This is best with fresh mozzarella (it is WIDELY available at regular and gourmet markets as well as cheese shops) and fresh garden tomatoes.
4 servings
177 calories per serving
4 2 oz. slices of mozzarella cheese
4 large tomato slices
4 basil leaves
4 T balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
Place cheese on plate and top with tomato slices. Sprinkle with salt and pepper then top with basil leaves and sprinkle with balsamic vinegar.
What a great way to make boring popcorn into something you just can’t put down ! And at only 149 calories – – eat up ! 🙂 Popcorn is filling and full of fiber and a great snack food to keep around the house.
6 servings
149 calories per serving
3.5 oz. bag of plain microwave popcorn
2 T buttery spread
2 T spicy brown mustard
2 t chili powder
2 t hot pepper sauce
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Pop popcorn according to package instructions. In a large bowl combine margarine, mustard, chili powder and hot pepper sauce. Microwave 45 seconds or until butter is melted then stir well and add popcorn and mix well to coat. Turn into a baking pan and bake 10 minutes or until popcorn browns a little. Cool completely before serving.
This is such a great snack – and it even makes a great, filling lunch when you pair it with Triscuits.
4 servings
270 calories per serving
1 can black beans, drained, rinsed, and mashed
1 c chopped avocado
1 c shredded low fat mozzarella cheese
4 c baby carrots for dipping
Place the beans in 4 bowls and coarsely mash. Stir in cheese and avocado. Serve carrots alongside. Add 100 calories worth of Triscuits or your favorite cracker to make it a little more filling and meal sized instead of snack sized.
And here is a video teaching you how to use an avocado slicer so you can make perfect slices for all your meals !
We all know how hard it can be to find prepared foods and snacks that are good for us. Well, Lifestyle Foods has some awesome products that solve that problem – all are healthy options, and all are prepared and ready to grab out of the fridge making them just as convenient as grabbing those cookies or that full of fat hot pocket from the freezer – – healthy eating just got a lot easier !
The food is available online (http://www.lifestylefoods.com) where you can mix and match and create your own personalized pack of snacks. Or if you are in the New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania area, you can find the products in 7-11, Sheetz, and Royal Farms locations throughout New Jersey, in a few Hudson News locations including JFK Airport, and most Giant locations across Pennsylvania. There are soups, salads, snack packs, breakfasts, stand along snacks – more than enough choices to keep the pickiest of eaters happy.
Look at these low calorie counts !
Apple Wedges – 30 calories
Shred Snack – Chicken strips and cheddar cheese cubes – 175 calories
Essential Snack – Mini bagel with cream cheese, hard boiled egg, apple wedges – 200 calories
Manhattan Snack – Hummus, pita bread, carrots, cheddar cheese – 240 calories
Hollywood Snack – Honey wheat pretzels, apple wedges, grapes, cheddar cheese – 200 calories
Glam Snack – Apple wedges, grapes, almonds – 150 calories
Mac Snack – Mac and cheese cubes, grapes – 110 calories
Obsessed Snack – Greek yogurt and honey graham sticks – 150 calories
Head on over to Lifestyle Foods (http://www.lifestylefoods.com) and grab some snack foods that are guilt free !
We all know how hard it can be to find prepared foods and snacks that are good for us. Well, Lifestyle Foods has some awesome products that solve that problem – all are healthy options, and all are prepared and ready to grab out of the fridge making them just as convenient as grabbing those cookies or that full of fat hot pocket from the freezer – – healthy eating just got a lot easier ! 
With so many options (and all of them tasting GREAT), you could live off these little meals and snacks. And that is precisely what I’ve done for a few days as I’ve been taste testing and reviewing all the different options. My goodness, there are so many things to choose from and one tastes better than the next. They definitely get a thumbs up rating from me !
The food is available online (http://www.lifestylefoods.com) where you can mix and match and create your own personalized pack of snacks. Or if you are in the New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania area, you can find the products in 7-11, Sheetz, and Royal Farms locations throughout New Jersey, in a few Hudson News locations including JFK Airport, and most Giant locations across Pennsylvania. There are soups, salads, snack packs, breakfasts, stand along snacks – more than enough choices to keep the pickiest of eaters happy.
I would love to see this product line on shelves in every food store, in every convenience store, and in all colleges across the nation – how great it would be if college students all had easy access to prepared foods that they can eat on the run or place in their dorm refrigerators for easy access to healthy snacks.
The quality is stupendous, the taste is great, the combinations are well thought out, the packaging is minimal (which is an added bonus in my mind!) and the calorie count is way low. Add a piece of fruit and some nuts as a dessert to one of the salads and you have a complete meal. Or instead of 2 slices of pizza next meal, have one slice and one of these quick salads next to it. Eating healthier is so much easier when great options are a few steps away and READY TO EAT.
Below you’ll see a list of all the products I’ve tried and some misc. comments – even if you don’t have time to read the info, please do yourself and your family a favor and grab some of these items. When they are there in the fridge ready to eat, you will find that you grab them. I have, my husband has, my teenage daughter has – and we all feel better because of it !
SOUP + SALAD
The soups are fresh and tasty and if they were packaged separately, I would be buying them up ! They do not taste like Campbells’s canned soup – they are fresh and scrumptious. The salad dressings appear to be low fat options and more than enough is provided, even for dressing hogs like me.
