Strange Snacks - Hearts of Palm

I've been trying to eat better in the new year. I'm back on the calorie tracking bandwagon, and I've been working out. (less than normal because I'm recovering from a run streak, but...) My snack of choice lately hasn't been anything that you'd expect - I've been eating cans of hearts of palm from Whole Foods.



Get in my belly



The first time I had hearts of palm was on a salad at Deagan's. I absolutely loved them. (the second time was in a vegan plate at Dante, and to this day, that might be one of the worst meals I've ever eaten) I just happened to notice that Whole Foods sells cans of hearts of palm one day, and I think I've been eating a couple cans (1 can = 50 calories) each week. I suppose I could be snacking on much worse things, right?

Do you have any favorite healthy snacks?

Skinny Cow Vanilla with Caramel Ice Cream Cone

Who craves ice cream in 60-degree weather?

Me, of course.

On Tuesday, I had some delicious Stonyfield Farm Organic Low Fat Creme' Caramel Yogurt. At 130 calories/1.5 grams of fat per serving ( 4 servings in a container), I only feel moderately guilty for sitting down and eating a half pint at one time. The yogurt itself isn't anything spectacular but the caramel swirl - oh, it's divine. It tastes like the most fattening caramel sauce you've ever had in a sundae - but isn't all that bad for you.

Last night, after a robust one legged workout (more on my foot injury that just isn't healing and is putting my life on hold in a future post), I stopped by the grocery store and happened upon the Skinny Cow ice cream. I've mentioned before that I'm a big fan of the 50 calorie mini fudge bars made by Skinny Cow, so when I saw the 150 calorie ice cream cones, I thought I should give them a try.

I bought the Vanilla with Caramel variety, which has 150 calories and 3 grams of fat per cone. Making it less healthy than the yogurt. But it came with a cone! And a decent sized cone, at that. For a 150 calorie cone, I was literally expecting something doll sized, but it seemed fairly normal to me. Slightly smaller than my childhood favorite - the Nestle' Drumstick (which has 310 calories - but also has fudge in the center), but still big enough to satisfy my sweet tooth. I had hoped that the caramel that was on top of the ice cream continued through the cone, but it merely served as a decoration. A sweet, sweet decoration. The cone itself had a thin chocolate lining (a la Drumstick), and really was very satisfying. The fat girl in me could have eaten 2 cones or all 4 in the box, but I could do that with just about any dessert. Sticking to 1 cone allowed me to satisfy my sweets craving and not ruin my calorie goals for the day - a win-win situation.

Mmm...Popsicles

Hot weather makes me crave unhealthy things. Like sugary lemonade. Carnival food. And ice cream. In keeping with my, "try to not eat 10,000 calories a day, mmkay," diet, I've been searching for healthy summer snacks to crave my ice cream eating urge.

My first pick, and legitimately natural snack choice for the summer are Edy's Strawberry Fruit Bars. They have only 80 calories and are made with real fruit. Back when I was growing up, I wasn't allowed to have popsicles because they were all made with artificial colors and flavors. The apple juice popsicles my mom made for me were good, but Edy's popsicles are slightly better.

My second snack choice would have to be the Skinny Cow's Mini-Fudge Pops. At 50 calories each with an icy, fudgey taste, I can look past whatever weird ingredients are in them to make them so low calorie.