Monthly favorites (June 2014)

I decided that I should start making monthly favorite posts to show you guys what I’ve been loving in terms of snack and health foods because as much as I love making things at home, I do realize that sometimes we don’t have time to whip something up at home and need things quick and on the go!

First up, the most expensive buy of the month….a dehydrator! And although dehydrating fruits and veggies take longer than I ever expected….I love this (not so) little machine because it makes everything into chips and having a healthier version of chips is never a bad thing. (: My favorite so far has got to be apple chips and mango chips. yum!

I’ve heard the fitness community buzz about PB2 for the longest time and I finally decided that I would get my own jar of it. I’ve never been a fan of nut butters because I don’t like the almost dry texture of it and I definitely never liked peanut butter. So I would of never imagined myself trying a product like this and actually liking it but I did! I think part of it was because 1) this was the chocolate version of it and so it didn’t end up tasting too peanut-y and 2) this is a powdered peanut butter. Wait what? Yup. It’s basically peanut flour and you mix it with water to create peanut butter and because you can mix it yourself, I could add more or less water to make it the perfect consistency for myself! Sometimes I’d mix it with water until it becomes a pourable liquid consistency so I can use it as a “syrup” on my pancakes or parfaits!

It’s been a while since I’ve gotten a box mix of sesame buns (post can be found here) but every time I do…they get to me. I know I’m supposed to be easing into the whole gluten free thing but goodness I’d sacrifice a day or two of feeling not so stellar and bloated for having a couple of these! This time we even experimented with it and added a teaspoon of cocoa powder to half the dough to make chocolate flavored ones!

I don’t think I can rave about greek yogurt enough but here I am talking about it again. Generally I steer away from dairy in terms of milk and cheese but I don’t think I can ever give up Greek yogurt mostly because it’s such a proteinful snack to have! I always get it in plain because that means there’s no artificial sugars added to it and I can flavor it myself by stirring in either honey, cocoa powder, or matcha. My favorite way to eat it is in parfaits layered with protein brownie cake and strawberries!

These were bought for lil’ bun but how could I not try any I mean they’re strawberry shortcake flavored! To be honest I was a little skeptical at first but they actually tasted a little bit like strawberries. Not the fresh strawberries of course…but more like freeze dried strawberries or the strawberry flavoring you find in gummy bears. Not bad goldfish, I’m impressed.

Put against the strawberry shortcake flavor…these were a little lacking in the “awe” factor because half way through we realized that these were basically vanilla cupcake and chocolate brownie goldfish grahams combined together in one bag. A little disappointing but I always like trying new flavors of goldfish.

These were a little bit of an impulse buy for me because I’ve been craving chocolate lately but I don’t regret giving into the cravings one bit because I rarely ever treat myself to things like this. Plus, putting off and ignoring your cravings will only lead to binge-ing on the foods later and moderation is key! Whenever I buy chocolate I tend to buy ones that are at least 85% cocoa because they are the beneficial for you antioxidant wise. But every now and then I treat myself to Japanese chocolate because I love it so much! It’s not too sweet and has the perfect amount of creaminess to it even when it’s bitter. If you’ve never tried it before, try it!

‘ve always been a fan of Annie’s because their products tend to be more on the organic and natural side (: I read the ingredients before buying them of course and I knew every single one on there so they got my seal of snack approval for sure! They’re not too sweet or calorific either at 130 calories for 31 bunnies.

Aren’t they the cutest? This is probably my foodie baker intuition speaking but I found that the chocolate bunnies were a lot crispier and crunchier than the graham based honey and chocolate chip ones.

I know that these Quaker oatmeal squares are meant to be eaten with milk as cereal but I always end up eating them as snacks instead because they’re so crunchy and delicious! They have the perfect amount of sweetness to them and the ingredients aren’t exactly too foreign either for what they are. Plus they’re strangely addicting especially if you have a crunchy craving.

Oreos aren’t the healthiest for you but out of all the ones they had at the store these had the least amount of sugar and calories each. I’m no fan of oreos because I always find the icing layer to be much too sweet for me but these weren’t too bad. They were also bought for lil’ bun but I decided to mention them in here because they’re the first oreos I’ve actually not minded eating in terms of sweetness!

Well, that’s all for this month so until next time my lovelies! What were your monthly favorites and what have you been loving? Introduce me to some new yummlicious snacks!

Tags: chips, Cookies, Crackers, favorites, peanut butter, Snacks, Yogurt