Category Archives: Things Discovered

Cheat Days: Arby’s Cookie Butter Shake

Posted by Sephira in Cheat Days, Food, General, Things Discovered and tagged with , , , , , ,

Because there are just some days that you have to give in and go for what you are craving. And holy cow… this is pretty freaking yummy!!! Soooo totally worth the extra work I’ll have to do to compensate for going over calories today. And to be fair, I’ve been resisting this beautiful concoction for several weeks, so I think I did good to hold out as long as I did.

According to the Arby’s website it’s: Indulgently sweet with cinnamon spice. Topped with whipped cream and cookie pieces. I got the hint of cinnamon, but the rest of the flavors are hard to describe – if only because I’m too busy sucking it down to form a coherent thought. Totally delicious!!

I would add it to a “Things Discovered” post, but it’s very much not a diet food. Either way though, if you can squeeze the calories in (or are ready for a well deserved cheat day), it’s definitely worth getting one before they’re gone.

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Things Discovered: Simple Mills (revisited)

Posted by Sephira in Food, General, Things Discovered and tagged with , , , , , ,

So… I found out the other day that Simple Mills has prepackaged cookies as well. Now typically, I’m not a fan of store-bought cookies. I like my cookies firm and crunchy and it’s hard to find that outside of ones that you bake yourself, plus, prepackaged taste is usually kind of meh. But aahhh… the gods are smiling, because these cookies are crunchy and pretty much taste exactly the same as the ones I made from the mix version. I am so impressed.

The downside, is that they appear to be fairly expensive (Amazon has them listed for like $6+ per box), though I honestly don’t remember it being that much at the store where I found them. However, I fully admit I didn’t pay much attention, so I’ll have to check again next time I’m in.

The other great thing is that a serving size is 3 cookies and only 110 calories. And though they aren’t all that big, the Double Chocolate ones that I had tasted so good, that even just eating one or two was enough to satisfy a craving. In a former life I probably would have eaten an entire box (or at least more than one serving), but I was good and didn’t. But really, they are that yummy!!

Things Discovered: Simple Mills

Posted by Sephira in Dieting, Food, General, Recipes, Things Discovered and tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

So, now that I’m back on track (more or less), I’m continuing the quest for yummy, hopefully somewhat healthier, low carb options. Enter Simple Mills and their line of gluten-free bake mixes.

I ordered the 3-count set, which came with Chocolate Muffin, Artisan Bread, and Chocolate Chip Cookie mixes. Of course, I made the Chocolate Muffins…

chocomuffins

They weren’t bad and still warm it was like eating a brownie (which according to the directions you can actually make brownies with this mix so double yay!!). Not super-sweet – more of a dark chocolate flavor, but all-in-all pretty tasty. And at 110 calories* and 14 carbs, it definitely fits into my diet (with a little protein and fiber thrown in as well).

Can’t wait to try the other mixes!! Yum!!

* to make sure that each muffin was as close to the suggested serving as possible I used a one tablespoon scoop and evenly distributed the batter. Each muffin cup took about 3 tablespoons… making a total of 12 muffins.

Things Discovered: Great Low Carb Bread Co

Posted by Sephira in Dieting, Food, General, Things Discovered, Tips and tagged with , , , , , , ,

On my continued quest for low-carb options, I came across the Great Low Carb Bread Co, and of course, I had to place an order. Obviously, they make bread, but they also make pastas, pizza crusts and other goodies – all right up my alley. I miss my carbs desperately and thankfully the box finally arrived!!! Lucky for you, I spent the next few days trying everything out.

Probably goes without saying, the first thing I tried was the Great Low Carb Low Fat Chocolate Brownie. Brownies are my downfall, I LOVE THEM!!!! Especially, the crunchy outer edges that are slightly overcooked. These, unfortunately, not quite hitting my brownie love sweet spot, but they still aren’t bad if you are having a serious craving.

GLCBCBrownie

They are made with stevia and erythritol, which are sugar substitutes, both of which are something of an acquired taste (stevia, in particular, is a lot sweeter than sugar). The plus side though, is that these brownies are low calorie, low fat and low carb – only 55 calories per 2 oz serving size, with only 1.5g fat and 3 net carbs (22g carbs overall, but 10g of fiber and 9g of erythritol are subtracted from that total). Personally, I don’t do the “net carb” thing, so I just count the whole amount, but I also think that the 2oz serving size is a fairly generous portion, and found that eating 1oz was more than enough for me.

Bottom line, I’d probably just make a batch of regular brownies and eat half a serving (or calculate in a whole one on a special day). The taste/consistency is really that important to me. Having said that though, others might not be as picky as I am and find the GLCBC brownie just fine the way it is. Definitely something I’d recommend at least trying once to see if it works for you.

grilledcheese

The second thing I did with my order was make a grilled cheese sandwich with my low-carb Plain Bread. Two slices per serving has 60 calories, 3g fat, 8g total carbs (net carbs only 1g), 7g fiber and 7g protein. Grilled cheese is my other go-to comfort food, so of course, I just had to. Again, though this time due to using way less butter than I would normally use, it wasn’t quite up to par with my old-school grilled cheese, but still way better than never eating one ever again. As for the bread itself, definitely a winner!!

Up next was the low-carb Fettuccine. It’s got 100 calories a serving, and though the 25g of carbs seems high, it has 18g of fiber, giving a net carb total of 7g. Plus, it’s got 12g of protein. The 2 oz portion size is quite generous, and honestly, I will probably drop it to 1.5 oz or even 1 oz in the future. But for review purposes, I ate the whole thing with a bit of alfredo sauce and it was YUMMY!!! So yummy in fact, that I forgot to take a pic of it before I ate it all. XD

I still have the pizza crust to check out, but I’ll probably save that for a bit later. Until then, enjoy!! 🙂

Things Discovered: Halo Top

Posted by Sephira in Dieting, Food, General, Recipes, Things Discovered and tagged with , , , , , , , ,

So… in my (current) never-ending quest to find low-carb foods that I can eat, I came across a few winners today. At the top of that list… Halo Top ice cream. It’s very low calorie, and best of all low-carb. The normal (1/2 cup) serving size only has about 14g carbs, and if you cut that in half to a 1/4 cup, then it’s only 7g carbs. Plus, I also found Mrs Thinster’s Waffle Crisps, which are these little pieces of waffle cone – yum!!! But, the best part is that a normal serving size is like 15 crisps (120 calories / 22g carbs), which is great if I ever have a serious craving, but for average consumption, I can cut that into thirds to pair it with the ice cream and it makes for a nice treat that fits well within my food budget (71 calories/14 carbs/3g protein – there’s a bit of fiber in there too, so net carbs are even less) .

halotop

Another keeper… Special K Crustless Quiche. Great for a quick meal or snack – 140 calories, 7 carbs, 2g fiber and 11g protein.