Archives: August 2009

11 Aug 2009, Comments (2)

Oikos Organic Greek Yogurt with Honey

Author: healthnuttxo

Stonyfield Farm is my “go to” brand for yogurt. They have made a branch, so to speak, of organic greek yogurt, Oikos Organic Greek Yogurts. I like greek yogurt usually, but it’s bland tasting, and needs some flavor in my opinion, may it be fruit or granola or SOMETHING. Oikos has flavored yogurts, with honey, vanilla, strawberry and blueberry. I decided to use my free coupon provided generously by Stonyfield Farm and bought the Honey flavor.

So, 3 o clock rolls around and i am famished. I had a good workout at the gym today, so i’ve been craving protein all day long. Instead of my normal snack, i grabbed the Oikos Honey Organic Greek Yogurt out of my fridge. Greek yogurt is thicker than regular yogurt, and has almost double the protein. Opening my container, it was greek yogurt on top, honey on the bottom. Without mixing, the yogurt part tastes sweet. It’s really thick and creamy, with a sour cream like consistency. It’s slightly tangy, but the honey’s sweetness “leaked”, so it’s not too tart like plain greek yogurt. Onto the honey part, i know what your thinking. Honey? Isn’t it too thick? Nope. This isn’t your straight up “honey” from a jar- it’s more liquidy and has a jelly-like consistency. It’s almost like honey applesauce on the bottom. By itself it also isn’t as sweet as PURE honey, so it’s not overpowering. It’s a nice compliment to the greek yogurt. I didn’t completely mix mine, but i would just take a scoop and half my spoon would be honey, half yogurt. Delicious!

So the Pros & Cons for this snack? Well, it’s higher in protein, so it’s more satisfying. It hit the spot where my hunger was roaring this afternoon. It also has no fat, but tastes like it’s made from whole milk. Yummy! My only complaint is they added sugar AND honey. Why both? Shouldn’t honey be enough? And, it’s slightly lower in calcium than regular yogurt (15% as compared to my usual 25-30%). Otherwise- this yogurt is a winner in my book. It’s a nice change from other flavored yogurts. In fact- i went to the store today and bought another flavor-strawberry! (I will blog about that flavor soon!)

1 cup is 120 calories, 0 grams of fat, 18 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, and 13 grams of filling protein.

CULTURED PASTEURIZED ORGANIC NONFAT MILK, ORGANIC HONEY, ORGANIC SUGAR, PECTIN, ORGANIC CAROB BEAN GUM.

10 Aug 2009, Comments (0)

Earth's Best Elmo Mac'n Cheese

Author: healthnuttxo

ELMOO

Macaroni & cheese anyone? Who, honestly, can resist mac & cheese!? This sinful dish is often gooey, cheesy and delicious, but also often packed with sodium, artificial colors and fillers. But not this mac & cheese!
Earth’s Best Elmo (yes, ELMO!) Mac’n Cheese is all natural, with 22g of whole grain per serving. Yes i admit, it’s probably aimed toward kids, but who says “older kids” can’t enjoy it as well? Plus i’m a sucker for portion size!

This Mac & Cheese comes with a side of carrots and broccoli for extra nutrition. If you look on the box, you will see, yes, the macaroni is in shapes of elmo’s face. Cute! I was excited to try this, i love macaroni & cheese, but we all know how easy it is to overdo it.

So how does this meal live up? Well, this is real macaroni & cheese. No fake boxed crapola, no cheese “powder”, no dyes. This uses REAL cheese, REAL milk. So, it tastes like REAL macaroni & cheese! It’s very creamy, cheesy, and buttery tasting. The cheese adheres well to the elmo pasta, which is cooked nicely, not mushy but not too hard either. There’s a pretty generous portion of pasta in this meal too, i thought it would be a itsy bitsy amount of pasta, but nope, there are a lot of cheesy elmo faces ready to be eaten. As for the veggies, i would have liked more. The broccoli is not big at all, rather chopped up in little bits. The carrots are good though, soft and sweet. It’s a good compliment to the mac & cheese, but i wish there was more. To make it more filling i added an extra serving of vegetables and had some protein with it as well.

As for the nutrition, it’s pretty good! It’s 220 calories, 7 grams of fat (YES, SEVEN, and it’s made with REAL ingredients!), 33 grams of carbs, 5 grams of fiber, and 9 grams of protein. I was happy that the first ingredient was whole grain durum wheat for the pasta, not blanched wheat/refined flour. Yay! It’s also enriched with extra vitamins and minerals, like B vitamins, etc.

