Chocolate – 170 cal./6 g. fat/1 g. fiber – 4 WW pts.
Chocolate Chip – 210 cal./8 g. fat/1 g. fiber – 5 WW pts.
Coffee – 160 cal./5 g. fat/1 g. fiber – 3 WW pts.
Mint Chocolate Chip – 210 cal./8 g. fat/1 g. fiber – 5 WW pts.
Vanilla Bean – 150 cal./5 g. fat/0 g. fiber – 3 WW pts.

These cups are pretty large compared to the ones I blogged about yesterday.  Each snack sized cup is 6 oz. – many are just 3.5 – 4 oz.  So, you could conceivably eat half the cup on a Vita Top muffin or brownie and halve the points.

Be warned: Edy’s/Dreyer’s has expanded its Snack Sized Flavors to include Fun Flavors, which are not as low in fat, and Yogurt Blends, in addition to the Slow Churned ice cream cups.  Here are the Fun Flavors:

Apple Pie – 120 cal./4 g. fat/0 g. fiber – 3 WW pts. (not bad!)
Cookie Dough – 220 cal./9 g. fat/1 g. fiber – 5 WW pts.
Double Fudge Brownie – 220 cal./4 g. fat/1 g. fiber – 5 WW pts.
Mocha Almond Fudge – 210 cal./9 g. fat/1 g. fiber – 5 WW pts.
Peanut Butter Cup – 260 cal./14 g. fat/1 g. fiber – 6 WW pts.

Yogurt Blends:

Berry Granola Crunch – 190 cal./4 g. fat/0 g. fiber – 4 WW pts.
Cappuccino Chip – 190 cal./4 g. fat/0 g. fiber – 4 WW pts.
Caramel Praline Crunch – 200 cal./6 g. fat/0 g. fiber – 5 WW pts.
Chocolate Fudge Brownie – 190 cal./5 g. fat/1 g. fiber – 4 WW pts.
Peach – 160 cal./4 g. fat/0 g. fiber – 4 WW pts.

I really love the Skinny Cow Low Fat Ice Cream Cups.  They are 5.8 oz. – just a smidge smaller than the Edy’s Slow Churned, but the WW Points values are substantially smaller:

Chocolate Fudge Brownie – 150 cal./2 g. fat/4 g. fiber – 2 WW pts.
Dulce de Leche – 150 cal./1 g. fat/4 g. fiber – 2 WW pts.
Strawberry Cheesecake – 150 cal./1 g. fat/4 g. fiber – 2 WW pts.
Caramel Cone – 170 cal./3 g. fat/4 g. fiber – 3 WW pts.
Cookies ‘n Cream – 150 cal./2 g. fat/4 g. fiber – 2 WW pts.

Finally, for this entry, I want to mention the Weight Watchers Ice Cream Cups.  I have not tried them yet, but they come two to a pack.  Fat Secret.com states that the cups are 102 grams (3.59794 oz.), so they are smaller than Skinny Cow or Edy’s Slow Churned.  The information below is from the Weight Watcher website:

Cookies and Cream – Each cup is only 140 calories, 2 grams of fat and 6 grams of fiber. – 2 WW pts.
Mint Chocolate Chip – Each cup contains 140 calories, 3.5 grams of fat and 6 grams of fiber. – 2 WW pts.
Chocolate Fudge Brownie – Each cup contains 140 calories, 1.5 grams of fat and 7 grams of fiber. – 2 WW pts.
Chocolate Chip cookie Dough – Each cup contains 140 calories, 2.5 grams of fat and 6 grams of fiber. – 2 WW pts.
Peanut Butter Delight – Each cup contains 180 calories, 5 grams of fat and 6 grams of fiber. – 3 WW pts.
Turtle Sundae – Each cup contains 170 calories, 5 grams of fat and 6 grams of fiber. – 3 WW pts.

