Super Low Calorie Food Review

Amidst my continued attempts to quit my job, and my boss’s efforts to stop me, he’s granted me a “trial week off” to see how he can cope without me. Apparently, he can’t so well, considering I’ve been in 2/2 days I’m supposed to not be there. But I refuse to go today! So I’ve got some free time (a novel concept to me!), and I thought this would be a fun post!

I’m not usually the type to go all out on diet food. I generally am trying to stick with what I like and eating healthier portions, saving the sweets for treats, etc., rather than buying all low fat, low carb, whatever mumbo-jumbo is on the shelves (which I know is great for some people! Just not my thing). However I couldn’t avoid trying some of these super-duper low-calorie ‘replacements’ that are all the rage lately, namely PB2, Shirataki Noodles, and Arctic Zero ice cream. And here’s what I think!

PB2:

I just got this for the first time. Let me say first off, the price stinks! At $2.00 more a jar (for what probably amounts to less product) than the Skippy Natural I usually buy, it’s not exactly budget friendly (although I hear peanut butter prices will be going up very soon!).

But as a peanut butter addict, I couldn’t resist trying this ‘healthier’ alternative. So, last night I whipped some up according to directions (I found you need a bit more water than they say). Two tablespoons of the powder didn’t seem to really make two tablespoons of peanut butter, but it was still plenty to cover a rice cake, with some left over.

On the rice cake (my preferred form of sandwich ‘bread’), it was great! Looked, felt, smelt, and tasted just like delicious peanut butter. I wholeheartedly approve! Alone (ie just off a spoon…or my finger), it wasn’t QUITE as good as regular peanut butter. It doesn’t have the creamy but sticky texture I know and love but the taste was great. Overall, I loved it! Definitely need to look at my money, but if I can make it happen in the budget, this will have to become a staple food (I eat a LOT of peanut butter, so it’s worth it for me for the calorie saving).

Over all grade: B+

Tofu Shirataki Noodles:

Note: These aren’t the zero-calories I’ve read about. They have tofu in them, so they do have some calories, but at 40 cal per pack (which has ample noodles-two servings), that’s obviously a huge improvement on regular spaghetti.

I bought the spaghetti shaped kind, and decided to try them in homemade Ramen. I should note that I am a very plain person; all I need in soup is noodles and chicken flavoring, so that’s exactly what I made. I boiled water with that chicken powder flavor you can buy in stores (can’t for the life of me remember the brand-it’s like those bouillon cube things) and added the noodles after I’d washed, rinsed, and parboiled them. I let them boil in the soup broth for five minutes before eating.

What resulted was SO GOOD. I understand the complaints I’ve heard from others saying that the noodles are too chewy. They certainly are, and don’t match the texture of spaghetti perfectly, but I love my noodles chewy so they’re perfect for me. They also seem to soak up the flavor really well! I think they’d be perfect in a stir fry, which I was actually going to make for lunch today but I got too lazy. But I’m going to try that next!

At 60 calories for a pack of noodles plus flavoring, that’s a HUGE improvement over Ramen, which clocks in at about 380 calories a pack. Money wise, they’re not terrible ($2 a pack, plus a $6 box of flavoring, but that is big and will last me forever I think), although it’s tough when you compare that to Ramen, which I can get for $.25 a pack. Still, I think worth it.

Edit: Forgot to mention, I’ve heard people say they have a fishy smell or taste to them. I didn’t get that at all, and I’ve had them three or four times now.

Overall grade: A

Artic Zero Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream:

Um, yuck. Okay, the texture was good. It felt just like ice cream. I wanted so bad to believe I was eating ice cream. But I just couldn’t do it. It’s not that it tasted bad, it just didn’t taste like anything!! I couldn’t pick out any chocolate or peanut butter flavors at all. It just tasted like nothingness, it was weird. I’m not discounting the other flavors though, and I think I’m going to get some Cookies and Cream next time I go grocery shopping. If that’s bad too though, I guess Arctic Zero and I just weren’t meant to be.

Overall grade: C

I know plenty of people have other opinions on these products. Just sharing my thoughts!