The only cons for this meal that i have is it skimps a little on protein (but as i said, i just had a little extra to round this out and make it more of a meal for my size), and it has 4 grams of saturated fat, probably from the heavy cream , cheddar cheese and butter oil in the ingredients. But most macaroni & cheese has about that amount of saturated fat, and at least this fat is from real cheese & butter and not fake stuff..

So if your craving mac & cheese, this will help your craving without helping your waistline fill out. Give it a shot- and enjoy the cute little elmo faces!

Organic Elmo Pasta (Organic Whole Grain Durum Wheat, Organic Durum Semolina, Vitamins & Minerals [reduced iron, niacinamide, zinc oxide, riboflavin, thiamine hydrochloride, pyridoxine hydrochloride, folic acid, cyancobalamin]), Cheese Sauce [water, heavy cream, cheddar cheese [cultured pasteurized milk, salt, enzymes, annatto color], nonfat milk, corn starch, butter oil, enriched wheat flour [flour, malted barley flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid], sea salt, natural flavor, torula yeast, xanthan gum, annatto color), Organic Carrots, Organic Broccoli.

9 Aug 2009, Comments (0)

Snikiddy Chocolate Chip Bites

Author: healthnuttxo

choc

I love cookies. Especially chocolate chip cookies! That’s why I was excited to try Snikiddy All Natural Chocolate Chip Bites.

Delicious! The cookies are definitely bite sized, about the size of a half dollar or a big bigger than a quarter. The have big chocolate chips, or chunks rather dispersed in each bite sized cookie. They also have a slight hint of a caramel/molasses taste to them, but not overpowering. They are sweet, but again not TOO sweet, so they are good. The texture is sort of like when you make home-made cookies, the day after. They aren’t super soft like homemade, but not hard like chips ahoy. A bit of a happy medium and are crumbly as they are tasty.

Honestly, I liked them. They were really good with a glass of milk.  I was also happy to know that each serving ( 5 cookie bites) had  3 grams of fiber. Yay!

Want to get a free coupon for $1.00 these cookies? Visit their website !

5 cookie bites (28g)-  130 calories, 5 grams of fat, 19 carbohydrates, 3 grams of fiber, 2 grams of protein.

Whole Wheat Flour, Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips (Evaporated Cane Juice, Chocolate Liquor, Cocoa Butter, Soy Lecithin, Ground Vanilla Beans), Evaporated Cane Juice, Butter, Sunflower Oil, Molasses, Oat Fiber, Baking Soda, Vanilla Extract, Natural Flavor, Salt.

6 Aug 2009, Comments (5)

Amy's Chili & Cornbread Whole Meal

Author: healthnuttxo

chili

Well,  strolling down the aisles at Whole Foods i was looking for something different to try by Amy’s for dinner. Then Amy’s Chili & Cornbread Whole Meal Caught my eye- particularly the piece of cornbread on the box. hmm. this looks yummy, and i was craving cornbread.

Amy’s says it’s “a soul satisfying meal of cornbread and tasty organic chili with organic beans and vegetables and just enough spice to lift your spirits. This tastes so great it’s hard to believe that the entire 10 1/2 oz. meal contains only 6 gms. of fat”.
So how did it live up? Well after popping this baby in the microwave (and putting the cornbread in the toaster oven to crisp it up a little), it definitely did live up to it’s high standards.

Let’s start with the best part. The corn bread. Oh how i loved the cornbread. I know, i know, the basis of the meal is the chili, but i’m a lover for the sides (I love the focaccia they put in with the kid’s meals!!). It was light and spongy, and mild tasting. Slightly buttery and slightly sweet. It was the perfect compliment. It was pretty big too, they don’t scrimp on the cornbread (which makes me one happy camper! :)   ).

Onto the chili… there is a HUGE and GENEROUS portion of this chili! If you are in the mood for some good, warm chili, this meal is for you! It’s slightly spicy, the beans and vegetables are very soft and tender. It’s very good, and i’m not really a bean person myself. It’s very creamy. I get full easily, so i couldn’t even finish all of the chili. But who ever complains they get too much!? You defintely get what you pay for in this meal!

Lastly, the rice. I love Amy’s brown rice. I don’t know what she does, or how it’s different than any other brown rice, but i LOVE her brown rice bowls. The rice is soft and fluffy, with little bits of veggies mixed in.

Overall, it’s a great dinner. It wasn’t too salty like most  frozen meals can be, and it is FILLING! Phew! After eating this i was stuffed! I think this meal is also perfect.

