Yummy, Low Calorie Diet Food -- Plus Where to Buy! Smarter, Yummier, Healthier, Food choices for Your Busy Lifestyle

I'm always on the lookout for new ice creams to try (I love ice cream, probably a little too much). For whatever reason, I prefer ice creams that come in individually sized serving cups (especially when they are on the big side). It is kind of weird but there's something about eating the ice cream out of the cup that I find more pleasing than a bowl. So, when I recently discovered these unique rice milk ice cream cups made by Organic Rice Divine at Whole Foods, I decided to give them a try.

The flavor of ice cream cups I purchased is called Strawberry Swirl. Each cup contains strawberry flavored ice cream with strawberry swirl sauce (kind of like a sundae, which is an added plus!). The ice cream cups also come in a Vanilla Fudge Swirl flavor that I bet is great, but I have yet to try them. In terms of taste, the ice cream has a unique rice-milk taste to them which I find pleasing, however, if you aren't into the taste of rice milk products, these probably aren't for you.

The organic rice divine ice cream cups are organic, lactose free, dairy free, gluten free and also vegan. At 160 calories, with 6 grams of fat and 1 gram of fiber, they aren't the lowest calorie ice cream in the world, but I think they are a nice treat for an occasional splurge.

Enjoy!
Juliet

PS. If you aren't into rice milk products or can't find rice divine at your local supermarket, I highly recommend these Eating Right low calorie ice cream cups which you can buy at Safeway or Julie's Ice Cream Sandwiches which you can buy at Whole Foods.

I was at Costco last weekend and I walked past a large bag of Hershey's individually wrapped chocolates that were calling my name. The Hershey's chocolates were (1) all natural (2) dark and (3) came in a really interesting assortment (pure dark chocolate with pomegranate flavored pieces, pure dark chocolate, and pure dark chocolate with cranberries, blueberries and almonds). I ended up buying the bag, and I have to say that the one with the cranberries, blueberries and almonds is by far my favorite since it is so crunchy and delicious.

I'm a huge fan of dark chocolate -- it contains more of the cacao bean's antioxidants than milk chocolate, and they are known to help lower blood pressure and protect against heart disease. Each of the 10 gram chocolates (a convenient one or two bite size -- much bigger (although flatter) than a Hershey's miniature) in the assortment is only one weight watchers point, at 42.5 calories, 3.25 grams of fat, 1 gram of fiber, 3.5 grams of sugar and slightly less than 1 gram of protein.

These chocolates should be very accessible either at your local grocery store, or at Costco, Walmart or Sam's club. If you like dark chocolate they are definitely worth checking out!

Enjoy!
Juliet

I've started to notice that various types of grapes have become available at my local supermarket, and that means that grape season is on its way! I absolutely love grapes -- I think they are both the perfect sweet snack as well as the perfect desert (when frozen, we'll get to that in a few).

Not only are grapes tasty, but they are *very* good for you as well! Grapes are full of vitamins like Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin B6, and Folic Acid. They are also full of antioxidants and flavonoids which help protect our bodies from things we don't like such as aging, heart disease, neurological disease, diabetes, cancer, etc.

If you've never had them, frozen grapes are an amazingly sweet, healthy snack. Eating them is a lot like eating candy (not kidding!). To make frozen grapes, simply buy a bunch of any type of seedless grape that you like, remove the individual grapes from their stems, wash in a strainer, and the bag them in single serving ziplock bags. Place the bags in the freezer for at least a few hours, and then enjoy one serving at a time!

Enjoy!
Juliet

As you may or may not have picked up from my previous posts, I tend to have a love hate relationship with water. Some days I love it, and I can drink my 8 glasses without even thinking about it. Other days I have trouble drinking even a glass, and I find the plain taste of water incredibly unappealing. I like to keep some more exciting drinks around for days that I have this issue, so I'm always on the lookout for low calorie drinks (without artificial sweeteners) that have an interesting flavor (like hint water), health value (like herbal tea, or zenergize), or bubbles (like carbonated water).

I recently found a line of all-natural bottled sodas at Whole Foods called DRY Soda that are relatively low calorie and pretty tasty. The flavor I like is called Lemongrass (which is subtly sweet in a really refreshing way), but the soda also comes in Vanilla Bean, Juniper Berry, Lavender, Kumquat and Rhubarb. The sodas vary from 50-70 calories per bottle (which are 12 ounces so 1.5 cups), depending on which flavor you buy.

