Roni's Weigh » Food Finds

An Aldi Food Find and Today’s Food Journal

roni — Sat, 07 May 2011 02:34:48 +0000

I know not everyone knows of or shops there, but I LOVE Aldi’s! They don’t have many of the traditional products the husband wants but for your basic pantry stock–canned goods, pasta, condiments, and even frozen meats–their prices can’t be beat. I like to go at least every month or so and it helps me reduce my overall monthly grocery bills.

They have a brand called Fit & Active. I’m not a fan of all the products in the line as they are mostly "light" but not necessarily "heathy". However, there are some fabulous choices like the whole wheat pastas, the canned and dried fruit, the yogurts, the jellies, the lean meats and now these new frozen fruit bars!

OMG.. SO GOOD!

There are only 58 calories with no fat and 1g of fiber (carbs 16g & protien 1g) That comes out to 1 old WWP and 2 new WWPP.

Even the ingredient list isn’t that bad. Here’s the blueberry raspberry flavor..

Blueberries, Raspberries, water, sugar, natural flavors, corn syrup, purple carrot juice, guar pectin, locust bean gum, citric and absorbic acid.

So yeah, there’s some corn syrup but that’s not a deal breaker for me. It’s pretty low on the list compared to other ice cream treats I’ve seen and I’m just not that obsessive about it.

Anyway, just wanted to share in case there are some other Aldi heads out there. If you are new to Aldi I have video and shopping list of the items I like to get there.

Here’s the food journal for today…

I started my day with a quick cheeseless western omelet.

2 eggs, onion, peppers, and ham. By Far my fav!

Then I hit the leftover sushi from last nights dinner.

and paired it with a bowl of Manhattan Clam chowder…

Then I ran! I don’t have a pic of the graph… haven’t had time to sync it yet but I ran to Little Guys School for a Mother’s Day party! It was so fun. We had strawberries and animal crackers. Well, I stuck with strawberries.

Afterwards we walked home and stopped off at Rita’s for a kids sized Italian Ice.

For Dinner, we came *this* close to going out as I had nothing defrosted and frankly, the kitchen was still a mess from 2 nights ago. But I decided it would be better to whip something up instead. So I cracked open a can of beans and pulled some broccoli and chicken tenders from the freezer. Then I literally threw everything in the oven while I nursed and bathed the baby.

1/2 our later we were eating this…

It ended up being a family pleaser!

Later we watched a movie and I had one of those berry ice cream bars.

That was my day in food! :) Now I’m off to take a quick shower and watch the season finally of Fringe!

Gotsta go! ;)

Full Disclosure: I am in no way related or associated with Aldi’s. Just a fan.

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Food Find: Ezekiel 4:9 Cereal

roni — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 15:18:53 +0000

Has it really been over a year since I shared a Food Find? Really?! Oh my we must remedy that!

A few weeks ago I posted about trying some Ezekiel Bread for the first time. Then strolling through the grocery store I stumbled across this…

Food For Life Ezekiel 4:9 Organic Sprouted Grain Cereal, Golden Flax

I was actually on the hunt for some Grapenuts when I found it so I decided to give it a shot.

The ingredient list is quite impressive… (I removed the word organic from most ingredients to make it easier to read)

Sprouted Whole Grain Wheat, Filtered Water, Malted Barley, Golden Flax Seeds, Sprouted Whole Grain Barley, Sprouted Whole Grain Millet, Sprouted Whole Lentils, Sprouted Whole Soybeans, Sprouted Whole Grain Spelt, Sea Salt.

With all the junk that’s normally in cereal this was refreshing to see. So was the nutritional information.

I like that’s it’s high fiber and high protein. A nice combination. For my fellow Weight Watcher friends, one serving is 3 old WWP/5 new WWPP.

I enjoyed mine with some almond milk (my new obsession) and blueberries (another obsession).

The serving size is 1/2 cup (57g) and it’s a nice size. Especially when bulked up with some fruit. As for the taste, if you like Grapenuts style cereals you’ll like this. It’s stays fairly crunchy yet absorbs milk nicely. the grains give it an almost nutty flavor and the different size pieces was a nice change from the pretty standard Grapenuts.

