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Oregon Chai Slighty Sweeten Chai Tea

One day I wanted to try out something new at Starbucks. I never had their chai tea before, but I needed my caffeine fix so I ordered a "dirty chai" which is chai tea latte with a shot of espresso. I was shocked that the tall cup cost me $3.86 with tax. I didn't expect to spend that much, but I already ordered it. Good thing it was yummy. I loved the spice in the chai tea, but I know I can't be spending $4.00 every time I wanted one so I needed a good replacement. I saw Oregon Chai on sale at Target and I remembered I had a coupon -- perfect. I'm glad they have different version of their famous Chai Teas. They have the sugar-free which I was tempted to get, but when I read the ingredients, I realized that they sweeten it with sucralose so it wasn't really sugar-free. I try to avoid sucraclose because I find that it gives me headaches. Oregon Chai also has these in original, green tea match, vegan, vanilla, peppermint, sugar-free and slightly sweeten. I got the slightly sweeten one because in reviews, people find that the original one is too sweet. This one is not sweeten with sucraclose which is a plus. You're suppose to add 1/2 chai concentrate and 1/2 milk of your choice. I prefer mine hot so I microwaved it for 2 minutes. I like the convenience of it, but I wished there was more spice to the chai tea. The cup at Starbucks was definitely more spice-filled. I remember having one at an Indian restaurant and it was really good. The flavor was really intense and "spicy." If you use skim milk, one full cup is only 75 calories.

Retails: $3.19 on sale at Taget
My Cost: $2.19 with coupon
Calories: 30 calories per 1/2 cup concentrate
WW: 0

Trader Joe's Peanut Butter Filled Pretzels

I love pretzels and I love peanut butter, but this combination does not really do it for me. Each pretzel is in a nugget form and when you bit into it, it's semi-hollow. The inside is filled with a smidget of peanut butter. The peanut butter filling inside is dry and not great tasting. I think it's the combination of the odd shape and the pretzel to peanut butter ratio that makes me not like it. I admit, packaging and presentation does have an affect on my taste buds and these pretzels have neither going on for them. You guys might be wondering why these were in my cart in the first place. Well, let's just say it wasn't me who put them there. They do have this "no preservatives, no artificial colors or flavors" going on for them, but won't be repurchasing.



Retails: $3.29 at Trader Joe's
My Cost: $3.29
Calories: 150 f0r 11 pieces
WW: 4

Trader Joe's Non Fat Greek Style Plain Yogurt

It's becoming clearer and clearer to me that I like to eat plain yogurts more than flavored sugary ones although they can be a nice change once in a while. Normally I would purchase whichever yogurts that are on sale at the supermarket. Those usually include Yo-plus, Activa, etc. They are becoming too sweet for my taste buds lately. I love the tart taste of plain yogurts. Fage is still my favorite, but I recently found a good replacement. Trader Joe's Greek Style Non Fat Plain Yogurt. It's very thick and creamy and has the perfect tartness. The tub is holds 16 oz which is a good 2 serving. This yogurt might become my long term staple. This morning I had 1/3 of the tub with 1/4 cup Kashi Heart to Heart and 1 reeses miniature cup. Delicious, satisfying and only 162 calories! Upon a recommendation, I had intended to come get the Trader Joe's Mediterranean Cheese Style Yogurt. It's the same in packaging, but the tub is yellow. I was put off by the calories on the back. If I remember correctly, 2 tablespoon is 60 calories. Yikes!! (I can eat half a cup of the non fat yogurt for that many calories.) I think the Mediterranean yogurt will be good as a sour cream replacement. My friend served me this on top of a toasted pita bread and it was yummy, but I don't know if I will go and get a whole tub of it.



Retails: 2.97
My Cost: $2.97
Calories: 120 per 1 cup (8 oz)
WW: 2

Trader Joe's Crispy Crunchy Chocolate Chip Cookies

On my recent trip to Trader Joe's, I was in a snacky mood. I love to wander around the frozen food section, not because of their frozen foods, but because on top of the coolers,the shelves are always lined with tubs and tubs of interesting candies and cookies. It is hot chocolate season right now so I need my little snackies to pair with it. I picked up the Trader Joe Chocolate cookie tub. They are petite, just the right size to pop into your mouth. I love how crispy they are, perfect for dunking into a hot chocolate. Twelve cookies are 150 calories which is enough to satisfy a cookie craving, but it is very tempting to eat out of the tub and "lose count" and before you know it, the whole tub will be empty. When I snack, I find it vital to portion it out into a snacking bowl or a zip lock bag (if you intend to take it somewhere). Just the feeling of hitting the bottom of the bowl give my brain a satisfied feeling. It's very complex how the brain works. So happy that I picked up another winner at Trader Joe's. I have the urge to try out all their "tubby cookies" now.


