Thursday Review

Today I wanted to give you a glimpse into what I consider a life saver for me. 

I get bored quite easily and search almost daily for ways to entertain myself and my taste buds.  This handy dandy contraption has been my go to and my life saver!

All I can say is what won’t it do?

The one thing I find that I do with it the most is make smoothies.  I buy an abundance of frozen fruit (being that it's the dead of winter, I miss my summer fruits, buying it frozen is the next best thing and it's just as good for you) and use it along with a cup of skim milk (the cup of skim milk is 2 points, the frozen fruit is zero points) and sometimes I’ll throw in a ½ cup of O.J. (2 points) and voila! I have this!

When I’m working long shifts I’ll blend in protein powder and leave out the O.J. (the protein powder…the one I use anyway is 1 or 2 points, it’s been a while since I’ve used it) and it will last the whole day. 

It cleans up like a dream, except for the occasional strawberry that wants to be a pain in the butt, then you just need to assemble the whole thing add in a little water and a drop or two of your dish detergent and blend it all up, then rinse.

For me, given the price (I got mine through QVC) I felt it was a steal.  It shreds ice in no time flat and can handle anything you want to blend up.  When going to write this, I noticed that they now offer regular blender options, which wasn’t available when I was making this purchase last year.  Should this one ever give up the ghost, I’ll be looking into one of those!

All of this yummyness and just FOUR points!!!

I hope that if you’re looking for a new smoothie maker/blender you find this review helpful!

Nummy review...

This is a review that I meant to do a few weeks ago when it was pertinent to my situation.

Back when I wasn’t able to eat after my surgery because I wasn’t coming out of it well (the medications were messing with my stomach something awful) The Wonder One got me some Jell-O Sugar Free Rice Pudding. 

I have to say that this is some of the most awful, horrible stuff I’ve ever put to my lips. It was almost mealy like.  If it’s possible for pudding to have that sort of consistency, while I understand it was a rice pudding, I don’t know.  I guess I was thinking it was going to have a more tapioca like consistency.  It just did not taste good to me at all.

To be fair, I was sick and my stomach was on a roller coaster, so if you should want to try it, do so at your own risk.

I for one, won’t be repurchasing it.

Nummy review...

For quite some time now I’ve been wanting to go vegetarian.  Not really for any particular reason other than I know it’s a more heart healthy way of eating.  Also a part of me is hoping that it’ll help me to shed some weight.  As well I’ve tried a few meat substitute products and found them to be pretty good.

A few are lacking and with The Wonder One’s underwhelming response to go vegetarian it’s difficult.  Not to mention the fact that frequently it’s not very budget friendly.  Which really sucks!  So here and there I’ve been trying a few things and hope to slide them across the table to The Wonder One to see what he has to say. 

 

But until that time comes…

Here’s what I have to say about one product that I recently tried by Morning Star Farms, called Corn Dogs. 

OH EM GEE!!!

After you are done reading this, do not walk but run…NAY get in the car and RACE to the nearest store and buy out their stock of this stuff!  They are so tasty that they truly make me want to try more of their products!  I’ve already tried their starter crumbles for my chili and seriously?  Once done, you cannot tell that there is no meat in my chili.  Not one bit.

As for these corn dogs, they remind me of the ones that we’d get at the fair as a kid only they aren’t greasy AND they are only 4 points per dog.  So you can eat them and relish in the fact that you are having something that’s “good for you” which it kinda sorta is (by not clogging your arteries) and low in points! With Weight Watchers it's 4 points per dog!  

The only hitch (there’s always one isn’t there?) is that there is only 4 in the box, so you need to buy them when they’re on sale or else they are VERY pricey.  But these sorts of products are usually on sale fairly often.

Give them a try and let me know what you think.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news Cheerleaders =C I just saw at the very bottom of the label (of course in the smallest print possible) that the product has wheat, soy, egg and milk ingredients.  I'm so very sorry if you have any allergies to any of these items =C as I AM trying to find items that are fitting for everyone.  Stick with me folks, I'm still on the look out for you.

Thursday Review...

Normally you'll find Thursday's reviews centered around tasty treats that make your meal (or snack) planning a little easier.  Well this week will be a wee bit different.

What brings this to mind is my swim lesson on Tuesday.  When The Wonder One and I were making our plans for afterwards I had to do a bit of planning for myself and part of that was of a personal nature.  You see, we were planning on going out to lunch and a movie after swimming so I needed to pack light.  I didn't want to have to pack a suitcase and all my gear as though I'd be packing for a weekend getaway.  Then I'd remembered a while back I'd picked up this ...

I took my shower and all that but not having to bring my deodorant (one less thing to worry about) was, needless to say, a blessing.

