Popcorn Again

Thanks for the popcorn comments. I need to state that I don't like microwave popcorn. I bought a box of 100 calorie popcorn back in March and there are still some packages left in the box. When my hubby makes himself microwave popcorn (the real stuff) I have to leave the room because I can't stand the smell of it. I don't know why I'm so weird, but I am.

In the past, I used my Stir Crazy to make popcorn. I could use one tablespoon of oil to pop 1/2 cup of popcorn. I have tried to reduce the oil and the popcorn with my Stir Crazy, but I haven't obtained good results. The oil just adds too many points.

And another way I'm weird: I actually like air-popped popcorn.

So on a whim this afternoon, I drove out to our Wally World. They had the Presto PowerPop microwave popcorn maker I had read about. They also had plenty of the cardboard disks for when I run out. $14.95--I bought it on the spot. $2.19 for an 8-pack of cardboard disks.

I came home, scanned the directions, washed the bowl and lid (because I'm weird), dried them, and inserted the cardboard thing--which should last for 12 or more batches without oil. I measured 1/3 cup, which came out to exactly 80 grams of kernels, and threw it in the microwave. Three minutes and 45 seconds later, I had a *huge* bowl of popcorn. It popped so well, the lid raised up! I counted 7 unpopped kernels. I was thrilled!

No longer do I have to clean the counter of popcorn gone wild. It usually shoots everywhere and I'm always picking up kernels off the counter, plus popped corn. My dogs always enjoyed catching the popcorn that fell on the floor. No more.

I ate every last drop of popcorn. Well, I had three border collies sitting at my feet and they each got several bites. My 80 grams of popcorn = 240 calories, 3 grams of fat and 12 grams of fiber. A whopping 4 Weight Watchers points. It was popcorn heaven. It was a lot of popcorn.

Next time I need a snack, I'll cut it in half. The amount of popcorn I ended up with was more than my hubby gets in his microwave bags. We have a dedicated popcorn bowl, and the microwave version fills it, mine overflowed.

I was very impressed and shocked by the popcorn popper. It did have great reviews at Amazon and other places on the net. I'm happy, because I can measure my popcorn and actually consume what I've weighed out. No more 50% loss with the air popper!

One final note, I found that the popcorn was actually better than air-popped. Sometimes air-popped can be a bit, um, chewy. This had the perfect texture. Yay.

Dare I admit further weirdness? I don't salt my popcorn. lol Sometimes I spray some ICBINB or butter-flavored Pam, sometimes not. =)

Gag, Sputter, Eww, GROSS!

Nothing in life is free.

When you find a product that claims the entire package is 40 calories, 1 fat gram and 4 fiber grams, which equals a solid 0 points, be leery.

I bought five bags of shiratake tofu noodles today while I was in the big city. I was so excited! Hungry Girl says they're just like spaghetti! They're getting rave reviews all over the internet.

If you have an issue with food texture: DO NOT BELIEVE this propaganda.

Actually, the taste of the noodles was fine. It did taste like spaghetti.

The texture? It was the grossest thing I have ever eaten in my life. I tried a noodle after I had rinsed and dried it and I gagged. I then par boiled it, rinsed and tried again. I gagged. I then added some spaghetti sauce that was in the fridge. The taste was fine, but I gagged and gagged. My son ended up eating my dinner.

It tasted just like spaghetti. I will never believe that people cannot tell the difference, though. The things are rubbery. They don't break down. I didn't find them slimy at all.

I have read on the internet that people cut them up and just kind of slurp them down to avoid the rubber texture. I do not slurp. I masticate.

I tried these over an hour ago and honestly, I am still having a gag reaction to the things. I will probably have nightmares about them, my reaction was that bad. It was gross. I'd rather eat over-cooked disgusting, slimy vegetables than these things.

If you do not have a problem with food texture, you will probably love these.

Ewwww. I have the willies.

Product Review: Fiber One Lowfat Milkshake

Today at Wal-mart, I made a new discovery: Fiber One Lowfat Milkshake. They were located next to the soy milk.