The whole meal is 340 calories, 6 grams of fat, 59 carbohydrates, 10 grams of fiber (woah!) and 11 grams of protein. You also get 50% of your vitamin A and 10% calcium. Woo!

BLACK BEAN CHILI: ORGANIC BLACK BEANS, ORGANIC TOMATOES, ORGANIC ONIONS, ORGANIC BELL PEPPERS, ORGANIC GREEN CHILES, SPICES, EXPELLER PRESSED HIGH OLEIC SAFFLOWER OIL, ORGANIC LIME JUICE, SEA SALT, ORGANIC GARLIC.

 RICE: ORGANIC BROWN RICE, ORGANIC BROCCOLI, ORGANIC CARROTS, SEA SALT.

CORNBREAD: ORGANIC LOWFAT MILK, ORGANIC CORN MEAL, ORGANIC WHEAT FLOUR, HONEY, NON-FAT YOGURT, GRADE AA BUTTER, SEA SALT, BAKING SODA, BAKING POWDER (CALCIUM PHOSPHATE, BAKING SODA, CORNSTARCH).

5 Aug 2009, Comments (2)

Stonyfield Farm & Wallaby Yogurts Review

Author: healthnuttxo

wall

So, I’m going to review TWO types of yogurt today by two of my favorite yogurt brands, Wallaby and Stonyfield Farm. We all know how much I love yogurt, so it was a real treat to review these :]

Let’s start with Wallaby. I tried the “Down Under” Variety, which has a bunch of fruit chunks/juice on the bottom, and then creamy lowfat yogurt on top. It comes in 6 flavors, but I picked up the Strawberries & Cream Flavor. 
The yogurt itself is silky, smooth and sweet. It’s not runny like some lowfat/nonfat yogurts can be. On the bottom there are large chunks of strawberries. They are soft, and taste like the kind you eat after frozen berries were left to thaw a little bit. The flavor of the fruit and yogurt mixed reminds me of those strawberry hard candys I used to eat. It was goooooooood!!

Each cup is 140 calories, 2 grams of fat, 25 carbohydrates, 0 fiber, and 6 grams of protein. It was definitely delicious and a substantial snack.

Organic cultured pasteurized reduced fat milk, organic strawberries, organic evaporated cane juice, organic flavors, pectin, organic locust bean gum.stony

Now on to Stonyfield Farm- a new flavor i saw popped up at my local grocery store. People’s Choice Pomegranate Berry. It was a blended yogurt, so it was sweetened with berry juices not fruit chunks. How did this berry yogurt live up? Just as good! It was creamy and light tasting, and not overly sweet at all. It was very “pomegranate-y” if you will. It has a nice blended taste of blueberry and strawberry flavors as well. I don’t know if it was just me, but it took me a longer time than usual to eat this  yogurt. It felt fuller, more dense, creamier than other nonfat yogurts. A+ in my book!

Each cup is 130 calories, 0 grams fat, 25 carbohydrates, 0 fiber and 7 grams of protein. I agree with the “people”- eat this yogurt!

Cultured Pasteurized Organic Nonfat Milk, Naturally Milled Organic Sugar, Organic Pomegranate Juice from Concentrate, Organic Strawberry Juice from Concentrate, Pectin, Natural Flavor, Organic Carrot Juice Concentrate (for Color), Vitamin D3.

4 Aug 2009, Comments (3)

Pirate’s Booty

Author: healthnuttxo

tyboo Robert’s American Gourmet makes this yummy treaty in several varieties, but today I’m trying the Original Pirate’s Booty and Pirate’s Booty Caramel, provided to me by Robert’s American Gourmet. I like the cute pirate on the front saying “Thar Be Good!”. I couldn’t agree more!

In it’s original form, the Pirate’s Booty is cheesy tasting, light, and puffy. They are baked and then blended with real white cheddar cheese.It has a nice taste of aged white cheddar, and these puffs melt in your mouth the second they hit your tongue. You also get a LOT for 1 oz (1 serving), which is probably due to the high air content in each of these puffs. Airy or not- these are yummy.

So what’s Pirate’s Booty with CARAMEL? Well, puffed rice and corn-but SWEET! I didn’t know what to expect when I dove into this bag, but boy was it a good outcome. They are sweet, crunchy and DELICIOUS! They have a light caramel flavor with a hint of saltyness. They are cute, little puffs, with a nice satisfying CRUNCH!

The Aged White Cheddar has 130 calories per serving, 5 grams of fat, 19 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, and 2 grams of protein.

The Caramel Flavor has 120 calories per serving, 1 gram of fat, 24 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, and 2 grams of protein.

