Review: Simply Amazing!

I am a true brownie fanatic. Next to cheesecake it is my favorite dessert - oh and cinnamon rolls, and vanilla bean ice cream, and sweet potato pie. Well it's one of my favorites. I always have such a hard time with portion control when it comes to brownies. I was so excited when I found a box of Pillsbury Brownie Minis in Big Lots. They just so happened to have milk chocolate which I love and it was only $1.80 for the box which comes with two cute little baking trays. Using that the box makes 12 of the little brownies. You only have to add water and baking takes only about 12 minutes. I was so not disappointed! The serving size was two brownies and they go great with a small glass of milk. I felt like I was actually able to enjoy "regular" treats. The brownies were so moist and just great. I definitely would recommend these. I'm working on getting a new camera so the quality of the pictures is not good so I'm not going to post them.

Nutrition Info

Serving Size 2 brownies

Calories 150
Total Fat 5g
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 90mg
Total Carbohydrate 25g
Dietary Fiber 1g
Protein 2g

Can't Fool Me Twice!

My mother did always tell me I was
hard headed. But like most kids I would sit in denial and think my
mother was just aging perhaps had me mixed up with another sibling.
But now after all these years - perhaps Mother does know best. I
absolutely love everything cheesecake - cheesecake ice cream,
cheesecake brownies - you name it - I'm a sucker for it. Imagine how
my heart jumped for joy when I was in Walmart and spied Yo Crunch
cheesecake yogurt with graham cookie pieces! Pure joy and happiness.
I could finally give the middle finger to those high calorie, high
fat slices of cheesecake that would sit on my hips no matter how many
zumba classes I took. Now because I am hard headed I ignored that
nagging feeling in my gut that told me that this snack and myself
were previously acquainted. After all, these were now packaged in
cute little 1oo calorie 4-packs. How could I ever deny them? Well
when I got home and tore into one of these little babies - I got my
answer. As I took my first bite the familiar taste invaded my mouth.
Although I liked the addition of the cookie pieces, the yogurt itself
left a lot to be desired. The cheesecake yogurt of course tasted
nothing like cheesecake - it actually wasn't even sweet! Imagine
that! The texture was yogurt sho nuff, but the taste was bland,
bland, bland. The only redeeming quality is the crunch from the
graham cookie pieces. Then it suddenly hit me!  I have tried this in the past and don't remember a fondness for it whatsoever.  Those darn cutie patootie cups had me fooled!  So the verdict - a definite no.  Now I may try
the vanilla with chocolate chip cookie pieces in the future, but as
far as the cheesecake? Well I think I've finally learned my lesson.

Nutrition Info

Serving size 1 container


Calories 100
Total Fat 1.5
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 75mg
Total Carbohydrate 20g
Protein 3g

Dollar Tree To The Rescue!

You cannot imagine my surprise when I was shopping in my local Dollar Tree and ran across a couple of Skinny Cow items. To be quite honest I am not really too much into Skinny Cow. It's nothing personal - their products tend to be a little pricey for me unless I have a coupon and from what I remember, I was not too impressed by the taste. I have been seeing their candy bars in passing, but never made an effort to purchase any until I saw their Dreamy Clusters candy. These are advertised as "crunchy crisps and creamy caramel drenched in milk chocolate". Please don't let these unappetizing images alarm you. The candy was quite tasty. Of course they are not going to taste like a regular candy bar, but they will do in a pinch. Plus they were actually .69 each so for me they were worth it as an occasional treat. But if it came down to it I would prefer to just splurge and take the extra points and eat a regular sized candy bar.


Nutrition Info

Serving Size 1 pouch

Calories 120
Total Fat 6g
Cholesterol 5mg
Sodium 115mg
Total Carbohydrate 20g
Protein 1g

Yet Another Dollar Tree Find

I visit my local Dollar Tree about once a week. I never fail to find a new product. Today I located an oldie but goodie - Nature's Own Whitewheat hamburger buns. There are 8 in the package and the expiration date is April 9. I bought two but if I had more room in my freezer, I would have purchased more. These have always been my favorite but usually available for about $2.28 per package. If you have a Dollar Tree in your area this is definitely worth a trip.

Nutrition Info

Serving Size 1 bun * Calories 100 * Total Fat 1g * Cholesterol 0mg * Sodium 220mg * Dietary Fiber 4g * Total Carbohydrates 22*

Whopper of an Ice Cream!

In my humble opinion Whoppers are one of the best candies ever invented. Unfortunately they tend to be kind of high on fat and calories - so they are a rare treat. While at my local Walmart I found a new line of ice cream Breyer's is offering candy and cookie treats in their new ice cream line - Breyer's Blasts. The new flavors are not listed on their website yet - but they are definitely in stores. After much deliberation I finally picked the Whopper flavor and I must say, it was a pleasant surprise how good this was. The ice cream was a malted vanilla with actual pieces of Whopper candy - and they weren't miniature either - they were full sized. I must confess that I did end up picking through the ice cream and eating just about every Whopper I spotted. I was so excited to dig in I neglected to take pictures of the actual ice cream but since I will probably be buying this again, I will do it next time. The only thing I didn't like was the price at about $3.50. I would really like to find a coupon for these so I could try some other flavors. They also have Chips Ahoy, Mrs. Fields Chocolate Chunk Cookie Dough, Reese's Peanut Butter, Snicker's and S'mores.

Nutrition Information


Servings: 1/2 cup Calories 140 * Sodium 0 mg * Total Fat 4g * Cholesterol 0mg

Great for Snack or Meal

Buffalo chicken wings are one of my favorites - but they are usually full of fat and calories. So any substitute I can eat while still following my plan - I am all for it. While perusing the aisles at Big Lots I ran across this chicken. It's white chicken and a buffalo style sauce. I haven't tried it yet but I'll probably use it in a wrap (see my previous post about wraps from The Dollar Tree), or on a pizza. When I do I'll update this post. The nutrition info. looks pretty good - a serving size is 2 oz. * 70 calories * 2.5 g of fat * 0g of fiber. It is a little high on sodium 460 mg per serving for those of you watching your sodium intake. The good thing is it was only $1.00 - can't beat that!

Cheers to Cheerios!

I have been meaning to try these since I love cinnamon so much and I love cereal even more, but I just haven't gotten around to it. Well my mother had an extra box so I was finally able to try it. The initial taste is very cinnamonny ( is that a word?). I actually like that. Then a little sweetness kicks in , but no too much. I also feel like I'm getting a good amount of cereal, each serving is one cup. I prefer the Yogurt Bursts. I would buy it, but only when it goes on sale - I'm not sure I would pay more than $2.50 per box. There are a number of coupons floating around, so this is a great time to try it. Nutrition Info - Calories - 110 * Fat - 2g * Sodium - 125mg * Carbs - 27g* Good news! No cholesterol!