So easy to make – this takes just a few minutes. And the results are SUPER ! There will be lots of yummy noises as your group eats this one up. Serve with low cal crackers.

Broccoli Cheddar Dip

18 servings
72 calories per serving

10 oz. package frozen broccoli
8 oz. Cabot low fat sharp cheddar, grated
4 oz. cream cheese
2 T milk
1 t Tabasco sauce
1/2 t pepper

Microwave broccoli in a partially covered dish 8-10 minutes. Add cheddar, cream cheese, tabasco and pepper. Recover and microwave 1-2 minutes or until cheeses are melted. Stir until smooth. Serve immediately with crackers.

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 !

Apples

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.

Grape Salad

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)

Frosty Mocha Drink

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.

My blog and this post won an award One of the top 70 food blogs at eCollegeFinder !

Having a snack attack? Lotsa students are out there burning the midnight oil cramming and writing papers – this post is dedicated to them !

Late night snacking can kill your diet if you’re eating tons of processed, high cal and high fat foods. Here are some great ideas that are easy to prepare, full of flavor and much better options.

Microwave Chips
Oh so much better for you than the bagged version

Microwave Chips

Awesome Homemade Black Bean Dip
Serve with baked tortilla chips

Black Bean Dip

Chipotle Nuts
Great flavor and so easy to do !

Chipotle Nuts

Ranch Popcorn
Make your popcorn so much more special

Ranch Popcorn

Apricot Sweet Rolls
In the mood for something sweet? Use any flavor jam and watch these disappear

Apricot Sweet Rolls

Fruit Parfaits
Use any frozen fruit – these are ready in no time !

Fruit Parfaits

Grape Salad
Mix this up ahead of time and always have it ready to go in the fridge

Grape Salad

Chicken and Black Bean Quesadillas
Need something a bit more substantial ? There’s nothing like a hot quesadilla

Chicken and Black Bean Quesadillas

Healthy Buffalo Chicken
All the flavor – so little fat !

Healthy Buffalo Chicken

Enjoy your late night snacking – no guilt at all !

Great on their own, great with dips, great next to salads – these are so versatile and you can spice them up pretty much however you wish !

Pita Chips

1 t garlic powder
½ t onion powder
½ t oregano flakes
½ t basil flakes
½ t parsley flakes
2 t paprika
4 6-inch pita breads cut in half like a sandwich
Pam

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine seasonings and set aside. Cut each pita half into 6 wedges and spray both sides with Pam and sprinkle seasoning mix on the pitas and bake 12 minutes or until golden. Turn once halfway through cooking and cool before serving.

I admit it – I’m a snacker. That can be my downfall…I eat great, healthy meals, but the snacks get me. So I try to keep a bunch of healthier alternatives around so that when I can’t resist the urge, at least I am not totally killing my calorie count. My newest favorite is a popcorn ‘chip’ called PopCorners. These are FABULOUS !!

Popcorners

A 1.1 ounce bag is only 140 calories! The serving size is more than enough and the all natural product tastes great. It’s popcorn without all the messy little leftover kernel pieces that only get in my teeth and bother me anyhow And one of my favorite parts – - they come in different flavors. I LOVE things that have different flavors

Today I’m eating the slightly sweet Kettle version. Yesterday was Butter. The day before was Sea Salt. And tomorrow I have to try the White Cheddar – based on all the others being so good, I am sure the cheese will please.

Try some – if you can’t find them locally, you can order online. Healthy, all natural, low cal and awesome…Popcorners. (I may sound like an endorsement, but I have no affiliation with the product ! I just love it.)

Take one hot and sunny day, add 6 frozen fruit and yogurt pops, and you end up with a perfect way to spend the summer

Fruit and Yogurt Pops

6 servings
98 calories per serving

1 ½ c strawberry slices
¼ c sugar
1 ½ c blueberries
1 ¼ c low fat plain yogurt

Puree strawberries in food processor with 1 T sugar. Whisk yogurt and 2 T sugar. Puree blueberries in food processor with 1 T sugar. Make layers of fruit and yogurt in your ice pop mold, insert sticks and freeze at least 3 hours.

This dip would be equally as good used as a salad dressing (even though it is nice and thick). But as a dip for vegetables, it makes the perfect healthy snack.

Lo Cal Ranch Dip

2 cups
87 calories per serving (1 serving=3 T)

1 c light mayonnaise
2 T lemon juice
2 T chopped parsley
2 T chopped green onion
1 packet Equal
1 T dry ranch salad dressing mix
1 T Dijon mustard
1 ½ t minced garlic
¼ t salt
¾ c buttermilk

Combine mayo, juice, parsley, onion, Equal, mustard, garlic, ranch mix and salt and whisk well. Then whisk in buttermilk and cover and refrigerate 2 hours. Serve with veggies.