A Few of My Favorite Things...

My slacker blogdom has come to a close...it's time for another feature post!

I want to share with you a few of my favorite things, specifically some products that help me make the dishes I eat with the greatest frequency: sandwiches and smoothies!

Sandwiches
Arnold Sandwich Thins
A few months ago, Rena from Arnold Bread was kind enough to send me a few packages of their elusive sandwich thins. These English muffin-sliced bread hybrids make for quite the versatile meal component. You can enjoy them plain, toasted as an accompaniment to a meal, spread with your favorite condiments (almond butter, anyone?), or assembled into your favorite sandwich. They also make a pretty awesome crust for hummus pizza! Arnold's sandwich thins have a subtle sweetness to them, which I find to be a nice complement to savory and sweet items.
Here are a few of my favorite ways to enjoy sandwich thins:
Sandwich Thins are available in two varieties, whole wheat, and whole grain white. Each sandwich thin contains 5 grams of protein and 6 grams of fiber, all for a mere 100 kcalories. Plus, they are free of high fructose corn syrup, which can be rare nowadays in the bread aisle. The suggested retail price is $2.99 for a package of 8. Unfortunately, sandwich thins are available only is select areas of the country

Edited to add: I have been informed that Sandwich Thins contain sucralose, explaining their sweetness. If you would prefer to avoid sucralose, then these might not be the right product for you.

Trader Joe's Reduced Sugar Blueberry Preserves
When it comes to PB & J, are you a strawberry or a grape person? Personally, I am neither--I much prefer TJ's blueberry jam. Why settle for the ordinary when you can have the extraordinary? Although I do not have a TJ's near me, I make it a point to stop in for a jar of this deliciousness whenever I visit Chicago. As the name suggests, these preserves contain less sugar than regular jam...without the addition of artificial sweeteners. It's just berry goodness in this jar (plus a slew of antioxidants!)
While I enjoy this jam in combination with my favorite Sunbutter, you may choose to enjoy it in alternative ways. Consider stirring it into your oatmeal, spreading it on a sandwich thin, or using it as a topper for crackers and soft cheese.
Each tablespoon contains 30 kcalories, all from carbohydrate. You can find this at a Trader Joe's near you.

Smoothies
Nutribody Protein
Anyone who reads this blog knows that I have a particular infatuation with all things blended, specifically evening protein shakes. I am always experimenting with new protein powders so as to avoid boredom in my nightly smoothie-fest. I was fortunate enough to receive a canister of Nutribody Protein a few weeks ago. I'll admit, I was skeptical of this new vegan protein, but after one blended concoction, I was hooked. Nutribody is made from rice and pea protein, so for those of you who limit your soy intake, this provides an excellent alternative.
A generous 4-tablespoon serving provides approximately 120 kcalories and a whopping 26 grams of protein. Yikes! Nutribody is also entirely free of sugars and artificial sweeteners. Although I wish this powder contained some added minerals, such as calcium, overall, I would recommend this to any of my fellow smoothie enthusiasts out there.

Check out the Nutribody Website for more information about the product and about where to buy it. There are some recipes available as well!

Nature's Path Ginger Zing Granola
I'll admit that I was a die-hard pumpkin flax girl in the past, but I think I have been converted to the ginger-y side of granola. Who doesn't love the combination of spicy ginger and crunchy cashews? Ginger granola is a perfect topper to any smoothie of course, but it also makes a great topper for berries, applesauce, oatmeal, and cold cereal. If you're feeling more adventurous, try using it as a topping for spiced pumpkin or pumpkin pudding. Yum!

A 3/4 cup serving contains a 250 kcalories, which is far less than other granola products out there. In addition, there are 6 grams of protein, and 10 grams of healthy fat, along with 4 grams of fiber. I purchased my box at Whole Foods for $4.69. This price may strike you as high, but remember that granola is a food best enjoyed in moderation; a single box will last for an extended period of time.

I hope you enjoyed today's much delayed feature post. What are some of your favorite things?

