Here's a great recipe from the Food Network for when you are tired of chicken, want something different, but don't have forever to spend in the kitchen.  We had this last night, and it was great!  If you serve it with a salad or steamed veggie, you are set for dinner!


2 large sweet-tart apples, such as Fuji or Braeburn, sliced
1 large bulb fennel, trimmed, cored and thinly sliced, plus 1 tablespoon chopped fronds for garnish
1 large red onion, sliced
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons canola oil, divided
1 pound pork tenderloin, trimmed
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
3 tablespoons cider vinegarPosition racks in upper and lower thirds of oven; preheat to 475°F.

Toss apples, sliced fennel and onion with 1 tablespoon oil in a large bowl. Spread out on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast on the lower oven rack, stirring twice, until tender and golden, 30 to 35 minutes.

About 10 minutes after the apple mixture goes into the oven, sprinkle pork with salt and pepper. Heat the remaining 2 teaspoons oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Sear the pork on one side, about 2 minutes. Turn the pork over and transfer the pan to the top oven rack. Roast until just barely pink in the center and an instant-read thermometer registers 145°F, 12 to 14 minutes.

Transfer the pork to a cutting board and let rest for 5 minutes. Immediately stir vinegar into the pan (be careful, the handle will be hot), scraping up any browned bits, then add to the apple mixture. Thinly slice the pork; serve with the apple mixture and sprinkle with fennel fronds.  Cheers!

So the Weil bars were only so-so, and you are hungry for an afternoon pick-me-up.  My favorite snack bar is the Luna Bar.  These come in some great flavors for every taste.  My favorite is the Chocolate Pecan Pie, but I’ve never met a Luna Bar I didn’t like.  If you crave oatmeal cookies, the Iced Oatmeal Raisin is a great substitute.  The Lemon Zest will do in place of a lemon bar any day.  The bars have 180 calories with 3 grams of fiber and 9-10 grams of protein.

I keep a couple in my car when it’s not super hot outside (don’t like them all gooey), and they are a great option when you hear a candy bar calling your name but want to make a healthier choice.

The Luna Bars have changed their recipes to go all organic, so if you are looking for that feature, these bars are for you.  In contrast to the Weil bars, these bars have substance and great flavor.  You feel like you are eating something yummy, not something healthy.

You can find these at Trader Joe’s, most health food stores, even Target has them now.  Of course Amazon has them as well.  They are well worth trying if you crave something sweet, nutty, chocolate, peanut buttery, or cookie-like.  Enjoy them guilt free.  Cheers!

Andrew Weil, that gray bearded health guru, has teamed up with Nature’s Path, the health food maker, to introduce a line of snack bars.  They come in five flavors:  Banana Manna, Chocolada Walnut, Pistachi-oh!, Goji Moji, and Chia Razz.  All the bars are vegetarian and trans-fat free.  They range in calorie content from 170-190, and they have 4-5 grams of fiber per bar.

They are relatively new, so many health food stores may not yet have them; however, you can order them from Amazon.  A box of 16 bars is a bargain at $25 (with free shipping) from Amazon.  Most other places have them at over $30 plus shipping.

So how do they taste?  I haven’t been able to get my hands on all the flavors yet; however, I did buy the Chocolada Walnut type.  I was a little disappointed in the size (45 grams), especially with the 190 calorie count.  If you are looking for a really chocolate flavor, this is not the one.  It has a stronger vanilla flavor, but I have to say that it was tasty.  I’d eat them again sometime, but at that price, both financial and caloric, I wouldn’t seek them out.  So that’s the scoop on this newest health food.  Cheers!

Many people have no idea what to buy when they need to get a nice bottle of wine.  There are some great wines out there that won’t break the bank.  If you are a box wine kind of person, you won’t probably think these are a great buy, but if you like good wine but don’t have $100 to spend on a bottle, I have found some great wines that you can try.

If you like white wine, your best bets are Ridge Chardonnay, Santa Cruz Mountains, Santa Cruz Mountain Estate 2005 for about $35 per bottle.  Wine Spectator rated this one #2 on last year’s top 100 list!  If that’s still too rich for your blood, Mount Eden Chardonnay, Edna Valley Wolff Vineyard 2004 is a great find at only $17 per bottle.  It ranked #29 last year.