I just found two more options that are on the WW paid site – here is the link, I don’t know if you need to sign in to access it. They come in a four pack and are 132 grams (4.65616 oz.).  Here are the two flavors:

Giant Chocolate Fudge Sundae Cup: 160 calories, 1 gram of fat and 5 grams of fiber – 2 WW pts.

Giant Vanilla Fudge Sundae Cup: 160 calories, 1 gram of fat and 4 grams of fiber – 2 WW pts.

That’s all for now.  I am debating whether to put Blue Bunny up, because their Personals brand cups are actually 2 servings per cup.

I am going to go ahead and sort the ice creams by maker.  I thought that I might sort them by Weight Watchers Points, but it would take me even more time.  I also started out with Haagen Daz… Last year, they and Ben and Jerry’s were the only mini cups I saw around.  I fantasized about being able to treat myself in a controlled fashion.

My first foray into the Haagen Dazs looked exciting: nine flavors and a mini

Only in the U.K... Darn it!

assortment pack available.  Look!  (values are for a 1/2 cup serving (4 oz.):

Bailey’s – 260 cal./10 g. fat/0 g. fiber – 6 WW pts.
Belgian Chocolate – 330 cal./21 g. fat/3 g. fiber – 8 WW pts.
Cookies and Cream – 270 cal./17 g. fat/0 g. fiber – 7 WW pts.
Dulce de Leche – 290 cal./ 17 g. fat/ 0 g. fiber – 7 WW pts.
Pralines and Cream – 280 cal./ 17 g. fat/ 0 g. fiber – 6 WW pts.
Strawberries and Cream – 250 cal./ 16 g. fat/ <1 g. fiber – 6 WW pts.
Strawberry Cheesecake -  270 cal./15 g. fat/0 g. fiber – 7 WW pts.
Vanilla -  270 cal./15 g. fat/0 g. fiber – 7 WW pts.
Little Favourites – four flavors: Strawberry Cheesecake, Dulce de Leche, Belgian Chocolate and Cookies & Cream

After doing all of that research, I realized I was on a United Kingdom site – DRAT!  I also couldn’t get the pop up nutritional stats to show themselves, so I got the information above from the regular flavors.  So, let’s see what they have in the US. (Values are for an entire mini cup – 4.23 oz. ?)

Vanilla – 250 cal./ 17 g. fat/ 0 g. fiber – 6 WW pts.
Chocolate – 260 cal./ 17 g. fat/ 1 g. fiber – 6 WW pts.
Strawberry – 250 cal./ 16 g. fat/ 1 g. fiber – 6 WW pts.
Dulce de Leche – 270 cal. /16 g. fat/ 0 g. fiber – 7 WW pts.
Coffee – 260 cal./ 17 g. fat/ 0 g. fiber – 7 WW pts.

My first reaction was: “We’ve been gypped!” – Where are my Pralines and Cream in a mini cup?  But when I went back and looked lately, there have been a couple of new flavors added since I last researched:

Chocolate Chocolate Chip – 260 cal./10 g. fat/2 g. fiber – 6 WW pts.
Chocolate Peanut Butter – 310 cal./21 g. fat/2 g. fiber – 7 WW pts.
Mango Sorbet – 140 cal./0 g. fat/0 g. fiber – 3 WW pts. (yay!)
Raspberry Sorbet – 110 cal./0 g. fat/1 g. fiber – 2 WW pts. (big YAY!!!)
Vanilla Yogurt – 160 cal./2 g./0 g. fat – 3 WW pts. (also yay!)

Now, here are the Ben and Jerry’s mini cups.  Not much changed except their website – I had to re-do the links.  There are also 2 new flavors: Peanut Brittle Ice Cream and Chocolate Fudge Brownie Frozen Yogurt.  (the B&J website says the single serving cups are 95.18 grams which equals 3.35737 oz.)

