Taste Test Tuesday: Chicken Potstickers

First...SORRY I didn't do a Six on Sunday! I had a really busy day and totally forgot (I promise to behave this week). On to my taste test...I saw Ling Ling All Natural Chicken Potstickers at Publix Greenwise Market the other day and couldn't resist. The nutritional info looked decent. I love potstickers! Eventually I will try to just make them myself. But I love convenience...especially when I get home from a long day and am too hungry to wait around for food to cook.


Serving Size: 5 pcs
Calories 260
Fat: 6g
Sodium: 620mg
Carbs: 39g
Fiber: 2g
Sugar: 5g
Protein: 13g
Rating: 4 out of 5

The instructions were pretty simple, just put them in a pot with a little oil and water and let them cook for 8 minutes. While they were steaming...I eyed the sauce that came with the potstickers and decided against it. I ended up mixing some Veri Veri Teriyaki with water and honey (I mixed it with water because the sauce is thick with a lot of sodium). It came out great! It was a thin consistency with a slight sweetness. Now time for the dumplings! I made 7 of them...2 of them came apart at the seams slightly. The wrapping of the potsticker seemed a tad bit overcooked. The filling was great! It tasted exactly like what I would get at a restaurant. It was moist and flavorful. Seven was almost too many..I think next time I'll stick to the serving size of 5 and eat a nice salad with it. It was WAY better than having a Lean Cuisine!

Taste Test Tuesday: Skinny Dippers

I heard about these new Skinny Cow Skinny Dippers from Hungry Girl, and they sounded perfect! I love to try new low calorie treats when I get my raging sweet tooth at night. I finally spotted this box at Publix, so I snatched it up and sped home to try one.

Cost: $4.99
Serving Size: 1 pop
Calories: 80
Fat: 3g
Carbs: 11g
Fiber: 2g
Sugar: 7g
Protein: 2g
My Rating: 3.5 out of 5

I was excited to try these. The caramel pops come in the brown wrapper, the vanilla pops are in the white (the pictured one is vanilla). The first one I tried was the caramel. The chocolate coating tasted very good, like that chocolate dip from Dairy Queen. It could be thicker, but then again, it wouldn't be 80 calories. The caramel "ice cream" tasted really good, but it didn't taste like caramel to me. It actually tasted alot like the cotton candy flavor of ice cream they have a TCBY (I worked at TCBY in college...so I did alot of "quality testing" on the cotton candy). The vanilla pop was good as well, but it could have had a little stronger vanilla flavor. The texture is slightly icy, but what can you expect from an 80 calorie ice pop? I will buy these again...they satisfy the sweet tooth without busting up your diet.

Taste Test Tuesday: Greek Sesame Pizza

I was really in the mood for pizza when I went grocery shopping the other day. I was meandering about in the frozen food aisle when this caught my attention, A.C. La Rocco Greek Sesame Pizza. The box looked great...plus it was made with whole grain and had a lot of fiber. It had some great toppings too...sun dried tomatoes and artichokes...yum!

Cost: 5.99
Serving Size: 1/3 of the pizza
Calories: 250
Fat: 8g
Carbs: 40g
Fiber: 9g
Sugar: 3g
Protein: 12g
My Rating: 3 out of 5

I took the pizza out of the plastic wrap and was a little disappointed. The toppings looked scarce. Maybe all those yummy toppings were hidden under the cheese? I guess I'd have to wait to find out. Also, the pizza was a little smaller than I expected it to be. I thought I'd have to eat the whole thing...but I definitely didn't want to eat 3 servings! The pizza was ready and I sliced away. I guess the toppings weren't hidden under the cheese. The amount of cheese was adequate, but there were hardly any sun dried tomatoes, artichokes, olives, or sesame seeds. I mean...isn't this called Greek Sesame Pizza? But I took a bite of the pizza and it was pretty good. The crust was hearty and tasted fiber packed. The sauce and cheese were a little above average a frozen pizza. The good part was that I was full after eating 2 servings. All that fiber really does fill you up! I would probably try another one of their other types of pizzas if it was on sale.

Taste Test Tuesday: Morningstar Corn Dogs

I've had pretty good luck with Morningstar products. I love their Chik'n Patties, so I thought I would try something new. I'm definitely a huge fan of corn dogs. Who can resist that deep fried goodness when you're walking through the fair? It's been a long time since I had a corn dog, so I wanted to give these veggie ones a fair shot.


Cost: $3.49 for a 4-pack
Serving Size: 1 corn dog
Calories: 150
Fat: 4g
Carbs: 26g
Fiber: 3g
Sugar: 4g
Protein: 7g
My Rating: 4 out of 5


The size of these is a little bit smaller than a regular corn dog. They are thinner because there is less cornbread on it than you would usually find on a corn dog. I was super hungry when I decided to eat one, so I cooked it according to the microwave directions. That was probably a mistake. The crust of the cornbread was not crispy as I would have hoped. It was a little bit on the chewy side when you bite into it. But that is my only complaint. Overall it was really tasty! The cornbread had the right amount of sweetness. There was a good proportion of the hot dog to cornbread ratio. The veggie dog tasted just like a real hot dog...I was in shock. It tasted great with yellow mustard. I'll be definitely eating this for my "healthy junk food" meals that I crave.