I’m a red wine fan, and if you are too, Schild Shiraz Barossa 2005 at $25 per bottle is a good option, ranked #16.  If you can spring for more money, my favorite off of last year’s list is Chappellet Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Signature 2004 for about $46 per bottle.  While Wine Spectator ranked this #27, I think for the price, you’ll be astounded. If both of those are too pricey for you, try Navarro Zinfandel Mendocino 2004 for only $19 per bottle.  It’s ranked #37, but it’s a great value.
Cheers!

I have finally found a snack that gives me the sweet chocolate and slightly salty mix of flavors I sometimes crave.  It’s a healthy trail mix snack for only two Weight Watchers points that has a whopping five grams of fiber!  Add to that the fact that the product contains soy, and it’s a darn near perfect snack.  The Crum Creek Soy Nut Mix is packed with flavor, and comes packaged in one ounce pouches so you can avoid the temptation to eat an entire pound of trail mix at one sitting.  Yes, it’s a relatively small amount, but if you take your time and savor the flavors, it does a good job of sticking with you since it has nine grams of protein. 

It’s easy to order on-line and has the advantage of being small enough to easily fit in a purse or to keep in a desk drawer for when that snack time craving comes along.  It’s as close as I’ve found to a candy bar type snack that doesn’t break the bank on points.  Crum Creek makes other snacks, but this is definitely the best.  Cheers!

Want a Valentine’s Day dessert that is heart-healthy?  Most desserts have butter or oil or other cholesterol increasing ingredients.  Others that are healthy have no real flavor.  I’ve found some recipes that taste great but are time consuming.  So this Valentine’s Day, here’s the easiest fat-free dessert you’ll ever make:  pineapple angel food cake. 

It has only two ingredients.  Buy a plain boxed angel food cake mix.  The brand doesn’t really matter.  You’ll also need a 20 ounce can of crushed pineapple in its own juice (no syrup!).  Dump both ingredients, including the pineapple juice, in a bowl and mix.  Do not add anything else.  I do not use a special cake pan.  I use two regular sized loaf pans (sprayed with non-stick spray).  Bake as directed on the cake mix box.  Voila!  You will have a dessert that is a little different from an ordinary angel food cake, but is still fat-free and heart-friendly.  It also freezes well, so you can have your cake and eat it too! 

If you cut this into 12 servings, each piece will have 3 Weight Watchers points, so you can really enjoy the fat-free dessert without hurting your careful food planning.  Cheers!

If your sweet tooth is acting up and you need a dose of something creamy and really dessert like, here's a great, tasty and yet high fiber dessert option.  Each serving has (1/8 of the pie): 180 calories, 10g fat, 180mg sodium, 24g carbs, 7g fiber, 7g sugars, 5g protein.  That's four Weight Watchers points!  Cheers!

Ingredients:

Crust:
2 cups Fiber One® original bran cereal
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 tablespoon corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Filling:
2 tablespoons cold water
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 1/2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
4 oz (half 8-oz package) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese (Neufchâtel), softened
3 containers (6 oz each) Yoplait® Light Thick & Creamy Key Lime Pie yogurt
1/2 cup thawed reduced-fat whipped topping
2 teaspoons grated lime peel

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Place cereal in resealable food-storage plastic bag; seal bag and finely crush with rolling pin or meat mallet until cereal looks like graham cracker crumbs (or finely crush in food processor).

2. In medium bowl, mix crust ingredients until blended. Press crust mixture evenly and firmly in bottom and up sides of 9-inch glass pie plate. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until firm. Cool completely, about 1 hour.

3. In 1-quart saucepan, mix water and lime juice. Sprinkle gelatin on lime juice mixture; let stand 1 minute. Heat over low heat, stirring constantly, until gelatin is dissolved. Cool slightly, about 2 minutes.

4. In medium bowl, beat cream cheese with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add yogurt and lime juice mixture; beat on low speed until well blended. Fold in whipped topping and lime peel. Spoon into crust. Refrigerate until set, about 2 hours.

MAKES 8 SERVINGS

I used to live on the east coast, and I really miss bagels.  I’m not talking about that fake, round rubbery thing we usually see at the grocery.  I mean a bagel that has all kinds of onion and poppy seeds, and good stuff!  I was figuring, heck, it’s a bagel, how bad can it be for you?  Yikes!  The typical bagel from places like Panera or Einstein’s run around 7 Weight Watchers points with some (like that evil cinnamon sugar one) up to 12 points!  So what’s a person to do when she wants a bagel that won’t cost her half her daily points?  Is there a healthy bagel option? 