As I mentioned, I found this soda at Whole Foods, but I read on their website that it is also available at Bev Mo as well as various other retailers.

Enjoy!
Juliet

PS. In the non-water drink department, I'm also a big fan of low calorie Izze Esque soda, Mint water, and Fizzit, as well as making my own fruity flavored water using real fruit like they do at the spa.

As you know, mozzarella sticks are delicious! If you've never had one, a mozzarella stick is fried breaded cheese that is available as an appetizer at most Italian restaurants. They are usually served with a side of marinara sauce for dipping. And, as you can imagine, since they are breaded, fried, and cheese based, they are very high in both calories and fat.

A few weeks ago, I realized that I had the perfect ingredients to make low calorie mozzarella sticks in my kitchen, so I decided to go for it. I've actually written about most of the ingredients separately, so now it is time to just combine them together!

Ingredients (makes 2 servings):
- Two low calorie mozzarella string cheese sticks
- A quarter cup of egg beaters or egg whites (you'll only end up using about half)
- One quarter cup of your favorite Italian bread crumbs or whole wheat breadcrumbs (you'll only end up using about 1 tablespoon per serving, so regular Italian breadcrumbs are okay)
- Two tablespoons of your favorite low calorie pizza sauce

Instructions:
(1) Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees
(2) Cut two mozzarella sticks in half and set aside
(3) In a shallow bowl, pour 3 tablespoons of egg beaters or egg whites
(4) In a separate shallow bowl, weigh out a quarter of a cup of whole wheat or Italian breadcrumbs using your food scale
(5) Dip each individual cheese stick into your egg beaters so that it is completely coated
(6) Once cheese stick is coated, roll it in your breadcrumbs until it is coated
(7) Place cheese stick into oven safe bowl
(8) Repeat for the other three cheese sticks
(9) Lightly spray each of your cheese sticks with a bit more oil
(10) Put oven save pan with cheese sticks into the oven for about 7 minutes -- keep your eye on them, you want to take them out right before they begin to flatten and melt
(11) Put two tablespoons of your favorite pizza sauce in a separate bowl for dipping!

Okay, so in the calorie department, each serving (two breaded halves of a string cheese) comes out to approximately 110-120 calories (depending on what ingredients you use), with 3-5 grams of fat (depending on your string cheese) and approximately a gram of fiber.

Enjoy!
Juliet

As much as I love the ease and convenience of PAM ("no calorie" oil spray), I recently stopped using it when I found out that it contained propellant (a chemical used to produce thrust). Propellant is used in all aerosol cans, but in most cases it is not cause for alarm, since most aerosol can don't produce something that we end up eating. Even worse, I've read that propellant, when combined with Teflon (the chemical used to make non-stick pans), causes a chemical reaction that is not good for your non-stick pan.

Luckily for us, there are other ways to achieve the same effect as Pam in our cooking by using non-propellant oil misters that produce the same output. Oil misters aren't quite as slick as aerosol pans, because you have to manually pump them each time that you want to grease a pan. But, the benefit to using them is (1) the lack of propellant and (2) the ability to pick your own oil to grease your pans with!

There is one spray mister on Amazon that I personally use called the Norpro Stainless Steel Sprayer Mister. But, any manual spray mister that you find and buy at your local store should work as a sufficient Pam substitute.

I'll be referring to manually greasing pans in future recipes on Yummy Diet Food, so now you'll know what I mean. :)

Enjoy!

Juliet

Do you like crunchy, breaded, or fried food, but don't like the calories in bread? Have you tried some of the diet recipes that recommend using Fiber One cereal as a breading substitute, but don't like the fact that Fiber One has aspartame in it? If so, then this is the post for you!

About a month ago, I was thrilled to discover these Whole Wheat Panko bread crumbs made by Ian's ( the company that makes low calorie cheeze-it like crackers, and 100 calorie packs of cookie buttons ) at my local Whole Foods. The bread crumbs are made entirely from unbleached whole wheat flour, malt extract, yeast, and salt and contain only 70 calories, half a gram of fat, 2 grams of fiber, and 3 grams of protein per quarter of a cup serving (so only one weight watchers point!).

The bread crumbs are tasty and versatile and I will be leveraging them in upcoming recipes, so I'm excited to introduce them. If you can't find them, don't lose hope, however. You can still toast your favorite low calorie whole wheat bread and then chop it into little bread crumb pieces in your mini Cuisinart.

