Skip to main content

Favorite Snack

Trader Joe's, which has a habit of eliminating popular offerings, did exactly that with my new favorite snack pick.  I had barely discovered the Corn, Pea, Bean, Quinoa Crisps -- healthy, flavorful and low calorie -- when they went bye-bye.  And so I embarked on a strange journey to find a replacement.  Enter three contenders:  1) Mozaics Popped Veggie Chips, 2) Snacklins Crisps, 3) Off the Eaten Path Veggie Crisps.  The Mozaic and Off the Eaten Path came closest to the ingredients in my original guilty pleasure.  Mozaics have the advantage of having only 80 calories per bag and the sea salt flarvor wasn't bad.  But ... the low calorie count is, in part, a result of a fairly small serving.  And their other flavors, BBQ and Salsa, were overseasoned and odd tasting.  Enter Off the Eaten path.  They are delicious, with a larger serving size than Mozaic.  The larger size, however, plus added sugar (absent in the other options), make this treat a whopping 160 per bag.  So, that was a no.  Which brings me to Snacklins.  Imagine the Funyuns of old.  But much, much more healthy.  At 90 calories per (large) bag with seasonings which are mostly fabulous (the Chesapeake Bay is a bit overwhelming), this was my surprising favorite.  The sad part is the cost, which is pretty much double what the other two were.  The good news is that they give you 20% off your first order on their site and I picked up a bunch more on a Black Friday sale for 30% off.  So, if I eat slow and savor every bite (easy to do), they might last until next year's Black Friday sale.  Enjoy.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Afghan Bistro

With family members moving to Springfield, it has been a struggle to find good places to eat so far afield.  After flirting with some chain restaurants near the mall, we tried a Pakistani restaurant (there are many, many Pakistani restaurants there), but it fell flat.  Finally, someone suggested this amazing place.  It's a little hole-in-the-wall in a strip mall.  With oilcloth table coverings, the vibe seems questionable.  For about a minute.  Then you are warmly greeted and given menus with a plethora of choices.  My party ordered a great number of items and every dish rose above expectations.  The staff are eager to please and checked in to make sure everything was okay, from food to drink needs.  When a member of my party dropped a piece of silverware on the floor one of the waiters swooped in with a replacement before we could even ask.   But onto the food.  We ordered the Potato and Leek turnovers, the Aushak (leek and sc...
Post a Comment
Read more

First Watch

Meant to invite some family members here but a friend beat me to the punch.  We compromised and went together.  Unfortunately, this is a place where it looks better than it is.  Across the board.  The funky design scheme makes it an echo chamber and, with the pumping music, very loud.  Conversation was difficult.  The menu is covered in glossy photos and descriptions of the food but ... I started with the Morning Meditation Fresh Juice, a pretty blend of citrus and beet.  Or I tried to.  Took three reminders to the waiter and when it finally arrived, halfway into the meal, it was 90% ice and 10% juice.  My companions opted for coffee.  It was ice cold.  Another long wait (about 20 minutes) to get new coffee -- and included a reminder to staff that they wanted fresh cups as well.  I ordered the Vegetarian Quinoa Bowl, which was described as having up to 12 ingredients.  It had three.  The quinoa, an egg, maybe two teen...
Post a Comment
Read more

Junction Bakery & Bistro

Everything here was good.  My party got a Tofu Stir Fry, Roasted Chicken Breast Sandwich, Crispy Flounder Sando, Sweet Potato Fries and a Chocolate Cream-Filled Croissant.  The food took a while but arrived literally hot off the grill.  The two sandwiches came with a plethora of side salad and a great homemade dressing.  Portions were large and all of us took home enough for a second meal.  The bill, with tax and tip, came to just under $75.  As mentioned, it was good.  Very good -- but not great.  Everything came close to being great it just didn't cross the line.  The cross-cut sweet potato fries were extremely munchable but the "Harissa Sour Cream" had a lot of sour cream and very very little harissa.  The Tofu Stir fry had a nice mix for a cold day but needed a little more oomph (I borrowed salad dressing from my companions).  Everything, including the Tofu and Flounder, were breaded and fried but didn't seem greasy until later....
Post a Comment
Read more