The answer is yes!  A woman who lost 212 (!) pounds on Weight Watchers had the same issue, so she opened  her own bagel bakery.  She sells Kim’s Light Bagels.  Now if you are lucky enough to live on the east coast, many grocers there carry her brand.  If not, you, like me, can order them and use Paypal to pay for them.  What could be better?  She only has six flavors, but her bagels are high in fiber with four grams per bagel and only 110 calories (read 2 points!).  She even sells an “everything” bagel.  If you like your fruity bagels, you’ll be happy to know she also has blueberry bagels.  Of course she has plain and wheat if you like to decorate yours with something like lox that really won’t go with blueberry or cinnamon. 

She ships to you, and her bagels will freeze just fine, so order in quantity to make the shipping worth your time.  Here’s to a return to a real bagel that happens to be a healthy food option.  Cheers!

There’s lots of talk about the Academy Awards and great films these days.  Additionally, the Sundance Film Festival is well underway generating lots of buzz about hot new films.  As part of the swag (read: “stuff that people who could afford to buy it get at no cost”) at the festival, celebrities are receiving wine from Barefoot Wine.  So why not drink what they are drinking?  The price is right with bottles running from about $8 to about $15 per bottle.  You can shop their site to see if they have a retailer near you.  If not, and if you live in a state that permits shipping wine, you can buy it direct from Barefoot.

They offer a full array of wines including:  Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Zinfandel, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and White Zinfandel.  They even make a bubbly to help you celebrate for only $9!  To be honest, I have not sampled these wines, but at this price, it’s worth buying a bottle to try.  They have won gold medals in wine tastings when comparing other wines in this same price category.  Based on some research, I’d steer toward the reds which seem to have done better in competition.  It looks like a good everyday “drinkable” wine.  Even the Chicago Tribune’s William Rice said of the Merlot, “It’s good wine, full bodied and easy drinking.”

Cheers!

It’s snack time, and you want something that will fill you up without expanding your waistline.  If you need bulk, microwave popcorn can really do the trick.  You’ll need to choose carefully, however.  Look for mini bags of popcorn.  They come with butter flavor, and it’s enough popcorn to take the edge off of your hunger with a Weight Watchers point value of 1 or 2. 

If you’re like me, plain popcorn doesn’t quite cut it.  That’s why I spray mine with spray butter and sprinkle it with a popcorn topping.  I order mine from Spice Barn.  They have some great (!) flavors like barbeque (my favorite!), cheese and spice, and sour cream and onion.  If you can’t decide, they even have a sampler of their 12 most popular flavors at a great price. 

If you are going to the movie, take your own, pre-popped and spiced popcorn.  If you do, you’ll have the exact calorie count before you go, and you don’t have to worry about over doing it. 

Did you know that researchers found that if you are watching a sad movie, you are likely to eat more than if you are watching a silly or action packed film?  That makes that movie theater popcorn even worse!  Did you know that a large popcorn from the theater normally has 1500 calories (and 130 grams of fat!)?  That’s a full day’s worth of points on Weight Watchers.  YIKES!  Oh, sure, you think you’ll just order a small.  OK, that’s only 500 calories and 25 grams of fat.  Like I said, pop your own, spray it with butter spray and sprinkle it with a yummy topping.  You’ll be making a low fat, healthy snack choice.  Your pants will thank you.

Cheers!

This is a great, hearty and healthy stew.  The standard recipe is from Cooking Light magazine, a great source for healthy eating ideas.  If you use vegetable broth in place of the chicken broth, you have a great vegetarian stew.  If you prefer, you can always add some cooked chicken breast or tofu to add some protein to the mix.

As another note, I have added other dried fruits in addition to the raisins.  I recommend about 1/8 -1/4 c. of Craisins.  Dried apricots are also a nice touch.  I also recommend simmering this with a cinnamon stick if you have some handy.  OK, enough for the modifications!  Here's a yummy winter low-fat stew to help you eat well without giving up great taste.  Cheers!

Moroccan Vegetarian Stew: 

Ingredients

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 cups (1/2-inch) cubed zucchini
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped carrot
1 tablespoon bottled minced garlic
1 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons raisins
1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cumin
3/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 (15 1/2-ounce) cans chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained
1 (14.5-ounce) can no-salt-added stewed tomatoes, undrained
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup uncooked couscous

Preparation

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add zucchini, onion, carrot, and garlic; sauté 5 minutes. Stir in broth and the next 9 ingredients (broth through tomatoes); bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 8 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally.

