Monday, September 21, 2009

Food!

Today I thought I'd share a few of my latest favs, finds and surprises. First up: Flatout Wraps pizza. I've been reading about Flatout Wraps ever since I started blogging over a year ago, but didn't see them in my grocery store until last week, where I quickly grabbed a package. I have been wanting to make my favorite Hawaiian-style pizza, and since I'm no dough queen like our dear Biz, I knew that these low-calorie, high-fiber wraps would be the way to go!
Two slices of deli ham, 1/4 cup pineapple tidbits, 1/2 cup non-fat mozzarella cheese, tomato paste and Italian seasonings made up this yummy pizza!

My pizza ended up coming in at 280 calories for the whole thing(<---Biz phrase that I shamelessly stole), which isn't bad! The flavors totally met my craving without going over the top, calorie- and fat-wise, and I liked how the Flatout crisped up in the oven. This is a nice way to incorporate pizza into your healthy-eating lifestyle, but it's definitely for thin-crust lovers only. Just for fun, I made the same pizza on a low-calorie, high-fiber wheat tortilla. It wasn't the same, not by a long shot! Although the tortilla got crispy, it did not taste nearly as good as the Flatout pizza. I'll save the tortillas for quesadillas and the like. One other observation: I used a Flatout to make a wrap sandwich for lunch...and I wasn't a big fan. Don't know if it's because I made it the night before so I could take it to work, but it was kind-of gummy. So I'll reserve the Flatouts for pizza and use Orowheat Sandwich Thins for my sandwiches.
It looks more like a pizza, but doesn't taste as good!

Now, here's a surprise: I was shocked to discover that some canned tomato products contain high fructose corn syrup! While I was buying the ingredients for my pizza(s), I first grabbed a can of regular tomato paste. Then I saw one that had Italian seasoning mixed in, so I picked that one up and luckily checked the ingredients...after tomatoes, HFCS was listed! Why in the heck would they put that in a can of tomato paste? Naturally I got the plain paste, where the ingredients simply listed "tomatoes." When I got home I checked my canned goods and found a can of diced tomatoes with Italian seasoning...and you guessed it, high fructose corn syrup. As I haven't cooked my spaghetti sauce in a long time, I'm thinking this can has been in my pantry for quite a while. It's just strange to me that ingredients would be sweetened - I kind of understand things like jarred spaghetti sauce, because some people like their sauces sweet. But tomatoes? Color me surprised!

Next on my find list was Popchips! I bought a single serving bag - you get a lot of chips for 100 calories. I liked them! They were crisp and flavorful and make a great substitute for regular, or even baked, potato chips. Now, these will most likely not find their way into my diet very often, as they don't quite fit the "eat clean" bill, but if I were dying for some chips, I'd get these.
They come in many flavors, including bbq, sour cream and onion, and cheddar.

I swear there were more than 16 chips in the bag, but I was too busy eating to count!

The last item that I tried was Hershey's Dark Chocolate Kisses. I am not a huge dark chocolate fan - I absolutely LOVE milk chocolate - but having a couple of Dove Dark Chocolate Promises every evening seems to fulfill any chocolate cravings that I have, without me going off the deep end and devouring the entire bag, like I *ahem* have been known to do with milk chocolate. So why did I buy Hershey's when I like Dove? Well, Dove Promises are about 40 calories each, while the Hershey's Kisses are only 20. And I, in my crazy-brain, thought "Hey...I can have four Kisses for the same amount of calories as two Promises!" But guess what? The Kisses are no Promises. They just don't compare. So after I tried four of them (I had to be sure!), I handed the bag over to my human garbage disposal husband.
Sorry, Kisses...I love your pretty purple wrapper, but you don't stand up to the Promises.

My stash is getting low...need to buy some more soon!

26 comments:

  1. I heard about Flatouts in my WW meetings awhile back. To me they have a weird texture so I am not a fan. I am, however, a HUGE fan of ham and pineapple on pizza! I just make mine with a whole wheat tortilla instead. Yummy!

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  2. I have awarded you the Honest Scrap Award.

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  3. The pizza looks great... I looooove pizza.

    I never heard of popchips, I'll have to check those out.

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  4. (love me some popchips:))
    I think I was most stunned when I realized how much sugar there was in things which I viewed as SAVORY (jarred tomato sauce being a big one for me too).

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  5. Thanks for all of your reviews - love to get new ideas. I too love the Dove dark chocolate...I need to get some more for my evening treats! And I gotta try the flatout bread - hopefully my store has it.

