SUPER Cookies!

These cookies were on sale at Mom's Organic Market, so I picke.d up a couple of flavors that sounded good. The Ginger Snaps ended up being my favorite. They're very ginger-y delicious. :)

If you have a huge cookie craving, these probably aren't going to help you beat it, but I do find that they satiate any general craving I have for something sweet. Also, these cookies are small and low in calorie, so you get a lot for a serving which helps me feel as though I've gotten a lot to eat.

I really like their ingredient list:

Organic coconut (unsulphured), sprouted organic sesame seeds, organic dates, and organic ginger powder

Short and simple. :)

If you're looking for a tasty sweet snack I recommend trying these!

Right now I'm snacking on a few of these and waiting for Sandy to hit. I live in Northern Virginia, so we've been hearing various things from the news about when the storm will hit and how bad it will be. I think they've settled on tomorrow afternoon and Tuesday being the times when there will be high winds and hard rain. Also, it seems that the power companies are already quite certain that a lot of people will be out of power. When the durecho hit this summer, we were out of power for a couple days. Here's hoping that the effects of this storm are minimal and that people stay safe!

~ Susan

More Creamsicle Goodness

I've been making "creamsicle shakes" for breakfast for the past couple of days. Here are some variations on the standard recipe:

 

Banana Creamsicle

Ingredients:
1/2 c. orange juice
1/2 c. soy milk
1 banana 

StrawBana Creamsicle

Ingredients:
1/2 c. orange juice
1/2 c. soy milk
5 strawberries
1/2 banana

Berry Creamsicle

Ingredients:

1/2 c. orange juice

1/2 c. soymilk

1/4 c. frozen blueberries

1/4 c. frozen strawberries

1/4 c. frozen raspberries

 

Instructions:
Add fruit to the blender with the soy milk, orange juice, and (if you like) some ice. Blend until smooth and serve.

Make sure you use calcium-enriched soymilk and orange juice in order to get in a good dose of calcium! I also make sure to use organic soymilk and berries whenever I can. Any of these "shakes" will provide you will a good amount of soy isoflavones and Vitamin C. :)

~ Susan

Creamsicle

I used to love Orange Juliuses. You used to be able to get them at my mall, but the stand closed down a long time ago. I've recently been craving the taste, so I tried out a kind  of weird combination, but in my mind it tastes just like an Orange Julius. For anyone who hasn't ever had an Orange Julius, it's like a Creamsicle that you drink. Try this knockoff version!

Ingredients:
Orange juice
Vanilla soymilk (light soymilk actaully works best; it mixes better)

Directions:
1. Combine equal parts of orange and vanilla soymilk in a glass/cup/shaker/blender/whatever you want.
2. Mix it up, then drink it up.
Yum!

I also spotted this bar at Whole Foods recently:



I wouldn't say it tasted exactly like an orange float, but it was delicious.

~ Susan

My Favorite Teas

I just started out my day with a cup of tea. I like coffee, but I don't like the way I make it, lol. For me, steeping tea is much easier and harder to mess up than making coffee. I love black and green teas. My favorite varieties are chai teas and fruity green teas. For the past month, these have been my favorite teas:

Tazo Organic Chai

The spices give this tea a dessert-like flavor, making it taste like I'm drinking something full of calories even though I'm not.

Tazo Decaf Chai

I like drinking chai tea at night when I crave something sweet. However, black tea has caffeine, so at night I drink the decaffeinated version.

Yogi Green Tea Blueberry Slim Life

I love saying this tea's name: "I'm going to drink some Blueberry Slim Life!" I don't know, it sounds so funny. Also, this tea is delicious and really helps to numb my my appetite. I like to drink this in the morning before breakfast because it helps me feel more awake and light and when I get home from work to prevent me from overeating.

Yogi Skin Detox

I don't love how this tea tastes; however, I do think this has been helping my skin. This could totally be a placebo effect - maybe I break out less because I'm less stressed out about my skin because I think this is helping me. :)

If I'm out and order tea at a restaurant, I take milk and sugar with my black teas. I don't keep milk in the house, so I usually just add a packet of Truvia to my cup. Depending on what sort of green tea I'm drinking, I usually take it plain.

I own loose teas too, but recently I've been finding them more trouble then they're worth - it's a pain to pack the infuser and clean it out, plus the cups of tea I make with my infuser aren't as strong as the ones I make with bags.

What are your favorite teas? Are there any that I should try out?

~ Susan

Target Fruit Smoothie

To prep for days when I don't feel like chopping up a bunch of fruit for my smoothies, I picked up a couple bags of smoothies from the frozen section of my local Target - you just add water and blend. I was drawn to them because they were actually cheaper per pound than frozen fruit.

 I should have check the bags a little bit more closely! These bags come with frozen fruit and a "smoothie packet." I assumed that the packet just contained yogurt... and it does, but the first ingredient is sugar! I don't need anymore sugar in my smoothies, fruit is sweet enough!

I will grab some plain bags of frozen fruit the next time I'm at the grocery store. All I do is put in some non-fat yogurt and fruit into a blender, and I'm good to go. If the smoothie is a bit thick, I add water or orange juice to thin it out. Tomorrow I think I'll have a blueberry smoothie, hold the "smoothie packet." :)

~ Susan

Smoothie of the day: banana, blueberry, blackberry, raspberry, yogurt... and added sugar /:

Quaker Oatmeal Real Medleys

Have you tried the new Quaker Oat Real Medleys?

so. darn. good.

I have a HUGE sweet tooth, so I'm always looking for healthier sweet things to snack on/eat as a meal. I picked a couple of these up at Target, and they are DELICIOUS! The Cherry Pistachio Oatmeal flavor is better than a piece of cake - try it!

In college I would eat a Quaker Oats Express cup, but these new cups are healthier - they have better, cleaner ingredients. There is some added sugar, but that's okay. They also have 250+ calories each, so I eat these alone as a snack or with a serving of dairy as a meal. :)

Because they're individually-packaged, they do have extra waste, so I would only eat these as a special treat, if you have no time to make breakfast at home, or you're really craving something sweet.

You can get a coupon for 50 cents off here.

~ Susan

Food on the Go

Here are the snacks that I brought with me (times 10) on my trip.

• Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Larabar
• Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Larabar
• Chocolate Chip Cherry Torte Larabar
• Craisins
• Applesauce

These are the same snacks I like to have with me in my bag at work in case I need something to tide me over until I get off. (I also bring apples, bananas, and baby carrots to work.)

~ Susan

Healthy Dessert

One of my favorite things to eat as a snack/dessert is a baked apple.

I like Granny Smiths the best :)

I slice two small apples very thinly, then sprinkle on some stevia and spices. Bake in an oven at 400 degrees F for about 30 minutes.

So yummy and filling!

P.S. - apples have some of the highest levels of pesticides, so I make sure to buy organic. I buy bags of organic apples, and they actually end up being cheaper per pound than conventional apples.

~ Susan