Trader Joe's Low Calorie Bread

Looking for bread with only 40 calories, 5 grams of fiber, and just one gram of sugar? Trader Joe's has got your back. Introducing Trader Joe's Low Calorie Bread. The nutritional information is terrific and so is the ingredient list.


Now... how does it taste? Light and moist. Paired with peanut butter and you won't be able to tell the difference. Because it has no preservatives, it becomes molded VERY quickly so watch out for that. The size is smaller than your usual bread. All and all, I would say this is a great snack item. You can have bread and a spread without sacrificing 300 +  calories.


Nutrition information: 40 calories, 5 grams of fiber, 1 gram of sugar, 3 grams of protein, 120 mg of sodium

Nature's Path Flax Plus Cereal

I love cereal. I look forward to it when I wake up. I love to start the day off healthy so a nutritious cereal is a must. There really is no other better cereal for you than Nature's Path Flax Plus Cereal. It contains Omega 3 fatty acids which is reallllly good for you - especially your hair and skin! In addition to this, it has whole grains, high fiber, 4 grams of proteins, and 0 grams of trans fat. The first ingrediant is whole wheat flour followed by wheat bran. VERY HEALTHY INGREDIENT LIST.
 


This tastes really good and holds up to milk for those of you who do not like soggy cereal. The flax seeds are apparent on each flake. Definitely recommend this. 


Nutrition information (per 3/4 cup): 110 calories, 1.5 grams of fat, 23 grams of carbs, 5 grams of fiber, 4 grams of sugar, 135 mg of sodium

Fiber One Yogurt Blueberry

5 grams of fiber and only 50 calories?! Is it possible? Fiber One makes it possible with their line of yogurts, that come in blueberry, strawberry, peach, vanilla, and key lime pie. I have only tried the Blueberry and it is really great! It has a sweet blueberry flavor and there are even tiny specs of blueberry once and a while. It also provides 10% of your recommended need of calcium.

Usually when things are too good to be true, they are. This contains artificial sweeteners, which as I have mentioned, I am not a huge fan of. However, it is still a great snack and I still give it a good nutrition grade. 


Nutrition information: 50 calories, 13 grams of carbs, 5 grams of fiber, 4 grams of sugar, 3 grams of protein, 55 mg of sodium

Martin's Whole Wheat Bread

I LOVE Martin's Whole Wheat Bread. It is fluffy and has a nice potato bread flavor. The nice thing about this bread is that it provides 4 grams of fiber, 6 grams of protein, and only four grams of sugar. It has a really good fiber-to-calorie ratio with only 70 calories for 4 grams of fiber.

It tastes especially good with a spread like peanut butter or jam, but I would even eat this by itself. I just love the taste of potato bread.

Nutrition information: 70 calories, 14 grams of carbs, 4 grams of fiber, 4 grams of sugar, 120 mg of sodium

O Organics No Stir Creamy Peanut Butter

ATTENTION PEANUT BUTTER LOVERS!!!! I am introducing the absolute BEST peanut butter in the world: O Organic No Stir Creamy Peanut Butter. I take back what I said about Peanut Butter & Co being my favorite.... this one is OUT OF THIS WORLD. 


I had a spoonful and melted. This is SO rich and SO creamy. It is mouth-watering!! EVERYBODY MUST MUST MUST TRY! It is made of organic peanuts, organic farm oil, organic can sugar, and sea salt - terrific ingredient list. I honestly do not know if I will be able to trust myself with this in the pantry... 

Nutrition information (per 2 tablespoons): 200 calories, 16 grams of fat, 6 grams of carbs, 2 grams of fiber, 2 grams of sugar, 8 grams of protein, 85 mg of sodium



My new favorite!! This will NOT disappoint.

Fudgy Peanut Butter Chip VitaTops

This morning I tried the Fudgy Peanut Butter Chip Vitatop from  the Vitalicious line. This line offers portion-controlled muffin tops with only 100 calories. They are all made with 15 vitamins and provide 4-10 grams of fiber. My favorite flavor thus far was the Deep Chocolate Vitatop and I wanted to see if this would measure up. Since I love peanut butter, it seemed like a sure bet. 

When I opened up the package, I found 6 full peanut butter chips and 2 half ones. That seemed like an appropriate amount to me. I heated up the muffin in the microwave for about 15 seconds and then tried an area of the muffin where there was a peanut chip. The taste: chocolate with a sweet peanut butter flavor. It tasted really good! However, then I tried a piece of the muffin where there was no peanut butter chip... and I was not as impressed. The muffin without the peanut butter chip was unexciting and dull. I much preferred the Deep Chocolate muffin to this. It would have been better if the peanut butter chips were dispersed throughout the muffin, not just at the top. 

