skinny snack

[Cacstus]

It's not exactly big news, but I kind of stumbled onto something that works well for me and though I'd share.

Searching around the Kroger store looking at labels I discovered that salsa or picante sauce has only about 10 calories per serving. That's great stuff to me, but the chips are just too high to have a snack that actually satisfies me. So I found another crispy item that is nice and lean...rice cakes. If you haven't tried rice cakes, DON'T! They are exactly like styrofoam! They might be good for making coolers, but not for dipping. My quest for a crunchy dipping snack ended in the veggie dept, with the celery! It has a great crunch, satisfying to chew, scoops up the picante like nobody's bidness, and the flavor actually compliments the sauce!

Well anyway, not exactly an earth-shapking revelation, but I got pretty excited knowing that I had found something I can truly enjoy without unwanted calories. I figure I can have a big dish of celery and almost a half jar of picante for a very satisfying 100 calorie snack (or meal substitute if you're an extremist like me).

Bon Appétit!

[Drax]

Interesting, Hekk...

But on an even more important topic. ... YOU HAVE A KROGER'S IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD!! The last time StL area had a Kroger's was around 1990! Kroger, in my family, is memorable since that was the only place you could buy Jello Chocolate Chip Pudding mix. :)

Back to topic, carrots are a great snack item too. 4oz of carrots (some stores, like Schnucks and Dierbergs, sell 3-"4oz packs" packages) is exactly 0 pts if you're doing the weight watchers program, tastes great, and goes well with tons of dip or au natural. :)

Mustard is also 0 pts, so if you're feeling adventuresome, try some mustardized carrots and let us know how it went! :lol:

[Cacstus]

well it just so happens that I HAVE one of them thar bags o' carrots, and who doesn't have mustard?

hmmm
interesting...

Well it's not bad. I'd say nowhere near a corn dog or soft pretzel with mustard, but it's decent. Not as strange tasting as it is strange sounding, haha! Of course the carrots are killer with ranch dressing, but that's kind of working in the wrong direction!

Another thing I've been doing is eating the grape tomatoes. I've been a tomater hater ere since I was a little kid and I still don't much care for them, but the grape-sized ones are different! Honest! I really like those.

As for points, I did that for a while with Typeopos when we were together and it worked well (for me). I don't have the books or anything and am too lazy to go to the trouble of getting them so I just watch my calories and eat stuff that I know is low cal/low fat with some decent nutrtional value.

Hold on there! While snacking on mustardized carrots as I wrote this, I came to realize what that flavor combo is...
Dill pickles! If someone had you close your eyes and fed you one of those baby carrots with mustard, you would absoultely think it was a very crunch baby dill pickle! I'm not kidding!

OK! Experiment time...
Carrots with ground cinnamon-eh
Carrots with ground allspice- nah
Carrots with dill- nope
Carrots with pure vanilla extract- yuck
Carrots with Cavender's All Purpose Greek Seasoning- decent but a bit salty
Carrots with whats-dis-here sauce- pretty decent, but makes me think of something elso, so...
Portabella slices with whats-dis-here...this could work!
Portabella slices with whats-dis-here, nuked for a minute or two...pretty good. I need to develop this one. I think maybe doing a sautee will make this one great. Or maybe it needs soy instead. Maybe soy is too salty though. Got any suggestions?

[Drax]

Carrots with ground cinnamon
My family has a recipe (one of my favorites) of cinnamon carrots that is fantastic! I'll post the recipe here when I can, which may not be until the weekend. It's very simple and a great dish for company. Not healthy as is, but I'm sure some of the creative cooks could fancy the proper substitutions to make it so. :)

[Caylor]

Another thing I've been doing is eating the grape tomatoes. I've been a tomater hater ere since I was a little kid and I still don't much care for them, but the grape-sized ones are different! Honest! I really like those.

Those are the best! I would like to find a few plants to add to my garden if I can. Wash and eat! Thats the best it can be!

I look forward to the cinnamon carrot recipe. It sounds really good!

I like to snack on cucumber slices...they also hold onto salsa pretty well. And are pointless for the Weight Watchers. I have also cut salsa with alittle ranch dressing to get that extra mouth feel.. not an equal substitute, but a nice compromise.

[Drax]

I look forward to the cinnamon carrot recipe. It sounds really good!
Oops. Forgot. :oops:

Will try to remember to post it one evening this week. :)

[Cacstus]

Cover them with butter and brown sugar, generously shake on the ground cinnamon, and bake covered until tender.

Just like Thanksgiving!

Not exactly skinny , but good....

Pass the jellied cranberry sauce!

[Drax]

Cover them with butter and brown sugar, generously shake on the ground cinnamon, and bake covered until tender
Um, yeah... :)

Specifically ...

Ingredients -
2 small packs of carrots
1/3 cup oleo
1/2 cup sugar
1tsp salt
1/3 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup boiling water

Peel carrots and place in casserole dish. Cream oleo, sugar, & cinnamon. Add water and blend well. Pour over carrots. Cover. Bake for 1.5hrs at 350ºC. Serves 6-8 people.

Very easy to make, very low maintenance side dish.

Enjoy. :)