Recipe Review: Wholewheat Buttermilk Biscuits

I finally baked up a batch of Weight Watcher's Whole Wheat Buttermilk Biscuits to have with my homemade freezer jam. Don't they look tasty? Pictures can be deceiving though. While tasty enough when straight out of the oven and smothered in blueberry-lemon jam, they get drier and harder the longer they sit.

I made the recipe using buttermilk (strangely, the recipe first calls for yogurt then buttermilk as a substitute) and found that the amount given was too much; the dough was overly wet. I had to add extra flour to make it rollable. This likely added to the toughness of the finished product.

I also noticed that the recipe was lacking salt. Now I'm no Martha Stewart when it comes to baking, but even I had to raise an eyebrow at the omission. As every biscuit recipe I've ever tried has salt added to it, I decided to add about 1/2 a teaspoon. If I make these again, I'll play with the amount and perhaps add a tich of baking soda as well.

Recommended if you have extra whole wheat flour, time to kill, and don't mind hardtack.

Review: Kellogg's All Bran Bars - Chocolate Chip

I've been hearing about this new flavour of Kellogg's All Bran Bars (Chocolate Chip), and finally had the opportunity to pick up a package. Having the same NI as the other bars (Calories: 130, Fat: 6g, Fibre: 4g), it has the added bonus of chocolate chips. It's literally like a good-for-you chocolate chip cookie. A dry, fiber-filled cookie, but hey, healthy sometimes has its tradeoffs.

Recommended with a glass of milk for dunking or a cup of hot tea.

Organizing recipes

I've recently become a reader of Simple Mom, and stumbled across an excellent article on how to more effectively organize your recipe bookmarks. Essentially, you use the bookmarking website, Delicious, to create your own "cookbook" of recipe links. You can add tags to them as well as share out the link to friends and family. Read Simple Mom's article for more information and step-by-step instructions.

I haven't made one myself, but wanted to pass it along to my own readers because I'm really excited about it. Once I get back from vacation, I'll be making my own Delicious cookbook and will post a link.

New Find: Wasa Fiber Rye

If you like crispbread (Mr. Trim calls it "cardboard")(Mr. Trim does not like crispbread), check out this new product from Wasa: Fiber Rye. It's extremely points friendly (Calories: 30, Fat: .5, Fibre: 2g) and great to have with soup, salad, or with your favourite topping.

If you're not a fan of crispbread (see Mr. Trim above as an example), you might find it dry and well...like cardboard. Personally, I love it. My mom used to serve it to us topped with sprouts and deli meat; it was a great easy snack. I still do that (recent recall of Maple Leaf meats notwithstanding), and I also like to spread it with Laughing Cow cheese or almond butter.

All in all, a great cracker to turn to if you're low on points for the day. Just be careful, the points do round up the more you have.

Preserving summer's freshness

BC Blueberries

I might go on and on about fall, but I must say that summer has a certain level of fondness in my heart. I just love all the fresh fruit, berries, and veggies at this time of year. I've been going to farmer's markets and buying locally produced food. It feels good to buy locally. The food hasn't travelled hundreds of miles, tastes fresher, lasts longer, and if that weren't enough, a local farmer gets income at the same time.

Freezer Jam
One of the things I've been doing with all the fresh food is making freezer jam. It's surprisingly very easy and the result is to die for. If you use freezer jam pectin, you don't need to put as much sugar into it. Points-wise, they're not too bad. Depending on the recipe, it can be as little as half a point for one tablespoon.

Here's some of the recipes I made recently:

• Raspberry-Peach Freezer Jam
• Blueberry Freezer Jam

The blueberry turned out the best. The the lemon flavour really comes through. Oh so yummy.


A batch of Blueberry Freezer Jam, cooling on the counter

And what's jam without a biscuit or scone to slather it on? I haven't tried these recipes from Weight Watchers yet, but plan to soon. They're low on points and look easy to make:

• Whole Wheat Buttermilk Biscuits
• Classic Scones

If you've never made freezer jam before, give it a try. It tastes extremely fresh; like summer in a bottle. They also freeze well up to a year.