Enjoy!
Juliet

I have a pretty big sweet tooth, and every once in a while I like to eat something fruity and sweet. A while ago I discovered Annie's little packets of fruit bunnies which, at 70 calories (1 weight watchers point) per portion-controlled 23 gram bag, are a perfect solution! Annie's little bunnies taste a lot like gummy bears but, because they are flavored with real fruit juice, are actually quite a bit tastier and fruitier than real gummy bears.

To quote the box, the Annie's bunny fruits have "no icky additives or pesky preservatives in them," and are all-natural and organic. They also have going for them that each packet has 100% daily value of Vitamin C! Each packet is also fat free. They come in a "Berry Patch" flavor -- with strawberry, cherry and raspberry bunnies and a "Tropical" flavor -- with mango-peach, tropical punch and orange flavored bunnies. They are both available at Whole Foods.

I keep a few little bags of the bunnies in my desk at work. I don't eat them that often, but every once in a while I do get a sugar craving at about 4:00, and I find this hits the spot (vs. the other foods that are readily available).

Enjoy!
Juliet

I absolutely love the taste of coconut! So, when I found a open can of light coconut milk in my refrigerator today (leftover from a Thai stir-fry that I still need to post about!), I just had to make something with it. So, I decided to use it to make a non-alcoholic "Pina Colada-like" Smoothie (leveraging frozen banana instead of frozen pineapple, although either would work). The smoothie turned out really delicious -- I actually thought it was much better than a regular pina colada which tend to be much more icy in consistency. So, I thought I'd share the recipe here!

Ingredients:
- One cup almond milk (you can substitute reduced fat or non-fat milk if you prefer)
- One quarter cup of light coconut milk (I'll blog specifically about this in the future)
- One frozen banana
- Half a teaspoon of vanilla extract

Instructions:
- Measure and pour one cup of almond milk into your blender
- Add one quarter of a cup of light coconut milk (it is available in cans in the Asian aisle -- make sure you buy the light kind)
- Add a small frozen banana broken into several pieces to your blender
Note: Here are instructions for creating your own frozen bananas. You might want to cut them into several pieces depending on how powerful your blender is. Also, if you prefer pineapple you can substitute frozen pineapple for the banana, or half a serving of each.
- Add half a teaspoon of vanilla extract
- (Optional) Add some crushed ice if you want an icy texture
- Blend, transfer to cup, drink and enjoy!

In terms of calories, it is variable (so make sure you check based on your ingredients), but if you use almond milk, a small-ish banana, and light coconut milk, it comes out to approximately 170 calories, 6 grams of fat (primarily from the coconut), and 3 grams of fiber -- so 3 weight watchers points.

I hope you enjoy the smoothie!

Here are some other coconut filled foods I've posted about: Coconut Milk Yogurt, So Delicious Ice Cream Sandwiches, Coconut Ginger Soup, and Nada Moo Ice Cream.


Juliet

Hello and Happy Monday!

First of all Congratulations to the winner of my Yummy Diet Food Snack Pack giveaway: Laurel from Bake Me More! Congrats! If you didn't win, no worries, as I will be hosting more exciting Yummy Diet Food giveaways in coming weeks based on the foods you told me were difficult for you to find! However, if you are anxious to find and purchase a particular food or set of foods that I've featured on Yummy Diet Food (non perishable please), you can email me at yummydietfood@yummydietfood.com, and I'll see what I can do to get you what you are looking for! Now, onto today's regular food programming...

I thought today I'd post about one of my favorite desserts (and favorite childhood treats) from Trader Joe's -- Chocolate Dipped Bananas (since some of you have written in to tell me that you don't have a Whole Foods nearby, which is a huge bummer).

So, first of all, why eat bananas? Well, bananas are a great energy source, and are believed to help regulate a person's mood, thereby helping with anxiety and stress. They are also a great natural source of fiber, protein, and potassium which is believed to help cellular growth in addition to helping to control blood pressure. Also full of antioxidants like beta-carotene, bananas help boost our immune systems, protecting our bodies from infections, which is always a good thing!

If you like bananas, and want to eat an occasional one dipped in chocolate (bananas go so well with chocolate!) -- Trader Joe's makes a delicious chocolate covered banana called "Gone Bananas" which you can find in their freezer section. Inside the box you'll find four individually wrapped chocolate covered bananas (of small but not extra small size in my opinion). The ingredients for each one are: banana, chocolate (cocoa paste, cocoa butter, sugar, soy lecithin), and sunflower oil. Each chocolate covered banana is 160 calories and 8 grams of fat, so 4 weight watchers points.

