Food Finds Episode 1

Hi Everyone,
  I went to the store the other day specifically to find new snack foods that were low in points (fat, carbs etc) because I felt myself getting a little bored with the ones I had been eating since I started Weight Watcher's on January 7th.  I find when I eat the same things over and over I get sick of them and then easily get into trouble...ahem.  Meaning I eat things I shouldn't.  So.....I found a few new snack items to try and so far so good!
  I made a little video to show you what they are, give you the NI for them and the points plus values.  I don't know about you but I really love being able to see something "live" as opposed to just a photo whenever possible.  It just kind of brings it to life.  So here's the video, hopefully it's helpful to you.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_U_cwOI1AfY
  But just in case you are the type of person who really likes a picture, here are a few of those too! 
  The first one I found and LOVE is this:

 They are made from corn and rice, have a great cheese flavor and the texture is awesome.  Not all cheese puffs are created equally, some are chewy, some turn to mush as soon as you pop it in your mouth and some taste like what they look like to me....packing peanuts.  These are void of all the bad characteristics and instead taste like FOOD, real food!  And the serving size is enormous for the amount of points/calories etc that you are spending to eat them.  THREE cups is THREE points! LOVE IT.  I love to see a great big portion of something in front of me so I don't feel like I was ripped off at the bank.  These do the trick.
  My next find was this little number:

Manchego cheese infused "crackers".  They are nice and thick, crunchy in a good way and have just the right amount of cheese flavor.  They weigh in at a low 3 points per serving. (I give you the serving size in the video)  And paired with Laughing Cow Light Cheese Wedges (which are ONE point each) they make a tasty snack or side for a salad or sandwich or even soup.  My Husband and I snacked on them with cheese the other night while playing video games, very good!
  Item number three on the "Break the Boredom" list was this:

And contained in this cute little 4 ounce package is this:
Goji berries, Goldenberry, Cacao Nibs, and raw cashews.  1 ounce is 3 points but that's quite a large serving of this type of thing.  And apparently this company makes all sorts of interesting goodies.  Here's the website for you to check it out: http://www.hallcentervenice.com/longevity-store/goji-powder-8oz.  This isn't their website because I can't find one for them but this site sells a ton of Navita's products.  From Cacao powder to Asai products.  Love!
  These I purchased at my Weight Watcher's meeting on Friday.

I hadn't tried them yet in the video but I did this morning and I LOVE IT.  You just mix the powder with either water or milk and shake it up (you can put it in the blender and add fruit etc if you like, the box contains 11 free recipes and they are GOOD ones) and it gets thick like a shake and has a very good French Vanilla taste.   I just used an old Miracle Whip jar, put the contents of the packet and 1 cup of unsweetened coconut milk in and put the lid back on, shook it up and had a nice thick shake for only 3 points. Coconut milk is only 1 point per cup where regular skim milk is 2.  They also have chocolate and strawberry banana that I'm aware of.  You do not need to be a Weight Watcher's member to go into a meeting place and purchase product.  They have oatmeals, crackers, bars, smoothie mixes, journals, measuring spoons..the list goes on.
  The last thing I picked up wasn't really a food, it was tea.  I LOVE to drink tea at night for some reason.  I recently purchased one of these little guys from my health food store for making loose tea by the cup:

 You squeeze the sides like a clothes pin and the ball opens into two parts, you fill that with loose tea and slip it in a cup of hot water and let it brew away.  The tea I got was a mixture of this (but not this brand, it was just bulk tea):

And this:

Which is rose hip tea (not from the site listed on the photo, that's just from Google.  Sorry)  The major point I'd like to make about the red tea is that it grows decaffeinated instead of being chemically treated to make it so.  Clearly that is much healthier for you than drinking formaldehyde or whatever else they choose to use to decaffeinate the tea.  And if you drink decaf, sugar free liquids they count towards your water intake.  Weight Watcher's Good Health Guidelines say you should have 6 eight ounce glasses/day which is difficult for me because I really dislike drinking water most of the time for some reason.  I don't drink soda or anything either.  I just don't drink...a half a cup of coffee in the morning and I'm good.  Which is actually..bad. Bad for me. So I am trying to drink more "water" by drinking decaf teas and this mixture is a very tasty one.  You can get the Twinings brand and that's also good.
  So I hope this was helpful to some of you and that you can get a few ideas of things to try to keep yourselves out of the food rut that spirals down into bad eating if not kept in check.  I really appreciate all of you reading my blog and watching my videos.  I can't express that enough.  God bless you all and happy eating!
Nicole