This Mama Cooks! On a Diet

Healthy snacking with Brothers-All-Natural Crisps

Having two ravenous kids, I'm always on the lookout for healthy, guilt free snacks. So when the folks at Brothers-All-Natural offered to send me samples of their potato and fruits crisps, I jumped at the chance.

Brothers-All-Natural crisps are perfect for car trips, camping, and packed in your lunch. They're also safe for people with food allergies since the crisps are peanut and tree nut free, dairy free, gluten free, soy free, wheat free, non-GMO, vegan, and kosher.

They're available at Costco and are in the 75 cents to $1.19 range per bag. The bags are small - .42 oz. for the potato crisps and .26 to .59 oz. depending on the variety of fruit.

Fruit Crisps
Brothers-All-Natural Fruit Crisps is freeze-dried and made without any added sugars, preservatives or chemicals. They test for pesticides, heavy metals, etc. on every single batch and claim to have a very secure raw fruit procurement system that maintains the safety of our products.

The Fruit Crisps provide two servings of fruit in each single-serve pack, and are available in seven flavors including Fuji Apple, Asian Pear, and Strawberry-Banana. (Click here for nutritional information.)

Potato Crisps
Brothers-All-Natural uses a freeze drying process that brings the freshly sliced potato to a crisp. The freeze-drying process also locks in all the healthy nutrition naturally found in potatoes. They're available in four flavors. (Click here for nutritional information.)

My Review
The crisps are, for lack of a better term, interesting. They remind me of those funny Asian puffed shrimp crackers that sort of melt in your mouth. You get some flavor, but it seems like you're eating little styrofoam bits of food. They're hardly substantial enough to make you feel full even after consuming several bags worth - which I did unfortunately.

My final verdict? They're tasty enough and I enjoyed their unique texture. However, they were just in the "fun to try, but not something I'd buy regularly" category. Why? First, the kids didn't like them because the flavors and textures were just too weird for them. Second, the crisps are too expensive. While they're convenient and guilt free, it's cheaper to bag up some grapes, sliced apples, or organic blue tortilla chips.

Sorry, but no matter how guilt free and healthy something is, if it's not appealing enough to my kids, I'll have to pass.

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Eating out? Use Wellternatives to get nutrition info on your cell phone

Wellsphere, a terrific health and wellness online social network, just launched Wellternatives, a free healthy eating service that recommends healthy alternatives for your favorite dishes at thousands of chain restaurants. They've designed it so that anyone can use their cell phone to receive suggested "Wellternatives" along with calorie and nutrition information. And it's FREE!

Give It a Try

First, sign up for a Wellsphere account and set up a taste preference profile. Then give Wellternatives phone service a try by sending a text to 878787 with the word "diet" followed by the name of the chain restaurant and menu item. (Click here to see how to make your cell phone a wellphone.)

Not only can you get nutrition information for your favorite chain restaurant's menu items, but they'll give you a recommendation for a healthier alternative. One of the keys to making this helpful is that they've built their recommendation algorithm to not only consider key nutritional factors, but to also take into account taste preference profiles, portion sizes and types of food. That way they can give you healthier alternatives from the same restaurant that you'll find just as satisfying and delicious as what you'd usually eat.

Don't Text? No Problem

If you're stuck in the '90s like me and don't text on your phone, you can look up Wellternatives on the Wellsphere website for complete menu listings and ratings of your favorite chain restaurant. It's a great way to plan what you eat before you go. In fact, print out a few sample "healthy menus" to keep in your car. That way you're prepared when you're traveling or can't get home in time to prepare a healthy meal.

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The continuing quest for the perfect energy drink

As you can tell by my enhanced water and energy tea drink reviews, I'm on the lookout for the perfect energy drink. Here are my requirements:

• Not too expensive. This is a big one since the low-carb canned energy drink I now buy is $30 a case at Costco or about $1.50 a can.
• Low calorie. I don't mind sugar substitutes too much if they're not too sweet.
• Healthy. I want B vitamins for energy and anti-oxidants (C or E), too. I also like added fiber, real juice, and green tea.
• Caffeine. The more the merrier I am.
• Fat burning. L-carnitine, chromium, guarana, hoodia, ginseng, etc. I'm not really sure that any of this stuff works, but I'd like to think so. And if I'm paying a premium for an energy drink that supposedly boosts your metabolism (like a bunch of them claim) then bring it on!
• Convenient. Cans or bottles are fine as long as they are recyclable. But I really like the single servings of powders available in the drink mix/iced tea aisle, too. Less waste and cheaper.