A week without coffee

• It's been a week without coffee or tea.
• I have not killed anyone yet.
• No fauxcoffee either.
• A coworker noticed.
• I let her think it was money-related.
• I don't think she believed me.
• I wonder if the "p" word will be bandied about in hushed lunch room conversations.

The Vivanno Experiment

Can "meal replacement" shakes keep you full? It was my devout hope that they would. Without regular lunch today, I cashed in my free-drink coupon at Starbucks and tried one of their new "Vivanno" shakes. Though they're not specifically described as a meal replacement, I went ahead with my experimental study anyways. What follows is an excerpt from my scientfically-controlled journal.

------------
12:19 p.m.
Chocolate Banana Vivanno in hand. Sipping experimentally. Tastes like cocoa and banana.

12:32 p.m.
Back at work. Yep. Definitely like cocoa and banana. Can't taste any whey powder. Pretty tasty.

12:40 p.m.
Finished. I wonder how long it'll last in my stomach. It feels very heavy.

12:53 p.m.
I'm burping up cocoa and banana.

12:59 p.m.
Still feeling kinda full. I drink some water to "top it up."

1:12 p.m.
Still burping up cocoa and banana but not as often.

1:23 p.m.
Feeling less full. I drink some water.

1:41 p.m.
First stirrings of hunger. I drink more water.

2:05 p.m.
Have to pee like a race horse.

2:13 p.m.
Distracted by work; running to washroom.

2:15 p.m.
Back from washroom. For some reason, it smelt like Salt & Vinegar chips in there.

3:21 p.m.
Distracted by work again; I can hear my stomach grumbling in earnest now.

3:24 p.m.
I really want Salt & Vinegar chips. I eat an apple instead and drink more water.

3:30 p.m.
I still want chips. I'm starting to count the hours until dinner.

3:45 p.m.
I google "baked salt & vinegar chips."
------------

The rest of the journal goes into further notes about "S&V" chips and are mostly irrelevant to this experiment.

From this data we can conclude:

1. A Vivanno shake can keep you full from one to three hours depending on water consumption and work load.
2. Never go into Salt & Vinegar scented bathrooms lest you get afflicted with cravings for the rest of the day.
3. Yahoo! Answers reports that the only way to get baked Salt & Vinegar chips is to "order online from a British Importer."

Additional experiments may be needed to determine the veracity of these findings.

Want coffee

When a friend from long ago wanted to get pregnant, she went to great pains to ensure her body was a temple of health before, during, and after. I remember raising my eyebrow at some of her more extreme measures and quietly shaking my head. Now it's my turn. And guess who's doing the same thing? Ah, the irony. Let me be a shining example of it.

The soonest I can get the go-forth-and-propogate blessing from my doctor is in August. In the meantime, I've been charting my temperatures, looking up baby clothing patterns, and just generally getting all baby crazy. My latest "do something" plan is to cut out caffeine.

Generally, I don't drink a lot of coffee or tea; perhaps three cups a week. But as soon as there's a self-imposed rule against it, it's like I've got to have it. Yes, I know that they say you should limit caffeine but you don't have to cut it out completely. But, like that dear friend of mine, if there's anything I can do to increase the chances of conception and a happy healthy baby, I'll do it.

On Weight Watchers, we're taught that if we want it, we can have it. Chocolate cake? Chips? You can have it! Doesn't quite work in this scenario. I like caffeine.

Even still, beggars can't be choosers so I tried the next best thing and found a substitute. Decaf or "faux" coffee as I like to call it. I'm trying to pretend it's real coffee. If I squeeze my taste buds and mind juuuuust right, I can almost believe it.

But really, who am I kidding? It's like cauliflower fauxtatoes instead of the real deal. Okay, maybe not that bad, but perhaps caffeine withdrawal is making me exaggerate...but only a little.

As I sit here sipping a cup of fauxcoffee, it's become apparant that sometimes substitutes don't always work. If I can't have the real coffee, I might as well give it up completely until such time as a Teeny Trim comes along and is off breast feeding.

It's going to be a long year.

Make mine a blueberry

I made another batch of Quaker Low Fat Honey Bran muffins. This time there was a bowl of fresh BC blueberries on the counter before I started. I looked at the blueberries. I looked at the muffin mix. I looked back at the blueberries. And I knew it was fate.



