"makin groceries"

i did some grocery shopping sunday afternoon and wanted to share some of my finds. i would love to hear of the great grocery finds you guys are finding also and that have helped you stay on the program.

please comment!! i know you guys are reading! and if you're registered "follow" me.. i'd love to see who all is out there reading this and start a conversation going on here. thanks!

now to business:

grocery shopping at wal-mart i picked up these items.

breakdown:

digiorno crispy flatbread pizza with a fairly low S/C value compared to most pizzas

classico pasta sauce on sale with low S/C

pepperjack cheese sticks. great snack for 0/0

fast bacon i can stick in the microwave for 30 seconds 0/0

avocados 0/0 and on sale!

some new dark chocolate. tried the 90% and it's a little too dark for me, but i'm anxious to try the ghiradelli

bagel thins have a fairly low S/C value

mediterannean chip mix love this. i think it's a value of 3/1

gardetto's!! i love this and was afraid to look at the S/C value. i was pleasantly surprised to find it is an S/C value of 0/0

then there's some tea, cheeses, heavy cream and sour cream for recipes

and an S/C value of 0/0 for the beef/cheese stick for a snack

right away this is what i did with the gardetto's. they're ready to go!!

then i stopped at vitamin city in san dimas which is a small little health food store i love and they have good prices and then also stopped at trader joe's

i purchased a bag of xylitol which is an alternative sweetener supposedly without the harmful affects of equal, sweet and low and splenda. actually it has a really great taste. but i hear you have to be careful if you consume too much you can get stomach pains and diarrhea. i made a cheesecake yesterday and also some homemade lemonade using this and it's really delicious, but i'm going to be careful not to overdo it since i'd prefer not to have those side effects. these think thin bars/bites are pretty good. a little higher on the carb count, but no sugar and they are pretty good. i had read about some people using coconut milk as opposed to almond milk saying it tastes more like "real" milk. they lie!!!! it's awful!!! i wish i could get my money back. i think i'm going to experiment with it though because i think with the coconut flavor it may make cereal taste good or may be a nice base for ice cream. i'll see what i come up with, but i surely cannot drink this straight. if anyone has any ideas or suggestions i'd love to hear them! then of course a nice piece of parrano cheese. my favorite!!! i know i've mentioned it before, but really.. it is my favorite. and then nature's hollow sugar free ketchup and sugar free syrup. i don't use ketchup too often, but if i'm having a burger or some chicken i do use it. these are both sweetened with xylitol so it should taste really well, but i believe it does give it a carb count so i'll have to be sure to remember to take this into consideration

for my mother...

i've been saying i am going to post this because i've been telling my mother about it and promising i'd post.

this is actually in jorge's book and is becoming one of my favorites.

fage (greek yogurt) with a strawberry banana swirl. what i have done is put 1/2 cup portions in these little plastic containers so that when i'm running out of the house in the morning or need a quick snack to grab they are already measured out and ready to take. they do sell them in single serving sizes, but it is a little cheaper in the larger container and i like the additional room in my own containers to add things to mine.

i start out with the yogurt and since it is a bit flavorless i tried adding a packet of truvia. i think i'll do this next time as well.

 

then i measure them out into these nifty little cups. and this is the magic ingredient!!

Barlean's Organic Oils Omega Swirl Flax Oil in strawberry banana.

i wait until I'm ready to eat it and then i get to the center of the yogurt with my spoon and squirt about a tablespoon in the center and then push the top layer of yogurt back and then squirt about another tablespoon on top. i noticed that if i squirt it all on top and then mix it all up the great flavor of this gets lost in the yogurt.

so, don't swirl!!

i stopped at the vitamin shoppe last week looking for some protein powder and found they had these. i had previously purchased mine at vitamin world which is a tiny natural food store in san dimas. they are a little pricy, but i believe worth the price. you're getting two tablespoons of flax oil and you don't have to take it in a capsule or down a disgusting spoonful of it. i was nervous to spend so much on this because i thought it would be disgusting and have a strange flavor, but it's actually really delicious and doesn't have any funky aftertaste at all. this is definitely one of my favorites and i can't wait to try the other flavors as well.

if you're looking for other ways to make your plain yogurt yummy you can also get some almond ezekeiel cereal and sprinkle a little on top for a little added crunch. i have uncle sam so i may try that the next time also since i really need the added fiber. i have also heard you can sprinkle a little truvia and cinnamon and i'm thinking maybe even a little vanilla or almond extract may be nice although i'm not sure if there's sugar in that or not. anyone?? i'll have to look into it because there's no nutritional information on mine. also, from time to time these little tidbits are yummy as well though they do have quite a bit of sugar so be careful!! i love these gogi berries and cacao nibs. they are a bit expensive, but they last a long time. sometimes i even mix them in with a tiny baggy of pecans or almonds as a snack.

and for a really tasty treat. if you have an ice cream maker!! this is the one i have... and LOOOOVE

Cuisinart ICE-20 Automatic 1-1/2-Quart Ice-Cream Maker, White

you can mix up your sweener of choice with the yogurt and then throw it in here. the reason i LOVE this one so much is that you don't need ice or special salts. you freeze the inner portion in the freezer and then when you're ready to use it you just turn it on and pour your mixture in. that's it! in about 20 minutes you have delicious homemade ice cream. one mistake i made once though is i used an ice cream mixture that needed to be heated over the stove. i didn't take into consideration that i should have made sure to get the mixture cool before i put it in the machine. so the heated mixture heated up the machine too much and i had soupy ice cream. so, make sure whatever you are putting in is cool or cold first. other than that it is pretty quick and simple and foolproof and you can get as creative as you want with it.

i found these little...

morsels of yumminess.

these are from trader joe's which is another reason i LOVE california. we don't have trader joe's in louisiana. 

these little lovelies are an S/C value of 1/1 for a little over 2 cups.

so... this is what i have done to help me prepare for my busy life starting tomorrow.

this is our snack counter in the laundry room as we head out to the garage. so, i have measured them out and labled them with the S/C value. i've also measured out some nuts as quick grab snack bags also.

i'm hoping this helps to keep me on track when i'm hungry and need things fast and don't have time to count.

now, if you don't have a trader joe's nearby there are often corn puff type snacks like this you can find in the chip section at just about any grocery store. i also had picked up some cheddar ones for $2 at albertsons. and for an even healthier option there's pirates booty snacks. i didn't get the pirate's booty ones because i found them at an expensive little health store and they were very pricey for just a little bit. i'm going to wait and see if i find any better deals next time i go to the store.