The latest energy drink I tried comes from a trusted fruit juice source.

Click here to read more...

Aquafina's new enhanced water drink, Aquafina Alive

Pepsi has recently spruced up its Aquafina water line with Aquafina Alive, another contender in the "health and energy" water product arena. The water comes with ingredients like caffeine, electrolytes, antioxidants, fiber and vitamins.

Always interested in satisfying my desire for the perfect energy drink - and a cheaper alternative to the $1.50 a can stuff I buy by the case at Costco - I told Aquafina's social marketing person to send me some samples.

First I tried Aquafina Alive Satisfy (10-calorie peach mango flavor with 3g of fiber or 10% DV). They claim that this is one of the only waters on the market with a significant amount of fiber to help lightly fill you up. However, I have seen drink powders from Kellogg's that contain 10g of fiber. Still, I thought it tasted pretty good and there was no noticeable "grittiness" from the fiber.

Aquafina Alive Energize (calorie-free orange lime with caffeine, and 10% DV of Vitamin B) is enhanced with about as much caffeine as an average cup of coffee and is a good source of B vitamins. LOVED THIS. It was tasty and not too sweet. Plus, I did get a little caffeine lift. I'd buy this again. However, my local store doesn't carry it at this time, darn it.

Not your average energy drink

I'm addicted to energy drinks. I'm thinking about contacting my current favorite energy drink company for a sponsorship. You know, "This mommy blogger brought to you by X Energy Drink." Or "Motherhood made possible by X Energy Drink." Honestly, with my schedule and my bad sleep habits, I rely heavily on them.

They're expensive, but cheaper than getting a latte at Starbucks, especially when you buy them by the case at Costco. Still, it does bother me that I drink them. Except for vitamins and herbs, most energy drinks are full of crap and a lot of things I cannot even guess to pronounce.

Click here to read more...

Can chewing gum help you lose weight and get smarter?

In my 5 Things to Keep in Your Bag or Briefcase When Trying to Lose Weight post, one of the things I always keep with me (and in my desk and car) is sugarless gum. Good thing I do because not only do studies show that chewing gum helps you lose weight, but it makes you more intelligent, too.

According to an article in the October 2007 issue of EatingWell magazine, a 2002 study of 75 people* in the UK showed that gum-chewers performed better than non-chewers on a memory test. According to a Japanese study* the act of chewing gum can get your heart pumping more blood to your brain, which means more oxygen to the ol' noodle! Maybe we should pass out gum to kids taking the SATs.

Not only does gum chewing improve memory, it could help you lose weight, too. According to a 2006 study in the journal Appetite, 60 people* who chewed gum for 15 minutes every hour after eating lunch snacked on 36 fewer calories three hours after the meal. They also craved less sweets than people who didn’t chew gum during the study. So if they did this three times a day that's more than 100 calories saved. That could really add up over time.

While chewing gum can cause pain in people with TMJ, it does help fight cavities (if you chew sugar free gum) and bad breath. So what do you have to lose…but unwanted weight and a fuzzy mind! 

Now where did I put that pack of Wrigley's Extra?

* Please note that I do have a problem with the science behind all these studies since the research groups were so small. In my opinion, the evidence is more anecdotal than scientific. However, the findings are interesting and chewing gum can't hurt...unless it gets stuck in your hair.

(This post originally appeared in a slightly different form at the blog, Incredible Shrinking Ladies.)

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A review of Celestial Seasonings new Saphara tea line

I was thrilled when the folks at Celestial Seasonings sent me two boxes of their new Saphara teas to try. Tea is a blessing for dieters and those trying to lose weight. Why? Because it has no calories, of course, and is great for sipping on throughout the day.  A cup of hot tea is a great way to warm up - and fill up - on a cold winter day.  And, with all the caffeine free varieties, drinking tea is a great way to get your water in, too.

I've been a huge fan of Celestial Seasonings for years, even before I moved to Colorado near its company headquarters. My dad used to drink it back in the '70s and '80s since it was one of the few teas available with no caffeine. In fact, when he traveled with boxes of their tea to England on business trips, the local restaurant managers nicknamed him the "Tea Man."

I love their teas and wondered if Celestial Seasonings could top themselves with their new tea line.

Premium tea

Saphara features full-leaf botanicals and real fruit pieces in silken pyramid bags that are specially designed to allow water to flow around and through the teas. Saphara teas are crafted and packaged using environmentally conscious manufacturing processes and packaging materials.