Delicious low-point blueberry muffins in a snap. Fate indeed.

Read the original review for points, nutritional information etc. The points value isn't affected by the addition of blueberries either. 3/4s of a cup adds perhaps 5 cal per muffin. Blue bliss.

Review: Slow Cooker Ropa Viejo

After spying a new crockpot recipe on my Weight Watcher's homepage, I had to try it: Ropa Viejo! Apparently, the name means "old clothes." Not very appetizing, hey? But it was very good nonetheless. It's also Core, which is always a bonus.


Ropa Viejo with mashed potatoes

To begin with, I halved the recipe because it makes a lot. Preparation was easy and took about 30 minutes the night before. My crockpot tends to cook fast, but leaving it for 10 hours didn't dry out the meat. The only other variation I made was substituting parsley for cilantro.

The result was as promised: a slightly spicy vinegary stew. I was worried it'd taste completely like vinegar, but it didn't; it just lent a small kick to it. I also raised an eyebrow over the inclusion of an apple, but it really added to the flavour and complemented the vinegar. The meat still tasted like typical "I've been stewed in a slow cooker all day" meat but I don't mind that. In fact, that's one of the things I love about crockpots!

Serving size is list as a 1 1/4 cups. However, I should mention that "stew" is not really an apt name for it. After cooking, it's mostly shredded meat with a bit of veggies and a small amount of liquid. As a result, I found one serving to be way too much meat for my taste. Instead, I measured out half a cup and served it over a similar amount of mashed potatoes. It made a relatively low-point and filling meal. Mr. Trim and I really enjoyed it.

I'll be making it again for sure but probably in the fall. Delicious but a bit too heavy for summer!

Eating the real thing

In our quest to get the lowest point treat as possible, we sometimes overlook the obvious. We can have the real thing. In fact, the real thing might be better for us for a few reasons. One, it's less likely to have mystery chemicals in it. Two, it might satisfy us better than having a copycat. Three, it's likely to be cheaper.

Consider the humble fudgsicle. I realize it's not the epitome of a nutritionally sound food, but it is a treat that I often crave. On one side of my grocery store's freezer are the "diet" offerings. Laughing Cow, Breyer's sugar-free, and so on. On the other side, the real deal. To get my frozen fix, I naturally gravitate towards the diet side. “Diet” foods have less calories in it, so they must be better for me, right?

And then I started comparing ingredients. My intestines are extremely sensitive to sugar alcohol (think bomb squad) and so out of consideration to Mr. Trim and my cats, I avoid it wherever possible. Unsurprisingly, just about every one of these treats had some form of sugar alcohol or mystery ingredient in them.

Now I know that sugar alcohols have been deemed "safe" but they haven't been out all that long. The advisablility of the "ols" aside, it's the other ingredients that raise my eyebrows, too. What are these things? Manmade, likely. Unpronoucenable for sure. And where would these chemicals wind up in my body? Just how much was I trading in points-value for health?

That's when a wild and crazy idea popped into my brain. Why not have the real thing? How bad could it really be? So I picked up the regular fudgsicle box and was surprised to find that it wasn't all that bad at all. In fact, it was only 1 point more than its sugar-free counterpart.

On one hand, I could have a smaller "fake" fudgsicle for 1 point, more money, and a slew of chemicals. Or, I could have the real mccoy for 2 points, less money, and less chemicals. (The other obvious choice is not to have it at all and avoid the sugar, fat, and chemicals altogether. But that's not terrifically fun.)

I’m not saying that all specialty “diet” food is bad, either. They do have their place. If it keeps you from binging, all the better. If pre-portioned packs are more convenient and help you with portion control, by all means. I myself can't be in the same room with an open bag of chips; it has to be preportioned or you'll find me hiding a crumpled and empty bag in short order.

In the end, I wound up getting the box of real fudgsicles and enjoyed every one of them more than any of diet treats I've eaten in the past. They felt like a real treat, both physically and mentally. A nice cool fudgsicle from my youth on a hot day just satisfies. Mind and mouth.

The next time you're in the store and find yourself reaching for the diet food, indulge in a bit of detective work. Pick up the real thing and really look at it. Nutritional information, ingredients and all. You might just be surprised by what you find. Not all “bad” foods are that bad.