I think I will stick to the Deep Chocolate Vitatop. This is a good substitute, but I am not entirely happy with it.


Nutrition: 100 calories, 150 mg of sodium, 26 grams of carbs, 8 grams of fiber, 12 grams of sugar, 4 grams of protein.

Simply Scrumptous Fit & Flavorful Fat Free Cupcakes

Simply Scrumptous is an online shop that sells baked goods like cookies, brownies, and muffins. They have a "Fit & Flavorful" line, which features fat-free and low-fat bakery items. This includes brownies, cakes, cupcakes, donuts, muffins, and cookies. Last year, their fat free cupcakes were discontinued. However, they recently created a brand new cupcake that is now 70 calories instead of 100 calories. 


I ordered this cupcake online and it just came in today! You can imagine my excitement. When I opened it up, the first thing I did was measure it on my food scale. Often, products like these will have a serving size of 2 oz. and end up being 4 oz. - twice the calories. But not this one! The serving size said about 2.2 oz and it measured out to be exactly 2.2 oz. So I knew I was really only eating 70 calories. 

I put it in the microwave for about fifteen seconds because I like my desserts hot and melted. When it came out, I quickly dove in. It tasted really good! I absolutely LOVED the frosting. It was vanilla and had a very delectable taste. The cake part was chocolate. It tasted like chocolate but it had a little bit of an aftertaste to it. However, it was moist and satisfying. I do have to admit that I probably would not eat this if it were not for the frosting.


The size was VERY good especially for 70 calories. It definitely satisfied my sweet tooth and I am sure I will have this again. I did like the other cupcake the company was selling before a little bit better, but unfortunately that is no longer an option. 


Onto the nutritional information. The ingredients: erythiol (a natural sweetener), oat fiber, water, whole wheat, non-fat milk, egg whites, apples, sugar, non-fat cocoa, cinnamon, baking powder, water, non-fat milk powder, powdered sugar, vanilla. Looks like a pretty solid ingredient list to me. Erythiol is a pretty harmless sweetener if you eat it in moderation. It also provides 8 grams of fiber. I still would not eat this all the time, but rather as a treat, because it is high in sugar and I am not a huge fan of artificial sweeteners.

Nutrition information: 70 calories, 100 mg of sodium, 27 grams of carbs, 11 grams of sugar, 6 grams of sugar alcohols, 8 grams of dietary fiber, 2 grams of protein. 

Sweet Ella's Smooth Organic Peanut Butter

This morning for breakfast I opted out of cereal and chose a peanut butter sandwich instead. I saw Sweet Ella's Smooth Organic Peanut Butter in the pantry, waiting to be tried. So I opened it and stirred. While my bread was in the toaster, I tried it with my spoon. It tasted like nuts from a jar. It felt almost crunchy, as there were small bits of nuts in the mixture. I really liked the taste because it was a little different then what I was used to. Even though it was called "Sweet," it really was not that sweet. It was more about the nut flavor. On bread, it was even better. I still prefer other brands due to the sweetness factor, but this is a nice change. Especially in the morning when I am often not in the mood for sweets. 


The nutritional information is good, depending on what you are looking for. If you are looking for low sugar, this is the right peanut butter for you. It only has 1 gram of sugar per two tablespoons. This peanut butter is also REALLY low in sodium, with only 35 mg of sodium. However, it only has 2 grams of fiber. BUT it has 8 grams of protein. 

It is also made of just TWO ingredients: organic peanuts and a touch of sea salt. This peanut butter is clearly the closest thing to peanuts.


I would definitely eat this again when I am craving something a little different.


Nutrition information (per 2 tablespoons): 190 calories, 16 grams of fat, 6 grams of carbs, 2 grams of fiber, 1 gram of sugar, 8 grams of protein

Snackwell's Fudge Drizzled Caramel Popcorn

I love the holiday season that just passed. I can relax, read books, sleep, and spend time with my family. The only downfall of it is that people love to send over unhealthy food gift baskets. This year it seemed like everybody was sending one thing: CARAMEL POPCORN. Day after day there would be a new box of caramel popcorn awaiting my arrival. And I LOVE caramel popcorn. Clearly, this is not a healthy choice. So when I spotted Snackwell's Fudge Drizzled Caramel Popcorn, I decided to give this a try in order to fulfill my cravings.


The taste: delicious! It was just the right amount of caramel and sweet. However, I must admit: this does not compare to regular caramel popcorn. I found myself wanting to eat this AND the real thing. But it definitely does not taste like a "diet" product because quite frankly, it isn't!


The nutritional information is not the best. It has 18 grams of sugar! However, in terms of calories, it could be worse. It is 130 calories for a decent amount of popcorn. I counted my bag and I found 34 popcorn pieces.