The cartons are 100% recycled paperboard made from at least 35% post-consumer waste material, and all packaging is completely biodegradable. Celestial Seasonings even uses vegetable-based biodegradable inks when printing the cartons.

A review of General Mills New Cheerios Snack Mix

All moms know how wholesome Cheerios are. Often, it's the first finger food we give our kids. So when General Mills contacted me to review their new Cheerios Snack Mix product, I was willing to give it a try.

Ingredients

Cheerios Snack Mix isn't as wholesome as they claim in the press release. General Mills states:

Cheerios^® Snack Mix includes MultiGrain Cheerios^® cereal, Chex^® pieces, pretzels, crackers and seasoning to create a whole-grain, cereal-based snack in Original and Cheddar flavors. Cheerios Snack Mix offers nutrition benefits and great taste to the snack aisle, with 8 grams of whole grain per serving and 60 to 65 percent less fat than regular potato chips.

Funny how they left off the partially hydrogenated oils from the press release. It's clearly stated on the package. I thought leaving out hydrogenated oils - and advertising that fact on your packaging - was the in thing to do right now. What gives?

A review of PAM Professional cooking spray

The folks at PAM (or should I say ConAgra) sent me a bottle of PAM Professional™ to try out, According to the PAM website:

Cook like a pro with PAM Professional™, specially formulated for high-heat cooking. Originally developed for restaurants, it's the no-stick solution for demanding cooking techniques such as sautéing, roasting, and stir-frying. And its patented oil blend resists residue buildup on your cookware, so cleanup is easy.

So I tried it out when I was roasting some Brussels sprouts by coating the pan with PAM Professional, adding the veggies, drizzling some olive oil, and adding some salt and pepper. Usually I don't bother with a cooking spray. Instead, I use olive oil to coat the pan.

The Brussels sprouts turned out just fine, but I wasn't happy with what I found during cleanup. The PAM Professional spray had turned gummy just like their regular PAM spray and had to be scrubbed off. Let me repeat - scrubbed not wiped off. Since I thought this product was for high heat, I was disappointed, especially because the brochure promised that it "resists residue build up on pans, making clean-up easy." Yeah, righ.

Then I read the label. It contained partially hydrogenated soybean and canola oils. Yuck! This is why I use PAM's Organic Canola Oil, which doesn't have partially hydrogenated anything, just organic canola and organic grain alcohol (and a few other ingredients). It works just as well as regular PAM, too.

Honestly, except for the attractive ergonomic, polished chrome can and the bigger nozzle, I don't know what the point is in buying PAM Professional. Stick to PAM's organic product line instead.

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Reynolds Parchment Paper is not just for holiday cookies

Even though you're trying to lose weight - and all your friends know it - you've probably been invited to a cookie swap party. You know, a party where each participant brings cookies to swap with friends along with a copy of the cookie recipe.

I was invited to two cookie exchanges this month, and I couldn't attend either of them because of a my new job (I'm now a community manager at CafeMom.com), and because I was already going out three times that week to parties and a holiday concert. Like I had time to bake let alone go out two more times!

I really dodged a bullet there and was thankful not to blow my weight loss plan. But just in case you're invited to a cookie exchange - and promise only to indulge a little and to give the rest of the cookies to friends, family and coworkers - you may want to check out ReynoldsSimpleSecrets.com.

(You should also check out my 5 Ways to Avoid Temptation During Bake Sale Season post for some tips to get out of baking yourself or eating everything you make.)

Get a Free Cookie Swap Starter Kit from Reynolds

Reynolds Parchment Paper and cookie exchange hostess, Robin Olson have teamed up to give helpful tips and tricks for a successful cookie exchange this holiday season.

Here's the cool part. You can get a cookie swap starter kit complete with Reynolds parchment paper, recipe cards, invitations, a cookie tin, and tips and tricks for hosting your own cookie swap by signing up here. The nice folks at MS&L Digital sent me one and its worth getting.

Extreme Fat Smash Diet uses for parchment paper

But since you don't want to get side tracked on your weight loss journey, give the recipes and invites to a friend, put your arts and crafts supplies in the tin, and keep the parchment paper to make a delicious, low calorie - Pesto Snapper en Papillote (in paper). This would be a perfect meal on either Weight Watchers (only 4 POINTS per serving) or the Extreme Fat Smash Diet.

(Check out Reynold's other en Papillote recipes.)