While the chickpea mixture simmers, prepare couscous. Bring water to a boil in a medium saucepan; gradually stir in couscous. Remove from heat; cover and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork.

Serve the stew over couscous.
Yield

6 servings (serving size: 1 cup stew and 1/2 cup couscous)
Nutritional Information

CALORIES 344(14% from fat); FAT 5.4g (sat 0.7g,mono 1.5g,poly 2.4g); PROTEIN 15g; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CALCIUM 95mg; SODIUM 487mg; FIBER 5.7g; IRON 4.5mg; CARBOHYDRATE 62.3g

Cooking Light, JANUARY 2000

You thought you had heard it all, but you haven’t!  Today’s lead on healthy eating is for powdered peanut butter.  What?!?  Did she say, “powdered peanut butter”?  Even the idea is sticking to the roof of your mouth.  But wait!  This product, PB2, is a real find if you love the taste of peanut butter but hate the calories and fat grams of the real thing.  So what is the deal on this stuff?  It is real peanuts, ground, but with the oil removed!  You can eat 2 tablespoons (yes, tablespoons) of this for only 54 calories.  That’s one point for those of you following the Weight Watchers plan.  One serving has less than 3 grams of fat, less than half a gram of saturated fat, but 4 grams of protein!

So how do you use this stuff?  You add one tablespoon of water to the two tablespoons of PB2 and mix.  Then it’s a paste texture you can spread.  Honestly, I wasn’t that enthusiastic about this approach.  When I have an English muffin, I use spray butter and sprinkle the PB2 on top.  It works well if you blend it with preserves and then spread as well.  The best use of all, however, is in recipes.  You can use this in smoothies.  You can use this as a dip for fruit.  It has tons of healthy uses.  Only your imagination limits you!  

Some stores carry PB2, but Bell Plantation is happy to take your order on-line and ship it to you.  They also have recipes at their site.  It has a shelf life of a year, so you don’t have to worry about it going to waste (or waist!).

So what will they think of next?  There is a sugar free version of PB2 in development, so stay tuned!

Cheers!

The NFL playoffs are well underway, and the Superbowl is coming soon.  Most parties have all kinds of unhealthy food and drink options.  If your team is in the mix, you’ll want to celebrate, and if your team is out, you may need to drown your sorrows.  In any event, a Diet Coke doesn’t do the trick.  You are tired of beer.  You want a real drink that is relatively healthy.  Light beer seems too close to water for you to want to drink it.  Yes, I know that no alcohol is going to be healthy, but if you can get a “real” drink at a lower calorie count, it’s a good compromise.

If you want a cold bottle to carry around, just like all your friends, I recommend Mike’s Hard Light Lemonade, Mike’s Hard Light Cranberry Lemonade, or Mike’s Light Hard Tea.  No, you won’t get exactly the same taste as you get from the Mike’s originals, but you will get enough similarity that you can be in a party mood without having the giant calorie hangover the next day.  

To compare the originals:

1. Mike’s Original Hard Lemonade:  220 calories
2. Mike’s Original Hard Cranberry Lemonade:  222 calories
3. Mike’s Original Hard Tea:  177 calories

The lighter versions:

1. Mike’s Hard Light Lemonade:  76 calories
2. Mike’s Hard Light Cranberry Lemonade:  78 calories
3. Mike’s Hard Light Tea:  31 calories

My favorite of these is the Light Cranberry Lemonade.  It is more like the original than the others, and for the 2 Weight Watchers points instead of 4 for the original, it’s a great healthier, lower calorie option for you.  As always, if you are going to drink, even the lower calorie versions, let someone else drive.  Cheers!

This is a great recipe for those of you who like spice muffins, but want a fat-free option.  If you aren’t concerned about the fat content, you can use vegetable oil in place of the applesauce.  If you want to mix/match the applesauce and oil, you can.  For example, you could use 5 tablespoons of oil and 5 of applesauce.  You can also use Splenda for baking in place of the sugar if you want to drop the calorie (and Weight Watchers points) count.  Whatever you do, these are a healthier choice than buying a muffin from your local bakery!

These taste great and keep you on-track for a healthy 2008!