Favorite Shortcuts

Like many of you, I sometimes find myself short on time, making lengthy meal preparation an impossibility. Also like many of you, I am a devout foodie, and am hesitant to sacrifice my taste buds for the sake of convenience and time. Fortunately, I've discovered a few products that make it so that I don't have to choose between meal time and study time--check out a few of my favorite shortcut products:

PomegranPlus Waffles
The thought of homemade waffles baking in the morning titillates my taste buds, but unfortunately, I have neither a waffle maker nor the time to prepare a batter from scratch. Frozen waffles to the rescue! While not as comfortingly delicious as homemade, I've found that Nature's Path provides a line of waffles that serve as excellent alternatives.
Although the HempPlus and FlaxPlus waffles suit me just fine, I recently decided to branch out and try a new variety: PomegranPlus. With whole wheat flour and oat bran as the main ingredients, and the conspicuous absence of animal products from the ingredients list, these waffles looked promising. Once toasted and topped with just a drizzle of agave, I soon realized that they had lived up to their promise.

The subtle fruitiness of the pomegranate provides a nice contrast to the usual overbearing blueberry varieties I have tried in the past. These waffles are sweet enough to enjoy without syrup or agave; there are already 5 grams of sugar baked right into the waffles. In addition, each two waffle serving contains 4 grams of fiber, 4 grams of fat, and 4 grams of protein, all for 160 kcalories.
If a knife and fork are too tedious for you, these waffles work wonderfully for waffle-wiches: simply spread with your favorite nut butter and squish a few banana slices between 2 waffles, and you've got an easy, no fuss breakfast.

I bought my 6-count box at Whole Foods for $3.39.

Pacific Butternut Squash Soup
I've featured boxed soups here before, but they merit multiple mentions due to their versatility, ease of use, and nutritional value. In the spirit of harvest time (and in lieu of roasting and pureeing fresh squash), I recently sampled Pacific Foods' butternut variety.
My initial reaction to this soup can only be summarized by the word velvety. The smoothness combined with the creaminess and understated sweetness made for quite the delicious lunchtime treat. Although this soup tastes decadent (read: as if it should contain cream!), it is dairy-free due to the substitution of soymilk. Each one-cup serving contains 90 kcalories and 2 grams of fat, plus an impressive 3 grams of fiber. While this soup is not protein-rich, it offers multiple other nutrition advantages such as its provision of 50% RDA for vitamin A. The regular variety carries a hefty sodium load, but Pacific has recently released a lower-sodium variety to address this problem.
In addition to slurping it out of a bowl, try incorporating the soup into your favorite sauces and serving over pasta and/or vegetables.
I purchased a 32 oz. carton for $2 at Whole Foods.

Annie's Woodstock Dressing
If you've taken a walk down the condiment aisle lately, you'll notice that there are countless varieties of salad dressings these days, many laden with high fructose corn syrup, additives, and other less-than-natural ingredients. The obvious solution would be to rely on homemade dressings. This tactic can provide satisfying results, yielding tasty salad toppers and allowing you to get creative in the kitchen. However, whipping up a batch of salad dressing is hardly a priority when I have a 3-page to do list.
Enter: Annie's Natural Dressings. Annie's Goddess Dressing has enjoyed much popularity among food bloggers and cookbook authors alike (see Dreena Burton's Goddess Garbanzos). I, too, enjoyed the flavor of this dressing so much that I decided to sample Annie's other varieties as well, starting with Woodstock. Its sunny orange color and use of tahini in the ingredients list induced me to toss it into my basket without hesitation.

A dose of this goop on a salad makes a world of difference. Although I like lettuce as much as anybody, this dressing transformed a ho-hum salad into a flavor explosion. Woodstock dressing provides your body with heart-healthy unsaturated fat; that fat will also help you absorb some of the nutrients from your veggies. Each two-tablespoon serving contains 110 kcalories and 11 gram so of fat.
Try dipping crudites or toasted pita into the dressing--it's not just for salads, you know!

I purchased an 8-oz bottle from Whole Foods for $3.

What are your favorite shortcuts in the kitchen? Do you have any "semi-homemade" secrets? Let me know!

Enjoy your Sunday:)