Day after Thanksgiving Lunch

Bet you thought you were going to see leftovers huh? Not so fast! Jump right back onto the wagon after your off days to keep yourself lean. Freeze the leftovers and have a treat now and then. Today is PB&J on Toufayan Pitettes (click here for their nutritionals) with some Kaia sunflower seeds.

And for dessert (yes, dessert):

Can you believe this? Raw, healthy chocolate truffles. These are amazing. Raw, vegan and organic with top notch ingredients that will energize your body, mind and TASTEBUDS! Check out Superfoods other snacks while you are at it, I know you can't resist! Do I give you the hookups or what?!

More peels!

Who can say they had dried cherries and mangos for their last snack?! I can! Check out more goodies from Peeled Snacks.

The cherries were tart, sweet and chewy. The mangos were also very sweet with a tougher texture. I am not quite used to mangos so I didn't know what to expect but the flavor was intense and awesome!

Figs!

A limited edition muffin top! Who knew?

Check out my other Vita posts for more product reviews and run to the store to get these limited edition tops!

Pumpkin Seeds

I never knew how much I loved pumpkin seeds until I had the ones made by Pumpkorn. Prior to this, I had only had the mainstream ones that come in a pouch and somehow they are white in color and VERY salty. When I say very salty, I mean burn your tongue salty. ICK! So I thought I did not like them. At Pumpkorn they gently roast the seeds and lightly salt them and use a few other seasonings to make a perfectly snacky seed.

Awwww Nuts!

These Nutland mixes are insane. The ingredients are SO simple yet they are all so good. I mean you can not pry yourself away from the bag-- don't even try. I had the pistachio ones last night and they were amazing. Check it out:

Now go look for this bag:

Not only for breakfast-- French Meadow Bakery HEMP bagels!

WOW! You GOTTA try these. I am a huge fan of sprouted baked items but the Hemp bagels blew me away. I toasted my bagel and it gave the perfect nuttiness to the all the poppy, pumpkin, sunflower and sesame seeds that coated the bagel. I did eat this for a quick breakfast with a protein shake on the side but would happily use this as a sandwich bread or a snack coated with nut butter.

Meals on the run

Occasionally, we all find ourselves on the hunt for a fresh, healthy meal while on the run. Chipotle is a great solution! Their philosophy is "Food With Integrity" and they have unprocessed, sustainable, nutritious, hormone free, organic food in their restaurants. Everything is so fresh, affordable and you can feel good about eating it. I love the rice and it is steamed fresh on the hour, the beans are not refried and the veggies are perfectly sauteed with great spices. When I go there I either get the burrito or a burrito "bol". This time I got (chips and salsa of course) + a burrito with guac, black beans, rice, lettuce and mild salsa. It was fantastic, here is a little peek.

Now go get your own!

Pancakes

As promised here are my pancakes. It is "modeled" after a traditional pancake but is quite a bit different. I think they are great (I eat them almost daily) so give them a shot!

1 carton egg beaters
2/3 cup WHOLE psyillum husks
very generous splash of cinnamon
1/2 cup carb countdown milk (water works too)
sweetner of choice
mix ingredients in blender

pour into pre-heated, pam sprayed pan-- cook as you would any pancake

ready for a flip!

almost done!

toppings: I either use my homemade pancake syrup

or any nut butter, sugar free jelly or whey frosting (i will post the recipe for that later)

Sweet stuff

I promise I don't soley survive on sweets! I am going to start posting more of my dinners but here is something sweet to savor while waiting:

ONLY my cat would want to steal broccoli and brussels sprouts!

Another one bites the dust!

I can tell you brownies can not just sit in my house. I was dying to try Lenny & Larry's original chocolate fudge brownie. With the first ingredient being a high quality protein blend it is easy to justify enjoying a brownie any time of the day! If you are not a huge brownie fan that you can quickly exit my site-- just kidding but still go see Lenny & Larry because they make high protein cookies, muffins and other baked goodies to satisfy your sweet tooth safely. This flavor was my favorite so far (but I still have one to go peanut butter) so I am not giving away the award just yet.

Cinnamon-ey Snacks for everyone!

I have been on a cinnamon kick. Cinnamon has been shown to have so many health benefits including raising your metabolism-- gotta love that. I add it to so many things- morning pancakes (recipes and pictures coming soon), muffins, vanilla protein cakes, coffee drinks etc etc etc! I have found a few cinnamon snacks to hold you over until you can whip up your very own cinnamon creations.


Barry's Bakery French Twists

There are many flavors that Barry's Bakery dishes out but lets stick to the original with its sweet cinnamon flavor. It is a puffed pastry that will not puff up your waistline! The very first ingredient* is High Protein Wheat Flour. Do you know any other pastries that have those bragging rights? Each crisp is only 30 calories and contains no trans fats, dairy, butter, cholesterol, eggs or yeast-- and is low sodium! Barry's was kind enough to put WW points values and everything right there on their label.
*ingredients are listed with the most prevalent ingredient first

Medora Snacks has done it again with their new all natural Cinnamon Streusel crisps. They are multi-grain and sweet -- with a cinnamon kick. They were soooo yummy and the whole bag only set me back 180 good quality calories. Take a look for yourself.