Mint Chocolate Cookie – 200 cal./11 g. fat/ 0 g. fiber – 5 WW pts.
Strawberry Cheesecake – 240 cal./13 g. fat/ 0 g. fiber – 6 WW pts.
Vanilla – 190 cal./11 g. fat/ 0 g. fiber – 5 WW pts.
Cherry Garcia – 210 cal./12 g. fat/<1 g. fiber – 6 WW pts.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough – 230 cal./12 g. fat/ 0 g. fiber – 6 WW pts.
Chocolate Fudge Brownie – 220 cal./11 g. fat/1 g. fiber – 5 WW pts.
Peanut Brittle – 240 cal./14 g. fat/0 g. fiber – 6 WW pts.
Chocolate Fudge Brownie Frozen Yogurt – 170 cal./2.5 g. fat/1 g. fiber – 3 WW pts.

While I was in New York City, I came across Ciao Bella Gelato mini cups.  The brand can be found at Whole Foods or Fresh Market, among other places in Georgia, but they may not have the minis just yet.  I hope that we do – I had the Turkish Pistachio Gelato in NYC and it was very good.  Also, the sorbets are low points options.

Two things have changed since I visited their site last year. First, they have changed their serving size – the site used to have stats for 1/2 cup (4 oz.) now their gelatos and sorbets come in 3.5 oz. cups.  Also, they have shortened their previously pretentious names (My favorite was Chocolate Alba Hazelnut Gelato, which is now Chocolate Hazelnut Gelato – who’s Alba, anyway?).

Lemon Zest Sorbet – 120 cal./0 g. fat/0 g. fiber – 2 WW pts.
Mango Sorbet – 100 cal./0 g. fat/1 g. fiber – 2 WW pts.
Blood Orange Sorbet – 80 cal./0 g. fat/0 g. fiber – 2 WW pts.
Chocolate Hazelnut Gelato – 240 cal./16 g. fat/1 g. fiber – 6 WW pts.
Pistachio Gelato – 218 cal./13 g. fat/<1 g. fiber – 5 WW pts.
Tahitian Vanilla Gelato – 190 cal./11 g. fat/0 g. fiber – 5 WW pts.

That’s it for the luxury brands.  The next entry will be about more pedestrian fare.

Be At Your Body’s Best

Health Blends are conveniently frozen to lock in nutrients and easy to prepare. Simply steam in the microwave for three minutes for a fresh, crisp, and deliciously wholesome side dish or snack that will help you meet your health goals.

Digestive Health – A whopping 92% of Americans are not meeting their daily fiber needs. Our digestive health blend with yellow carrots, navy beans, and spinach in a garlic herb sauce is naturally high in fiber to help maintain a healthy digestive system.

Healthy Weight – Fill your plate differently with vegetables! Diets rich in foods naturally containing fiber, like our healthy weight blend of sliced carrots, sugar snap peas, black beans, and edamame, can help you maintain a healthier body weight and feel more satisfied.

Immunity Blend – Colorful vegetables have an array of important nutrients that your body needs. Over 50% of Americans are missing the mark on getting the recommended amount of vitamins A and C. Our immunity blends are full of color and flavor!  Choose between two great combinations:  both are naturally rich in antioxidant vitamins A & C to help support a healthy immune system.

• broccoli florets, julienne carrots and red and yellow sweet pepper strips in a garlic-herb infused extra virgin olive oil seasoning or
• cauliflower florets, sliced orange and yellow carrots and dried cranberries lightly tossed with a flavorful butter sauce.

Healthy Vision – Keeping healthy vision for a lifetime is no small task. See the goodness of our healthy vision blend of sliced carrots, zucchini quarters, and sliced green beans lightly tossed with rosemary butter sauce! Providing the natural antioxidants lutein & vitamin A that helps support eye health.

Healthy Heart – The soluble fiber in Healthy Heart can help naturally lower cholesterol to help promote heart health*. Your heart will skip a beat over this tasty blend: Pearled barley, sugars snap peas and julienne carrots in an herb infused extra virgin olive oil sauce.

