A few new products I've come across

[CrazyCatLady]

I got all of these at Walmart, and thought I would share. If anyone else would like to share some recent discoveries, or old standbys, I would appreciate it!

• Alpine Spiced Apple Cider Sugar Free - 15 calories, 4g carbs per packet
-Not bad, I've been craving something apple flavored. I think it will be good to flavor things as well.

• Swiss Miss or Kroger Lowfat Cocoa (Lowfat, not Diet or Sugar Free) - 25 calories, 4g carbs, 1g fiber per packet
-Haven't tried it yet, but have heard good things. I've been craving hot chocolate too.

• Emerald Cocoa Roast Almonds 100 calorie packs
Haven't tried them yet, but I don't see how they can help but be good!

• Wholly Guacamole calorie 100 packs
-This stuff is awesome! Provides your healthy fat for the day. I think they may be a local company though.

• Sucralose To Go - 0 Calories, 0 carbs
-Haven't tried it yet, but it's liquid sucralose in a nice small purse sized container.

• Jello Sugar Free Pistachio Pudding - 15 calories, 3g carbs per 1/8 package (mix only).
- I add it to one scoop Designer Whey Natural Flavor (100 calories, 2g carbs) along with some Silk Unsweetened Almond Milk (30 calories a cup). Its like having a milkshake! Other flavors are good too (Lemon or cheesecake are other faves), but right now I'm addicted to the pistachio.

• My new favorite veggie, Roasted Cauliflower (2 cups), with Olive Oil (2 tsp), parmesan (2 tbls) and garlic salt to taste. (Total - 170 Calories, 6 net carbs). Something about roasting it in the oven makes it really yummy! I just mixed all the ingredients and threw it in the oven until very slightly browned. I'm going to try it with mixed low carb veggies next.

Also, I decided to try to make chicken soup with low carb veggie. I really didn't think I could make chicken soup without rice or pasta, but I didn't even miss it! I used Zucchini, chicken, smoked turkey sausage, a little instant onion soup mix, cajun seasoning, and a little salsa (just enough to give it a faint tomato base). I'll have to tinker with the amounts some more, but it reminded me of chicken and sausage gumbo! (It had 225 Calories, 6 carbs, 33 grams of protein for approximately 1/5-2 cups soup). You could also add celery, green beans, spinach, cabbage, and whatever seasoning you like (just be sure to count those carbs!).

I hope others will share their creations and discoveries too!

[CrazyCatLady]

I forgot the find I'm most excited about! Sugar Free Pumpkin Pie Coffeemate. Yum!

[LTinNC]

i have been putting the sf pumpking spice coffee mate into my vanilla protein shakes...i think it tastes pretty good! sometimes i add 1/4 cup real canned pumpkin too.

i have found the 100 cal packs of wholly guac at food lion and teeter. my walmart only has the large packs...

[CrazyCatLady]

Ooooh, good idea! I've been adding a little peppermint extract to my chocolate shakes too (I love mint chocolate). You have to be careful though, because a little goes a long way.

I just made a pistachio shake and added a packet of plain almonds (in the blender) and it was sooooo good!

[ravenrose]

I like the apple flavor from Nature's Flavors so much better than that alpine stuff.

[CrazyCatLady]

I'll have to look for that. This was the first I had found.

[CrazyCatLady]

I need to make a correction on the cocoa. For the 25 calorie, 3 net carb version, its the 'Fat Free' variety of the Kroger brand, and 'Diet' variety of the Swiss Miss brand. I tried the Kroger brand tonight and it was SO GOOD!

[Caterpillarinn]

Thanks for the ideas Crazycatlady!

In what department of Walmart did you find the apple cider? I will be hitting Kroger today.

[CrazyCatLady]

I just saw it in Kroger yesterday by the cocoa. I think that's where it was at Walmart too.

[CrazyCatLady]

Also at Kroger is the Kroger brand CarbMaster Yogurt - 60 calories, 4 carbs, 8 grams protein. The carrot cake & caramel spice cake are my favorites.

[Bahet]

From Walmart:

Bistro Sensations turkey sausage. It comes in different flavors like carmelized onion and swiss, spinach and mozarella, jalepeno and monteray jack. They are about the size of a Johnsonville bratwurst but only around 110-120 calories each. I forget the carb count offhand but it's about 2-3.

Old Wisconsin Turkey Snack Slices and Old Wisconsin Turkey Bites. The snack sausages are by the register and the slices are by the jerkey. The slices are in individual serving packs with about 8 large pepperoni slices per pack. They are 60 calories and I forget the carbs but I think it was about 1. The Turkey Bites are like Slim Jims chopped into bite size pieces (about the size of the first joint on your fingers) and 6 are 60 or 80 cals and about 1 carb (Sorry, it's late and I'm too tired/lazy to go check. :lol ) Inside each of the packs of Turkey Bites is a coupon for BOGO free of the Turkey Slices.

What I'm really craving is a bread type something. I've found a recipe for a "bread" made with flax seed that has 4 net carbs/slice but I need to find out at my next appt if net carbs are what I shouldlook at or if total carbs is the only number that matters. I also sw a product called Carb Master or something that's a baking mix that I may try if I can ever find it.

WalMart also has a generic Mio Sport for electrolytes so you can just get a little Mio size bottle instead of buying bottles of Propel. It's cheaper and takes up much less space. It's not particularly flavourful though so I add a squirt of Mio blueberry lemonade to it.