The only problem I have with this product is the price. I shelled out 6 bucks for a 16oz box. Most cereal is pretty expensive but that just seems excessive to me. Why does good for you normally mean expensive?? Ugh. It’s infuriates me!

But I digress. Overall the cereal is tasty and something I like starting my day with.

My breakfast date had no opinion either way, he stuck with just milk. ;)

Click here to check out Ezekiel 4:9 Golden Flax Cereal or here to see more Ezekiel 4:9 products.

Note: I do not have a relationship with Food For Life and they did NOT supply this product. Food Finds are unpaid, unsolicited product reviews of things I find, eat and use from my local grocery stores.

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Food Find: Quaker True Delights Multigrain Fiber Crisps

roni — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 03:16:54 +0000

I found the Quaker True Delights Multigrain Fiber Crisps (can that name be any longer) during the same grocery trip where I found the popchips. There were tons of flavors (of course now I can’t remember any of them) but the two that jumped out at me were the wild blueberry and the blackberry pomegranate.

The flavors intrigued me. Something besides chocolate or BBQ or cinnamon or sea salt or cheddar or. . . ok so there are a lot of flavors out there but when was the last time you saw a chip like snack in blackberry pomegranate?

Very cool.

Anyway, I really these. They are sweet (maybe even too sweet), super crunchy, and chock full of whole grains.

However, their ingredient list does leave something to be desired. . .

While grain oats, sugar, whole flour, whole grain corn, whole grain brown rice, maltodextrin, polydextrose, oligofructose, salt, natural and artificial flavor, sunflower oil, soy lecithin, natural mixed tocopherols, sucralose, acesulfame potassium, citric acid

All the "extrins" and "oses" are sugars, I’m guessing. Not to mention acesulfame potassium is an artificial sweetener. I’m all for a sweet crunchy snack but considering sugar is the second ingredient isn’t that enough? What do these other sweeteners really add? Do the help preserve? I’d really like to know why this product’s ingredient list couldn’t look like this…

While grain oats, sugar, whole flour, whole grain corn, whole grain brown rice, salt, natural flavor, sunflower oil.

Notice the period.

Period.

I’d really like someone from Quaker or any company for that matter tell me why all this stuff is in there products. Inquiring minds want to know! :)

But I digress. Overall the Quaker True Delights Multigrain Fiber Crisps taste good. They are a yummy 2 point snack. Oh! I forgot the nutritional information for a 1oz serving (3 servings in a bag)…

110 cals, 1.5g of fat, 3g of fiber, 2WWP

Notice I couldn’t find a picture of them. So I thought I’d snap a few shots on the web cam to show you what they looked like. . .

Of course I had to eat that one. :)

The only place I could find them online was Amazon and they only had the blueberry.

Has anyone else tried them or any other flavors? Did you like them?

Full Disclosure: Quaker did not compensate me in anyway for this post. I purchased the product myself. Food finds are just that, things I find in my local grocery store. I do however have an Amazon affiliate account. That means if you do choose to order them from Amazon I will make a small commission.

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Food Find: Brad’s Raw Chips

roni — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 03:59:08 +0000

I was at a Whole Foods the other day. I rarely go as it’s far and a bit too pricey for me but I love it. There’s so many fun things to look at! I could spend hours perusing up and down the aisles reading ingredient lists and nutritional information. What can I say? I’m a food geek and I actually like to grocery shop. :)

Anyway, while there I came across a small sample table with a bunch of chips laid out. They looked interesting. The packaging was simple and the chips looked colorful and tasty.

I eaves dropped while the person behind the counter (who ended up to actually be Brad) described the chips to another customer.

"Brad’s Raw Chips are dehydrated, not baked or fried, and retain healthy, active enzymes and nutrients which aid digestion.
These chips are a guilt free, nutritionally dense and healthy snack. Available in imaginative flavors – Beet, Kale, Red Bell Pepper, Sun Dried Tomato, and Indian Spice."

