’re so good we now have 2 more in the freezer for whenever a moment of pizza weakness arises.
1/4th = 9 points plus. Totally worth it!
QUESTION:
What is your favorite frozen pizza?
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Food on May 25, 2013 - 18:11
A local chain restaurant, Not Your Average Joe’s, has a really nice “reward” program for customers on their birthdays. When you sign up for their e-mail club, you are e-mailed a certificate for a free dinner entrée and dessert – which is valid for a few weeks before and after your birthday.
What I typically order is no longer offered on the menu, which meant I had to figure out what
I wanted to eat on the fly. A quick glance over the menu I decided to go with the Java Pork Tenderloin. I ordered the pork because it sounded yummy and I know in the back of my mind that pork tenderloin is one of the leanest meats and it was a step outside of the normal chicken box.
According to the menu, the Java Pork Tenderloin is a “rubbed with sumatran coffee with hints of smoky cedar and cinnamon, grilled and topped with orange chipotle bbq glaze, with mango jicama slaw and jalapeno spiked cornbread.” Now, I am a coffee lover – so coffee rubbed meat? Count me in! I ate probably ¼ of my food because I admit the bread and dipping oil reeled me in (I’m weak when it comes to Not Your Average Joe’s onion bread and parmesan hot pepper oil).
The nutrition information for this meal is not provided on the website so I had to wing what I assumed to be the points plus values. I guestimated 11 points plus for the pork, 3 points plus values for the slaw and 14 points plus values for the corn bread (because it was HUGE). I ate about a fourth and ended up putting the rest in the fridge. By the next day, the slaw was a little soggy and the corn bread was wet so I was left with the pork loin – which I was secretly happy for because the cornbread would have been screaming at me “EAT ME!”
For dessert I ordered my staple Crème Brûlée Cheesecake. Since it was to go, it was sans whipped cream and raspberries (they were replaced with strawberries which I enjoy more). According to the menu, “we’ve blended the most popular desserts—creamy cheesecake with a caramel drizzle, fresh whipped cream and raspberries.” I’m glad this is a staple on their menu because I had it last year for my birthday and fell in love (I normally don’t order desserts unless we’re at a Greek restaurant). It’s just delicious and my boyfriend also enjoys it – so it’s great to be able to share my sweets with my sweet! The whole slice of cheesecake is calculated to be 13 points plus values.
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Food on May 25, 2013 - 16:12
A new snack has been released to Weight Watchers locations – that snack being the Popped Roasted Red Pepper Crisps. After hearing the receptionists talk about how delicious they were, I decided to pick up a box. They were on sale for I want to say $3.50 or $3.95 – I can’t remember. I love roasted red pepper hummus, so I was intrigued to see how this would correspond in chip form.
The
interesting part of these chips is they really DO taste like roasted red pepper hummus. They are made out of chick pea flour and rice flour. The flavor of the roasted red peppers is clearly evident BUT it’s not overwhelming. The coloring may stick to your fingers and it may very well give you slightly red fingertips. I found they were a nice snack. They’d be great to pair with a sandwich or even to have as a snack with a small piece of fruit (well, I suggest fruit because I am a volume eater and a bag of chips is not going to completely fill my stomach.)
They really aren’t bad for 2 points plus values. I love crunchy, snacky foods and the normal flavors that are out in the market can sometimes get boring – so these “spice” things up a bit (and no, they are not spicy).
QUESTION:
Have you tried the new Popped Roasted Red Pepper Crisps?
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Food on May 24, 2013 - 20:36
I had purchased this fully cooked Seasoned Pork Roast with Barbecue Sauce at Trader Joe’s and stuck the package in the freezer since it just wasn’t on the dinner menu for a while. We spotted it in the freezer, took it out to defrost and made it for dinner and I have to say – this is absolutely DELICIOUS!
Since the pork roast is already fully cooked it can be heated through in either the
microwave, or in the oven. I chose putting it into the oven and heating through that way – it made it feel more of a home cooked meal than a fully cooked packaged meal. I lined my pan with foil (for easy cleaning) and topped it with foil to steam. It came out perfectly, the meat was really moist and the barbecue sauce survived 20+ minutes in the oven without drying up and getting “chewy”.
My boyfriend, mother and I all had this for dinner (they both raved about the pork) – paired with a baked potato and some canned no sodium corn and it was a perfect meal. Delicious, filling and a great quick and easy meal.
The serving size is totally generous – 5 ounces (including the barbecue sauce) and it only comes out to 6 points plus values! How can you go wrong for 5 ounces of barbecue pork? I’m all about getting the most bang for my buck regarding points plus values and this is totally worth it. I can’t recall how much this cost, but I want to say it was under $10 for the package – maybe $8?
My meal in the above photograph is 10 points plus values. 6 – pork, 3 – potato, 1 – corn.
QUESTION:
What is one of your favorite fully cooked meat products at Trader Joe’s?
