A Review: Tasty Bites Party Mix

Sooooooo, in my never-ending protein quest, this weekend I spent some time on a few web sites searching for some protein-rich snacks, meant specifically for bariatric patients. One web site I found, AmBari Nutrition had several tasty tidbits I ordered. I was probably most excited to try this snack from Robard, Tasty Bites Party Mix.  It comes in pizza flavor or the party mix flavor. I haven't had Chex Mix in a long long LONG time and figured what the hell, how bad can it be?  Here's the photo from the web site:

And here is the item out of the bag. You can see how HUGE these things are.  When you open the bag, they smell just like Chex Mix, which was important. And I could immediately taste the seasoning and Worcestershire, which is important. I ate one and my first thought was oh yea, score! And then I ate a few more. Aaaaaand, decided they're not for me.

First, the good. The portion is freakin huge. These would be a slider for me I think, so I think I could probably eat them all, but then again who knows. If you miss having a big snack to really sink your teeth into, this'll work for you.  

Nutritionally? Not horrible.  For the whole bag, you'll give up 140 calories.  There's 20g of carbs but 10g of protein.  I like that.  

Here's the ingredients:

Potato Starch, Soy Protein Concentrate, Vegetable Oil (Contains one of more of the following: Mid or High Oleic Sunflower Seed Oil, High Oleic Canola Oil), Pea Fiber, Maltodextrin, Sugar, Salt, Worcestershire Sauce (Vinegar, Molasses, Corn Syrup, Salt, Caramel Color, Garlic Powder, Sugar, Spices, Tamarind, Natural Flavor), Garlic Powder, Yeast Extract, Onion Powder, Natural Flavors, Vinegar, Spices. 

I could definitely taste the potato starch. A few bites were all I could do though; I'm not sure if it was the flavor or the texture, but I just didn't fall in love with these.  I would definitely try the pizza flavor to see if those are any better.  

Would I buy these again? Doubt it. My husband loves them though, so he's eating the bag right now.  Out of 10 stars, this snack is going to get a 5.  It's not awful, but not my first choice. If I was craving something like party mix, I'd feel better reaching for this, that the calorie laden real deal.

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Pizza and Me

Meh.  I'm not so sure that I can tell that I've lost 100 pounds.  I thought it would look so much better than it does.  I just expected more.  I know I started out really heavy, but come on.  100 pounds is huge.  but it doesn't look huge.  So depressing.

Tonight for dinner,we ate pizza.  Let me tell you about me and pizza.  Prior to surgery, we would order it at least once a week.  It was my favorite food.  Pizza with chicken wings was ever better.  Pizza dipped in ranch?  Like heaven.  We had a free pizza coupon from Papa John's so I said fuck it...it's Halloween...I have to work tonight, let's just order a pizza.  So, we grabbed it and brought it home.  I put the glorious piece of pizza on my plate and noticed how greasy it looked, so I dabbed it with my napkin.  I ate 3/4 of a slice and was full - completely satisfied.  (But I don't lie...I ate another piece for my snack.)

I feel like crap.  I feel like I cheated.  I feel like hell.  I feel like the carbs are just on overload right now.  Too much fat.  Too much grease.  And allow me to tell you - without those chicken wings, without that ranch, without those two glasses of ice cold Diet Coke, dinner just sucked.  I rather would of had a chicken breast and an ice water.  Honestly. The pizza did nothing for me.  I will remember this the next time I have a craving.  And this is good.

What's bad?  How hard I'm going to have to bust my ass at the gym tomorrow to burn off that nearly 700 calories of fucking pizza I just ate today.  GROSS.

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Food...it's good

I've been getting really tired of eating the same old thing, over and over again.  I'm always looking for something new, something protein packed and low carb, and something quick and easy.  Yesterday was food experimentation day in my house, and I've found two winners!

The first one winner would be these amazeballs chicken and bacon wraps.  My recipe was tweaked a bit.  First of all, it's 20 ounces of boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1" cubes.  Then, I used a pound of Wegman's brand organic uncured turkey bacon.  The original recipe called for "real" bacon, but this stuff was out of this world, and tasted like ham.  And the third and final ingredient was one packet of dry Hidden Valley ranch dressing mix.  You coat the chicken in the ranch, wrap it in the bacon, which you cut into thirds, and secure with a toothpick.  I baked them in a 375 degree oven for 35 minutes.  Each wrap has 38 calories, 1g carb, and 6g protein.  I ate 4 of them.  My husband ate, oh,maybe a dozen or so?  

And dinner?  Allow me to say OMG.  I've been dying for pizza.  The gooey cheese, the pepperoni, the sauce....yum.  Do I miss the dough/crust?  Yea, sometimes.  There's nothing like a greasy slab of pizza, dipped into ranch dressing.  Yea, that's why I'm fat.  Anyhow, I took a zucchini and sliced it in half lengthwise, and then again lengthwise until I had 4 strips.  I used 1/4 cup of pizza sauce, and spread it on all 4, used about 1/3 cup of mozzarella cheese and 10 slices of pepperoni, diced and dived among the 4.  I baked this in a 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes.  I like when my cheese is golden brown and starts to get all crusty like on the edges.  The only thing that would of make this more perfect would be mushrooms.  Oh and maybe onions.  One slice of my zucchini pizza is 80 calories, with 3g of carbs and 4g of protein.  I never promised a protein-packed powerhouse with this one.  But it surely was a tasty treat!!

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