PS. In case you aren't interested in eating chocolate covered bananas, remember, you can always freeze and eat bananas on your own - frozen bananas make a totally delicious snack or addition to your yogurt or oatmeal. My posting on frozen bananas has instructions on how to properly freeze your bananas!

Enjoy!
Juliet

A company called "Just Tomatoes" makes delicious little two-ish serving tubs of dried fruits and vegetables, with no added ingredients (so in the case of Just Blueberries, the only ingredient is blueberries). I've actually been eating fruits and veggies out of these little tubs for many years now!

You can buy little tubs of dried apples, bananas, apricots, blueberries, blackberries, cherries, carrots, corn, peas, green onions, amongst other fruits and vegetables. As you know fruit (especially dark fruits like blueberries and blackberries) is full of healthy antioxidants that help protect our bodies from things we don't like such as aging, heart disease, neurological disease, diabetes, and cancer.

The dried fruit and vegetable pieces are great toppings for your low calorie oatmeal, fage or other yogurts, to eat with almond milk (almond milk makes dried fruit taste really sweet!), or to snack on dry throughout the day at work (I keep a tub of Just Bananas in my desk so I can reach for dried bananas rather than the other kinds of snacks available in the workplace).

In terms of calories, they vary based on which fruit or vegetable you buy (overall they vary from about 1-3 weight watchers points per serving). The just blueberries are 100 calories per 28 gram serving, with .5 grams of fat, and 2 grams of fiber (so 2 weight watchers points), and the tomatoes are 80 calories, 1 gram of fat, and 2 grams of fiber (also 2 weight watchers points). You can buy them at Whole Foods!

How do you eat your dried fruit?

Enjoy!
Juliet

I remember thinking I'd have to eliminate cheese back when I started watching my calories and what I ate. But, that didn't turn out to be true at all! While some cheese is high fat and not good for you, there are tons of cheese options out there that are actually really great diet and healthy food options. I've written about cheese before on Yummy Diet Food including posts on goat cheese, the best fat free cheese I've found (multiple flavors and it melts!), as well as cooking with low fat and non fat cheese. But, I've never written about string cheese, so today I thought I'd dedicate a posting to it (also in anticipation for an upcoming recipe that uses it)!

String cheese is by far one of my favorite snacks. It is low calorie, fun to eat, easy to transport, and is full of protein, healthy fat, and Calcium. There are tons of string cheeses on the market. I happen to eat Horizon Organic which I buy at Whole Foods, but any low moisture, part-skim mozzarella string cheese is likely going to be less than 100 calories (most are around 80, although I've found some for 50-60 calories in the past) and 5 or less grams of fat, and 5-8 grams of protein. Depending on the calories, each cheese stick ranges from 1-2 weight watchers points.

If you like string cheese, you'll love my recipe for healthy breaded cheese sticks. That is coming next week or the week after (I need to snap a good picture).

What is your favorite brand of string cheese or even any cheese? Or, if you don't like cheese, what do you eat instead?

Enjoy!
Juliet

Hello and Happy Tuesday! So, I've been blogging now for about 10 wonderful months, and since then I've received several emails from you about having difficulty finding some of the foods that I blog about about in your local area. So, I thought today I'd do something different and hold my own giveaway in an effort to send a package of five yummy snacks that I've featured on the blog to a loyal reader! :)

So, what's in the Yummy Diet Food Snack Pack? Some of my favorite snacks of course!

(1) One large bag of Snikiddy Grilled Cheese Puffs: On top of being healthy, these organic cheese puffs are a perfect blend of cheese flavor and crunch, making them a really fun and satisfying treat/snack to eat. One portion is only 120 calories, 5 grams of fat, and 1 gram of fiber, and 3 weight watchers points (I know, I wish it was 2, but just not enough fiber). And, they are gluten free!


(2) One bag Bananamon Flavor Funky Monkey Freeze Dried Fruit: We all know that we are supposed to integrate several servings of fruits and vegetables into our diets every day. Dried fruit is definitely very portable, so I'm always on the lookout for interesting dried fruit options at the store. Funky Monkey distinguishes itself from many dried fruit options in two important ways: (1) the fruit has no added sugar so it is low calorie, and (2) the fruit is combined with other natural flavors (like cinnamon, lime juice, acai) that make it extremely yummy!