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Posted to
Food on May 23, 2013 - 18:54
There has been a lot of buzz around the Arctic Zero brand of frozen novelties. There are a lot of people who love the brand, hate the brand, or have certain flavors they just plain don’t like or really enjoy. There are also others who don’t believe the nutritional information listed on the container. I admit I was a little hesitant to find a store to purchase because however could ½ cup
of ice cream be only 37 calories (1/2 cup = 1 points plus value)?! I’ll be honest, part of me thought if it was true, it would taste like dirt.
After seeing it for weeks upon weeks all over my Instagram feed I decided to find a store that sold the brand. I googled and found a Whole Foods location near my work that sold them – so I decided to make a Whole Foods grocery run at lunch one day. I found them in the freezer section, alongside the other ice creams. This particular store only had 4 flavors available, so I picked up the Chocolate Peanut Butter and the Maple Vanilla (which I have not tried yet). The pints have been sitting in the freezer, because I was not feeling adventurous enough. Well, I happened to be feeling adventurous this week and I have to say I LOVE this flavor!
It’s too bad it took me so long to try it, but the Chocolate Peanut Butter flavor is quite delicious. I mean, you CAN tell you’re not eating regular ice cream. It’s lighter ice cream, there’s a little bit of iciness to it (but if you let it sit for a moment, it goes away). It’s creamy, it’s delicious and it’s packed with flavor. It’s more chocolatey than peanut butter – but there is a mild hint of peanut butter in the background. The ice cream itself is definitely best to eat with something on it. I found it was totally delicious with sliced banana and strawberries on it. It brought the flavors together and made a relatively guilt free dessert seem like a guilty one.
I did eat 1 cup servings at a time which came out to be 2 points plus. I had another sundae later in the week and I just really enjoy this flavor. It is a little pricy – these were just under $5 at Whole Foods, but worth it for a once in a while treat.
QUESTION:
Have you tried any Arctic Zero products? If so, what’s your favorite flavor?
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Posted to
Food on May 23, 2013 - 17:57
I received a Klout perk to try out the new McDonald’s Egg White Delight McMuffin. I also received a $1 coupon from McDonald’s Facebook page. For a few weeks I had been seeing this forced promotion showing up in my Facebook feed, so I clicked on it and signed up for the coupon – printed it out – then signed up and printed one out for my boyfriend and stuck them on my desk.
One morning
we decided picking up breakfast would be a good idea because we weren’t quite sure what we wanted. Plus it would be a different sort of “treat” since typically breakfast is an array of things, but typically they’re the same sorts of staple items.
The Egg White Delight is a classic McDonald’s McMuffin breakfast sandwich – the normal fried egg being removed and replaced with egg whites and the cheese being switched out to white cheddar. The only thing that really remains the same is the English muffin and the Canadian bacon. According to McDonald’s the sandwich contains 250 calories.
I decided to just get the sandwich as it came because I was having a heck of a time navigating the McDonald’s website the morning we decided to try out the sandwiches (I can now easily find them – foggy brain).
The sandwich I received was very lackluster on the egg front. There was a little bit of egg white on the side, but other than that the egg white was nonexistent. My sandwich was an English muffin, with cheese and Canadian bacon. I did add some reduced sugar ketchup onto my sandwich to eat it (since that’s how I eat my breakfast sandwiches). Taste wise, it was alright ... nothing to brag about and nothing worth putting extra points plus values towards.
Would I repurchase it? Probably not. The only exception would be if I were traveling state to state relying on fast food chains as my meal choices. If that were to happen, perhaps I’d buy another. Honestly, I’d rather make a healthier and tastier breakfast sandwich at home for half the calories AND points plus values!
QUESTION:
Have you tried McDonald’s Egg White Delight McMuffin?
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Posted to
Food on May 23, 2013 - 15:48
I had purchased these Lemon Bars from Trader Joe’s about a month or so back and they’ve been sitting in the freezer waiting to be eaten. Last week my boyfriend and I wanted something sweet, but since we didn’t have anything in the house that we both wanted, we took the box of these out of the freezer and set them on the counter to defrost for 45 minutes.
One thing I should say is that
my boyfriend and I are lovers of lemon desserts. Lemon donuts, lemon tarts, lemon cake, lemon anything in a dessert is a-okay with us! So I imagined these would be phenomenal. Trader Joe’s makes some of the best hidden jewels so I already knew these would be a homerun. And I was right.
They are VERY lemony, but the powdered sugar on top of the dessert really brings it down a notch. The consistency of the lemon portion is more of along the lines of a soft cheesecake, if you will. The bottom portion is a delicious graham like cracker crust. They are small – two normal size bites and it will be gone, but the perfect thing is it’s JUST enough to satisfy that sweet tooth. I had 1 and was satisfied. My boyfriend happily munched away on them and finished the remainder that night. I’ve got to add them to my Trader Joe’s shopping list to pick up on the next trip through Trader Joe’s!
Points plus wise 1 bar (a serving) is 2 points plus. You can have 2 for 4 points plus.
QUESTION:
What is your favorite lemon dessert?