*3 grams of soluble fiber daily from barley-containing foods, such as Healthy Heart, as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, may reduce the risk of heart disease. Healthy Heart provides 1.6 grams per serving.

Source of statistics: NHANES 2003-04 data (1 day)

So far, my favorite one is the Immunity Boost/Blend with the broccoli.  I also read on Hungry Girl.com that the cauliflower Immunity blend can be added to a serving of butternut squash soup for a filling, low-calorie meal.

I used a Pocket Mod first to keep in my purse. I also was working on a WW pts. system still, since most of the frozen entrees have WW points values on them.  But then I remembered that I signed up for The Daily Plate, which is now part of LiveStrong.com.   It’s a really handy tool, so I am going to try to keep it up.

When I signed up, I did a little survey to see how many calories I needed to take in per day to achieve my “weight goal.” So now, when I add in my foods, it keeps track and lets me know how many more calories I can eat that day.
It’s free, but of course there is an upgrade with more bells and whistles.

Check it out.  It has virtually every food you could want to search.  Members have the ability to add products if they are not already on the site.  This is mostly good, but it does make for a lot of unnecessary repeats to wade through.  Not only does your page keep track of the calories you take in, it breaks it all down into a pie chart showing carbs, proteins, and fats.

The exercise options to log are also extensive.  I don’t think that I am going to take credit for every little move I make – like brushing my teeth.  But it’s fun to look at.  Check it out!

While I was on Spring Break, I made a pass through Costco. If you are looking for inexpensive frozen meals, they usually have at least two bulk items of four. Mostly, it’s Lean Cuisine, but I have also seen Kashi meals there – a really good deal!

Here is what was there last week:

Package 1 -
Lean Cuisine Spa Classics Ginger Garlic Stir Fry with Chicken – 5 pts.
Lean Cuisine Spa Classics Sesame Stir Fry with Chicken – 6 pts.
Lean Cuisine Spa Classics Grilled Chicken Primavera – 5 pts.
Lean Cuisine Spa Classics Butternut Squash Ravioli – 7 pts.

Package 2 -
Lean Cuisine Comfort Classics Roasted Turkey Breast – 5 pts.
Lean Cuisine Cafe Classics Sesame Chicken – 7 pts.
Lean Cuisine Comfort Classics Sweet & Sour Chicken – 8 pts.
Lean Cuisine Cafe Classics Glazed Chicken – 5 pts.

Package 3 -
2 Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers Chicken Margherita – 5 pts.
2 Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers Grilled Chicken Marinara – 5 pts.

This time, they didn’t have the panini, but often they do. All three of the above were around $8 or $9, making them between $2 and $2.25 apiece. The plus side is that most of them are 5 Weight Watcher points each. The downside is that there is not too much variety – most of it is chicken-based. Also, I have actually scored cheaper Lean Cuisines and Smart Ones meals at Walmart and Publix.

In the canned goods aisle, they also carry the Progresso and Healthy Choice low calorie soups, but I am not a big fan of canned soup. I usually have to doctor up canned soups, so I might as well make my own.

Other convenience foods I was looking at were frozen fruits and vegetables. There were two interesting fruit blends:

Spectrum Blend – 6 colorful fruits: yellow peach slices, pineapple chunks, red whole strawberries, white peach slices, green honeydew chunks 10 svgs (1 cup each)- I don’t recall the price – probably $7-$9.

Kirkland’s Trader Farms Triple Berry – Raspberry, Blueberry, Marionberry (Blackberry)

There are also many vegetable blends, including Asian Stir Fry and Normandy Blend (carrots, cauliflower, and broccoli). Right now, I am really into the steam in the bag blends, but I might need to check those out, too.

Chobani Nonfat flavored Greek yogurt – 12 – 4 each of blueberry, peach, and strawberry. Now, I bought these, and they are fine. Greek yogurt is all the rage right now, but it is not as sweet as regular yogurt. And, although it is 0% fat, it must contain sugar, because it is 3 WW pts. per serving.