New Product: Quaker 100 Calorie Bars

There's two new 100 calorie bars out in Canada now. Made by Quaker, they come in two varieties: Sweet & Salty (Almond) and Dipps (Chocolate Chip). Both bars are 2 points each and are similar in nutritional value. For the chocolate bar, it's 100 calories, 4g fat, and 1g fibre. The Sweet & Salty is the same, except it has 3.5g fat.

The taste? They're tasty. I will give them that. The sweet and salty is a nice mix and the dipped bar has a nice chocolaty coating. However as tasty as they are, I won't be buying them again.

One, they trigger my binge tendencies. I kept going back to the boxes and eating them. Two, they are unbelievably small and thin. The picture below just does not do justice to how small they are. That's a dessert plate, not a dinner plate. They're also less than half an inch thick.



These things are so small, it takes just four tiny bites to eat them (and even then that's stretching it). Because I like to get bang for my points values, these aren't worth it to me. I can think of lots of other things that I could spend those points on that are more filling, healthier, and don't cause me to inhale the whole box. That's the danger about tasty but excessively small snacks – it's too easy to eat lots of them.

But hey, if you don't mind the points values and trust yourself more than I do, it's worth trying if they're on sale.

Starbucks light frappuccinos = summer Part II

Just in case my update to the previous thread is missed, I wanted to set the record straight on the points value for tall mocha light frappuccinos. They are most definitely 2 points. I know it sounds too good to be true, but it is :)

The NI for one is 110 calories, 1g fat, and 2g fibre. Note, that it's just 1g fat and not 10g fat. There's 10 calories from fat, but not 10 grams of it. It makes a big difference as points are calculated on grams of fat and not calories from fat.

I used all three calculators available to me (the online calculator, my paper calculator, and my handheld calculator) to triple check the points value. I also looked up the points value using Weight Watcher's online database. All four methods yielded the same results: a tall mocha light frap is 2 points.

Though I'm 100% confident in my calculations on this one, as always, I encourage everyone to double-check points values found on the internet. You just never know!

Review: Dr. Oetker's Light French Vanilla Mousse

This post could also be titled "Dr. Oetker, I love you." Seriously, this was the best tasting dessert I've had in a looooong time. Yes, it tastes a bit like pudding made from a box, but the texture was so light and creamy that I thought I'd died and gone to heaven.

To make it, you whip together the mousse powder with a cup of skim milk. After it's all light and fluffy, you spoon it into cups and chill. That's it. I love simple.

I served it in small bowls topped with fresh grapes. The fruit was such a nice compliment to the mousse, that I can't imagine having it without. I also didn't notice the artificial sweetner which normally I do. Though to be fair, I think the grapes helped with that.

Each box makes five servings. One serving is 1 point for half a cup. Yes, that's right. Sinful and low in points. Please feel free to double-check the value yourself.

Dr. Oetker's light mousses (moussi?) come in three different flavours, all similar in NI: French Vanilla, Milk Chocolate, and Strawberry. For more info and NI, visit Dr. Oetker's site and give him my undying love.

*yum!*

Starbucks light frappuccinos = summer

As the sun finally starts shining in my neck of the woods, I'm once again reminded of my dear dear friend of last summer. The Starbucks light frappuccino. Seriously sinful and low on points. Plus, there's new flavours to try this year.

If you're hankering for a frosty treat, get thee to your local Starbucks. A tall mocha light is only two points. Ask for it double-blended for an extra-creamy treat. Want to try other flavours? Be sure to check Starbuck's nutrition calculator before you go because not all light fraps are created equal.

Update: To the anonymous poster who said the above points value for the tall mocha frap light is wrong, I kindly suggest recalculating because it's most definitely 2 points. The NI for one is 110 calories, 1g fat, and 2g fibre. Note, that it's just 1g fat and not 10g fat. There's 10 calories from fat, but not 10 grams of it.

I used all three calculators available to me (the online calculator, my paper calculator, and my handheld calculator) to triple check the points value. I also looked up the points value using Weight Watcher's online database. All four methods yielded the same results: a tall mocha frap is 2 points.