My favorite here is the Tomato Basil soup – oh my goodness ! Just a little chunky; actually the perfect texture. Super taste.
The only thing here is I would recommend NOT using the cardboard as the microwave stand – if it opens up after you grab the soup, you could end up with hot soup all over the place 🙁 And you certainly don’t want to waste even a spoonful of the yummy soup !
Chicken Noodle+ Caesar – 120 calories
Vegetable and Garden – 90 calories
Tomato Basil and Garden – 120 calories
SALADS
The salad dressings appear to be low fat options and more than enough is provided, even for dressing hogs like me. The dressings are very flavorful.
The chicken salad is white meat only and for only 190 calories you are FULL when you are done – the portioning is fantastic. The tuna salad is equally as fresh and quality tuna is definitely used. The chicken in the cobb salad has a nice little kick to it – this could actually use a little more lettuce for all the add ins and dressing you get.
Taco Salad – 160 calories
Caesar with Chicken – 220 calories
Garden with Italian – 80 calories
Garden with Ranch – 120 calories
BLT with Ranch – 200 calories
Tuna Salad and Romaine – 210 calories
Chicken Salad and Romaine – 190 calories
Cobb with Ranch – 220 calories
SNACKS
All the apple wedges are crisp and fresh without any flavor of the agent used to keep them from browning (ascorbic acid).
Veggies are sweet, cheese is mild and fresh, dips are zesty – great snack attack packs.
Apple Wedges – 30 calories
Shred Snack – Chicken strips and cheddar cheese cubes – 175 calories
Essential Snack – Mini bagel with cream cheese, hard boiled egg, apple wedges – 200 calories
Manhattan Snack – Hummus, pita bread, carrots, cheddar cheese – 240 calories
Hollywood Snack – Honey wheat pretzels, apple wedges, grapes, cheddar cheese – 200 calories
Glam Snack – Apple wedges, grapes, almonds – 150 calories
Mac Snack – Mac and cheese cubes, grapes – 110 calories
Obsessed Snack – Greek yogurt and honey graham sticks – 150 calories
BREAKFASTS
The oatmeal was so hearty and such a grand portion ! I might add a little honey or nuts to make it even better. But this is a great little package even as is.
Awake Snack – Granola, apples, grapes, trail mix – 170 calories
Oatmeal and Apple – Whole apple, steel cut oatmeal (with turbinado sugar and raisins to add in)- 230 calories
Lifestyle Foods (http://www.lifestylefoods.com) have snacks and mini meals to satisfy your sweet tooth or your craving for savory food – they have it all. They provide nutritious, ready to eat, delicious snacks that compliment a healthy lifestyle.
This is one of those dishes that has everyone at the table making yummy noises 🙂 The cinnamon and cardamom are a FANTASTIC addition to the grapes. And the yogurt is really just a way to get the spices to stick to the fruit. The gingery goodness of the cardamom really makes this dish so be sure to add it in. Serve it as a dessert, a snack or a side dish.
4 servings
70 calories per serving
¼ c low fat vanilla yogurt
1/8 t cinnamon
1/8 t cardamom
1 c seedless green grapes halved lengthwise
1 c seedless red grapes halved lengthwise
Combine yogurt, cinnamon and cardamom – then mix in grapes and toss to coat. Cover and chill.
What a great afternoon pick-me-up! Sweet, chocolately, just the right amount of coffee, and nice and cold. (Much like a Wendy’s Frosty)
4 servings
118 calories per serving
1 ½ c skim milk
1/3 c chocolate syrup
2 T instant malted milk powder
2 T instant coffee
3 ½ c ice cubes
Combine milk, syrup, malted milk and coffee in a blender. Then add ice in a couple batches blending in between each batch and then serve immediately.
This tastes much like the spinach dip you often find in a hollowed out bread bowl – but this one adds many more veggies and is a much healthier and lower cal option.
18 servings
170 calories per serving (2 T dip and 15-17 crackers)
1 c low fat sour cream
¼ c light ranch dressing
10 oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained
1 shredded carrot
½ c finely chopped yellow bell peppers
Wheat Thins or Triscuits
Mix sour cream and dressing then stir in veggies.
Pepitas are raw, shelled pumpkin seeds. Roast with a bit of salt and butter for a GREAT snack.
6 servings
83 calories per serving
1 1/2 c raw whole pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
2 t butter, melted
Kosher salt to taste
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Toss seeds with butter and place on a large cookie sheet in a single layer. Sprinkle with salt. Bake 30 minutes or until golden brown.
The whole kitchen smelled just glorious as these were roasting. The orange flavor is very subtle, the chipotle just hot enough and these disappeared very quickly !
Makes 2 ½ cups – 1 serving = 2 tablespoons
91 calories per serving
1 T grated orange rind
1 T orange juice
1 egg white
2 c mixed nuts (pecan halves, whole almonds, walnuts, whatever you have around the house!)
1 T brown sugar
1 T Kosher salt
1/2 t ground chipotle chile pepper
Pam
1/2 c sweetened dried cranberries
1 t Kosher salt
Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Mix orange rind, orange juice and egg then stir in nuts. Mix sugar, salt and pepper and add to the nuts and mix well. Spread on a cookie sheet spray with Pam and bake 1 hours stirring occasionally. Sprinkle with another teaspoon of salt and mix then cool. When cool, mix in the cranberries.