(3) One Milk Chocolate Qbel Chocolate Wafer Roll: QBel Wafers are like pirouline rolls (round crispy/flaky wafers), except these are coated inside with a thin layer of chocolate and then covered with an even more perfect layer of dark chocolate around the outside.



(4) One Cucumber flavored Hint Flavored Water: If you are too busy to make your own naturally flavored water, I have to say Hint water is a very close substitute. The fruit flavor is very subtle, but yummy enough to help me easily drink my 8 cups of water per day. I really like drinking Hint water when it is refrigerated versus warm.


(5) One canister of flavor "65" Chocolate Covered Cocoa Nibs: The sweet riot chocolate covered cocoa nibs are really fabulous, and as much as I adore the other dark chocolate cocoa nibs I've blogged about, I have to say the one serving size container these come in also makes them really cool! What's also cool about the container is that you can re-use it by filling it with small one size servings of nuts, other treats, or even more coca nibs.

The giveaway is very simple. Just leave a comment on this posting about a food (or foods) that you wanted to try but you could not find, *or* a food that I've blogged about that you love. If you leave your comment on this posting between now and Sunday March 29th at 8:00pm, you will be eligible to win the package of the 5 snacks that I've pictured at the top of this posting! I'll choose a winner at random next Monday, March 30th.

Good luck!

Enjoy!
Juliet

The other night we were making a delicious Thai stir fry (leveraging curry powder -- will post the recipe soon) and we decided that we wanted to pair it with some rice. We pulled our regular brown rice out of the pantry, and then realized that it was going to take an hour to make. Then, I realized that I had bought some Lentil Khichadi rice at Whole Foods several weeks prior after sampling some at a sample station. The Lentil Rice box (see picture below) said that it only took 15 minutes to cook, so it seemed like a perfect match.

Our Thai stir fry and rice cooked up in a jiffy and were way more delicious than we expected, primarily because of the consistency of the rice. The rice turned out super thick and sticky which we loved. The rice was flavorful, since besides lentils and basmati rice, it is also spiced with cumin seeds, red chili flakes, black cumin seeds, and cardamom seed powder.

I thought it might help to also have a picture of the box so I pasted it in to the left. I bought mine at Whole Foods. The rice is completely gluten-free, vegan, and free of additives and preservatives. One filling serving of the rice (45 grams dry) is 160 calories, 0 grams of fat, 5 grams of fiber, and 6 grams of protein -- so only 2 weight watchers points.

Enjoy!
Juliet

First of all -- Congratulations to the winner of my Revolution Foods Giveaway (chosen randomly): CASaundraLeigh. CASaundraLeigh - please email me your address. And, if you didn't win, no worries, as I will be hosting my own exciting Yummy Diet Food giveaway early next week!

I *love* garlic toast, although the garlic toast that they serve at most Italian restaurants is generally high in calories and fat, and is usually overly greasy. In an effort to find a better option, I recently created a very simple and quick recipe to create delicious low calorie garlic bread at home in my own kitchen! The recipe is fantastic and it makes perfect garlic toast for dipping into tomato sauce when eating spaghetti with my favorite whole wheat pasta or wildwood noodles.

Recipe for Low Calorie Garlic Toast

Ingredients (makes one serving)
- 1 english muffin (Thomas makes one that is only 100 calories and 1 WW point)
- 1 tablespoon of promise spread (or your favorite healthy butter substitute -- thanks for the great ideas yesterday!)
- 1 clove of garlic
- 5 grams of fat free mozzarella cheese

Instructions
(1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees
(2) While oven is preheating, carefully cut your english muffin in half, and lightly toast it in your toaster
(3) Take your english muffin out of toaster and place on baking sheet
(4) Distribute half of the promise spread on each side of the muffin (it will start to melt)
(5) Mince the garlic (by hand, garlic press, or via a food processor) and then distribute it equally across both sides of the english muffin
(6) Weigh out the right portion of fat free cheese on your food scale), and then shred it with a cheese shredder
(7) Distribute the shredded cheese across both sides of the english muffin
(8) Place the baking sheet into the oven for 5-7 minutes (depending on how brown/crispy you want it)
(9) Carefully remove it from the oven and enjoy!