I know it's too good to be true, but it is :)

1-point Apple Cobbler

I love the internet. I typed in "applesauce graham crackers cool whip weight watchers" and immediately found a recipe using those ingredients. I'm reprinting it here because it's too good not to share and the website I found it on might disappear.

1-point Apple Cobbler

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1 packet Splenda
2 tsp graham cracker crumbs
2 tbsp fat-free Cool Whip

In small individual-sized bowl, mix applesauce, cinnamon and Splenda. Microwave on high for 50 seconds. Stir. Sprinkle crumbs over sauce and top with Cool Whip. Serve immediately.

If you use light Cool Whip as I did, unfortunately the points round up. Count it as 1.5 points in that case. Also, if you make your own crumbs, don't make them too fine or they'll fade into the sauce. Lastly, feel free to skip the Splenda. I've made it both ways and I prefer the non-Splenda version.

Warm comfort in a bowl.

Review: Quaker Low Fat Honey Bran Muffin Mix

Yearning for some baked goodness, I made a batch of honey bran muffins using Quaker's low fat muffin mix.

The package makes 24 in total. All you need is water, a spoon, and a non-stick muffin pan. Mix the ingredients together and you'll have fresh-baked muffins in under half an hour. One prepared muffin is about the size of a 1/3 cup measure and is 2 points (140 calories, 1.5g fat, 3g fibre).

For a muffin fix, they're pretty tasty. The outside is slightly crisp, the inside moist. They also bake up nice and golden as you can see by the picture. I liked the taste well enough that I'd probably try the other flavours if I see them on sale. Recommended for those who don't have time to bake.

Motivating with muffins

As I sit here drinking my cup of fibre, I'm starting to feel that this whole thing is doable. No, not my regularity. But rather, living life after goal.

Oddly enough, it's been food that's been pulling myself out of my funk. I tried a new recipe earlier this week and last night I made a batch of low-fat muffins. It's been ages since I've baked anything other than chicken. Getting excited about new recipes is a real motivator.

Now all I have to do is not eat the remaining muffins in the freezer.

Recipe Review: Easy Macaroni and Cheese

WeightWatchers.ca has been featuring a recipe for Easy Macaroni and Cheese on the Plan Manager home page for a few days now. I couldn't take the temptation any longer, so I decided to jazz up my evening by trying it out.

Since our low-fat cheese selection up here in Canada is pretty slim, the only reasonably close to low-fat cheese I could find was Kraft Cracker Barrel 2% Old Cheddar. I also used whole wheat pasta instead of regular. I recalculated the points value using these ingredients and came up with the same amount of points as listed.

The end result was a rather spicy, smooth and creamy macaroni and cheese. Though it didn't have the deep cheddar flavour of some of the other (full-fat) homemade recipes I've had before, it was still pleasantly cheesy and much better (both in taste and nutrition) than anything out of a box. If you don't like things spicy, ease up on the hot pepper sauce and don't use the pepper flakes. I added both and found it a bit too spicy for mac n' cheese.

Also, I don't really recommend the whole wheat pasta. I find that the whole wheat texture is more pronounced in smaller pasta shapes. Instead, I suggest using Catelli Smart Pasta. It tastes just like white pasta but has the fibre content of whole wheat.

All in all, pretty darned nummy and comforting. And because it was easy to make, too, the recipe is aptly named. Though I have to suspect the cheesy colour of their photo was enhanced after the fact. Mine looked more creamy-white than anything else.

Serving size is listed as 1 cup. I got slightly more than that but would say it's an accurate gauge. One serving is 6 points. 4 out of 5 stars. I'd make it again.

Awesome office birthday

I've said before that it's funny what a year's difference makes. Not only in me, but in other's perceptions. Tomorrow being my birthday, today there was a small office get-together with food to celebrate it. Normally we have cake or pastries. Indeed, that's what we had last year.

This year was a complete change of pace. Instead of cake, there was a big bowl of fresh strawberries along with fat-free vanilla yogurt for dipping. Fat-free vanilla yogurt. Strawberries. No pastry, no cake, no icing, just fresh awesome zero-points-for-a-cup strawberries.

Holy wow. Can you say thoughtful, touching, awesome?

Best. Birthday. Treats. Ever!