Retails: $3.99
My Cost: $3.99
Calories: 150 per 12 cookies
WW: 4

Japanese Ramen

As the sun sets earlier and earlier everyday, it gets harder and harder to drag myself to the gym. The lack of sunlight and the cold weather makes me want to call it a night and cuddle with my warm blankets and pjs at home. I went from hitting the gym 4-5 times a week, to 3-4 times a week, to 1-2 times a week now. It's so sad. I need to get my act together. I'm so glad I made it to the gym this Monday evening because I had some unexpected eats later that night. My 1 hour of cardie and 15 minutes of weights gave me some wiggle room BUT I was hoping that workout was going towards the 3 pounds I gained from Thanksgiving week eats. The weight gain did not show up on the scale until now. Oh well, tomorrow is another day. Just when I was about to have dinner (boiled spinach plus oyster sauce and dumplings), my sister calls me and wants me to accompany her to work because she left her medicine at work (long story). I agreed. Since we drove all the way out, we decided to stop by a new bakery shop to enjoy some dessert and coffee. I ordered a cappuccino (w/ skim milk) and a slice of Mocha Cake. The cappuccino was delicious, can't say the same for the cake, too much cream for my liking. My sister order her usual Tiramisu which she gobbled up pretty quickly. After dessert she told me she was hungry. Wished she had told me earlier because I would have opted for real dinner instead of cake and coffee. So we headed to get real dinner at a Japanese Ramen place. I opted for a small bowl of Char Siu Ramen which was delicious. The noodles was soft and chewy and the soup was bursting with flavor. And their 1/2 cooked boiled egg was divine. Of course I removed the yolk. The sesame oil on top made the noodles extra fragrant. It was a great bowl of ramen on a chilly winter night. The small size was perfect for us girls too.

Retail: $4.95 for small bowl
My Cost: $4.95
Calories: ??
WW: ??

Luna Sunrise: Blueberry Yogurt

I like this line of Luna bars, especially the fruit based flavors. The Blueberry Bliss is like a normal luna bar, but on the top, it has a layer of yummy blueberry jam. "Luna sunrise" is the perfect line to categorize these in because it does remind me of the cozy breakfast feeling of "jam and toast." And the smell of this bar is just heavenly. Makes me want to gobble it all up in two bites. The calories are like any typical luna bar. This particular one is 170 calories, with 5 grams of fiber, 8 grams of protein, and sprikles of vitamins here and there. I love to keep a few bars in my purse just incase I get stranded somewhere without decent food, but recently my "bar stash" has gotten so big that I have to find ways to incoporate them into my daily eats.



Retails: $1.oo on sale at Ralphs
My Cost: $1.00
Calories: 170 each
WW: 3

Kashi Heart to Heart Honey Toasted Oat

I picked this up along with my Kashi Honey Almond Flax the other day because I wanted to mix things up to make my breakfast more exciting. I tried it out by itself this morning and it was amazing. And I can't believe how filling it is. I ate 3/4 of a cup plus 1/4 cup of 1% milk and it lasted me for 2.5 hours. 3/4 of a cup is only 110 calories and it already has 5g of fiber. Love how they have little heart shapes in the cereal too, makes it so cute. I have a new found appreciation for cereal now. So versitle and so good. I can eat it normally with milk, I can eat it dry as a snack, I can sprinkle some in my yogurts and I can even sprinkle some on top of my oatmeals. Need to stock up on more since they are on sale at Vons right now.

Retail: $2.99 on sale at Vons
My Cost: $1.99 with coupon
Calories: 110 per 3/4 cup
WW: 2

Kashi Honey Almond Flax Granola Bar

So many yummy foods and so little time. When I went to restock my Kashi Honey Almond Flax cereal today, there was a free sample of the Granola Bar wrapped with the box of cereal. Kashi sure knows how to draw in their customers, with free samples, coupons, and ads on the back of their boxes, it's hard to resist. Especially when they have really good products to back up their brand. I love how this bar has so many whole almonds in them. At least 5-6 which makes these bars extra filling. The bar is very chewy and dense. I like these over the Clif Mojo bars which I also raved about earlier. These definitely will make it into my shopping cart next time.



Retails: unsure
My Cost: Free Sample
Calories: 140 per bar
WW: 2

Einstein Brother Turkey Club Panini

Another "not-so-skinny" post, but it was free, so I can't complain. Just wished I had made a better choice. I signed up for the Einstein Brother e-club and also referred a friend that also sign up and they sent us both a free breakfast or lunch sandwich coupon. (You should try it too.) I've never had a panini in my life, so I decided to try it out. It being one of the more expensive sandwiches on the menu didn't hurt. Greedy o'l me decided to take full advantage of the coupon and order it. It was really yummy with turkey, tomato, bacon, and cheese all grilled and melted together. I don't know if they slather some butter on the bread before grilling it or what, but the bread was soaked in oil. It kind of disgusted me, but I was already done with 1/2 the sandwich. The sandwich came with a yummy dill pickle, and a choice of chips, coleslaw, or potato salad. Bad decision making struck me more than once today. I picked the potato salad. The potato salad was just basically potatoes, red onions, and 1/2 a jar of mayo. Half a cup of the potato salad is 355 calories and that container looked like a full cup to me. I ate it anyways. I felt so bad that I washed everything down with a can of pepsi and two mini reeses peanut butter cups. Normally I would have stopped at eating 1/2 the sandwich and 1/2 the potato salad, but I felt like I might as well eat everything since I started out on the wrong foot today anyways. I ate everything in that Einstein Brother's bag and that was only my lunch. So ladies, if you do use their coupon, PLEASE check their nutritional facts online BEFORE you head out. To be honest, I really can't blame Einstein Brothers, it was entirely my own fault. I should have ordered something from their breakfast menu and ask them to hold the cheese. Consider it lesson learned. Dinner will be a plain o'l homemade salad.

Retail: $7.49 at Einstein Brothers
My Cost: Free with coupon
Calories: 790 calories (full sandwich only); Potato Salad 710 calories (whole cup)
WW: 18 (holy cow); 18 (double holy cow)