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Posted to
Food on May 21, 2013 - 16:14
A couple weeks ago we had bananas on the counter that way were too overripe to eat. Granted, I don’t like to eat bananas if they start to develop brown spots, but these were banana bread ready brown.
I remembered seeing a cookie on the Skinnytaste website that only used 3 ingredients and I made a mental note to try them whenever we had bananas ready. I’ve made cookies before that
included 5 ingredients, but anything to simplify a process and also reduce the Points Plus value I am all for it! I mean for 1 point plus value a cookie – how can you go wrong?
I made 1 ½ batches because I had 3 bananas. Quite possibly the easiest thing I have made – there is no screwing this one up. Mash your bananas up in a bowl, add in your quick cooking oats and add in your chopped walnuts. Mix. Place mixture onto a cookie sheet and bake. It can’t possibly get any easier. The most “difficult” part is the counting.
My thoughts? These are quite good warm and straight out of the oven, but I don’t necessarily like them after they’ve cooled overnight. They’re not sweet and the walnuts give it that nice crunch. Without the walnuts (or if you’re allergic I’d say substitute with mini chocolate chips or diced up raisins) they’d be lack luster and a little boring. They remind me of homemade banana bread with oatmeal in it. My boyfriend was quite a fan.
Find the recipe here: http://www.skinnytaste.com/2013/02/healthy-cookies.html
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Posted to
Food on May 21, 2013 - 08:18
Growing up I was never a fan of eggs. Within the past year, I’ve fallen in love with egg salad sandwiches. Not quite sure why, but I remember my first bite was about a year ago. My mother had made my niece an egg salad sandwich (they were having lunch together) and my niece offered me a bite. Since she was only 2 ½ at the time, I took one, being fully aware I may dislike it immensely. To
my surprise I quite liked it. I ended up making myself an egg salad sandwich that week and I’ve been hooked ever since. The secret, at least for my egg salad is I eat it warm – but if you like it cold you can eat it that way as well.
I’ve played with my egg salad recipe and I’ve pretty much got it down to a science. Each time I make it, I make it the same way – the only difference is I change up my bread. I either eat it on light whole wheat, light Italian bread, a wheat flax tortilla or sometimes a bagel thin (depending on how many points I want to throw toward a bread of my choice).
Ingredients:
2 Eggs
1 to 1 ½ tablespoons Hellmann’s Light Mayonnaise
Pepper, to taste
Salt, to taste & to season the water
½ tablespoon baking soda
Place your eggs in a pan suitable for boiling eggs – then fill with cold water until the eggs are completely submerged. Add in your salt and your baking soda. (The baking soda will significantly help in peeling your eggs!)
Bring pan to boil over medium-high heat. Cook the eggs until they are done – typically 10-15 minutes (the time varies depending on the amount of eggs in the pan).
Remove the pan from the stove, drain water and rinse with cold water. This will stop the eggs from cooking. Allow the eggs to cool for a few minutes – or cool completely. I prefer to peel them under cool water while they are hot because I like my egg salad sandwiches warm.
Place your eggs into a bowl. Leave one egg hole – meanwhile remove the yolk from the second egg and discard.
Mash your eggs to your desired consistency, season with salt and pepper and add in your mayonnaise. Mix to combine.
This particular recipe makes a 3 points plus egg salad.
What’s pictured is a 6 points plus egg salad sandwich (3 points plus for the everything bagel thin). This is a delicious and quick meal. I find whenever I make an egg salad sandwich for myself I am SO incredibly stuffed I feel as though I’ve eaten an entire steak dinner. Now that’s why I love protein!
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Food on May 21, 2013 - 08:02
I picked up a package of Black Bean & Corn Enchiladas from Trader Joe’s a while back and the package had been sitting in my freezer. I actually forgot that I had purchased them, but earlier in the week it was around lunch time and I was quite hungry. My boyfriend wasn’t, so it meant anything that was quick and easy was right up my alley. I spotted the package in the freezer and decided
wah-lah, lunch! I’ve dabbled into vegetarian dishes and have found quite a few that I enjoy – but per the norm, I always go into the first bite with quite a good amount of hesitation. I’ve always been so used to meat being a part of every meal. But this had black beans and corn in it – two of my favorite things so I figured it had to be somewhat good.
Never mind, somewhat good – these turned out to be delicious! They’re made with organic white corn tortillas and are rolled up with a corn and black bean mixture, which is then topped with a classic enchilada sauce. While they were cooking in the oven, my boyfriend came downstairs and said “Mexican?” They are quite fragrant while they are cooking and very flavorful when you eat them. They’re not spicy, I didn’t even find it to be hot but to a very bland palette these may be on the mild side? The black beans and corn balance with the sauce so well and the corn tortillas are just delicious and filling.
I paired the meal off with a small side salad and it was a perfect lunch. According to the nutrition information the container houses 2 servings – but I decided to just eat both. Ideally if you were eating only one, it would be 3 weight watchers points plus values – but if you decided to eat both it’s 7 points plus values.
QUESTION:
Have you tried these particular enchiladas from Trader Joe’s?
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