A Few of my Favorite Things at the Grocery Store

It's hard to sift through all the choices at the grocery store and bring home the right stuff. So, I have compiled a list of some awesome choices for those of us that care about weight management:

Grocery Store:

• Trader Joes Eggplant Parmesan, single serving. Tastes amazing, even has a decent amount of cheese, and the sauce is great!
• Trader Joes Roasted Vegetable Enchiladas, single serving. These are my favorite new things, I will probably get burned out on them soon if I keep it up. The sauce tastes incredible, and they are stuffed with vegetables, it can be hard to eat the entire package, even though they taste so good!
• Wasa Crackers, Light. These little pieces of air are not so great eaten alone, but add the next 4 things on the list as a topping and you're in business. Good for if you are in charge of bringing an appetizer plate to a party, you can feel guilt-free on this.
• Laughing Cow Spreadable Cheese, one wedge. Good on crackers, also great to use as the "glue" when you make a wrap, it will hold the edges of the tortilla in place. Also good melted, like on a bagel (listed below) or on a turkey melt.
• Hummus, any variety. All flavors of this dip are great. Seems like it's fattening, and in huge categories, I bet it is. Super high in fiber though, so you can feel fuller sooner, and it is a healthy option, especially when served with sliced red and yellow peppers, zucchini, or Wasa Crackers.
• Hormel Turkey Pepperoni, 98% Fat Free. These are great to add to a Cheese and Crackers platter too, or use on a mini pizza made on a small fat free tortilla or even on top of a portobello mushroom.
• Sicilian Bruschetta - You can find this at Costco, and it is like salsa, but with Italian ingredients, like tomatoes, capers, olives, etc. Use sparingly, but the taste is unparalleled and can stretch a long way. Good on Wasa, Pita Chips, with the Laughing Cow Cheese from above, as a pizza topping, etc.
• Turkey Meat - Get this fresh from the deli and you can make a low calorie treat any time. Even several slices piled high are low in calories. You can find many varieties now, like Peppered, Sun Dried Tomato, etc.
• Tuna, albacore or chunk white - This is a throw back from when we were kids, but still a staple. When made with Fat Free Mayo you won't taste much of a difference from regular mayo, if you are one of those people that cares about the taste of mayo, I am not. Mix in some mustard and pickle relish, and you're good to go. Dress it up by replacing the pickle relish with capers and dijon mustard. Or take out the mustard and capers and add lemon juice and fresh dill. Eat this on Wasa Crackers or on the bread listed below.
• Sara Lee De-Light-Ful Bread - 45 calories a slice! This bread is not overly huge, it's wheat (make sure you get the multi-grain one), it's good.
• Dannon Light and Fit Yogurt, any flavor - This is the easiest breakfast ever, I eat it in my car on the way to see my Orange County Personal Trainers most of the time, fits right into my cup holder too!
• Lean Cuisine, Chicken, Mushroom and Spinach Panini - This brand carries several great things, but this is my absolute favorite. I cannot believe how good it tastes, and how low in calories it is for the flavor. Great to have on hand when you are low on fresh food or to take to work for lunch.
• Diced Tomatoes - These need to be in your cupboard at all times, they are the starting block for almost every soup I make. Pretty much anything can be made into a soup, just add broth, diced tomates, vegetables, black beans, diced chicken, shrimp, whatever. Cook till it tastes good, and you're done.
• Mustard - This is an almost zero calorie flavor enhancer. Strong flavor, and gives a sandwich moistness, you can ditch the fattening mayo!
• Spices - They're all fat free! Make your boring food sassy, and with zero impact on your waistline.

Just a few of my favorite things. Ask your personal trainer for tips and feel free to comment with yours!

Be eXcellent!

Ms. X - a www.socalworkout.com writer