Tombstone Extra Cheese Pizza

While I was grocery shopping the other day, I was suddenly craving pizza and thought I'd give one of the frozen ones a try. Tombstone was one of the cheaper ones, plus, it said "extra cheese" so I thought it couldn't be too bad. Right when I got home I put in the oven, and about 20 minutes later it was ready for me. The crust was thin and very crispy. The sauce tasted like a basic manufactured tomato sauce, which was what I was expecting anyway. The best part was all that cheese! I thought "extra cheese" was kind of an oxymoron for a frozen pizza, but they do a good job of loading it on. Overall, the pizza was good in a pinch, but I'd definitely rather go to my local pizza shop and grab a pizza there.

Alexia Sweet Potato Fries

I am obsessed with sweet potato fries, so when I saw Alexia frozen sweet potato fries in the frozen aisle at Publix, I was so excited. So I picked up the package, thinking they were going to be bad for me. But I was surprised, only 150 calories per serving and they are low in sodium.



I put a batch in the oven and couldn't wait to try them. They came out great, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. I've always had a hard time making homemade sweet potato fries crispy so I'll be using these when I'm in the mood for fries. These fries taste great when you dip them in a little honey mustard. If you're a sweet potato fry freak like me, you'll love these!

Asian Peanut Chik'n Wraps

It's Thursday, the time of the week when I'm too lazy to cook "real food" (You can even see the paper plate in the pic, no dishes for me!). I was in the mood for peanut sauce. I made my own sauce, which came out pretty well. I also used one of my new favorite products, the Morningstar Chik'n Patties. You can definitely substitute real chicken for this one too. I also always have pre-shredded carrots on hand to get extra veggies into wraps and salads. This is super quick and tastes great. This recipe makes 2 wraps.

Asian Peanut Chik'n Wraps
2 Morningstar Chick'n Patties
2 whole wheat wraps (I used La Tortilla)
1 cup shredded carrots
2 tbsp peanut butter
2 tsp honey
2 tsp rice wine vinegar
1 tsp soy sauce
few dashes dried ginger

Put Chik'n Patties in oven or microwave according to directions (oven is best). Combine the wet ingredients & ginger to make the sauce. Then, toss the carrots with about 1/3 of the peanut sauce. Spread the remaining peanut sauce in the center of the 2 wraps. Place the carrots on top. When the patties are ready, cut into fourths and place on top of the carrots. Fold together and enjoy!

Morningstar Chik'n with Peppers

I had never tried any of the Morningstar products before, but my sister kept insisting that the Chik'n Patties were really good. I decided to give them a shot and I was impressed. It almost tastes like a fried chicken patty (tastes better when heated in the oven). The first few patties I tried, I made into a sandwich with mustard on a whole wheat bun. But I decided to mix it up, and use some frozen peppers which I have been eating a lot of lately. It tasted good and is pretty filling so I'll definitely be making it again.

1 clove Garlic, minced
1 cup Red & Green Peppers, sliced (I used frozen)
1/4 cup canned Black Beans, drained
1/4 cup Chicken Stock (or vegetable stock)
1 Morningstar Chik'n Patty
1 dollop Dijon Mustard (or whichever mustard you prefer)

Preheat oven to 375. When it's ready, put Chik'n Patty in, cooking for 16 minutes, flipping once. In the meantime, heat skillet to medium and spray with cooking spray, when it's heated, add peppers and garlic. Sauté for a couple minutes then add chicken stock and black beans. Continue to cook until peppers are cooked through and liquid has evaporated. Place pepper mix on a plate, then top with Chik'n Patty. Spoon dijon onto patty for extra flavor. Then enjoy!

Skinny Cow Ice Cream Cones

I've been having a major sweet tooth lately. I started to roam the aisles at Publix and caught myself staring at all the ice creams I shouldn't have. Then my eyes stopped on the brand new Skinny Cow cones. The Chocolate was calling for me. Plus, each cone has only 150 calories. Before I ate it I was trying not to get my hopes up too high (and also hoping it had that yummy chocolate at the bottom like Drumsticks). Last night I tried one. I lucked out! It was really good AND it had the little bit of chocolate at the bottom of the cone, my favorite part. These are going to be my new sweet tooth staple...next time I'm going for the Mint Chocolate if I can find it (they also have Vanilla Caramel).

Yummy Mint Chip!

I have been craving some good ice cream lately and went with my all time favorite...Mint Chocolate Chip. I wasn't sure which brand to buy, but I didn't want a huge amount lingering around my freezer so I went with Häagen-Dazs Mint Chip. This has to be my favorite store bought brand of mint chocolate chip. It's super creamy, has the perfect amount of mint, and the perfect amount of dark chocolate pieces. This is going to be hard...but I decided to eat 1/4 cup (150 calories) every other night for a treat. After all, I've been doing pretty well at working out (trying to lose a few more lbs for the Pillsbury Bake-Off next month) so I think I deserve a little extra ice creamy goodness.

Amy's Mexican Casserole

I went to Whole Foods the other day and was browsing the frozen food aisle for some ideas for a quick lunch for work. I decided to pick this up because it looked good (and it was on sale). When I first took it out, it looked tiny. After 5 minutes in the microwave, it smelled great! I was getting hungrier by the second. The casserole is basically layers of masa (the cornmeal mixture that's used in tamales), with corn, black beans, cheese and enchilada sauce. Even though it looked small, it filled me up and was really tasty! The textures and flavors were very good for a frozen meal. I will definitely be getting this again.
Nutrition Info: 370 Calories, 16 grams of fat, 12 grams of protein