I bought a couple, but they are expensive. $1.66 for 10.5 oz. I know they had a vanilla flavor, and I can't remember if they had strawberry or not. Of course if it has chocolate on it, that's what I'll pick.

Calories: 140
Fat: 3 g
Fiber: 8

2 WW points

Taste: It's okay. To me it tastes like a McDonald's milkshake that has melted. lol I think if it were ice cold it would be a touch better, but I did my shopping and then had it out on the counter while I put groceries away, so it wasn't ice cold.

Will I buy it again? I'm not sure. I think it's expensive. I'll have to try one that is ice cold. If I were really craving a shake, though, I might get one. I might pour it in my Vita-mix and throw some ice cubes in to give it a real shake feel. It's pretty thick, so I don't think a few ice cubes would water it down too much.

~~~
I just noticed the expiration date for the two bottles I bought is May 24 It's May 25. Lovely, Wal-mart. lol Lovely, ME, for not checking.

We're going to grill hot dogs for supper tonight. I finally found Hebrew 97% Fat Free hot dogs at our Wal-mart. We'll have some baked chips, baked beans a great big salad and maybe I'll have that other shake since it has already expired.

Fishy

Last night we tried Talapia for the first time. I found it in the freezer section at Wal-mart, just as Jessica at Pudget blogged about.

I'm not a fish eater. Tuna, I love. Fish, well, it's fishy. Of course I used to love the deep-fat fried salmon patties Mom used to make when I was a kid, but that's a no-no now.

I was actually surprised by the Talapia. It didn't taste bad. It wasn't bad at all. I had 4 ounces, which was 100 calories. That surprised the heck out of me. It was 2 WW points. My hubby prepared the fish with lemon juice and butter-flavor Pam and pan fried them.

We need to learn how to cook it, though, because it was kind of bland. We both put too much salt on it at the table. I added ICBINB (only I use the Parkay brand) butter spray to mine as well.

The only bad thing was I was hungry, very hungry, an hour after dinner. We had the fish, rice and a salad.

(My son loved it, and he's as picky as I am.)

So I will definitely buy it again, search for different ways to prepare it, and enjoy the fact that there is a fish out there besides tuna that I will eat. I need to get creative with the meal, though, to bulk it up a bit so I stay full. That will be easy to figure out.

I don't know if Talapia is a heart-healthy fish or not. We'll eat it, though, to add variety.

Next time we have fish, it will be Salmon fillets, again found at Wal-mart.

So the moral of the story is: Yes, you can get a picky eater (me!) to try new foods and actually like them. Now to get that to work veggies. ;-)

Recipe Review

FINALLY...after having this on my menu since forever, I finally made the Crockpot Cheeseburgers.

Instead of browning the burger, I boiled it. That's a great way to lower fat in ground beef. Once it's boiled, blot it with paper towels, then rinse it. It reduces calories by a great deal. See this website for more information. Boiling also takes zero effort, and the meat crumbles so easily when done. I add my seasonings after boiling the beef.

My hubby and son loved it. They have asked that this become a repeat recipe.

Son wished for more cheese, but I said instead he could put a slice on his bun. He didn't think it would be as good that way because it wouldn't be all melted in.

I thought it was missing something. What, I don't know. I added a little too much to mine. It was good, moist, and filling. I think I would have enjoyed something tomato-y in it. They wouldn't, though.

Personally, I'd rather have a hamburger. BUT...this will help us use up that ground beef that's in our freezer.

I did not snap a picture, shame on me!


Crock Pot Cheeseburgers
POINTS® Values Per Serving 4
Servings 10
1 1/2 pound 90% lean/10% fat raw ground beef
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
8 oz Kraft Velveeta Light Reduced-Fat Pasteurized Processed Cheese Product
2 Tbsp fat-free skim milk
1 medium green pepper(s)
1 cup onion(s)
2 clove garlic clove(s)

BROWN GROUND BEEF WITH GARLIC, PEPPER UNTIL COOKED IN A SKILLET. DRAIN. COMBINE COOKED MEAT AND ALL REMAINING INGREDIENTS IN CROCKPOT. MIX WELL AND COOK ON LOW 6-7 HOURS. SERVE: SPOON INTO BUNS. COUNT THE POINTS FOR YOUR BUN SEPARATE.