Other things I saw were fruit cups (pkg. of 12 tropical blend), Weight Watchers Oreo Cookie popsicles, individual portions of hummus, individual portions of apples, and probably the Healthy Choice Fudgesicles. Those are great, if you don’t mind eating the same thing over and over.

I haven’t even mentioned the produce – salad greens and all. Maybe I will plan a one week Costco menu next.

I am, for the most part, sticking to frozen entrees – especially for breakfast and lunch.  Sometimes, for dinner, I will make something in a large quantity – like a soup or stew in the crockpot.  Then I freeze the remainder so that my husband has meals when I am not cooking.

I was looking up the nutritional information for a Healthy Choice entree when I noticed that they have expanded their site to include a diet and exercise planner called Start Making Choices.  I have not signed up yet, but I may.

Other sites that have diet plans are Amy’s Kitchen and Lean Cuisine.  Of course, Smart Ones has a site:  It’s called WeightWatchers, but they also have a community message board on their frozen entree site.  Kashi also has a community message board as well as coupons for free entrees.

The Amy’s Kitchen website has a pretty extensive section on what they call the Amy’s Diet Plan.  There are 14 days worth of menus and shopping lists as well.  I might try that sometime, but it has usually been difficult for me to plan ahead when I am eating or dieting.  I guess I got that from my parents.  I am a very impulsive eater.

Lean Cuisine’s website offers Wellness Tools, and you must also sign up for that.  It is supposed to include a meal planner and a fitness planner, with pre-planned menus.  I will check it out later.

I stopped by Aldi first, because I hadn’t been there in a while.  I bought one each of their Fiber One Bars knock offs.  I had tried the Peanut Butter ones in Asheville last week and thought they were pretty good.  I got one box of the Millville Fiber NOW chewy bars in Oats and Chocolate and one in Oats and Caramel.  I had one in the car before I went to WalMart so that I would not “hunger shop” and it was fantastic!  Really chocolate-y and rich and only 2 WW Pts per bar.  I am going to keep them at school in case I have a craving for a candy bar.

At WalMart, I bought a couple of Amy’s Organic Dinners.  WalMart has them for only $3.14 to $3.28 each.  I bought two packages each of the Cheese Enchiladas and the Cheese Tamale Verde, because they are gluten-free and will make an easy dinner for my hubby as well.  I also bought one package of the Indian Mattar Paneer and the Tortilla Casserole and Black Beans Bowl.  That last one was a stretch, at 9 WW Pts. per dinner.  I will have to eat really light on my other meals that day.

After that, I headed for the Michelina’s Lean Gourmet section.  Those are really cheap.  I bought one entree with the old packaging – you cook it in the box.  It was Chicken Alfredo Florentine, and cost $1.18.  The new packaging looks like it has a baking dish enclosed and costs $1.68 per entree.  I cannot find information yet on the new ones, but I think I got Curry Chicken, Mandarin Chicken and Pad Thai Chicken.   There are coupons on the back to get the 50 cents you paid extra off on another purchase.  We’ll see.

I bought only three Kashi entrees this time:  Sweet and Sour Chicken (my favorite – I had it for lunch when I got home), Lemon Coconut Chicken, and the Tuscan Veggie Bake.   I then went to the Lean Cuisine and Smart Ones aisle, because the WW Points are prominently displayed on the box.  I got Smart Ones Fettuccine Alfredo Smart Ones Lemon Chicken, and Lean Cuisine Pasta Romano with Bacon (It’s also new -I ate it yesterday and loved it!).   I also bought Lean Cuisine Santa Fe Rice and Beans, and two Healthy Choice French Bread Pizzas:  one cheese and one pepperoni.  The total came to about $45, but if you subtract the two entrees I bought for my husband, it was only $37 for 17 meals.