And yes, it really is waterproof!  I was skeptical but I went with it figuring that if it didn't work where we would be, we were near a Target and if need be, I could always pick up a personal item or two if it was needed.  Thankfully it wasn't!

I am happy to say (oddly enough) that while my skin reeked of chlorine, my bits didn't reek at all, lol.  For me, it really did work.  I didn't notice a particular fragrance to this particular selection.  I did notice that my underarm skin wasn't wet when I got out of the pool like the rest of my skin was. I highly recommend checking this one out.  While I do have to warn you that the price will put you into sticker shock because it IS expensive. Considering that normally you can pick up regular Secret for maybe $2 to $3 a container, this is about $10 to $12 depending on where you get it.  However, look in the discount/discontinue bin, that's where I found mine.  Doesn't mean it's being discontinued, but maybe that particular fragrance is or the packaging is.   Worth a look anyway.  Regardless, it really IS worth it in my humble opinion even at double the price.

Thanks for stopping by cheerleaders.

Till next time.

Toodles.

Thursday Review...

Today's review is with regard to a toss n' go product....

One thing that I don't do enough of is drink enough water.  Something that I do that helps me to reach that goal is I use those little flavor packets that different companies put out.  First Crystal Light put them out then store brands followed suit when those were successful.  I found that my favorite are from Wal*Mart, the Great Value brand.  The reason being is that they have a wide variety of flavors and at $1.74 for a box of 10, they are a grand bargain and you don't feel guilty for picking up 2 or 3 of them!

My favorite flavor at the moment is Cherry Limeaid, which is soooo yummy!  There are not words to describe the joy that this gives me, lol.  They are sweetened with Aspartame (which I know I want to get away from, but right now, I can't) and have artificial colorings in them.  At 5 calories a serving it's not quite a dietary steal, but still, it gets me drinking more water. 

Now.....if I can just drink water plain.....I'd be doing REALLY good....

Thursday Review...

Tasty Thursday review for you today cheerleaders.  This isn't one of those health food types of reviews, but if you wanted it to be, I suppose it could be.  I'll explain.

But first, let's take a look at what we're taste testing.

 

 These are thick and dense and as the name states.....CHEWY!   A lot of times what I will do is have one of these bars for breakfast with a piece of fruit and it's enough to get my stomach to stop all that grumbly in the tumbly stuff.  As well I'll shove one in my bag on the way out the door so if and when I can't get away for lunch I'll drink my bottle of water and eat this!  Doesn't ever EVER replace lunch, however it does get me through until I can eat a good and proper lunch.  Given that it's only 4 Weight Watcher points (whatever they're calling it this year) I think that's a pretty good deal!  It's not a huge bar, but it's big enough and chewy enough that you feel like you're getting something to eat.  I like them, I'd like to try some of the other flavors that the company offers.  I know when Fiber One (cereal) first came out there was a comic that made the joke "Fiber One ~ 20% more fiber than rope!"  Which as you can see by the label above it does have 9 grams of fiber.  Which is fantastic!  Our daily fiber intake is recommended at 25 grams to 30 grams and with the American diet being as processed as it is, one bar probably exceeds the average Americans intake to be honest.  So when I saw that this one little bar has that much fiber in it, I was sufficiently impressed!  So when The Wonder One and I finish off this supply, we're off to find some other flavors, it's worth the repurchase.

**Note to those with allergies:  It is made with peanut, milk, soy, almond, sunflower and wheat.  If you are sensitive to any of these ingredients or their byproducts, I'm sorry but this is another product, you'll have to skip.**

I promise, I'm on the look out for a product that I can review that is tasty and program friendly and allergen friendly for one and all, when I find it, I promise I will sound the alarms!

Thursday Review...

I'm always looking for ways to add variety to things that can become rather boring over time.  The Wonder One and I drink a LOT of soda and sometimes, it's just nice to have a little flavor.  So when I want to flavor it up, I grab a DaVinci Gourmet Zero Calorie Cherry Syrup (read that to be sugar free).







The nice thing about these syrups is that they have zero calories and they are sweetened with  Splenda, so when every calorie and chemical you put into your body counts, this is a nice tasty treat to add to pretty much anything you want to flavor, be it your soda or to drizzle on top of your ice cream!   Granted if you do drizzle it onto your ice cream it'll be a wee bit runny, because it's not that viscous, but let's face it, it's the flavor we're after with no added calories. lol

I found it at the Wbox of a store for $2 and some change in the same aisle as the coffees and teas and they've got a nice little assortment of flavors to choose from, Cherry was just the first one that was handy.  I also have White Chocolate and Amaretto (both Sugar Free) and both are just as yummy.  From what I can tell there isn't anything in them that stands out for anyone with food allergies, however if you've got food allergies to artificial food coloring or artificial sweeteners, then you'll have to give this a pass, but if you don't then by all means, look this up!