or

Crockpot Cheeseburgers 1 1/2 Pounds Lean (96/4) Ground Beef 1/4 teaspoon Garlic Salt 1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper 2 Tablespoons Skim Milk 1 Cup Chopped Onion 2 Cloves Garlic 1 Tablespoon Prepared Mustard 1 Tablespoon Pickle Relish 8 oz. Velveeta Light Cheese Brown the ground beef in a large skillet until no longer pink. Spray crockpot with non-stick cooking spray. Place the cooked ground beef into the prepared crockpot followed by the garlic salt, pepper, milk, onion, garlic, mustard, relish and cheese. Stir to combine. Cover and cook on low for 2-3 hours. Stir and serve on hamburger buns for additional points. Serves: 10 (1/3 cup each)

Product Review: Fiber Gourmet Pasta

This past weekend, I ordered a sample pack of Fiber Gourmet Light pasta. The sample pack contained two packages each of Penne, Rotini and Fettuccine. Each box has 8 ounces of pasta.

The total cost for the pasta was $22 for the sample pack, plus shipping for a total of $27.99. I ordered on the weekend, and first thing Monday morning I got an email from the company that gave me the tracking number. Meaning: they ship fast. The pasta arrived yesterday.

Each serving of pasta has 18 grams of insoluble fiber, 1 gram of fat and 130 calories, 40 percent fewer calories than regular pasta.

I decided to whip up some Rotini and cheese. I poured out 56 grams of pasta on my scale.

Note to self: Next time I do a food picture, use a bowl that does not have a chip and rust stain! And clean up that food scale, sheesh.

I put that on to boil and measured out 28 grams of Kraft 2% Velveeta. It's hard to measure that! I thought it didn't look like enough, so I ended up using 2 ounces rather than 1. One would have been fine, for the amount of pasta. It would have been a light, cheesy taste rather than a really cheesy taste, but 2 ounces added 3 points as opposed to 1 point for 1 ounce.

This is the end result:


It was DELICIOUS.

BOTTOM LINE:

Pasta quality: Great!

It had a lighter color than any of my pasta here--that was the only noticeable difference.

If I had to give it a percentage rating of how close it was to "real" pasta, I'd give it a 97-98. It was that close.

Recommendation: BUY IT! I will be a happy customer with this company from here on out.

I think that the greatest thing about this pasta is that it will teach me portion control. At 18 grams of fiber per serving, I will not be bingeing on it. I will not be going back for second helpings. I would not do that to my body because I know what fiber does. So to me, that is a huge added bonus. I will slow down and savor every bite!

I am very happy.

Sliced Cheese

I'm working on my grocery list for this week, and I had planned on going to Hy-Vee instead of Wally World. The thing is, they only have Kraft 2% sliced cheese, and Wal-Mart has Borden's.

I will make an extra trip to Wal-Mart for the Borden's. It tastes that much better. Still a point a slice, it's cheesier. I think it might have a touch more fat in it. All I know is that it's good.

Lean Cuisine's Mac and Cheese

One word: Yuck.

6 points of chemical-tasting food. From my first bite to my last, it tasted like I was eating a science experiment.

Not worth it for me. Will work on a homemade recipe.

I have often wondered how many overweight people out here love mac and cheese. It's always available at buffets, it's a huge seller at grocery stores. When our homeschool group toured one of our local grocery stores, they told us it was one of their highest sellers. Who knew? Me, because I love it. (Probably one reason I'm fat!)

DH hates it. DS will eat it on occasion.

So I'm off to scour some healthier recipes or make my own.

I do like to freeze food, and I wonder if I cook the mac al dente if it would freeze well.

My hubby asked me if I was ready to give mac and cheese up. I told him no way, it's one of my favorite things. What I need to do is find a healthier recipe and learn to eat in small quantities. Dare I admit that I can and have eaten an entire box of Kraft in one sitting? I need to learn it's a side dish, not a main dish. And a half a cup of it savored is better than an entire box.