I didn’t buy any breakfasts:  I already had some.  I have two servings of Trader Joe’s Steel Cut Oatmeal and a package of Kashi Heart to Heart Waffles – I think that’s 3 servings of 2 waffles each.  I’ll lay out my daily menus in my Weight Watchers food diary.  It’s a start.

After a bit of back and forth with tech support, I was able to regain access to the account I set up LAST time I was on Weight Watchers – maybe 3 years ago?  All of the recipes I had saved in the Recipe Builder were still there – amazing!  I think that it will make it easier to keep track of my intake, using WW Points instead of calorie counts.

Now the only caveat about using the Weight Watchers site on frozen entree Points is that not all companies are created equal.  ESPECIALLY if that company is Lean Cuisine.  Those items are not included in the database, which I find kind of mean.  Luckily for us, the Lean Cuisine website has a search engine where you can look for meals of specific “pointage”.  The Points are also on each box, but that doesn’t help if you are trying to plan a shopping list ahead of time.  Another good resource is HeatEatReview, that has its reviews classified by manufacturer AND WW Points.  Hungry Girl.com includes the Points values for any food they review, as well as for their original recipes.

I did 30 minutes of Mall walking today, and now I think I will clean house a little.  Apparently NO ONE ELSE is going to do it!

Yesterday I went to Discover Mills, which is a few minutes north of my home in Norcross.  I walked 3 times around in about 45 minutes.  I went in the afternoon on a Sunday, so I did some weaving in and out of the crowd.  I reckoned it to be about 1 mile around, but decided to go online to make sure.  You know, it was not easy to find out.  I did find this walking guide provided by Southern Regional Health System, but there were some malls missing – most of them in Gwinnett County.

So here is the added information that I found today (I just called Guest Services – not difficult!):

• Discover Mills: 1 lap = 1.2 miles

Open for walking at 8 a.m Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m. Sunday. Accessible through main mall entrances. Mall Walkers Club offers store discounts and monthly prizes.

• Gwinnett Place Mall: Upper Level – .89 miles Lower Level – .85 miles Total –  1.74 miles

Walkers – Gwinnett Place has established early morning hours specifically for your convenience. The hours are Monday – Saturday, 8:30am – 10:00am, and Sunday, 10:00am – 12:00pm.

• Mall of Georgia:  3 levels – each level is 1 mile Total – 3 miles!

Walking – Mall of Georgia’s Main Entrance is open for mall walkers Monday through Saturday at 8:00 am and Sunday at 10:00 am.

• Phipps Plaza – One lap around Level 1 and Level 2 is 1 mile.

Walking: The AMC/Niketown entrance at Phipps Plaza is open from 8:00am – 10:00am for mall walkers.

• North Pointe Mall: 2 levels – each level is 1 mile if you go in all nooks and crannies. Total: 2 miles.

Walkers may enter through Service Court No. 2 at 8:30am Monday through Saturday and at 10:00am Sunday for your walking convenience. Be sure to stop by the Customer Service Center to register and receive your mall walker’s I.D.

I haven’t gotten the stats for the outdoor malls like Atlantic Station and the Avenues. Hey, maybe I will come up with cute little decals or patches to designate each mall visited and walked.  Sort of like the State Park badges…

While I was trying to figure out the distance around Atlantic Station, I found a neat website called MapMyWalk.com.  Check it out!  It’s associated with Prevention magazine, I think.

Note:  Today, I tried walking around my school.  It is a wierdly laid out place, however, and it would be difficult to lay out a walking path.  Still, I walked 20 minutes, and I could do that during my planning.

• Small box Kellogg’s Rice Krispies – 90 calories
• 3/4 canned peaches – 75 calories

Total: 165 calories

Snack:

• 4-5 Triscuit Crackers Whole Grain Original – 120 calories
• 2 wedges Laughing Cow Light French Onion Flavor wedges – 35 calories a wedge

Total: 190 calories

Lunch:

• Lean Cuisine Pesto Chicken Flatbread Melt – 330 calories