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.

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.

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.

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!

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

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. :)

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?

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.

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.

The first time I tried it wrapped around a hot dog and baked beans. It was DELICIOUS! Soft and chewy. Half slice was just long enough for my Hebrew National. I also tried it with some deli ham, laughing cow and baby spinach. Yum again!

The cool thing… the bread is so soft that it kind of sticks to itself. Making wraps stay together better then traditional wraps or tortillas.
The bad thing…. It’s hard to get a slice out of the package because the bread sticks together. It’s not a deal breaker, though! Just take a butter knife and work the slices apart. It takes some time but it’s worth it.

Oh and the toddler LOVES it. We even use it to make “sushi” rolls for his school lunches. I’m thinking that may be next weeks video for GreenLiteBites. ;~P

Has anyone else seen or tried Joseph’s?

So I picked up one chocolate and cracked it open in the car. My first sip left something to be desired. It had that artifically sweetened taste. So I looked at the ingredients and noticed the only 2 sweeteners were Erythritol and cane sugar. Then I took another sip, and another. It was good! Is it possible that each sip was better then the last? I know that sounds strange but seriously after the first sip I really enjoyed it. And it did hold me over until my next meal.

I’m not sure I’ll buy it again because I’m not a prepackaged smoothie kind of girl, but coming in at 1 point I had to let you’ll know about it. Unless, that is, you already knew? Sometimes I’m late to the party with these things. :~P I’ve only tried the chocolate anyone want to weigh in on the other flavors?