[Caterpillarinn]

I forgot about the Almond Milk Cheese I found at Whole Foods.
Yum.

I found a flatbread this weekend at Bj's-Flax, Oatbran & Whole Wheat Lavash Bread. 1/2 a piece is only 50 cal, 7carbs, 5 protein. The carbs might be high. I sliced it into triangles, toasted in the oven and used the cinnamon cream cheese wedge from Laughing Cow for a 95 cal snack.

WW has a new wedge cheese that is cheddar.

I appreciate the idea for the cocoa but I couldn't bring myself to spend the $. Our store was $4 for 6 pkgs. I usually make my own, so I am going to try a recipe using SF jello. I need a recipe calculator, though.

I also appreciate the ideas for seasonal foods. I am loading up on pumpkin this and that. I couldn't find apple-but our office had apple snacks from Costco that said use them in smoothies. Hunting those down now.

[CrazyCatLady]

Wow! The store brand I picked up was $1.25 for a box of 8.

[Caterpillarinn]

Oh well- I didn't see a store brand that was under 60 cal.

I created this recipe last night. You can up the protein if you want and decrease the creamer. This is rich and creamy. Not watery. I did play around with it trying to get the carbs lower but it really didn't make much difference.

I like that I can have white chocolate too. Especially, when those
candy corn M&M's are calling!

Hot Cocoa
Makes 24- 1Tbsp servings. 30 Cal 4.9 carbs 0.9protein
Use 1 TBSP in 6 oz water.

1 Small pkg instant chocolate pudding mix (you can get creative & try white chocolate)
4TBSP dry SF coffee creamer (again, you can use hazelnut...peppermint...)
1/4 C Dry Cocoa
4 TBSP Stevia for baking
4 TBSP Protein Powder (I used chocolate with 26 g protein/serving but I'm not sure it calculated correctly on the site I used)
1/4C Dry Milk (nonfat)

[Caterpillarinn]

Oh, one more

Walmart has flavored almonds. I picked up chocolate but they had cinnamon and spicy ones too. I like the Emerald ones too but the Stevia taste messes with me sometimes.

[CrazyCatLady]

I'll look for those Walmart almonds. I hadn't been too big on almonds until now because the calories are so high for such a small protein payoff. But I decided since they count as your healthy fat, that little bit of protein is actually a bonus!

[CrazyCatLady]

I ordered Davinci Sugar Free Egg Nog Syrup online and it is DIVINE in a vanilla protein shake! But I was disappointed in how weak it was. I had to put about 5 or 6 tablespoons to taste it in 8 ounces of Almond milk with a scoop of vanilla protein. Still, it taste exactly like egg nog! Yum!

I also ordered the Protein Plus Peanut flour. I'm not sure yet if it is as good as PB2, but it's less expensive and doesn't have the added sugar and sodium. It seems to be weaker in peanut flavor, but I only had the PB2 once a couple of months ago, so I really need to compare them side by side. Still, it's a great way to get yummy peanut butter flavor with far less calories and fat. I put a tablespoon in my diet cocoa last night and it was awesome!

[Caterpillarinn]

I've been looking for a SF Coffee Mate in Egg Nogg or Gingerbread-never thought of DaVinci. Hmmmm. Thanks!

[CrazyCatLady]

Davinci has Gingerbread too, it's the next on my list!

[CrazyCatLady]

A new discovery:
Latortilla Factory Smart & Delicious Low Carb, High Fiber Tortillas
One 36 gram tortilla
50 calories
3 net carbs
5 grams of protein

The ones I had gotten before were:
Mission Carb Balance Whole Wheat Tortillas
One 28 gram tortilla
80 calories
3 net carbs
3 grams of protein

As you can see, the Mission ones not only have more calories, they're smaller too! I got the Latortilla ones from Krogers.

[CrazyCatLady]

BTW, I made a soft taco with the tortilla: Ground chicken with taco seasoning, fat free cheese, shredded lettuce, 2 tbls greek yogurt for sour cream, and 2 tbls salsa (I use Hell on the Red Mild Hot Sauce, 15 calories and 2 carbs). Total 220 calories, 10 net carbs, 24 grams protein. It was amazing! I also had WAY too much filling for the tortilla, but I ate it anyway.

[CrazyCatLady]

My new favorite healthy snack is roasted edamame. The calories are kind of high for the amount at 130 calories for 1/3 cup, but it has 8 grams of fiber, 2 net carbs, and 14 grams of protein (this is the unconfirmed info I found online for the variety I bought, which was Sprouts Farmers Market Dry Roasted Edamame Lightly Salted - bulk).

It's also good if you buy it frozen in the pods, boil it in some salted water, and then pop the beans out of the pods to eat! The calories are a bit less because oil is used when it is roasted, but I'm still trying to figure out the correct info. I can never quite figure out if the measurements and/or the calories/carbs include the pods or not. I also can't figure out if the pods are edible. I'm still investigating, but regardless, it's a good (and new to me) protein source!

[CrazyCatLady]

Another new find: Celestial Seasonings Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride. I add a little sugar free french vanilla creamer, and yum! I do have to use 2-4 tea bags a mug though, it's kind of weak otherwise. It has a vanilla flavor combined with a taste I really can't put my finger on, but is obviously supposed to be the 'cookie'. I suppose it does taste somewhat like a cookie, but I'm not sure if that's what I would have guessed the flavor to be if I didn't know ahead of time. Nevertheless, I like it!