Spice Muffins

• 3 cups flour
• 2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups water
• 2 tablespoon vinegar (white distilled)
• 2 teaspoon vanilla
• 10 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit.

Combine all dry ingredients together.  

Fold the vanilla, applesauce, vinegar, and into the dry ingredients.

Pour batter into muffin tins.  You can use paper muffin tin liners or if you have the silicone baking pans, you can skip that step.  Whichever you choose, spray with cooking spray to reduce sticking.  

Bake at 350 for 20-24 minutes (depending on your oven).  Yields a dozen or a few more, depending on how big you want your muffins to be.

These are best served warm.  I use butter spray on mine.

Cheers!

It’s time for a snack and you want something decadent, but you know you should have something healthy.  You are already sick of carrot sticks, and that candy bar is calling you.  If you like Fig Newtons and if you like chocolate, I have a great high fiber snack you can feel good about eating.  There is a dark chocolate covered fig snack called Figamajigs.  They come in regular snack bars, like a candy bar.  They also come in a bar with almonds and in “drop” form covered in either dark chocolate or orange and yellow coating.  All of these are high in fiber but taste great!  The drops are kind of like giant M&Ms, only healthy for you.

The bars run two points and the drops run three on the Weight Watchers plan, and they count as a fruit/veggie serving, so they make a great choice.  The dark chocolate will give you enough to feel like you are cheating, and the figs are naturally sweet.  They are a great treat for you or your children, and because the Figamajigs come in individual portions, you are much less likely to overeat.

I keep one of these snacks in my desk at work in case I start to get a chocolate craving, and they really do the trick.  They aren’t available in many outlets outside of California, but they are easily ordered on-line.  If you aren’t sure which of the options sounds best, you can always order the variety pack which will let you sample each of the options.  Happy snacking!

Cheers!

Baby, it’s cold outside, and it’s perfect weather for a warm bowl of oatmeal.  If you want the best tasting fat-free oatmeal, use steel-cut oats.  They are healthier because they use the whole grain.  That means they include the bran with all that fiber, the germ with all the B vitamins and iron, and the endosperm which is the energy source.  Traditional oatmeal, like Quaker instant oats, are rolled, not steel cut.  As a result, they’ve been steamed, toasted, and rolled, and as a result, they’ve lost most of their taste and some of their nutritional value.  A cup of steel cut oats has more fiber and fewer calories than a bran muffin.  They also have a bit of a nutty, crunchy texture.  If you’ve never had them, you’re in for a treat.

Yes, they take longer to cook.  If you use the microwave, it will take you 10 minutes, but you can always get dressed while they cook.  They are worth the extra time.  There are some new varieties that only take five minutes, but I haven’t tried them yet.  Because of the higher fiber content, they will fill you up and keep you from wanting to snack on those doughnuts sitting out at the office.

My personal favorite brand is McCann’s, and you can find them at many grocery stores, including Amazon’s grocery store.  I usually add some Splenda brown sugar blend or some Craisins, but feel free to add what you like or eat them plain.

Cheers!

As promised, I’m giving you another lead for a breakfast that will get your day off to a great start without blowing your food plan or spending all your precious Weight Watchers points.  I love the options I’ve provided so far, but what if you are an old fashioned cereal with milk kind of person?  What if you want a cold cereal that doesn’t remind you of eating tree bark, but is low in fat, high in fiber, and doesn’t have the sugar levels you find in kids’ cereals?

You absolutely cannot go wrong with any product made by Kashi.  With apologies to Will Rogers, I’ve never met a Kashi product I didn’t like.  Their slogan is “Seven Whole Grains on a Mission.”  The mission is to help you eat more healthy foods without feeling like you have sacrificed all sense of taste.  So, back to the point – they make great cereals!  Shh!  Don’t tell anyone, but they know so much about cereal because they are a division of Kellogg’s. 




The cereals range from the Organic Promise line for those of you looking to keep your life full of good organic stuff to Kashi Honey Puffs.  My favorites are the original Go Lean Crunch and the Mountain Melody Granola.  They both have a good, solid crunch that doesn’t get mushy with milk.  They are also sweet enough that I feel like I’m cheating while I’m munching down my whole grains.  Just to give you an idea how healthy these are, the original Go Lean Crunch has no trans fats, 3 grams of fat, and 8 (!) grams of fiber in each 1 cup serving.  Unlike many cereals, Kashi cereals actually fill you up with all that fiber so that you aren’t starving before lunch time. 