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  6. I've learned to like dark chocolate, but you hit the nail on the head for me. Dove milk chocolate is still my favorite. I haven't found another brand that I like quite as well!

    That pizza looks amazing, and I tried those pop chips once. They are really pretty good!

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  7. Great idea for a pizza - I will deffo try that!

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  8. Were you in my pantry? These are some of my faves too! My latest love is Newton Fruit Crisps! Have a great week!

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  9. Thanks for the suggestions, Shelley. They all look so good.

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  10. The pizza looked awesome!! We just recently tried Pop Chips, and they we're good! I keep chocolate kisses my my desk at work, but haven't seen the dark ones yet, will keep my eye out. I like the Dove ones too, but find them a bit pricey for the amount. Great post, thanks for sharing!

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  11. We are TWINS! I nodded my head the entire way through your pictures - each of them are in my pantry too! LOVE IT!

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  12. I made that very same pizza a couple weeks ago and it was so good! I love flatout wraps.

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  13. I just saw those flat breads at our local grocery last night! Man, that pizza looks delicious. Bet it would also be great with some hummus and chopped peppers. Mmmm.

    And corn syrup is evil. It's a mission near-impossible just to find even salad dressing (including the low cal variety) that doesn't have it.

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  14. I have to try these. I even have the pizza sauce!!

    Trader Joes (you have one I think??) has a 99¢ pizza sauce with no HFC. They also have their own version of the pop chips which I cannot live without. Friday night is pop chip night in our house!

    Thanks for all the yummy ideas. I've been in need of some inspiration!

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  15. You crack me up Shelley! Yes, the flat outs have a different "gummy" texture - I have made panini roll ups in my george foreman and they crisp up they are better!

    Hooray for finding pop chips!

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  16. It all looks good! I can't buy any of those products here, we don't have low calorie chocolate so I buy the darkest possible and eat a little piece.

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  17. Loved that garbage disposal comment. Equals husband. Too freakin funny. But so true.

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  18. That pizza looks soooo good! YUM! No idea if I can buy the Flatouts here in Canada, but i'm gonna try to find them I think!

    I've never really liked "Kisses", they always taste "weird" to me... kwim? Haven't tried the Dove chocolates yet either, had a pkg in my hand a while back and put them back. I'll have to grab a pkg. next time i'm out. I've been buying Green & Blacks Orange & Spice Organic dark chocolate.. it's sooooo good! Nothing else compares! YUM!

    PS - Loved your comment about your DH.. lmao!! We must be married to the same man! ;)

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  19. I love reading food reviews almost as much as I love eating food! LOL

    I’ve never heard of Flatout Wraps before. Sounds like a great idea for a quick, tasty meal that can also be made healthy (even though the family will never know it). :-) I’ve seen Popchips but have never tried them. I hate that there’s HFCS hidden in so many foods. You really have to be so careful now at the grocery store. As for the chocolates--I need to stay far, far away! :-0

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  21. I have never heard of the flatouts, but now I'm definitely going to look for them, that pizza looks really great to me!

    I am also going to get some of those Dove chocolates, I love dark chocolate and I always want to buy a bar but i'm too afraid I'll eat the whole thing, this is the perfect solution!

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  22. Thanks for your kind words Shelley, they comfort me!

    And it's true: my next 10K in November will probably go a lot better, I probably set a new PR then after Sunday's race :)

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  23. So glad to hear that you love DOVE Chocolate as much as we do! The dark chocolate is smooth without ever being bitter... although the milk chocolate and peanut butter is good too (just a few more calories). The promises are the perfect size for a small indulgence!

    P.S. cant wait to try the FlatOut wraps too!

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  24. Wow!!!! Thanks for sharing the pizza idea!!! I buy the flat out breads for wraps, never thought about using them for pizza! But now, it seems like a fabulous idea!!

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  25. I LOVE flatbread pizzas . . . I use Damascus whole wheat or flax roll-ups for mine. They are great, but I'm definitely going to look for the flat-outs for comparison's sake.

    I'm also a big fan of POP chips - I order mine from Amazon since they have a much better price on them than any of my local stores :)

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  26. You must be the umpteenth blogger to talk about Flat Out, and I can't find it! Grrr.

    Never tried Pop chips either.

    Convincing myself I can live with dark chocolate is still on my to-do list.

    You're doing so well.

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