Yum, Fiber!

Wow!  I just had to write a note about a GREAT product I found at Trader Joe's.  I don't get down to Portland too often, but when I do, I always make it a point to stop in. They have great prices on really good, healthy foods.  They have their not-so-healthy fare as well, but I digress.  


I found something called "Fiberful Ends and Pieces."  It is a bag of the ends of the fiberful (basically fruit leather) bars they sell.  For a paltry 2.50 (I believe, don't have the receipt in front of me), you get an 8 oz bag of the trimmings from the various bars the sell.  The ingredient list has NO added sugar, and they actually use both fruits AND vegetables in their fruit leather product, along with some added fiber.  Each half cup serving is only 120 calories, 1 g of fat, 29 g of carbohydrates, 12 grams of fiber (!!), and 2 grams of protein.  Very good stats, if you ask me.  


That being said, they might be a bit of an acquired taste.  The are not terribly sweet, and do have a bit of vegetable-y taste.  I find them to be delightful, but I cannot eat the whole bag in one sitting (which is a good thing..)


Consensus:I will be snacking on these tasty little tidbits often, and I recommend others do the same!


Disclaimer:  I have no relation to Trader Joe's, and have not, in any way, been paid to endorse this product.  I don't even know who I would contact to get a sweet deal like that, it's just something awesome and healthy I found at a store.  

The Popover Diet?

So, I have always loved popovers, ever since I discovered them at the Jordan Pond House in Acadia National Park.  Lovely, fluffy, eggy poofs of deliciousness.  They are so delicious, versatile, easy, inexpensive and..did I say delicious?  Oh I did. Right.  


Anyways, I was curious to discover why the popover holds such a mystical allure.  I had a hunch that they were nutritious, given the combination of flour, eggs, and milk.  So, being the investigator I am, I decided to plug a recipe into a nutrition calculator, and see exactly where they stood, nutrient-wise.  Using the following recipe:


1 Cup Flour
3/4 Cup 2% Milk
1/4 Cup Heavy Cream
2 Large Eggs
1/2 Tsp Salt


I plugged it into the SparkPeople Recipe Calculator.  The results?  For 6 Popovers, the nutrition information turns out to be 


134 Calories
4.5 g Fat
17.5 g Carbohydrates
5.6 g Protein


I then plugged THOSE numbers into the FitDay program, which will spit out the percentage of each component in calories, taking into consideration how many calories appear in a set unit of each component.


The results? 


 53% of Calories come from  Carbohydrates
30% of Calories come from Fat
17% of Calories come from Protein


This amazes me, because it is remarkably close to the RDA of 50% Carbohydrates, 30% Fat, and 20% Protein.  


I will admit to the occasional (OK, more than occasional) pat of butter and smudge of jam in the morning popover, but in general, popovers are a very nutritional-sound food.  And did I mention they are delicious?