Hummus!
After braving the wind and rain (it has been raining for two weeks here) on my bike I found this guy by chance today. You would be surprised how hard it is to find Hummus in this country! I've been looking for weeks and luckily today I found some. I immediately picked it up, although there was no calorie information. Normally I am very apprehensive about buying items without calorie information since I started calorie counting. (Just a note, if the product is produced in Hungary it will not have calorie information 99% of the time. If you purchase a product of the U.K. or Austria chances are you will get calorie information.)
So like any good consumer I opened it up as soon as I got home and had it with a raw carrot.
When I was out I also picked up some ingredients to try Kath's Baked Oatmeal Snack Bars
I substituted soy milk for skim milk, and used 1/4 cups banana, 2/4 cup pineapple/papaya mix.The finished product.
The recipe makes nine squares, so I wrapped some up and put them in the freezer for later!
My review: I thought they were delish. I do not normally use/eat dried fruit. I prefer my fruit fresh. I also was apprehensive on how easy it was to make these bars and when I saw what my product looked like pre-baking (essentially a mess in a pan and very liquid-y) I was sure that I had managed to mess up the recipe. But after baking they looked just like the example Kath had. They are very good, yet calorie steep. I like my food with less calories because I am a snack-er. I usually eat a lot of food with little calories as opposed to less food with more calories. Each bar has 165 calories. I will probably incorporate them for pre-workouts or for breakfast because they really are good. They will make there way into my recipe box for sure!Today's shopping trip was a challenge. I had so many internal debates. Chips. Ice cream. Chocolate. While shopping I would see something I wanted but had to control my impulse to buy. See I am not at that stage where I can let something into my house and not go crazy. Right now I do not bring items into the house that are not planned. I sometimes try to bring something in, and that leads to disaster. It is a struggle for me to have these items, especially if they are not portion controlled. I would like to think one day it would be possible to have these items without worrying that I will binge, but for now nope they aren't coming in. So I was proud when I walked out of the store without any chips, chocolate, or ice-cream. (On a side note I can let these things into my house if they aren't for me at all. I bought my sister some chocolate hippos and while I like them I haven't been near them and am not tempted because I know they are not for me.)
I did buy something today I normally don't buy.....
I usually only drink water. I'm a fan of normal water and to be honest I like diet Pepsi over diet Coke and finding diet Pepsi products in this town is like finding Hummus, almost impossible. But today I decided "why not?". I do not plan to make this a habit, and I think there are worse options that I could have decided upon. I am super lucky that in Europe, unless you are in the UK, they do not have diet Dr. Pepper. I stopped cold turkey off diet dr. pepper when I moved here, but diet DP was my drink of choice....I may have even incorporated it into my alcoholic drinks as well. So I can live without these drinks, and hopefully when I return stateside it will continue!Tonights dinner included eggs, hummus, brussel sprouts, roasted potatoes, and carrot sticks.
*I also wanted to mention that I appreciate those who have commented on my posts. I will reply to comments (usually within 3 days) so if you posted something you should check back for a reply! I like discussion!
**My question for you is there something that you treat yourself to that you know you won't over indulge on? For me it's the diet coke. It is a great treat every once in awhile (6 months in my case!) that I know I won't be binging on or wanting every day.
I love Hummus! It’s great with veggies. I haven’t had it in awhile. I might have to pick some up today when I shop. Since it’s hard for you to find have you considered making your own? Or are the ingredients also hard to find?
ReplyDeleteI think you should be able to have a treat once in awhile and like you I tend to reach for the Diet Pepsi on those occasions. I don’t trust myself with anything that has too many calories. It’s very easy for me to fall off my eating plan if I have ice-cream or pasta as a treat but I admit that now and again I will have one or the other. Mostly it’s the soda though. Since I’m a bit sensitive to artificial sweeteners a small glass of diet soda once in a great while is about all I can do so there is little chance of me going overboard with it.
Its funny that your post included finding hummus because that it what I treat myself with. I love hummus, I allow myself one snack a day to be hummus - its more a treat for me and not a such a healthy snack beacuse I eat it with mini rice crackers (YUM). I definetly think you need to have stuff to eat that can make you feel like you are treating yourself or you will burn out.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE hummus! The best thing about hummus is that it is a complete protein all by itself! It combines chickpeas (which have the amino acids lysine and isoleucine) and sesame seeds (a terrific source of tryptophan, methionine and cystine)!
ReplyDeleteDo you think the Cocacola Light tastes different than Diet Coke? I always thought it did. And cocacola light has something like 1 calorie in it (while diet coke doesn't have any). Not that 1 calorie really matters, but I always thought that was interesting.
Sparkling Mimi- I hope you picked up some Hummus on your shopping trip? The ingredients are hard to find here, I was given the beans used for it as a gift, but the sesame mixture I can't find anywhere! But I was planning on making my own when I found it in the store, since I had never tried it I thought I would see how it was before I imported the ingredients to make my own!
ReplyDeleteAmy- agreed we all need a treat or we will burn out! I think that if we always tell ourselves we can't have something it makes us want it even more, then we go overboard later!
MBIM- Is it wrong that I didn't realize there was a difference between coke light and diet coke? I just figured it was the European way for not wanting the word diet in their products! I've never been a good judge of diet/non-diet/ light, it all tastes the same to me! And yes there is one calorie in it!