I had to give them a try and I was pleasantly surprised! They were crunchy with a great texture and wonderful flavor. Especially the hot variations. I immediately wanted to dip them in bean dip or salsa and they would totally be hearty enough to hold up.

The ingredient list is quite impressive too. . . (This is for the Hot Red Bell Pepper I bought)

Organic Flax Seeds, Organic Sprouted Buckwheat Groats, Carrots, Red Bell Pepper, Scallions, Garlic, Jalapeno Pepper, Himalayan Sea Salt, Extra Virgin live Oil

Nutritionally speaking they average 140 calories, 6g of fat, 6g of fiber, 17g of carbohydrates, and 5g of protein (that’s 2.5 WWP) per ounce serving and there are 3 servings in each bag.

The ONLY bad thing I can say about these chips are the price. I believe they were $6.99 a bag at Whole Foods. I’m not sure how much they would be direct from the company as their online store is currently down. :(

Has anyone else stumbled across these? According to their web site they are also available in natural food stores.

Note: I am in no way related to Brad’s Raw Chips and I was not asked or compensated for this review. Food finds are just that, finds from my local grocery stores.

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Jell-O Dark Chocolate Decadence Mousse Temptations

roni — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 02:49:41 +0000

It’s been forever since I’ve done a good old fashion Food Find. Now that I’m getting comfortable in my new home I feel I can spend a little more time grocery shopping and stocking (I’m very much a buy in bulk stock-er type of shopper so the whole temporary living situation for that last 2 months really crimped my style).

Just in case you were wondering, Food Finds are products that just happen to catch my attention while shopping. They aren’t paid reviews (which I don’t do) or products that companies send me to try. I post them as Product Reviews. It’s been so long I thought I’d take a minute to clarify.

Anyway.. let me get to this 1 point chocolate cup from heaven!

Can you tell I liked it? It was the perfect ending to my lunch today. I packed some leftover Dried Herb and Yogurt Marinated Pork…

…and one of these cups. It was perfect, like my own little TV dinner. I love the idea of having a sweet bite after a savory meal. And it’s even better if the sweet bite is only 60 calories!

The texture was super light and airy. To be honest I’m not sure what traditional mousse is "suppose" to taste like but I don’t care. This totally hit the spot for me and was a nice change from original sugar free pudding cups.

There are two other flavors, Caramel Crème and Chocolate Indulgence. Has anyone else tried them?

Oh! and I can’t find them on the official jell-o site so I’m guessing they are pretty new.

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Finding New Snacks

roni — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 15:59:57 +0000

I’m a nighttime snacker. It’s a habit. I enjoy it. I don’t want to give it up. I routinely eat something between 11 and midnight daily. I always have, even while losing. Generally I keep the snacks light. Fruit, Popcorn, light ice cream treats, soy crisps and salsa or crackers with some laughing cow cheese.

However, recently I’ve been overly snacking. Indulging. Do I dare say bingeing? Last night it was a half a gallon of ice cream. The night before I actually broke into a bag of chocolate chips. And the husbands Swedish fish have been slowly disappearing.

I’ve been in a rut. It happens. I know this. BUT I can’t let it continue or snowball into weeks or months. That’s when you get yourself into trouble.

Instead of grabbing something mindlessly tonight I decided to make an effort and look for something to cure the snack attack for maximum flavor and minimal points.

As I write this I’m eating a Fudgy Peanut Butter Chip VitaTop with a glass of light vanilla almond milk. Talk about flavor! I’ve got all my bases covered…. chocolate… peanut butter…. vanilla… and almond. Seriously, all of my favorite flavors! And the best part…. all for 3 points! :)

I’m new to almond milk. I picked some up today for the first time and am pleasantly surprised how good it is. Trying new things as been a big part of my success and every time I get into a rut like I’ve been, discovering a new healthy snack helps me out of it. It reminds me that there are so many healthy ‘lite’ options out there that are so much better then bingeing my way through a bag of semi-sweet chocolate mini chips. I just need to take the time and look for them. :)

