Review of Popchips - I am in LOVE with this great new product!

I was in Kroger one day and saw this little bin of chips for $1.00. Looked like a new product and honestly, the nice graphic design lured me over there too. I picked up a couple of individual bags of these because I saw that each bag was only 100 calories and I thought it would be a great little snack if they were tasty!

Let me tell you...I am in LOVE. Mostly with the BBQ ones because BBQ chips are always my favorites. I never have been a big fan of regular potato chips because I find them too greasy. When baked chips came out, I was so excited, but these are even better! They are super light and very crunchy. They are potatoes that have literally been popped like popcorn.

They are low fat (4-5g per serving) and low calorie (100-120c per serving depending on the packaging). They come in single serving bags or multiple serving bags lots of flavors as you can see from the image. I have tried the BBQ, Sour Cream & Onion, and Sea Salt & Vinegar chips! I liked them all!

The great thing about the small single serving bags is that they are exactly 100 calories and you can't eat the entire bag like you could if you bought the multiple serving bags. The large bags only have 3 to 3.5 servings in them for about $3.50 at my local Kroger. The serving size in the multiple serving bags is a little larger making that serving 120 calories.

In my opinion, buying the individual bags is slightly more expensive, but it curbs my desire to eat ALL of them. Which is a problem we are all obviously trying to overcome and sometimes solutions to that problem can come in the form of convenience at a bit of a cost. Which is OK. I'm seriously thinking of purchasing a 24 pack of the BBQ ones on Amazon for $20 thus saving $4 and right now I have free shipping because of an Amazon Prime membership trial.

I feel silly buying in bulk off the internet, but I guess it's no different than going to Sams or Costco!

You guys should seriously try these if you see them in your stores! Check out their website for more info! www.popchips.com

PB2 - A Great Peanut Butter Alternative!

When I decided to break it off with Nutella, I told you guys that I had ordered some PB2 to fill the Peanut Butter void in my life.

What is PB2?
PB2 is a product of Bell Plantation in Tifton, Georgia (If there is one thing Georgia knows, it's Peanuts! Just ask Jimmy Carter). PB2 is made by removing 85% of the oil from dry roasted peanuts and creating a powder. The product comes in powder form and the consumer reconstitutes with a little water.  There are no chemicals involved, so you can rest assured that your PB2 is still all-natural peanuts.

Nutritionally how does PB2 stack up against regular peanut butter?
Jif Creamy (2 Tbs Serving) - 190 Calories • 16g Fat • 8g Protein
PB2 (2 Tbs Serving) - 45 Calories • 1.5g Fat • 5g Protein

You can see that there is a BIG difference in the Calories and Fat department, but you still maintain quite a bit of protein for such a small serving size. This is the kind of snack that is beneficial for WLS patients. Even reduced fat versions of regular peanut butter do not offer much relief from the burden of fat content in peanut butter (reduced fat Jif has 12g fat vs. 16g with the regular). And the reduced fat versions don't offer any reduction in calories.

Does it taste like peanut butter? What does it look like after adding water?
Yes. I was happily surprised by how good it was. It reminds me of the peanut butter you get in an organic grocery store where you grind your own. It has a very nutty flavor without all the sugar that you find in popular store brands.

After reconstituting the powder, it has a thick consistency. You can add a touch more water if you'd rather have it a bit smoother, but I was agreeable with the directions on the jar. Without all the fat, of course, the mixture is dryer than normal peanut butter, but I didn't find it off-putting.

I tried PB2 on celery and just ate little bites off the spoon and I was VERY satisfied with the taste. It would taste great on toast and I even think you could make a good PB&J sandwich with it!

What about the chocoate PB2? What's that all about?
It's no substitute for Nutella. However, it also tastes good. When I mixed it up, I noticed it was much thinner than the regular PB2. I tried it with strawberries and it was good. It was not like Nutella, but it was still satisfying. Over-all, it still had mostly a peanut butter flavor and the chocolate was MUCH more subtle than the flavor of Nutella. Some of the serving suggestions on the PB2 website are to eat chocolate PB2 as a fruit dip, as cupcake icing, with graham crackers... all of those things would be a good snack. With the exception of 1g less of protein per serving, Chocolate PB2 has essentially the same nutritionally values as the regular PB2.

Will I buy again?
YES. I will certainly be buying this product again. I'm not sure how often I will be the chocolate variety, but, I know that the regular PB2 will become something that I will enjoy. I believe this is one of the best-tasting low-fat, low-calorie substitution products on the market.

Where can I buy?
Don't buy this product on Amazon! It's highway robbery at over $11 per jar when the suggested retail value is $3.99. I bought my PB2 at netrition.com because I only wanted one jar of each so that I could try the product, but you can get a much better deal directly from the PB2 website's store. At the Bell Plantation store you can get 4 jars for $15.98, plus around $6 shipping. PB2 might also be available in your area - you can check the website for stores that carry their products.

Try it out for $3.99!
Everyone's tastebuds are different. You can get a sample of regular PB2 and chocolate PB2 for only $3.99 (which includes the shipping). The samples are 1 serving packets.

PB2 Recipes
Check out the Bell Plantation website for more information and to see several recipes that use the PB2 products. There are lots of ways to use these products other than traditional peanut butter snacks! I'll be trying this recipe for PB2 french toast this weekend. With the low-calorie products I keep in my kitchen, I can make this for 165 calories per serving, easily!