This whole recipe comes out to approximately 150 calories, and 2-3 weight watchers points. The calories/points will vary of course based on what english muffin or butter substitute you use.

Enjoy!
Juliet

What do you guys think of Promise Butter Spread? As you may remember, I've included it as an ingredient in a handful of previous recipe postings on Yummy Diet Food (see the end of this posting for a quick list).

The nice thing about Promise Activ Spread Light (the kind I have at home) is that it is a really tasty low calorie and low fat butter substitute that does not contain trans fats like margarine. Instead, it is made of vegetable oil, milk protein (whey), and plant sterols (believed to help lower cholesterol).

Promise Activ Spread Light also has going for it that it works effectively in recipes as a butter substitute, in addition to also being really good for just adding butter to a potato or to your toast. In the calorie department, one tablespoon is 45 calories and 5 grams of fat (1 gram of saturated fat), so it's a little less than half the calories of real butter. Each serving is also high in Vitamin D, Vitamin A, Vitamin B6, Vitamin E, and Vitamin B12.

On the flip side, Promise Spread, despite being low calorie, is not as natural as butter. So, I could see some people arguing that butter is a healthier option, and I sometimes even ponder that myself. At the same time, I wanted to make you aware of Promise in case it was something you didn't know about that you would want to try. I'm personally glad I found it, and I enjoy using it in recipes every once in a while.

As promised, here is a quick list of the recipes I've posted that included promise spread in the ingredients: (1) low calorie fettuccine alfredo, (2) low calorie banana bread, (3) low calorie mashed potatoes, and (4) low calorie bananas foster.

What do you think of Promise Spread? Ever had it? Love it or hate it?

Enjoy!
Juliet

As promised in my posting yesterday about homemade salsa, today I am writing about my recipe for homemade, low calorie nachos! This is a very easy and straightforward recipe, and it is incredibly delicious.

Before I jump into the recipe, I wanted to take a moment to point out that tortilla chips are really good when they are cooked for about 30 seconds in the microwave. Once warmed, they taste like they are just coming out of the oven -- just like they are served at Mexican restaurants, which I love!

Ingredients for Low Calorie Nachos:
- 1 serving of Tortilla Chips
- 2 tablespoons of homemade salsa or your favorite store-bought salsa
- 2 tablespoons of fat free sour cream or low fat sour cream
- 10 grams of shredded fat free cheese
- (Optional) 1-2 tablespoons of sliced jalapenos

Instructions:
(1) Distribute Tortilla Chips across a microwave safe plate
(2) Place salsa on tortilla chips (I usually put it right in the center)
(3) Distribute sour cream around chips
(4) Shred and weigh 10 grams of fat free cheese on your food scale
(5) Distribute cheese across chips
(6) Add jalapenos
(7) Cook in microwave for 30 seconds
(8) Eat and Enjoy!

In the calorie department, depending on what ingredients you use, the recipe comes out to approximately 170-195 calories, 5-7 grams of fat, 2-3 grams of fiber, (so 3-4 weight watchers points). You can further reduce the calories or points by using baked chips.

If you are feeling creative, you can always add additional vegetables like cooked onions, sliced fresh tomatoes, or avocado slices.

Enjoy!
Juliet

In case you didn't know, salsa is incredibly low calorie and healthy! Not only is salsa naturally low in fat, cholesterol, and calories, it also contains a number of healthy vitamins and minerals such as Calcium, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, and Potassium. Additionally, tomatoes contain Lycopene which is thought to help prevent heart disease and cancer. Also, garlic is believed to be a natural antibiotic which helps lower cholesterol and blood pressure (in addition to keeping vampires away of course).

Salsa is a great addition to low calorie nachos (hint hint, recipe coming tomorrow), eggs (or egg beater omelets), low calorie quesadillas, soft tacos (recipe coming for soft tacos in coming weeks as well), and many other foods!!