Coming soon-- cinnamon raisin bagels, homemade cinnamon pancakes and more!

Premier Nutrition Bars

What's your flavor? Salty and Sweet? Candy bar like? All of the above?
Check out the Twisted Protein Bars! Those are little pretzels in the top for that sweet & salty combo. There are three varieties: vanilla, peanut butter and chocolate. So far I have sampled the vanilla and peanut butter.

They are both divine. The vanilla one is like a chocolate covered pretzel but with carmel and nougat mmmmmmmmmmmmm! The peanut butter one was so rich and delcious with the same ingredients but a peanut butter coating on top. Both had 15 grams of (quality isolate blended) protein and all for only 190 calories.

The Titan (6 gooey layered bars) reminded me lovingly of a famous candy bar that rhymes with knickers!

Instead, it is a bar that packs in a ton of protein and barely any sugar. I had the Chocolate Peanut Butter Crunch (Granola crisps, chopped peanuts, caramel, peanut butter, nougat, and a drizzled chocolate coating) but there is also: Brownie Nut and Cookies & Cream. Lucky for me, I have the 100 calorie mini bars to keep portions under control.

I am going to try to take better pics of this bar to do it justice but this should hold you over and make you drool!

Muffin Tops

Who wants a muffin top? (Not the kind that hangs over your jeans either) The nice people over at Vitalicious have taken my treat time by storm. Their "tops" are amazing! Recently, I had the fudgy peanut butter cup (yum)

and the Banana Nut top:

both were delicious and delivered more than the package promised. The peanut butter cup had huge chunks of PB chips in a fudge muffin and the banana nut was moist with a hint of banana covered in nuts on top. Don't ask me which one was better! I am a huge chocolate fan but am now on board with the banana flavor as well! I have a cornbread one waiting in my freezer to be paired with a bowl of veggie chili. Watch for this coming soon! Oh and check out their website! It has cool facts on it like how long it takes to walk off a top (only 13 minutes)-- plus all the vitamins and minerals in all their baked goods.

Gummy Treats

Last week I told you about the Watermelon Sharkies. Well check these out! Berry Blast-- they were fruity and energizing. A GREAT snack for on the go.

Seventh Heaven

Okay, I know I went OFF yesterday about how good these Grizzlies/ Wildtime Foods mixes are but take a look at this one:

"Seventh Heaven Organic Trail Mix" and let me tell you the name does not lie. Chocolate chips, pumpkin seeds, almonds, cranberries, raisins, huge SHREDS of coconut (made the mix) and sunflower seeds.

Double Dipping

I mentioned this a while back but you can make so many great dips using plain greek yogurt as a swap. I love using Stonyfield Farms Plain greek yogurt variety for dipping! Especially during the holidays when lots of dipping is done making this swap saves so many calories and adds so much flavor. Check out this post for more details. And don't forget this post for a great fall treat.

Strawberry High Protein Frozen Yogurt

1 single serving container of your favorite strawberry yogurt (I used Stonyfield Farms Greek)

1 serving strawberry protein powder (Jay Robb's Strawberry Whey)
1/4 cup milk (Hood's Carb Countown)
3 packets sweetner of choice

Mix all ingredients and freeze for 1-2 hours. ENJOY! (Perfect for your pre-bed meal or any other time)

+

Soda Addiction

Soda and chapstick! Those are my addictions. I always have my chapstick somewhere on my body, even if I have no pockets, purse etc... it is tucked away somewhere. I am very brand specific and only certain ones will do. Soda is another one. I LOVE soda but more and more research is showing the negative side effects even diet sodas can have on your health. Sodas are filled with artificial sweeteners, flavors and colors. They deteriorate your bones, make your cravings stronger and fill absolutely no nutritional value. But they are so good! Right?! Well, not really… I have gotten my soda addiction down to one per day which is very good but still might be detrimental to my health. So I have found an alternative. Zevia! It is an all natural, zero calorie diet soda. Hard to believe huh? Its true! And it tastes even better than the mainstream diet drinks out there. So far I have had the twist (lemon lime), root beer, cola and orange. I am loving each one! They also contain no caffeine. Check out their website to see where you can find this soda and improve your health as well.

Peel your own Snacks!

When you are dining in the tropics the breakfasts include a lot of dehydrated fruits. Prunes, apples, apricots, peaches—you name it! I love breakfast and I love the tropics so when I tried the dried fruit from Peeled Snacks I was rushed back to a tropical oasis with sweet dried fruit as part of my meal. I started with the apples and they were perfect.