It is impossible to overstate how much I love Kashi cereals.  You can even find some of them at Sam’s Club now.  Try them all.  Even your kids will like them.  Wouldn’t it be nice to give Tony the Tiger a run for his money?

Cheers!

Remember when your mother told you that breakfast was the most important meal of the day?  She was right, of course.  It gets your metabolism going, keeps your hunger at bay, and helps you have energy to roll through your day.  I’ve got tons of healthy and tasty breakfast ideas to share, so stay tuned for more coming in the next few days!  I shared my passion for Vitalicious muffins yesterday, but what if you are having a craving for something that tastes like fast food?  I have the solution! 

Boca, the vegetarian burger folks, have a line of breakfast foods, and they have a wrap that will help you get through that craving for a fast food breakfast.  My favorite is the Southwestern Sausage, Egg White, and Cheese Wrap.  Not only does it taste great, but it’s also low in fat with only 7 grams.  It’s also high in fiber with 6 grams.  And for you point counters out there, it has 4 points on the Weight Watchers plan.  I like my food a bit spicy, so I add hot sauce to mine.

Enjoy these on a day when you want a warm, tasty, but healthy breakfast.  They are widely available in your grocer’s freezer section, so pick some up for yourself and enjoy your faux fast food without feeling guilty about ruining your resolution.  Stay tuned for even more good breakfast ideas.

Cheers!

Resolutions are NOT made to be broken.  To help you keep yours, I’ve got a lead for a great item for breakfast, snack, or dessert.  It’s a healthy choice AND it comes in chocolate flavors.  What more could you want?  High fiber?  It’s got that.  Great taste?  Check.  Easy?  Yep.

What is it?  Vitalicious products!  The muffins and muffin tops are a wonderful way to start the day.  If you are following a lower calorie, healthy plan, these will fit.  If you joined Weight Watchers, you should know the muffin tops have only one, yes only one, point.

The muffins have 4-5 grams of fiber, are fat free, packed with vitamins, and have only 100 calories.  They come in these flavors:

• Apple Berry Bran
• Blue Bran
• Deep Chocolate
• Sugar Free/Low Carb Banana Nut
• Cran Bran
• Multi Bran
• Sugar Free/Low Carb Velvety Chocolate

You can always buy a variety pack if you can’t decide.  My favorites are the Deep Chocolate muffins.

The Vita tops come in all those flavors PLUS:

• Dark Chocolate Pomegranate
• Double Chocolate Dream
• Fudgy Peanut Butter Chip
• Golden Corn

The Fudgy Peanut Butter Chip flavor was a little disappointing to me, but I love the Dark Chocolate Pomegranate!

These things freeze very well, so you can order in bulk and freeze them so you always have them on hand.  Go ahead!  Splurge on a healthy, fat-free tasty snack and keep your resolutions at the same time.

Cheers!

It’s 2008 now, and it’s time to get down to eating healthy foods and working on those resolutions.  One thing most of us don’t get enough of is vegetables.  If you’re like me, the idea of eating some celery is about as exciting as chewing on a twig.  Other raw veggies are not usually calling my name either, but they are better for you than any cooked, frozen, canned, or processed vegetable, so what’s a person to do? 

Just because you are working to eat more healthy snacks doesn’t mean you can’t eat foods that taste great.  My solution is to use a great veggie dip.  There are some pretty good store bought ones, but my favorite is quick, easy, tastes great, and is a healthy option!  Don’t let the ingredient list scare you off!  I’m not a huge spinach fan, but I love this dip.

Knorr’s Healthy Veggie Dip:

1 package of Knorr’s Vegetable Soup Mix
1 box (10 oz.) of frozen spinach (thawed!)
1 c. fat-free sour cream
1 c. Miracle Whip Light (or fat free if you prefer)
1 can (8 oz.) diced water chestnuts
Green onion diced to taste

Squeeze out the excess water in the frozen spinach, then combine it with the remaining ingredients.  Stir until thoroughly mixed.  Letting this sit for a couple of hours in the fridge will make it even better, but I sometimes don’t wait.

This is great for all kinds of veggies (organic carrots are my favorite).  It can also be a nice party dip when served in a scooped out bread bowl.  However you serve it, it’s a great way to help you along the road to meeting your resolutions.  Cheers!