So will I eat it again? Doubtful. The taste does not make up for the nutritional factors. I can eat an apple with a teaspoon of peanut butter for about the same amount of calories.


Nutrition information: 130 calories, 24 grams of carbs, 1 gram of fiber, 18 grams of sugar, 1 gram of protein, 200 mg of sodium, 3 grams of fat

Trader Joe's Meringue Cookies

I discovered these meringue cookies about a year ago and they have since been a nice treat when I have a sweet tooth and do not want to sacrifice a lot of calories. Although the portion size says 4 cookies, I prefer to eat only one at a time. One of these is only 27.5 calories! So I see it as pretty harmless. But make sure you do not eat too many because the calories WILL add up and you will NOT  be full from these.


The shell of these is hard but once you bite into it, the cookie melts in your mouth. It is very sweet which is not surprising since it has 6.8 grams of sugar for just ONE of them. Definitely not an everyday treat due to the high sugar content, but better than most cookies in terms of calories.

Nutrition information (per serving of 4): 110 calories, 27 carbs, 1 gram of protein, and 27 grams of sugar.

Trader Joe's Bran Flakes

I LOVE Trader Joe's. It is healthy, cheap(er than most), and has some really great health food finds. One of my favorites is Trader Joe's Bran Flakes. This is hands-down one of the most wholesome bran flake cereals out there. No artificial flavors or preservatives, no high fructose corn syrup, no trans fats.. just plan and simple bran flakes. If you like the way bran tastes, this is the cereal for you!! It is my absolute favorite health cereal. I especially love it with soy milk (since I am slightly lactose intolerant.) If you let is sit for about 15-20 minutes, it gets sooo soggy - the way I like it! 


As for nutrition, it is hard to get better. High in fiber and still pretty low in calories. AND it keeps me really fully too. So skip the sugared cereals and start the day right with these bran flakes.


Nutrition information: 100 calories, 24 grams of carbs, 5 grams of fiber, 3 grams of protein, 6 grams of sugar, 220 grams of sodium

Wasa Crisp'n Light 7 Grain

Another bread substitute review for today. I discovered Wasa Crisp'n Light 7 Grain a couple of months ago and have been hooked. It is only 20 calories per 1 slice! So it is a great snack with peanut butter or jam. I can put a little bit of peanut butter on this cracker and clock in at much less than even 100 calories. The taste is pretty bland by itself and I do not recommend it without a spread. But it is great with a spread and saves you the 100-200 calories of bread. The nutritional information is great too so it is a win-win. 

Nutritional information (per 3 slices): 60 calories, 2 grams of fiber, 13 grams of carbs, <1 grams of sugar, 2 grams of protein, 95 mg of sodium

GG Bran Crispbread

Ever want the extra fiber, without the extra calories? Introducing GG Bran Crispbread. This provides 5 grams of fiber with only 12 calories. Yes, I said it. 12 CALORIES! Now, how does it taste? Honestly, by itself it is very thick and dry. You definitely need some water to gulp this down. The best thing to eat this with is a jam because the moisture of the jam compensates for the dryness. With jam, it is actually quite tasty!


There are only three ingredients: 85% unprocessed wheat bran, rye flour, and salt. And with 5 grams of fiber, you are kept really full! This is a non-guilt product and everybody should have it in their kitchen. Just remember not to have TOO many.. 5 grams of fiber adds up.

This is usually found in health food stores, not regular grocery stores. Although, I found this product browsing through Wegmans one day. 


Nutritional information: 12 calories, 7 carbs, 6 grams of fiber, 1 gram of protein, 0 grams of sugar, 30 mg of sodium

Peanut Butter & Co. Smooth Operator

Peanut butter is one of my favorite foods on earth (along with ice cream) so I figured it should be my first review! I have tried dozens of peanut butters and this is my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE. I eat peanut butter every day.. usually on Martins Whole Wheat Bread.  But this peanut butter tastes incredible on just about anything. It is the perfect combination of creamy and thick. It has that stick-to-the-top-of-your-mouth feeling, as all peanut butters should. 

If that couldn't be better, its nutritional stats are top-notch. It is made of only four ingredients: peanuts, evaporated cane juice, palm fruit oil, and salt. Forget the crazy ingredient list of leading brands, this is the way that peanut butter SHOULD be made. The plam fruit oil is used so that the peanut butter will not separate (since it is no-stir) and it has evaporated cane juice to give it that perfect amount of sweetness. Its only downfall is that you may not be able to put down your spoon...


nutritional information (per 2 tablespoons) : 180 calories (10-20 less calories than most!), 8 grams of carbs, 2 grams of fiber, 7 grams of protein, 3 grams of sugar, 100 mg of sodium.


What is your favorite peanut butter?!?