My only complaint is that these didn’t keep me full very long, and the caramel flavor is a bit on the sugary side. But, no worries, i’ll just eat this with some fruit/with my lunch and voila! Perfection!

Aged White Cheddar-Cornmeal, Rice, one or more of the following: Sunflower, Expeller Pressed Canola or Corn Oil, Aged Cheddar Cheese, Whey, and Buttermilk.

Caramel-Corn Syrup, Corn Meal, Light Brown Sugar, White Sugar, Ground Rice, one or more of the following: Sunflower, Expeller Pressed Canola or Corn Oil, Baking Soda, Salt and Lecithin.

*added

I was also sent the Bermuda Onion, a flavor I was afraid to try. I thought it would be overpowering, but in fact, it was DELICIOUS! Oniony, and just a tad bit sweet. Certainly reccomended!

Good job Robert’s American Gourmet! I look forward to buying and reviewing more of your products!

3 Aug 2009, Comments (6)

Luna Bar White Chocolate Macadamia

Author: healthnuttxo

I love Clif Bars, so I was excited to receive a Luna Bar in the mail to try for free. I received the White Chocolate Macadamia flavor. I tried the Clif Bar in a similar flavor, i believe it was Macadamia Nut as well, and it was good, so this can’t be too far off.

Now while testing this, keep in mind i had no intention of eating the whole thing. I just had a snack, but it was sitting on my desk looking at me. “Alright just one piece” I told myself. So I broke off a smidge- and 5 minutes later, I ate the WHOLE s bar!! It was so good! It was chewy, soft, nutty flavoring. It was sweet and the true flavors of white chocolate and macadamia shone through.  This flavor was so good i was licking the wrapper where the white coating had melted! The coating was almost buttery tasting and sweet. Ahh delicious. I can’t wait to go out and buy another one of this flavor, it was truly worth it.

This bar is healthy too (of course!). One bar has 190 calories, 7 grams of fat, 25 carbohydrates, 3 grams of fiber, and 9 grams of protein. It is also fortified with a bunch of vitamins and minerals, like calcium, zinc, etc. My only complaint was this bar is a *tad* high in fat, especially saturated (2.5g), and a wish there was at least 1 gram more of fiber. Either way, the bar is very substantiating, due to the yummy soy protein :)

5 stars


2 Aug 2009, Comments (3)

Amy's Non-Dairy Burrito

Author: healthnuttxo

burr

Now im not normally a “burrito” kinda gal. Just not into the whole beans,cheese and rice thing. But i figured i would try one of these at work today including i had a shift from 3-7, and only a 15 minute break. It was the perfect size to eat in 15-20 minutes and had enough protein/fiber to keep me going.

So the taste? Well, let me tell you- these burritos may just make me a “burrito” kind of gal! The burrito’s “wrapper” tastes just like the top of Amy’s pot pies, and i LOVE LOVE LOVE her non-dairy vegetable pot pie. Needless to say, i could have eaten just the wrapper and have been satisfied. But, moving on to what’s inside the wrapper, is pinto beans, brown rice (yay! not white rice!), tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, garlic, and spices. There are soo many beans in this, it’s oozing with filling! It has a soft consistency when you take a bite, so the pinto beans worked out quite nicely. The rice is fluffy, and the filling is perfectly spiced. Not too spicy, but not bland at all. I didn’t even notice there wasn’t any cheese in this burrito, because there was so much flavor going on!
I also really like the fact that there aren’t a TON of ingredients (but when are there EVER a lot of ingredients in Amy’s wonderful products?). It was strictly the wrap, the veggies, and spices. No yucky fillers or preservatives like you’d find at um, say, Taco Bell? I shudder at the THOUGHT of eating that food.

So how does this baby sum up? It may be smaller than your average lunch or dinner volume wise, but it is FILLING!! I was surprised how FULL i was from this thing! At first i was substantial after i ate it, but about 30 minutes later, i was STUFFED! I blame the beans, personally, but this thing ROCKS! I also had plenty of energy to walk my dog when i got home from work, due to the jam packed complex carbs from brown rice & beans. I think it would be perfect for a filling, nutritious on-the go lunch, and maybe a dinner if you paired it with some salad or other crudites :)

1 Burrito is 280 calories, 6 grams of fat, 48 carbohydrates, 5 grams of fiber (a-ha, so that’s why i was so full!), and 9 grams of protein.

Organic pinto beans, Organic whole wheat & wheat flour, filtered water, Organic brown rice, Organic tomatoes, expeller pressed high oleic safflower oil, Organic onions, Organic bell peppers, sweet rice flour, sea salt, spices, Organic garlic. 

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