Just so you know…

8oz light vanilla almond milk is approx. 70 calories with 2.5g of fat (2 wwp)
Fudgy Peanut Butter Chip VitaTop 100 calories, 1.5g of fat, 6g of fiber (1 wwp)

Both eaten together slowly while blogging and watching TV is a very satisfying snack! :)

I’m feeling much better today. The toddler and I had an eventful morning running errands. I got a good workout in. We went to the library. Had lunch together and took naps! Besides a little back pain I’m feeling good. Oh! and we have a showing tomorrow! Someone is coming to look at the house (cross your fingers for me!)

Here’s my food journal from today. Proud of myself for not eating lunch out when I was so hungry BUT I did break into the meringues from Trader Joe’s (which, by the way, I’ll be adding a few more things to my Trader Joe’s shopping list soon!)

P.S. If you are interested in trying vitaTops remember to use the code RonisWeigh for 10% off!

Food	Units
french toast, grapes and tea	4
orange	1
granola bar	2
bites at trader joe’s and some meringue cookies	3
leftover moroccan inspired beef stew with orange and couscous – a bit extra :)	8
roasted turkey tenderloin with balsamic cauliflower (forgot we had strawberries for dessert)	7
fudgy peanut butter chip vitatop and almond milk	3
Total:	28

Table provided by Roni’s Food Tweet, Eat, Post Generator.

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Food Find: Function-Light Weigh

roni — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 03:55:48 +0000

It’s been FOREVER since posting a Food Find. For those that are newer readers, Food Finds are products I spy at my local grocery store that I feel the need to pass on. These aren’t to be confused Product Reviews which are sent to me for the explicit purpose of reviewing. I’m not sure why, but I feel the need to distinguish. :)

Anyway, I’ve been meaning to post about these drink since discovering them a few weeks back. I was in line at my local Redner’s dying of thirst when these ‘Function’ drinks caught my eye. They reminded me of Life Water and all the other new non-carbonated beverages that seem to be filling the shelves fortified with vitamins, minerals, herbs n’ "stuff".

When I saw they had a "Light Weight" line I had to give one a try. Even though I’m a water drinker through and through I do enjoy a sweetened beverage now and then. So I picked up a Pink Grapefruit. I was pleasantly surprised. It was sweet but not too sweet and the ingredients actually didn’t scare me.

Water, Citric Acid, Apple Concentrate, Natural Flavor, Purple Carrot Juice Concentrate, Green Tea Catechins, Calcium Carbonate, Acesulfame Potassium, Caffeine, Gymnema Sylvestre Leaf Extract, Gum Arabic, Ester Gum, Resveratrol Root Extract, Cholecalciferol (vit D3)

Don’t get me wrong, there’s stuff in there I had to look up and I’m not advocating this be your go to drink of choice (that SHOULD be water.) But I liked the fact that the artificial sweetener (Acesulfame Potassium) was 8th on the list and everything before it was something I could pronounce. Let’s compare that to the first 3 ingredients with say… ummmm… I dunno… Diet Coke?

Carbonated water, Caramel color, Aspartame

*Fighting the urge to step on the diet soda soapbox*. I won’t go there, I promise. :)

So I’ve tried the Pink Grapefruit and Acai Pomegranante and enjoyed both. The flavor isn’t overbearing and at 10 calories a bottle you really can’t beat it.

Now, they claim these drinks can "ignite your metabolism." Don’t fall for it. Sure there’s caffeine in there and other "natural" ingredients that are believed to help you burn fat and control carbs (whatever that means). Just remember you aren’t going to drop 5 lbs a week just by introducing this beverage. I’m not saying they don’t do what they claim. I just know "Old Roni" would buy a case in the hopes that I wouldn’t actually have to change my bad habits to lose weight. Look at it for what it is, an artificially sweetened beverage with minimal calorie impact that can quench your thirst when you are sick of water. At least that’s what was to me and I enjoyed it very much.