My favorite store bought salsa is called Casa Sanchez Hot Salsa Roja (which you can buy at Whole Foods or Safeway), but I've always desired to create my own salsa at home. After trying various recipes and approaches, I finally found a combination that I really like. Here it is:

Ingredients:
- one 28oz can of whole fresh tomatoes (note: canned tomatoes will end up being less watery than fresh, and are easier to work with as fresh tomatoes tend to get more mushy; additionally, canned tomatoes have more Lycopene in them, so they are actually more nutritious!)
- 1/2-1 medium onion
- 4-8 cloves of garlic
- 1-2 jalapeno peppers
- 1/2-1 teaspoon salt
- juice from 1 lime
- cilantro

Instructions:
1. Cut off both ends off the onion. Cut in half and remove the outer layers.
2. Remove the papery skin from 4-8 cloves of garlic depending on how garlicy you like your salsa.
3. Wash one or two jalapeno peppers and cut off the stems. Cut them in half lengthwise. The white pith (and to a lesser extent the seeds) contain the heat, not the green flesh. So remove some of the seeds and pith depending on how hot you want your salsa.
4. Wash and pat dry a handful of cilantro.
5. In a food processor, process the garlic, peppers, and half of the onion into the finest possible pieces. Add the salt, lime juice, cilantro, and 3/4 of the tomatoes, and process until no tomato chunks remain.
6. If you like chunky salsa, add the remaining tomatoes, and process briefly to produce tomato chunks of the desired size. Dice the remaining onion by hand and combine with the tomato mixture. If you like smooth salsa, add all of the onion and tomato at once, and just process until smooth.

Fresh homemade salsa can be enjoyed immediately, although it takes 1 hour in the fridge for the flavors to completely mature.

Given that salsa is made entirely of fruits, herbs, and vegetables, it is extremely low calorie. Two tablespoons are about 10 calories, or 0 weight watchers points.

So, what foods do you like to put salsa on? And, if you don't like salsa, what do you use instead?

Enjoy!
Juliet

Hello and Happy Thursday! Because I enjoyed eating fruit mashups, I recently decided to try another product by Revolution Foods called PopAlongs. When I bought them (at Whole Foods), I was a bit suspicious that they would be akin to other similar looking popped chips on the market which I found to be somewhat underwhelming, but they are actually *so* much better and nothing like the other popped chips at all.

The flavor of PopAlongs I purchased is called "Simply Cinnamon," and the chips are made from whole grains rather than rice or potatoes. The cinnamon Pop Alongs actually remind me a bit of a Spanish dessert that I loved growing up called Cinnamon Tortilla Crisps (tortillas cooked with butter, cinnamon, and sugar).

PopAlongs are whole grain, contain no trans fats, no high fructose corn syrup, and no artificial ingredients. They come in three flavors: Purely Original, Cheesy Cheese, and Simply Cinnamon (the one I love!). The Simply Cinnamon flavor is 100 calories per serving (16 chips), with 3 grams of fat, 1 gram of fiber, and only 3 grams of sugar (the other two flavors have only 1 gram of sugar per serving). So, one serving is only 2 weight watchers points!

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Because I'm such a huge fan of their products, the kind people at Revolution foods have offered to give away a Lunchbox Sampler to one of the fabulous readers of Yummy Diet Food. The Lunchbox Sampler consists of PopAlongs, Revolution Foods Mashups, and Jammy Sammy Sandwich Bars.

To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post by 8:00 PST on Friday March 13th. I'll choose a winner at random.

Revolution Foods is also sponsoring their own contest for moms. The cause is very inspiring -- they are looking for submissions from mothers who are revolutionizing how kids eat in their communities. If you are a mom trying to help your kids eat better, it is definitely worth checking out!


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Enjoy!
Juliet

I've been enjoying Haagen Dazs Fat Free Sorbet & Yogurt Bars for a long time. In fact, I ate (and loved) them growing up long before I became food and calorie conscious. Because I'm always trying new foods, I hadn't had one of these bars for a long time, but during a recent trip to Whole Foods, a box of the bars was calling my name (I think I was in a fruity ice cream mood) -- so I decided to go ahead and buy some.

The flavor I bought is called raspberry and vanilla. Basically, each bar has a raspberry sorbet shell on the outside with creamy vanilla yogurt (including healthy active yogurt cultures) on the inside. Given the yogurt fruit combination, these bars are definitely a good idea if you are craving fruity ice cream but are in the mood for something a bit creamier than a sorbet.

What is great about Haagen Dazs is that they are committed to creating foods with pure and fine ingredients; in this case, these bars are entirely natural. In the calorie department, each bar is 100 calories (71g -- so pretty big), with 0 grams of fat, and 2 grams of fiber (so 2 weigh watchers points). Even though I bought my most recent box at Whole Foods, I'm pretty sure they are available at other stores like Safeway.

I actually just ate one for dessert. :) It was delicious.

PS -- Stay tuned for a yummy food giveaway tomorrow!

Enjoy!
Juliet