Tart and sweet – a bit chewy. Peeled Snacks adds nothing to your fruit so all so everything you taste is all natural. As I quickly moved onto the apricots I was shocked to find that I LOVE apricots! I had never given them a chance before.

I detected a slight cinnamon-ey taste so I checked the bag again and it was JUST the apricots. They were fantastic. I am not sure if Peeled Snacks has a magic Apricot wand or I am a new fan but I will be getting more of these soon. Peeled Snacks also makes: Mangos, Bananas and Pineapples in their colorful and handy single serve packs!

Wildtime Foods – Grizzlies Brand

Have you ever had something so good that you wish that it was rationed for your own sanity? I can not be trusted around the blends of cereals, trail mixes, oatmeals and porriges put together by Grizzlies. I have a severe weakness for oats, nuts, honey, vanilla, seeds and so many of these mixes contained ALL of this and more! These mixes are my ultimate comfort foods. Some people mess all this up by adding refined sugars, heavy syrups, oils and un-natural ingredients but not Wildtime Foods. Every thing I have tried from their product line so far has been remarkable. If you made me pick a favorite there would be tie between Aunt Maples Crunchy Granola (oats, raisins, coconut, maple, walnuts, almonds, almond butter, hazelnuts, almonds, cinnamon and vanilla) and Organic Oregon Trail Mix (CHOCOLATE chips, hazelnuts, almonds, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, dried peaches, sunflower seeds, raisins and cranberries).

Look forward to a review of their seasonal: Mistleto Mojo Holiday Oatmeal. Made with loads of cranberries, hazelnuts, almonds, pumpkin seeds, and spices. This is one review I can NOT wait to complete!

Budgets

Do you ever find yourself soooooooo close to your calorie budget that day but you just need a little something else? That sweet tooth nagging at you for a little something after your lunch? Do you need something to hold you over until your next meal? Promax makes these 70 calorie bars that can serve so many purposes! They have three great flavors that I sampled. I will go in order of my favorites.


Peanut Butter Crunch

So good! Chocolately, peanut-buttery and a layer of cookie like crunch on the inside. I would definitely include this in my rotation!
Chocolate Fudge

Rich, fudgey and a sure fire sweet tooth fix.

Cookies and Cream

A chocolate inside with a creamy vanilla – like outer shell. What is not to love? Eat this, not oreos!

These can be a little hard to find but jump on the Promax website and locate these now.

Sensible Foods CRUNCH dried snacks

I have NO clue what “Crunch drying” is but I love it! Sensible Foods makes quite a wide array of these wonderful dried items. Here are some of the things that make this product so fabulous (besides the taste):
• 100% Natural and Organic
• Equal to 1 “weight watcher” point for all you “watchers” out there

• Each bag is part of your “5 a day”

• Fat free (except sweet corn and soy nuts but these have good fats)

• No added sugar

• No preservatives

• GMO free

• Convenient single serve bags

• Kosher
So the varieties include: Cherry Berry, Sweet Corn, Tropical, Apple Harvest, Orchard and Soy Nuts.

Naturally, I thought the Cherry Berry was going to be my favorite with the apples, strawberries, cherries and blueberries. And it was LIP-SMACKINGLY good. But the Orchard Blend (apples, peaches, apricots), Sweet Corn (and I don’t even like corn) and Soy Nuts stole my heart.
I had to sneak in a picture of the sweet corn for you to get the idea!

The Orchard Blend was so refreshing and fruity, the Corn was crunchy and sweet with a touch of sea salt and the Soy Nuts were soooooooo nutty and yummy. I never knew I LOVED soy nuts. Visit their website and they are nice enough to tell you the health benefits of all their great offerings. I highly suggest trying the Soy Nuts and Corn. I guarantee they are nothing like you have ever tasted. Here are some pictures of the products so far!

Probiotics: All the rage

If you listen to the news, read the paper or are alive you have heard something about probiotics. The health benefits range from aiding in digestion, warding off cancer and helping your immune system. Sooo I tried the Stonyfield Farms Probiotic Vanilla variety and was shocked that I could get all these benefits and enjoy a cup of creamy, smooth, real vanilla tasting yogurt.

Zesty side snacks & lunch pitas

These Toufayan are so versatile. I use them for lunch PB&J's, here for a tofurkey pita on wheat, for pita pizzas (pictures coming soon) and to make cinnamon sugar crisps in the oven.

These Medora snacks "White Cheddar Pogos" go perfect on the side. For those of you who have cheesy, crunchy cravings choose these 100% natural baked cheese snacks instead of those bright orange fried sticks! Each serving of these wholesome, zesty snacks only have 110 calories.

Dr Krackers Spelt Seeded Crackers

These crackers are outrageous! They are full of flavor and need no condiments. When I first pulled them out of the cabinet I had some tomato basil dip and cheese slices on the side. Honestly, the dips - cheeses or whatever would have straight up ruined this cracker. It is sooooo robust with full seeds baked right on top that give it this nutty flavor. Locate these immediately.