Has anyone else tried these drinks? Am I totally behind on my recent discovery? I tend to find these kinds of things late. :)

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Quaker Multigrain Cakes – Cinnamon Toast

roni — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 15:02:24 +0000

This is more of a food re-find. I started buying these back a few years ago and have been meaning to post about them every since! I forgot about them (not all stores carry them) for a bit until coming across them again last weekend.

These are one of my favorite Quaker Products. They aren’t "Rice Cakes", which have a reputation of being bland and boring, they are "Multigrain Cakes", and cinnamon to boot! You can’t go wrong. The texture is yummy and and each cake as the perfect amount of sweetness.

Made with Whole grain rice, corn and oat flours these are a snack I love to share with the toddler. He’s been munching on them since he entered finger food age.

Quaker has the nutrition information and ingredients listed nicely on there snack page but I’ll give you a sneak peak, 50 calories a cake, 1g of fat, 1g of fiber, 1 WWP.

Anyone else out there a fan?

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Sunsweet PRUNES! aka Dried Plums

roni — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 03:10:08 +0000

Do you eat them? I’m going to be honest, I’ve NEVER had one until a few days ago. I don’t know what possessed me to pick them up from the grocery store (oh yea, I was hungry) but I did. I picked up a package of Sunsweet 60 Calorie Pack Pitted Prunes and Dark chocolate coated plum bites. Honestly, I had no idea what to expect. How did I go 32 years without eating a dried plum, seriously?

Anyway, I have to admit, I’m impressed, they are very tasty, sweet and filling! The 60 calorie packs are a great 1 point grab-able snack. I’m sure it’s cheaper if you just buy prunes and portion them out but honestly, I was scared I wouldn’t like them and thought I could pawn off the packs on others easier if they were individually wrapped. Warped thinking, I know.

As for the Dark chocolate coated plum bites, OH MY WORD! SOOO Good, seriously better then any "candy" I’ve ever had. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather reach for chocolate coated plums then some empty calorie candy when I’m craving something sweet. 14 pieces are only 120 calories with 6g of fat and 2 g of fiber. That’s 2.5 points, not too bad for a antioxidant packed sweet treat.

The best part, according to WHFoods.com…

Prunes’ soluble fiber helps normalize blood sugar levels by slowing the rate at which food leaves the stomach and by delaying the absorption of glucose (the form in which sugar is transported in the blood) following a meal. Soluble fiber also increases insulin sensitivity and can therefore play a helpful role in the prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes. And, prunes’ soluble fiber promotes a sense of satisfied fullness after a meal by slowing the rate at which food leaves the stomach, so prunes can also help prevent overeating and weight gain.

I can’t be the only one who’s been avoiding these little gems on reputation alone, am I? Come on, confess! Don’t leave me hanging. Are you a prune eater?

Update: I’ve been getting many questions about prunes and shelf life. From what I found they last at least 6 months.

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Arnold Select 100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Thins

roni — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 16:09:43 +0000

While grabbing my whole wheat english muffins at the store yesterday, these gems caught my eye. I never saw them before and when I picked them up I knew I had to buy them. They were soft, big, 100% whole grain and 1 point!! So I ditched the english muffins (for the week) and decide to give these a try instead.

Oh My Word! SO Good. I made this sandwich on one this morning. A little, sliced turkey, turkey pepperoni, laughing cow, baby spinach, tomatoes and spicy mustard, it was DELICIOUS. I can’t wait to get one of my burgers on one! The best part, I think I can pass these by the husband as a hamburger bun, they are just so soft, I can’t see him complaining!

Another positive (as I know this is a concern for some), no High Fructose Corn Syrup! There is sugar listed on the ingredient list but thats only after the whole wheat flour, water, wheat bran, yeast, and cellulose fiber. Nutritional information… 100 calories, 1g of fat, 6g of fober, 2 g of sugar, 5g of protein per bun!

Can you tell I’m excited! :~) I love finding new stuff!

Update: I did it! Made my Southwest Turkey Burgers and used them as a bun. SO good. Click to check out the video post on GreenLiteBites.

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